Volume 9.

Chapter 154 – It seems to be the Travel to the Northern

Continent
The humans and the beastmen tentatively possessed a route leading to the
dragonoid’s country.
However, said routes were extremely restricted. Even if you could go
through them, it was actually limited to the area around the dragonoid
continent’s entrance.
It seems to have been set up like this because the dragonoids hate the
humans, who are deeply attached to money, and the beastmen, whose
heads are filled with nothing but battle. However, both the humans and
the beastmen are apparently much weaker than the dragonoids in terms of
physical abilities, or so Renya was told by Shion and Lepard.
Couldn’t they just get rid of them in that case? Renya wonders, but it
appears that the dragonoids are a race that doesn’t have a large
population. In the long run, the dragonoids were made to suffer extremely
annoying experiences. However it never went as far as becoming a
disadvantageous situation for them despite the humans’ or beastmen’s
overwhelming advantage in numbers.
As a result the dragonoids decided to keep the interaction with these two
races to the bare minimum. Only the elves, who dislike combat and don’t
pay that much attention to money either, were considered an exception
and were thus able to continue a fairly deep association with the
dragonoids.
“For that reason the transfer gates in the elven country maintain
pathways that reach all over the dragonoid country.”
Renya nods, somewhat understanding Croire’s explanation, who spoke
while letting a bragging tone resonate in her words.
The reason he’s pretending that he didn’t listen to the story too closely is
because the looks of the human female camp starting with Shion, and the
beastmen priestesses starting with Kaede are quite scary.
This is because Croire completely explained why the dragonoids hate
those two races while supplementing her story with actual examples from
the past.
In Renya’s eyes it seemed as if that wasn’t really related to the matter at
hand, but Croire weaved an unusual amount of spite into all her words.
As she talked about how elegant, refined and peaceful the elves are
compared to the other two races, Renya sensed how the severity of
Shion’s and the others’ gazes went up several levels, which made him
think that it was in his best interest to act as if it was someone else’s
problem.
Does the elven race possibly have parts which make people see them as
an arrogant, intolerable race around here? Renya pondered, but since he
felt like Croire would keep on boasting forever, if he didn’t put a stop to
it, Renya picked a suitable moment and interrupted her speech.
“I got the gist of it. That much is enough, Croire.” (Renya)
“Really? If it’s a conversation about this story, even spending a fair
number of nights would still cut it short, I guess we will continue another
time.” (Croire)
Croire was dissatisfied as she wasn’t able to explain sufficiently, in her
opinion, but she apparently understands that the current situation is not
one that allows spending that much time talking about this topic.
Around them elven soldiers and craftsmen are busily preparing the
transfer gate.
In the end around two days – counting from the time when Emil visited
Renya’s room – were necessary for Renya’s physical condition to return
to normal.
Renya should possess resilience that goes beyond that of normal humans
thanks to the benefit of his skills, but since Renya’s enormous amount of
mana, which can’t be described as anything but colossal even in the eyes
of the demons, was on the verge of running dry, it took that much more
time for it to return to its original state.
However, in regards to this, it might have gone a little bit faster if he had
decided to stop supplying Frau with mana.
“Is your body alright, Renya?” (Emil)
Emil, who’s the only one that personally saw Renya’s state when he was
completely drained, asks about Renya’s condition at every opportunity,
apparently having the image of the weakened Renya deeply carved into
her mind.
Even Renya knows that she’s just worrying about him, but once he had
been asked over and over again, he started to wonder whether her
questions might be linked to some kind of investigation. However, since
Emil’s expression was making it fully clear that she was asking entirely
out of worry, he couldn’t be too cruel to her either.
“No problem. I have already recovered.” (Renya)
 “Great, then it’s fine. Come to think of it, a human’s body has the
function to try become sturdier than before it was broken, but how about
your case, Renya?” (Emil)
“I don’t know. That’s all I can tell you.” (Renya)
The amount of mana one possesses grows larger the more one uses it.
If it’s Renya, who possess a skill to break through the growth limit, then
he will grow endlessly, exceeding the peak of what a normal human is
capable of by leaps and bounds.
Emil doesn’t know that Renya has such a cheat-like skill, but because she
knows that Renya’s massive mana pool has been increasing since the day
they first met, she thinks that his upper limit is still far away.
Even the words Renya answered her are the truth in her eyes.
“It’s not like it matters, but Croire, how much time is it going to take to
open a path to the dragonoid country?”
Renya’s party, which spend another day to prepare for the long-distance
trip after Renya’s recovery, entrusted Klinge to Mayria, Frau and Keith’s
group, and entered the elven country through Klinge’s transfer gate.
There were some comments asking whether it wouldn’t have be fine to
leave everything to Frau, but as Renya regarded doing so as a problem,
he decided to have Mayria stay behind as an office worker, too.
Renya’s opinion that Mayria waiting in Klinge is safer than going to the
dragonoid country, where it’s unknown what might happen, was
approved by everyone.
Renya went through the transfer gate while hearing Frau’s reassuring
words, “You can leave the rest to me ~no,” but on the other side – the
elven country’s transfer gate – their further travel was delayed.
There was a proper reason to that.
“I can’t tell you anything in particular. However, everyone is giving it
their best.”
Croire says while sitting in one of the chairs which had been carried into
the gate room to be used by Renya’s party.
“Normally the path to the dragonoid country is always active, so it must
have been cut after all. I fear that it’s likely due to some problems with
the devices at the gate’s destination. Thus we are now going to use a path
that leads to a transfer gate that’s located close to the Dragon’s Den, but
that path’s not always active from our side, and we normally use it after
having someone connect it from the other side.” (Croire)
 “Normally we first send a usage request through a path that’s always
active. If that’s accepted, the pathway to the Dragon’s Den can be used
after having the dragonoids connect it to the elven transfer gate,” Croire
explains.
However, since it wasn’t possible to go through the proper procedure this
time, the elves are trying to open the pathway from their side, which is
the reason why it’s taking so long.
Possibly predicting that there might be a situation where the elves have to
use the transfer gate while unable to contact them through the usual route,
the dragonoids made sure that the pathway could be opened from the
elves’ side, but since it would be a bother if the elves used it arbitrarily,
the dragonoids have made the method troublesome by requiring the elves
to go through several proper steps in order to activate it. At present the
elves are in the midst of going through those steps with all their
craftsmen present.
“By the way, please remember that it would normally turn into a huge
problem and a territorial violation, if you were to use the pathway to the
dragonoid country without going through the proper procedures, Renya.”
(Croire)
“Why are you cautioning me by name…?” (Renya)
Renya replied with that question while looking astonished, but although
there was no reply, the thoughts of everyone present aligned to, You’d be
the only one to do that.
“This time I have more or less acquired permission from father, but to
the bitter end this is just an irregular exception.” (Croire)
“Ah, he was here, wasn’t he, that emperor?” (Renya)
Immediately after Renya’s group went through the transfer gate from the
human domain to the elven domain, the one who received them in front
of the transfer gate was the emperor.
He apparently thought that he could have a reunion with his daughter
after a such a long time, but seemingly because Croire’s impression of
him, from the last time they departed, was too bad or because the current
situation is too serious, Croire didn’t show the emperor any care at all,
and even went as far as pressuring him into quickly handing over the
license for the pathway to the dragonoid country. In the end the emperor
sadly left after being told to go back if his business with Renya’s party
was finished.
Renya was about to interject since her treatment was far too awful, but on
top of being held back by Croire’s gaze, he was even stopped by Grün.
“There’s nothing to worry about. He has come here while knowing that
he would likely receive such treatment.” (Grün)
“Since it’s father, that makes sense. Something like drawing joy out of
being treated cruelly by his daughter, just how much of a pervert is he?”
(Croire)
Grün intended to provide a follow-up in his very own way, but that
ended up with him giving Croire a new trigger.
“You say that, but at least show him a kind face from time to time,
okay?” (Renya)
Since Renya is pretty much receiving some of the emperor’s grace
through the various kinds of food ingredients, although one could call
that compensation for taking care of Croire, he decided to go out of his
way to back the emperor.

