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Chapter 18 – A New Departure
The next morning, the prime minister, the ministers, Glifas, Marvelle, and other important people of the country were all gathered in front of the royal castle to see us off as we were about to leave.
“Thank you, sir Haruto, for saving our country. I would like to express my gratitude on behalf of those who are not present here.”
The Prime Minister bowed deeply, and the other ministers followed suit.
“Please raise your head, it wasn’t anything that serious.”
The Prime Minister raised his head and said, “No, that’s not true”, before continuing.
“It is regrettable that after so much you have done for us, we cannot even give you something in return.”
The other ministers seemed to feel the same way and had apologetic expressions on their faces.
“Don’t worry about it. It can also be seen from another perspective, that if I hadn’t done what I did, you wouldn’t be in such a mess. In which case, you don’t have to go through all that trouble.”
“Thank you for your consideration…and as for the elves that sir Haruto brought with him…”
“Oh, right. I’m going to leave them here to keep an eye on the queen and the nobles who are doing their own thing, and if anything happens, you’ll be informed…I’ll let them know to cooperate as much as possible, so if there’s an emergency, please consult with them.”
And then Iris opened her mouth as if she remembered something.
“If something happens, you can rely on my country, the Kingdom of Perdis. We know that Haruto is related to this country, so we won’t try to take it over, don’t worry.”
At Iris’s words, the prime minister and ministers all bowed their heads and said, “Thank you”.
As we finished our conversation, Glifas and Marvelle approached us.
“Sir Haruto, please take care of Tendo and the others.”
“I leave them to you, sir.”
The two of them bowed to me.
“Raise your heads, both of you. I trained them thoroughly too, and I made sure they didn’t become complacent while at it. So, I’m sure they’re doing just fine in the Nargadia Labyrinth.”
“T-Thoroughly huh…?”
“That sounds terrifying.”
The two of them were smiling bitterly.
In fact, I had a two-on-one mock battle with these two once. I had to give it to them, they lived up to their titles as the knight captain and the chief royal wizard, or perhaps as the masters of Tendo and the other heroes, as they were quite strong…not as strong as I was though.
“And I’ll make sure all the other heroes return to Glicente safely. That’s why I chose the Nargadia Labyrinth, which has just the right level of difficulty.”
“Nargadia Labyrinth huh…”
The two of them wore a complicated expression on their faces.
“What is it? I thought it was a labyrinth with good conditions though…”
“Nah, it’s just that, the lowest level of the Nargadia labyrinth is said to contain a sealed evil dragon. Now it’s just a myth…”
“An evil dragon?”
I’d never even heard of such a thing. When I looked at the dungeon, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was some reason why I couldn’t find the boss monster, and now this, talk about bad vibes.
“I think it will probably be just fine…”
“Right…well, we’re on our way there now anyway, so you can relax for now.”
“Thanks.”
Then, once again, I turned to all of them.
“We’ll be on our way then. Thank you all for your help.”
With my words, Finne, Iris, Asha, Ephyr, and Kusel bowed to everyone before getting into the carriage.
Then I called out to Maguro.
“Let’s go, buddy!”
～
We left the royal capital and were making our way through the forest.
“Right. I should inform Aegan of what happened earlier.”
“What happened earlier?”
Finne had a question mark on top of her head.
“Yes. Didn’t I tell the prime minister and the others that they could receive intelligence regarding Mariana and the others from them? That’s what I’m talking about.”
I channeled my magic power into the communication tool and contacted Aegan.
“Aegan. It’s me. Can you hear me?”
‘W-Wait, is this, boss? What are your orders sir?”
Aegan seemed to be surprised by the sudden communication.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you, if there is any movement from Mariana or the royalist nobles, please inform not only me but also the prime minister and relevant bodies immediately.”
‘Aye sir.’
Again with the Aye sir…oh well.
I cut off the communication with Aegan with a subtle feeling.
“Right. I’ll let Sebas and the others know what’s going on. I’ve only contacted them once right after the attack.”
“Oh that sounds good.”
This time, I contacted Sebas, who was staying at the Perdis mansion.
“It’s me.”
