"Well, ...... then I'll go over my future plans before I join Sylvia and the others.

　While sitting on a chair in the cafeteria and taking a break, I open my notebook and reconfirm my plans for the future.

　The reason we came to the royal capital is not for sightseeing purposes.

　The main purpose of this is to deal with matters related to the official duties of the White Wolf Knights.

Well, let's start with official business related matters: ......

　First, the most important plan.
　That is to report the results of the White Wolf Knights' activities so far to King Alfred in person.

　Although I intend to send him a report with as much detail as possible, I have to say that the essential content is so bizarre and unrealistic that it's difficult to understand everything by itself.

　Therefore, the main name of this call is to make an effort to have His Majesty Alfred, the chief executive of public affairs, personally answer questions and try to get an accurate understanding of the matter--this is the main name of the call.

　Although it's a role that makes me extremely nervous, I'm confident that His Majesty Alfred will understand right away, so I'm not worried about that point.

''And while we're at it, let's get some more information out of that raccoon old man.
'Ah, the Duke of Kingswell. You're a man with a lot to ask and a lot to tell.

　I nodded in agreement with Garnett's side of the spear.

　The Duke of Kingswell - a man with many connections to me, both positive and negative.

''Let me ask you something, General. What kind of connection does this duke have with the Commander?''
Chandler: ...... You should at least have a grasp of that.

　I'm sure you'll be able to find out more about this.

It's a very good idea to have a good idea of what you're talking about. It's a good idea to make sure that you have the right information.
No, that's been explained to you too: ......
Hahaha ...... I consider it a pretty complicated relationship myself.

　Since we're here, let's go over that again.

　Explaining it to others is a good opportunity to put the information back together in your own mind.

''The relationship between me and the Duke of Kingswell, or should I say fate. It first came about just before I took a leave of absence from adventuring.

　At the time, I had been the lowest-ranked adventurer for fifteen years, and I was looking for a chance to make a name for myself at once.

　It was just then that I was recruited to be a scullery maid for the brave Falcon who was exploring the A-ranked dungeon 'The Thousand Year Corridor of the Abyss'.

　It was thought that the difficulty of the game was so high that there was nothing to be gained, but a request for help from the dwarves who claimed to be oppressed by the Demon King arrived from deep within the Thousand Year's Corridor of the Abyss, and Falcon the Brave was dispatched to check the situation.

　Nowadays, the 'Millennium Corridor of the Abyss' and the 'Demon King's Castle Realm' at the back of it are classified as the first labyrinth and the first level below the first labyrinth of the dungeon 'Ark of the Elements' respectively, but at that time, the search had not yet progressed that far.

　Anyway, I followed Falcon the Brave to explore the 'Thousand Year Corridor of the Abyss' and...

A brave man made the mistake of losing food, and they cut him off to make up for it.

　He wandered through the labyrinth while almost dying, and succeeded in escaping due to the evolution of 【Restoration】, which was the only skill he possessed, and decided to open a weapon shop in Green Hollow, which was the nearest town.

　From then on, there was a series of major incidents, such as the discovery of a hidden passage to the 'Demon King's Castle Realm' right under Green Hollow's nose, which caused an uproar, and the Demon King's War that used the hidden passage, which led to him being recommended as a knight for his achievements during this period.

''Well, let's put aside for a moment because from here on out it's a different story. In fact, Duke Kingswell was involved with the Falcon the Brave and the 'Thousand Year Corridor of the Abyss' long before me.

　First of all, Falcon the Brave was a man whose talents had been discovered by the Duke of Kingswell, who had been educated and trained and certified as a brave man.

　Secondly, the land where the entrance to the 'Millennium Corridor of the Abyss' is currently located was once part of the Duke of Kingswell's territory - although it is now under the direct control of the royal palace due to the reorganization of the territory that took place a long time ago.

'And the Duke of Kingswell had an older brother. His name was Algernon. He was a man who had long been immersed in the study of the 'Millennium Corridor of the Abyss' and was not allowed to inherit the viceroyalty.
"......!　That's the bastard who worked with the puppets in the underground neutral city of Athropolis.

　I nodded back at Chandler's statement and switched the focus of the conversation from me to Algernon.

　Algernon hired a group of A-ranked adventurers with a wealth of financial resources, and over the years he continued to conduct his own investigations, writing down many speculations and hypotheses that were difficult for ordinary people to understand.

　I'll have to explain the specifics of that at another time.

　Anyway, after spending his life in a near-delusional study, Algernon disappeared in the depths of the labyrinth shortly before the request for help from the dwarves arrived.

　The duke's recommendation of the Falcon was probably due in large part to the fact that it was a dungeon that was closely associated with his own clan.

'The Duke of Kingswell regarded his brother as dead and kept his research materials unnoticed and didn't reveal them, but when he found out that the evolution of my [Restoration] skill was consistent with Algernon's hypothesis ......, he became impatient.

　Algernon's research is so out of the ordinary that even the Duke might question his sanity if he were to make it public in a serious manner.

　However, if the fact that he didn't make it public was detrimental to the kingdom, it could be a source of attack from his political opponents, who might wonder why he was hiding it from them.

Therefore, the duke wanted to put me under the surveillance of the royal court. "Therefore, the Duke wanted to put me under the surveillance of the Crown, so that I would be able to react quickly if something bad happened to me, and reduce the possibility of him being held responsible.
I heard him say it myself, he's a real pain in the ass. I heard that he was a very good minister, but he used his skills to the fullest extent to protect himself.

　First, the duke tried to frame me for 'killing the brave Falcon'.

　When that failed, this time he noticed that I had been unknowingly using the mithril that made up the walls of the labyrinth, and he suspected me of illegal mining and trafficking of mithril.

　...... As a matter of fact, the reason didn't matter to the Duke.

　Anyway, as long as he could get the Silverwing Knights to move on and keep me under his watch, having proved part of Algernon's hypothesis, he could prepare for the unexpected.

''This is just a consequence, but the Duke's self-defense would have exposed Demon King Gandalf's plans for a ground invasion early on, which would have affected the victory or defeat of the Demon King's War.
So the raccoon old man is not to be blamed, and instead we're going to ask him to submit every single one of Algernon's research materials.

　Every time me and Garnett talk to each other, Chandler dutifully shifts his gaze from side to side, moving his head from side to side.

''So, what an odd coincidence or something. Since the White Wolf Knights have been ordered to investigate the dungeon, they've become a close friend of the Duke of Kingswell's.
Huh. ...... You never know what's going to happen in life, do you?

　Chandler exhales at length with admiration.

　As for myself, if I look at it objectively, I can't help but feel the same way as Chandler.

The most amazing thing is that you didn't punch that duke in the face with all your might. I wouldn't have let my face cave in.
"You ...... want to start another war? ......?
'Hahaha!　Just kidding, General. Just kidding!

　Chandler laughed it off with gusto, but it made me feel more than a little suspicious that he was really joking.