Dragon's Wrath: The Cursed Returnee

"Unknown returnees?" Ethan furrowed his eyebrows. "Do those exist? I can only imagine that they are the ones that returned after failing to save those five worlds."

"That is what everyone is thinking as well…" Dante crossed his arms and then said it.

"... The dungeons only appeared a few days ago, but most of them should have been located by now," Emily said. "It is also suspicious that they found a way to hack into the servers of those countries… that should have taken a lot longer… unless they had privileged information."

Everyone went silent after that. No one wanted to confirm that… there was nothing worse at times of war than having enemies infiltrate in their ranks, revealing information to other enemies. They had too much to worry about, and Backstabbing wasn't something that they needed at the moment.

"At this point in time, it is clear that they are working for the enemies, and things here are only happening in places like this as a diversion…" Aline said while still glaring at Emily. "It doesn't matter if they are being controlled or not. They are working for the enemies, and they have the skills to remain unseen, and they have people helping them from inside. If you know anyone that fits the bill, you should spill the beans now."

Aside from those around the table, Ethan didn't know any other returnees… not that well, aside from his sister, of course. It was also hard to imagine that Ian and Emily knew others since they were always bothering him at school.

"We aren't insane to get involved with suspicious people. Besides, that kind of people would avoid people who have good senses like us," Ian shrugged. "We have things to consider like reputation and our families. Besides, Ethan's sister works for the government, and she would know anyone suspicious close to his brother."

"I am not just pointing fingers. I was just saying that this kind of thing will spread among people like us, and you should inform if you see anyone acting suspicious," Aline explained.

"Putting that side, which countries had their date stolen?" Ethan asked.

"... That Intel can't be revealed since it will put them in a bad spot since it will make it clear that the people working for those governments, at least some of them, can't be trusted," Dante replied.

Things were getting messy pretty quickly, and Ethan wondered if he was just that unlucky that such bothersome things were happening as soon as he returned or if it was unavoidable. Either way, he wasn't good at finding people like that. His specialty is in getting rid of as many enemies as possible when they try to fight him directly, so he will have to leave that in someone else's hands.

The group finished their breakfast and waited for news for a while until they started to get bored. Fortunately, at noon, Hannah contacted them.

"Good, it looks like you are all together and didn't cause problems while we weren't monitoring you all," Hannah said.

"It feels like you are talking with grade school kids…" Ethan said and then sighed. "Anyway, what is the news?"

"From the Intel I gathered, it looks like the monsters in your area are retreating to the dungeon again since only ten or so soldiers in the area lost their lives," Hannah explained. "We detected that some are also managing to return to the other side…"

"I guess that they are trying to save their forces since they achieved their goals…" Ethan rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Not exactly. Signs of teleportation weren't found in the places that were invaded, am I right?" Dante asked.

"Yes, you are… the unknown returnees probably still are on Earth," Hannah replied. "Still, it is hard to say how they are going to return… the situation is different from the other Ethan mentioned. I can tell that the enemies can't come and go as they please since they relied on the ability of the returnees to come back to earth. That being said, they are focusing everyone's attention on the dungeon again, so… things aren't making any sense."

If they wanted those guys to escape through the dungeons, then their actions were counterproductive in that regard. They were aiming for something else, but no one knew what it was…

"What are we supposed to do next?" Ethan asked.

"The governments are still negotiating with each other, so nothing is clear yet… so, don't do anything stupid," Hannah said. "We don't want an international incident at times like this. While we helped you to help your friend, that is only something that few people know, and if you try anything else, might people will know of your actions, and we all will have to give some explanations. Just stay put and conserve your energy."

That was some terrible advice and orders to give to teenagers. After all, they aren't exactly known for staying still and thinking rationally.

"Well, this is boring… what are we going to do?" Ian asked. "Maybe we should ask Isaac where we can use a simulator to kill time. Dante wants to practice that technique, right? Did you make any progress?"

"No…" Dante said and then sighed.

Ethan didn't like the idea that Ian was deciding their actions like that. Still, after increasing his speed, he had plenty of energy to burn, and he wanted to put it to good use.

"I guess we can kill some time that way, then," Ethan said. "The sooner you show some results, the sooner I will get my part of the deal. What are you two going to do?"

"I am going… it has been some time since I trained my body as well," Emily replied.

"I am coming too…" Aline said and then smirked. "I suppose you need all the help you can get, Emily. Since you don't have any meat in the right places."

"You mean fat, right?" Emily shrugged. "Having too much fat on those places only makes you look like a dairy queen."