“I will deal with it appropriately…” (Croire)

Renya taps Croire’s shoulder who felt somewhat unwilling.
There were parts, where even Renya had difficulty in judging just how
serious Croire was, but in Renya’s eyes the emperor and Croire being on
good terms was preferable on an emotional level.
Although, that’s limited to Renya’s uneasiness due to Croire’s complete
disregard for the emperor.
“Leaving that matter aside, how much longer is it going to take?” (Shion)
Being asked by Shion, Croire grabs one of the nearby craftsmen and asks
him about the progress.
Once the captured craftsman comprehended that the other party was
Croire, the emperor’s daughter, he bowed respectfully and then started to
explain the situation in a whisper.
His voice was extremely quiet, so low that even Renya, who’s right next
to them, couldn’t hear it, but as it was apparently loud enough for elves
due to their good hearing, Croire nodded repeatedly.
Once the engineer finished briefly explaining the situation to Croire, he
bowed once again and returned to his own work.
“The work seems to be going well. However, the dragonoids arranged
the procedures to be thoroughly troublesome.” (Croire)
 “It probably can’t be helped if it’s an emergency pathway, but they sure
are a very careful race, those dragonoids.” (Renya)
“Well, how do I phrase it best…it’s a race that has various peculiarities.”
(Croire)
Renya was extremely curious about what she summed up as various
peculiarities, but just when he was about to ask Croire, another craftsman
shouted,
“All steps have been cleared. I’m going to open the pathway.”
Normally only pitch-black space unfolds between gates, but seemingly
because this transfer gate was operating differently than a normal one, it
shines in a pale blue light.
What makes Renya and the others worry even more than the color is the
low humming sound of it operating that resounds within the room.
“Given that it’s not the usual process, I think it’s normal for it to be
different from always, but…” Did he notice the expressions everyone,
except for the elves, was currently carrying? The craftsman says that to
give them peace of mind, but it’s not like they can feel relieved from the
fact they’ll be transferring in a state different from usual. So, their eyes
naturally gathered on Renya.
“No, it’s troubling if you look at me…” (Renya)
“It’s fine. I have seen this happening several times. Now, let’s go,
Renya.” (Croire)
Having judged that there won’t be any progress unless someone passes
through the gate, Croire goes around to Renya’s back and starts pushing
him in the direction of the transfer gate with both hands.
It’s not like Renya was outmatched in power, but he doesn’t even resist,
thinking that it’s best to go along with Croire here. However, Shion
decided to cling to his left arm.
Due to Shion tightly hugging Renya’s arm, he can’t help but to think,
Well, I guess it can’t be helped if she’s anxious. At almost the same time
Rona and Croire look at Shion from behind, unseen by Renya, with
expressions crying “Damn it!”
“What’s going on with this?” (Lepard)
Kaede answered Lepard who doesn’t understand the situation,
“I guess it means that Shion-san took a point there.” (Kaede)

“Hah?” (Lepard)
“If you don’t get it, then let’s leave it at that. Putting that aside, I’m
feeling slightly uneasy as well, so please guide me.” (Kaede)
“Okay, got it.” (Lepard)
Lepard nodded and chased after Renya who has vanished into the
transfer gate while being pushed by Croire and Shion clinging to his arm.
Behind him, Kaede snuggles up to Lepard closely. Trying to follow them,
the other members also pass through the transfer gate.

