It wasn’t exactly sudden enough to be called abrupt.
But within a few days, Aiden had left the Slayer Coast Island with the Sword Soul.
Even though it was just one person missing, Jun couldn’t help but feel an emptiness beside him.
Of course, Jun and his companions also had to leave the Slayer Coast Island soon.
The continuous heavy rain over the past few days had brought the seawater right up to [Checkpoint].
It was while they were packing up to leave that it happened.
“Ah, Leader.”
“Eleanor?”
The priestess whose eyes were covered with a black bandage came into the room.
Something felt off. She wasn’t wearing her usual cheerful expression. Her face was heavy.
“What’s wrong?”
“Uh… I’ve been thinking about this for a while now.”
“Okay.”
“I’m thinking of visiting the Church. I came to get your permission.”
“The Church?”
“Mhmm. Kinda sudden, right?”
Recently, while studying magic, Eleanor had suggested trying to apply it to other divine spells.
Naturally, Jun had responded positively, and it seemed that each time, Eleanor had sent letters to the Church…
“Ah, that old man. He said if I want to learn advanced divine magic, I have to come in person.”
“Hmm. Well, that’s understandable.”
Even mages treat their spellbooks like sacred relics, carefully guarded. It’s no different with the Church’s advanced divine tomes.
Obviously, for security reasons, it’s not something they can just ship like a package.
“Since Aiden’s gone for a while anyway, I thought maybe I’d go too.”
“Hmm. So that’s what all the heavy mood was about?”
“Ah… yeah. I was just wondering if it’d be okay for me to be away.”
“If that’s what you’re worried about. Don’t be. It’s fine, go ahead.”
Whatever the case, she was still the party’s only healer.
There was no reason for Jun to refuse. She was trying to grow on her own without spending a single coin.
Besides, with Aiden gone, it wasn’t like they could head to the upper levels anyway. On the other hand, Jun had also been unsure about what plans to make next.
“Oh… you’re so cool. Alright, I’ll send word to the Church then.”
“Go ahead. But don’t travel alone. I’ll contact Chloe and have her arrange transportation.”
“You’ve got such good sense.”
Yet another sudden departure of a party member.
Now, Jun was worried about Maya, who would be left behind.
She probably doesn’t want to fall behind either.
Though Maya had mellowed out quite a bit recently…
When they first met, Maya had seemed composed, but in truth, she’d been deeply anxious.
Obsessed with avenging her destroyed tribe, she had been in such turmoil that she could barely function properly.
Now, with Aiden and Eleanor both leaving for the sake of their own growth, chances were Maya would be feeling the pressure too.
And then—
“Huh?”
It happened while they were on the road, having left [Checkpoint] of Slayer Coast Island and riding in a carriage.
“Charles?”
“Yes, it’s me.”
“Oh? What brings you here?”
“Huh? I’ve been nearby this whole time.”
“What?”
Charles or rather, Chairlse glared at Jun, looking quite hurt by the reaction.
After all, he’d gone through hell during the recent crisis too.
“What do you mean? I was right there when everything went down…”
“Huh? I thought you left?”
“You told me not to leave any traces and just go quietly, didn’t you?”
“Uh…”
Did I…?
Yes, I did.
[Excellent Memory] was telling him so.
But with so many incidents happening one after another, Jun had completely forgotten about Chairlse.
“R-Right. Sorry. Honestly, I totally forgot about you. Didn’t think the cleanup would take this long.”
Still, Jun wasn’t entirely to blame either.
“But why didn’t you show up all this time?”
“How could I approach when the Heavenly Dragon Knights were standing guard right next to you?”
“Ah… I see.”
Ahem.
At this point, Jun couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty and subtly averted his gaze.
“You’ve really done me wrong… Do you know how much trouble I went through dealing with the monsters heading toward [Checkpoint]…?”
He’d even sent all his subordinates away just to avoid leaving any traces, so when the crisis broke out, Chairlse had personally cut down a great number of monsters that had made it to shore.
And he’d gone out of his way to avoid getting tangled up with the Heavenly Dragon Knights, moving as carefully as he could.
Even for someone as skilled as Chairlse, it wasn’t easy for a lone assassin to fight off a horde of monsters on the fourth level.
“Anyway, sorry about that. So, why did you come?”
“Haa… A letter arrived. Didn’t you hear about it?”
What was he talking about now?
As Jun stood there puzzled, someone else cut in. It was none other than Maya.
“It’s my subordinate, Leader.”
“Huh? Yours?”
“Yes. I am Charles’s superior. I am the Commander.”
“Ah. That’s right.”
Though, of course, it was only in name.
Maya, being a complete outsider, couldn’t very well pass on the secrets of the Basai techniques to Chairlse without raising eyebrows.
So Jun had given her the nominal title of head of the intel division.
In practice, it was Jun and Chloe who made use of the organization.
“So what brings you here?”
“There’s something I want to investigate.”
“Hmm.”
Jun didn’t ask why she hadn’t told him earlier.
He had no desire to control his comrades.
If they had something they wanted to do, they were free to pursue it. And if it had really been something she wanted to hide, Chairlse wouldn’t have shown up like this in the first place.
“So? What is it?”
“It’s about the Altas Adventurer Party.”
“Huh.”
The Altas Adventurer Party.
Before the start of this season, during the Bavern’s Praise Banquet, wasn’t it the Altas Adventurer Party that received a personal invitation from the Emperor?
At the time, Maya had found a clue related to her tribe’s revenge from the Altas party leader, Ron Kyler.
Well, it’s more accurate to say the spirits of my ancestors sensed something… rather than me actually finding it.
