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Chapter 160: The Choice You Make

Why the hell did this woman want to know about that?

Well, to be fair, the curiosity itself wasn’t too strange. Anyone who had heard that Cedric’s party stumbled upon a dungeon on their very first day in Daelin would, naturally, wonder how such an improbable thing came to pass, and want to ask for the details behind that discovery.

But Mandragora was not just anyone. She was a close confidante of that bald pyromancer, which meant the question carried a weight that went far beyond casual interest.

After all, Ekon was a mysterious man who wielded a mysterious power. Viktor had suspected that either he was an Ascendant or he was working for one, and that raised the question: what was his goal? What did he want with the dungeon? Was his presence in Daelin a mere coincidence, or did he come here with a specific purpose?

Up until the incident in the mortuary complex, everything Viktor had observed suggested the former. Ekon was more competent than most dungeon delvers, yes, but he was still a normal dungeon delver nonetheless. The man simply showed up to do what everyone else was doing. And his involvement in Viktor’s plan to kill Dagnar was nothing more than a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Then, when the ambush was sprung and his party was caught in a perilous situation, the bald man had been forced to reveal his secret power to save himself and his friends. Yes, everything until that point made sense. But what came next?

What would he have done once he had made it out of the dungeon alive?

What would I have done if I were him?

Ekon should have realized already that the dungeon in Daelin was different from the others. It had demonstrated a deliberate intent to kill Dagnar specifically, rather than merely trying to repel or challenge the intruders. Moreover, the fact that Dagnar was slain after he had successfully escaped suggested the dungeon might have an accomplice outside. Finally, if that bald man indeed had some connection with the Ascendants, then he would naturally suspect there was one active in Daelin.

Faced with that realization, Ekon would have had to make a choice.

He could have walked away. He could have dismissed what had happened as something not worth getting involved in. He could have simply continued his journey elsewhere, seeking out other dungeons, seeking out other opportunities. He could have left Daelin and whatever secrets it held behind.

But he didn’t.

Which meant he had chosen the other path: investigating the dungeon and the force behind it. In other words, Viktor himself. And if that had been the case, then attempting to gather intelligence from Cedric’s party would have been something bound to happen.

Viktor glanced at Mandragora.

Was she acting on Ekon’s behalf? How much did she know? How much did he tell her? Well, it didn’t matter. What mattered was that there was a good chance she was helping him dig for information, just like Renee had helped him keep an eye on the men from Iskora.

And now, everything hinged on Fiora’s response.

Still, he wasn’t too concerned about it. After all, this was not the first time that topic had been raised, nor would it be the last. Back when Cedric and his companions returned to the Guild with a bag full of gold, the entire town had been pestering them with questions. And they had given their answers, again and again, repeating the same rehearsed story. Since they hadn’t let anything slip then, there was little reason to expect Fiora would do so now.

Yet, there was one complication that could not be ignored.

The Druidess’s question had come out of nowhere and caught Fiora off guard, while Viktor, the very one who had led her party to the dungeon, was right here. So, there was a chance she would subconsciously glance at him, and that could be enough to plant suspicion in Mandragora’s mind.

To her credit, Fiora did no such thing. She kept looking down, eyes fixed on the seedling in her hands.

“Well, we were just lucky. That afternoon, after having lunch at the Guild, we decided to venture into the woods outside the town. After a while, we heard the sound of running water and figured there had to be a stream nearby, so we went to check it out. We were just playing around, really. Nothing special. Then, it led us to a waterfall. Lucian ran straight into it to see if there was anything behind. I thought it was stupid at the time, but it turned out there really was a cavern hidden behind the falls. So we went in, and you know the rest.”

Yes, that was the story they had come up with beforehand. The same one they had told over and over to the curious folk in Daelin.

“Was there anything unusual?” Mandragora asked. “Have you ever felt there was something that drew you to that waterfall?”

Fiora shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

“I see,” Mandragora said. “Then your party must have been very fortunate indeed.”

“I guess we were. Later, it turned out our party was actually not the first to discover the dungeon. Some local adventurers had found it before us, but unlike us, they... didn’t make it back.”

And with that, the Druidess let the matter drop, asking no further questions. Whether she had truly accepted the explanation or had simply recognized that pressing further would yield nothing of value was, however, impossible to tell.

They went on with their work, placing the seedlings into the tilled soil, cupping the earth around each. Hours passed. Above, the sun crawled across the sky, casting shifting patterns through the canopy. Below, hands moved steadily, while casual conversation occasionally punctuated the stillness.

Finally, they reached the last row, and Viktor stood up. He brushed dirt from his hands, letting his gaze sweep across the newly tended plot.

That’s it, huh?

The whole thing was quite uneventful, but that was what he had already expected. There was no need to rush. He would just slowly befriend the Druidess, the same way he had with Renee, before moving on to the next step.

