Published at 26th of December 2025 7:38 am

Chapter 429: The Powerful Feed On Greed, While the Ordinary Suffer the Consequences

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Ahead, three Encounters. One Ball and two Tallmen. What should we do?

Going back and around would add thirty minutes, but Lets take a detour for this one.

Understood. Were clear from behind.

It had been about a month since we started our journey to reach the unexplored ruins, fulfilling Anemos wish. We had been traversing dungeons, aiming for our destination while resupplying at various towns along the way.

This feels somewhat frustrating. It seems we could arrive quickly if we just went straight ahead,

Well, cant be helped. Ignoring everything and pushing through would be too boring, dont you think?

I suppose so, but still

Haha, normally, forcefully pushing through wouldnt even be an option, Anemo chuckled, leading the way with a map in hand.

By the way, it was possible to destroy Encounters even with weapons that werent Coated or had lost their Coating. However, in such cases, the Encounters durability would be much higher than it appeared, and even if destroyed, they would quickly regenerate.

Moreover, once engaged, Encounters would persistently pursue until a considerable distance was created. Therefore, fighting with uncoated weapons was unthinkable unless in dire situations like weve exhausted all weapons and supplies, but were just short of reaching town. Even then, there were penalties for bringing danger to towns.

Well, if Tia or I could defeat them easily, a hit-and-run strategy might be possible. But there was no need to spread distrust and inconvenience by fighting in such an unusual manner.

As we continued through the dungeon interior, cautious but not struggling, Anemo suddenly halted.

This is it. From here on are the unexplored ruins.

Here? Tia furrowed her brow. The path ahead looked no different from the dungeon corridors we had been traversing.

What do you mean? Is it after we turn the corner ahead or something?

No, thats not it. Look closely here. See how the color is slightly different?

Hmm? Tia peered closely at where Anemo was pointing, her nose almost touching the surface. Haha, I did the same thing on my first run.

Ah Now that you mention it, the floors Oh, the walls too? The color of all the stones is just a tiny bit lighter?

Thats right. This boundary marks where the dungeon has regenerated.

Regenerated which means

Yes. Beyond this point was once a town called Nikuo.

At Anemos words, Tia looked straight ahead again. But there was still just a corridor stretching out, with no trace of a town.

Um, what does that mean?

Remember when I mentioned earlier that town spaces prevent dungeon regeneration by applying a special solution to the carved-out dungeon walls? Well, while the materials for this solution are common, the equipment needed for processing is extremely rare and cant be replicated In other words, theres a strict limit on production. So, its management is very strict. Securing enough for maintaining town spaces is the top priority, then the rest goes to maintaining buildings in town, and what little is left over is diluted hundreds or thousands of times to make the Coating agent used on weapons.

I see. Oh, so perhaps the equipment here broke down, and they couldnt produce enough of the solution? Is that what happened?

However, Anemo shook her head with a troubled expression at Tias question.

The high-ranking officials in the town diluted the solution to about 70% concentration, using the excess for their own profit. For the first five years or so, there were no problems, but one day, it finally failed to fully suppress the dungeons mana As if making up for lost time, in just a few hours, the entire town was returned to its original state. Moreover, it seems that consuming the mana of the people swallowed up in the stone gave birth to a large number of Encounters As a result, this place, the Nikuo ruins, was abandoned due to the excessive consumption of Nukimizu and weapons required to explore it.

Thats I dont know what to say

Tias expression was complex as Anemo finished her explanation. While the foolish officials who caused this deserved their fate, it wasnt so simple, considering all the innocent townspeople who were caught up in it.

Misinterpreting Tias expression, Anemo worriedly asked her, Did you perhaps remember something?

Huh? Remember what?

Well I thought that maybe you and your companions were caught up in a large-scale collapse like this. So when you heard the story, I wondered if it triggered any memories. If not, thats well, I shouldnt say its fine, but

Thank you, Anemo. Im alright. I didnt remember anything I just felt a bit helpless, thats all.

I see. Youre right

Tias expression clouded with guilt for lying, while Anemo looked sad, misunderstanding the situation. To lighten the mood, I clapped my hands and addressed them in a deliberately cheerful tone.

Come on, theres no use dwelling on what some fools did in the past, right? More importantly, Anemo, what should we do from here on out?

Ah, yes. Our primary objective is to reach the center of the town or former town, and recover any equipment that might be there. But realistically, well be mapping the surrounding area. From here on, we wont avoid Encounters but defeat all we come across as we proceed. Well map as much as possible until weve fought 20 battles Thats our action plan for this expedition.

I see. The limit of 20 battles is

Its based on our current supplies and considering the return journey. We could push further if we cut corners, but for explorers, we can still go on often means its already dangerous. We can make a round trip to the nearest town, Nihak, in two weeks from here, so by gradually expanding our survey area like this, we might achieve our goal in just over a year if all goes well.

Thats quite a long-term plan, isnt it?

No, no, its actually fast. Its only because theres you two who can fight Encounters without Coated weapons that we even have a chance of conquering this place! After all, theres a limit to the supply of Coating agent, and its essential for fighting Encounters. They wont allow us to stockpile it at the expense of daily defense for the sake of conquering ruins that might have something valuable.

Its a tricky situation, huh?

In the long run, the future was gradually narrowing, and they would eventually be cornered. But even knowing that, people rarely endured pain if it didnt affect them today or tomorrow.

It was a scene I had witnessed many times, and it would be incredibly arrogant for me, who wouldnt suffer and would be expelled from this world in an instant, to judge them as foolish.

Besides

Well, dont worry, you two. It wont take that long.

Ed?

Ed-san?

Facing the two who tilted their heads in confusion, I took off my backpack and pulled out a rolled-up paper. Just before unfolding it, I used [Copy and Fake] to duplicate the surrounding map onto it.

Heh heh. As it happens, Im quite good at mapping too.

As I grinned, a clear map of the surroundings, visible only to me, appeared next to my face.

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