The Old Man Who Got A Second Round In Another World - Volume 3 Chapter 2

When dawn arrived, me and Phil departed from Rumberg towards the cave where the hidden room with a level reset function was. It’s location was at the middle point between Rumberg and the small village I lived in. At Raptor’s full speed it should take us at least half a day to arrive.

[It’s been awhile since I’ve worn these clothes. Youya, does it look weird? I didn’t mind it back then, but wearing something like this at my age feels shameful.] (Phil)

Phil had asked me a question while feeling embarrassed. Her current outfit was the adventurer’s standard battle outfit. It was a first-class set as it provided protections against the wind with beautiful green and white patterns that looked stylish and at the same time revealing. Phil’s current age was around her late twenties, however due to the unique characteristics of elves she only looked around her late teens, meaning there isn’t anything that looked out of place with her outfit. On the contrary, it looked great on Phil who had beautiful slim limbs, making her look like a fairy.

[I think it looks cute on you. It’s not as bad as you think especially when we were walking in the city. Everyone especially guys who we walked past in the town turned their heads to look at you. As your lover I felt proud, although there were some who went a little further than admiration and it felt nauseating.] (Youya)

While releasing Raptor from the stables on the way out of the town, there were many people who were turning around staring at Phil with a disturbing face. Phil was pretty enough to warrant that sort of response from other men.

[I’m happy that you feel that way. I’ve already passed my prime age and it still makes me anxious to wear this outfit in public, but if Youya says that its cute then I’ll wear it.] (Phil)

[Phil, let’s hurry up and depart.] (Youya)

[Okay. Hello Raptor-san, please take good care of us today.] (Phil)

[KUEE]

Raptor energetically replies to Phil. I straddled onto Raptor and pulled Phil onto his back. Phil placed her arms onto my waist from the back and grabbed me tightly. I could smell her scent from the front and it was as nice as ever. It wasn’t the scent of her perfume, but her natural smell that gives off the impression of a tranquil forest.

While enjoying the scent of warmth of Phil, I signalled Raptor to depart.

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After taking a break in the morning, we arrived at our destination a little over noon.

[I was surprised to find out that Raptor-san also has an accessory which provides protection against strong winds.] (Phil)

[Yeah he does, want to give it a test?] (Youya)

[KUEE]

Raptor proudly showed off the necklace on his neck. That necklace was a rare accessory which Phil had in her possession from a dungeon and has a special effect of raising the user’s movement speed by 30%. Phil had fastened the necklace onto Raptor’s neck and the blessing was successfully placed onto Raptor. Raptor began running at a speed much faster than he had ran before. With this, we should be able to arrive at Flaregard by a day or two ahead of schedule. This was a pleasant miscalculation.

[Phil. This cave is the dungeon with the hidden room.] (Youya)

[Just as it looks, it’s just an ordinary Wild Dungeon and it’s a cave-type dungeon. Any adventurer wouldn’t even consider entering this dungeon.] (Phil)

A wild underground dungeon with limited visibility and difficulties to secure a safe light source. Add that in with a large number of traps and you have the number one most dangerous, unwanted dungeon to enter.

[It is precisely that which allowed this room to go by undetected for so long. Now then, shall we enter?] (Youya)

[Yes, let’s do our best. I’ll have to hone my instincts back into shape as well.] (Phil)

Together with Phil, the two of us entered the cave-type dungeon. I use the Light Crystal to illuminate the surroundings while Phil activated the unique characteristic of her Jade Eyes, the eyes which only manifests itself in the elven race with the blood of their ancestors. Also, Phil and Til’s family were one of the most distinguished elven families due to the their stronger ties with their ancestors. Speaking of which, back when we were still travelling together, Phil regularly got complaints from her family asking her to quickly marry and bear a child to prevent their bloodline from dying out.

Actually, could that had been the reason Phil and I met?

