Guildmaster Ziek, Orcus, and all of my grandmother’s associates knelt down. Even the lesser dragon hung his head.
“Our lives for our new master, Serephione.”
The sun began to rise.
I left my grandmother in the care of her loving entourage and rode on Lou through the morning dew-soaked grass to my old home, Trundle Guild. Asu took off as well, probably to report to Gillain. Galé was close to Judore, unlike Marsche, so he would be back soon enough.
The main guild members who I had missed were all there. The most accomplished adventurers in Trundle, and the senior leaders who were known in every part of the world... To me, they were like doting grandparents.
“Serephi... Welcome back... I’m so sorry I wasn’t able to protect Lady Erza...”
Tears streamed down Ms. Lara’s face. I shook my head.
“Miss—I mean, Master... That’ll take some getting used to. Welcome back, though!”
“It makes me sound old to be called ‘Master!’ Just talk to me like you always have.”
I would only be the master of Trundle’s territory temporarily. I planned to give the title right back to my grandmother when she was back in business. I knew she would get better! That would be after the war, though. I had to keep that part to myself since it could affect morale.
“I see... You did well, Miss.”
“Thank you, Mr. Kodak...” I wrapped my arms around my teacher’s large torso, and he ruffled my hair.
“I’m sorry, Miss...”
“Why are you apologizing, Gil?”
As I spoke with an exhausted-looking Gilbert, the guildmaster gave me the seat at the head of the table. Lou sat at my feet, and Miyu was tucked in my front shirt pocket. They were both concealed well with illusion magic. There were most likely people here with the skill to see them, and I wasn’t in the mood to explain about being contracted and what not.
“Everyone is here, Miss. To cut right to the chase, what do you think of the attack on our former master Erza?”
“First of all, the perpetrator of last night’s attack confessed that they’re on Schneider’s side,” I explained.
The people before me were frozen in fear. Even if they couldn’t see Lou, they had no choice but to obey him based on their animal instincts when faced with his intimidation. It was just like when Terl had glared at me before.
“I wanted them to fight it out at the top and get this civil war over with. But I didn’t realize until my grandmother was attacked that Schneider had the same idea. The only thing is, it wasn’t Gardner that he saw as his greatest threat. It was my grandmother.”
The seniors’ eyes glinted. The faces of everyone in my grandmother’s generation that had fought alongside her were stern and trembling in anger.
“Trundle currently has more forces than the army. Its head was the commander of a hundred battles. That made Trundle the strongest force that didn’t follow Schneider’s will. He must have learned how frightening and influential we are in the past two years. Even if he were to kill Gardner and become next in line for the throne, Trundle would eventually stand against him. However, no matter how strong we are, we would collapse if our head was taken down. I think his plan was to kill my grandmother to have that peace of mind and then crush Gardner. After he happened to obtain the ability to curse her, he attacked.”
I laid it all out at once as I surveyed everyone. Ziek nodded with his eyes closed. Does that mean my idea got a passing score?
“Honestly, I don’t think I’d have been able to lead as well as I have been without my grandmother. We were on the verge of defeat, in a way. With my grandmother and Trundle out of the way, Schneider could have had the leverage to try to make Gardner and the queen surrender.”
“Lady Erza’s willpower saved us all...” muttered Lara. That was an undeniable fact.
“Also, it’s me that Schneider personally wants to keep down. My grandmother has an immeasurable amount of influence over me.”
If my grandmother had died, I would have been left unable to move out of anger and regret. Many of the people of Trundle would have felt the same, and it would have turned into a messy fight amid the chaos.
“Larouza, Serephione, never forget...”
“Don’t overestimate your own strength. Gather accurate intel on your enemies. Always be alert. Ask for advice.”
“There’s nothing wiser than always presupposing the worst-case scenario is true. You can’t afford to be optimistic, Serephi. If you assume he knows, it’ll make you more cautious.”
“Just as you will protect me...I, too, will protect you and the holy beast Lou to the extent of my ability. I offer you my loyalty, my life, my everything.”
“We’re going to crush them thoroughly, cautiously, and coolly. Schneider is strong, after all! We can’t afford to take him lightly. Contact all chains of command. Have them infiltrate Schneider’s strongholds. We’ll cut off their supply chain first to filter out the unmotivated pawns before we enter the battle.” Ziek gave instructions to the young men behind him.
“A curse, though... Not even Lady Erza could know, right? It’s foul play. If not for that trick, we’d still be in business as usual. They’re just going to invisibly plot against us and take us down like that, right? What are we gonna do?” Matt clutched his mohawked head. A gold plate peeked out from his chest. Wow!
“We returned the curse, so whoever did it can’t use the same trick again,” I replied. “They may think up a different curse, though.” No optimism allowed! “I’ll ask the lesser dragon of the swamp to be our curse detector.”
Miyu’s existence was a secret, but in her tiny snake days, everyone had doted on her after they were done being startled. This was Miyu’s hometown, so I wouldn’t stop her from showing herself if she wanted. The lesser dragon, however, was the lord of the swamp and an object of respect for the people of Trundle. Everyone could see him, so there was no problem talking about him.