A shock wave ran through the elites at the pinnacle of the world.
After examining part of Udo’s calculations, Lara discovered that the artifact responsible for this incident had originally belonged to a subject of the Great Demon King who’d resided in the Arzyna Kingdom. Since this matter was political in nature, Elrica and Stein contacted the churches, while Max got in contact with his older brother Gale. The elites became practically frantic upon receiving news of the situation; in the worst-case scenario, this might have led to the revival of a monster that not only could take on the whole world, but crush everything single-handedly, had it not been for the Hero’s party.
The worst part was that an artifact linked to the Great Demon King himself, if indirectly, had been the cause of all this. Unlike Udo, the objective of the Arzyna Kingdom had simply been to create a device that could perfectly predict the future, but no matter how insular the country might have been, even children knew not to mess with relics that had even the slightest connection to the Great Demon King.
For the mortals who’d almost been annihilated by the Great Demon King’s tantrum—so to speak—the red sky and the Great Demon were truly traumatic elements. They lived in constant fear of his revival and didn’t regard the Hero’s party—the ones who’d defeated the source of their trauma—as a threat, instead wishing for all party members to live long lives, as things would be completely hopeless if there was ever a repeat of the great war.
Even among humans, with their average lifespan, there were still people from the generation that had experienced the great war who were still clinging to life, and although they were old and retired, they held great influence, so they instantly took action. However, even those people had started panicking, so these events couldn’t be made public immediately. If news of this were to reach places with a high population of people who’d lived through the great war, such as the countries of the long-lived dwarves and elves, there would be major panic, and the situation would undoubtedly devolve into the sort of uproar that could even cause casualties.
As a result, many countries secretly deployed as many soldiers as they could muster and tried to intervene in the Arzyna Kingdom while also suppressing it politically...
“Your Grace, there has been a report...” An elderly man wearing a monocle, who belonged to a family that had served the Rin royal family for generations, addressed Gale, the former king.
“What’s the matter?” Gale already had a bad feeling, as his servant was unusually hesitant to speak, but what he heard next shocked him.
“Well...I don’t know how to say this, but the ones governing the Arzyna Kingdom have lost all motivation and there is great chaos...”
“Mm-hmm... Huh?”
There was no hidden meaning to the report; it was exactly like the man had said. The Arzyna Kingdom’s dream of creating a device that could perfectly predict the future, which the country had held on to for seventy long years, had been brought to an end when Udo ran off with said device. Moreover, there was no way that the insular kingdom had the military strength or manpower to chase him, and they had been left in a difficult position as they were unable to let any outsiders know about an artifact of such cursed origins. As a result, the older generation, who had been clinging to that dream—in other words, the country’s upper echelon—had now lost their purpose for living, and the kingdom had fallen into disarray.
“Should we intervene by cooperating with the churches to bring the disorder under control?” Gale wondered. It’s not like I don’t understand their position... Gale’s experience with his mentally ill father gave him some insight on the situation. If you looked around, you could find quite a few kings and nobles who’d abandoned their governmental duties after the death of their eldest son or beloved wife.
After Gale slightly adjusted his plans for intervening in Arzyna and took action, the situation progressed rapidly, and the Arzyna Kingdom effectively came under the jurisdiction of the Rin Kingdom and the churches. Now that the turmoil had died down, what was Gale’s younger brother Max doing?
“Again? You’ve been doing this ever since that whole trouble happened. That ointment stinks so bad it affects the taste of my booze, Max,” Sazaki complained with a frown.
“Shaddup. I’m old, so I have to do at least this much.” Ever since the incident had concluded, Max had been taking care of his body by applying ointment all over it to alleviate muscle inflammation.
Even though he had been an imitation, they’d still fought once more against the Great Demon King, so they’d suffered immense physical and mental fatigue, and furthermore, they’d been preparing in case the Arzyna Kingdom had been hiding another similar artifact, so there had been no time to rest.
“Aren’t there any scholars researching muscle strain due to exercise and their limits?” Unlike Max, Stein was his usual self, doing push-ups on the floor and asking Lara questions.
“I’m sure there are, but they’re probably looking into regular humans. Anyone researching the limits of monks’ muscles must have a lot of time on their hands.”
“Hmm...”
“What nice weather.”
“I agree.”
Elrica and Ferd were the same wrinkled old couple as always, nonchalantly drinking their tea.
“Maybe it’s about time we depart,” Ferd muttered, having rested enough.
Which came first: the chicken or the egg? Had Ferd decided to go on a journey because trouble was brewing, or was trouble brewing because Ferd had left on a journey? Nobody knew. But either way, Ferd had decided it would be best if they set off to their next destination. Things progressed quickly from there on.
“I wish you well, Miss, and everyone else too,” Derry said.
“I’ve already said this once, but I wish you good weather on your travels,” Aldrick added. I still didn’t get their autographs...
“Well, we’ll take our time,” Lara replied with her usual grin.
Upon learning that the Hero’s party was planning to depart, Derry, Aldrick, and others visited Agnes’s manor, though the matter of the artifact was keeping them quite busy.
“Take care, great-great-grandpa, great-great-grandma.” Connie had also come to see his great-great-grandparents off.
“Yeah! I bet you’ll be even bigger the next time I see you! Ha ha ha!” Sazaki patted Connie’s head; he gave his great-great-grandson a rather preferential treatment.
Connie was unaware of the artifact, and since everything had happened inside a simulation, he continued his student life as usual. Naturally, the same went for Franz, Hagen, and Emmeline, who weren’t present at the moment. Since Udo and the Hounds under his command had been eliminated in the virtual world, the secrets that needn’t be revealed would remain secret. The unconscious, absurd power of a child of destiny, which had been theoretically triggered by the bonds of friendship, would remain dormant as long as no one was trying to exploit the bloodline of a finished country and the manufactured existence.
“Dad, mom, come here when your journey’s over,” Falke told his parents.
“Please feel free to visit,” Agnes followed.
“If we feel like it. Right, Lara?”
“Well, yeah.”
By the time this journey was through, Sazaki and Lara would need to start seriously deciding where they might like to be buried, but for now they replied to their son with their typical insincere attitude.
“But thanks for the offer. I’ll keep it in mind.”
“Me too.”
“If your memory fails you, I’ll tell you again once you return.” Falke handled his parents with practiced ease.
“Ha ha ha.”
“Oho ho ho.”
Ferd and Elrica watched the scene as they boarded the carriage, smiling at their unchanging friends.
“See you then.”
“Don’t catch a cold.”
Sazaki and Lara also got on the carriage without delay. This wasn’t a final goodbye, and the two of them were completely divorced from any lingering emotions of a touching parting.
After their simple farewells, the carriage started moving.
“My parents really were the same as usual,” Falke muttered as he saw the carriage off.
“Ha ha ha ha ha,” Agnes laughed.
“Someone looks happy,” Lara told Sazaki inside the carriage.
“Must be your imagination.” Sazaki was drinking, as if trying to avoid her gaze.
It was plain, but there was definitely a bond between parents and child. And in this carriage, there was also a man who had to visit his father’s grave.
“Oh boy...what do I do? I’m getting nervous now that we’re actually going...” Max’s expression was a mix of gloom, anxiety, and nostalgia.
The group’s next destination was the capital of the Rin Kingdom. It was the center of the largest country in the continent and a place with deep connection for certain people. In other words, it was a large city with a great number of connected parties—incomparably more than Greer—and a place with many victims of various sorts who’d gotten caught up in the whirlwind that was the Hero’s party.