Wrapping Up the Request
I drew up my mana to finish the job. The pretty boy made a face like he couldn’t understand what I was doing. After all, if I twisted his senses, it would all become meaningless anyway. His eyes clearly asked why I was bothering with something so pointless. But that was a question only someone who knew one thing and not the other could ask.
All of my summons had formed contracts through their own unique dimensions acting as intermediaries. That meant those dimensions had an obligation to check whether the contract between summoner and summon was being properly upheld. And if the summoning was being blocked by some outside force?
Unique Dimension Direct Mana Transfer Service
Uuuuuuung!
“Huh?”
The unique dimension itself would step in, take the mana, and send the summon over. As the pretty boy stared with a stupid expression at the summoning circle that was completing itself in an unexpected turn of events, a woman with gradient-colored hair appeared late through a teleport scroll and shouted fiercely.
“What are you standing there gawking for?! Stop it already!”
“N-no! I’m definitely blocking it, so why is it still summoning?!”
“If you can’t block it, knock the summoner out first!”
“Northerners have ridiculously sturdy bodies and high resistance, you know!”
When something outside their common sense occurred, they couldn’t respond quickly. The woman ground her teeth at the sight. This was exactly why experience mattered as much as ability. Having risen to the youngest executive position, she apparently couldn’t handle the situation properly. Deciding to sort out blame later, she chose to knock the summoner unconscious before the summoning finished. Usually, if the summoner fainted, the summoning would cancel.
“Guh!”
The woman knocked out Argo, who couldn’t even resist because his senses were already paralyzed, and let out a sigh of relief. With the medium supplying mana now gone, the summoning should stop…
…or so she thought. Instead, the summoning completed far too smoothly, and a massive dragon was brought forth right into the branch office where they were staying. For a brief moment their heads went numb at a situation that completely defied their common sense. But she had enough experience to immediately try to deal with the dragon before it rampaged.
“Grrrr!”
“Awooooo!”
If only Ikelos and the other summons hadn’t charged in to interfere. Because Ikelos and Umbra kept freely changing forms and rampaging wildly, casualties occurred. And because the Rune Golem was smashing nearby buildings with pure mass, her feet were tied up for a very brief instant.
The Lesser Dragon didn’t miss that tiny opening. It grinned wickedly and opened its maw. The moment blazing flames flickered inside its mouth—
“No—!”
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa───!!!
A colossal breath capable of swallowing the entire enclosed branch office descended. It wasn’t the laser breath used against strong enemies, but a flame meant to incinerate all things. As the wave of fire spread out, the temperature inside the base shot up rapidly.
“W-what the hell?!”
“It’s an attack!”
“Suppress the flames first!”
The base’s defensive magic activated in response to the sudden disaster. If the members capable of suppressing or blocking fire hadn’t reacted quickly, half the place would have burned down. The woman abandoned the fire suppression and headed straight for the center of the breath.
She frantically searched the area, then stared at the floor where not a single trace remained and wore a hollow expression.
“Ha… I missed the target, and the base is completely trashed.”
Just what kind of trick had he used to slip through their iron-tight security and disappear? It was only a gut feeling, but she was certain that chasing after him now would be pointless. With a dejected face, she stared at the spot where he had vanished.
The pretty boy approached her from behind with a cautious look and asked,
“What are we going to tell the boss…?”
“What else? We tell him we failed spectacularly and take the beating.”
She should have realized something was special the moment that usually indifferent boss told them to use any means necessary to bring him in. She let out a sigh at her own naivety, thinking that she and the rat—specialized in force and suppression respectively—could handle it together.
“Hah. If that crow bitch hears about this, she’ll come flying over just to laugh at us.”
The rabbit ground her teeth, irritated even at the mere imagination of that gloomy-looking crow mocking her. But what could they do? They had failed their mission, while the crow had not.
“Let’s clean up first and think later.”
“Got it.”
After confirming that the flames, even after being hit with water-attribute magic, showed no signs of evolving, the rabbit took the rat and moved to command the now-chaotic branch office. If they didn’t want to get scolded any more, they at least had to clean up properly.
“Ughk!”
My deeply sunken consciousness jolted awake from an external impact. The moment I came to, I realized I was lying on the ground and quickly sat up.
“Agh… my head.”
The pain at the crown of my head suggested I’d landed head-first. I clutched my throbbing skull—probably because I’d fallen while unconscious—when I felt an intense gaze from the surroundings. I turned to look.
"""......"""
“……?”
I made eye contact with the escort troops who had been preparing camp. They had been diligently cleaning up when they suddenly spotted me and froze with blank faces before bursting into cheers.
“Argo’s back!”
“Weren’t you getting captured?!”
“No wonder the party members looked so calm!”
The cheering people swarmed over. They grabbed me all at once and lifted me up. I didn’t resist and simply let them carry me. Thinking they might be planning to toss me in the air in celebration, I smiled and greeted the ones holding me. At the commotion, the scattered escort members all gathered.
“Argo. I’m hungry.”
