Chapter 83
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Even the next day, my heart hasn’t cleared up. But regardless of my feelings, time flows and events progress.
I wake up earlier than planned and force myself to leave the room. I decide to take a walk in the garden for a change of pace. However, as soon as I step out, I run into Sensei.
「Oh, perfect timing. I was just about to call for you… Wait, that face, son-in-law… Are you alright?」
I’m startled by her observation.
「What are you talking about? I’m perfectly fine.」
That’s right, I’m okay now.
Yet Sensei’s face clouds over at my response. For a few moments, she seems to hesitate whether to speak or not—
「You and I are family now. You can always talk to me when things are tough.」
Sensei’s face looks somewhat pained as she says this. But that’s not what I want. I don’t want to see her with such an expression… So I try my best to keep a lid on my feelings.
「Anyway… why were you coming to call for me?」
「Ah, about that…」
She hesitates for a moment, but then shakes her head two or three times as if to brush it off.
「Everyone’s waiting. Follow me.」
She walks ahead, leading the way.
I’ve always liked how Sensei pulls me along like this.
Following her 「This way」 voice, we arrive at the great hall.
「Everyone’s here,」 Sensei announces.
True to her words, Ashley, Anon, and Saga are there, along with Chloe projected on a magical video device, all seemingly engrossed in conversation.
The discussion unfolding there is about the intensifying battles to come.
And for good reason. On their shoulders rests not only their own lives but also those of their subordinates and even the residents.
Saga notices me and raises his hand with a 「Yo,」 gesturing for me to sit next to him.
I bow slightly and take the offered seat.
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I immediately regret that decision.
For some reason, Saga keeps asking for my agreement with 「Right?」 and putting his arm around my shoulder in a friendly manner.
Internally, I think, 「Isn’t he being awfully touchy-feely?」 and 「Is this guy maybe targeting me?」 While remaining cautious, I try not to actively participate in the discussion, only offering opinions when directly asked, and focus on observing the situation.
The purpose of this discussion is to refine the information shared and strategies developed during yesterday’s meeting with the Virtuous and Arrogance factions, and to determine each person’s role.
For me, who barely knew the names of other Holy Knights like Virtuous and Arrogance beyond thinking 「Huh, so there are knights with names like that,」 it’s a parade of unfamiliar names.
The three Holy Knights: Ash, Virtuous, and Arrogance. What they protect are the seals and the Mythical Weapons that govern them.
With the Sword of Affirmation that Ash had been protecting stolen, the seal has been broken, but fortunately, it wasn’t completely destroyed.
While the seal’s disappearance is unavoidable, there’s still enough time left to come up with countermeasures.
For now, only a few Fogs are appearing in the area of the seal Ash was protecting, but before long, Fogs will start appearing in Virtuous and Arrogance’s regions as well. When that happens, they must be swiftly eliminated to prevent explosive proliferation. That must be avoided at all costs.
In other words, what each team needs to do from now on is a defensive battle centered on thorough search and destroy operations.
And this is where my role comes in.
Unfortunately, just removing the Fogs won’t solve the situation.
If we only maintain the status quo, the Fogs will eventually evolve into Tokens or generators. Their form will no longer be misty haze but will take the shape of Bones or Living Deads, becoming even more aggressive in attacking people.
In the end, the only way to solve these problems is to completely destroy the root of this cursed domain or seal it again.
According to legends and Sensei’s predictions, the Sealed Dungeon, the heart of the Sealed Domain, will appear somewhere centered around the shrine Ash was guarding.
And if we destroy this, all the problems related to the Sealed Domain will be resolved.
In other words, while forces in each area hold back the Fogs or whatever form the monsters take, an elite force will swiftly conquer the Sealed Dungeon as soon as it appears. This was established as the most important policy going forward in yesterday’s discussion.
And above all, what was decided in today’s discussion is that I will enter the Sealed Dungeon and complete its conquest.
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We have Sensei in this region, as well as Saga’s mercenary group and Tesoro’s clan. So I’m not too worried about clearing out the Fogs.
What worried me was the other regions. But as I listened to the discussion, I realized those concerns were unfounded.
In the region where Arrogance is, the largest clan, Seventh Blue, along with numerous adventurer teams, will handle the situation.
And in Virtuous’s region, closest to the royal capital, the Royal Knight Order, the church, and magician groups like Honest will participate, with that elf guildmaster from Greeneyes—Purume En Dynast—heading there.
And all of this coordination is apparently by that old Chancellor.
I’m especially reassured about the area near the royal capital, with the Knight Commander and Siesta there.
With him, who’s on par with Eris in strength, and her, who cared for me and healed me until the end, I feel a hundred times stronger.
The Chancellor sure is quick on his feet.
I heard that even back then, he not only showed up for my training but also took the initiative to visit various regions whenever problems arose. It suited him better than desk work.
Not much time has passed since the theft of the Sword of Affirmation until now. Yet, to prepare such forces…
—We’ll do what only we can do
That’s what he said when we parted.
You’re protecting everyone in your own way, as expected of you. You’re really amazing.
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Next comes not the overall discussion, but practical matters.
We’ll build several huts evenly distributed in each region to use as bases, and rotate shifts to exterminate the Fogs.
Each party will always include at least one person with high sensory abilities.
These were decided as the basic strategies.
From there, the discussion continued without losing steam, becoming quite heated. Everyone present is a battle-hardened warrior. It’s only natural, I suppose, that they engage in frank discussions without holding back, and somehow we managed to decide on the party formations.
As things settle down, I let out a sigh.
Looking back, a lot has happened.
Anon kept turning to me saying things like, 「Right, Low? You think so too, don’t you?」, Ashley kept looking at me with a determined face saying, 「I’ll go to conquer the Sealed Dungeon too. I’ll protect you, Low,」 then blushing and quickly averting her gaze when our eyes met as if she had a fever, and Saga repeatedly sought my agreement on numerous points I didn’t want to nod to in front of women, saying things like, 「That’s why women are, you know?」 and 「Women don’t understand men’s aesthetics. Right, Low?」 I often found myself at a loss for how to react.
Amidst all this, I leave the discussion to them and turn my gaze to Sensei sitting next to me (on the opposite side from Saga). Our eyes meet. Her mouth forms an 「ω」 shape. This is Sensei when she’s in an extremely good mood.
When I ask, 「Sensei, you seem to be in high spirits. What’s up?」,
Sensei answers, 「I just like it when things are lively,」 and gives a mysterious smile.
「Well, son-in-law. Maybe it’s the atmosphere created by those folks, but your face has returned to a somewhat better expression.」
「Was my face that terrible?」
「You had a gloomy look. It got better as we went through the discussion, though.」
It seems I caused Sensei unnecessary worry.
I should do something nice for her next time (like prepare a meal).
As we’re talking, the meeting reaches its climax and is about to end.
Just then, Anon suddenly turns to face me.
「Come to think of it—」
There’s a momentary pause.
Perhaps he was waiting for the right timing to speak.
Maybe that’s why there’s an air pocket, so to speak, and the room suddenly falls silent.
「What is it?」
All eyes turn to me and Anon.
「There’s apparently another party that’s publicly declared they’ll explore the inside of the Sealed Dungeon, besides the party centered around Low.」
「Huh?」
A dumb sound escapes my mouth.
For a moment, my thoughts stop, but Anon’s attitude, Anon’s words, rapidly start to take on meaning in my head.
Wait a minute.
Does this mean—
This is bad! This is bad!
I have a bad feeling about this!
At times like this, my intuition is usually—
「It’s the Hero’s party.」
My intuition is usually right… (voice trembling)
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