--It was thought that the days of peace and tranquility would continue for a long time after Ezer's visit.
　But that end came abruptly.

'I thought one of us would be coming soon, but you were the first to arrive.
"Hmm. The main purpose of Theodore is not to explore the basement, but to investigate something involving dragons. It seems that he's going to prioritize investigations that don't involve going underground.

　One day, just before the end of business hours.
　I left all of the closing preparations to Erica and the others and focused on dealing with Travis, who had brought in the case.

　The moment this guy showed his face, I understood what he wanted.
　The search for an unknown area even deeper than the Demon King's Castle was resumed.

Of course I've already talked to that guy beforehand. I'm sure he was the first to ask you, but I was the first to have a reason to rely on him. He was willing to agree.
That's all right. So what's the reason you need to rely on me?　I don't want to neglect my day job, so I can't keep up with you.

　I'll reiterate the conditions I've been offering for some time.

　I'm an absent adventurer who hasn't officially left the guild, but my activity policy is centered around my decision-making criteria as a weapon shop owner.

　The only reason I haven't left the guild in the first place is because it's more convenient for business transactions if both me and the guild remain connected, so it wouldn't be surprising if I had to formally leave at any time.

　No - I have an approximate estimate of when my title will change to former(s) blasphemous(s) person(s).

　Knight decoration. Establishment of the new knightly order.
　When the procedures being carried out in the royal capital are completed and officially announced, it will no longer be possible to continue to be an adventurer of formality.

''I know that. The only time I'll rely on you is when I need your [Restoration] skills.
Don't waste it. What the f*ck is going on here?
Mmm, actually. ......

　While Garnett, Alexia, and Noir and the others who were preparing to close were listening in, Travis explained the problems facing the underground search party.

　--In fact, the search for the deep region itself has been resumed a few days ago, and it seems that the search is scheduled to be conducted by a distinguished group of members, including Dustin the two spearman and Roy from the Hundred Beast Plain who will be arriving soon.

　At this point in time, the advance team is proceeding with their investigation and the main team is still in the stage of investigating how and where they should search.

In the process, we found an underground passage that had collapsed and was completely buried. The condition of the other parts of the building makes it unlikely that it was a natural collapse. Nine times out of ten, the passage must have been destroyed and blocked off by humans.
Well, that's certainly a blatantly suspicious one. If it's not an accident, we're definitely stranded. What percentage of the Demon King's army's escape route do you read as a possible escape route?
Fifty percent. If the Demon King's Castle has only one underground passage, I can be sure of that, but I don't know why it's so complicated, like a maze.

　Erica, who had stopped working and was listening to the work, looked up as if to say why it wasn't definite, so I'll add a light supplement to that area.

''The Demon King's Army was defeated by what(s) or who(s) in the deep realm and escaped to the 'Demon King's Castle Realm', right?　We can't rule out the possibility that the collapse was a sign of the measures taken to prevent pursuers then, and that this time they escaped by an entirely different route.
'Ah ...... I see... ...... adventurers have to think about a lot of things... ......

　Erica nodded vigorously with a mixture of admiration and understanding.

　The adventurer whose job it is to fight with the demons in the underground dungeon and the ordinary person who lives above ground and has no connection to the dungeon, are different in terms of their perspective when thinking about things.

　It's not that one is better than the other, it's simply that there is a difference.

'What I'm asking you to do is to [repair] the passage. It seems the collapse is quite extensive. Removing the debris properly would be a waste of time, wouldn't it?
''So that's where I'm going to put things back together in one fell swoop with my [restoration]? That's a convincing reason.

　The reason itself was very convincing, but there were still a few things I wanted to make sure of before I agreed to participate.

'I assume you have your advance force well prepared,'
''There's no end to it if you're greedy, but you should be able to survive an ordinary A-ranked dungeon with a steady stream of survivors. I'm sure you can trust me when the captain of the advance team is Dustin.
You haven't seen him around. He's not going to go down easy, is he?
''I'm going to go underground with you and I'm going to be joined by Ezell the Brave's group from this time on: ......

　After saying that much, Travis cut off his words awkwardly and clammed up.

'...... Sorry, I'm sorry I'm late to report you. It might not have been nice for you to just be a brave man.
Don't get any ideas. It's not a good look for you. First of all, do you think you're sensitive enough to hate all the brave men just because of the Falcon incident?
Mmm. ......?

　Brave is not a title exclusive to certain individuals.

　For the sake of the peace of the people, those who are recognized as having the ability to fight the threats lurking in the dungeon are recognized by the royal court and given the title of hero.

　Falcon is only one of several active heroes, and each of the heroes are independent of each other and make their own decisions.

　That is to say, the relationship between Falcon and Ezer is only one point that both of them are certified by the royal palace.

''In the first place, I've met Ezell the Brave several times, and I've heard that he's thinking of joining the Demon King's army in their pursuit. I knew that he would cooperate with either you or Theodore, which is completely to be expected.
What, I'm gonna let you off the hook?

　This time it was completely overlooked by Travis, but it's one of his strengths that he cares about other people's problems as if they were his own, and it's one of the reasons why he's adored by so many young adventurers.

I don't want to close down the shop, so I'll leave you and three others to follow you, and the rest of us will run the shop in support. Can I decide on the breakdown of the other two people besides me as I see fit?
That's all right. I'm sure you've got enough fighters for the duration of the mission, so you decide what you want to do.
'Got it. Then one of them will be Garnett, as usual, and the rest will be .......

　I move my head only to turn around and look at the girl who has hidden herself on the edge of the doorway leading to the back of the store.

　Is she trying to watch for me to respond properly, or is she simply too embarrassed to show her face?

　Either way, my thoughts had long since made up their minds.

'Let's go with ...... Leila. Me, Garnett and Layla. The three of us will follow you.