Chapter 155 – It seems to be the Preparation for the

Defensive Battle
The Kunugi Margraviate is situated at the westernmost end of the human
continent.
In the center of Klinge – the biggest city within the territory – lies
Renya’s castle.
As Renya, the feudal lord, couldn’t come up with a clever name for it, it’s
simply called Feudal Lord’s Castle. Frau stood on one of the castle’s
balcony facing the western side.
With her standing there calmly while the hem of her apron dress and her
flaxen hair fluttered in the somewhat strong gusts of wind, she looked
like a normal little girl one could find anywhere, but she boasted of a
majestic aura similar to that of some country’s general. Standing behind
her, Keith was rapidly blinking after having rubbed his eyes.
Even so, the coercion he feels coming from Frau’s back remains the
same.
Fixedly staring in the Miasma Forest’s direction with her arms folded,
she had the appearance that would allow her to be introduced as a
princess general from some country and no one would doubt it. However,
her age and height didn’t make such a story believable.
But, no matter how many times he looks at her, Frau is still a little girl.
Frau calls out to Keith, who began to believe that he himself is
completely losing out in term of aura when compared to Frau, while
directly looking into his eyes.
“Keith-san, what are you thinking about ~no?” (Frau)
“Ummm…I’m wondering whether they will come attacking, I guess?”
(Keith)
The report from the scouts regarding a change in atmosphere in the
Miasma Forest arrived right after Renya and the others departed to the
elven country through the transfer gate.
Starting with sudden noisiness in the forest, which had been silent until
then, the soldiers, who had even gone as far as going inside the forest to
investigate, a task that appeared somewhat unreasonable, apparently
discovered several monster swarms.
Seeing swarms of monsters in the Miasma Forest wasn’t that unusual, but
as it’s at most been goblin or kobold packs, it completely changes once
those swarms consist of completely armed orcs and trolls.
Even though orcs and trolls are already a considerable as threat when
they’re just strays with simple weapons, it turns into a major headache
when one considers the possible threat level of a conglomerate of orcs
and trolls that are wearing proper weapons and donning armors.
As the vague topic, which he came up with owed to his inability to bring
up something else to answer Frau’s question, was more depressing than
he thought, Keith started to feel slightly disappointed at his own inability
to hold a conversation.
However, for Frau that topic apparently wasn’t as depressing as Keith
thought. Frau calmly responded as if it’s trifling.
“Well, it’s set in stone that they will do so ~no.” (Frau)
“After all.” (Keith)
Upon Frau saying that with a tone as if she were asking him why he’s
going on about such a thing at this point in time, Keith placed a hand on
his forehead and sighed very deeply.
Now that I’m told, once again, directly that the enemy will come – even
if it had been predicted – I can’t stop myself from feeling gloomy about
it.
“What brave children ~nano.” (Frau)
“Pardon?” (Keith)
 Keith asks back as Frau’s remark, which completely disregarded Keith’s
innermost thoughts, felt like it was extremely out-of-place.
Even though he implied plenty of doubt in his voice, Frau continues
talking without turning around towards Keith while revealing a smile on
her lips.
“It’s the brave children that motionlessly waited within the forest for the
master’s presence to disappear in order to attack Klinge as they didn’t see
any chance to win while he was here. The fact that they didn’t run away,
which is a common tendency in monsters as they don’t feel any loyalty,
is remarkable ~no.” (Frau)
She’s most likely praising them, but to Keith those words felt somewhat
off.
“You call that brave?” (Keith)
“You don’t ~no?” (Frau)
Being refuted by Keith, Frau finally turns around with a puzzled look.
It’s probably not wrong to use the word this way, but if you consider that
the orcs and trolls have been readying their weapons while holding their
breath within the forest for Renya’s presence to disappear, it’s rather
impossible to call such an act brave.
“Pull the line of the forest’s surveillance back a bit for now. Be careful
not to incur any losses ~no.” (Frau)
Just because they saw monsters in the forest, doesn’t mean Klinge is
going to be plunged into battle all of a sudden. It’s necessary for the
monsters to march from the forest to Klinge.
Along that route there are several settlements that have already been
evacuated. As the monster army will likely raid every settlement in their
path in search of humans who were late in escaping as well as any money
or food left behind, it’s expected that these settlements will slow the
monster army down to some extent.
Frau wanted to set some traps as the settlements were going to be
trampled down anyway.
To be precise, Frau proposed to Renya to set up devices that will explode,
dragging the whole settlement into the blast, but as this was rejected by
Renya, she wasn’t able to put such a strategy into practice.
According to Renya, having their houses destroyed by the attacking
monsters compared to having them destroyed by Renya and the others
will give the residents a completely different impression, even if they
argue that it’s a strategic decision.
“I somewhat understand the notion ~no. But it’s inefficient ~no.” (Frau)
Frau grumbles, but it’s impossible to go against her master’s will.
It’s not like we know what the scale of the demon king’s army that’s
going to attack Klinge will be, but the numbers that would have been
defeated through the planted traps would very likely only enter the range
of a measurement error, Frau renews her thinking.
Anyway, there’s no other option but to defend Klinge with our current
cards.
“What are we going to do about Trident’s army which were left outside
the city?” (Keith)
“Leave them alone until they contact us ~nano. But if the enemy army
comes into sight, we will ignore them even if they contact us ~nano.”
(Frau)
Since Renya is a noble, he has various ties of obligation, but for Frau
something like that doesn’t exist.
And, it’s Frau who has been entrusted with Klinge’s defense. In the
current situation the principality’s army outside the wall doesn’t register
as a protection target for Frau.
Given that Frau is a fairy, she can refuse matters she hasn’t been
informed about with a simple “I haven’t been ordered to do so.”
In that case the question of responsibility will shift to the one giving her
orders, in other words, Renya, but as Renya is personally attending to the
hero’s job of visiting the dragonoid country to check its condition while
taking said hero along, he could argue that he forgot as he was very busy.
Even Frau didn’t know whether Renya entrusted her with the city’s
defense after thinking this far ahead, but since there’s no gain in being
concerned about such things, Frau plans to boldly ignore the existence of
Trident’s army.
“I’d really like to ask Margrave-dono to come back as soon as possible.”
(Keith)
Seemingly judging it to be pointless even if he were to deeply ponder
about the principality army’s treatment, Keith attempts to change the
topic.
As Frau also doesn’t want to talk about the principality’s army either, she
decides to go along with Keith’s topic change.
 “It depends on the level of damage the dragonoid country received ~no.
In the worst case it’s possible to come back right away after having
secured only the dragonoid hero, but it’s difficult to imagine master
doing so ~no.” (Frau)
Going by Frau’s opinion regarding Renya’s personality, Frau considers
the possibility of him abandoning everything in order to return after
having found the hero as extremely low.
If the dragonoid country is at war with the demons, it’s very likely that he
will hurry to help the dragonoids until they can take a breather.
Rather, putting the hero aside, in case Renya encounters an inexperienced
girl working as a soldier, who’s courageously trying to face the demon
king’s army, the probability of him annihilating the enemy army is
abnormally high, Frau assesses.
“It’s troublesome because master’s heartstrings are sometimes pulled in
strange ways ~no.” (Frau)
“What are you talking about?” (Keith)
Keith responds at once as he has no way of knowing what’s going on
inside Frau’s head.
After answering to Keith’s response with “It’s nothing,” Frau stops
folding her arms and returns inside the castle while accompanied by
Keith.
The one who greeted the two once they came back inside was Mayria.
Mayria had been told to remain in the castle as the one in charge of office
work by Renya, but in addition to the documents related to the soldiers –
even though there’s only 500 of them – the documents related to the
fief’s population, the various formal procedures in regards to the city’s
defense, etc. plunged her into a situation where she was buried under a
mountain of documents from the very beginning.
Mayria wondered whether she wouldn’t have prefered accompanying
Renya on a slightly dangerous trip if it was going to turn out like this, but
if she were asked if there were any civil officials, who could handle this
amount of paperwork in her absence, Mayria would have no choice but to
shake her head in denial.
If it’s Rona, she might barely be able to stand-in for Mayria, but Rona is
traveling with Renya as a priestess. Even if Rona had consented to
switching with Mayria, Mayria didn’t possess any priestess skills.
In short, even if Rona is a somewhat suitable substitute for Mayria,
Mayria can’t serve as a substitute for Rona.
If I consider it like that, it might only be natural for me to stay behind in
Klinge. Mayria persuaded herself.
“Mayria-ane-sama, you don’t have to ask for Frau’s permission for each
and every little thing. You can suitably put Master’s seal to use ~no.”
(Frau)
Frau says, obviously being somewhat fed up with Mayria who has been
coming to ask for the approval of a huge amount of documents the
minute she met Frau.
Frau was extremely proficient in regards to housework as she is a silky,
but as for filing documents, a task which has been carried out by Mayria
and Rona, her talent didn’t go beyond average.
Upon Frau saying, “It can’t be helped as it’s outside my field of expertise
~no,” Mayria didn’t withdraw, stating, “I will be troubled if I can’t have
you, Renya’s representative, at least glance at the documents.”
It’s very Frau-like to say that Mayria can suitably make use of the feudal
lord’s seal, but likewise it’s very Mayria-like to not jump onto that offer
which would make any civil official, who is even a little bit sneaky, skip
in delight.
“Isn’t that a great chance to take away the majority of master’s fortune if
you do it skillfully ~nano?” (Frau)
In terms of materials and food, the Kunugi Margraviate, which is a new
territory, has no other choice but to buy it from elsewhere, but if someone
stated that because of this it didn’t have any assets, they would be
absolutely wrong.
Frau has secured proper distribution channels for the normal-sized magic
stones she keeps producing from Renya’s mana which is constantly
provided to her. Accordingly, Frau sells these magic stones on a large
scale at appropriate times so as to not cause a price collapse.
If it’s limited to liquid assets, the amount possessed by Margrave Kunugi
won’t lose to that of other nobles.
Once Frau, who’s walking through the castle’s hallways while being
followed by Keith and Mayria, says that with a bored tone, Mayria laughs
scornfully.
“For me, who’s almost guaranteed to become the next archduchess, the
fortune of a margrave is nothing that entices me to do something
completely unreasonable just so as to acquire it.” (Mayria)
“Come to think of it, that’s true ~no. I forgot ~no.” (Frau)
I wonder what I should think about the next archduchess being entrusted
with office work by a margrave though, Frau thinks, but doesn’t voice it
out.
If Mayria stops handling the documents due to having her feelings hurt,
Frau won’t be overly troubled, but it would be very troublesome for
Keith and other people.
Even Frau seems capable of reading the mood to such an extent.

