"She… doesn't talk?"
"No, not for the last 5 years, Lilly."
The line of carts and people was long; the gallop of their mounts, drumming in the air as they continued to march on with the Expedition. But even with the noise drowning everything, the inside of Leville party's cart remained somewhat peaceful and quiet.
All of them were doing their own thing. Bert's son, Jacob, was currently sitting on the floor; his eyes wide open as he had been staring at Aerith for what seemed like hours now.
Bert has pulled him away over and over again, but he always manages to sneak away and return in front of Aerith. And although Aerith doesn't talk, it was clear that she didn't mind and even enjoyed the company; the smile on her face, as gentle as it could be.
"What… happened to her?"
Lilly, who was sitting beside her husband on the coach seat, had her back turned from view up front and was instead facing Riley and the others on the cart; her arms, completely relaxed on top of the box of the seat as she spoke with Riley.
"She… lost almost all of her family," Riley sighed as he shook his head.
"...Were they killed by an outbreak?" Lilly let out a small gasp as she heard her words; it didn't stop her from her queries, however. After all, as morbid as it might seem, Aerith's story was not really that uncommon in the world of Arlusia.
"No," Riley once again shook his head as he looked at Aerith, "They were killed by a monster, Lilly."
"...A single one?"
"You could say that."
"What—"
"Honey, stop asking too many questions. He's your newest member, you have a lot of time to get to know him," Lilly's husband, Nathan, could not help but let out a small chuckle as he heard his wife's endless questions. But soon, however, he slightly pulled the reins and made the birds slow down,
"And heads up, I think we're arriving at the first stop of the Expedition."
"You heard that, boys!" Lilly quickly jumped from the driver's seat and onto the cart; her pace, clearly excited as she started checking her spear, "Get ready. We don't want to be the last one to enter the dungeon."
"May I ask you a question, Lilly?"
And while Roan and Bert have also started checking their tools and weapons, Riley just remains seated.
"Uh, sure. Go ahead," Lilly nodded as she turned her spear to reflect Riley's on its blade, "...But please don't ask why Nate and I don't have a child."
"Perhaps I'll ask that question later, Lilly," Riley shook his head, "What exactly is the goal of this Expedition? I was busy learning the language and reading on different topics that I did not really have the time to delve into the culture of dungeon hunting."
"...Oh, that kind of question," Lilly giggled, "Well, I suppose you can say the Expedition's goal isn't 'dungeon hunting', but 'dungeon closing'. Does… that make sense?"
"I… suppose."
"We still get paid at the end by the authorities, but it's not about the money," Lilly nodded several times, "It's about trying to close as many dungeons as possible so that we might be able to reclaim these parts of the region. It's… honestly quite n.o.ble."
"...What do you mean it's not about money?" Roan, who was sharpening his blades could not help but scoff and shake his head, "Don't believe her, Riley. The party that hunts the most monsters during the Expedition will be given a lot of gold and be recognized by the kingdom. So actually, yes. This isn't about money…
…It's about money and fame."
"Aunt Lilly is very greedy!"
"Wh—What are you teaching your son, Bert!?"
"He learns through observation," Bert let out a small sigh as he once again pulled his son away.
"Don't believe them. I am doing this for the people of our country, Riley," Lilly could really only let out an awkward chuckle as she returned to Riley.
"It is fine, Lilly. It is a basic human want," Riley shook his head, "But closing the dungeon, how do you think that works? I heard from Roan earlier that we need to kill the Boss of the monsters in order to close the dungeon, but how exactly does killing a beast do that?"
"I… actually have no idea," Lilly let out a small hum as she squinted her eyes. But after a few seconds of thinking, she just turned to look at Bert, "Bert? Since you're the only one amongst us who actually had an education, maybe you know?"
"Nope," Bert only scratched his beard and chuckled, "The scholars have tried to study it, but the only thing they have are theories."
"Well, there you have it," Lilly shrugged, "Let's not worry about that weird stuff and—wait."
Lilly then suddenly looked at Riley from head to toe as she once again squinted her eyes. Riley was incredibly strong, and she already discussed with Roan and Bert that he might be one of those Heroes of legend—so why was he asking about the dungeons as if he knew nothing about them?
