Live Dungeon!

[Tsutomu sure left behind one hell of a parting gift…]

Camille let out a long, weary sigh as she surveyed the Guild, which was still in disarray well into the afternoon. Just days ago, she had received a letter personally delivered by Garm, containing shocking truths she had mpt learned until after the fact. And now, with Tsutomu’s sudden retirement headlining the morning paper, the uproar showed no signs of abating.

If someone on the decline had chosen to bow out, it would have been understandable. But Tsutomu still stood at the top, with the deepest reached Dungeon layer among all active Explorers. For a figure of such standing to abruptly retire and vanish entirely was, by all conventional logic, unthinkable. Rumors had swirled at first, some speculating he had eloped with Amy, who had also recently taken leave. But her presence had already been confirmed somewhere within Dungeon City, whereas for Tsutomu himself, no one could find a trace of him.

“Where is Tsutomu’s hometown, anyway? Not even Solit Company or House Babenberg seems to know.”

“Then it’s probably not near the Royal Capital either, right? What if he’s from the Imperial Capital or something?”

“Even if that’s the case, he couldn’t have crossed the border. If he had, the Security Team would’ve nailed him by now. My guess is that he’s from some backwater nowhere. Hannah came from some remote village too, didn’t she?”

Over the past three days, the fact that even the Security Team’s elite units, dispatched to the Empire’s border on a hunch, had turned up nothing only deepened the mystery. His trail was simply too perfectly erased.

Speculation ran wild, and the chaos surrounding Tsutomu’s retirement, and the subsequent departure of many members of Absolute Helix, shook the Explorer community to its core. The incident forced many to reflect on their own lives. Those dissatisfied with their progress, and those who had worked hard only to find themselves stuck in place, began seriously considering change. A noticeable number declared intentions to switch Clans or even retire entirely.

With the entire city thrown into upheaval, Camille and her Guild staff had been forced to divert significant manpower just to manage the influx of Clan transfers and new member registrations. The bulletin board for Clan recruitment was mobbed day and night, overflowing with voices. Some were heated, some were hopeful. They argued over contracts, negotiations, and long-awaited decisions.

[Cleaning up this mess after the fever dies down is going to be a pain… wonder how many swimsuits this will earn me. Heh.]

It was true that some would benefit from a fresh start, but there would also be those who would make the leap and regret it. The aftermath was sure to bring disputes, and Camille, seeing the writing on the wall, refrained from offering unnecessary advice and instructed her staff to be equally hands-off. Instead, she focused their attention on ensuring every contract was properly documented.

[Still… Tsutomu really pulled one over on us. I know it’s selfish to say this, but if he’d just been upfront with me, maybe there was something I could have done.]

Camille had long suspected Tsutomu was hiding something, but never in her wildest guesses had she imagined he was from another world. It was not until Garm showed her the mysterious paper card, something eerily similar to a Status Card, that she accepted the truth. And once she read the apology-laced letter addressed to her, she could not help but understand why he had not confided in anyone.

Still, it hurt, and considering the current state of her daughter, it was harder to forgive.

Amira had looked up to Tsutomu and trusted him a great deal. Even Camille had seen how lively her daughter became during their conversations. And now, that same daughter sat drunk and bitter, publicly denouncing him as a traitor, then crying alone into her pillow at night.

At the end of the day, the question was this: was Tsutomu really right to leave the way he did?

If she were in Amira’s shoes, Camille thought, she would have wanted at least one honest conversation before the end. Tsutomu had chosen to speak only with Garm and Amy. Even if he had left letters for the rest, the fact remained that he had departed without a direct goodbye.

[To him, maybe he had not meant to draw those lines so sharply. But to everyone else, it must have felt like he did.]

It was no wonder Amira and Daryl had taken it so personally. And once that idea took root, that they were less trusted, it was hard to shake. It wa no’t hard to imagine them thinking they were used, or never truly valued.

[Then again, it’s hard to believe someone as guarded as Tsutomu came clean with Garm and Amy from the very start. That’s not how he is. I doubt even they were told everything until the last possible moment.]

Given Tsutomu’s personality, if he had revealed his situation from the beginning, he would have let the rest of his Clan, as well as Camille, in on the secret as well. Her theory was that Tsutomu had planned to leave quietly, without telling a soul. Some accident or leak must have occurred, forcing him to reveal the truth to those two. The letter he had left for Garm, which she had read the day before, all but confirmed her suspicion.

[Still, I’ve got to find a way to bring him back, sooner rather than later…]

The thought that Tsutomu might one day return had lifted Camille’s spirits more than she expected. It was by no means a sign of him starting to open up, but for someone as reserved as he was, it was close enough. That much honesty was enough to inspire her to act.

Because when he did return, there might be nothing left to return to, unless someone stepped up to deal with the fallout now. She had to smooth things over with not just Amira, but with the other former Clan members as well.

Camille allowed herself to briefly indulge in fantasies, that when Tsutomu finally made it back, she would make him pay for all the trouble by dragging him out on the most expensive shopping trip she could come up with.

She quickly wrapped up her Guild Master duties for the day and set out for home, where her daughter was likely nursing yet another hangover.