Volume 1 Chapter 75 Allen And Ellis, What Happened Next
Allen finally regained consciousness after sleeping for a long time. It was a few days after Ark and the others set off towards Metis, early in the morning.
"Good morning."
Ellis, who was sitting right next to the bed, said as she looked at Allen.
"How are you feeling?"
"...Not very well."
Allen replied, feeling tired, as he placed his hand on his forehead.
Then he started thinking about why he was sleeping in an unfamiliar room and remembered what happened before he lost consciousness.
"Oh right, I need to get the key, that key again."
"Allen, it's okay, let it go."
"...What do you mean by 'let it go'? Where even is this place? How long was I asleep? What about Fiione and the others?"
Instead of answering Allen's rapid-fire questions, Ellis just stared at him in silence.
Ellis, who should have been imprisoned with Fiione and the others, is here because she asked Chester to let her stay with him until Allen wakes up.
At first, Chester refused, saying that he could not give special treatment to Ellis, but in the end he granted her request. Ellis didn't seem to be planning her escape, and she seemed genuinely worried about Allen.
Besides, there are adventurers guarding the hallway, but Allen doesn't know it yet.
"I can't stay like this. I need to get the keys back soon."
Allen tried to get up, but he couldn't put enough pressure on his arm and almost fell off the bed.
Ellis immediately accepted it.
"Don't push yourself too hard. You've only just woken up.
"Ah, it looks like I haven't regained enough strength yet. Could you please call Leanne-san? Let's have her use some healing magic (holy magic). A potion is fine too."
"I already tried that. But it didn't work."
"...It won't heal? Why on earth?"
Ellis woke up and told Allen everything that happened while he was sleeping.
They were caught as criminals, Fiione and Dorothea lied about why they fought with Ark, and Allen's Level Cap dropped from 90 to 10.
"Level Cap, only... 10...?"
Allen was shocked by Ellis's words.
He realized that he had become someone with such a low Level Cap, as if he had been ignoring even his own existence, not just defeated in battle.
It was hard to believe, but the feeling of power that he had previously experienced had completely disappeared. He couldn't deny it, even if he wanted to.
At that moment, Allen finally understood the situation and realized that he was in a helpless state.
"...What happened?"
Allen's expression was gloomy as he muttered helplessly, and there was no longer any trace of the confidence that had been in his heart until now.
Now that Allen is level 10, there's not much he can do. At most, he picks herbs and hunts a few goblins.
Obviously, this is not a job that an S-rank adventurer would do.
If it becomes known that his level has dropped, the Adventurer's Guild will no longer be able to help him. Because there is no longer any need for special treatment of Allen.
Allen looks around the room.
All the equipment he had on him was gone. The Clow Merchant guild must have taken it somewhere.
However, even if Allen were to find it, he would not be able to handle it due to his lowered status. It is impossible to break through the hired adventurers with skill alone.
Allen's unique sword technique called Sonic Blade is a combination of swordsmanship and wind-based magic skills, but now that all of his abilities have been reduced, people can't expect it to be as powerful.
He can't escape from here anymore.
"...This is some kind of mistake. I was definitely the chosen one, meant to rule the world with the power of the key..."
"That was a misunderstanding."
Ellis calmly told Allen, who was holding his head in his hands.
"We weren't the chosen ones after all."
"That can't be... When we became adventurers, everyone said that."
"Both Allen and I... We were just normal people with slightly higher Level Caps."
"That's ridiculous."
In battles, it's considered important how high your Level Cap is and how useful your skills are.
It's preferable for skills to be related to weapons or offensive magic, and sword skills are especially highly valued.
That was the common knowledge in this world.
Amidst that, the existence of a rookie adventurer named Ark comes to his mind.
Ark had a Level Cap of 1 and was known for a skill called [Instant Death Magic] that was considered useless.
It was clear to everyone that he wasn't suited for combat.
But on the other hand, Allen knows about Ark's strength, who should be the weakest adventurer.
It's not just abnormal; it could be said it's in a completely different league. Clearly, it wasn't a level 1 ability.
"But, isn't that strange?"
Allen couldn't simply accept that fact.
It would be a denial of himself to affirm the strength of level 1 Ark, especially for Allen who believed that those with a high Level Cap were excellent.
It was very scary for Allen.
He had always thought he was different from normal people, that he was special. Can he really accept now that it was just a misunderstanding?
(What on earth is that strength?)
Was the [Instant Death Magic] actually a powerful skill?
Was Ark not actually Level Cap 1?
Did he have skills other than [Instant Death Magic]?
But if any one of these is true, then the result of the Ability Appraisal by the Adventurer's Guild itself would be 'false'.
(That's right, Appraisal...)
The crystal balls that contain the power of the Ability Appraisal placed in each Adventurer's Guild have been explained by the staff to be of the same quality.
If what the staff says is true, there should be no differences in the Appraisal results.
He has never heard of a case where the Appraisal results in the Guild were incorrect, and there have been no rumors either.
In fact, Leanne, who is Ark's childhood friend, has her abilities correctly Appraised.
This also makes it unlikely that only Ark's Appraisal failed.
(No way...)
Eventually, Allen arrives at one possibility.
In this world, there might be individuals who possess "abilities that are not recorded" in the Appraisal.
But, is it really possible?
If there is an ability that makes the Level Cap meaningless, wouldn't that completely overturn common sense in this world?
As Allen pondered up to that point, he suddenly realized something.
("Who started the idea that being strong means having a high level cap in the first place?")
The more he thought about it, the more confused he became.
And then, it happened.
Ellis gently grabbed Allen's bewildered hand.
"I'm sorry, Allen."
"Huh?"
It was so sudden that Allen didn't really understand why Ellis had said such a thing.
"What's going on all of a sudden?"
"From now on, I will also think about it."
Ellis said firmly and clearly.
In those words, there was a strong will that couldn't be imagined from her, who had just gone with the flow until now.
Ellis had decided.
She would support Allen from now on.
"I didn't think about it before, but I'll think about it with Allen from now on. So, let's stay together from now on."
"Ellis... you..."
Allen looked straight at Ellis. It was something he hadn't done since becoming an adventurer.
"...Can I ask you one thing, Ellis?"
"What?"
"Where did I go wrong?"
"From the beginning, all of it."
Given such a straightforward answer, Allen couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"Ellis is tough, huh?"
"That's right. Be prepared from now on."
Ellis, who now smiles innocently like she did when she lived in the village, made Allen realize that all his worries and fears had disappeared somewhere.
He knew that he had lost everything and that the future ahead was not bright.
Yet, even without any basis, he started to feel that everything would somehow work out. He felt like he could make amends for his mistakes and that there was still time to resolve things.
The one who gave him such hope was his childhood friend who had always been by his side, wholeheartedly thinking of him.
"Thank you, Ellis."
As Allen squeezed her hand back, a single tear rolled down Ellis' cheek.
And so, the two of them were finally freed from the long-lasting curse that had tormented them.
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