In any case, Maya hadn’t forgotten that moment and seemed to have been collecting information related to the Altas Adventurer Party ever since.
“The letters are clear.”
“Ah, yes.”
As she read the letter Chairlse handed her, Maya looked up at Jun with a satisfied expression.
“Leader.”
“Yeah?”
“Can I wield my own sword separately?”
“If that’s what you want, I don’t see why not. But at least tell me where you’re going.”
The Altas Adventurer Party’s leader was a Level 7 individual. The other members were also active in the sixth or seventh level.
Recently, they’d apparently headed to the sixth level in search of something related to the God of Death in the Temple of Deidas.
“I asked their leader. If I could work with them.”
“…Huh?”
Now that was sudden and unexpected.
Still, he decided to stay quiet and hear her out.
“And he told me to come.”
“……???”
No, this didn’t make sense. The work related to the God of Death was something the Altas Party had been investing in for quite some time.
And now they were just casually allowing Maya to join them?
“Uh, are you sure that’s okay?”
“I got their permission.”
“Hmm…”
Well, that was a relief but still, it was strange.
Normally, in a situation like this, someone from their side would’ve contacted Jun directly.
You’d think they’d ask me to manage my members properly, or at least question what this was all about.
While he was still lost in thought, Chairlse who seemed to have caught on to the atmosphere spoke up.
“They seem to have hit a wall recently. I got the impression that they’re hoping Lady Maya’s abilities can help move things forward.”
“Ah.”
Only after the brief explanation did Jun finally nod in understanding.
So they must’ve realized that Maya can see spirits.
It wasn’t all that surprising.
After all, the Mentrus Adventuring Party they had encountered at Sandwind Hill was a subordinate organization under the Altas Adventurer Party.
Back then, during the process where Maya and Eleanor repeatedly predicted the presence of desert spirits, Mentrus had asked some related questions.
They probably just assumed Maya had informed me herself, which is why they didn’t reach out.
Normally, any other party leader would’ve been offended by that, thinking they’d been disregarded.
But Jun knew Maya’s personality well enough, and he wasn’t the type to cling to authority anyway.
“Well, then. So where are you headed?”
“There’s a dungeon with relevant information. It’s on the fourth level.”
“Hmm. That’s not too far. Alright. Then we’ll plan our next move in that direction. I’ll arrange transportation for you.”
“Thank you.”
Somehow, Aiden, Eleanor, and now Maya had all gone their separate ways.
With that, the group arrived at their transit point. It was Boleska on the third level.
It was a large [checkpoint] Jun and his companions had stopped at once before heading to the fourth level in the past.
“Well then, Boss. See you on the surface. Write often, alright?”
Nodding her head as if giving a wink, though with the bandages over her eyes it was impossible to tell, Eleanor said her goodbye.
“You’d better not cry just ’cause I’m not around, got it?”
Maya climbed into her carriage, spouting her usual nonsense.
And once even the last of them had gone—
“Whew~.”
Jun let out a mock whine at the sudden solitude, then gave a quiet chuckle.
“Man… I really have grown attached to those guys, haven’t I?”
There was a time when being alone had been easy and natural, even.
But now that his companions had gone their separate ways, a strange sense of emptiness crept in.
“Alright, let’s see… maybe I’ll stop by the Gillen Merchant Guild myself.”
Chloe’s reaction was already so passionate, it almost seemed fanatical.
At first, she’d been more than a little worried about taking on a mission from the Imperial family, but once Jun achieved more than anyone expected, Chloe’s response was nothing short of extraordinary.
“She said she’d come up to the third level herself. Doesn’t that say it all?”
Still, before Jun left, there was one last person he needed to meet.
None other than Dexter and Javier.
As the commander of a mercenary group, he couldn’t just up and leave like the others.
And sure enough, Dexter who was with Javier was thrilled to see Jun.
“Welcome, Jun!”
“Welcome.”
Both of them seemed to be in great spirits.
For starters, Dexter had gained more than a few things from this recent expedition.
And Javier too had finally been able to lay down some of the heavy burdens he’d been carrying.
“I’m truly grateful for the warm welcome from both of you.”
“Hahaha! Don’t say things you don’t mean. No need for that kind of talk between us.”
Life as a prince may not have been easy.
But hadn’t they shared an experience through this journey that they wouldn’t have gotten anywhere else?
From the beginning, Dexter had a surprisingly easygoing personality for someone who was the First Prince, and Javier was known for how deeply he cared about his people. So naturally, both of them were genuinely glad to see Jun.
“Well, it looks like the time has come for us to part ways.”
“It truly is a shame.”
“Ha! You really don’t know how to fake a polite lie, do you?”
“Would I ever do such a thing?”
“Don’t go making me sentimental now. I know full well you’ve always tried to stay out of Imperial politics.”
“Ahem…”
For someone who claimed that, Jun was already far too entangled. But even so, he still had no intention of getting deeply involved in imperial politics.
“I just want to say thank you once more. Because of you, I had an experience I’ll never have again and lived to return from it.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
“Well, I was a bit disappointed that the Sirens I’d so looked forward to weren’t quite what I imagined. Hahaha!”
Back when chaos broke out on the coast island, Sirens were among the monsters that came ashore.
For Dexter, who had been eagerly anticipating the Sirens’ beauty for the sake of artistic inspiration (or so he claimed), it must have been quite a shock.
“In any case… what you did this time was no small thing. I swear it on the honor of my name, Adrian von Daniel Dexter. As long as you live for the Empire, I will be your strongest ally.”
There wasn’t a trace of falsehood in Dexter’s eyes as he said those words.
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