The scenery at dawn was still.
Those who had been asleep rose soundlessly and began a new day.
The Seil Kingdom, too, slowly opened its eyes and prepared to greet the morning.
While everyone else was quiet, there was one group moving busily.
“Now, everyone, keep this in mind.”
They were none other than the holy knights of the White Order.
Liana, who commanded the holy knights, was the first to speak.
“Our objective is information gathering. During this process, our identities must never be exposed.”
As she said, their current appearance did not make them look like holy knights.
That was because they had all infiltrated the Seil Kingdom while concealing their identities.
In fact, they had made an effort to hide who they were through their attire.
Instead of resplendent white armor, they wore armor made of leather.
Instead of the Order’s swords that punished all evil, they carried ordinary swords.
Anyone who saw them would think they were ordinary adventurers, never members of the Order.
“If anyone gets caught, I will not forgive them.”
In just a little while, the Order’s delegation would arrive in the kingdom.
The reason the delegation was visiting the Seil Kingdom was by no means benevolent.
They were coming to investigate none other than the disappearance of a priest and holy knights.
But as if that were not enough, the White Order had sent an advance party ahead of time.
Secretly, at that.
Because they were that secret advance party, they had no choice but to be sensitive about exposing their identities.
If they were exposed, diplomatic problems would be the least of it. More than anything, they would lose their pretext against the Seil Kingdom.
‘A pretext.’
That was the purpose of them coming as this advance party.
“If there is no information, then create some and bring it back.”
Liana was well-informed about matters within the Order.
That was possible because she was both the temporary vice commander of the Holy Knights and the commander’s adjutant.
The Order intended to use this incident as an excuse to increase its control over the Seil Kingdom.
And its ultimate goal after ruling the Seil Kingdom was merely to advance into the Demon Realm.
They were not simply hiding their identities and gathering information.
They were looking for a pretext.
And creating that pretext would not be difficult.
Because every circumstance was smiling upon the Order.
The disappearance of members of the Order.
First, Priest Yuel and a holy knight had vanished.
Second, twenty holy knights had disappeared while on a mission.
Coincidentally, all of those who had vanished had lost contact while heading toward the Seil Kingdom.
“We will first focus our investigation on the disappearance of Priest Yuel and our holy knight comrades. Do not miss even the smallest clue. Find out everything.”
It was fine even if there was no information.
Even if this incident had nothing to do with the Seil Kingdom, it did not matter.
From the Order’s perspective, all they had to do was press forward.
It was true that priests and holy knights had disappeared, so no one would be able to question it.
‘It would be even better if evidence came out, though.’
If evidence did emerge, they could designate the Seil Kingdom as a heretical nation that opposed the goddess.
If that happened, the Order would gain power externally.
Under the pretext of purifying the kingdom, they could deploy even more inquisitors.
In the end, no matter what the truth was, the kingdom would collapse helplessly before the Order’s authority.
Either way, it was no different from a play whose ending had already been decided.
Clap—
“Now, move out.”
When Liana clapped her hands, the personnel began to act.
Once everyone had left, only Liana remained behind.
“Berter Leobain…”
Berter Leobain, who had been the vice commander of the Holy Knights.
Though he had been an outsider, it was not as if his skills were poor.
Rather, they could be called quite decent.
And yet that Berter had suddenly disappeared.
“What could have happened?”
And that was not all.
Starting with Priest Yuel, holy knights were disappearing.
‘Perhaps there is something in the Seil Kingdom after all.’
She had a feeling the truth would soon be revealed.
* * *
The holy knights moved quickly.
The first place they headed to was the Adventurers’ Guild.
Since it was a branch located within the Seil Kingdom, it was not far.
However, not all of them headed to the guild.
Only three holy knights went to the Adventurers’ Guild.
Right now, they were in a position where they had to hide their identities.
If they swarmed in as a group, they might draw the attention of others, so they had split up into as few people as possible.
“Is this the place?”
Holy Knight Kairen looked at the Adventurers’ Guild building.
If there was one strange thing, it was that there were far too few people.
No, it would not be wrong to say there were none at all.
‘What is this?’
Ordinarily, the Adventurers’ Guild was a place bustling with people.
Even as a holy knight, he knew that well, because the Adventurers’ Guild was a place he stopped by when dispatched to other regions.
Kairen shook his head and opened the door to the building.
Sure enough, the inside of the guild was deserted.
Normally, it should have been packed with adventurers, without even a place to step, yet not a single one could be seen.
Kairen looked around the interior of the building.
The bulletin board that should have been filled with requests was empty.
The wooden chairs and tables where adventurers should have been sitting and chatting noisily were also empty.
