/
An hour had passed since the battle with the ogres. The Subjugation Troops were administering care to the injured and repairing the carriages.
The reason the ogres had suddenly appeared was that a Magic Relocation Circle was put into place. The Subjugation Troops had been informed that the empire was behind the Rotten Dragon’s resuscitation. Their conclusion was that the empire must have put the Relocation Circle into place.
A significant number of casualties emerged because of the ogre attack, but miraculously, no one had died. Roughly a third of the carriages had been destroyed, and with their transportation means reduced, it would be difficult to continue carrying out the strategy.
As the troops were deliberating about what to do, Reito reported that he could repair the carriages with alchemy.
He stood in front of the carriage and used “High-Speed Shape Change,” “Mending,” and “Grafting” to skillfully restore the carriages.
“Whaaa!!”
“Wow!!”
“You stole my line.”
Reito went around repairing all objects in sight.
Fixing up all metal and wood objects in a minute, all the carriages were back in shape.
“Okay, that should do it.”
“W, Wow!! I didn’t know you could do this with alchemy!!”
“I can’t believe it
 You put everything back together!”
“And you’re supposed to be an unemployed loser.”
The adventurers were surprised at how fast Reito was fixing things.
Erina and crew, who had been looking into the Relocation Circle, had returned.
“Bro!! The circle wasn’t made by elves!! They think it was made by humans!!” Erina said.
“It did seem like they appeared out of nowhere when we were moving
 Perhaps they used ‘Delayed Magic?’” Dain added.
Reito looked confused at what Dain was saying, so he explained further.
“It’s a magic that can be activated on delay. It would have been difficult to time it just right to activate when we pass by. Perhaps it wasn’t Delayed Magic but Remote Control Magic. If that’s the case, I wonder if there was someone nearby who could use the “Remote Control” technical skill.
The other adventurers looked grim at what Dain was saying. If his prediction was correct, there was quite the dangerous magician amongst their enemies, and they couldn’t be careless as they moved along. Also, if they ran into creatures like ogres on multiple occasions, they might lose all their soldiers before reaching the Rotten Dragon.
The adventurers were thinking about what strategy to adopt going forward.
“What should we do? Should we separate our forces and send them on separate routes?”
“It’s dangerous to carelessly scatter our battle capabilities. We are behind schedule for our original strategy. Considering the possibility of moving at night, splitting up would be too dangerous.”
“Yes, but I think it’s just as dangerous to continue with our previous strategy not knowing how many traps lie ahead.”
“What were the Reconnaissance Troops doing anyway!! Why didn’t they notice the trap!?”
The adventurers of the various guilds weren’t able to harmonize and continued their argument.
“Like I said!! All we can do is split up and head toward the destination!! The first one that gets there can challenge the Rotten Dragon for themselves!!”
“This isn’t a race!! What do you think you’re going to do if we separate against a legendary dragon?”
“What are you, a scaredy-cat?!”
“What did you call me?!”
“Cut it out. We don’t want to divide the ranks!” Kagemaru tried to make peace, but the other adventurers were irritated.
“Shut up!! Don’t think you’re so special just because Lord Maria likes you!! You assassins are only useful for reconnaissance!!”
A woman assassin chimed in, “Hey! Don’t think I’ll just let that slide!? Just who do you think we are!?”
“Just give up!! We don’t wanna push things any further!!”
The argument between the adventurers was getting more intense. The atmosphere in the room was getting toxic.
Reito communicated with Airis while they argued.
『Airis.』
『Wow, you’re saying my name correctly.』
『Oh, shit. Let me say it again. Ivy-!!』
『What am I?! A plant?! I swear
 You seem better.』
Airis was glad that Reito was in good enough spirits to make fun of her name.
『So, you’re stressed about what to do next? Don’t worry about it.』
『What do you mean?』
『They seem to be talking it out, but, everything is about to be capsized. Look at the sky. There’s not a drop of rain in the sky, right?』
『Now that you mention it.』
Reito looked up at the sky and found grey crowds hovering.
Before he could ask about it, he remembered that the Rotten Dragon was “weak to sunlight.”
