A conference room in Elysium’s central hall. Seated with serious expressions were the three elders who led Elysium, Adil, who had been taken hostage by a stranger while recovering Bellium’s Tears, and Araven, who was attending as a witness. The first to speak was Renon, a dwarf and one of the elders.

“Before we begin the meeting proper, I’d like to hear exactly what happened. Adil, you go first.”

“After recovering Bellium’s Tears, I contacted Lord Araven to let him know. While I was waiting for the escort to arrive, a stranger abducted me. I don’t remember much about what happened just before or after.” Adil added that the man had probably used a curse. At first, he frowned as though recalling that time was painful, but he soon calmly recounted everything he had seen and experienced.

Renon considered Adil’s account, then asked, “What about the necromancer’s body?”

“We retrieved it. It’s being kept temporarily in an unused basement storeroom,” Araven answered for Adil.

“Good. Now, about Bellium’s Tears. Is what Adil said really true?”

“I saw it clearly with my own eyes.”

“Araven, was there any indication that the man deliberately absorbed Bellium’s Tears?” asked another elder, an elf named Heset.

“None whatsoever. Lord Minjun is quite bewildered himself.” After a moment’s thought, Araven added, “And although Lord Minjun is human, he can wield dragon power. It’s possible Bellium’s Tears chose of its own will to be absorbed by him.”

No one had succeeded in extracting it, but Bellium’s Tears contained highly concentrated dragon energy believed to belong to Bellium. They could suspect Minjun of using his power to absorb it—but the reverse was possible, too.

“Then what makes you think Bellium’s Tears chose to be absorbed by him?”

“This is only a hypothesis, but perhaps it reacted with extreme aversion to the necromancer’s particular energy.”

“Circumstances, hypotheses... We have nothing certain.” Heset buried his face in his hands, visibly frustrated.

If there had been even a vaguely similar precedent, they could have consulted it. But neither the historian who had devoted his entire life to studying Bellium and Elysium nor the seasoned mage had ever encountered anything like this. There was no obvious solution. In principle, the necromancer responsible should be held accountable, but he was already dead. Summoning Minjun and grilling him about absorbing Bellium’s Tears was awkward, too. According to Adil and Araven, Minjun had no idea what had happened. And while they did not know exactly how it had occurred, it did not appear to have been deliberate in the first place.

“This is... complicated.” Minjun did not know how to return Bellium’s Tears even if they asked. Besides, he had selflessly helped Elysium’s citizens twice, yesterday and today, making it difficult even to broach the subject. But they could not simply let him keep it, either. Bellium’s Tears was a precious sacred relic, and aside from the one Minjun had absorbed, only two remained.

Clutching their heads and groaning in frustration, they put their minds together to find an answer. A few suggestions came up, but none satisfied everyone. As the meeting dragged on and silence settled over the room, Adil cautiously raised his hand.

“I don’t know what everyone here will think, but I believe we should simply accept what’s happened.”

“Accept it?” Renon asked.

“I’ve heard Elysium already owes Lord Minjun a great debt. Now that he’s absorbed it, we have no way to get it back. And considering the circumstances, he deserves to keep it.”

Yesterday, Minjun’s exceptional performance during the large-scale monster invasion had reduced Elysium’s casualties. Yet while everyone acknowledged his contribution, giving him Bellium’s Tears as a reward for it would, by any sober assessment, be excessive. So Adil offered another reason.

“More importantly, if not for Lord Minjun, Bellium’s Tears would already have fallen into that necromancer’s hands.” Without Minjun’s efforts, today’s meeting might instead have been about how to recover the stolen relic. Had that been the case, they would have had a worse headache than they did now, and spent the entire meeting seething with anger. Taking Minjun’s contributions and the circumstances as a whole, letting him keep Bellium’s Tears was not entirely unreasonable.

“Now that I think about it, we’ve overlooked something important.” Insisting on reclaiming Bellium’s Tears under these circumstances might be like killing the goose that laid the golden eggs.

“We have no other solution. Let’s do as Adil suggests.”

“We can consider it a gift of thanks to the guardian of Elysium who came from afar.”

The three elders agreed to follow Adil’s proposal.

“We should also consider how close we came to the worst possible outcome: Lord Bellium’s remains being taken out of Elysium,” Araven added. Bellium’s remains were precisely what the necromancer had demanded in exchange for Adil and Bellium’s Tears. The relic was important, but Bellium’s remains were incomparably more significant to Elysium’s history.

“That makes the decision even clearer.”

“Apart from letting him keep Bellium’s Tears, we should consider expressing our gratitude in another way.”

“Then it’s decided.”

* * *

Time passed, and before I knew it, evening had come. Adil still hadn’t shown up. Maybe the meeting was still going. The last thing he’d said was, “It might take a while,” so I supposed I’d just have to wait patiently. I was getting hungry, so I went back to the inn for dinner. Conveniently, it also ran a small restaurant. Estelle had said the citizens would cover my lodging and meals for about a month, so I wouldn’t have to worry about food or a place to sleep for a while. Though I needed to get back to Earth before a month was up, not plan to stay longer. I’d think about that after speaking with Adil. For now, dinner came first.

