Endo turned at the last corner and arrived at teleportation room where Meld and the Knights were. However, even though his figure could completely be seen, Meld and the Knights didn't notice him at all. Endo then approached Meld with eyes of a dead fish, and called him.
"Commander! It's me! Please notice me! It's an emergency!"
"Uoh!? What!? Is it enemy's attack!?"
At the moment Endou raised his voice, Meld yelled, drew his sword, jumped back, and looked at the surrounding with vigilance. Even the other Knights were surprised and shaken for a moment, then they entered battle stance.
"Like I said, it's ME! Seriously, please don't give such reactions!"
"Eh? Wait, it's Kousuke, huh. Don't surprise me like that. Rather, what happened to the others? Besides, aren't you somewhat ragged?"
"I said it before, there's an emergency!"
When Meld and the Knights understood it was Endou, they relaxed their shoulders because they knew how thin Endou's shadow was. However, Endou returned earlier than scheduled, and it was only him. Furthermore, Endou was ragged and covered in wounds, that's why their expressions became stern and guessed something must've happened.
As he was hurting because of the fact even the Kingdom's elite Knights were incapable of noticing him unless he called out to them. However, Endou thought it was not the time for that and he began to talk about the situation rapidly.
At first, Meld and the Knights put on dubious expressions, but their expression tightened as Endo advanced in his story. Then, maybe because his heart was shaken when his story reached to where he retreated alone, Endou was drown in tears and his head was patted.
"Don't cry, Kousuke. You are doing something only you can do. Do you think any of them can run through 20 floors in such a short time without even a fight? You've done well. I've certainly received your words."
"Commander... I, I'll return to them now. Even though they'd be able to return here by themselves... even if this time they said they won't lose... Amanogawa was unable to defeat the enemies even with "Limit Break." All we could do was to run away. Everyone is considerably exhausted, so even if their injuries heal... if they are attacked... we still don't understand everything about those bastard demonic beasts... that's why, please return to the surface and convey this information."
So ashamed that he was crying, Endou rubbed his eyes with his sleeve, and said with a resolute expression.
Meld bit his lip in regret, and handed over the tool bag filled with all of the highest grade healing potions and everything else inside. The other Knights copied Meld's actions, and entrusted their tool bags to Endo, feeling mortified.
"I can only apologize, Kousuke. Although we want to rescue them together... we will just be a hindrance to you..."
"Ah, no, please don't worry about that. There's a considerable decrease in the number of our potions, so it will surely help us."
Saying that, Endou shook the tool bags where various potions were kept with a wry smile, but Meld's frown only deepened. It was not only because he was mortified with his incapability of helping them, but also due to the bitterness.