“Putting that aside, where are you headed, Frau-sama?” (Keith)

Seemingly reacting to Frau’s “forgot,” Mayria’s face has turned sullen.
Once Keith asked Frau who’s was currently leading them, while trying to
change the mood, Frau replied without stopping or looking back,
“The pivot of this city’s defense ~nano.” (Frau)
“The defense’s pivot, you say?” (Keith)
Upon hearing something he has never heard of before, Keith looked at
Mayria as if asking her whether she knew anything about it, but Mayria
immediately shook her head.
Since both of them were behind Frau, Frau herself didn’t witness that
exchange, but seemingly sensing the question the two were harboring,
Frau continues to speak while still not looking back at them.
“This city was mainly planned by Frau and Emil-ane-sama. It’s a city
built by using cutting-edge technology even among the cities located on
the human continent ~nano.” (Frau)
While talking, Frau keeps advancing further and further down via
several descending stairs.
When they passed the first few stairways, there were still maids and
soldiers passing them, but after they descended another few sets of stairs,
almost all the people and their presences were gone. The window-less
stone passages were only illuminated by cold, white sorcery lights.
“There were such passages?” (Keith)
As someone managing the soldiers, Keith visited Renya’s castle many
times.
Of course it’s not like he himself explored every nook and cranny of
Renya’s castle, but he still believed he had grasped the majority of the
pathways.
From Keith’s standpoint, he has no memory of ever having seen the path,
which Frau is currently taking.
If it was a hidden passage, it would be natural for him to not be aware of
it, but he doesn’t remember having passed through any hidden entrances
or doors indicating the existence of such passages.
“Since a spell to keep people away is always active here, it’s difficult to
be aware of it ~no. The reason why you can pass through it right now is
because you are with Frau ~no.” (Frau)
If you told a margrave that there were places inside their castle that
couldn’t be entered due to a spell that keeps people away being active, it
would be unclear what kind of punishment would be handed down.
However, that’s only limited to common cases. Mayria and Keith feel
that it would quickly end with approval in Renya’s case.
“The pivot itself has been made by Frau herself ~nano. It’s nothing
that’s fun to look at, but are you still going to come along ~no?” (Frau)
“I am…for a change of pace.” (Mayria)
“As someone who has been entrusted with the soldiers, I think it’s
necessary to see that pivot with my own eyes.” (Keith)
Their replies were completely different, but the conclusion apparently
matches with them deciding to coming along.
While thinking, it’s really nothing enjoyable though, Frau shows no signs
of being particularly against them visiting it either. Frau shrugs her
shoulders once and slightly speeds up her walking pace.
 Chapter 156 – It seems to be Something located in the
Castle’s Basement
That room is located deep within the central basement of Renya’s castle.
Such a room would never be reached by only passing through the normal
hallways.
At the beginning sorcery light had been installed in the passages that
must not be used, but before long the illumination ceased, and the leading
Frau invoked a sorcery light at her finger tip, brightening up the passage
for Keith’s and Mayria’s sake who were following her.
That means that Frau would normally be capable of following this route
even without light.
Keith’s complexion, who was moving forward through the dark passage
while relying solely on the light created by Frau, is bad, but Mayria has
fear clearly showing on her face. She grabbed Frau’s shoulder so as to
not get separated.
“Tell me, why are you so scared ~no?” (Frau)
While apparently being very annoyed that her shoulder was being pulled
by Mayria – probably because of the difference in their heights – Frau
asks the two behind her.
Wouldn’t it have been fine if they hadn’t asked to come along, if they
were going to be so anxious throughout the trip? Frau wonders, but
neither Keith nor Mayria relaxed their worried expressions while
seemingly being curious about their surroundings, bearing a sense of
responsibility or more simply, going for the thrill of the scare, but as a
consequence they haven’t proposed to go back either.
“Even if you see it, it’s nothing of interest ~no.” (Frau)
Muttering that as a complaint, Frau soon arrives in front of a single door.
Usually the doors set up in the castle were sturdy as they were made out
of wood and metal plates, but the door at which Frau stopped is
completely made out of metal. Its sturdiness exceeds that of the other
doors by far.
Densely packed, character-like symbols were carved onto its surface, but
not to mention Keith, even Mayria, who should possess a wide range of
knowledge, doesn’t know who uses such characters.
“Just what are these characters?” (Mayria)
At first Mayria and Keith believed it to be some kind of patterns, but
since they immediately realized that each of those patterns is lined up
with some kind of regularity, they judged them to most likely be
characters. However, even when closely looking at the characters, they
are still unable to read them.
“Those are simple patterns ~nano.” (Frau)
Frau says, obviously betraying their conclusion downright.
“It’s something similar to a security system hindering people, who ended
up arriving here by some kind of mistake, to become alert and touch it
just because it seems to be something vaguely suspicious ~nano.” (Frau)
“I see?” (Keith)
Seemingly believing that there’s some truth to that, Keith agreed, but
Mayria apparently couldn’t come to terms with that explanation. She’s
still firmly grasping Frau’s shoulder, but her eyes keep tracing the door’s
surface.
“You’re too distrustful ~no.” (Frau)
Once Frau placed her hand on the door while smiling wryly, the door,
which should be considerably heavy, slowly opened towards the inside
without causing any sounds.
Keith and Mayria resolved themselves to the extent that they’d be able to
say, “No matter what I see on the other side of the door, I won’t be
surprised,” but in the end they still end up surprised by the pure space,
which was just like the deep part of a forest, spreading out on the other
side of the door.
The inside of the temple bell-shaped room, which possessed a
considerable size, was overflowing with so much brightness that it made
the two, who had advanced through a dark passage, feel slight pain in
their eyes.
Unclear about what kind of device it is, a brilliant, pure-white light is
pouring down from the ceiling.
Something like a water well can be seen exactly in the middle of the
room. The transparent water that copiously gushes out from the well is
divided into several aqueducts that have been built in a radial setup
spanning from the room’s center to the walls. Once the water reaches the
walls, it falls into a gutter-like channel.
Even though there’s plenty of water gushing out from the well, the water
level in the gutter doesn’t change at all. Upon closer inspection, a
waterway, where the water seems to stream towards a different location,
has been installed under the gutter.
Various kinds of plants, which seem to weave their way through the gaps
in the simple stone wall, are thickly populated with leaves. Moreover,
quite a few plant roots, which are seemingly passing through the gaps in
the wall, extend themselves towards the waterways, soaking in the clear
water.
“Since there was a great water vein right below the castle, we’re drawing
its water to this place ~no.” (Frau)

