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“Sir Lilburn, is this true?” a courtier asks as if pleading.

“Yes, all of it is true,” Raphael replies immediately, putting an end to the courtier’s faint hopes. After finally understanding that his report is true, their reactions vary; some are left dumbfounded, some break out into a burning rage, some turn pale, and others are as yet unperturbed.

“What was the army doing?! Despite having 2,200 men, there are 500 dead and 200 wounded?!”

“I concur. Is this the extent of what our mighty nation’s soldiers are capable of? Sir Lilburn, is it not your command that is at fault?”

“Certainly, we must inquire as to whether we can trust in Sir Lilburn as the Knight Commander.”

The voices calling into question Raphael’s liability echo through the room. Some among them were already inclined to denounce Raphael and have him take responsibility for his failure after witnessing the Royal Army’s triumphant return. However, even they didn’t expect them to have sustained this much damage.

“More importantly, we must urgently rebuild the army!”

“Military restructuring, pensions for the dead and wounded… This will put quite the strain on our national treasury.”

From the perspective of those responsible for the nation’s finances, the predicted costs of the damages caused by this subjugation would surely be unbearably high.

“Indeed. Sir Lilburn, explain in detail why our army has suffered such damage,” the king says, and Raphael impassively describes the events of the subjugation.

They entered the forest that the orcs inhabit, but couldn’t find any orcs. Treants, tree monsters that blended in with the trees of the forest, launched a surprise attack that divided the troops and orcs ambushed them. The ringleader was the evil god Mosdeus’s servant, the Elder Treant, and it had spread its roots extensively to turn plants into its underlings and obtain information about the kingdom. The orcs were being controlled by the Elder Treant. The Elder Treant was defeated, causing its underlings to wither and the orcs to stop moving, leading to their victory. Raphael reports all of this, sparing no detail. When he finishes his report, everyone present appears baffled.

“The evil god?! That’s absurd!”

The evil god, Mosdeus.

Up until now, it was only a rumor. However, if what that monster said is true, this problem doesn’t only affect their kingdom anymore.

“Sir Lilburn, do you mean to deceive us? Claiming that the evil god was involved is too outrageous. The damage was so great that you are exaggerating your enemies to say that you are blameless, is that it?”

Raphael nearly succumbs to a storm of emotion after being accused of falsifying his report, but he makes an effort to give a composed rebuttal.

“Other knights heard my conversation with the Elder Treant as well. We have also brought back some of the treant corpses. If you verify this, I’m sure it will clear things up quickly. It is also the truth that the orcs were being controlled. They drove us into a disadvantageous position to the extent that, were they not being manipulated, we would have sent them running.”

“However, neither treants nor the Elder Treant are monsters that are known to us. No one could possibly know whether these monsters are servants of the evil god.”

Someone who knows of the Elder Treant… A single boy appears in Raphael’s mind.

“By the way, about this Chaos who informed you that the Elder Treant’s underlings disappear after it is defeated, why is he not here? If he were, couldn’t he tell us about the Elder Treant in greater detail? If he participated in the subjugation, then obtain information from the Adventurer’s Guild.”

“That’s…” Raphael trials off, at a loss for words. Chaos disappeared before Raphael could question him. Immediately after they defeated the Elder Treant, he said he had to go somewhere and left using what must have been teleportation magic.

Everything he did was an incredible contribution. Because he was there, it turned the tide of the battle, and he even dealt the final blow on the Elder Treant. If only they knew where he is, they could reward him greatly. Since Raphael had questions for him, he investigated, but…

“There was no one by the name of Chaos among the adventurers who participated in the subjugation.”

His name was not on the list of adventurers who participated. In other words, he went there by himself.

“So you’re saying that an adventurer who just happened to be there just happened to know of an unknown monster and vanished before he could be rewarded? …I ask that you not underestimate us to such an unreasonable extent.”

The sound of snickering echoes through the room. Chaos’s existence is the most suspicious-sounding part of it all. The evil god whose existence is uncertain, and on top of that, the appearance of a mysterious individual… Thinking about it normally, a story like that is so absurd that it’s unbelievable. However, there is a single person in the room whose reaction appears to be different.

