The dawn landscape was tranquil.
Those asleep rose silently to start a new day.
The Sail Kingdom also slowly opened its eyes, preparing to greet the morning.
While everyone was quiet, there was a group moving busily.
“Now, everyone, please remember.”
It was the Paladins of the White Church.
Liana, who led the Paladins, spoke first.
“Our objective is information gathering. In this process, our identities must absolutely not be exposed.”
As she said, their current appearances did not resemble Paladins.
This was because they had all infiltrated the Sail Kingdom while hiding their identities.
In fact, they had made efforts to hide their identities through their attire.
Instead of the ornate white armor, they wore armor made of leather.
Instead of the Church’s sword that punishes all evil, they carried ordinary swords.
Anyone looking at them would think they were ordinary adventurers, never suspecting they belonged to the Church.
“If anyone is caught, I will not forgive them.”
Soon, an envoy from the Church would arrive in the Kingdom.
The reason the envoy was seeking the Sail Kingdom was by no means a good one.
They were visiting to investigate the disappearance of priests and paladins.
However, as if this were not enough, the White Church had sent a vanguard in advance.
And secretly, at that.
As this clandestine vanguard, they were understandably sensitive to exposure.
If exposed, putting aside diplomatic issues, they would most importantly lose their justification regarding the Sail Kingdom.
‘Justification.’
This was the purpose of their coming as the vanguard.
“If you don’t have information, create it and bring it back.”
Liana was well-informed about the Church’s affairs.
This was possible because she was the acting Vice Captain of the Paladin Order and also the Captain’s adjutant.
The Church intended to increase its control over the Sail Kingdom under the pretext of the incident.
And their ultimate goal was to conquer the Sail Kingdom and then advance into the Demonic Realm.
It wasn’t simply about hiding their identities and gathering information.
It was about finding a cause.
And creating that cause was not difficult.
All circumstances favored the Church.
The disappearance of personnel belonging to the Church.
First, Priest Yuel and a paladin disappeared.
Second, twenty paladins disappeared during a mission.
Coincidentally, all those who disappeared went silent while heading towards the Sail Kingdom.
“First, we will investigate the disappearance of Priest Yuel and her paladin comrades. Find out everything, not missing even the smallest clue.”
It was fine even if they didn’t have information.
Even if this incident had nothing to do with the Sail Kingdom, it wouldn’t matter.
From the Church’s perspective, they could simply push forward.
It was a fact that the priest and paladins had disappeared, so no one could question it.
‘It would be even better if evidence emerged.’
If evidence emerged, they could designate the Sail Kingdom as a heretical nation that defied the Goddess.
This way, the Church would gain power externally.
They could deploy more Inquisitors under the guise of purifying the kingdom.
Ultimately, regardless of the truth, the Kingdom would fall powerlessly before the Church’s authority.
In any case, it was like a play with a predetermined ending.
Clap-
“Now, move out.”
As Liana clapped her hands, the personnel began to act.
As everyone cleared out, only Liana remained.
“Berter Leo Baine…”
Berter Leo Baine, the Vice Captain of the Paladin Order.
Although an outsider, he was not a weak individual.
Rather, he could be considered quite capable.
Yet, such Berter suddenly disappeared.
“What could have happened?”
Not only that.
Starting with Priest Yuel, paladins were disappearing.
‘Perhaps there is something in the Sail Kingdom.’
She had a feeling the truth would be revealed soon.
* * *
The Paladins’ actions were swift.
They headed to the Adventurer’s Guild first.
It was a branch located within the Sail Kingdom, so the distance was not far.
However, not everyone headed to the Guild.
Only three Paladins headed to the Adventurer’s Guild.
They were currently in a situation where they had to hide their identities.
If they flocked together, they could attract the attention of others, so they split up into the smallest possible groups.
“Is this the place?”
Paladin Kairen looked at the Adventurer’s Guild building.
What was strange was that there were too few people.
No, it was safe to say there were no people at all.
‘What is this?’
Normally, the Adventurer’s Guild was a place bustling with people.
Even Paladins knew it well, as it was a place they visited when dispatched to other regions.
Kairen shook his head and opened the building’s door. Indeed, the inside of the Guild was deserted.
Instead of being packed with adventurers, as it should have been, there were no figures to be seen.
Kairen scanned the interior of the building.
The bulletin board, which should have been full of requests, was empty.
The wooden chairs and tables where adventurers should have been chattering noisily were also empty.