Ever since Phil’s village was rescued by adventurers, she had always wish to become a adventurer. However her family was strongly against that idea, and as a result she ran away from home. After running away, she lost her way and in the end she was picked up by me. Thus having such an incident happen, she cut her ties with her elven roots. Several years later, the large incident where her elven village was assaulted was known and our party took part in the rescue mission. At that time, Phil must have managed to reconcile with her parents.

Afterwards, she continued to send letters back to her family and even occasionally returned to the village to visit them. And it was because of her, that Til also wished to become an adventurer and eventually ran away from home as well.

[Looks like the enemies appeared right off the bat.] (Phil)

Phil went into her combat stance while holding her bow. It was a wooden bow brimming with immense magical power, the Bow of the World Tree, made with the wood from the World Tree, the oldest and strongest tree in the world, and Spirit Thread from the world’s strongest Spirit Tree. The bow has excellent offensive-power attributes, magic power attributes and a special effect allowing it to grow. By absorbing the user’s mana and the spirit of the defeated monster, the bow will continue to grow. Since the bow has been Phil’s main weapon for the longest time, it has grown to have an outrageous performance as a weapon.

Most likely, even if Phil resets her level back to 1, with her accessories and equipment that synergises with Arrow Generation and the Bow of the World Tree, she could most likely enhanced her attack power to a level similar to a mid-level adventurer.

[I don’t see any monsters until the turn ahead, should we be on the lookout for any monsters at the bend?] (Youya)

The path that we were walking on had no monsters that could be seen. If there were any monsters hiding, they would be at the bend on the path. Otherwise, any monsters that are hidden can’t be detected without Presence Detection.

[Yes. Based on the flow of the wind, that should be the case.] (Phil)

However, that did not mean that Presence Detection was the only way of detecting them. For Phil, it was possible for her to detect them by looking at the path of the wind, allowing her to detect even things that can’t be seen using our eyes. If we had to wait until we were crossing the bend to discover a monster in hiding, it would have been a disadvantageous fight from the start.

Normally, it would be recommended to wait for the monster to appear rather than directly engage it in combat. However, it is possible for Phil to take aim and fire at the monster even in this situation. Phil took out an arrow and cut out a part of the arrow’s feathers before firing the arrow. The arrow changed direction mid flight as feathers were typically used to keep the arrow flying straight. By removing a portion of the feather, it is possible to alter the arrow’s trajectory and bend it. In the next moment, a monster’s screech could be heard from the otherside of the bend.

[Now then, let’s hurry. Otherwise we’ll be homeless tonight.] (Phil)

Although her sister Til was a master at the bow, Phil was the godfather of the bow. Not only is she able to obtain information such as the flow of the wind, just as she had demonstrated she was capable of showcasing many different skills at the bow. Taking shots which she isn’t able to directly see the target. Now that Phil is going to join our party, there will be many things for Til to observe and grow from now on. Although I have been able to train Luna and Selene who both were part of the front-lines, I have always been troubled on how I could assist Til in her training. However that trouble is now gone with Phil joining the party being able to train her younger sister.

[Looks like your skills haven’t deteriorated one bit.] (Youya)

[Truth is occasionally I’ve entered the dungeons to relieve stress. Whenever I am working as a receptionist, there are many times when I’ve wished I could just let loose and fire arrows. It’s refreshing to be able to fire off a shot or two whenever I’m working.] (Phil)

[It’s a pretty flashy way to relieve your stress. I guess being a receptionist is hard work.] (Youya)

[Eh. It’s seriously tough. I’ve had to handle so many selfish adventurers, sexual and normal harassment from my senior receptionists, harsh assignments, harassment from the higher-ups, aggressive solicitations for dates, stalkers.. It’s just a whole bunch of trouble in work. Of course, there are great things too.] (Phil)

I smiled bitterly to Phil as I slashed the monster’s head in front of me without looking. Us adventurers have been relying on the receptionists without considering their feelings since we have always had a working relationship. I’ll try to be more considerate from now on.

