Two days had passed since the night of the raid.

Taking advantage of this opportunity after clearing out the surrounding monsters, the townspeople were fully mobilized to handle the aftermath, and the cleanup had progressed significantly.

First, the main battle results: one extremely well-preserved corpse each of the Heavenly Wolf Demon King Type and the Wolf Demon King Type, as well as a tattered corpse of another Demon King Type that adventurers had beaten to death on the southern battlefield.

As for the one Zighart had taken down, they managed to retrieve what appeared to be a tail, but unfortunately, that didn’t count.

Even so, securing such a large quantity at once meant that it could be used in various dealings both within the territory and beyond, much to the delight of the civil officials.

Well… no one had expected to obtain three in total.

That also meant the burden on the field was immense, but since it was the top ranks of Riana who had faced the Demon King Types directly, the actual damage ended up being far less than initially estimated.

As for the regular monsters, opportunities to acquire such a diverse range of materials from the monsters of the Demon Territory in one go were rare, so the Commercial Guild members were highly motivated.

For now, the recovered corpses remained piled up outside the town, but fortunately, it was winter.

A simple preservation treatment was enough, and combined with the process to prevent them from turning into undead, the town’s mages were working hard.

The same applied to Arios.

The supplies that had been rapidly depleted over the past two days were gradually arriving again… There were still many minor tasks left, but the major concerns had been settled, and this raid was more or less concluded.

At least, as far as the town was concerned.

◇

The location was Seriana’s office.

The tasks requiring the involvement of high-ranking officials like Liesel had been completed, so Seriana was spending time leisurely in her private quarters…

“…Seriana, do you want to join in?”

“I’m not in the mood.”

Teresa and I were doing yoga on a mat on the floor…

Seeing Seriana watching us idly, I invited her to join, but as usual, she rejected the offer with a single phrase.

It seemed like she was still feeling the effects of her recent all-nighter.

Rather than exhaustion, it seemed more like a drop in motivation.

Apparently, while waiting for the messenger from Arios, she had decided to clear up all the backlog of work.

Of course, once the handling of the monsters piled up near the town was complete, things would get busy again, but until then, she had some free time.

However, Seriana wasn’t good at dealing with leisure, so she was visibly restless.

“Shall we move our bodies a bit at the training grounds?”

Elena suggested.

Unlike Seriana, she seemed comfortable with this kind of free time, sipping tea while holding a book.

“That’s not a bad idea, but…”

Seriana showed some interest in Elena’s suggestion, but not enough to be fully convinced.

“Then, why not play with the children?”

I casually suggested, lying down completely on the mat.

“That’s the nanny’s job.”

Another flat response.

Although Seriana made sure to see the children every morning, noon, and night, she basically left their care to the nanny.

Still, was there anything else she could do?

Well, even this exchange seemed to be a good distraction for her.

Her expression was gradually softening.

Maybe if we kept up the casual banter, her mood would improve?

Just as I was thinking that, Teresa suddenly had an idea and spoke up.

“How about a dungeon?”

“A dungeon?”

Seriana asked back, and Teresa continued.

“Yes. Normally, it would be difficult for you to visit, but right now, it’s possible.”

Dungeons were generally accessible 24/7 except during festivals.

However, due to the raid, they had been temporarily closed.

Since the battle was over and the main adventurers had just finished a major mission, the atmosphere among them was still a bit restless.

Additionally, the adventurers who had participated in the town’s defense had not yet finished maintaining their equipment.

Sending them into a dungeon in such an unprepared state was out of the question, and they themselves wouldn’t take such a risk.

Still, there were always one or two reckless individuals.

Caught up in the atmosphere, some would charge in without thinking, unprepared, only to die inside…

Reckless behavior in a dungeon was particularly disastrous, so as a precaution, it had been shut down.

Even the Adventurers’ Guild agreed to the closure, which meant they knew of people likely to attempt something reckless.

That aside, the dungeon was now empty.

Liesel had already entered it as a formality, but since there was no real need for the lord’s wife to do so, Seriana had yet to visit.

From the perspective of getting some exercise, a dungeon in a private state like this seemed ideal.

When I looked at Seriana’s face, she was smirking slightly—

This was a done deal, wasn’t it?

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Sera・【Hideout】+1【Prayer】【Mira’s Blessing】【Wind Garment】・【Floating Orb】+1【Shadow Sword】【Scarlet Bee Needle】【Fairy’s Eye】【Dragon’s Lung】【Amber Sword】【Danrem’s Thread】【Serpent’s Tail】【Ankle Bracelet】【Amber Shield】【Purple Wings】【Red Sword】・15 cards

Seriana・【Area Identification】・【】・33 cards

Elena・【】・【Green Fang】【Amber Sword】・4 cards

Alec・【Strong Strike】・【Red Shield】【Fierce Horned Trumpet】・9 cards