We Welcome Your Voluntary Enlistment
Welcoming voluntary enlistment, I led the adventurers toward the Central region and stopped on a road a suitable distance from the gateway city. I opened a rift connected to the Water Realm so the carriages could enter and said, "From here on, I'll move alone. Everyone, enter the Water Realm and wait inside."
"Are you planning to cross the mountain range?"
"The other races have already moved in large numbers anyway, so we'll get discovered soon enough. But isn't it better for us to delay revealing our identities as long as possible?"
There was only one person to lead the other races into the Water Realm, but multiple gathering points. Passing through the gateway city of Harmun would let the nobles figure out our purpose, which wasn't a good choice. Even if Count Harmun himself was friendly to the North, spies hidden among the noble houses could leak the information.
The adventurers nodded at my words and led the carriages into the Water Realm. After confirming they had all entered, I closed the rift and lightly stretched my body.
Then shall I check just how amazing my physical abilities have become after reaching Gold-rank?
I hadn't been able to properly test it while groaning in bed all this time, but the chance to test it had finally arrived. Thanks to the Water Realm, I had become extremely free from transportation issues, so I looked toward the towering mountains. It wasn't as extreme as the range at the front lines, but the mountains dividing the Central and Northern regions were rugged enough. Mysteries had formed along the range, and it served as a natural fortress that ordinary monsters couldn't climb, but it wasn't enough to stop a Gold-rank adventurer.
Let's aim to cross it within one hour.
Setting my goal, I lightly kicked off the ground. My body shot upward at tremendous speed, and I succeeded in leaping over the towering trees. Using the Ikelos I summoned in that state as a foothold to leap again, my body surged forward like a fighter jet, countless trees blurring past beneath my legs. I broke through the entrance of the mountain range in an instant, spotted a massive cliff blocking the path ahead, and leaped without hesitation. The force of my jump left a crater where my foot had pushed off, letting me cling to the middle of the cliff. From there I climbed using only arm strength, digging my fingers into the rock and pulling myself up several meters at a time, clearing it with ease.
Is this what Gold-rank feels like?
I couldn't help marveling at the incredible physical ability—so extreme it surprised even me. I had vaguely sensed the vitality surging through my whole body, but actually experiencing this power felt entirely new. Having roughly grasped its limits, I crossed the mountain range without hesitation. I brushed off the Mystery phenomena hammering my entire body and the harsh natural barriers that were difficult even for monsters to overcome, finally reaching the summit. From there I looked down at the gateway city of Harmun visible far in the distance. It was so far away that I wouldn't have seen it without my transcendent vision. After staring at it for a while, I descended the mountain.
I would have to travel across the entire Central region for the next few weeks to gather the other races, so there was no time to relax. I came down even faster than I had gone up. When I reached the path I had checked on the map beforehand, I opened the rift and brought the adventurers out.
Neon, who emerged first, looked around. "We're already here?"
"I'm Gold-rank now. This much is simple." I shrugged at the shocked Neon and showed off a little before turning to the adventurers.
Fifteen teams of four, exactly as planned, each driving one carriage. They kept glancing at the carriages with uneasy expressions.
"Never thought I'd see the day I cooperated with monsters."
"There are surprisingly many monsters that work with people. Mountain turtles are a classic example."
"In my hometown there were only nasty ones."
Listening to their chatter, I let out a small laugh. Knowing what was inside the carriages, I could understand their unfamiliar reactions. This was something only our party could pull off.
Anyway, there was a reason we had brought the carriages even though we would be putting the other races into the Water Realm.
"Guard the carriages well. Whatever's inside must not be discovered until we reach the assembly point."
"These guys have been rolling in this business for more than a day or two. They'll be fine."
"Don't worry! If we're discovered, I'll physically erase their memories!"
Sighing at the sight of these truly reliable adventurers, I looked at the two I could actually trust among them—Goro and Arash, whom I had often worked with back in my Bronze days. They had recently risen to Silver-rank. I told them, "I'm counting on you two. We're sending two teams to the most dangerous spot, so if it feels risky, use the carriage without hesitation."
"Don't worry. I'm more confident in escort duty than anyone."
"I'm not sure a warrior like me can handle it well, but since you trusted me with the job, I won't let you down."
They had shown exceptional potential even in their Bronze days, so I had a good sense of how skilled they would be after reaching Silver. I patted their shoulders while looking at the pair who could easily hit Gold-rank within a few years.
"If necessary, you can cut down nobles or anyone else. Go wild."
"Saying such brutal things so casually~"
"So you're not going to shoot?"
"Of course I'm shooting."
Claiming he'd be the first to shoot while acting all innocent. Goro laughed playfully, boarded his carriage, and set off. The other teams followed one by one toward their destinations. After confirming the teams—one Silver and three Bronze each—were scattering in every direction, we moved out as well.
Our first stop was an unnamed rocky mountain not far from here. Following the map the guild informants had prepared, we cut through the forest and spotted a dwarf anxiously looking around at the secretly hidden destination.
Rustle.
"Who goes there!"
"Gold-rank adventurer Argo of the Northern Adventurer Guild. Are you the ones who requested the escort mission?"
"Y-yes! I thought it might not be true, but you really came! My name is Grom! I'm the elder leading the village!"