‘Master Haruto? What can I do for you sir?’
“I just left the royal capital of Glicente, so I thought I’d let you know what my plans are. I’m thinking of stopping by the Nargadia Labyrinth instead of coming back there directly.”
‘I see. That dungeon. I understand. Please be careful.’
“Thank you. I’ll let you know when I leave the Nargadia Labyrinth.”
I said and cut off communication with Sebas.
～
Further down the road, we decided to take a break.
We parked the carriage at the side of the road and fed Maguro some fruits and vegetables, while we had a light lunch.
Then, I asked Kusel.
“Hey, Kusel.”
“Yeah?”
“This might be coming out late, but are you sure you want to continue following us? There is also the option of rejoining the Order…”
I said so, but she shook her head.
“No, I’ve told you many times that I don’t have any attachments to Glicente. I just think it would be more fun to travel with Haruto and the others.”
“…I see. Well, if that’s what you want, Kusel, then it’s fine.”
“It’s true. It’s more fun when it’s lively.”
“Iris is right.”
Finne agreed with Iris’ words. Asha and Ephyr also nodded.
In the midst of all this, there was a monster response to my Detect Presence.
“Guys, there are eight monsters coming from the northeast. Judging from their size and mana response, they’re probably greywulfs?”
“If so, I’ll take care of them. You all can continue to rest.”
Surprisingly, it was Asha who was the first to react to my words and stood up.
I could only offer my condolences to Kusel, who was about to get up cheerfully.
“Can you handle it, Asha?”
“Yes, of course.”
Asha nodded and moved in the direction the monsters were coming from, standing naturally without taking a stance.
A few moments later, the greywulfs appeared in front of our line of sight.
The greywulfs saw Asha as their prey, and attacked her at once, seeing as she had not even taken out her weapon and was defenseless.
“Asha!”
Iris, who had been watching over the situation, raised her voice.
However, Asha leapt and ducked the greywulfs, spinning gracefully.
And in the blink of an eye, she had eight knives lodged between her fingers on both hands.
She then made another turn in the air and used the momentum to throw the knives.
The eight knives accurately pierced the greywulfs between the eyes and ended their lives.
Seeing this scene, the other four were stunned.
““““Asha, I didn’t know you were this strong…””””
The words synchronized splendidly. Asha retrieved the knives and wiped the blood clean.
She then carefully placed them in the knife holder hidden in the skirt of her maid’s uniform.
“A-Asha, is that…?”
Iris also saw the knife holder, and asked fearfully.
“You mean this?”
“Yes.”
“They’re knives.”
“No, not that! I mean, why do you have so many of them, hidden no less?”
Asha was puzzled, as Iris rephrased her question so quickly.
“Should I have not……?”
“No, that’s not what I mean, no…hey, Haruto! Did you know about this?!”
Iris asked me and I nodded.
“Yeah. I’m the one who gave her the knife holder.”
When I answered, Iris said, “Why!?”.
“Because Asha asked me to.”
“Yes. I had originally learned how to use a concealed weapon from Sebas, and after leaving Perdis, I trained while listening to Haruto’s advice!”
As Asha nodded cheerfully, Iris seemed unable to say anything else.
Finne and Ephyr were giggling, and Kusel’s eyes were shining for some reason…Umm, I think I’m going to ignore that.
～
While all this was going on, Maguro seemed to have recovered from his fatigue, so we got into the carriage.
“Well then. I guess we’d better get going.”
“That’s true. We’ve had enough rest.”
“Yes, we have. I’ve never been in a dungeon before, so I’m really looking forward to it!”
“Princess, I will do my best to protect you from anything.”
“This is so exciting!”
“I’ve never been in a dungeon before, so I’m kinda nervous, but…I’ll give it my best!”
I was followed by Finne, Iris, Asha, Kusel, and Ephyr, who all spoke with great enthusiasm.
I grabbed the reins on Maguro and raised my voice in high spirits.
“Well, shall we get going. Our destination is the Nargadia Labyrinth!”
“*Neigh!*”
And so we proceeded with the carriage to the Nargadia Labyrinth, which Tendo and his party were conquering.