Everything was quiet.
“Hmm.”
His companion next to him also seemed to find it strange, looking around and murmuring.
The only fortunate thing was that there was one woman who appeared to be an employee of the Guild.
Kairen’s group approached that person.
Then, he took out an item from his pocket.
It was a Gold Badge.
“I am Kairen, an adventurer.”
“A, Gold Badge?”
As expected, the woman before him looked quite surprised.
“Ah, I apologize. I am Lally, an attendant at the Sail Kingdom branch.”
The woman introduced herself and her role.
“Then I’ll call you Lally. We’d like to take on a request, are there any suitable jobs available?”
Kairen spoke naturally.
In fact, he wanted to talk to adventurers and hear about the current situation of the Kingdom, but he couldn’t.
So, he immediately revised his plan.
“Ah, I’m sorry, but there are no available requests at the moment.”
The attendant apologized, bowing her head.
‘Could it be that there are really no requests?’
He wondered, seeing the empty request board…
Kairen was bewildered.
At the same time, he wondered why the Adventurer’s Guild was in such a state.
However, going straight to the point would be amateurish.
Kairen took out a gold coin and an identification card from his pocket.
There was no better way to disarm the other party than with a gold coin.
“We are from the Adonil Kingdom. It’s truly unfortunate that there are no requests.”
“Ah… you’ve come from quite far?”
Lally quickly put the gold coin Kairen handed her into her pocket.
Perhaps it was because he was an adventurer with a Gold Badge?
To offer a gold coin so casually showed great generosity.
At the same time, her favor towards him increased significantly.
And she looked at the identification card the man handed her.
It indeed stated that he was from the Adonil Kingdom.
The Adonil Kingdom was a country located at the southernmost tip, adjacent to the Church.
Excluding the Demonic Realm, reaching this northernmost point would have taken a considerable amount of time.
‘Can I really accept this gold coin?’
Lally felt a bit sorry.
“I am truly sorry. Entry into the mountain range is currently restricted, so there are no available requests.”
Given the Sail Kingdom’s characteristics, most adventurer requests originated from the mountain range.
Furthermore, the Sail Kingdom had a unique feature that made it popular among adventurers.
It was the Demonic Realm.
Beyond the vast mountain range lay the Demonic Realm.
Of course, even though the entry part was not very dangerous, the Adventurer’s Guild strictly controlled it.
Entry into the Demonic Realm was temporarily permitted only to adventurers with Silver Badges.
However, entry into the mountain range had been blocked.
Since most requests originated from the mountain range or the Demonic Realm, and that was blocked.
As a result, the number of requests plummeted, and adventurers stopped coming.
This would likely continue until the Sail Kingdom’s royal family lifted the entry restrictions.
When Lally mentioned that entry into the mountain range was restricted, Kairen asked with interest.
“Restricted?”
“Yes, it’s restricted by the royal family, so not only are there no related requests, but entry into the mountain range itself is not allowed.”
“Why? Why did the royal family impose entry restrictions on the mountain range?”
Kairen was curious as to why entry into the mountain range was forbidden.
However, Lally, the attendant, did not know the details.
The Guild simply followed the royal family’s orders; there was no other reason.
When Lally said she knew nothing, Kairen’s thoughts deepened.
‘Why?’
From what she said, it didn’t seem like any incident or accident had occurred.
If a high-ranking monster had appeared in the mountain range, they would have sent an extermination team instead of imposing entry restrictions.
But suddenly, out of the blue, the royal family prohibited entry.
And no one knows the reason.
Kairen exchanged glances with his companions and nodded slightly.
The current situation was too strange.
‘Something smells fishy.’
Why did the royal family prohibit entry into the mountain range?
Where did the priest and paladins disappear to?
In their minds, these two questions were not separate incidents.
However, they could not prove it at the moment.
Unfortunately, entry into the mountain range was currently forbidden.
Even if it were forbidden, they could enter by revealing their Church identity, but that would negate the purpose of their infiltration.
‘It’s a shame, but it can’t be helped.’
It was right to withdraw from here.
As the paladins disguised as adventurers were about to turn back.
Someone emerged from inside the office.
“Ah, Branch Manager.”
At Lally’s words, Kairen turned around.
The man called the Branch Manager approached the attendant and began to say something.
“Lally, we just received a call from the Sail Kingdom Defense Bureau…”
Perhaps aware of the outsiders, he lowered his voice midway, so it was inaudible.