As soon as I sat down, the woman running the restaurant brought me food, and a group of little kids came hurrying over from who knew where.

“Hero! Hero! We heard you beat up another bad guy today!”

“Will you tell us about it?”

“Yeah! Tell us how you defeated him!”

Word had evidently spread already. Children of various races gathered around me in little groups, pestering me to tell them what had happened today.

“Kids! Lord Minjun is eating. He must be hungry, so let’s not bother him.”

“Aww.”

“Just a little! Can’t he tell us a little bit? Please?”

A server who looked to be in their late teens had spotted the commotion and tried to stop them. Even in another dimension, some things were the same everywhere.

“I’m sorry. One of them is my younger sibling, and the others are their friends. I told them not to disturb you while you ate, but they didn’t listen.”

“It’s all right. Kids, I’ll tell you after I finish eating. Can you wait a little?”

“Yes!”

“You promise! You promised us!”

Looking disappointed, the children obeyed the server and went to a table in the corner. Thanks to that, I enjoyed the rest of my meal in peace.

I was nearly finished when the door opened and I heard Adil call, “Lord Minjun!”

“Is the meeting over?”

“Yes! I’ve just come from there.”

“How did it go?”

“I think it would be better to discuss it in your room, where we can speak privately.”

It was important, so that made more sense than talking in the restaurant.

“Right now?”

“Yes. Wouldn’t you rather hear it right away?”

“I would, but... aren’t you hungry, Adil?”

He had been held hostage and then spent hours in a meeting. He had to be tired and hungry, so I’d meant to give him a little time to rest.

“No. I don’t have much of an appetite. When I get home, I’ll probably go straight to bed without eating.”

“Then let’s talk.”

When I stood up, the children, who had been listening to us, came running over.

“Lord Minjun! You said you’d tell us about today after you finished eating!”

“That’s mean...”

“Sorry. I’ll come back down and tell you once I’m done talking with Adil. I really am sorry.”

After apologizing to the children, I went upstairs with Adil to my room.

As soon as we entered, Adil took an empty chair and got straight to the point. “To give you the conclusion first, we’ve decided to formally recognize your ownership of Bellium’s Tears.”

“Really?”

I’d worried I might get caught up in all sorts of complications, but it seemed things had worked out. Adil went on to explain in detail what had been discussed at the meeting and why they had reached that decision. He also told me there would be a separate reward.

“The elders did have one small request for you, however.”

“A small request...?”

“They asked if you could give them a few items from the world you came from. They needn’t be valuable.”

Since I was from another world, they must have been curious about its culture, technology, and everything else.

“They didn’t ask for anything specific?”

“No.”

If simply receiving items from another world was what mattered, a few odds and ends should do.

“I can do that much.”

“Excellent.” Adil dipped his head in thanks.

“And how are you feeling now, Lord Minjun? Could you tell me what changed after you absorbed Bellium’s Tears?”

“My dragon energy definitely seems stronger than before. I can feel how much I’ve grown. If this were an expensive elixir instead of a precious relic, I’d probably have spent every last penny I had to buy it.”

That was the one disappointing thing. If an elixir or artifact had a similar effect, I’d buy it on the spot.

“I see. Now, tell me what you wanted to ask me. I heard you needed my help, but I still haven’t had the chance to hear what with.”

“I want to know about Bellium’s statue in the center of the square—the one you look after.”

“The statue? I can certainly tell you about it, but that’s rather unexpected. May I ask why?”

I explained that I felt connected to the statue somehow, and that it seemed to be the key to returning to my own world. I also told him about the strange experiences I’d had yesterday and today. Adil nodded slowly as he listened.

“Very well. I could tell you what I know right now, but rather than burden you with irrelevant gossip, it would be better to give you only the information you need. I’ll go home and rest tonight, then get up early tomorrow to organize my materials. I can come back to see you then.”

One look at Adil’s face told me he was exhausted. We probably wouldn’t manage a long conversation in that state anyway. Rest came first.

“Let’s do that. Thank you. Go get some sleep.”

“I’m the one who should be thanking you. You saved my life. Thank you again.” Adil bowed and left the room.

“Oh, right. I almost forgot to tell you something.”

“What is it?”

Adil smiled with quiet satisfaction, then lowered his voice to a whisper, as though no one else was supposed to hear.

“Beneath the statue is a secret chamber built by Lord Bellium himself. Let’s go there together tomorrow.”

“A secret... chamber?”

I hadn’t expected that offer at all. Maybe I’d learn even more than I’d hoped.

“Normally, outsiders aren’t allowed in. But you’ve helped Elysium, Lord Minjun. I’ve also obtained permission from all three elders, and... there’s another reason. I’ll explain that in more detail tomorrow.”

I’d thought some of my questions might finally be answered, but Adil left the room having given me even more to wonder about.