The Boy Who Fell to the Lowest Level of the Dungeon, Becoming the Strongest and Returns to the Surface After 10 Years~He Just Wants to Live a Quiet Life, but His Childhood Friends Who Have Risen to Prominence Won’t Leave Him Alone~ - Chapter 3: A Premonition of Getting Caught Up

“She’s my precious younger sister.”

Elta returned to the surface after ten years.

In an unexpected turn of events, he was reunited with his younger sister, Tina, but he grabbed the arm of the strong and resilient man next to her, Gorea.

Because A-rank explorer Gorea is trying to take his precious younger sister away.

“Huh? Are you the brother they were talking about?”

In response, Gorea let out a hearty laugh.

“Hahaha! Tina-chan, I thought this guy’s nonsense was just a joke, but he really was alive!”

“What do you mean?”

“Because that’s how it is!”

Unable to hold back his laughter, Gorea continued with tears in his eyes.

“Um… there’s no way he’s coming back from the dungeon! He was probably hiding and playing with his sister! This woman looks like a hassle anyway! Hahaha!”

At those words, Tina’s face showed a humiliating expression.

“This…”

“Hey, don’t make that scary face, Tina-chan.”

However, there is one person who can’t keep up with the conversation.

“There’s no way he’ll come back from that dungeon…?”

“Huh?”

Elta just got back, so he doesn’t know.

The regulations for the dungeon have been established.

The Asterla Dungeon, where he spent ten years, is of S-rank difficulty.

And during that period, it was a place where many big names gave up their search.

Elta gradually begins to show his anger while tilting his head.

“More importantly, could you let go of Tina now? I’m reaching my limit.”

“Hah! Then try doing it by force!”

“That’s fine, right?”

“…!?”

Then, for a moment, Elta’s eyes glinted with a monstrous light.

(What was that beast-like presence just now…!?)

The moment Gorea felt a shiver, his vision suddenly flipped sideways.

“Huh? ──Guh!?”

“””…!?”””

Gorea’s head spun one hundred eighty degrees and slammed into the ground with a thud.

Including himself, those around him cannot understand what happened.

“At this level, ‘Gorimi-san’ might have been much stronger.”

(“””Gorimi-san…??”””)

The name is a mystery, but the surroundings were taken aback as they finally caught up with the situation.

It seems that Elta grabbed Gorea’s arm and twisted him lightly.

With that momentum, Gorea made a half turn.

“Big brother…?”

“Elta-san…?”

However, due to the overly unrealistic scene, even Tina and the receptionist seem to be half in doubt.

Even so, Elta turned to Tina and smiled.

“It’s okay. I’ll protect Tina.”

“…!”

That smile hasn’t changed at all.

Tina felt a deep sense of relief.

(Really, big brother has come back…!)

And then, Elta looks down at his feet.

“Can’t you still stand?”

“…Ugh.”

Riding on the words, Gorea stood up.

“That was just a moment of carelessness! First, I’ll take you down!”

As expected of an A-rank explorer.

He also has the toughness to immediately retaliate when provoked.

In contrast, Elta slightly raised the corners of his mouth.

“That’s good.”

“Huh!?”

“I can do it to my heart’s content now.”

“──Ugh!?”

At that moment, Elta’s figure suddenly disappears.

Just then, Gorea realized that it had slipped into his pocket.

(This guy, what speed───)

Without even a moment to think, Gorea feels a sensation of his abdomen caving in.

It penetrated the heavy armor and caused damage to the body.

“Tina was in your care, right?”

“Guh…!?”

“This is a token of my gratitude.”

“Guooohhhhhh…!”

Elta swung his fist with all his might, and with tremendous force, Gorea was sent flying far away.

Of course, it’s aimed at places without buildings and such.

Even if it’s Gorea, it won’t end safely.

“You’re kidding, right…?”

“That Gorea…?”

“Did he blow him away…?”

The surroundings were still in disbelief, but in the next moment, it turned into joy.

“””Whoaaaaaa.”””

Due to his daily rough demeanor, Gorea was disliked by both his peers and merchants.

Even so, he had such a strong presence in this area that they couldn’t raise their voices.

They must have felt good, too, after knocking down that Gorea.

“Whoa!!!”

“Who on earth are you!?”

“Please take our vegetables!”

If that happens, it won’t stop anymore.

People gathered at Elta all at once.

“Whoa!”

Even parting with the monsters is no less significant.

Amidst the overwhelming momentum of the crowd, Elta glanced over at Tina next to her.

“I’m sorry for making you wait.”

“No! It’s okay because you came back like this!”

With a stronger force than anyone else among those people, Tina hugged Elta.

“By the way, big brother, how did you really get back?”

