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　As soon as I went to inform the king about the new dungeon, I was sent to the audience chamber to explain it in front of the nobles who were working at the royal castle.
　The explanation was short and I wanted to leave quickly, but soon the king started to think about something and the nobles began to rejoice that a boom like the southern autonomous region was coming, so no one gave me permission to leave. Just when I thought I might as well just go home in silence.

'One question, do you think that dungeon will be able to enrich the economy of King's Landing like it did in the south?

　'What do you think?' asked Master Zain, somewhat coldly.

'In my opinion, it is unlikely. Rather, it seems to me that the expense could be higher.

　I don't know if the dungeon I discovered in the south was due to the mountain being turned into a dungeon or if it was originally a mine, but valuable ores such as magic iron, mithril, iron, copper and silver were found in abundance. Moreover, since the place where it was discovered was under the control of the Southern Viscount Family, the Viscount Family was able to manage the dungeon at an early stage. Because of that, the dungeon's profits went entirely to the Viscount family because the resources were prevented from flowing out of the dungeon to the outside world, and the effect of that was to enrich the South with a booming economy centered on Nanao. On top of that, Hana-san had sealed off the dungeon from the fifth level down, and also placed restrictions on adventurers taking resources out of the dungeon, so the south could expect a long-lasting economic boom in the future. Incidentally, the reason why the dungeon was open to the fourth level was because it was a low-risk dungeon that would attract new adventurers and create a flow of people to the south. By limiting the amount of resources that could be taken out of the dungeon, veteran adventurers would not be able to enjoy the dungeon, and those who took out resources without permission would be prosecuted as criminals. Incidentally, adventurers will be charged an entrance fee before entering the dungeon, but they will receive a training course on how to mine and what to do in the dungeon, and will actually get a portion of what they mined.

　As for the blockade of the dungeon, the royal family delivered a letter questioning its meaning (suspecting independence or a coup), but Hana-san said that the location of the dungeon is the land directly controlled by the Viscount's family, and that it is secluded and to protect the surrounding environment, and because of the small size of the dungeon, it is completely He returned it because he feared that if he let them go, they would quickly run out of resources. In theory, there was nothing particularly strange about it, and furthermore, Hana-san's argument was accepted because the wave of economic boom had reached the royal capital, but there are some nobles who don't find the situation like the Southern Viscount family's single victory amusing. Most of those making a scene here are nobles who don't think the Viscount family is amused like that.

''The main difference between the new dungeons in the South and Seigen is the difference in the level of danger. The dungeons in the south are shallow and less dangerous, so even novices can bring back some resources, but the only people who can go to the new dungeons in Seigen are currently only 'Sword of Dawn' and me and grandpa. Even if there are some useful resources, there's a limit to what we can bring back.

　So, when I put it this way.

'Then why don't one of you take us with you?

　It was easy to see this coming back from some of the nobles but....

Are you serious about that?　If you try to do that on command, the worst thing you can do is kill the country.

　As he said, this one could also think of words to return in advance.
　The lowest level of a large-scale dungeon like Seigen is not something that can be reached by piling up gold, and above all, it is an asset that adventurers cannot exchange for gold. That's why the djinn took me to the lowest level of the dungeon, which is something that would be unthinkable under normal circumstances. They might say that you (Temma) knew that much and you (Temma) were doing whatever you wanted, but.......that was part of the reward (that's what I'm saying) and I've decided that the next time I go to the bottom level is when I dive on my own.
　Well, aside from me, the fact that the nobles use their power to dive into the lowest level means that the nobles could be said to have taken away the adventurers' wealth, and if that's the lowest level of the largest (Seigen) dungeon in this country, there's a chance that many adventurers won't follow the kingdom in the future. If that happens, I won't be cooperating with the kings like I have been doing.......maybe. At the very least, the nobles other than the nobles I know will treat me as an enemy figure.
　Maybe some adventurers who think like me will leave the country, and if they flow to the empire, it will lead to a decline in national power. In fact, in the House of Haust Frontier Count family, because of the incident in Kukri Village, many adventurers left the Frontier Count family's territory, the Frontier Count family's business was in a dangerous slump. The fall of the country is an exaggeration, but if the adventurers are uncooperative, the possibility of a decline in national power is high, and it's not unreasonable to expect the country to be invaded and destroyed by the empire, who might take advantage of the decline in national power.
　However, although all of these things are just my own imagination.......but my statement that I am actually the cause (or representative) of the frontier county's slump is reasonably convincing, and the audience room, which had been noisy, is much quieter. Well, I guess the main reason for the quietness is that the royal family who understood the possibility of what I'm saying, the king and Caesar-sama, as well as the high ranking aristocrats who said the Duke of Sangha and the Marquis of Samoens, stared at the nobles who were making a lot of noise.

