A token of my son I purified the magic stone and gently handed it over to King Rockwell.

''I'm concerned that these guys have come this far. I'm not sure if Grand-san and the others are injured. 'Let's hurry back,' I called out to everyone.

Then Lionel asked me about the treatment of the former slaves.
'What will you do with these slaves ... or rather former slaves?'
　I take one look at the former slaves and they are staring at me with frightened expressions and trembling.

We'll go back first. I'm sure you'll be able to get away. But I can't guarantee your life.
Oh, no.
Help me, please.
I'll cling to them, but they and theirs are the ones who didn't raise their hands at the time.

　How much easier it would be if they could draw a line like that..............
　I decided to think about how to treat the former slaves if they were going to follow me, but I was more concerned about Grand-san and the others right now, so I told them to move on immediately.

'King Rockwell. Wouldn't it be better for you to weep after you have made sure your other son is safe?
Okay.
　King Rockwell tucked the magic stone that was Gryos into his pocket and stood up, wiping away the tears.

　I used the area high heels and the wounds of the former slaves and dwarves were completely healed.
'This time I will slay you no matter what. Act like it. Keti, Kefin, take care of the road.
"Ha.
　We thus began to move towards the entrance of the cave.


'There are still demons everywhere, aren't there?
But I've lost count.
　The two in the lead walked backwards the way they came, annihilating the demons.
　On the way, they didn't forget to retrieve object X at a fork in the road.

　The dwarves were also woken up by King Rockwell and followed at the back of the line.
'We can protect the dwarves alone with this, right?
Well yes.
　King Rockwell had a stern expression on his face and didn't speak much.

''But it's going to take a lot of time to destroy all those ant carcasses.
''Yes. As for the demon stone, it would be better to leave it to Paula and Lisian. Wouldn't the demon carcasses be appreciated if we offered them to Rockford?

''That's Lionel. Well, even if we have magic stones and corpses, it's impossible and unnecessary for us to make use of them.

Yes. They'll appreciate it more if you leave it to them than if you have it, and you'll operate it well.
''I hope these magic stones can be used as a reserve fund for the former slaves...''
That is, as long as Lord Grand and his men are safe.
　We hurriedly returned to the road leading to the dwarven kingdom, feeling our hands naturally tighten in the grip of our illusionary wands.


　The scene as we passed through the corridor was still as congenial as before we left.

　I was honestly relieved to see that my fears were unfounded as some of the dwarves noticed us and let everyone know that we were back.

　I found Mr. Grand and approached him to talk to him.
'Mr. Grand, are you okay?'

'Yeah. Nothing happened over here... or rather, the demons turned back to the hole and we were safe.

'I see. That's good to hear, but........did Glaios and the others not pass through here?

No, I didn't go through there, did I?
　His face looked untrue, and Lionel and Ketty shook their heads.

'That's all right then. We have defeated the queen that bore the ants. Besides, we've defeated quite a few ants, so if the soldiers of the Dwarven Kingdom can defeat the remaining ant demons, the threat will completely go away.

'That's great! So we're just gonna walk right back into Rockford?
As much as I'd like to, my priority is to heal the injured and get the treasure.
If someone's hurt, that's your priority.
Yeah.
　I smiled, and a wry smile escaped Grand-san.

　Perhaps it was the cookout, but as we moved to the Dwarf King's abode, I heard words of thanks from all sides.

　Even from the two remaining holes, I could tell that the ant demons had retreated, and I was relieved that we hadn't fallen into the situation I was worried about.


　When we reached the dwarf king's abode, King Rockwell walked in the lead from there, and during the audience, as we advanced to the center of the room, he stopped, turned around, and got down on his knees.

'Lord Luciel, please heal Aresley's arm. As you see here.
　I've recovered enough not to die, but I'm currently without both of Aresley's arms, so it's hard to tell.

　But if Aresley was going to take over the country, he couldn't see how they could have a good relationship.

''........Why do you go so far? With all due respect, wouldn't it be in the best interest of the dwarven kingdom to install someone with great ability and a clear personality as king?

It's a question of whether he'll be king or not. The only heir I have left is Alesley, my son, who is no longer my heir. The throne is of no consequence.
So when do you intend to name your successor to the throne?
"...until I am a worthy king with every fiber of my being. If I am not deemed worthy before my death, I swear by the spirits and the gods that the throne will be given to another.
...are you sure about this?
　It's like saying you're throwing away your throne.
　How are you going to leverage Aresley to bet the future of the country on that?

'I've caused that much trouble to Lord Luciel and his people. That is not something that should be easily forgiven.

　From the look of it, it didn't look like he was telling a lie, so I decided to agree to it.
　'On condition, of course,' he said.

'Alright. Are the spirits listening?
Well it looks like he's not going to show up.
What's the trick?
No, if there are any...
　King Rockwell didn't say more.
　But I realized what he meant.

'All of you except Lionel, Ketty, and Kefin go back to the slave quarters. All of you in the church, including Esther, will go back to the slave quarters. That's an order.

　I thought there was going to be a rebuttal, but they were all quiet.......only Esther didn't move.

'I'll get on with it, Nya. Or is there something else?
It's not there.
　I stopped Estia when she was about to move on.