Keith and Mayria, who imagined something a lot more frightening as

Frau had said that it would the core of the defense, survey the room’s
interior with disappointed expressions.
Going by the visible impression, it’s a scenery that could even be called
an exclusive garden.
Speaking of slightly strange parts, you’d have to mention that there’s not
a single indication of soil being present, albeit it being a place overgrown
with plants.
“This place is the core of the defense, you say?” (Keith)
Keith raises as question, unable to swallow Frau’s words, no matter how
he looks at it.
Frau nods shortly at that.
“The spring water of this place passes along many magic stones, and the
water, which is then abundantly rich with mana, is spread throughout the
city’s underground ~no. That water greatly contributes to the growth of
the plants within the city. And those plants are going to resolve the
provision of food during the defense and the strengthening of the outer
wall ~no.” (Frau)
Once they are told by Frau, “While we are at it, the fact that there are
plenty of plants that contain great amounts of juice also becomes a
countermeasure against fire attacks for the city ~no,” even Keith begins
to think that it might make sense.
“How to say it…? Plain, isn’t it?” (Keith)
Unable to admit directly into Frau’s face that he expected it to be an
outrageous facility which would be eerie and impossible to understand,
Keith states a harmless and inoffensive impression.
“Keith, just what have you been expecting ~no…?” (Frau)
Once he was glared at by Frau’s scornful eyes, Keith scratched the back
of his head while raising a powerless laughter.
 “This place is right below master’s home ~nano. No matter how you
look at it, I couldn’t have set up something as strange as you’ve been
expecting, Keith ~no!” (Frau)
“Well, that makes sense. I wouldn’t be able to calmly sleep if a dragon
opened its mouth right under my bed either.” (Keith)
“If you got it, then return to your post at once ~no. Neither of you should
be in a position where you have the time to play around ~nano.” (Frau)
Keith kowtows towards Frau who bluntly announces that with both her
hands pressed against heir hips and a rough nasal breathing.
Just as Keith is about to leave the room in order to escape from Frau, he
notices that Mayria hasn’t moved from her spot.
Mayria was squatting close to one of the aqueducts with her eyes closed
partly and an expression that seemed as if she was somewhat entranced.
“Mayria-sama?” (Keith)
“Yeah, I will stay here a bit longer. The air here is nice. It feels really
good.” (Mayria)
“Umm…I will go back by myself, I guess…?” (Keith)
“Once you enter the branch passage, it’s basically a straight path as long
as you don’t open any strange doors ~nano.” (Frau)
Frau stared at Mayria who showed no intention of going back, but once
she grasped that Mayria really didn’t have any interest in moving, she
added a sorcery light to the hilt of the longsword worn by Keith.
“Keith, you’re a good adult, so you will go back by yourself ~no. Mayria-
sama will later be escorted by Frau ~no.” (Frau)
“Roger. Well then, excuse me.” (Keith)
Keith leaves the room after bowing with a short bob of his head.
After he was out of sight, Frau closed the room’s door and cast a fleeting
glance at Mayria who was still crouching.
It was just a split second that Frau’s eyes were turned towards Mayria,
but seemingly having perceived it, Mayria opens her eyes, and said while
looking at Frau with upturned eyes,
“Now then Frau-chan, where’s the real core?” (Mayria)
“I don’t know anything about a real core or whatsoever ~no.” (Frau)
Frau’s voice is the same as usual.
But, hearing her, Mayria warped her expression a tiny bit and sighed.
“So you won’t tell me either, huh? Somehow that’s quite saddening.”
(Mayria)
 “This place is truly the core part ~nano.” (Frau)
“Location-wise you mean, right? Putting Keith-san aside, if I’m told that
a water vein source and aqueducts, which provide the entire city with
mana-charged water, are the defense core, then I wouldn’t believe
something like that, you know?” (Mayria)
“I haven’t told you any lies ~no.” (Frau)
“Yes, I haven’t said anything about you lying either, Frau-chan. But,
there’s something you haven’t shown us, isn’t there?” (Mayria)
Once Mayria says that while cracking a smile, Frau dropped her
shoulders and sighed.
Silently Frau looks at Mayria and points towards the entrance door with a
finger, urging her to go outside for a moment.
Mayria, who judged that Frau felt inclined to show her the real core,
stands up obediently and leaves the room along with Frau.
“In reality I don’t really want others to see it ~no.” (Frau)
Voicing such a thing out with a touch of reluctance, Frau closes the
heavy, metallic door and makes her finger trace along the patterns drawn
on the door’s surface which she previously called simple.
There seems to be some underlying principle in the places she traces. In
front of the observing Mayria, the parts, which were touched by Frau’s
finger, started to emit a white light.
“I won’t take any responsibility even if it causes some kind of
abnormality in your mental state ~no. Are you still willing to go ahead
with it ~no?” (Frau)
The threatening tone being included in Frau’s voice could be said to be
reasonable.
As a matter of fact, when she showed it to Emil, Emil said that the best
outcome that could come from timid people or mentally weak people
seeing it would be them fainting.
Frau was given the detailed instruction by Emil to warn people that it will
very likely induce a mental disorder if things go the wrong way.
“You have installed something so dangerous here…?” (Mayria)
Mayria is surprised and shocked by the contents of Frau’s warning, but
the option of not seeing apparently doesn’t exist in her mind.
While continuing the process of opening the door, Frau secretly prepares
herself in order to use the <Tranquility> spell at any time.
If Mayria transformed into a bedridden puppet that only laughs foolishly
from seeing it, Frau couldn’t predict what ordeal she would have to go
through once Renya returned.