“You’re back? That was faster than I expected.”
“Oink.”
I waved in response to my companions’ greetings, then spotted Aron pushing through the crowd and greeted him warmly.
“I’ve returned safely.”
“I’m sorry. I should have been more careful.”
“No, it actually worked out well.”
It was the truth. The thick pile of experience points proved everything. I didn’t know how much the Lesser Dragon had rampaged inside their branch, but the amount of exp I gained at once was by far the highest I’d ever received. I was already looking forward to returning to Edenberg to reorganize.
With a satisfied smile, I decided it was time to end the small talk and spoke up.
“So, could you put me down now? It’s time for a stamina potion.”
Only then did the people check my condition and hurriedly set me down. If they hadn’t been so distracted by my sudden appearance, they would have rushed me straight to the medical tent. My condition was that bad.
The monster-hide armor I wore had long since turned into rags, and it was hard to find any spot on my skin without a wound. The only reason I was still conscious was that I had avoided fatal injuries. If not, I might have collapsed right then and there.
The moment I was back on the ground, I pulled a stamina potion from my inventory. I drank the expensive elf workshop version—far pricier than the store-bought kind—and only then did I feel like I might actually live.
“Now I feel a bit more alive.”
“Go rest in the medical tent. According to the guild staff, reinforcements are only a few hours away. You can get treated by the priest who came with them.”
“I’ll do that.”
I nodded at Hornst, who had been watching nearby. In my heart I wanted to act like I was fine, but my body was in no condition for bravado. I had avoided fatal wounds, but every other kind of injury was present.
A few hours passed like that. While I watched the escort troops clean up from inside the medical tent, the reinforcements finally arrived.
“Looks like the attackers have been dealt with?”
“We are from the Order of Compassion! Where are the injured?!”
“We’ll handle the cleanup.”
The support force—made up of adventurers, priests from the Order, guild staff, and nearby territorial troops—quickly dispersed. They treated the wounded and helped with the aftermath.
After receiving treatment from the priests of the Order of Compassion and fully recovering, I joined the now-reinforced escort column and headed north.
The journey upward was incredibly comfortable. From here on, we were in a region with many lords friendly to the North. Having heard about the attack, they had personally sent their territorial forces, so our numbers swelled. Bandits didn’t dare approach, let alone monsters.
When we reached the gateway city of Harmun, we parted ways with the people from the academy who had joined as escorts.
“We’ve finally reached the North.”
“This is as far as we go.”
Upon arriving at their destination, the academy professors wore exhausted expressions. Attacks targeting the academy had become frequent lately, and experiencing yet another one had worn them out completely. The students, having endured a high-intensity forced march plus actual combat, looked equally drained.
Still, having successfully escorted the party, the professors gave warm farewells.
“It’s a shame, though. If Professor Veronika had been here, things would have gone much more smoothly.”
“What can we do? The academy’s planned outdoor class was attacked recently, and multiple professors were injured.”
“The only way to fill that sudden gap in manpower is to send Veronika.”
Hornst, who had been listening to the professors’ conversation, thought for a moment and asked,
“Just what exactly is Orbis Academy?”
“At this point, we don’t even know anymore.”
“It definitely wasn’t like this just a few years ago.”
“The Central region has fallen into chaos, so naturally the academy isn’t safe either.”
Even a born-and-raised Northerner like Hornst had questions. The professors smiled bitterly. Even they thought the situation made no sense. Considering Orbis Academy’s reputation, the number of absurd incidents happening there was ridiculous.
But when you looked at the overall state of the Central region, Orbis Academy was surprisingly still on the safer side. Some territories were already experiencing open rebellions or peasant uprisings—the cracks were beginning to show in earnest.
Anyway, the escort party safely parted with the academy group and continued toward the North.
“We’re finally in the North!”
“The North!”
I spread both arms wide and savored the northern air I hadn’t smelled in a long time. Neon, who was following behind, made an embarrassed face. Ignoring his reaction, I inhaled the northern air to my heart’s content, mingled with the laughing adventurers who copied me, and kept moving.
After traveling a few more days inside the North, we finally arrived at our destination—Edenberg. Hornst, acting as the representative of the escort, shouted the completion of the request.
“Everyone worked hard! Since this request was important to the North, you’ll all receive generous rewards! Security forces, you can look forward to bonuses too!”
Everyone cheered at Hornst’s words. While he watched the escort disperse with a pleased expression amid the heightened morale, I approached him after checking the new weapon stored in my inventory.
“Sir Hornst, where should I put the new weapon?”
“Keep holding onto it. I’ll call you later with a designated request and take you to the front lines.”
“Huh? But still…”
“Are you planning to run off with it?”
“No. I don’t particularly want to be folded in half by you, Sir Hornst.”
“Then it’s settled.”
His attitude was so casual it almost felt cold. I scratched my head. I had expected to be escorted to the front lines, but did I really have to keep carrying it? Since the person in charge told me to hold onto it, I decided to do so for now and headed to the guild with my companions.
With the request finished, all that remained was the settlement.