One week later, the group was finally ready to return to the Second World.
“All right. Off to Old Palmare we go, then.” Raid gave his companions a once-over before nodding and turning to Eluria. “Just to be sure—Eluria, we can teleport directly back here to the capital when we return, right?”
Eluria nodded. “Of course. I have a grasp on the mana of the World Tree on the other side, so all I had to do was draw a similar mana flow from the capital and connect the two. Then, I adjusted the exit coordinates from the dimensional gap above the sea to a spot in the plains right outside the imperial capital.”
“Long story short, it’s all good?”
“Mm-hmm. A perfect ten out of ten, if I do say so myself.”
“Great. Then that’s all I need.” Raid grinned. “We’ll try to get things done ASAP on our end. In the meantime, I leave this place to you.”
While the couple were speaking, the rest of the group were also saying their goodbyes.
“See you later, Wisel and Ms. Alma,” said Millis. “Look forward to my gifts for you! They’ll be so good, you’ll wish you came back home with us!”
Wisel chuckled. “I’ve no doubt about that, Ms. Millis.”
“I just want some good food,” Alma said. “Bring some back, and I’m happy.”
“Roger that, over and out!” Millis whipped her head around to grin at Valtos. “Good luck, Valtos! It sounds like you’ll have a lot of luggage to carry for me and Norn.”
“Tch... To think that I, the crown prince, would be reduced to such measly labor... My heart yearns to resist, yet my body fears the inevitable shock that would follow...!”
Ariel shot the man a dry look. “And who was it who declared, completely unprompted, that he wouldn’t help us battle? Honestly, you only have yourself to blame.” Sighing, she turned to the Lambuts with a smile. “Please rest assured, I will see to your safety myself.”
“Thank you!” Norn crowed. “I will leave all the difficult things to you and simply enjoy the trip!”
After a lively exchange of goodbyes, the group boarded a small ship at the port and finally set sail. They remained on the stern, waving and yelling, all the way until their boat disappeared into the distance.
Only then did Eluria somberly lower her hand. “They’re gone...”
“Indeed they are,” Alma muttered. “It’s been real lively since we took the capital, what with all the new people around, but it looks like things are going to be pretty quiet now.”
Wisel nodded. “True. But we have our own tasks at hand. We won’t have any time to feel their absence if we just focus on our work.”
“I mean, for you and Eluria, sure... What about me, though? I’ve got nothing to do besides dumping a ton of training on the soldiers and watching them suffer.”
“I can already imagine you getting bored and telling them to fight to the death, just for the heck of it...” Wisel muttered.
“What do you take me for, a sadistic aristocrat? We’re training the soldiers to make them stronger, not to get them killed.” Tutting, Alma shook her head. “Obviously, they’re only going to get beaten half to death at most.”
Wisel chuckled dryly as his face paled a touch. “And that, Instructor Alma, is why I feel bad for the soldiers... You and Ms. Eluria are brutal when it comes to training.” He paused in thought for a moment before turning to Eluria. “Come to think of it, Ms. Eluria, didn’t you say during the meeting that you had a very important task for Instructor Alma? Do you need my help as well?”
“Mm... You’re right. Maybe I do,” Eluria replied. “The more intel, the better. And the more opinions we factor in during the assessment stage, the more accurate the results will be.”
“All right. Then feel free to call on me whenever you need.”
“I’d like to start right away, actually. They might return in as soon as a month... To succeed before then, there’s not a second to waste.” Eluria nodded firmly as she set her right hand on Alma’s shoulder. “Ms. Alma, I need you to call Ryatt and Tiana for me, as well as the top brass of the Special Combined Forces—anyone who’s worked with Raid a lot. You can exclude those who are occupied, though.”
Alma blinked. “What? You want me to summon them all now?”
“Yes, now,” Eluria affirmed. “If you don’t have enough mana, then it’s time to chug some—”
“I have enough mana!” Alma snapped, already halfway to casting her spell. The looming threat of mana recovery drinks was a great motivator indeed. In no time at all, particles of light manifested in the air and formed several human figures.
“Bah ha ha ha! So you’ve summoned me again! There’s gotta be a fight this time, right?!” Blofeld bellowed as he flexed his muscles. “Lemme tell ya, these bad boys ain’t for lame jobs like carrying boxes and construction work!”
“Blo... Didn’t gramps already tell us that there wasn’t going to be any fighting for a while?” Felius mumbled, looking exhausted. “Just because you’ve lived for around a century doesn’t mean you should go senile already...”
“Hey! Are you calling me a geezer?! I’ll have you know I can recite everything I ate for every day over last week—breakfast, lunch, and dinner! How dare you call me senile?!”
Vance shot the large man a withering gaze. “Blo... Have you forgotten that you have five meals a day? Forget the contents of the meals—you can’t even count their number. Maybe you are going senile.”
“Blo is big. Too big to care for small things,” said Echalot while nibbling on a strip of jerky. “Look. I am small, but patience is big. So I let him be.”
“Echalot, what you need to worry about is your snacking habits,” Vance chastised. “Actually, where did you even get that jerky? We don’t need to eat...”
“People in the castle gave me. I am small. Need to eat lots to grow.”
“I don’t think dead people have any growing to do...”