First of all, there’s absolutely no way that it’ll simply end with him
saying “Oh okay, I guess it can’t be helped.”
“Well then, I’m going to open it ~no. Hold onto your mind properly ~no.
Okay?” (Frau)
While nodding towards Frau’s words, Mayria quietly chanted something.
Frau immediately notices that it’s the <Tranquility> spell she was
preparing herself just in case.
The <Tranquility> spell calms down the target’s mind if it’s afflicted by
something very disturbing. It’s a spell that can suppress mental damage
even if the target experiences something that would make them go crazy
after some time under normal circumstances.
If you take this action into consideration, it can be seen that even Mayria
herself apparently understood that the thing, which Frau had decided to
deliberately show her, is something uncommon.
Having finished the process, Frau opens the door.
Just moments ago it should have been a door from which dazzling light
and normal air leaked out, but now dark brownish light, a disgusting air
blended with a nasty smell, and a heat that makes one want to turn away
leaks out.
Due to Mayria instinctively covering her mouth, Frau quietly handed her
a handkerchief.
Once Mayria receives the handkerchief, which was soaked with some
herb-like scent – which Mayria didn’t recognize – she tries to drown out
the bad smells by pressing it against her mouth and nose, and follows
after Frau, who had already entered the room first.
The room had completely changed compared to the one she had
previously entered with Keith.
The room had the same temple bell-like shape, but there’s absolutely no
light pouring down from above, and there’s only a wide gaping hole,
from which the dark brown light seems to originate, located in the center
of the room.
Even the walls are riddled with many holes, but as they are filled with
darkness, it’s unknown as to what could be dwelling within.
A red, gooey liquid bubbles upwards from within the wide gaping hole in
the center, giving one the impression that it’s the crater of a volcano at
first glance.
Each time one of the bubbles burst, a hot stench seemed to spread into the
vicinity.
However, if it were only that, it would have been no more than a smelly,
hot hole.
Thinking that there’s probably nothing that could cause one to lose their
mental sanity either, Mayria peered into that hole over Frau’s head, and
then her expression froze.
That red, gooey liquid seemed to have a degree of transparency which
was unexpected given its viscosity. The peeking Mayria’s eyes directly
met with something that’s submerged within the liquid.
Countless eyes.
Furthermore, things that had assumed human shapes.
They, which extended their arms as if struggling while slowly swaying
within the liquid, were in a state that made their body contours
ambiguous, making it difficult to specify their gender or age, but for
some reason only their eyes were clearly visible.
With the whites of their eyes becoming bloodshot and the pupils
widening, they opened their eyes to the very limit, looking at Mayria with
gazes that seemed to be beseeching her in some way.
The sight of countless such stares being submerged inside the liquid can’t
be described with only the word abnormal.
Due to nausea reflexively welling up in her stomach, Mayria tightly
gritted her molars and endured.
“Frau-chan…those…are…?” (Mayria)
“They are still alive within the water that’s full of mana ~no. From the
start they were various spies or assassins from somewhere ~no. But, once
they are dropped in here, the same fate awaits all of them ~nano.” (Frau)
Frau says with an emotionless voice.
“This is the power source for almost all sorcery interception devices
located in Klinge. It’s the main body of the defense’s core. Since they are
conscious individuals, their negative emotions are exploited and
converted into mana…it’s a device that’s referred to as Hell Furnace
~nano.” (Frau)
The name of the device mentioned by Frau was something Mayria had
never heard before.
“Even Frau isn’t aware of the details ~no. Frau didn’t design it, it was
someone else that designed this furnace ~nano. All that Frau knows is
that once you toss magic stones and sacrifices into this place, the furnace
operates by consuming a part of the magic stones’ mana while feeding on
the negative emotions of the sacrifices. Amplifying the remaining mana
of the magic stones, it produces an even larger amount of mana than the
original magic stones. The generated mana is conveyed to all over the
city through certain things located at the bottom of the furnace. That’s the
extent of my knowledge ~nano.” (Frau)
“Certain things? What do you mean by that?” (Mayria)
Mayria asks driven by her curiosity, but Frau shook her head,
expressionlessly.
“It’s better for you to know about it ~no. It’s definiteeely the best for you
to not know about it ~no. Because the sacrifices are pulled from the
surface into the bottom of this furnace, and as it’s for the sake of making
sure that the sacrifices don’t escape, huge clusters of tentacles are
submerged in there in order to circulate the mana through the entire city.
You won’t be able to hear from Frau’s mouth that something like
massive tentacles are stretching out below the city ~no.” (Frau)
“You’ve said it…” (Mayria)
Previously Keith said that it would be unbearable for him if a dragon
were to open its mouth below his bed.
However, if you consider the actual circumstances, those words still
described a much better situation than this here, Mayria absentmindedly
thought in a corner of her mind while still being paralyzed.
After all it wasn’t only under his bed, she had been told that these strange
things are transporting mana all over Klinge’s underground and that there
have been countless tentacles laid out for the sake of dragging suspicious
people into this furnace.
I wonder, isn’t dealing with Frau and the designer of this furnace an even
more urgent problem for humanity than the demon king?
While watching the surface of the red liquid that spit out yet another
bubble with a blub sound, Mayria strongly decided in her mind to consult
Renya about this matter once he gets back.

