The Awakening of Inverse Attributes: An Old Adventurer and Young Heroes - The four, without syncing, head to the Decaying Palace.

The three-story stone building of the Iron Ring Alliance's Blaze branch always smelled the same in the morning light. Weapon oil, old parchment, and the saltiness of dried meat that someone had brought in. Phiren Kazaal had smelled it for twenty years. It wasn't a matter of getting used to it anymore. It was simply a smell that existed there. As he climbed the stairs, he glanced at the back of his right hand once. The seal he had copied from the outer edge of Ash-Green Forest yesterday was in his mind. Six lines, one point of intersection, a ring at the outer edge. He was certain that someone knew that shape. What about Gordol? In twenty years of dealings, Phiren had never heard information about back alleys that man didn't know. was standing in the hallway waiting. Her silver-white long hair caught the morning light and shone quietly. She wore a pale gray traveling outfit—different from the one she'd worn yesterday, made of slightly finer fabric—and held a single tube of parchment in her hand. It was probably a copy of the seal. She'd said last night that she'd tried to cross-reference it alone at the branch shrine. When Phiren approached, Ernaard bowed slightly. "Good morning. Is the branch director's office... this way?" "Yeah. Whether they'll let us in is another matter." He knocked on the door. A low voice immediately came from inside: "Come in." Gordol Ban woke early. The rumor that the former gold-rank adventurer was at his desk before dawn, Phiren didn't think was absurd. The branch director's office was cramped. Three walls were surrounded by shelves, and a large desk in the center occupied nearly all the floor space. Beyond it sat Gordol Ban. A one-armed giant. His left sleeve hung limply empty at the edge of the desk, while his single right arm held down documents. Short gray hair, a face etched with wrinkles like a map, shoulders too thick for someone in his fifties—his title as a former gold-rank adventurer was proven by his body. Twelve years as branch director of the Iron Ring Alliance's Blaze branch. His subordinates trusted him deeply, but he was inflexible. Phiren placed the parchment copy of the seal on the desk. Gordol glanced at it. That was the moment. Something changed, ever so slightly. Not the angle of his eyebrows or the shape of his mouth. Something in the depths of his eyes—moved, just barely. For just an instant, truly just an instant. Then Gordol looked away and opened a drawer. "Here's the formal task order for the attribute divergence investigation." A single sheet of parchment was placed on the desk. The Iron Ring Alliance's official seal was stamped on it. Attribute divergence investigation in the deep parts of Ash-Green Forest northeast of Blaze, estimated reward forty silver coins. If entry below the third level of the Decaying Palace Karadovo was included, it was limited to silver-rank or above. "I'll take it." The moment Phiren reached for the task order, Gordol placed another sheet on the desk. Phiren's hand stopped. It was—a retirement notice. The document he himself had written and brought three days ago. The one Gordol had put on hold, saying the seal was damaged. "I can't accept it until after the task is complete." "...Are you bringing that up now?" "It's a matter of procedure." Procedure. In twenty years of dealings, this was the first time he'd heard such a thing. Phiren held one sheet of parchment in each hand and watched Gordol for a while. Gordol didn't flinch. The fingers of his right arm tapped the desk once, just once. That was all. Ernaard was looking at the two documents alternately beside him. Her expression was slightly confused, as if she couldn't quite grasp the meaning of the situation. "...Understood." He couldn't find words to return. That was all Phiren could say. He put the retirement notice back in his pocket and kept only the task order in hand. There was no change in Gordol's face. The moment he closed the door after stepping into the hallway, Ernaard spoke quietly. "Um... the branch director gave you both the retirement notice and the task order at the same time..." "You saw." "Yes. ...Which one do you intend to use first?" Phiren answered as he walked toward the stairs. "The task." "I see... yes." It was a small voice, but something seeped through it. Something close to relief. Phiren noticed it but said nothing in particular. ━━━ It happened the moment he stepped onto the outer stairs. The first-floor door was kicked open from the inside. Explosively, rather than with force. The metal door crashed against the wall, and the sound echoed through the alley. Phiren reflexively reached for the hilt of Gevalt. "—Ow, ow, ow! Phiren! Phiren, sir!!" Seeing the person who burst out, Phiren released his hand. Vivid crimson short hair. Burning scarlet eyes. A small burn scar on her left cheek. Her 165-centimeter frame was painted from head to toe in blood, soot, and scorch marks, and the right sleeve of her coat was half burned away. The breastplate of her armor was cracked, and one of her shoes was missing its laces for some reason. Yet her running speed hadn't slowed. If anything, she was accelerating. From the Iron Ring Alliance's Blaze branch registration information, Phiren had confirmed it, but adventurers who returned in such a state were rare. Lushe Valhildo—an eighteen-year-old squire knight who had survived the Burning Fang Cavern, located 40 kilometers southwest of Blaze, where the flame attribute divergence kept internal temperatures constantly above 60 degrees—was there. A squire knight was a probationary title that came before full knighthood. It was given to trainees aged fourteen to eighteen, who aimed for full knight promotion while gaining practical experience. So why had she gone to the Burning Fang Cavern alone...? That question became secondary when looking at Lushe's expression. Her face was shining with an extraordinary light. Covered in wounds, her eyes were sparkling. Lushe had