Chapter 98

Rage revealed everything about himself and his secrets to the five members of "Silver Scales," including Zelly and Anastasia. He then explained that the world was in danger of collapse and that he had to break the covenant to resolve it.

His companions said that he didn't have to bear everything alone and that he should focus on Lark's treatment now. They suggested that there should be a discussion among the covenanters, and Anastasia would go back to the Elven Kingdom to proceed with it. Dante and the others would be responsible for warning the leaders of various countries in case of unforeseen events.

★ Port Town Zackerhaven, Adventurers' Guild ★

The counter of the Adventurers' Guild, made of stone and topped with a wooden slab, didn't budge even when Dante leaned on it with his arm. However, the receptionist behind the counter was trembling.

"…So, you're saying the guild will ignore my report?"

"Well, that's not exactly it… It's just such an outlandish story…"

"Even I'm a Golden-Class adventurer. To be completely ignored…"

"That's why this guild can't handle such serious information! We only have monthly reports to the capital… We're not as active as the Keisugran Federation…"

"…I see."

Dante stepped away from the counter.

"I'm sorry for the trouble."

He turned and left the guild. The guild was empty except for the lone receptionist and sub-master, with no other adventurers around.

"Huh… In a country where knights are so strong that there's no room for adventurers, I guess it can't be helped…"

The midday sun was still hot, and Dante, running his hand through his slightly thinning hair, headed for the inn. The Adventurers' Guild, with branches across borders, should have a lot of information. If something was wrong with the world, the Adventurers' Guild would likely be the first to notice. That's why Dante wanted the upper echelons of the guild to know as soon as possible, but this small-town guild with limited facilities and functions couldn't do anything.

"Dante-sama."

"Hey, boss!"

"Anastasia, and Zelly too. Are you leaving now?"

The Sylvis Kingdom, ruled by High Elves, is where Anastasia, also a High Elf, is from. However, it was too dangerous for her to go alone, so Zelly was going with her.

"Yeah, the ship is about to leave. If we miss this one, the next one is in five days, so we have to hurry."

"……"

"Boss?"

"I'll go too."

"Eh!? What are you talking about? Your job is to contact the Adventurers' Guild."

"This place won't do. We need to go to a bigger town."

The receptionist had said:

—Not as active as the Keisugran Federation.

So there was no reason for Dante to stay in the Kingdom of Light Knights. The best way to travel from Zackerhaven was by ship.

"Dante-sama, Anastasia and I will contact the guild while heading to the Sylvis Kingdom."

"Right. What about Non?"

Currently, Mimi and Non were heading to the lord's mansion in this town to convey information about the world's collapse to the core of the Kingdom of Light Knights through the lord. They also had to report on the "Sage of Pharmacology," which would take all day.

"Non and Mimi will continue to treat Lark. I don't need to be there."

"But…."

"I've already talked a lot with Non."

Dante had already heard from Non that "After Lark's treatment in Zackerhaven, I will return to the church." He knew this day would come, so he accepted it with "I see."

"Besides, this isn't the last goodbye. Non has her own duties."

Non's job was to inform the church's upper echelons about the world's crisis through her master, Riviera.

"…I understand. Honestly, if you come, it's like having a hundred men."

"Thank you, Dante-sama."

"Don't worry, Anastasia. I'll keep an eye on things and won't let Zelly drink."

"Boss!? One cup a day is fine, right? At least one bottle!"

"It's getting worse."

The three hurried to the port, where the regular ferry to the Keisugran Federation, crossing the border from Zackerhaven, was starting boarding procedures. After leaving a message for Rage at the inn and boarding the ship, it soon set sail.

(…Non, see you later.)

How long had it been since Dante had been separated from his daughter Non? As he watched the land recede, he thought about it. When Non, who had been told by Mimi about the petrification poison that Dante had taken to protect his party, came flying to him, it was a big deal to leave the church, where once you enter, you can't leave, but Non said, "Thanks to Master Riviera's recommendation, I was granted an exception."

At that time, Dante thought— "This is the last time I can spend with my daughter." So he talked about everything. Even things he had never talked about before, like his late wife when Non was little. It was like a last will and testament.

(But now it's different. There's still so much to talk about.)

Dante knew Non would return to the church. He also knew that his time as an adventurer was running out. So he decided to live in the town where Non's church was and visit the church while living in the town.

—That's what he had decided.

(When the petrification started, I couldn't even think about it… It's a dream-like life, to be able to live peacefully and happily by Non's side.)

The dream began with Rage. Rage had cured Dante's petrification—so if there was something he could do for Rage.

(Saving the world is a small favor.)

