After his left arm was fully healed, Leon immediately went to check on the situation in the royal capital, while part of the Labyrinth Control Squad and the Red Demon Squad were about to head to secure the city near Centria.

　The Infinite Circle also had a request, but Chrystia had also told them that they could refuse, so Tsutomu asked them to turn to the defense of Centria. And when I told the clan members about it on the morning of the day, Hannah gave a small nod of her head.


''Aren't we going?''
It's not like we need it. The monsters don't necessarily stay in the city.
...I see.


　Hannah looked itchy and unconvinced inwardly, but she seemed to have swallowed it along with her breakfast of poached eggs. However, Tsutomu thought it was easy to understand, judging by the way she was fidgeting as she watched the Labyrinth Conquerors and the Red Demons leave Centria after breakfast.


''You're not thinking of secretly following them or anything, are you?
!
No, what's with the face?


　Tsutomu returns a reluctant look to Hannah, who looks as if she's seen through all of his inner thoughts.


''Master!　How did you know that?
Everyone can see that. Try not to think too hard about it.
'Yes. Hannah moves too much on instinct. Please think and act a little.
..........
''Uguguugu. It's not fair to let Norm out........


　Hanna growls in pain at Leleia's words as she interrupts with Norm, who was eating breakfast with her. Hannah seems to be vulnerable to the gnomes who are looking at her with pure innocence.


''Hannah seems to be mistakenly thinking that the Fist of the Demon Style is a shortcut to the first army, but that's just a detour. Why don't you brush up on the skills you have now?
Because Grandpa Melcho...
I don't blame Mr. Melcho.
Ugh, gurgling.


　After that, Tsutomu didn't pursue her as she was being lectured by Leleia, including how to get around in God's dungeon.


(In the meantime, I'll call out to the others, but I need to keep a close eye on Hannah alone.......)


　This time, Tsutomu didn't choose to go and retake the city because he didn't like the risk he and his friends were taking for the people of Centria and other cities. Garum, Daryl, Xeno and Corina area would be concerned about that choice, but they still weren't the kind of people who would act spontaneously. If you explain it to them, they'll understand.

　But as for Hannah, she's somehow impulsive, so it's possible that she'll move suddenly to help someone else and then disappear. So Tsutomu kept an eye on Hannah for now, and asked Diniel and others to keep an eye on her as well.

　I'm sure you'll be pleased to know that I'm not the only one. But for now, there was nothing unusual in the capital, and it seemed to be peace itself. And the Maze Hegemony and the Red Demon Squad also secured the safety of the empty city and quarantined those who had fled from the south there.

　Naturally, there was some opposition from the people being quarantined, but these are the people who did not respond to the evacuation advisory originally issued by the royal capital. The refugees were quarantined in the southern city, where the barriers were put up, as if to threaten them halfway through the labyrinth conquest.

　It was during this time that Tsutomu had the opportunity to be alone with the head of the Babenberg family, and he asked one thing that was on his mind.


'What was your impression of this man Orvis?'


　I have already received the material on the person named Orvis, but I wanted to get an impression from the head of the Babenberg family, whom I had met in person. When asked by Tsutomu, he put his hand to his chin with a difficult look on his face.


'....I have met Orvis three times. The time I had an audience with him after he made it big as a skillful artist, the time I was in the position of vice president of the Monster Protection Society, and the time I was protested about the God's Dungeon as Pope Orvis. The impression I got through all of that is that Orbis is calm.
Are you calm?
'Some in the Monster Protection Society had radical ideas, but Orvis didn't seem to be steeped in them. And he even appeased the officers of the Radical Monster Protection Society when his wife fell to the deadly blade of the Crime Clan.
'As Chrystia said, it's not a personal vendetta, is it?


　In the early days of the God's Dungeon, there were many searchers who used the power they gained from their skills and status to commit crimes. And Orvis' wife, who protested in various places as the president of the Monster Protection Society, was estranged from the explorers who hunted monsters. And in the end, she had been spotted and killed by the crime clan, so Tsutomu wondered if this time it was revenge for that.


'The crime clan that had been gaining momentum was then crushed one by one, mainly by the security group, and all of them were executed. If it was a personal grudge, they would have moved then. Orvis also had the power to do so. But he didn't do that, he gathered a group of volunteers and created a religious organization. That's Orbisism, with the principle of changing the status quo of allowing anyone to enter God's dungeon.