already read the task order in Phiren's hand with her eyes. "Attribute divergence investigation! Decaying Palace Karadovo! I'm going too!" "I'll register right now!" Before she finished speaking, she was already running toward the back of the branch. There was a sense that Gordol was about to say something, but Lushe was already demanding documents at the reception window. Ernaard looked at Phiren. Phiren looked at Ernaard. "...That person is..." "Just back from the Burning Fang Cavern." "I can tell that from her appearance, but..." The two of them waited with their backs against the railing of the outer stairs for a few minutes. Lushe came running back. She held a copy of her registration certificate and wore a beaming smile for some reason. Soot was on her cheek, but she didn't seem to care at all. "Registration complete! I can get ready right away, I'll tell you now—" Lushe rattled off rapidly. The internal temperature of the Burning Fang Cavern was twice what was expected, she'd been surrounded by a group of crimson-scaled lizards—large lizards over two meters long wreathed in flames—and stuck to a corner of the cavern for three days, three scales had come off so she'd get thirty silver coins in income, and— "I didn't realize the person who helped me on the way back was you, Phiren, sir! You should have introduced yourself back then!" Phiren paused for a moment. On the way back from the Burning Fang Cavern—yes, three days ago, on the road from the southwest, he had indeed seen a young woman surrounded by flame-type monsters. Without thinking deeply, he'd moved, scattered the monsters, and left. He hadn't felt the need to introduce himself. "...I don't remember." "Of course you wouldn't! I couldn't even see your face back then!" Lushe grabbed Phiren's right arm with both hands in the momentum of her gratitude. "Thank you so much! If I hadn't been helped back then, I definitely would have—" That was the moment. A thin, pale blue blade shape ran across the back of Phiren's right hand. For just an instant, an icy chill covered the surface of his right arm, then vanished. Phiren immediately pulled his arm away. Lushe released her hands and tilted her head in confusion. "...Something just glowed, didn't it?" "It's nothing." "It's not nothing! It was like ice—" As Lushe was speaking, Ernaard stepped forward just one pace. Ernaard had seen that light. Her golden odd-eyes looked back and forth between Phiren's right hand and Lushe's face, then quietly lowered her gaze. She looked like she was thinking about something, but she didn't open her mouth. Lushe didn't seem to understand it herself and shook her head vigorously. "...Well, never mind! Anyway, please let me come with you!" Then, as if she'd just noticed, she looked down at her own arm. The closeness of the distance she'd been holding, she seemed to realize it there. The soot-covered cheek of the flame-attribute user turned slightly red. It was a bit odd to see a flame-attribute user make that kind of face. The front door of the branch opened quietly this time. "My apologies for the wait." It was a calm voice. Seeing the person standing there, Phiren straightened his posture slightly. Deep purple long hair tied up on one side only. Odd-eyes of different colors—left silver, right jade green. At 170 centimeters tall, her eye line was close to Phiren's. Small purple horns growing from her forehead caught the morning light with a faint glow. Around those horns, a faint aura of wind attribute essence drifted. The long robe she wore was of good quality but practical in design, without ornament. What emanated from her overall presence was intellectual quietness. Alies Noarl. The mage that Gordol had arranged beforehand, apparently. "I conducted independent investigations in Ash-Green Forest for three weeks. I was pursuing the same seal." "...Gordol mentioned it." "Whether my analysis will be useful remains to be seen. However, regarding wind attribute essence measurement, I believe I'm likely more knowledgeable than anyone else here." Her self-assessment was accurate, neither excessive nor insufficient. That manner of speaking was easy for Phiren to understand. Thus a four-person party was formed—or so it should have been. ━━━ The problem began five minutes after departure. "We'll head straight to the Decaying Palace on the shortest route! Here's the map!" "Please wait a moment, I need to confirm the equipment—Phiren, sir, have you confirmed the recovery potion inventory?" "Kazaal, sir, please let me confirm the scale of this map. I want to measure the essence residue before we enter the northeast forest." Three voices came simultaneously from three directions. Lushe was facing east. Ernaard was spreading out supplies. Alies was offering Phiren a map. Phiren looked over the three of them for a while. "Stop." The volume was normal. That alone made all three stop moving. Silence. "We'll talk in order. Lushe, flip that map over before looking at it. Ernaard, there are three recovery potions. Alies, we'll do the measurement before the forest. Understood?" Lushe looked at the map in her hand. She flipped it over. "...Oh," came a small voice. It was indeed reversed. Ernaard confirmed the number of recovery potions and said, "Understood." Her cheeks were slightly red. Alies said "Thank you" and put the map away. Lushe muttered quietly, "Why didn't I notice that..." The four of them began walking. ━━━ As they approached the edge of Ash-Green Forest, the air changed. Broad-leafed green filled their vision. Moisture carried from the Jade-Deep River mixed in, and the smell of undergrowth intensified. Phiren had come this way many times, but today the number Gordol had mentioned—"three times in five days"—was in his head. Something regular, different from normal attribute divergence. Alies pulled a bundle of parchment from her bag as she walked.

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Episode 5

Name: The Awakening of Inverse Attributes: An Old Adventurer and Young Heroes
Author: Novelia

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