Dark Fantasy Guide for the Summoner - Chapter 30

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 30.
Lucien Bistro
Kazen walked through the dark forest with a grim expression.
His unsteady gait, wavering with each step, looked as though he might collapse at any moment.
“Even a snail would move faster than that.”
…….
“I understand how you feel, but could you pick up the pace? We’re going to make your companions’ sacrifice meaningless at this rate.”
Kazen couldn’t let that remark pass.
“Sacrifice? Isn’t it more like abandonment?”
“Why get worked up over semantics? The meaning’s roughly the same either way.”
“No. It’s completely different. What we did was betrayal. We made other people into sacrifices to save our own skins—the most cowardly act of all.”
The spirit mage Alon let out a scornful laugh.
“Well, everyone dying would’ve been worse, wouldn’t it? That was the best choice we had in the situation.”
“The best choice?”
“Yeah. The best. And wasn’t I the only one who lost people? We all did.”
Alon sighed pointedly before speaking.
“What happens when we get back to the Kingdom? Do we go to the Montrie Family and grovel on our knees? Hell. The future’s looking grim.”
…….
Kazen’s jaw clenched.
He couldn’t comprehend how Alon could speak that way after abandoning their companions right before his eyes.
Instead of trying to reason with Alon, Kazen turned to their leader.
“Lorang. We should go back now.”
…….
“Those people—they’re still alive. They have to be. They’re holding on, desperately waiting for us to return.”
A stifled laugh came from the group.
Unlike the others, Lorang didn’t sneer, but his tone was all the more resolute.
“Wood Revenge is the Calamity you must be most cautious of at the forest’s entrance. The probability that they’re still alive is extremely low.”
“……You knew about the Calamity?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t you share the information beforehand—”
“Because I wasn’t certain. And I needed to verify whether you all possessed accurate information.”
Kazen glared at Lorang.
“……You planned this from the start, didn’t you.”
“Not from the very beginning, to be precise. But I won’t deny that I considered this the response with the highest survival rate.”
“……Survival rate.”
The phrase caught in Kazen’s mind.
“You speak much like Kaindel.”
“Do I.”
“Yes. But Kaindel would never have made a choice like that.”
Lorang’s gaze turned toward Kazen.
“Why is that.”
“Because though he may seem to blindly believe only in possibility, he doesn’t actually. Not at heart.”
Kazen wasn’t particularly perceptive, but neither was he a fool.
If Kaindel had cared only for his own survival, he would never have entered the forest burdened with the dead weight of Kazen and Cria from the start.
‘He didn’t.’
In fact, Kaindel had already saved their lives at their first meeting.
That’s why Kazen could trust him.
The forest was a perilous place, but together with Kaindel, they could surely survive it.
But…….
“……And are you fine with this, Lorang? When I return to the Kingdom, I intend to report everything I witnessed here.”
“What? Is this guy insane?”
Alon spoke with a rage-flushed face.
“You owe your life to Lorang, and you’re spouting that nonsense? You still haven’t grasped the situation, have you? Even if one more person goes missing here, there’s nothing strange about it—”
“That won’t be necessary. Once we return to the Kingdom, I plan to report everything that happened in the forest directly from my own mouth.”
……!
Kazen flinched at the words, then closed his mouth again before he could speak.
The reason his chest felt so tight was that he had dimly come to realize that everything Lorang had said was the truth.
‘He’s not a hypocrite.’
Lorang would genuinely deliver a complete, unvarnished account of everything he had done, and he would accept any punishment that followed willingly.
But for some reason, Kazen found that fact even more unbearable.
“I don’t know what relation you have with the Montrie Family. What I’m saying isn’t about punishment you’d have to endure after following proper procedure.”
“Then what?”
“Seigrena seemed to trust and depend on you. You betrayed that trust without batting an eye?”
“Of course I don’t feel good about it. I feel guilty. I think I did something I shouldn’t have.”
Kazen felt hollow.
At the same time, he understood why he’d felt so uneasy around this man all along.
“That’s a lie.”
……
“You don’t harbor a shred of regret. Even if the same situation arose tomorrow, you’d act exactly as you did today. You’re certain it’s the most righteous decision. So even if you face punishment and blame, you’ll feel nothing inside. Because you genuinely don’t believe you did anything wrong. No remorse, just bowing your head like a child swept up in the moment…….”
Kazen met Lorang’s eyes directly as he spoke.
“You’re mentally unwell.”
It wasn’t an insult.
In the literal sense, Lorang’s state of mind was not normal.
“This bastard really——!”
“Alon.”
Lorang shook his head, and Alon fell silent again.