★ Keisugran Federation, Capital Valhalla ★

Even though Dante had traveled the world, this was his first time in this great city, and he couldn't help but be amazed by its grandeur. The city, centered around a huge white castle that could be a town on its own, was the heart of the Keisugran Federation, which united many countries, and was the largest city in the world.

A city is like a living thing. It breathes, consumes food, and people and money flow like blood. It was impossible to sustain a city as large as Valhalla with just carriages and large roads, so technology and nature had to advance.

Riiing… Riiing… Riiing…

As Dante looked curiously at the iron bars embedded in the ground, the sound of a bell could be heard coming from a distance.

"Hey, mister, if you stand there, you'll get run over."

"Huh?"

"Over here, over here."

Pulled away from the iron bars by a town child, a huge iron-wheeled freight and passenger car soon came by. The vehicle, which passed with a rumble, was strangely not pulled by horses, and the thick black smoke rising from the front car was also unusual.

"What… is that?"

"Don't you know, mister? You must be a country bumpkin. It's a steam train powered by magic and steam."

"Steam train…"

The tracks cut through the town of Valhalla, and these were already indispensable for the city's operation. While magic-powered airships were a typical example of non-horse-powered vehicles, steam locomotives, similar to the automobile system in the Lev Magic Empire, were running in Valhalla.

"Thanks, kid. Can you show me the way to the Adventurers' Guild?"

"Sure."

Dante placed a silver coin in the palm of the child's hand, who had suddenly extended it.

"Whew, mister is generous. This way, follow me."

City children grow up like this… Non, who lived in the countryside, grew up freely, even making the neighborhood boys cry… While thinking such things, Dante was led by the child to the Adventurers' Guild. He had already parted ways with Anastasia and Zelly, who were probably arriving in the Sylvis Kingdom by now. Waving goodbye to the child, Dante entered the guild—though the sign outside clearly indicated it was the Adventurers' Guild, the building looked like a luxury hotel. The interior was also like a hotel lobby, and the people lounging in the lounge were not the tough men seen in other guilds but elegantly dressed merchants.

"—I haven't seen such a strangely dressed adventurer in a while."

"—Exactly. He's clearly a country bumpkin."

"—He must have come to the city because he couldn't make ends meet in the countryside…"

Ignoring these comments, Dante walked straight in. Two beautiful receptionists stood up and bowed as he approached the beautiful wooden counter.

"Welcome to the Valhalla Adventurers' Guild."

As Dante approached, the two stood up and bowed deeply.

"We apologize, but our guild does not handle requests for general adventurers. Please visit the branch guild in the outer city."

"I know. Take me to the Guild Master."

Dante leaned on the counter with his left elbow, just as he had in Zackerhaven. Before entering the city, he had already visited the branch guild in the outer city. When he said he wanted to see the Guild Master, he was told, "You have to go to the central guild."

"We apologize, but the Guild Master is busy and cannot meet with general adventurers."

"Please, it's urgent. Can you at least let me see him?"

Dante showed his adventurer's license—when the receptionist saw the golden adventurer's license, she didn't even flinch. The "Golden-Class" adventurer, who had a great reputation in local guilds, had less influence in the Valhalla guild, which had connections with higher-level adventurers like "Platinum" and the highest "Heavenly Silver."

"—Just because you're a Golden-Class adventurer, you think you can see the Guild Master…"

"—Country bumpkins are fearless."

Dante couldn't hear the merchants whispering, but he thought:

(I messed up… I thought it would be faster to come to Valhalla, where the main guild overseeing all the guilds is located, but maybe it would have been better to report to the Guild Master of another town.)

The receptionist's attitude remained polite.

"We apologize, but only Platinum-Class adventurers can directly contact the Guild Master."

"Is that so?"

"We apologize."

"No… I'm sorry for the trouble."

Dante's adventurer career was quite long, but he hadn't actively built horizontal connections, so he didn't have any acquaintances among Platinum-Class or higher adventurers. As he pondered what to do and was about to leave the guild, the building's door opened.

"Huh?"

"O…?"

There stood—

"Hey, are you Dante!? What are you doing here!?"

Bathed in the light from outside, the shiny bald head—Joseph, the training instructor of the Yuvemains Adventurers' Guild in the Duchy of Ahnback and Dante's comrade in the battle against the dragon, known as the "Unextinguishable Light Sword."

"That's what I was going to ask you. Why are you here?"

"Me? …There's a problem at the 'Six Heavens Mine.' I need to talk about it, so I came as a messenger."

Joseph's whispered words were only heard by Dante.

"…A problem?"

"…Yeah. Don't tell anyone."