I had deliberately made noise as I approached. Before Grom could raise his guard, I showed him my adventurer badge, proving I was an ally. After confirming the intricately carved badge with its delicate magic imprint, Grom quickly relaxed. The badge carried intricate traces only dwarves could recognize. That level of passion was not something a dwarf captured as a slave could display.
Having confirmed I was friendly, Grom looked around and shouted, "Hold your fire! They're allies, so bring the non-combatants!"
At his order, dwarf warriors who had been hiding using the nearby terrain revealed themselves. Some carried axes as large as their bodies, while others held muskets crafted with rune magic—the dwarves' unique magical system. It looked as if they had used Grom as live bait. Neon clicked his tongue beside me.
"That's brutal."
"If they hadn't prepared like this, the slave hunters would have gotten them long ago."
Hearing Neon, Grom gave a wry laugh. He was about to launch into a passionate speech about the persistence and tenacity of slave hunters when he saw the refugees emerging from the underground tunnels and changed his tone.
"Still, if someone of your caliber is coming, the road must be safe, right?"
"You don't even need to worry about safety."
When the confused Grom asked what I meant, I answered by opening a rift in the air. The dwarves stared in surprise as the Water Realm connection appeared. True to Barok's clan, they showed curiosity rather than wariness.
"What is this?"
"Space-type magic? No, it's closer to a Mystery."
"The interior space is incredibly wide."
"Not just wide—it's an entirely different world."
Looking at the dwarves whose eyes sparkled like true craftsmen, I pointed inside the Water Realm and said, "We'll escort you through this space called the Water Realm. There are many others we need to rescue besides you, so you'll have to stay here for a few days."
"I heard about the large-scale movement. I was wondering how you would handle the escort, but I never imagined they'd send an adventurer who carries an entire world with him."
"It's not quite that impressive."
I smiled awkwardly at Grom's praise. It had indeed expanded enough that an outsider might mistake it for an entire world. After breaking through the Gold-rank wall and the sapling growing into a young tree, the Water Realm had changed dramatically. It had always been spacious, but now it stretched beyond sight, and the internal environment had gained such rich vitality that forests and plants were clearly visible instead of just a few blades of grass.
Seeing fish swimming along the babbling stream, Grom looked at me with wonder in his eyes.
"I heard Barok had specially requested an incredible adventurer this time. So it was you."
"Haha, all this praise is embarrassing."
If I let him continue, the compliments would never stop, so I quickly sent the dwarves inside and closed the Water Realm. They had prepared for evacuation long ago and even brought subspace bags, so daily life didn't seem to be a problem. Still, with more refugees coming later, it could get crowded. I felt the need for some traffic management.
"Beatrice, prepare a space inside for the dwarves to stay."
"Should I calculate for the other refugees who will arrive as well?"
Perhaps because she was a queen who led an entire legion, she immediately understood my meaning and entered the rift without hesitation. Leaving Beatrice to create living space for the refugees alongside the War Ants, I headed to the next destination.
We had been lucky at the first assembly point. For someone unfamiliar with the North, Grom had been extremely cooperative, and the locals hadn't noticed the dwarves preparing to evacuate. Thanks to that smooth acceptance, I had begun secretly planning how to gather more refugees. That plan collapsed spectacularly the moment we reached the second assembly point.
Corpses lay scattered around the adventurers who were comforting a group of anxious-looking elves.
"...What are these guys?"
"Informants who caught the scent and followed it."
"They seem to be from the back alleys. After interrogation, it looks like the local information guild was targeting the elf village."
At the adventurer's report, I examined the several corpses strewn about and the rough-looking men tied to the trees. My expression hardened. I had expected we might be discovered, but the timing was terrible. To think the information guild had been investigating the elf village on their own.
Sighing, I summoned Umbra from the shadows.
"Umbra, take one of these men, find the guild's location, and erase all the evidence."
Umbra nodded, emerged from the shadows, grabbed the nearest captive informant, and vanished. The remaining informants grew visibly anxious and began groveling.
"Hehe, hehehe. Then what should we do?"
"Just give us any order! We'll work like dogs!"
Since they dealt in information, they had instinctively realized it. The summon I had just brought out meant their faction was doomed. From the general situation and the quality of the adventurers' equipment, they had figured out that the North was backing us. Inside, they were probably cursing their guild master. All that fuss just to get one elf, and now they were all going to die. If things continued this way they would be disposed of to eliminate evidence, so they flattered desperately to survive.
Rubbing my chin in thought, I decided to spare them.
"We were short on manpower to reinforce the front lines anyway. This worked out perfectly."
There was plenty of space in the Water Realm to hold prisoners, and the North had many places that desperately needed workers. Mine laborers who fought underground monsters, farmland watchers that every monster coveted, supply carriers at the front lines—the list went on. Just off the top of my head there were this many 3D jobs that even Northerners avoided. Smiling brightly at the informants, I said, "We welcome your voluntary enlistment."
Looking at these talented individuals ready to devote their lives for the North, I set a new goal. In addition to safely escorting the other-race refugees and thoroughly shaking down the nobles, I would recruit (kidnap) useful talent for the North. In the North, slave hunters were treated as quasi-monsters that could be killed on sight for a bounty, so I felt zero hesitation. If they had thought to enslave other races, they should have been prepared to become slaves themselves.