''Indeed, there's a fear of that. Until now, the royal family had never set any restrictions on Seigen's dungeons. That's because when Seigen's dungeons were discovered, they didn't expect the dungeons to be conquered due to their sheer size. That's why they were more concerned with getting more adventurers to lose money by attracting more adventurers than they were with the loss of resources. And now, when new dungeons are discovered, it's a bad idea to take away the rights of adventurers by imposing restrictions on them.

　At Master Zain's words, the nobles who had been making a lot of noise until then became quiet.

''But on the contrary, if your lordships conquer Seigen's dungeons, the royal family can't complain if they get resources from those new dungeons.

　If they used their power to conquer a dungeon and take the resources out of the new dungeon, the royal family would not remain silent, but if a third party such as an adventurer came between them, the royal family would have no say in the matter. However.

If you guys had the strength to conquer it, or enough adventurers to do it, that is.

　Zain-sama was right as he muttered in a voice so loud that the buzzing nobles couldn't hear him, it would be if we could reach the lowest level. The dungeon's attacker, The Sword of Dawn, is connected to the royal family through me, and my grandfather and I, who are also able to reach the lowest level, are also royalists who are directly connected to the royal family. Currently, there is no way for other nobles to get to the lowest level. And I will reach the lowest level on my own before the other nobles get a ticket to the lowest level, and if that happens, I'm confident that I'll have a rough idea of the new dungeon before the others reach it.

''Your Majesty, I think it's time to send Lord Temma down... as expected of him, he's probably tired from the forced march to the royal capital after discovering the dungeon.

You're right. That's right, Tenma. "You and the Sword of Dawn will be rewarded together. You may leave now.　

Ha!

　When I finally got permission to leave, I left the audience room to go home quickly.

Come on in, Lady Temma. Mary is waiting for you.

　Aina, who was waiting for me at the door, was taking me to Maria's place.


'Ah!　Temma, it's been a while.......so where am I being taken?

　On the way to Maria's place, I found a handsome man who looked like he could be my companion. So I decided to grab his arm to keep him from running away and force him to go with me. And then I noticed something I didn't like. It was.

Tida.......when did you get so big.......

　The fact that my height has been lined up...or maybe even overtaken. A year ago, there was still enough of a difference between us to make it clear...

They're taking your brother away!　Finally, the s*xual harassment of Amy is an issue.......it's a lie, I'm sorry.

　As she was shocked at Tida's growth, Luna, who didn't seem to have grown up at all, appeared and teased Tida, apologizing and running behind Aina before she could get angry. It was a bit of a reassuring sight.

'So, Temma-san, where are you headed?'

'Maria called me over for a minute. I found Tida on the way there and thought I'd take her with me.

　At the mention of Maria's name, Tida said, "That's not a good reason," and tried to walk off in the same direction, but Luna looked impatient for a moment, then turned on her heel and tried to run away. But.

Luna, since Tenma-san invited you to join us, why don't we go and say hello?　Aina, take Luna to your grandmother. Don't let her get away.

　With a quick movement, Tida caught Luna and nailed Aina not to let her escape, then ordered her to take her to Lady Maria.