He looked at Lorang with frustrated eyes.
‘Damn it.’
Alon wasn’t the only one frustrated.
Though Kazen had said everything he wanted to say, his heart remained uneasy.
He was worried about his younger brother and Kaindel, but the entire atmosphere of this party suffocated him.
‘My magic level rose after all.’
Hunting monsters in the forest brought rapid advancement in skill.
At some point you’d gain insight and obtain a technique you’d never seen before, understanding its use instinctively.
This was one of the forest’s mysteries that science and scholarship had yet to explain.
‘Now I can use three more spells in addition to Fire.’
While he still couldn’t carry his full weight, he could do half a man’s work now.
Kaindel would have been thrilled.
And after considering how he might be useful, he would have set a course of action close to the right answer.
These men did not.
Instead, whenever he tried to do something, they’d openly rebuke him, telling him not to bother.
‘So that was the difference.’
Between Lorang and Kaindel.
Unlike Kaindel, who wielded everything at his disposal, Lorang handled most matters alone.
Kazen had come to understand.
Such behavior, taking on all the dirty work — it wasn’t because Lorang was self-sacrificing.
He simply didn’t trust others. Compulsively so.
‘Should I run again?
After coming to his senses, Kazen’s first action was to turn back toward where the others were.
He failed. Lorang stopped him.
Even so, Kazen didn’t give up easily, and tried three more times afterward.
During combat, saying he needed the privy, or when everyone was asleep. All failed, naturally.
“You cannot die.”
Only now did Kazen realize that statement hadn’t sprung from goodwill either.
Beneath Lorang’s words lay some calculation.
If Kazen ran here and made it back to where the Black Tree stood, only to die…….
Then Lorang’s judgment would have been wrong.
That judgment to abandon three in order to save the rest.
‘And I don’t even know where I am anymore.’
Kazen looked around.
It was still forest, but somehow the atmosphere felt different from before. Darker, damper.
Had they already left the Nest Area? Kazen strained to catch the chatter of those walking ahead, hoping for any information.
“How much longer until the Return Magic’s ready?”
“Still quite a ways, isn’t it? It’s a Top-Grade Crystal.”
“Have you ever seen such a bumpkin?”
Alon shook his head.
“A Top-Grade Crystal can activate Return Magic without filling the Exploration Degree completely. Its capacity is dozens of times that of a Low-Grade Crystal to begin with. Though using it early does drain the crystal faster, so it’s best avoided.”
“I see.”
“We call that the Minimum Exploration Degree. It’s jargon among Delvers, but.”
Lorang pulled out a crystal from his pouch to check it, then spoke.
“We’re not far from the Minimum Exploration Degree now. If I register just a few more discoveries, I should be able to activate the Return Magic.”
“That’s a relief, then. For now, let’s set up camp at the Return Point ahead, and use that as our base of operations…….”
Kazen’s anxiety deepened.
Time was truly running short. At this rate, he really would abandon his younger sibling and return to the Kingdom alone.
‘What do I do?’
Kazen was racking his brain desperately when it happened.
“Hmm? I smell something delicious.”
One of the party members, a swordsman, sniffed the air and said so.
“Something delicious?”
“Yeah. It’s similar to that red wine steak we had at a restaurant not long ago…….”
“This idiot’s talking nonsense. Did your nose get twisted or something?”
“No, I’m serious.”
The moment the swordsman spoke in an aggrieved tone, Lorang pointed ahead.
“There’s something over there.”
“Huh…….”
In a moderately spacious clearing stood a street stall.
“…….”
Everyone fell silent at the sudden sight.
Looking again, it really was a street stall.
It looked like a wheeled vendor’s cart, apparently made by converting a carriage, and around it were tables and chairs that seemed to be carved from wood.
In other words, the whole scene looked like…….
“……a restaurant?”
“It certainly seems that way.”
As the group watched the bizarre sight with bewildered voices, Kazen felt something strangely out of place.
Tables carved from wood,
and chairs. Their color had a reddish tint overall, and somehow they looked familiar.
That was the moment.
“Ah. Welcome, customers.”
A man emerged from behind the stall.
A handsome man with neat attire and refined features.
He wore a neat formal suit that seemed out of place in a jungle-like forest, and even had a white handkerchief draped over one arm like a waiter.
His overall impression was quite favorable—if not for those thin, serpentine eyes.
“You’re fortunate, customers. I’ve only just opened.”
“Just opened?”
“Yes. Welcome to , guests. I welcome you with all sincerity.”
The man spoke with a subtle smile on his face.
“What will you have for your meal?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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