The monsters hunted in the forest around the 【Hideout】 are temporarily transported back to base.

Then, they are either dismantled there or carried directly to the territory capital. This time, it seems they’ll be dismantled here.

When it comes to small monsters like goblins or wolves, which tend to appear in large numbers, there often aren’t enough hands to dismantle them, so they’re usually sent to the territory capital. But this time, the prey consists mostly of larger monsters and is relatively few in number.

Looks like they can handle it all here.

“I’m heading back to the territory capital… What about you two?”

Upon arriving at the 【Hideout】 and walking up to the Adventurer Guild, I watched the monster corpses being carried into the dismantling area, and asked the two what they planned to do today.

I was going back, but they had various reasons to either stay or leave.

“I’m planning to stay today… What about you, Alec?”

Zighart said he would stay, but what about Alec?

When I looked over at Alec, he was glancing around, seemingly observing the base.

But soon enough, he gave his answer to Zighart.

“I’ll stay too. With this many large corpses inside, the stench will likely seep beyond the walls…”

In the western grasslands of the territory, the monsters there tend to avoid the smell of death, so they don’t approach. But in the case of the Demon Realm, it’s the opposite—some monsters will come precisely because they smell food, thinking there might be strong monsters to prey on.

They say that by consuming strong monsters, their own strength increases…

This time, we’ve taken down multiple Ogres and brought their corpses inside the base.

They’ll be dismantled here, and the remaining materials will be transported to the capital, but when there’s a large volume, the dismantling can take several days. During that time, everything is stored here.

Of course, starting tomorrow, these materials will also be sent to the capital along with the other cargo. But at the very least, they’ll remain here tonight.

It seems the two are staying behind to guard against monsters attracted by the smell.

What a terrifying place this is…

“No doubt… In that case, I’ll leave it to you.”

“Yeah. Sera, that’s how it is. The soldiers will return to town once they’re done for the day, but I’m staying behind, so let them know.”

“Roger that! I’ll leave this side to you!”

If these two are staying behind, then it’ll probably be fine even if something serious happens.

Thanks to that, I can return without worry.

I waved to the two and said my goodbyes, then sent the 【Floating Orb】 toward the territory capital.

◇

After returning from the 【Hideout】, I headed to the Knight Order’s headquarters to report about Alec and the others.

“…Hmm?”

I entered the noble district from the east gate via the central street—same route as always—but from above, something about the town felt… off.

It wasn’t that there were more people than usual, but… what was it?

I hadn’t heard of anything unusual going on, and it probably wasn’t a big deal, but it caught my attention.

“Hmm…? I don’t get it.”

Well… no point floating here. I’ll just ask at headquarters when I report in.

There wasn’t any strange movement at the Knight Order’s headquarters either, so at the very least, it wasn’t some incident.

◇

“Lady Minea is here?”

“Yeah. She arrived shortly after noon. Her escort included one of Zelkis’s knights and soldiers from Lord Luban’s village.”

After arriving at headquarters and finishing my report with one of the Knight Order’s staff, I asked if anything had happened in town—turns out Minea, Seriana’s mother, had come to the city.

Of course, I hadn’t been told, and apparently neither had they.

They probably weren’t prepared for it either.

I could sense a bit of chaos in the area where the captains usually stay in the back of headquarters.

Maybe the strange atmosphere in town was because of that.

Still… if soldiers from Luban’s village were with her, then she must have come using the southern canal route to Riana. But why?

Using that route, it only takes about three or four days from her mansion to arrive here.

Still, even for such a short visit, none of us were told anything.

I’d be surprised if even Seriana hadn’t been informed, but Alec and the others are still over there, and they probably hadn’t heard either.

“…Did she say what her business was?”

When I asked, the staff member shook his head with a troubled look.

“No… nothing at all. Captain Rick is stationed at the mansion, so maybe he got an explanation… But from the look of things, even the vice-captain didn’t know anything. Well, let me know if you find anything out.”

“Hmm…”

Minea came to Riana, huh…

If I had to guess, maybe it has to do with me being adopted… but if that were the case, she could’ve just stopped by the mansion on her way to the royal capital.

Even if she has escorts, it seems like too much effort to come all this way alone.

I don’t get it.

Guess I’ll just head home and ask directly!

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

Sera ・Blessing・【Hideout】+1【Prayer】【Mira’s Blessing】【Water’s Garment】

Blessed Item・【Floating Orb】+1【Shadow Sword】+1【Scarlet Bee Needle】【Fairy’s Eye】【Lung of the Dragon】【Amber Sword】【Danrem’s Thread】【Serpent’s Tail】【Ankle Bracelet】【Amber Shield】【Purple Wings】【Red Sword】【Monkey’s Arm】・13 cards

Seriana・【Area Identification】・【】・0 cards

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

Alec・【Power Strike】・【Red Shield】【Fierce Horned Trumpet】・10 cards