Chapter 157 – It seems to be the Dragonoid Country

“Umm, you know. It’s said the minds of living beings which possess
emotions or intelligence are extremely good when used as sorcery-like
filters or amplifiers. The sorcery creatures at the bottom of this Hell
Furnace…I call them Putry-chan…on top of allowing them to inhabit this
tentacle-covered creature, they form the main body of the furnace. Once
you put sacrifices inside the furnace, the Putry-chan seize them, and
make them suffer while also pouring mana into them. Due to this, the
negative emotions dwelling in the bodies of the living creatures are
amplified, magnifying the inserted mana. That strengthened mana is once
again collected by the Putry-chan and then used for other purposes.
That’s the basic function of the Hell Furnace.” (Emil)
“You’ve come up with something nasty once again. But, I don’t quite get
the underlying principle behind the furnace.” (Renya)
 “Look, occasionally a protagonist, who was done in by their friends, will
become strangely powerful and shout “Uooooh” or such, even though
you’d usually think something like, if you have such power, then friggin’
use it from the start, right? There are also stories where a protagonist
becomes unable to fight due to a single surprise attack that would
normally be unable to injure them, no matter how you look at it, correct?
It is certainly true that if something like that happens it can’t be helped,
seeing as it’s the story’s development, but you’d be like, why did that
attack connect despite their high defense values!? Something like that?”
“I will refrain from commenting on this.”
“In other words, if you take a human for example, you can say their
intensity goes up and down depending on the fluctuations of their
emotions, can’t you? So, look at it like that. It’s a system that wrings out
the negative emotions through torture-like tormenting as, according to
scientific investigations, it’s easier to extract anger or grief, which are
classified as negative emotions, than comfort or joy, which are classified
as positive emotions, got it…?” (Emil)
“What kind of dangerous conversation do you guys have going there?”
(Lepard)
Hearing Lepard’s calm voice, both, Renya and Emil, turn towards him.
As they were squatting, Emil drew precise diagrams at their feet with a
piece of chalk that she had suddenly retrieved out of nowhere.
Those diagrams seem to be the blueprints for the device called the Hell
Furnace which she mentioned, but for Lepard, who’s completely
unfamiliar with these kinds of things, they look like scribbles that
combine straight and curved lines.
Their current location is a cave called the “Foreigner’s Shrine” by the
dragonoids according to Croire. They stood alone in the deepest part of
the fairly shallow cave. It was a simple place with nothing but the transfer
gate that looked as if it hadn’t been used very much.
Location-wise they are at the boundary line of the dragonoid’s territory,
which ends at the Miasma Forest’s edge, and the “Dragon’s Den” which
is located at the northern tip.
Once they left the cave, they found a reasonably well-maintained road in
front of them, but there was absolutely no presence of people around
them.
In short, they came out at an extremely half-assed place where they could
head in the Miasma Forest’s direction to investigate the reason why the
transfer gate paths were cut off, or go to the Dragon’s Den to learn of the
dragonoid country’s current state.
Because the elves were usually given a lift by young dragons, who would
turn up to help with their travels on a whim, or took wyverns who had
been tamed by the dragonoids, they apparently didn’t care about the
shrine’s location that much, but right now it was a considerable problem
for Renya and the others.
Even the distance to the closest city is quite large if traveled by foot. In
the first place, there’s no way for them to know the state that that
particular city is in right now.
On top of that, there’s not a single person among Renya’s party members,
who is familiar with the area.
The humans and beastmen were out of the question, but even the two
elves, Croire and Grün, never actually visited the dragonoid country.
They only obtained their knowledge from hearsay and several documents
and books that had been left behind.
Even so, that’s still better than having absolutely nothing to work with.
Currently Croire and Grün have gone ahead in order to search the
vicinity. The group that stayed behind is waiting at the “Foreigner’s
Shrine” since there’s no other place where they can rest.
In other words, it means the standby group has too much time on their
hands.
The group consisting of Kurz and the two beastmen priestesses assigned
to him are peacefully huddled together in a corner of the cave, and readily
allowed themselves to drift off into the lands of dreams.
Shion and Rona stood guard and checked the situation around them
within their abilities, but apparently believing that there’s no meaning in
remaining vigilant in a place where there’s absolutely nothing as far as
the eye can see, they settled down close to Kurz and the beastmen
priestesses when Renya and those around him took their eyes off of them,
and soon started to sleep peacefully next to each other.
Renya, Emil, Lepard and Kaede missed their opportunity to go sleep
while still having too much time on their hands. They intently waited for
Croire’s and Grün’s return, but during that time Renya and Emil started a
somewhat questionable conversation.
 “There ain’t no way that you can build such an inhumane device in a
human country, right?” (Lepard)
“That’s right, you two. No matter how superior such a device might be,
something like that can’t…” (Kaede)
Immediately after Lepard, Kaede started to speak, but seeing Renya and
Emil, who gazed at the two beastmen with puzzled expressions, she asks
in a way that could be considered timid,
“…be built…right?” (Kaede)

“It’s not a matter of whether it can or cannot be built, now is it?” (Emil)
Although it’s just faintly, Lepard’s and Kaede’s faces turn pale upon
hearing Emil’s words which she said bluntly in a very indifferent manner.
“Well, as long as you don’t put it into use and just build it for fun, it’s a
great story, I guess.” (Renya)
“No, no, Renya. I’m pretty sure some country will definitely put it to
practical use it if it’s built, you know?” (Emil)
For some reason Emil is full of confidence.
As if not noticing how the couple of beastmen is gradually becoming
paler and paler, Emil throws out her chest and says,
“It’s a fact that there are many humans that are troublesome to get rid of
such as criminals and the like in any country. It’s a dream device that
allows you to clean up those beings in one go and on top of it use them
for a long time as a big mana supply, don’t you think? There’s absolutely
no reason not to introduce such a wonderful system with its low cost and
high return, is there?” (Emil)
“It’s a dream I can’t consider as anything else but a nightmare though…”
(Renya)