''Well Estia, put down your magic tools and equipment and leave this room.
Okay.
　He left the light, sword and shield on the spot and left the room.

　There, King Rockwell made an earthen door and made sure that no one could enter.
''Dear earth spirit, you need not appear. I only wish to hear your voice.'
　As King Rockwell speaks to them, he appears and the spirits begin to speak.

　''Who is that guy?''
　They were like shadows.
　I had a bad feeling.
　That's our natural enemy, you idiot.
　Do you accept the vow you just made?
　The threat to the earth has passed, and we are still a threat to it.

I have a question. Why didn't you notice the change in Gryos? A genie could have alerted you, couldn't he?
Does it have something to do with the fact that the spirits have not been seen recently?
　King Rockwell interrupted after me.

　''Being manipulated is not my hobby.
　I warned Glaios about this many times.
　He will be in the vicinity before you know it.
　That thing is dangerous. You should kill it before it gets out of hand.
　Lately, I've been afraid of what he's going to reveal to me.
　It will swallow us all.

Who's that?
　King Rockwell is going to ask you for that name, but you'll only find one.

You mean Esther.
　I tell them, and Lionel and the others open their mouths.

"...Master Luciel, who is Estia?
I've never heard that name before.
Were you among the former slaves?
What do you have to say with a straight face? The spirit magic swordsman who slayed the queen ant with me.
　But I got a different reaction from what I was expecting.

'The five of us here went into it, didn't we?
Yeah. Did Luciel-sama dream about it?
If you're tired, would you like to take a nap?
　The three........King Rockwell also had a strange look on his face, so the four of them didn't seem to remember anything at all.
　How could it happen that their memories could be rewritten?　

Spirits, what's going on?
　oblivion of memory.
　Illusion?
　The Power of the Darkness.
　It looks like it didn't work because the moron face has countervailing powers and blessings.
　In that case, thanks to us, you're welcome to give me honey and magic.
　He's strong, so you'd better be careful.

But you and your genie friends were manifested once in the slaves' lounge.
　I didn't notice that one because it was enslaved.
　When the slave's seal was broken, the pressure was immense.
　I was just about to pull my body out of the water.
　I'm not going near it again.
　Be careful, dear. Give me more honey and magic.
　You have to be careful. You could get killed.
　The spirits disappeared, leaving behind ominous words.

　King Rockwell couldn't believe what the spirits had said, but he immediately decided to believe them.

''I don't know which one is that former slave, but that one must also be my son's enemy and I will take responsibility for dealing with him.
　It seemed to have gotten them so fired up.

　As I told Lionel and the others about the conversation I had with the spirits, I noticed that the three of them also felt a bit uncomfortable when I told them all about the fight with the queen ants.

''I didn't expect to fall under the influence of a technique without knowing it...''
Dark spirits are scary.
Will it be more of a psychosensitivity than an illusion?
　All three of them seemed to be depressed and thinking of measures to avoid getting caught.

　I decided to confirm this with the Pope once in the demon ball to see if those five people really belonged to the church.

　When I contacted him and told him what I wanted to do, he told me to look into it and to stay away from the matter of the empire for the time being.

　When the call was made, I decided to move on.

''King Rockwell, you'll keep your oath as you promised, but I'll check on Estia first, and then you'll make that clay wall disappear.

Okay.
　King Rockwell nodded, and the earthen walls crumbled away.

'We'll put Estia out of combat first. Then we'll interrogate her.
"Ha.

　I was a little hurt, because I thought that maybe it was the spirit's choice of fate.

　I certainly hadn't been told that my fate was Estia, but that was probably why I consciously chastised myself for treating her in such a cool way, and moved to the slave's rest stop.

　When I entered the slave's resting place, Estia was gone.

　I checked to see if there were any other faces added that I hadn't seen before, but there were no changes other than Estia's absence.
''Well did you notice that I wasn't implicated?''

　I had no choice but to head over to Areslei and put on an extra heel after I finished paying the man off.

　After checking on Aresleigh, who had grown an arm, King Rockwell thanked me.

'No need to thank me. Doran will be here later, so you can apologize and give him the contents of the treasury at that time.

All right. So, are you gonna leave now?
'As much as I'd like to do that, we need to talk about the treatment of those who have been disenslaved, and once we have Ms. Grand with us, we need to figure out how to equip them against Estia's abilities.

All right. So what do you do with these former slaves when you take them back?

"...I don't want to take the former slaves to Rockford. So for the time being, here.
Can you take care of it at

Are you sure that's the right decision?
''Ah. It wouldn't be a problem if we could earn some living by defeating the remaining ants' remaining demons here at random. I'll come for you as soon as I can.

Okay. I'll follow it.
　King Rockwell agreed and we moved back to the slaves' resting place.
　I explained that some of them wanted to go to the ground immediately, so we decided to leave it to them.

'If you've pledged not to bother the dwarves or us, you're free to leave.
　After saying that much, a few people made the pledge and left the room.
'I'll take care of the rest of the food, please.
I know.
　Here we left King Rockwell and we left the King's abode and Mr. Grand was waiting for us.

'Why didn't you come inside?'
This is my hometown. I've missed it a lot.
Okay... so let's go back to Rockford.
Yeah.

　And so we were on our way back to Rockford from the Dwarven Kingdom.