The Nest's Gravity
The nest was far more important to a queen than anyone could imagine. It was a sanctuary to protect her own body, a factory to produce her legions, and a personal world she could manipulate at will. That was why her craving for a nest ran so deep it bordered on obsession.
"I'm fine, really. So let me go."
"Shut up, kid. Your eyes are still half rolled back. No way I'm letting you loose."
"Tch."
Adela clicked her tongue, still bound by the restraints I'd made from Ikelos. Seeing that she still hadn't come to her senses, I scratched the back of my head. Normally, the ever-professional Beatrice would have stopped her, but unfortunately she was busy consulting with Elin, the owner of the Fairy's Tail workshop, about armor upgrades. No one had been around to rein her in.
Even though the apprentices were strong, they weren't strong enough to handle a Silver-rank monster. Barok, who had struggled until I arrived, let out a huge sigh of relief.
"Whew. I almost lost my precious beard there."
"Glad it ended as just a funny story. You're not hurt anywhere, are you?"
"I'm perfectly fine! More importantly, that girl's in pretty bad shape. Is a nest really that important to a queen?"
"Judging by Adela's reaction, it must be."
I'd realized it was important after hearing her sing about her mobile nest for so long, but I hadn't expected it to be this serious. I'd deliberately stayed out of it because it seemed like she was trying to find her own solution, but apparently failing to secure a craftsman had stressed her out more than I'd thought.
I stuffed a snack in her mouth to calm her down and continued my conversation with Barok.
"By the way, can your clan really design a fortress?"
"Of course! Architecture is our specialty. We've even participated in large-scale construction projects at the village level!"
"The scale Adela is imagining will be beyond anything you can picture."
She was essentially planning to build an entire city. The amount of resources it would consume would be astronomical. We'd gathered the rare materials needed for the fortress core during our last expedition, but the massive quantity of stone required would mean carving up an entire mountain.
"I've heard the rough scale. She wants a fortress that can comfortably house tens of thousands of legion troops."
It seemed Barok had already gotten the general explanation from Adela. His eyes sparkled with a wide grin.
"Doesn't matter to me. I've designed cities more times than I can count. And above all, what craftsman would hesitate in the face of a challenge like this?"
"You're already certain your clan will accept, huh?"
"They inherited my personality straight down the line."
I stared for a moment into Barok's steadfast eyes—completely free of any deceit—then hoisted Adela over my shoulder.
"If that's how you feel, I won't have to worry about the quest reward getting stiffed."
"I don't have the guts to scam a Gold-rank adventurer. If by some chance those idiots say they can't handle the request, I'll pull every connection I have to bring in architects and laborers."
"We only need the architects. The grunt work will be handled by the ants."
"Bwahaha! Building a fortress together with monsters? Now that sounds like fun!"
I waved casually at the boisterously laughing dwarf and left. Not long after, a designated quest proposal flew straight to me.
Designated Escort Leader for Large-Scale Heteromorph Migration
"......?"
It was a much bigger request than I'd anticipated. I'd thought it would end with bringing back a few hundred dwarves at most. Instead, the quest document that arrived designated me as the leader of a large-scale heteromorph escort operation. Unable to hide my surprise, I headed straight for the adventurer guild.
Anel, who had been calmly processing documents at the reception counter, saw me approaching and spoke as if she'd been expecting this.
"Escort leader aside, what the hell is this about a large-scale heteromorph migration?"
"It's thanks to your fame."
"What?"
"The overwhelming power you displayed at the arena the other day, and the way you freely manipulated space, caught the eyes of the heteromorphs."
After listening to Anel's explanation, I regained my composure and started thinking. The moment I saw her attitude, I roughly understood the situation.
Many heteromorphs had left their families and homelands to work here. To them, the North looked like a good place to live, and since the political situation in the Central region was so unstable, they probably wanted to bring their families and acquaintances to the relatively safer(?) North while they had the chance.
But they couldn't just tell them to come blindly, so they'd been worrying about how to transport them. Then, conveniently, a trustworthy adventurer had made a name for himself. And that adventurer could even store and retrieve living beings in a special space called the Water Realm? On top of that, a dwarf named Barok was going to file a designated request with that adventurer?
That's how it had escalated. The heteromorphs active in Edenberg had collectively submitted a massive request, and things had developed to this point.
When I shared my reasoning with Anel, she nodded as if I'd hit the nail on the head.
"Pretty close. Plus, you're the only Gold-rank adventurer active at the Edenberg branch right now."
Owen had gone to the front lines a few days ago to deliver the truth he'd uncovered in the ancient ruins, and Luna was stuck at the branch because of the rule that every major branch needed at least one Gold-rank adventurer present. Therefore, I was the only adventurer capable of overseeing a large-scale heteromorph migration.
"If it's big enough to be called 'large-scale,' it won't just be one or two adventurers involved."
"Adventurers will be dispatched from several other branches besides the Edenberg one."
"Which means I have to take responsibility for all of them too."