Joseph whispered to Dante that the "Six Heavens Mine" had stopped producing Heavenly Pearl Jade.

★ Sylvis Kingdom ★

When Anastasia returned, the Secret Service members looked disappointed, but her brother Matvey looked happy. When she requested an audience with her father, King Sylvis VIII, her other siblings all opposed it, so her twin sister Yuli decided to hear her out first.

"Don't take it personally. The only reason you were allowed to leave the country is because you renounced your status as a High Elf royal."

"I understand, Sister Yuli. I'm grateful that you're willing to listen to me."

"I'm here too, I'm here too."

"Of course, Brother Matvey."

Anastasia's words made Matvey beam with joy. He had been aimlessly spending his days since his beloved sister, who had just returned, was sent off again. Meanwhile, Zelly, who was told, "No outsiders allowed," had secretly infiltrated and made it to the mansion where the High Elf royals lived, unnoticed by the Secret Service.

"So… what's the story? Actually, I'm quite busy and don't have much time to spend on you."

Yuli, sipping from her teacup, looked beautiful in the sunlight in the garden of the treehouse mansion.

"Well, actually…"

Anastasia felt that what she was about to say sounded like a fairy tale. The balance between the two worlds was breaking down. The covenanters needed to break the covenant to merge the two worlds and prevent the collapse. If the worlds merged, dangerous monsters would overflow.

"…If you hadn't gone to the 'Other World' and hadn't known about the Red Gate in the Lev Magic Empire, I would have dismissed this as a worthless tall tale."

"Also…"

Yuli and Matvey exchanged glances and nodded.

(What is it… Do they have some other information?)

Indeed, Yuli said:

"Actually, the Heavenly Pearl Jade in the 'Three Heavens Forest' is running out."

"Running out…!?"

"It's something I shouldn't tell you, an outsider, but after hearing your story, I understand. The covenant we have passed down has two articles: 'Do not take too much Heavenly Pearl Jade' and 'Heavenly Pearl Jade constitutes the world'… If the power that constitutes the world is weakening, it's inevitable that the Heavenly Pearl Jade will run out."

"———"

At that moment, Anastasia was struck by a chilling fear. She hadn't doubted Rage's words, but the "world collapse crisis" he described hadn't felt real. Even Anastasia, who had actually been to the "Other World," found it incredibly difficult to convince people in this world. But the crisis was now imminent in the form of "no new Heavenly Pearl Jade appearing."

"Sister Yuli, Brother Matvey, I have a request. To prevent the world's collapse, the covenant must be broken."

"I understand. In fact, we've already started discussing this with His Majesty. But… we don't know what will happen if we break the covenant. The Heavenly Pearl Jade might disappear."

"Eh…!?"

"Can you fight monsters without Heavenly Pearl Jade?"

"Th-That's…"

She hadn't thought about it. The covenant was made up of the covenanters, the mediator, and the Heavenly Pearl Jade. If the covenant was broken and the Heavenly Pearl Jade disappeared—what would happen if they had to fight the monsters from the "Other World" in that state? There were creatures like the Forest Eater, a giant goat.

"If a town is destroyed by monsters, it will be the same as the 'Other World.'"

"…But, we have no choice."

"You're right. As covenanters, we must act correctly."

Despite Anastasia's shock, Yuli and Matvey seemed to have made up their minds.

"Many of our siblings oppose it, but since Asha has brought this much information, we have no choice. I'll talk to the king once."

"Thank you, Sister."

"It's fine. But, if we decide to do it, it will get busy. You will be sent to the battlefield too."

"…Yes, I'm prepared for that."

Even if she was looked down upon for using fire magic, which was uncharacteristic of forest-loving elves, Anastasia had already made up her mind. Since Rage was fighting, she would fight too.

"Hehe… You really like that human, don't you?"

"Eh!?"

"Your face is so red. You show it quite easily."

"N-No, that's not true!?"

"Even the king knows."

"The king too!?"

Seeing Anastasia flustered, Yuli smiled, and Matvey looked sad, as if his beloved sister was going far away.

For the final chapter, I'll add subtitles to each section.

I also received a warm review from Cheese. Thank you! Reviews are also part of the work, so I hope you'll take a look.

And the book version of "Obasuki"… Volume 2 has been decided for release!!!!

Yay… This means the Kingdom of Curvaan Holy will be out!

Eva will be the illustration! Furthermore, the manuscript has been thoroughly revised, and the "princess-ness" of the princess has been significantly increased, so I really want many people to read it. Even starting from Volume 2 is okay (only for those who have read the web version).

The release date is February 20th next month! I'll announce the book cover and store bonuses, so please look forward to it. Thank you very much.