The luncheon went smoothly without any issues and ended peacefully, after which everyone dispersed.

Both Alec and Zighart had been busy for nearly two months, and they were on leave until spring, planning to relax in the territory’s capital.

Well… it’s said that when you slack off too much, your body gets sluggish, so they mentioned they’d visit dungeons every few days… Tough guys, they are…

So, the luncheon was over, but now we gathered for a family discussion in the lounge on the first floor of the South Wing.

We started by talking about what had happened while they were away from the capital… but nothing particularly noteworthy occurred. The most interesting thing was probably the experiment with the explosion balls.

However, it seemed to be an unusual event for the two of them, and I had to give a detailed explanation.

After hearing the story, Zighart said he wanted to see the actual item, so I decided to bring out the prototype of the explosion ball I had been keeping in stock from the 【Hideout】 and show it to them.

Dungeon-specific items seem to be rare, and Zighart, in particular, doesn’t really need any supplementary items…

“That’s an odd thing you’ve made…”

Zighart, after picking up the initial prototype of the explosion ball that was laid out on the table, rolled it in his palm and held it up to the light for a while, observing it. After fiddling with it to his satisfaction, he placed it back on the table and said that.

I explained the power and the improvements made to it, but unfortunately, it probably seemed like just a quirky item to him.

“Interesting, right? This can only be used by Sera, but I’ve also prepared a special bag for it. If it’s the improved version, other adventurers can use it too.”

Fiora’s words didn’t seem to catch Zighart’s attention…

This old man can do everything on his own, after all.

“Hm… It does seem useful. I’ll try it out the next time I have a chance.”

Instead, Alec seemed to show more interest.

For someone like him, who wields a sturdy shield and sometimes fights without a weapon, the improved version might be just the right kind of deterrent item.

Maybe I’ll invite him the next time I go.

“That item will be sent for testing not only by the Knight Order but also the Adventurer’s Guild. If you participate, the results should come quickly… but more importantly,”

Seriana, who hadn’t participated in the conversation up to this point, finally spoke up.

Since Seriana wouldn’t be using the explosion ball herself and the tests had already been done by me, it seemed like she considered the topic already closed and moved on to the next one.

“Zighart, unlike Alec, you didn’t return halfway through, so didn’t you find anything interesting?”

I turned the conversation toward Zighart.

Although Alec had regularly returned for reports, Zighart, on the other hand, hadn’t come back once, though he did pass by the village.

The soldiers he led were stationed at villages scattered throughout the territory, and they would rotate and return to the capital periodically.

While we had heard a little from them, we still didn’t know exactly what Zighart had been up to.

Zighart might look like a simple brute, and he has his moments, but he always makes sure to report back properly.

Seriana seemed to think that Zighart had intentionally been hiding something.

When Zighart heard her words, he exchanged a grin with Alec.

I don’t think they discussed anything like this at the luncheon, but now it looked like they were indeed hiding something.

And Alec knew about it too.

It didn’t seem like there was an immediate crisis, but…

“I was planning to tell Lord and August later, but… well, it’s fine to talk about it here first.”

“Right. With this group, there’s no chance of the story leaking…”

“Oh, really? You were hiding something?”

“Not exactly. I only spoke about it briefly with him last night.”

Zighart pointed at Alec.

Alec had been operating mainly on the western side of the capital, while Zighart focused on the east, so Alec only learned about it recently. The east is still an area where not much human influence has reached, and it’s probably filled with powerful magical beasts.

Did he find something like a Demon King type monster?

Zighart looked around the room, seemingly searching for something, before shrugging.

“Do we have a map… of the eastern part of the territory?”

“Yes.”

Seriana tilted her chin, as if signaling to him to hurry up.

Since she hadn’t visited the dungeon since it was reopened, maybe she was a little bored and hungry for entertainment.

“Zighart, go ahead.”

“Oh, sorry.”

Teresa handed Zighart a bundle of papers and a pen from the shelf in the room.

Zighart took one sheet from the stack and began to sketch quickly with the pen.

“…Is that a map?”

Fiora muttered, peering over his shoulder.

“Yeah, it’ll be easier to understand with it.”

Once he was done, Zighart placed the pen down and began to speak.

On the left side of the memo, the capital was drawn, along with several villages, forests, and rivers… It was a map of the northeastern part of the territory.

Placing the map on the table, Zighart began his explanation.

He had been conducting magical training with his soldiers in the northeastern part of the territory. Although they had started to make some progress in developing the area east of the capital, it was still mostly unexplored and filled with strong magical beasts.

This was some interesting information… It seemed promising!

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-

Sera・【Hideout】+1【Prayer】【Mira’s Blessing】【Wind’s Garment】・【Floating Orb】+1【Shadow Sword】【Scarlet Bee Needle】【Fairy’s Eye】【Dragon’s Lungs】【Amber Sword】【Danrem’s Thread】【Serpent’s Tail】【Ankle Bracelet】【Amber Shield】【Purple Wings】【Red Sword】・32 cards

Seriana・【Range Identification】・【】・38 cards

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

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