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Although we were in an underground dungeon with limited visibility, so long Phil is around we will be able to proceed more quickly by a large margin. Plus since we are both familiar with each others movements, it is naturally simple for us to cooperate. It was a pace that is incomparable to my pace when I was alone. Although we did have a Light Crystal unlike the first time, in a blink of an eye we have already arrived at the entrance of the hidden room. I pushed the stone statue, exposing an emblem carved into a seal on the wall.

[Wow there was a hidden door behind the stone statue? I would have never notice it.] (Phil)

[Behind the door is the room where you will be able to reset your level. However, only adventurers who have reached their maximum level are able to open the door. Phil, try placing your hand on the seal.] (Youya)

Phil nodded and placed her hand on the seal. Next, the seal was unlocked and a clunking sound could be heard, opening the door. Phil swallowed her saliva and looked at me. I nodded back and the two of us continued into the path behind the door.

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We arrived at the hidden room. I nonchalantly turned my head to the crystal where I found Luna.

[It looks safe.] (Youya)

There was nothing left inside the crystal. Wait, the blue crystal was beginning to crumble. I took a piece of the crystal in my hand and felt strong magical power flowing from it. It is most likely a magic tool, however I don’t know what is it’s actual function. Back when I first met Luna, I was so anxious that I hadn’t noticed the name of the crystal. Apparently it has a name, Blue Crystal. It could be responsible for Luna’s lost memories, let’s be sure to show it to her.

[Phil, as I mentioned earlier, take a light crystal from the wall and place it in the necklace of goddess statue. Afterwards, a voice will appear in your head and if you nod in response, your level will be reset along with the benefits.] (Youya)

[It’s finally time. I’m starting to get nervous.] (Phil)

Phil grabbed a crystal from the wall with trembling hands and placed it in the statue. Then, she began staring at the statue with a look of awe. She was most likely listening to the voice of the goddess. Then, Phil’s body began to envelop in light as her level became visible to me. She was currently level 1. Other people’s levels could only be seen if their level was much lower than your own.

[Youya, I’m done. My level really returned back to 1. It’s back to level 1 now. It feels a little depressing that I am starting over but it’s exciting to know that I’ll be much stronger than before.] (Phil)

[That’s the spirit. We managed to finish this in time and thanks to Phil’s Necklace of Swiftness, our round-trip will finish even earlier than expected. If possible, I’ll like to return and have you visit the hidden room in Rumberg to fix your status gain by today. It’ll be a really harsh schedule, do you think you can do it?] (Youya)

[Of course I do. Even back then, we were travelling around without sleeping for two days, isn’t it expected?] (Youya)

[Well you’re right. It was even more unreasonable back then.] (Youya)

To become a first-rate adventurer, depending on the situation this degree of unreasonableness is expected. If it’s Phil then she can definitely do it easily.

[Now then, let’s hurry back. Now that you are level 1, take more care of yourself as a single blow is already life-threatening.] (Youya)

[That is the case. Well in the first place my equipment places emphasis on my mobility and attack power. There isn’t a single area of my equipment where I’ve compensated for my low defense.] (Phil)

Phil had noticed my intentions even though I hadn’t mention anything about it.

[Don’t leave my side.] (Youya)

She may have the one of the best possible equipment, but her level was currently level 1. I have to be the one to protect her.

[“Don’t leave my side”. Then I’m going to take advantage of that and always stick to you.] (Phil)

Phil grabbed my arm and began laughing.

[It’s not bad to spoil you but maybe now’s not the time. It’s bad that I won’t be able to move properly.] (Youya)

[I know that. But this room is safe isn’t it? I’m going to do this until we leave.] (Phil)

If that’s the case then it can’t be helped. I continued to walk while tightly holding Phil by my side.

Let’s return to Rumberg as quickly as humanly possible. If possible, let’s complete the class assignment and status gain by today, then we’ll be able to reach Flaregard at least a day early. It’ll be nice for us to hurry and join up with everyone to form the strongest party ever.

Happy new year everybody!