It's been a long time, Master Luke.

　When we visited the temporary branch of the Silver Winged Knights set up in a corner of Green Hollow Town, Felix, the man in charge, greeted us politely.

　As usual, he is a mild and soft-spoken young man, which makes it hard to believe that he is in the high position of vice head of the Order.

''I apologize for calling you here on such short notice today. Also, I hope Garnett isn't causing you any trouble.
Hey, man. How many times have you asked me that question?
No amount of repetition will suffice to confirm that, given what you say and do on a daily basis.
Oh, for f*ck's sake, trust me. I won't bother the white wolf if I have to.

　While watching such an exchange, I was led to the temporary branch head's office - that is, Felix's office.

　This time, Garnett and I were the only two people who received a call from the Silver Winged Knights.

　I've been invited to the office, and Garnett has accompanied me as an escort as usual.

　The fact that Garnett is a knight of the Silverwing Knights is still under wraps for now, so it had to be this kind of roundabout way.

''Today's business is to give you a status report and a plan for the future.

　Felix spread out three maps on the table.

　The first was a map of Green Hollow Town as a whole.

　Surrounded by a deep forest, the town was shaped horizontally from east to west, in the mountains, with the entrance to the town on the east side and the town on the west.
　The entrance to the town is on the east side, and if you head west and climb the hill, you'll reach the nearest dungeon, the Sundial Forest.

　The second is a map of the 'Sundial Forest'.

　Overall, it had a shape that could be described as a mortar or amphitheater, and was divided into five tiered levels, including the bottom.
　I've heard that the whole area is covered with dense greenery, which is the origin of the name Green Hollow.

　And the third picture was a blueprint of the underground space that could be accessed from the hidden passage on the fifth level of the 'Sundial Forest' - the 'Demon King's Castle Realm'.

　The overall shape was a semi-ring shape with a gentle arc, half of which was occupied by rocky mountainous areas and half of which was flat and wilderness, with a river filled with underground water crossing them.

　Also, the Hollow Bottom Fortress was built to block both ends of the hidden passages, so that all traffic between the ground and the underground had to pass through here.

　The town where the dwarves live and the Demon King's Castle, where we fought to the death, also exists in the wilderness, and the knight's front line base is located around it. ......

As you know, with the withdrawal of the Demon King's army and the capture of the Demon King's castle, the war against the Demon King's army was practically over. When that happens, inevitably, the withdrawal of the forces gathered for the war will begin.

　Felix placed a couple of small blue boards on the second and third maps.

　Perhaps this was the current troop deployment.

''Of the Golden Fang Knights' troops, the troops scheduled to remain are the troops occupying the Demon King's Castle and the troops stationed at the 'Hollow Bottom Fortress'. All other positions and bases will be abandoned, and the 'Demon King's Castle Realm' will be transferred as a dungeon under the control of the Adventurer's Guild.

　Then Felix removed those blue plates one by one in turn, leaving only two on the map.

　It was a convincing response.
　The Knights had poured an enormous amount of manpower into the Demon King's Castle Realm for the battle against the Demon King's Army.

　It was natural to withdraw them once the war was over, and the choice of where to leave them behind seemed appropriate.

　The Demon King's Castle is especially important.

　I haven't seen it firsthand yet, but it is said that there is a hidden passage that leads to the depths of the Demon King's Castle.

　The Demon King's army also disappeared through it, so if you're thinking about the possibility of another invasion or the appearance of a new enemy, this would be a place you'd want to prioritize and fortify your defense.

"Now that the threat of the Demon King's Army has disappeared from the 'Demon King's Castle Realm', more adventurers than ever before have come to explore the ancient ruins and mineral veins....... No, Luke-dono knows more about this area than I do.
''I think there will certainly be more adventurers. Even in other dungeons, it's quite common for people to increase after a nasty demonic beast has been eliminated.

　Adventurers are basically hiding in dungeons to earn money.

　It's a natural idea to want to earn money safely, and it's not unusual for them to flock to a dungeon after others have secured their safety.

　Of course, anyone who helps keep a dungeon safe will be recognized by the guild and rewarded with a reward or added to their rank advancement rating.

　There are those who are willing to take risks to improve their reputation, while others prefer to avoid risks and earn a safe income, and the latter is the larger percentage - that's all.

''Due to the expected rapid increase in the number of adventurers and the need to strengthen security measures in Green Hollow, we, the Silverwing Knights, will continue to be stationed at our current size.

　Currently, there are two knightly orders stationed in Green Hollow: the Golden Fang Knights and the Silver Wing Knights.

　The role of the Golden Fang is the war against the Demon King's army, while the role of the Silver Wing is to defend the ground and maintain security during the war.

　This time, it is the Golden Fang Knights that are planned to be withdrawn.

''However, it must be said that we are not familiar with the common sense of the adventurer industry. Therefore, we would like to ask Luke-dono for advice if necessary, could you please ......?
'What, you mean that? Of course I don't mind.

　I see, the only reason I was called out of trouble was because I wanted to install an agreement around it.

I'm not going to waste my career, you know. If the knowledge and experience I've accumulated for fifteen years can help you, I'll cooperate with you as much as I can.
Thank you. I'll get right to it: ......

　Just as Felix was about to break off his next story, there was a light knock on the office door and a frivolous male voice was thrown at him.

'Excuse me. Is Sir Felix here?

　Garnett and Felix look at each other and roll their eyes.

　The voice I just heard was familiar to me too. I'm pretty sure that's the voice of the leader of the Silverwing Knights.

'Brother?　Why are you here?
Come in, Commander Carmine. But I thought you weren't planning to come in?

　When Carmine, the Knight Commander, walked into the office in plain clothes, he looked at me for some reason and smiled, not at his subordinate Felix or his sister Garnet, but at me.

'I have an errand to run, regarding you. I wanted to let you know as soon as possible that I've made progress on the shelved knighthood case.
Oh ...... that's it?

　It sounds like I'm being smug when I say it myself, but I've unintentionally made a lot of 'achievements' in the short time since I took a leave of absence from adventuring.

　Because of this, both the Golden Fang Knights and the Silver Wing Knights, due to their rivalry with each other and complications within and outside of the Knights, have begun competing to give me a knighthood and incorporate me into their organizations.

　Due to His Majesty King Alfred's extremely plausible decision not to engage in internal conflicts even though we're at war with the Demon King's army, the knighthood case was temporarily frozen. ......

Now that the war is over, that issue will be rekindled, too: ......
Yeah. You know what? I think things are about to get a little dicey.

　Carmine sighed with an understandable troubled face.

''Do you know of an organization called the Order of the Dragon King?''