　The Orvis religion, which was founded on the basis of the claim that God's favor, or in other words, that God's dungeon should be regulated so that only those with unique skills should be allowed into God's dungeon, was a group mainly made up of those who had been victimized by the criminal clan.

　From then on, they continued to call the Stampede's daily intensification as the wrath of God and send out arguments to regulate God's dungeons every time criminals came out of the searchers. And the Orvis religion, which claimed that God's judgment had finally come in the last Stampede, had grown a large congregation in the wake of it.


'Although it had grown in size to the point of being watched since the last Stampede, Orbisism was still not that radical of a group. However, a girl who had belonged to the Orvis cult in the last raid appeared in a horrifying form. Orbis's aim was probably to regulate the God's Dungeon............................but for me, it's creepy. You may have other ideas.
'I see. By the way, did you find anything odd about it?　I don't understand a word you're saying or something...
'I'm an artist by nature, I'm sure I've had some unusual sensibilities. But those things were not present when you were talking to me.
Well....


　Tsutomu suspected that the deputy guild leader was Japanese and spoke some peculiar Japanese words and so on, and he occasionally mixed those words in Kamdae to see if there was anyone like him. Tsutomu's shoulders slumped a little ruefully.

　Then, after isolating the refugees to the southern city, Tsutomu and the others would return to the royal capital once, along with the Labyrinth Conqueror Squad and the Red Demon Squad, while there was still time to spare for the magic stones.


　o.


　A large amount of magic power was circulating in one room of the huge mansion in the royal capital. Brooklyn Kanchelsia, who was filling the magic stone in the center of the room with magic power, was taking a breather after finishing the mind-numbing task.

　The magic power, which is necessary for nobles to use magic, is basically drawn from the magic stone and used. That's why nobles wear necklaces, rings, and various other precious metals with magic stones embedded in them. Brooklyn also likes to wear simple things, such as the small earrings in their ears and the high-quality magic stones in their pockets.

　And the technique of filling the magic stones with the maximum amount of magic power was equivalent to expressing the aristocrat's competence. After finishing filling hundreds of large and small magic stones with the maximum amount of magic power already, Brooklyn rang the doorbell in hand and called his attendant.


''Tea and tea, please.''
Yes, sir.


　After finishing her daily task of filling up with magic, Brooklyn always enjoys a tea party by herself. A variety of tea leaves already prepared and a pot of warm water. And plates of tea baked for this time of day are brought into the room.

　It was just past afternoon as usual. Brooklyn leans back in her throne-like chair, crosses her legs, and closes her eyes for a moment to enjoy the smell of the tea. But as if to break the atmosphere, an out-of-breath squire appears in the room.

　Brooklyn looked down uncomfortably at the squire. But at the words that announced the unexpected visitor's arrival, Brooklyn's eyes turned suspicious.


'Will you say it again exactly?'
'Yes, sir. A person claiming to be Pope Orvis has come to this mansion and has requested a meeting with Master Brooklyn. His clothes and appearance, both of which match Pope Orbis, and he is currently surrounded by knights...


　The fact that the Orbis religion is related to this Stampede has already been reported by Leon, who came to King's Landing. Therefore, Brooklyn was more or less surprised that the person in charge of it had come to visit this mansion.

　Brooklyn made the squire who was making tea at eye level step back and picked up the ring that was inlaid with the magic stone that he had just filled.


'Hmm. It's fine. In that case, why don't I go out in person?
"Report to the searchers...
'You don't have to. I'll take care of the person who called himself Pope Orbis, fake or real, either way I'll take care of him.


　Sitting cross-legged on his slender legs, Brooklyn stood up languidly and left the room at a quick walk. With a squire hurriedly following her, Brooklyn slipped the ring on her finger. He then looked out from the second floor of the mansion and down at the man who was positioned in the middle of the rustling knights.


'Oh, I didn't expect you to meet me in person. You know who I am, don't you?
Pope Orvis. I've already heard of your involvement in this stampede.
Ha-ha, you're too quick to talk then. I'd like to make you a proposition, if you don't mind.
All right. Now follow me.


　Brooklyn, who has already surrounded himself with a barrier, made the knights surrounding Orvis back down. I don't really care how many knights die, but I don't even have enough left over to let them die in vain. Wary of the faint remnants of magic from Orbis, Brooklyn made a staircase with a barrier and sent him up to the mansion.