“But listen, if that story was true, wouldn’t it also sound good if the
reverse of a hell existed as well?” (Lepard)
Apparently having noticed Kaede’s bad complexion, Lepard changed the
direction of the conversation, obviously having hit upon an idea.
Certainly, since they expressly added the name “Hell Furnace” to such a
device, the idea that a device that has aligned its vectors in the opposite
direction might exist isn’t all that weird.
“Ah, as far as it goes, that kind of system…in other words, a furnace that
uses positive emotions as a source existed as well.” (Emil)
 While scratching her cheek with her index finger and smiling bitterly,
Emil looks somewhat hesitant as she says,
“Though it was discarded for various reasons in the end. The biggest
reason for being discarded is a secret though.” (Emil)
“Aah…I’m sure it’s for some very wicked reason. At least that’s my
prediction.” (Renya)
Lepard realizes that he failed at changing the topic while donning a
dejected expression.
Renya, who thought, Continuing this topic any further somehow doesn’t
seem to be overly good for them, takes it upon himself to change the
topic.
“At any rate, they sure had the nerve to build the transfer gate in such an
empty place, didn’t they?” (Renya)
“Yeah, you’re right. I guess the maintenance in such a place is difficult
as well.” (Emil)
“Did they hate other races getting close to their cities so much?” (Renya)
“Now that you mention it, it sure seems like it. Even the transfer gates in
our country are not connected to places inside the cities, but to ones that
are slightly outside, aren’t they?” (Lepard)
Upon Lepard saying so, obviously rummaging through his memories,
Renya wondered whether it might be the same for the transfer gates in the
human countries as well, but even if he wants to confirm it, all humans
besides himself are peacefully asleep at the moment. Feeling like it
would be evil to expressly wake them up just to ask such a thing, Renya
decides to shelve that question for later.
“That’s because the dragonoids are really troublesome.” (Emil)
“Really? The dragonoid hero Albert whom I met before was an
unusually decent hero though?” (Renya)
It’s been quite a while ago already, but Renya says so while
remembering the face of the hero who came to greet him once.
“Wait a moment. Hey Renya, what do you mean by ‘unusually decent
hero’?” (Lepard)
Lepard took a part of what Renya said as a challenge and flared up at
him.
Apparently he thought that Renya’s words implied that all the other
heroes besides Albert aren’t very decent.
Renya stares at Lepard’s face, then at Kurz’s, who is sleeping soundly,
and moreover thinks about Grün, who left to scout. After pondering for a
short time, he opened his mouth.
“Sorry. I suppose the only one, who’s not normal, is you.” (Renya)
“I’m very normal!” (Lepard)
“Lepard, there’s zero persuasive power in those words.” (Kaede)
Lepard claimed while raising his voice, but once he’s bluntly refuted by
Kaede, he ends up utterly dispirited as it seems he doesn’t have any
words to return.
Letting his ears and tail hang, Lepard shrinks his big body and turns in
the direction of the wall, but it looks like Kaede doesn’t feel like
comforting him.
“Occasionally I wonder about it, but do you guys really love each
other?” (Renya)
Renya wonders whether this isn’t the moment where she should console
Lepard, even if it’s a lie, but Kaede immediately flapped her hand.
“He will get conceited if I pamper him too much. The male beastmen are
in the perfect state if they are slightly disheartened.” (Kaede)
“Even if I die, I definitely don’t want to be reborn as a beastman.”
(Renya)
Due to Renya saying that he would be horrified from continuously being
treated in such way, Kaede and Emil burst into laughter at the same time
for some reason.
“Did I say something funny?” (Renya)
They probably couldn’t hear his question through their laughter, but all
of a sudden Croire turns up in the cave’s entrance.
When they departed Croire left empty-handed without taking any
weapons with her, but in her right hand there now dangle several wild
rabbits which had their necks strangled and precisely broken.
They are tied together at their ears by something that looks like an ivy.
In her other hand she’s grasping a bundle of leaves that are very likely
different kinds of herbs and wild grasses which she picked somewhere
along the way.
“Croire, tell me again, what was the reason why you went out?” (Renya)
Once Renya asked her while looking at the things in her hands, Croire
immediately replied with a smile plastered all over her face,
“To investigate and check the situation in the vicinity.” (Croire)
 “What are those things you’re holding in your hands then?” (Renya)
Once she was asked by Renya as he repeatedly points at her hands, Croire
thrust her loot in front of him while maintaining her smile.
“It’s food. Please be delighted, Renya. This area has a soil that allows
herbs to grow en masse, and plenty of wild rabbits and wild mice inhabit
the area.” (Croire)
“You’re sure you’re an elf, right…?” (Renya)
Renya, who wonders what to think of an elf who happily eats wild
rabbits and mice, says sarcastically, but it looks like Croire doesn’t
understand what he’s implying at all.
“If asked if my eating habits are more like an elf’s or a human’s, I would
say they have gotten closer to those of humans since I started to live with
you, Renya.” (Croire)
“Now that you mention it, you’re certainly right there.” (Renya)
“Grün-niisama is slightly worried, but since it’s not like we can’t eat
meat anyway, it’s fine.” (Croire)
“What about the report regarding your investigation…?” (Renya)
“There’s nothing at all. Absolutely no sign of people or battle. There are
no dragons in the sky either. It’s very peaceful. There’s nothing you
ought to see.” (Croire)
Renya wasn’t sure whether she had forgotten her task, but as far as it
goes Croire apparently understood what she had to report.
“It might be a little bit harsh to travel by foot. The continent with the least
amount of cities is the northern one. The distances from one city to
another is very large.” (Croire)
“I guess there’s also the option to of asking Dra-kun and his friends to
lend us a dragon.” (Renya)
When it comes to having the speed of a flying dragon, it’s possible to
travel without wasting too much time, even if it’s a considerable distance.
There not being any dragons in the sky, as reported by Croire, means we
have to get them to allow us to use them as transportation by some means
once we meet a flying dragon, Renya assessed.
In this case some means becomes one centered around physical
communication, or to be precise, forceful persuasion by shooting them
down.
“As for me, I believe that it might be better to stay in this shrine today, no
matter whether we are going to head towards a nearby city or towards the
Dragon’s Den.”
“That’s true…traveling will probably be less burdensome after taking a
good rest. Maybe there is something like a dragonoid patrol that might
pass by this place here, too.”
Seeing as the transfer gate has been installed here, it was difficult to
imagine that the cave, where Renya and the others are currently at, had
been completely abandoned.
In order for the transfer gate to continue functioning as one, regular
maintenance is necessary.
That’s a task that can only be carried out by the hands of people.
If we are lucky, now might be just the time when the transfer gate needs
maintenance. And even if that’s not the case, it wouldn’t be weird if the
fact that this transfer gate had been forcibly activated by the elven
country has been transmitted to the dragonoids controlling this gate. In
that case it’s also possible that someone will be dispatched to check the
situation.
“Waking up those who are sleeping right now so as to head out seems
pitiful as well…I guess we will set up camp here.” (Renya)
Once they decided on a course of action, things went by quickly.
Given that the number of people in Renya’s party, which included the
heroes, is high, the amount of food brought back by Croire wouldn’t be
able to feed all of them.
Renya has put various ingredients that seem usable inside his inventory,
but as they are currently in a situation, where they don’t know how long
they’ll have to stay in the dragonoid country, he judges that it would be
better to supply food that can be procured locally rather than touching the
ingredients in his inventory.
Croire put down the ingredients in her hands and went outside to inform
Grün to temporarily return to the cave. Whereas it was decided that
Lepard and Kaede would go out to secure some more herbs and meat.
“Renya, what about us?” (Emil)
“I suppose we will prepare the rabbits while staying here.” (Renya)
No matter how many rabbits Croire catches, there’s no one amongst
Renya’s party that would eat them with their fur and skin still attached.
As such it becomes necessary to process the wild rabbits into raw meat
that could be cooked. “Leave the dismantling to me.” (Emil)
As if to say that dissection and dismantling are her specialties, Emil took
out several knives out from her coat, and immediately started dismantling
the wild rabbits.
While watching her abnormally skillful work, Renya began to ponder
about what they should do from now on.