That was when he saw a raven, black as midnight, descending from the sky above. After landing on Mandragora’s shoulder, it cawed and flapped, making a series of insistent sounds. She frowned, whispered something back, and the bird replied in turn.

So she talks to birds too, huh?

However, unlike talking to trees, which might just be her quirk, conversing with animals was a real talent he had heard of before. Birds could be used as scouts or messengers, and it seemed that was exactly what happened here. And, judging by her expression, the news she received was probably not very pleasant.

“My apologies,” the Druidess finally said, turning to him and Fiora. “Something urgent has come up, so Renee and I must leave immediately. Do you know the way back to town, or would you prefer to wait here until we return? It might take a while, though.”

What could have been the message? If Viktor had to hazard a guess, it probably involved Ekon, and perhaps the men from Iskora as well.

“I know the way,” Fiora said. “I can take Quinn back with me.”

“Great,” Mandragora said. “Sorry it ends so abruptly like this. I’d planned to show you two the basics of potion brewing after the planting, but I guess we’ll have to wait for another day.”

Fiora shrugged. “No problem.”

“It’s something you couldn’t foresee,” Viktor said. “It can’t be helped.”

If it were possible, he would prefer to tail Mandragora and Renee, to see what exactly had caused this unexpected interruption, but with Fiora around, that was really not an option. So he had no choice but to go back to town with her.

Renee conjured a gust of wind, lifting both herself and the Druidess effortlessly into the sky. Then they flew away, gone behind the canopy of green. Viktor watched them go, before turning to walk alongside Fiora through the quiet forest.

Neither of them spoke, the crunch of their boots on leaves and brittle twigs the only sound that broke the stillness.

If it were someone else, they might have found the situation awkward, and felt compelled to fill the void with some meaningless words. But Viktor couldn’t care less. If there was nothing worth saying, then there was no reason to waste breath. What was the point of talking just for the sake of it, anyway?

Also, there were other reasons to keep his mouth shut. After all, Mandragora might have sent one of her birds to follow them. Sure, the likelihood was extremely low; he didn’t think he had done anything suspicious enough to warrant it. But unlikely things tended to happen at the worst possible moment, so it was better to be safe than sorry. The last thing he wanted was to engage in some idle small talk that might circle back to dangerous topics, like the question the Druidess had asked Fiora earlier.

But of course, that was when the girl decided to speak.

“You’ve heard about what happened to us, right?”

“Huh?” Viktor glanced at her. “You mean your party’s fight with that pack of gnolls in the dungeon?”

Fiora nodded.

“Then, yes. I’ve heard.”

“Then you also know the three of us are now uncertain whether we should keep adventuring or not, right?”

“Yes.”

There was a pause. Then, Fiora spoke again.

“So, what do you think?”

“Think about what?”

“About whether we should continue being adventurers. What’s your opinion?”

Why do you ask me? That’s your problem, not mine.

Viktor gave her a shrug. “I don’t know. That’s something you’ll have to decide for yourselves. Why do you need my opinion anyway?”

“Because... people listen to you. Everyone seems to trust your judgment. Cedric. Lucian. Rhea. Jeanne. And that blonde woman, too.”

That blonde woman? She meant Alycia? Of course, it could have been Claire as well, but calling someone’s sister that way, right to their face, would have been very weird.

Also... Stop asking a thirteen-year-old for advice, people.

“Honestly, I can’t give you advice on something like that. I don’t know enough about your circumstances to say anything meaningful, and this is a matter that would decide your future, so I’d rather not take responsibility for that. But...”

“But?”

“Well, sometimes there isn’t a right answer. Sometimes the choice you make doesn’t actually matter as much as you think it does. In those cases, it’s better to just pick one and commit to it than to linger in indecision forever.”

Fiora’s brows knitted slightly as she processed his words.

“Sometimes your choice doesn’t matter, huh? I’ve never thought about it like that.”

“I’m not saying you should choose blindly. You must think it through properly first. But if, after all that, you’re still stuck, then there’s nothing more to gain by hesitating. If you’ve already spent a long time weighing your options, considering every angle, and you still can’t come to a conclusion, then it means both choices are about equal in value. In that case, yes, what you choose doesn’t matter. Just pick one. Sure, it might turn out to be the wrong choice. Years later, you might look back and think you should’ve chosen differently. But that’s hindsight. You don’t have the ability to see the future, so there’s nothing you can do about it. When it happens, just accept the outcome and move on.”

“I see,” Fiora said slowly. “So instead of staying stuck in indecision... you just act, and deal with whatever comes after.”

“Yes.”

The girl’s expression softened, then she smiled at him.

“Now I understand why everyone trusts your insight.”

“You do?” Viktor frowned. I don’t!