　The interior of the mansion is already lined with barriers. Brooklyn led the lumbering Orbis to a room.


(It's now an art form.)


　There was a dense barrier in that room that was so dense that anyone who could feel even the slightest bit of magic would be overwhelmed. It was comparable to the Babenberg Family's barriers that they had spent so much time putting up in the labyrinth city, and besides, Brooklyn had put it together all by himself.

　The head of the Babenberg Family was the main builder of the Maze City's barriers, and his eldest son and daughter also assisted him in putting them together. The barrier made by weaving the magic power of the three of them was capable of nullifying even the attacks of the tyrannical dragons, but in terms of strength alone, Brooklyn could do it all by himself. Although it requires a huge amount of magical power, the Kanchelsia family has less time to assemble it.

　The moment Orvis stepped into the one room where such a barrier existed, Brooklyn surrounded him. This room is unusually clean and dust-free because of the barrier enclosing it. The room, which doesn't show a lot of blood from the past, was one of the rooms used for the execution of the revolutionary army.


Now then, let's hear what you have to say.
'Yes, sir. You already know that I am in control of this Stampede. And my ultimate goal is to regulate God's dungeon. The current situation is too bad. Don't you think so?


　It's not just a matter of time before you'll be able to get your hands on a new one.


''In the current situation where we can easily gain strong power, there are only those who can't have it. It's also now that the divine Dungeon has been conquered to a frightening degree, and the overall level of the divine Dungeon has increased. Gaining power in a divine dungeon is very easy. It can't be compared to the rigorous training that ordinary knights do, or the training that you nobles do.
So?
'If we don't, we will eventually repeat the mistakes of the past. That's why God's Dungeon must be regulated now. Brooklyn Kanchelsia. I need you to stand with me.


　With that, Orvis held out his hand. Brooklyn looks down at the offered hand and then sighs stupidly.


'Is that the last thing you'll ever say?'
Ha, ha, can't you just accept it?
Nonsense. I've lost interest.


　Brooklyn looked at her own ring, then turned her eyes to the side. Immediately, the barrier that had surrounded Orvis transformed stingily.


'You're lucky. You've gotten this much talk out of me and I'm dying.
I've heard that the Kanchelsia family has an execution chamber that utilizes barrier magic. I also heard that they have a barrier there, one of their best works, by Brooklyn. Is this it?
Oh, yeah. This is where you're going to end up in that pile of crap.
I'm not sure about that.


　Orvis touched the stinging barrier with his right hand. Then the barrier began to melt like heated glass, and finally blackened as if it had been scorched. As the putrid-looking liquid fell to the ground, the barrier stretched below it also began to melt with a sound.


''If we break this, will it prove a little bit of power?''
"...Hmph. It's only a matter of breaking a piece of paper, but don't get carried away. You are already surrounded by thousands of barriers. There is nowhere to run.
Have you ever heard of a monster named 'Violent Dragon'?


　Ignoring Brooklyn's words, Orvis took down the magic bag he had planted in his ceremonial dress and rolled a huge organ-like object from it to the ground in a sloppy manner. It was an organ that resembled a heart in shape and was called a magic bag.


''It's the monster that caused the damage to the labyrinth city, and I can say that this is a weapon that replicates the attack.


　Sensing the enormous amount of magical power emanating from that organ, Brooklyn immediately tried to crush it with a barrier, but the pressure of the barrier was prevented by the hands of Orvis, who had somehow switched to thick, wild-feeling arms like an orc.


'It was very hard work to make this, so please refrain from crushing it beforehand,' The Babenberg family took it in nicely, didn't they?
You're kidding me. What is this magic nonsense? It's impossible.
Well, well, you don't look so good. But I'm afraid it's going to blow up.
You're gonna die too.
'Don't worry about me, I thought you might want to mind your own business. As I recall, the Babenbergs received the barriers in one place, so perhaps you should do the same?


　The amount of magic she had never felt before made Brooklyn desperately try to crush the magic bag, but Orvis's power was strong until he was able to shrug off the pressure. Realizing that he couldn't crush it, Brooklyn mobilized all the barriers in this room to protect himself.


'Well then, I'll see you soon.


　Then a large amount of magical power in the magic bag was released, sending a tremor through the Brooklyn mansion.