The hustle and bustle of the Dungeon Festival, which we had been hearing a little further away, turned into a loud commotion.
It was clear from the screaming cries that something had happened.
My friends and I were all under the effect of C-rank Grass' awakening skill [Flavored Vegetable], which cured and provided immunity to all abnormal conditions.
The noise seemed to be coming from near the temple.
We went toward the center of the city.
In front of the temple was a square with no stores or roads, and it was crowded with dwarves.
(Admiral Galara.)
"Pepek is still in the dungeon! Bobogua is still out there too! Get your hands off of me!"
"They stayed there to let us escape! We can't save them! We don't have any recovery medicine left. We must heal your wounds quickly!"
Admiral Galara, who was being carried on both shoulders by the dwarves, whether they were his companions or his subordinates, was missing one arm.
Admiral Galara's both legs were crushed or bent in strange directions, leaving blood stains.
The dwarves were a head shorter than me, so I could look at the situation clearly.
As the dwarves kept crying for Recovery Magic or medicine, I took out a [Blessing of Heaven] and used it without hesitation.
""What? What happened?""
In addition to Admiral Galara, there were quite a few dwarves who were seriously wounded, but they were all completely healed.
With his lost arm and crushed legs restored, Admiral Galara looked around.
"You recovered because of Elven Elixirs."
I came forward as they seemed to be looking for who had helped them.
"... Oh, Allen."
He seemed to have remembered my name at least.
"Yes."
And Admiral Galara seemed to have noticed something else as well.
"Perhaps you have some spare Elven Elixir that you just used now?"
""Admiral!""
(Hmmm, he is still upset?)
"Why do you want it?"
"Of course to help my friends!"
(Friends?)
There was a hierarchical relationship between them, but Admiral Galara seemed to treat his subordinates as friends.
"Admiral Galara... we don't have any more Medals."
Admiral Galara's associates admonished him that nothing could be done.
"Admiral Galara. Why don't you change location and calm down a little?"
"Nu? Prince Zew?"
Because of the festival and the fact that we were at the entrance to the dungeon's temple, a tremendous amount of attention was focused on Admiral Galara's party.
Admiral Galara and his party arrived at our base to calm down.
Prince Zew, who was not a resident of the base, made the decision.
"... It is quite a treat."
As soon as he arrived at the base, Admiral Galara noticed the sumptuous array of food.
"Oh, we are having Allen and his friends' Coming of Age ceremony."
"What?"
Helmios briefly explained the situation.
"Merle. You, by the way, also said that you participated in the war, while you were attending the Academy."
"... yeah."
Merle looked lonely remembering the war.
"We have enough food. Would you like to try some?"
"Are you sure? We've been on the run since this morning and haven't eaten anything. Thank you."
(On the run?)
With that, the dwarves started to creep into the dining room.
I was not at all offended that Prince Zew invited Admiral Galara and his party without permission.
I personally didn't want to eat the 'adult food' that had been prepared for me and my friends.
Naturally, I was thinking of Admiral Galara's situation, but also for the sake of my friends and me.
Admiral Galara fought the Dungeon Boss of the S-class dungeon before anyone else with his party of 20.
And from the looks of things so far, the Dungeon Boss had killed 6 of them, while the remaining 14 managed to run away.
Perhaps they were not able to run away safely because they were pursued by the Dungeon Boss.
I knew how difficult a first-time Boss raid could be.
It was not always possible to instantly find a strategy to defeat the boss.
The opponent was the Dungeon Boss of an S-class dungeon.
The price of the strategy could be the lives of someone.
Only Admiral Galara and his party knew what the Dungeon Boss was.
I didn't intend to ask the haggard Admiral Galara about the Boss at that moment, but I really needed to get some useful information.
(I have still learned a number of things from the current situation, though. First, we can escape from the Dungeon Boss after the battle starts. So it's not impossible to escape, but it's difficult.)
I had learned a lot without having to ask.
It was quite informative to know that it was possible to escape from the Dungeon Boss if things weren't going our way.
"We're going to need more sake. Ur and Sara, I'm sorry, but you'll have to go shopping."
"Prince Zew, I am in awe."
It was a Coming of Age ceremony, and even the large barrels of sake they brought was not going to be enough for the 15 dwarves.
He asked Ur and Sara, who had come along with him, to run an errand.
"Adult. He had been with us since he became an adult. ...He put his life on the line for us..."
Ripples spread across the wooden mug that he clenched as Admiral Galara said so.
Dwarves flatten the food and drinks.
"You've been fighting since morning, haven't you?"
"Oh, yes. We wanted to make it in time for the Dungeon Festival."
Admiral Galara said they wanted to defeat the Dungeon Boss in time for the Dungeon Festival.
"But it's already evening. Have you been fighting for more than half a day?"
"Oh? Yes, we were. I knew right after the fight started that we had no way of winning. We kept fighting while running away, and half a day went by."
Admiral Galara said that he knew that they wouldn't be able to win the moment the fight started.
"Didn't you manage to defeat Beebe and Crimson?"
"That's right. But you will know what I mean the moment you see him."
I wondered if the enemy was so strong that even Admiral Galara's party, which had defeated the S-rank magical beasts from the 2nd to 4th floors, found it impossible.
Afterwards, as the dwarves cried out for their friends, they mentioned the Dungeon Boss in passing.
It must have been quite a fierce battle.
As if in penitence, Admiral Galara started a story without a timeline.
Admiral Galara was apparently a former adventurer.
It seemed that he became an Admiral in the Bakius Imperial Army after being approached by the former Emperor because of his exceptional Talent.
The old Emperor was better, Admiral Galara uttered.
According to Admiral Galara's, his party members joined his party for various reasons: some had been with him since he was an adventurer, others became his subordinates when he became the Admiral.
"That was how the 20 of us came together."
"Admiral Galara. What are we going to do now?"
"Oh, that's right."
It was already dark.
After some time had passed and things had settled down, one of the dwarves asked about the future.
""...""
Everyone waited for the party leader, Admiral Galara, to speak.
"Disband."
"Disband? What about the Emperor's order?"
Admiral Galara announced that the party would be disbanding.
"Huh? Ignore it, of course. It's impossible to complete the order or do you want to fight that thing again?"
""...""
No one seemed to want to fight the Dungeon Boss.
Anyone could understand how tough it would be to defeat an opponent who was impossible to defeat with a full 20-man party after losing a number of party members.
But Admiral Galara was part of the military.
The word of the Emperor of the Bakius Empire was absolute, and he was ordered to conquer the S-class dungeon.
"Don't worry. It's my own decision. You guys can go back to your villages and do whatever you want."
Admiral Galara said that he would take full responsibility.
"Admiral Galara, you aren't going back to the village, are you?"
"I'm just going to relax now. Well, I'll just go back to the way things were."
To his fellow dwarves, Admiral Galara declared that the party would be disbanded.
(Well, Admiral Galara is retired, and Prince Zew can't get his party together in the first place.)
We ended up being the only ones who can conquer the S-class dungeon, Allen thought.
