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The Paper User: Exiled for a ‘Trash Skill,’ Awakens True Power and Rises with Two Unique Skills ,Volume 2 - Chapter 32

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Chapter: To the Surface

After that, we continued crawling through the narrow hole.

We broke the rocks blocking our path with axes and climbed the steep slope.

And then—

Crawling out through a gap between the rocks, sunlight fell upon my mud-covered body.

“Ah…”

We had reached a grassland.

A cool breeze rustled the wild grasses around us.

“W-We made it…”

An adventurer nearby let out a hoarse voice.

“We did it! We’re saved!”

“Yeah… thank goodness.”

A brown-haired adventurer wiped the tears forming at the corner of his eyes.

“Good work.”

Almine touched my shoulder.

“Yakumo, it’s thanks to you making the staircase.”

“That’s right!”

Pirun chimed in.

“Yakumo’s ability really came in handy.”

“Handy… huh.”

I looked around at the adventurers celebrating.

Indeed, my paper spiral staircase had prevented our complete annihilation.

But many adventurers had died, and only twenty-eight survived. This wasn’t exactly a situation to celebrate.

“Don’t make such a grim face.”

Kinako tapped my waist with her paw.

“At times like this, you should just be glad you survived.”

“Y-Yeah…”

I took a deep breath to calm my mind.

“Yakumo.”

Melt approached and gripped my hand tightly.

“Thanks to you, we’ve returned to the surface.”

She looked at me seriously.

“Thank you… and I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?”

“I underestimated your strength. I knew you weren’t a typical E-rank, but I never imagined you were stronger than me.”

“N-No, that’s not true.”

I shook my head rapidly.

“Melt, you’re S-rank, and avoiding those four-sword attacks is tough.”

“But you have the unique skill to materialize paper—and that weapon of yours.”

Melt pointed at the Magic-Eating Dagger at my waist.

“You used that dagger to injure the Plant Dragon, and your paper materialization saved us by creating the spiral staircase. You undoubtedly achieved the most.”

“Indeed.”

Greg nodded in agreement.

“I didn’t expect your ability to materialize paper would be so useful.”

“Ah. For this achievement, we’ll increase your reward.”

“Ah, thank you.”

I thanked Melt.

Extra rewards were always welcome. I could increase donations to the orphanage with them.

“Hey, Melt.”

Kinako called to her.

“Do you remember what Rugal said?”

“Rugal’s words?”

“Yeah. He said he received powder from Zeldia of the Six Demon Stars to draw a teleportation circle.”

“Right… Why?”

“If you get any information about Zeldia, tell me immediately.”

“…That’s fine, but is it relevant to us?”

“Not directly. But he must be killed. He’s a demon who destroyed my hometown.”

Kinako’s voice dropped.

“…Understood. I’ll report any information immediately.”

Melt nodded seriously.

Two days later, we returned to the town of Tansa.

The adventurers, exhausted, slumped in front of the massive southern gate.

I pulled out a water bottle from my magical pocket and drank it all at once.

That had been tough. I wanted to find an inn and sleep quickly.

“Hey, Yakumo.”

Alber called to me, with Dazzle and Camilla standing behind him.

“Where did you get that dagger?”

Alber pointed at the Magic-Eating Dagger at my waist.

“This weapon was made by our leader’s alchemist.”

“Don’t lie! No unknown alchemist could make a weapon that good!”

“Exactly.”

Dazzle agreed.

“I saw it—the blade extending and growing. That’s a national treasure-level weapon.”

“Ah, well… it’s a good weapon, but it has a flaw.”

“Flaw?”

Camilla asked.

“It consumes an enormous amount of magical power to change the blade.”

“But your base magic power isn’t extraordinary.”

“Thanks to some things, a skill to increase my magical power has returned.”

“Huh? What’s that?”

Camilla’s face showed surprise.

“Really? That’s possible?”

“I’m surprised too. But thanks to it, I can use this dagger.”

I touched the Magic-Eating Dagger at my waist.

“I see.”

Alber fixed a sharp gaze on me.

“So that’s how you could make such a massive paper staircase.”

“Yeah. I can now materialize far more paper than before.”

“…Hmph. Finally, I understand why you got stronger.”

Alber twisted his lips.

“But don’t get cocky. You only succeeded because of that weapon. If I had it, I could have defeated the Plant Dragon too.”

“…That might be true.”

I didn’t deny Alber’s words.

The Magic-Eating Dagger consumes a lot of magical power to change its blade. Alber doesn’t have the skill to boost his base magic, so he couldn’t wield it like I do.

Even explaining that, he probably wouldn’t accept it.

“Listen, Yakumo.”

Alber pointed at me.

“I’ll acknowledge that you did well. But don’t forget—our adventurer skills are still far superior to yours.”

Saying that, Alber and the others turned and left.

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