“Sir Lilburn, can you describe this boy’s appearance?” King Wilfred asks Raphael with a complicated-looking expression on his face.

“…Let me think, he was slender… A boy in his mid-teens with black eyes and black hair, which is rare in these parts.”

“Is that so…?” The king closes his eyes for a moment, lost in thought. Then, as if he’s thought of something, he opens them and says, “Sir Lilburn.”

“Yes, sire.”

“You mentioned that the Elder Treant claimed he was sealed?”

“That is correct. The incompetent orcs that took up residence in this land while I was sealed wouldn’t have enough military strength.” 

Everything that the Elder Treant said was also reported in detail. It’s true that the Elder Treant said that it was sealed.

“Yes, I am sure that is what it said.”

“Then, if we study our historical documents, we may find something. Begin searching the documents at once. Just to be sure, don’t forget to investigate the forest as well. And locate the one known as Chaos,” the king says, giving instructions to one of the nearby courtiers. “Sir Lilburn, you are to remain under house arrest until the facts are confirmed.”

“…Yes, sire.”

“The details of the military restructuring and such will be decided at tomorrow’s meeting. Until then, put together a restructuring plan and detail our losses. Court is adjourned for today,” Wilfred says, and everyone bows. Then, the king hurriedly leaves.

In the office of the royal palace, Wilfred looks over reports. In these reports were the results of the investigation he ordered his retainers to carry out at the meeting.

The investigation of searching the historical documents for information on the Elder Treant is still in progress. However, as a result of reinvestigating the forest, they found that, just as Raphael reported, the Elder Treant’s roots were spread so deep and wide that they couldn’t imagine just how long they’d grown. In addition, since those roots are connected to dead plants, it was determined that those are likely the plants that became its underlings. Plants in nearby cities and villages were seen simultaneously withering without warning, and after investigating in each location, those dead plants were confirmed to be connected to something’s roots. Results supporting Raphael’s report are turning up one after another.

If the subjugation had been delayed, the kingdom would be destroyed with no means of stopping it. As he imagines this worst case scenario, Wilfred trembles. All of those who participated in the subjugation and defeated the Elder Treant are worthy of being called heroes.

However, there’s something troubling him. The one who’s most worthy of being called a hero is weighing on his mind.

The mysterious mage boy, Chaos.

Wilfred heard that name even before receiving Raphael’s report. He heard it from Izrael, a researcher from the Royal Magical Research Institute. Normally, it would be practically impossible for him to meet the king as a mere researcher, but they had the same teacher and have been close since they were young.

The aforementioned Chaos came up when he was being told about a revolutionary new medicine. According to Izrael, it was Chaos who provided information on not only the elixir’s ingredients, but the ingredients of the highest-level potion and mana potion as well. Since Chaos’s knowledge might be unparalleled within the kingdom, the research-oriented man passionately declared that he should be appointed to a high position.

Wilfred himself wondered why Chaos only taught the ingredients, but he thought he could just send a messenger later to summon him to the palace and ask him.

However, in the days following, an unspeakable situation unfolded.

Thieves carrying out human trafficking were captured. Because slavery was abolished in the kingdom, human trafficking is illegal. Normally, they would just be caught and dealt with, but this time, there was a problem with where they were found. The thieves used the underground sewers as their base.

It may seem convenient for criminals to hide in the capital’s underground, but since monsters appear in the underground sewer, the entrance is sealed off. The keys to the gate are managed by the royal palace as well as the Adventurer’s Guild for regularly clearing out the monsters. Because of this, going in and out of the underground sewers isn’t easily done. However, upon investigating the thieves’ hideout, a gate key was found.

According to the thieves’ testimony, someone took a key managed by the royal palace and duplicated it. Furthermore, it was discovered that, among their customers, a number of aristocrats were involved, so the aristocrats were caught and their political duties were temporarily delayed.