‘Defense Bureau?’
However, judging by the attendant’s expression, Kairen could guess the general mood.
As the conversation continued, the attendant’s expression brightened.
When the conversation ended, the man called the Branch Manager headed back inside.
And the attendant Lally spoke.
“Ah! Kairen, I have good news!”
Good news?
Kairen waited for Lally’s next words.
“It seems the Kingdom has just lifted the restrictions on the mountain range! You’re really lucky!”
The attendant’s expression was truly brighter than ever.
* * *
– Dispatch Maru (★★★★) to the dungeon “Evil God’s Nest.”
– Reward: Maru (★★★★) 5-star transcendent stone.
– Time limit: 4 minutes 56 seconds.
It was now time for Maru to depart.
“Maru, come back as quickly as possible.”
This was my sincere wish.
Although it was less than 4 hours, Coco was definitely not a being to be entrusted with dishwashing.
No, perhaps I should reconsider entrusting her with household chores at all.
‘Did skeletons also have a gacha system…?’
I thought everyone was like Maru, but that was a big mistake.
Maru was just special.
It might take even more time.
“Ah, and make sure to convey what I told you, okay?”
Maru nodded at my words. Systemically, I could not go to the El Dorado Continent.
Therefore, I intended to convey my intentions through Maru.
To create organizations and units in the dungeon, and so on.
It would probably be more intuitive and convey my intentions better than controlling it with a smartphone.
For that purpose, I had specially trained Maru.
Now, time was truly running out.
I immediately summoned Maru to the El Dorado Continent.
A strong light emanated from the smartphone, engulfing Maru.
When the light disappeared, Maru’s figure was also gone.
* * *
Before Maru, a dark cave unfolded.
Clack-
It had been a long time since he had come to his homeland.
Maru descended from the altar.
And immediately went to find Celia.
Maru realized.
On Earth, there was the great Master.
And here, there was the Chief Administrator.
“Clack clack!”
Just then, Chief Administrator Celia passed by and made eye contact with Maru.
“Ah, Maru, you’re back?”
Maru.
Looking at the Arch Lich’s notebook, he learned the name of the being who assisted the Master.
He had met her once on Earth before, but it was for too short a time.
In fact, Celia regretted not being able to spend more time with the Master.
But this time, Maru had come in person.
“Please come this way. I was waiting for you to come someday.”
Celia invited Maru into her office.
Maru was clearly of a lower rank than her.
But his position was different.
Maru was like an adjutant, closely assisting the great and noble Master.
‘I’m envious.’
She also wanted to go, but she couldn’t.
So, she changed her mind. Let’s quickly bring the Master here.
But that would require a lot of preparation.
Maru’s help was needed in that preparation process.
“Now, Maru.”
Celia replied with a serious expression.
“What does Master like?”
Maru pondered Celia’s question. What was the essence of that question?
As Maru accepted Earth’s culture, he was able to think for himself to some extent.
What the Master liked.
Only one thing came to mind.
“Clack clack.”
(Cooking with a personal touch)
Although the Master denied it, she had always liked it, and had eaten the ramen I made very well.
What did that mean?
It was the Master’s benevolence in considering her subordinate so as not to make her work hard unnecessarily.
“Indeed! It was a personal touch. I understand now.”
Celia listened to Maru’s words earnestly.
“Then, can you tell me what the Master’s current interests are?”
For Celia’s second question, Maru fell into thought again.
The Master’s current interests…
Thinking about it, Maru remembered one thing.
Maru’s race was Skeleton Dark Knight.
True to his name, his body was black.
However, when the Master did something to him, his black color faded slightly.
At the same time, a sacred aura began to be felt within his body.
All of this was the Master’s power.
However, the Master had said this.
– What a shame. If only there was a bit more Holy Power.
Maru nodded.
He was a being who had encountered various videos and media from Earth whenever he had time.
He had already mastered interpreting the Master’s words.
Holy Power was the power possessed by Paladins and Priests.
In other words, “If only there was a bit more Holy Power” meant that Paladins and Priests were needed.
“Clack clack clack!”
(Interested in Paladins and Priests)
“Indeed!”
Celia exclaimed at Maru’s words.
His interest in Paladins and Priests meant only one thing.
It clearly meant a sacrifice of Paladins and Priests.
“It was good to ask!”
A smile appeared on Celia’s face.