'Lady Maria, I have Lady Temma and Tida, and Lady Luna with me,'
'And Tida and Luna?　Please come in for now.

　Maria seemed surprised that Tida and Luna were with her, but she quickly gave them permission to come in.

'I'm sorry to interrupt you, Maria,'

I'm sorry to call you out, Temma. Have a seat there. Tida and Luna, too.

　Me and Tida sat in the recommended seats, but Luna sat down with one empty. When Maria saw this, she overheard something to Aina and sent her somewhere else.
　Then, for a while, Maria continued to talk about a rambling story. The content of these stories were interesting to listen to, such as the king's failures, Lyle-sama's nightlife and Ernest-sama's suspicions of dementia, but they were all stories that I didn't understand why I was called in.
　I had a feeling that I hadn't been called in for these stories, so I thought it was time to ask about the main topic.

I think he's coming. Come in.

　A knock sounded and Aina came in. And another.

'What have I been doing, Luna, when I threw away my studies?

　Lady Isabella was standing there. I knew there was something going on because of Luna's suspicious behavior but I wasn't surprised because it always passed by.
　After that, Luna laid out all sorts of excuses, all of which were debunked by Isabella-sama, and she was taken away in disappointment.

'Now it will be quiet.

　The story that he didn't tell Tida is probably about Primera. I met Tida and Luna after I got engaged to Primera, but the reason they didn't tell me about the engagement was probably because I wasn't informed of it at the time.

'I'm sure Tida would be fine. It's just that Luna....'

I'll bet you'll talk about it somewhere. If you can't, then you must leave this room now.

　Tida looked startled by Maria's swordsmanship, but she quickly sat back in her chair and took up a listening position. Maria looked at her and nodded in satisfaction.

"Tida, Temma has recently become engaged to the third daughter of the Sangha family, Primera. The story must be kept secret until the New Year's party hosted by the duke's family. If anyone in the royal family who knows the story leaks it, it will damage the trust of the Sangha and Otori families. ''I understand.''

Yes!

　Tida was nodding at Maria-sama's words, surprised at my engagement. This made Luna the only one in the royal family who didn't know about my engagement.......but I decided to ask her just in case.

'Yes, the only one who doesn't know is Luna.......what about Lyle?'

　Maria didn't seem to know what Lyle-sama was on the way, so she sent Aina to call her. If she didn't know this, Lyle-sama is being treated the same as Luna.


''Mother I've heard that indeed!

　Lyle-sama's eyes were swimming when Aina brought her into the room, but she calmed down when she was asked what she was keeping secret about me, and she gave Maria-sama an earful and got the right answer.

'Well, you're right, I am indeed teaching you. I'm sorry Lyle, you can go back. Also, I don't know what you're hiding from me, but don't worry me too much... right?

　Lyle-sama smiled at Maria and slipped out of the room with a bitter smile on her face.

'So, Temma-san. Why did you suddenly become engaged?'

　When Tida confirmed that the door was completely shut, she asked me, with surprise, what had led up to the engagement. I had to explain for the umpteenth time, but it wasn't a hassle, considering I had an extra ally. Yes, if you think of it as an ally to keep Luna in check.

''Well, considering Temma-san's rapport with the Sanga dukes, it's not surprising that it feels like it came out of nowhere. Congratulations.

　Tida didn't say anything, as if she thought it was best not to ask any more questions. Instead.

So, what was the new dungeon like!

　She didn't hesitate to ask about the dungeon. Lady Maria seemed to want to hear about the dungeon as well, and she raised her eyebrows a bit at Tida's high level of tension, but she didn't say anything and remained silent.

''You didn't find the vast resources that the nobles were hoping for, did you? At least not on the lowest level where Hydra was and near the entrance to the new dungeon.

　He went on to tell Maria-sama what he thought of the dungeon, as if he were reporting back to her rather than letting Tida hear it. Maria-sama asked a lot of questions about the resources I mentioned at the beginning, but Tida only asked about skeletons and carrion golems.