Wait, is he really asking a question at all? Maybe he already knows why, and he's just curious if they know. Is… this a test?
"Do… you know why, Riley?" Lilly then gulped as she looked Riley in the eyes.
"No. I would not ask you if I did."
"...Oh." And with that, Lilly could really only sigh and drop her shoulders as she once again started fidgeting with her spear.
As for Riley, he grabbed the black box from his pocket and stared at it—the box was obviously still shattered from Aerith pulverizing it, but Riley put it back together just because.
It made sense for these world's scholars not to know how their dungeons work because of their limited technology. But it was obvious from the people that attacked him in the library that there were people here that knew more—perhaps truly the P'lopi.
But then if the people from the library truly were the P'lopi, then what about Lilly and the others? Are they the descendants of the advanced civilization?
But why is their civilization not as advanced? Are they perhaps just an experiment of the P'lopi? Or… were the P'lopi just using this planet to hide amongst its people?
But then again, the dungeons and portals are said to exist even before the dawn of men—the P'lopi were surely responsible for creating the portals, so they should—
"Hm," and as Riley realized that he was losing himself in his own world again, he quickly shook his head and also started getting ready… and taking off his pans and cutlery.
"You… cooking or something?" Roan could not help but ask, "Wait…"
He didn't wait for Riley's answer, however, as he started looking around him and was once again reminded that he was the only one that didn't bring anyone.
"Cooking, bringing your loved ones… I feel like we're just going camping," Roan said.
"It might as well be?" Lilly looked at the others before just shrugging her shoulders, "We're not really in any danger with the numbers we have. There have been many Expeditions throughout the years, but the casualties have always remained zero. The only way we would actually be in danger with our numbers is when an 8-Star monster appears."
"...An 8th-Star monster?" Roan gulped, "Are you sure we won't face something like that here?"
"...Pft."
"You're short, Roan. Not young," Bert and Lilly started chuckling while shaking their heads, "There hasn't been a monster above 5-Stars for hundreds of years now—the Heroes already eradicated them."
"But if you're still worried, the guild has actually sent scouts ahead of time. They have done this long before any of us have been born," Lilly sighed,
"This year's Expedition is not going to be any different."
"Hm…" Roan breathed out as he started pushing the drapes of the cart open; letting more light seep into the cart to illuminate his serious expression, "...The last one out carries our supplies and will set up camp!"
And all of a sudden, Roan leaped out of the cart and rushed away. This time, however, Roan and Lilly did not immediately follow and just looked at each other; sighing and shaking their heads.
Their camp was already set up—their cart. That was the very reason why they upgraded to a covered cart in the first place. This will also ensure that they would be one of the first ones to enter the dungeon since they didn't have to set things up.
"Yow, why are you guys moving!?"
"Pft," Lilly could really only burst out in a fit of laughter as Roan stuck his head back inside the cart before stepping inside again, "We don't have to set up camp, you idi—"
Her laughter, however, instantly disappeared as she saw a trickle of blood suddenly drip from Roan's nose.
"Roan… your nose."
"...Huh?" Roan blinked a couple of times as he looked down, only to see blood on his leather armor, "...What is this?"
Roan quickly touched his nose as he looked at his comrades, "What… what's this?"
"D…dad, I… don't feel too good."
And before Lilly could approach Roan, Jacob's quiet and stuttered whispers suddenly drowned the entire cart. They all looked at him, only to see him bleeding through the nose as well.
"..." Riley could really only blink a couple of times as he saw this. He then looked at Aerith, who was already staring at her. But of course, as Riley wasn't doing this, he quickly shook his head at her.
But soon, however, Roan's hand suddenly burst into flames.
"Roan!?"
"...Huh?" Roan, however, didn't seem to be in pain as he even raised his hand to look at it. As soon as he did so, however… the fire shot out from his hand and onto the highly flammable roof of their brand-new cart.
"Jacob!? Where's Jacob, he was just here!?"
"I'm… I'm right here, Dad. What… what's going on!? I'm scared!"
"...What!?" Bert could only raise his hands as he felt a small pair of arms embracing him. He could also hear his son's voice… but there was no one there.
"Oh," Riley hummed as he saw this.
It turns out…
…it was his fault, after all.