Chapter 42

Ebrand sat down, gazed at the armor, and then turned his gaze to me.

"Why did it turn into a battle? Can you tell me?"

His eyes were dead serious.

"Well, actually, when we were fighting a group of orcs—"

I told him about saving two girls who were about to be attacked by orcs, and how soldiers appeared and tried to kill us to hide the fact that we had crossed the border. I also mentioned that I had taken care of those soldiers and stored everything in my dimensional storage. Of course, I had no intention of telling him that I was chasing after Char and Al.

Ebrand sighed and leaned back.

"…I see, then there was no other way."

"But, Sub-Master, perhaps—"

"Yes, I need to talk to the Guild Master and the Lord. We can't just ignore this."

There was a moment of silence, but Ebrand spoke again, sounding resigned.

"Sorry, but could you keep the soldiers' bodies for a while? I'll try to talk to the upper echelons of the city. And we'll retrieve the adventurers' bodies as soon as possible."

"Understood. If you show me the way, I'll bring them out."

After the conversation, Ebrand left his seat and was led to the basement by Miria.

"Please place the bodies here."

I nodded at Miria's words and brought out the two bodies. They were wrapped in white sheets, but the blood had stained them red.

"Lord Toya, thank you. Since they have Guild Cards, if they have family, the Guild will hand them over. If not, they will be buried in a communal grave."

"Understood. And… what about the monster materials? There are quite a few—"

"They'll be stored in the warehouse… though I might get scolded again…"

I couldn't help but chuckle at Miria's words. I had been scolded before for bringing in a large amount of materials. When we went to the warehouse, the materials hadn't piled up that much. However, when Darrock saw my face, his expression twisted.

"Hey, Miria… could it be…?"

Miria nodded vigorously in response.

"Hey! Everyone! Stop what you're doing and gather here!"

Three staff members gathered at Darrock's words.

"Alright, Toya, you can bring them out. Guild staff are generally tight-lipped. Don't worry about it."

I nodded and started bringing out the monster materials from my dimensional storage one by one.

…First, the materials from this time, and then I'll bring out the ones that have been piling up.

As I lined up the monsters, a small hill formed, and the staff members exclaimed, "Wow, amazing!"

However, when the third hill formed, Darrock called out.

"Wait! That's enough! No more! How much capacity do you have?!"

The staff members were also stunned by the sheer amount.

"Miria, that's the limit for today. Someone, bring a few magic bags from the Guild! You guys, you'll be working overtime for a while!"

The staff members grumbled, but I ignored them. One of them ran to fetch the magic bags.

"Ah, let me bring these out."

I said, and brought out the Orc General and the split-in-half Orc King.

"That's it for now."

Satisfied, I looked at Darrock, whose eyes were twitching.

"…A King and a General… You, Toya, did this all by yourself…?"

I nodded, and Darrock let out a deep sigh.

"Miria, the paperwork for the cashing out will have to wait until tomorrow. We need to process this first. You guys, start sorting them out!"

"Alright!"

As the staff members started their work, I was led to a private room by Miria again.

"Lord Toya, with that amount… it will take some time to process the cashing out."

"That's fine. I'm not in need of funds right now."

"Also, regarding the matter, I'll inform you once the Guild's response is decided. Please come by occasionally."

"Alright, I plan to take a break from accepting quests for a while, but I'll make sure to visit the Guild."

"Thank you, Lord Toya."

I said my goodbyes to Miria and left the Guild. Thinking about buying some ingredients since I had a new lodger, I stopped by the market and returned to the mansion.

"I'm back."

When I returned to the mansion, Felis greeted me first.

"…Welcome back, Toya."

"I'm back, Felis. Are the two of them still in the dining room, or in their rooms?"

Felis silently pointed towards the dining room.

"In the dining room, thank you."

I nodded and entered the dining room.

"Everyone, I'm back."

"Welcome back, Lord Toya."

"Lord Toya, welcome back!"

"…You're late, Toya."

Natalie, who was supposed to have returned, was also in the dining room.

"Natalie, you're here too. I went to the Guild to report. It was a formal investigation request, after all."

Everyone was drinking tea, so I poured myself a cup and sat down.

"Right, how did it go at the Guild?"

"I reported it. I told them that we encountered soldiers from the Generate Kingdom who had crossed the border and attacked us to cover up their tracks."

"…That shouldn't be a problem. By the way, Toya, I've decided to live in this mansion."

At Natalie's unexpected words, I couldn't help but spit out the tea I had just sipped.

---

Thank you as always.

Finally, the word count has exceeded 100,000.

But there's still a long way to go.

I look forward to your continued support.