'It doesn't add up to say that it's a dungeon below the lowest level, but it's all weak demons.
'Well, no matter how weak you say they are, if Tida challenges them, they'll get stuck near the entrance. No matter how weak they are, a group of people who are not afraid of death is a scary thing. If such an enemy appears, or is about to appear, or you feel that the place is unfavorable to you, you have to think about retreating immediately. Especially Tida, who is in a position to command, right?

'Yes, I'll be careful. By the way, if I encounter a situation where I can't retreat, how do I fight it?

　It's good that he doesn't get weirdly stubborn, but after all, he's only Luna's brother, so he seems to have a strong competitive streak. I've only had that kind of experience twice as far as I can remember, so the one that seems to be helpful..............I answered with an example from Kukri village. Incidentally, the other one was in the fight with Rich, and that time I had no reference for Tida since I had to use magic to push through the fight, so there was no reference for her.




It's not just the skeletons and carrion golems, but also the demons of a higher rank that you can fight against if you can do that. In addition to that, though, we need to train them to play their respective roles well and sometimes move flexibly.

　If the students were to form a party with each other, Tida's place would be filled with the best students in her grade, including Amy, but there's no way the school would let them do such a dangerous thing, so they wouldn't experience it while at the school.

''Maria-sama, it's time to take a break. I'm sure Jin and the others are waiting for you.

'Right. I'm sorry to keep you long enough to finish your report. Aina, go send Temma to me. And while you're at it, go ahead and enjoy your holiday.

Yes, sir.

　Maria told her to enjoy the holiday, but Aina's reply was adamant. Well, what awaits Aina after this is the instruction called a holiday. Jeanne and Aura's........　


Hee!　Master Temma, why did you bring him here!　Eh, oh, hey, sis!

　When she and Aina returned to the mansion, Aura screamed when she saw Aina as she came to greet her. When Aina saw this, she sighed and pulled Aura to the dining room.

'Oh, Temma. I'm sorry I left you in charge of so much trouble~

　When I followed Aina into the dining room, there was a feast going on there. Perhaps it was intended to be a celebration of the discovery of a new dungeon.
　It wasn't just Grandpa and Jin and the others at the banquet, Amour and Leni-san were also participating. And.

It's a pleasure to meet you, sir.

　Three idiots had joined Primera. The three idiots are drinking and eating as usual, but Primera doesn't seem to be enjoying it very much, as if she's wondering what the fuss is about in a situation where I'm not there.

'I'm sure Grandpa gave you permission to do that, so you won't have to worry about it. It's a good idea to let them know that I'm close to the next center of the royalist faction by showing them that they're always doing this and that kind of unreservedness......maybe.

　I don't know about Rion, but I'm sure Albert and Cain are making a lot of noise like that with full understanding. Well, there will still be people who don't get it, but they'll understand even if they don't want to once me and Primera's engagement is announced. It's a good idea to have a good time with them.

'Primera, I'm going to be a little busy from now on, and it might get hectic until the very last minute of the engagement announcement. Of course, it doesn't mean I won't see you at all, and I'm not going to leave the engagement announcement to you, but I think it will be quite annoying.

　In the next four months, we'll be making a golem for the conquest of the dungeon.

''I understand about that, and that.......well.......I think I'll probably be thrown to the dukes as well, so it's hard to say....

　Apparently, the Duke of Sanga is putting up a fight now, and he doesn't have anything in particular to do as Primera. Besides, he and Primera are planning to get married within a year of their engagement, so he had to finish up the Knights' liaison team to function before then, and he also had to take over, so he was quite busy.

'It seems like Maria-sama is more uptight than me and my grandfather, too... I told Tida about the engagement today, but we're going to keep it a secret from Luna.

''It's a secret from Luna-sama... sure, I'm likely to slip up, but I don't think I'm going to say anything about other nobles just because the information was leaked, right?

　I agree with you, but I guess that's why they want to be so careful.

'I'm sorry for Luna, but it's Maria-sama's decision, and there's nothing I can do about it.