The testimony from back then also mentioned the circumstances of the thieves’ capture. It seems that a black-haired, black-eyed adventurer who happened to come to hunt monsters was mistaken for a ghost and the thieves were captured while they were running away from him. It was such an unusual occurrence that it left quite an impression on Wilfred.

And now there’s the subjugation. He never thought Chaos’s name would come up here. He summoned Izrael to the royal palace to confirm whether or not it really is the same person. As a result, it was determined that, judging by the appearance, it is the same person.

The elixir, the sewers, the Elder Treant.

In each of these events, it appears that a black-haired boy was involved.

Perhaps there is a hidden connection to this sequence of events, which would even give it the illusion that he has the kingdom itself dancing in the palm of his hand.

However, the information on elixirs was told to a tools shop in Maeldia, and it was only by chance that they told the Royal Magical Research Institute. The cause of the sewer incident was apparently that a guild employee happened to bring that boy with them by mistake. In other words, there’s no connection between them.

However, Wilfred still isn’t satisfied. In particular, he’s wondering if anyone would bother to intentionally enter the forest alone even though he wasn’t participating in the subjugation of the orcs and the Elder Treant. Even adventurers know that it’s dangerous due to the large number of orcs that live there. He isn’t convinced that the boy didn’t know, and since he came all the way to the heart of the forest where the Elder Treant was located, Wilfred can’t think of it as a coincidence that he was there. If anything, it’s more natural to think he entered the forest for the purpose of defeating the Elder Treant. Wilfred contemplates this once more.

Depending on the circumstances, there’s a high possibility that the elixir wouldn’t be ready in time for the orc and Elder Treant subjugation. If he wanted to make it in time, he would bring not just the ingredients, but also the formulation method to the Royal Magical Research Institute. Which means that the events regarding the elixir are not related to the other events. The same is true for the underground sewer incident. Monsters aren’t involved with human trafficking. Did he only feel that this series of events was connected because of how many coincidences piled up?

Coincidences…?

He went to the underground sewers by coincidence. After that, he came to the subjugation of the orcs and Elder Treant. It could be that something happened in the underground sewer.

Underground… That’s it!

It’s still unknown how far the roots encroached in the kingdom’s ground. Perhaps they grew all the way to the capital’s underground sewers. It could be that he happened to notice it and went to defeat the Elder Treant. Naturally, since he knows about elixirs and about the Elder Treant, it wouldn’t be strange for him to know of the Elder Treant’s roots as well.

Why didn’t he report such a serious crisis to the kingdom? That’s simple. Nobody would pay any attention to a boy of unknown origins who came to them with information on damages that can’t be accurately confirmed which was caused by an unknown monster. In addition, this situation was threatening the capital. The kingdom might have been destroyed if they hadn’t taken immediate action.

In other words… The boy was trying to face the evil god’s servant and its underlings all by himself.

Aren’t those actions truly befitting a hero? Wilfred feels a surge of emotion.

Since he had something to do, he disappeared immediately after. Perhaps it was because he sensed that the evil god’s invasion had progressed beyond his expectations and was rushing into a new battle. With that in mind, perhaps bringing the knowledge of the elixir to them was only laying the groundwork to prepare for the impending invasion of the evil god.

All of this is only a theory. However, it can’t be denied completely.

At the very least, there is a high possibility that the evil god exists. They must hurry to restructure the army at once. They should hurry to develop potions as well. In addition, every country must be informed that a monster claiming to be a servant of the evil god has attacked the kingdom and warned of the evil god’s invasion.

If all of it is true, the time when the evil god will appear and threaten the world is probably not far off. However, Wilfred has a hunch.

A hunch that the hero will return.

For a short time following this, the hero Chaos vanished from the kingdom. His name would spread through the world once more two months later.

The hero Chaos’s achievements

Defeated the servant of the evil god who invaded Castal Kingdom and saved the kingdom from crisis.Improved Castal Kingdom’s potion production techniques. (The production methods were later passed on to each nation by the reigning king.)

Deleting character data… Finished.

The closed beta test phase has ended.