After the commotion settled down, the two were talking at Tina’s inn.

Rather, Elta is being bombarded with questions.

“I figured out I was in the mysterious room, but there were monsters spawning in the upper levels, too?”

“Monsters…?”

Elta remembers what happened after leaving the magic circle.

As he said, he wasn’t immediately on the surface; he ended up in the upper levels of the S-rank “Asterla Dungeon.”

However, Elta shook his head.

“There were bugs and such, but no monsters in particular.”

“Bug? Hmm, I guess you were lucky.”

“Maybe.”

Since Tina has never ventured into the Asterla Dungeon either, she finds it convincing.

But Elta’s story was, to be precise, different.

He encountered a monster, but Elta thinks it’s just an insect… that’s all.

(That thing I encountered in the upper levels, it can’t be a monster, right…?)

Ten years ago, Elta fell into a trap before encountering the demon in the upper levels.

Therefore, “the first monsters I encountered were the lowest-tier creatures.”

In other words, when he hears “monster,” he thinks of the lowest tier of S-rank monsters.

Anything below that is worth less than insects.

(Yeah, that’s not a monster or anything.)

Thinking about it, what comes to mind are the monsters that are considered formidable foes on the surface.

For better or worse, Elta spent the period from eight to eighteen, when one learns about the world, at the very bottom.

It seems they are not aware that they are already deviating from common sense.

And then, this time, Elta starts the conversation.

“More than that, we haven’t seen each other in ten years. I’m thinking that if I can work steadily, I would like to live with Tina.”

“Really! I’m so happy…!”

“Ahaha, I see, I see.”

Drawn in by his younger sister’s cute smile, Elta couldn’t help but smile slightly.

However, Tina’s expression immediately changed to a smirk.

“If that’s the case, I have just the thing for you.”

“What is it?”

“First of all, look at this!”

What Tina pointed to with a happy expression was her own uniform.

“I’m currently attending an academy.”

“The academy in the capital?”

“Yeah!”

Tina seems to be attending the academy in this Asterla Town, which is located next to the royal capital.

With his arms crossed, Elta nodded in agreement.

“Wow, that’s somehow quite moving.”

“Hehe, right? But this is also related to you, big brother.”

“Huh?”

Having been told that, Elta felt the flow of the conversation change in some way.

That premonition turned out to be spot on.

“Right now, the academy is looking for an ‘instructor’ to handle specific classes. We’ve been getting more students in recent years, so we’re falling behind.”

“Yeah.”

“But since the students’ level is also rising, the instructors need to have a certain level of skill as well.”

“…Huh?”

And then, Tina smiled brightly.

“So, I was thinking of recommending big brother!”

“Hmmmmm!?”

On the day of his return, Elta was immediately caught up in it──.

★

At that time, in the royal capital.

“Thank you for your hard work, Vice Captain!”

“Yeah, good job.”

A certain woman emerges from a magnificent silver building.

On her chest was the glorious badge of the “Royal Capital Knights Order,” indicating her position as the “Vice Captain.”

Her name is──”Celia.”

“…”

After finishing today’s training, Vice Captain Celia follows the path home.

However, the people passing by were gossiping about her demeanor, which showed no emotions.

“It seems the Vice Captain has turned down another marriage proposal.”

“Seriously? This time it’s a noble, right?”

“Ah, as expected of the ‘Ice Knight’.”

Due to her combat style and her cold, ruthless demeanor, Celia was called the “Ice Knight.”

It is a well-known fact that it includes both good and bad meanings.

“…Hmph.”

Of course, she has heard about it, but she doesn’t care about such things anymore.

It seems they are leaving just as befits their title.

──However, the next story I heard made me involuntarily lean in to listen.

“Hey, it seems there’s someone in Asterla who just returned from the dungeon after ten years.”

“What the heck is that? That’s an amazing story.”

It seems there was something on their mind about this story.

(This sounds like a story I’ve heard somewhere before.)

Celia slightly slows down her walking pace.

“Apparently, he seems to have returned from that ‘Asterla Dungeon.'”

“Huh? Can’t you come up with a better lie?”

“That’s how it is. By the way, his name is ‘Elta.'”

(…!?)

And then, she completely turned back there.

However, it must have been in an incredible state of disarray.

The people who were talking flinched and bowed their heads.

“T-this is the Vice Captain!”

“What seems to be the problem?”

Celia quickly turned on her heel.

“N-No, it’s nothing!”

“”…?””

Blushing deeply, Celia entered the alley with an unnecessarily graceful movement.

While holding her chest, she seems to be breathing heavily.

“…”

After regaining some composure, words naturally spilled from Celia’s mouth.

“El-kun… has come back…?”