『You don’t possibly mean
!?』
『That’s right. If the sun is blocked by clouds, the Rotten Dragon can move even in the daytime. The Rotten Dragon has already begun moving toward the city.』
『That freaking sucks』Reito muttered before asking for a counter-strategy,『What are you going to do? Are you going to intercept it?』
『That’s foolish. You should turn back.』
『There’s a low chance we’ll win?』
『The enemy doesn’t just have the Rotten Dragon, but also hundreds of Undead. Thanks to you, the Empire agents who infiltrated the city have been wiped out. So, as a result, they decided to raise an army of the Undead instead.』
『Hundreds of Undead, and a Rotten Dragon
』
『To be honest, there is no chance of winning in the grasslands. You should intercept them in the city and drive them back. The clouds won’t clear up until night, so you should buy time.』
『Got it
 But, how can we convince the others?』
『That’s the problem, isn’t it. Everyone would be suspicious if you proposed a retreat, right now. If you do it poorly, you might be mistaken for an enemy spy.』
Reito remembered the word “Reconnaissance” that came up when the other adventurers were talking.
『I’ve got it!』
『Did you think of something?』
『Well
 For now, tell me where the Rotten Dragon is.』
『Yeah, yeah.』
Reito heard the location of the undead from Airis and ended communications.
Reito talked to the adventurers who were arguing.
“I will go out and do reconnaissance.”
“
!?”
The adventurers paused as if to say, “what are you talking about all of a sudden!?”
Kagemaru was the first to react.
“Are you serious?”
“Yes. Things won’t progress as they are now. I should go and do reconnaissance work.”
“Hey now! That’s the job of assassins. You’re just a swordsman
 Or, wait, aren’t you a magician? In either case, can you actually do reconnaissance work?” One adventurer asked. Other Hailstorm adventures chimed in.
“Right!! You’re just cocky because Lord Maria likes you!!”
“Dumbass!! That’s Maria’s nephew!?”
“Uh
 S, So what!!” The other adventures stopped him, but he was shaken for a moment.
Reito asked for Kagemaru’s help.
“How about you come along with me, Kagemaru? I’ve heard you’ve seen the Rotten Dragon’s lair a few times. Perhaps you could show me where it is?”
“No worries.”
“Reito, take Hitomin with you,” Kotomin suggested.
“Purupuru
”
Kotomin put Hitomin on Reito’s head.
“And of course, Ullr will also come.”
“Woof!!”
Ullr came to his side and barked happily.
Reito got on Ullr’s shoulders and looked around him. The adventurers making complaints before got quiet when they saw the large white wolf.
“We should be back in a bit with Ullr’s speed. Everyone else, please be on standby.”
“O, Okay. J, Just be careful,” one adventurer said before Kagemaru replied, “Don’t waste your energy on worrying. I’ll guard the Lord Nephew.”
“Woof!!” Ullr barked as if to say it was his job to protect Reito. He glared at Ullr and sparks flew.
Reito was planning to have Kagemaru witness the undead army waiting for them pass the plains and have him suggest a retreat. He had no plans to do anything dangerous.
“Okay, get on the back. Hold on to my shoulders or waist as we ride.”
“How absurd. I shan’t be riding that beast!”
“Grrr!”
“Be a good boy
!!”
Ullr whimpered and Reito petted its head.
Asking how he intended to move, Kagemaru replied he would go by foot.
“I’m real fast.”
“Fast enough?”
“Let me show you the true power of a ninja,” Kagemaru said and crouched, ready to burst off.
Reito was dumbfounded, but Kagemaru sprinted off.
“Ngh!!”
“Wow!!”
“Woof!?”
Kagemaru had leaped a full 15 meters, landing on his right foot before and bounding another 15. The speed and distance was superior to Reito’s “Leap” skill.
Reito hurriedly had Ullr run after him.
“Oh, shoot! Let’s go, Ullr!!”
“Wooooff!!”
Ullr chased after Kagemaru.
White wolves are the fastest of all canines, but even he couldn’t catch up with Kagemaru. They were just trying to not lose sight of his body.
Kagemaru stopped and looked back at Reito and Ullr.
“Hmph
”
“Woof!!”
He looked triumphant and smiled. Ullr felt provoked and angrily barked, running after him.
“You’re going too fast, Ullr!?”
“Purururu
!?”
“Ahhh! Hitomin is taking on quite the shape from the wind you’re making.”
Reito held on to Hitomin to make sure she wouldn’t be blown away.
“That’s all you got, wolf!?”
Ullr growled.
“Don’t tempt me, fool!!”
Reito and Hitomin were caught up in Ullr and Kagemaru’s foot race.