-- On that night when the report from the guild came up, all the members of the White Wolf Knights, including me, and the two 'external collaborators' were gathered in the conference room where the interior was just finished.

　Me and Garnett, Rainbow Rainbow Rainbow Scales (Hild), Purple Joint (Mark), Blue Peacock (Sophia), and Golden Fang (Lionel).
　And the four collaborators, Sakura, Noir, Ezell and Eddie.

　It's unlikely that all of them will be able to go underground together, but we still have to share as much information as possible.

''Well then, I will read out the report from the adventurers who are exploring the deep realm.

　Sophia of the Blue Peacock Knights sat up and read aloud the contents of the bundle of materials in her hand.

''The town of the demon race they discovered is located further down than the Demon King's Castle, in the midst of the forest area of the deep realm ...... above an isolated island floating in an underground lake. It seems that they were attempting to observe it from the shore of the lake from a distance, and then their presence was detected in reverse and they were contacted.

　It reminds me of the time when I went there as a knightly party after receiving a report that we had successfully broken through the labyrinth under the Demon King's Castle.

　The vast underground space. The lush forest area.
　Underground water flowing in from everywhere, creating rivers and underground lakes.

　I don't know if there is a problem with the luminescent function of the ceiling, but somehow the environment is always fixed in the "night", and as far as I can tell, it has never greeted the morning so far.

　...... That time I was forced to deal with a black miasma that was eating away at my body, as well as encountering a fire tzuuri, one of the four demonic generals of the demon king's army ......, well, it was quite a challenge.

The name of the town is Asulopolis. The name of the city is Asulopolis, which in earthly terms would be Asylum City.
"Shelter (asylum) hey, ...... are you sheltering people who escaped from somewhere?　Asro-something doesn't sound like a dark elf or dwarf word, though.
In fact, you seem to be right about both.

　Sophia fully affirmed the statement that Garnett had overflowed.

'I heard that Asropolis is under the control of a tree man (dryad) who calls himself Fraxinus, but this administrator declares the entire city as a 'neutral zone' and calls himself ...... acting as a non-combat zone against all races and forces.'

　As far as the adventurers have observed from afar, there are dark elves, dwarves, tree people (dryads), lizard people (lizardmen), and even freshwater fishmen-like figures in the city of Athropolis.

　At this point in time, adventurers are not allowed to enter the Asropolis, so it seems that they are not able to observe them up close and personal.

"The one negotiating with the human side is the administrator Fraxinus ...... technically its alter ego, terminal, or duplicate ...... however its kind of being. And the administrator wishes to have a direct dialogue with humanity's responsible party ......

　Sophia glances at me.

'...... You mean me? You're not going to call out His Majesty the King, are you?
'Yes, sir. When asked for cooperation by the adventurers and briefed on the situation on the ground, the administrator, Fraxinus, recognized Commander Luke as the man in charge and wished to have a dialogue. He then refused to allow any humans to enter until negotiations were concluded.
I guess that's what you call a discussion about whether or not you'll accept the terms of neutrality and non-warfare: ......

　Totally, it's a case that makes me feel sick to my stomach just thinking about it.

　It's not that I don't have experience negotiating with the demon race.
　Negotiating with non-hostile demon settlements and receiving supplies while attacking dungeons is a common practice in the adventurer's industry.

　Moreover, the deep realm that is currently being explored is a high level of difficulty that even an A-ranked party cannot easily overcome.

　If we compare the two, whether we should be able to get supplies and information from the local demons, or continue the search by ourselves without asking for help, the former is preferable.

　If we can come to terms with each other, I would definitely like to be able to use it as a base of operations.

　But the cases I've experienced so far are more like business transactions between individuals, not colored by political negotiations like this one.

　As I was once again realizing the weight of the Knight Commander's title, there was a light knock on the door of the conference room and Sylvia's bright and cheerful voice jumped in.

''Excuse me. Tea and tea snacks are now ready.''
Perfect. I think we need a break from all this.

　I also need time to sort out the information that keeps popping up one after another.

　We decided to take a break in the meeting for now as Sylvia brought us tea.










　In the end, a general plan for the future was decided upon at the meeting.

　The most important thing was still the schedule.

　The administrator tree man (dryad), who calls himself Fraxinus, had designated a date for a direct dialogue a little bit later, due to the fact that he had business related to other demon races that were crowded.

　Since various preparations will be necessary for this one as well, it's honestly quite gratifying that there's room in the schedule.

　We don't want to have to go underground right now in a forced march.

　And one more thing, the members who will be going underground have also been confirmed.

　Me as the leader and Garnett as the guard, Lionel who is good at fighting, Hild who is also familiar with the demon race, and four outside collaborators.

　In other words, among the members of the group, Mark and Sophia will be the ones who will guard the headquarters' absence.

''I'm sorry for making you go away,''

　Immediately after finishing the meeting, I called out to Sophia, who was compiling the minutes.

''No, Commander-dono. I am rather relieved. I am by no means good at rough stuff.

　Sophia replied in her usual calm demeanor, and after a brief pause, she stopped working and looked at me curiously.

''As for me, I'm rather surprised that the Lord Commander has given that instruction himself.
"Did I ever tell you, ......, to 'stay behind'?　What's so strange about that?

　My question was answered by Mark, who interrupted the conversation from the side.

''Blue Peacock is in charge of auditing the Order, you know. Normally, he wouldn't want to leave you in charge of his absence. He might dig up something that he has been hiding for so long at the last moment.
...... Ah, so that's what it is.

　It's true that the role of the Blue Peacock Knights is that....

　A normal knight's corps would want to avoid leaving the headquarters to the Blue Peacock corps members, leaving only new knights behind ...... normal knight's corps would want to avoid.

'We just launched and we've only just finished moving in, there's no information that we can't afford to have seen. I'm also showing you all the accounting documents from the past.
Mmm ...... that's true, but
To me, Sophia is a genuinely encouraging companion.

　When I casually mentioned my honest impressions, I felt that Sophia's expression seemed to break out a little bit - just a little bit.

''Since you have trusted me, I can't help but respond to that. I'm sure you'll find it useful in the future. I'm sure it will be of great use to him in the future.
'What ......?　What?
Now, if you'll excuse me.

　Sofia walks out of the conference room with a cool look on her face, carrying her materials.

　With a resentful glance from Mark, who had completely pecked at the bushes and let out a snake, I watched Sophia's back to the end.

'...... I hate you, brother,'
You shouldn't talk like that in front of him.