Everything was silent.
“Hmm.”
His companion beside him must have found that strange as well, because he looked around and let out a low murmur.
If there was one relief, it was that there was a woman who appeared to be a guild employee.
Kairen and his party approached her.
Then he took an item from his breast pocket.
It was a gold badge.
“I am Adventurer Kairen.”
“A-a gold badge?”
As expected, the woman before him looked quite surprised.
“Ah, I’m sorry. I’m Ralli, a receptionist at the Seil Kingdom branch.”
The woman introduced herself by name and said she was a receptionist.
“Then I’ll call you Miss Ralli. We’d like to take on a request. Are there any suitable jobs available?”
Kairen spoke to her naturally.
In truth, he had wanted to talk with adventurers and hear about the kingdom’s current situation, but that was impossible.
So he immediately revised the plan.
“Ah, I’m sorry, but there are currently no existing requests.”
The receptionist bowed her head and apologized.
‘Could there really be no requests?’
He had wondered when he saw that the request board was empty, but…
Kairen was bewildered.
At the same time, he was curious why the Adventurers’ Guild had ended up in this state.
But getting straight to the point would be amateurish.
Kairen took one gold coin and his identification from his breast pocket.
There was nothing like a gold coin for breaking down someone’s guard.
“We came from the Adonil Kingdom. It is truly unfortunate that there are no requests at all.”
“Ah… You really came from far away, then?”
Ralli quickly placed the gold coin Kairen handed her into her pocket.
Was it because he was an adventurer with a gold badge after all?
To give away one gold coin just like that—he was incredibly generous.
At the same time, her favorable impression of him rose sharply.
Then she looked at the identification the man had handed her.
It really did state that he was from the Adonil Kingdom.
The Adonil Kingdom was a country adjacent to the Order at the southernmost end.
Excluding the Demon Realm, if he had come all the way to this place, practically the northernmost region, it must have taken quite a lot of time.
‘Is it really all right for me to accept this gold coin?’
Ralli felt needlessly guilty.
“I’m truly sorry. At present, access to the mountain range is restricted, so there are no requests available.”
Due to the nature of the Seil Kingdom, most adventurers’ requests came through the mountain range.
There was even one special aspect unique to the Seil Kingdom, and because of it, the place was popular among adventurers.
It was the Demon Realm.
If one crossed that vast mountain range, the Demon Realm appeared.
Of course, since it was only the entrance area, there was no great danger, but the Adventurers’ Guild controlled access thoroughly.
They temporarily allowed entry into the Demon Realm starting from adventurers who possessed silver badges.
But access to the mountain range had been blocked.
Most requests came from the mountain range or the Demon Realm, and that had been cut off.
In the end, the number of requests had plummeted in an instant, and now adventurers had stopped coming altogether.
This would probably continue until the royal family of the Seil Kingdom lifted the access restriction.
When Ralli said access to the mountain range had been restricted, Kairen asked back with interest.
“Restricted?”
“Yes. The royal family has restricted it, so far from related requests being available, entry into the mountain range itself is currently impossible.”
“Why? Why did the royal family place a restriction on entering the mountain range?”
Why had access to the mountain range been forbidden?
Kairen was curious about that.
However, Ralli, the receptionist, did not know the details either.
If the royal family forbade it, the guild simply followed. There was no other reason.
When Ralli said she knew nothing, Kairen sank into thought.
‘Why?’
From what he had heard, it did not sound as though some incident or accident had occurred.
If a high-grade monster had appeared in the mountain range, they would have sent a subjugation force rather than restricting access.
And yet one day, out of nowhere, the royal family had suddenly forbidden entry.
They even said no one knew the reason.
Kairen met the eyes of his companions nearby and gave a slight nod.
Because the current situation was far too strange.
‘Something smells fishy.’
Why had the royal family forbidden access to the mountain range?
Where had the priests and holy knights disappeared to?
In their minds, those two questions did not seem like separate incidents.
But they could not prove that right now.
Unfortunately, the mountain range was currently off-limits.
Even if entry was forbidden, they could enter if they revealed their status as members of the Order, but then the point of infiltrating would be lost.
‘It’s regrettable, but it can’t be helped.’
It was right to withdraw here.
Just as the holy knights disguised as adventurers were about to turn back—
Someone came out from inside the office.
“Ah, Branch Manager.”
At Ralli’s words, Kairen turned around.
The man called the branch manager approached the receptionist and began saying something.
“Ralli, just now, the Seil Kingdom Defense Bureau contacted us…”
Perhaps conscious of the outsiders.
From midway through, he lowered his voice, so Kairen could not hear.
‘Defense Bureau?’