"You're the only Gold-rank being deployed for this request."
The fact that I was the only Gold-rank despite the request's importance immediately told me why.
"Damn those Central bastards. Why are they so wary when an adventurer just wants to take a quest?"
"That's part of it, but they also want to draw as little external attention as possible. And most of all, your abilities are a perfect fit for this request."
"Because I can just put the heteromorphs into the Water Realm and move them?"
"Essentially, all you need is an escort until they're safely inside your realm. So we just need to send enough manpower to protect you until you can send the heteromorphs into the Water Realm."
When I thought about it that way, it really did seem like I was the only suitable person. Since there was a talent optimized for transporting personnel and supplies, it would be strange if the adventurer guild didn't make use of me. And since the scale of the request meant the rewards would be equally large, I had no reason to refuse.
Most of all, I had to accept because of Adela, who was staring at me with those intense, sparkling eyes from the side.
"I'll take the quest. So when do I need to gather at the branch?"
"Since it's such a major issue, preparations have already been made. We'll depart as soon as the personnel are assembled."
As expected, their work was fast. After Anel's words, I decided to rest comfortably until the guild contacted me.
A few days later, a guild employee came to fetch me. Following the employee, I arrived at an open clearing where over a dozen carriages and dozens of adventurers were gathered. Luna, who had been conducting preliminary inspections there, spotted me and smiled brightly.
"You're here?"
"Did you handle everything I was supposed to do? You could've just called me."
"It's fine. This is my job."
"Still, making my former boss do all the work makes me feel awkward."
"If I don't do at least this much, my body gets stiff and I can't stand it."
Even after retiring, she was still stronger than me, yet she was complaining. Since I was confident I could beat her in a bare-handed fight if I strengthened my body with talismans, I quietly shut my mouth and focused on what Luna was saying.
"The people here are adventurers sent from various branches. There are fifteen Silver-ranks excluding your three party members, and forty-five Bronze-ranks."
"The plan was to gather the heteromorphs scattered across the Central region at fifteen assembly points and transport them into the Water Realm, right?"
"Correct. At each location, one Silver-rank and three Bronze-ranks will be deployed. No matter how chaotic the Central region is, if that many heteromorphs start moving, the nobles will definitely catch wind of it."
Since slave hunting still occurred in secret throughout the Central region, there was no way the nobles wouldn't notice. Realizing that conflict with the noble houses of the Central region was now unavoidable, I asked seriously.
"If things go south, how far am I allowed to cause trouble?"
"This is a large-scale migration of heteromorphs. Even if you wipe out noble families below the rank of count, the Grand Duke of Libertas will smooth things over."
"What about royalty or the imperial family?"
"If they're nobodies not even in the line of succession, handle them yourself. If the First or Second Prince is involved, contact the guild. We'll take care of that side."
"I like the sound of that."
In other words, I could pretty much run wild as I pleased. The reason the mages at the Blue Tower had been so helpless even after all that chaos was because I'd had Count Edenberg backing me. This time, the Grand Duke himself was stepping up as my patron.
With backing powerful enough that the emperor would pretend not to hear even if I cursed him out, I broke into a wicked smile. Luna, who seemed to understand everything from my expression, spoke.
"Cause a moderate amount of trouble. Cleaning up the mess is our job."
"Don't worry. I wasn't planning on swinging my sword indiscriminately anyway."
Even in the Central region, slave hunting was officially illegal. If caught, the Holy Kingdom would foam at the mouth and brand them as heretics. So if any foolish nobles picked a fight with us, wouldn't it be killing two birds with one stone to rescue the captured slaves and empty their treasuries while I was at it?
As if she'd read my thoughts, Luna gave a small, knowing smile.
"Just so you know, the more heteromorphs you bring to the North, the greater the reward will be. As for any side income you earn in the process, you can divide it among yourselves."
"As expected of you, Luna Nunim. I knew I could count on you."
At Luna's advice to rob them thoroughly if we were going to rob them at all, everyone put on sly expressions.
"Hehehe, is this our chance to legally beat up nobles?"
"I've never liked those Central noble bastards anyway."
"Since the ones who mess with us are irredeemable trash, this works out perfectly."
"As expected, interesting things always happen when we're with the Summoner of Edenberg."
Since it was an operation involving the migration of countless heteromorphs, it was only a matter of time before the nobles noticed. There would be skilled individuals among the heteromorphs too, so defense wouldn't be a big issue. But simply defending and heading north didn't suit my temperament at all.
If the nobles were going to interfere anyway, it was better to thoroughly rob the rich ones, wasn't it?
When most of the adventurers seemed to share the same thought, Luna waved us off, telling us to get moving.
"Then let's depart! We'll move together to the Central gateway!"
"""Yes!"""
We marched out of Edenberg with imposing momentum, hearts filled with equal parts expectation and excitement, like fishermen hoping for a full net. For Adela's fortress construction, and to gather heteromorphs who could help reinforce the front lines, we set out to play the role of heroes from fairy tales.