　The decision of the royal family's highest authority would not be put out by me, Primera, or even the Duke of Sangha for that matter. If there's no significant difference in the outcome whether we let it out or not, then it would be good to choose the one that doesn't offend Maria-sama.



　I was supposed to say goodbye to Primera and enjoy the bath alone in peace.

Here, you'll need a drink, Tenma!　
And I've brought you some snacks!

　The two drunks (Grandpa and Gin) broke in early in the bath, followed by the rest of the men as they rushed in. Each with a large amount of alcohol and snacks in their arms.

''The banquet hall has just been moved to the bathroom...''

　Drinking in the bathhouse isn't good for you, but it's not a face that can die that easily, so just keep an eye out for Albert and Cain. And also the old man (grandpa), just in case.


'There, have another one.'
Albert, I'd better stop now. Here, instead of drinking, drink water, water.

　Albert, who was blushing, was about to take another drink, so I made him grab a glass of water instead. Albert himself understood that he was about to run out of water, perhaps, so he quietly accepted the water and began to drink it.

'This way, it's interestingly disjointed,'

　Me and Albert, Cain and Garratt, Grandpa, Jin and Rion, and so on. I'm sure Albert and I are more like brothers-in-law than brothers-in-law, and my grandfather and his friends are more like people who think alike, but Cain and Garratt were surprisingly close. Moreover, they get along quite well with each other. I was curious to see what kind of conversation they were having, so I approached a little closer and listened carefully.

'So, when you draw blood, you have to half kill them and hang them upside down. If your heart isn't beating, it's not going to bleed very well.
What if I can't lift it?
'Then you dig a hole right next to your prey and pour it down there. If you can't dig a hole, you're ready to dump the bottom half of it down the drain. Well, it's better to have half of it than all of it smelling fishy.
Would this work on humans?
'If you're a creature with the same basic structure, there's a lot of applications. Well, some of them will never come back if you don't keep it to knowledge, so be careful.

　And so on, and so on, and so on, and so on, and so on, and so on, and so on, and so on, and so on, and so on, and so on. Cain's curiosity seemed to mesh well with the special knowledge Garratt knew.

''I'm going to feel sick, so let's go up now.

　I decided to get out of the bath with Albert, as I was about to get sick from the bloody talk between Cain and Garratt.
　When Cain and Garratt noticed that me and Albert had left the bath, they got out of the bath to follow me, but....

So I cut off his head with a single slice of the Hydra's head while it was still weak!
When I was there, I cut it off with magic, crushed it with magic, and burned it with magic!
That's great!　I want to kill a hydra, even if it's just once!

　The brainstorming group called the gym was getting excited without us noticing. If I remember correctly.

Temma, are we on a loop here?

　Cain was right, I think I've heard the same story three or four times.

'It sounds like you've been doing this for a long time. Sounds like we should force him out.

　Those three guys seem to be quite drunk compared to us, so we decided to take them out, even if we had to force them out.
　I'll be in charge of Grandpa, Garratt will be in charge of Jin, and Albert and Cain will be in charge of Rion......but as expected, if you try to take out a naked man by force, something you don't want to touch will hit your body and cause mental damage, so the bath We decided to bring in a wooden golem to help clean up the place and so on, and have it carry the three of us. It's like we're assisting the golem.


'Temma, is it safe to leave Rion and the others here?'
'We've taken away the liquor and given them plenty of water to drink, so I'm sure they'll be fine. I've made the golems clean the baths and drain the water, just in case, and I've also ordered them to kick you out if you come in, so you should have no choice but to come back to the dining room.

　We got Grandpa and the others out of the bath, dressed them and gave them some water to drink before we left them there. We also confiscated his magic bag, so he should come back to the cafeteria if he wants to drink. If he doesn't come back, we can go check on him then.
　If I left the three of us like that and came back to the diner.

It smells great in here.

　A sweltering, sweet smell greeted us. Well, I suppose it's many times healthier than the smell of booze that fills the bathroom.