However, he could roughly guess the atmosphere from the receptionist’s expression.
The longer the conversation went on, the brighter the receptionist’s expression became.
At some point, the conversation seemed to end, and the man called the branch manager headed back inside.
Then Ralli, the receptionist, opened her mouth.
“Ah! Mr. Kairen, it’s good news!”
Good news?
Kairen waited for the receptionist’s next words.
“It just so happens that the kingdom has lifted the restriction on the mountain range! You’re truly lucky, aren’t you?”
The receptionist’s expression was truly brighter than ever.
* * *
- Dispatch Maru (★★★★) to the dungeon “Nest of the Evil God.”
- Reward: Maru’s (★★★★) 5-Star Transcendence Ticket
- Time Limit: 4 minutes 56 seconds
Now the time for Maru to leave had drawn near.
“Maru, come back as quickly as you can.”
That was my sincere wish.
Although it had been less than four hours, Coco was definitely not someone who should be entrusted with washing dishes.
No, perhaps I needed to reconsider entrusting housework to him at all.
‘To think gacha exists even among skeletons…’
I had thought they would all be like Maru, but that had been a huge misunderstanding.
Maru was simply a special one.
It might take even more time than I thought.
“Ah, and make sure you relay what I told you. Got it?”
At my words, Maru nodded.
Due to the system, I could not go to the Eldorad Continent.
That was why I intended to convey my will through Maru.
I would also somehow create organizations and units in the dungeon, and so on.
It would probably be more intuitive and convey my intentions better than controlling things through a smartphone.
For that purpose, I had even given Maru separate training.
Now there really was not much time left.
I immediately summoned Maru to the Eldorad Continent.
A powerful light burst forth from the smartphone and swallowed Maru.
When the light disappeared, Maru was nowhere to be seen.
* * *
A dark cave spread out before Maru.
Clack—
It was his homeland, which he had come to after a long time.
Maru stepped down from the altar.
Then he immediately went to find Celia.
Maru had realized something.
On Earth, there was the great Master.
And here, there was the Chief Administrator.
“Clack-clack!”
Just then, Chief Administrator Celia was passing by and met Maru’s eyes.
“Ah, Mr. Maru, you’ve returned?”
Maru.
By looking at the Arch Lich’s notebook, she had learned the name of the being who assisted the Master.
She had met him once on Earth last time, but that time had been far too short.
In truth, for Celia, she regretted not being able to spend more time with the Master even more than that.
But this time, Maru had come to see her himself.
“Please come this way. I had been waiting for the day you would come.”
Celia invited Maru into her office.
Maru was certainly a being of a lower grade than she was.
But his position was different.
Because Maru was no different from an adjutant who assisted the great and supreme Master right by his side.
‘I’m jealous.’
She wanted to go as well, but she could not.
So she changed her way of thinking.
She would quickly bring the Master to descend here.
But to do that, many preparations were necessary.
And in that preparation process, Maru’s help was needed.
“Now then, Mr. Maru.”
Celia answered with a serious expression.
“What does the Master like?”
At Celia’s question, Maru pondered.
What exactly was the intent behind that question?
After taking in Earth’s culture, Maru had become able to think in his own way.
What the Master liked.
Only one thing came to mind.
“Clack-clack.”
(Food with the touch of the hand)
In truth, the Master had denied it, but he had liked it until now and had eaten the ramen Maru boiled very well.
What did that mean?
It was the Master’s mercy, showing consideration so that his subordinate would not needlessly struggle.
“I see! It was the touch of the hand. I understand.”
Celia listened seriously to Maru’s words.
“In that case, may I ask what the Master has been interested in lately?”
At Celia’s second question, Maru fell into thought again.
What the Master had been interested in lately…
When he thought quietly about it, one thing came to Maru’s mind.
Maru’s race was skeleton black knight.
As the name suggested, his body was black.
But after the Master did something to him, the black color had become slightly lighter.
At the same time, he had begun to feel sacred energy inside his body.
All of this was the Master’s power.
But the Master had said this.
- What a shame. It would have been nice if I’d had a little more holy power.
Maru nodded.
Whenever he had time, he had watched various videos and media on Earth.
He had already become adept at interpreting the meaning of the Master’s words.
Holy power was the power possessed by holy knights and priests.
In other words, “It would have been nice if I’d had a little more holy power” was the same as saying he needed holy knights and priests.
“Clack-clack-clack-clack!”
(He is very interested in holy knights and priests)
“I see!”
Celia’s face lit up at Maru’s words.
Being very interested in holy knights and priests meant one thing.
It was surely an order to offer holy knights and priests as sacrifices.
“I was right to ask after all!”
A smile formed on Celia’s face.