Chapter 221. The Spear and the Treasure Chest (1) (1/2)

Yuirel was waiting on the outskirts of the area with a group of Cave Fairies. As soon as the expedition team came out, they requested the Sky Fairy for purification.

But the effect of the purification did not happen. According to the Sky Fairy, it wasn’t because the Branch of the World Tree was ineffective, but because they weren’t under the curse in the first place.

The Sky Fairy was confused, but Seol Jihu had a good guess why. He wasn’t completely sure, but Roselle probably had a hand in it.

”How is this possible?”

Yuirel was extremely curious. Not only had they escaped unscathed, but they also weren’t afflicted by the curse.

Seol Jihu prepared four plates of banquet noodles for the Sky Fairy, who was staring at him with sparkling eyes before briefly explaining what had happened inside.

”Roselle La Grazia…….”

Yuirel carefully listened to Seol Jihu’s story, but she had just one thing as her main concern.

”Do you think she’ll treat us like guests if we enter?”

Seol Jihu said he wasn’t sure about that.

In the first place, it was thanks to Flone that the expedition team could meet Roselle. If they didn’t have the pendant or Flone with them, then the Stage 2 alert status of the Stele of Evaluation would have activated and caused the expedition team to fall into a far more serious crisis.

It would be another story if they could wake up on their own like Teresa did, though.

”Then we’ll have to continue restricting our people from entering the area.”

After letting out a bitter laugh, Yuirel asked.

”I've listened to your interesting story well. Will you head back right away?”

”Yes, that’s what we’re planning to do.”

”I feel a bit sad now that we’re saying goodbye.”

Yuirel added while squinting her eyes.

“The banquet noodles, that is.”

”It was a fun encounter. I’d love to see you again next time.”

After frankly revealing her inner thoughts, Yuirel extended her hand. Seol Jihu didn’t hesitate to take it.

It was only after he shook hands with Yuirel that the expedition team could finally prepare themselves for their trip back home.

'Now that I think about it.'

He had made a connection with the Federation.

Seol Jihu gave a satisfied smile, thinking to himself that while it wasn’t a smooth-sailing expedition, it was definitely one that he had earned a lot from.

Just before setting off, he turned to glance in the direction of the Pagoda of Dreams.

The forest was…

”….”

…still shining in a mixture of gold and blue.

Like all things, the expedition wasn’t over until it was truly over.

Dylan had always emphasized that an expedition’s end was not when they successfully cleared their objective, but when they safely returned back to their base.

Likewise, Seol Jihu urged them not to relax their caution until they arrived at Haramark before commencing their march.

The speed of the march back could only be much slower as they had packed all of the inheritance into their bags. Nevertheless, each magic bag reduced the volume of the inheritance from at least one-tenth to one-twentieth of the original volume, so there was no issue carrying them back.

The expedition team happily marched while humming with bright and hopeful faces. They only stopped their march when they left the border region.

The sun had yet to set. It was still pretty early to set up camp, but they had a clear reason for stopping.

Whatever the job, the calculations needed to be exact. There needed to be no mistake, especially when it came to distributing the goods.

Seol Jihu finally said the words that everyone had been waiting for.

”We’ll be setting camp here for today.”

”Damn it. This has to be the first time I’ve had to consume mana while marching.”

Phi Sora grumbled while letting her bags drop.

Seol Jihu chuckled.

”It would have been easier if we had brought porters.”

”Well… I think I know why we didn’t.”

Looking at the bags, Phi Sora grinned before starting to stretch her body. She had a serious face like that of an athlete about to begin an important competition.

…In reality, she really wanted to hurry up and total the expedition rewards to confirm her portion of the share.