Chapter 162 (2/2)

“No, I’m sorry . There’s no need to worry . They are not so barbaric as to renege on their promises . ”

Dylan turned towards me and let out a slight chuckle .

Prince Sect seemed confused by his behavior .

I hadn’t intended to force the conditions onto anyone, but it may have seemed that way on the other side .

(Heh, after that rampage no one would dare to cross you……)

Ariane half whispered her opinion to me .

However, my own actions weren’t solely responsible for that, so I rebutted her .

(If I recall correctly, only Lille-dono and a few others witnessed my outburst, but weren’t you the one who turned a section of the city into a swamp, Ariane-dono?)

While Ariane and I refused to yield on the matter, Ponta’s tail suddenly blocked my gaze .

“Kyun!”

I couldn’t see anything but her fur .

It was like Ponta was acting as an arbitrator or something .

While in the midst of our silent battle, Lille was progressing ahead .

“Uncle Carlen, please lend us your strength to save Nozan!”

Princess Lille also turned to her father, King Carlen, after Lille made her plea .

“Temporarily assuming that the elves of Canada will participate, how much time is left before Hiruku’s undead army invades?”

Dylan immediately answered King Carlen’s question .

“It should be seven days at the earliest?”

“Seven days!? That’s the same as saying there’s no time at all!!”

Carlen let out a surprised shout when upon hearing Dylan’s answer .

“Even if we left the capital now, would we even be capable of reaching Lanbaltic in seven days? Furthermore, we would still need to cross the Burugo gulf to reach the neighboring country……”

Prince Sect calmly began counting the days . 、

King Carlen acknowledged his point while looking at his niece with pity in his eyes .

“Enough, Sect . Asparuf-dono probably sent her here out of worry . ”

He cut Sect off with that statement .

Princess Juliana made a sorrowful expression as she stared at Lille .

In the eyes of the three of them, Lille was the last daughter of a dying country .

Well, their reactions were probably normal .

The three’s pity and the meaning of their words only upset Lille even more .

“I-It’ll be alright! We only left our palace today, yet we’re already here! With Arc-dono’s power time isn’t an issue!”

He poor choice of words, coupled with her seemingly incomprehensible explanation and assurance that there was “No problem”  only seemed to draw sympathy from the others .

“What are you going to do?”

Prince Sect asked the King that question as he pitied the poor girl .

However, before King Carlen could say anything Dylan spoke up and answered the Prince’s question .

“The number of days required to return with reinforcements isn’t an issue . Arc-kun is accompanying me for that very reason . There’s no need to worry about distance constraints . ”

Dylan’s continued smile as he spoke his explanation, had the three of them looking at one another in confusion .

When Dylan chuckled and directed his eyes towards me I immediately understood that he wanted a “show of proof” to help them along .

After a quick nod, I invoked my magic immediately .

“【Dimensional Step]”

The target location was directly behind King Carlen .

“What!?” “Ha!?” “!!?”

It must have been quite shocking for a knight to suddenly disappeared and reappeared behind you .

The three had temporarily forgotten how to speak as they sat there with their eyes blew wide open .

They weren’t the only ones with bulging eyes .

The servants in the corners of the room were in a similar state .

“【Dimensional Step]”

I invoked the magic again and returned to Ariane’s side . However, only the sound of my movements filled the room, as the ability to speak still eluded them .

It was Prince Sect who broke the silence .

“……The ‘Path of Spirits’ . I thought it was a mere fairy tale . ”

Sect’s words caused King Carlen and Princess Juliana to turn their heads towards Dylan, who silently nodded in return .

The ‘Path of Spirits’ seemed to be a well known elven anecdote among humans .

Maybe the tales of the Great Canada Forest’s first Chieftain, Evangeline, building transfer shrines through the forest had been passed down as an anecdote by humans .

“Surely with such an ability…… But why, Dylan-dono?”

Sweat ran down King Carlen’s face as he stared at the fearlessly smiling elf .

“Why what?”

Dylan was enjoying this situation as he tilted his head and asked King Carlen to elaborate .

“Is the cooperation of our country so important to you that you’re willing to reveal a secret ability?”

Dylan let out a slightly bitter laugh at King Carlen’s question .

“In a sense, you’re right…… As I stated before, this is an unavoidable situation for us, but the same applies to your country as well . ”

Dylan gave Prince Sect a meaningful look after saying that .

Prince Sect let out a small sigh before reaching over and whispering something into the King’s ear .

“Is that so . Such a thing……”

More sweat began to form on King Carlen’s forehead as he muttered to himself .

Princess Juliana glared at Prince Sect when she saw the King’s reaction, but he just indifferently chuckled as he returned to his seat .

King Carlen looked over the letter once more before handing it over to Dylan, who was still smiling even now, with a look that said he’d reached a decision . Lille nervously watched the King as we awaited his answer .

“It appears that we can not afford to ignore this situation . Given the lack of time, we can probably gather five thousand soldiers . However, can the five thousand soldiers truly be taken there without issue?”

“It shouldn’t be an issue . ”

While the King had decided to send add he been worried about the transportation for them, but Dylan quickly eased that worry .

“Very well, Sect, apart from the actual command of the forces, I entrust the planning of the Nozan reinforcement operation to you . ”

Lille was overwhelmed with joy at the King’s decision .

However, Princess Juliana objected to King Carlen’s decision .

“Please wait! Since the elves will be taking part in this just effort allow me to participate as well, father . We need to deepen our relationship with the elves after all!”

Princess Juliana made a powerful declaration, but King Carlen didn’t concede on the matter .

“That is why there is something else I’d like you to handle . I’ll leave this matter to Sect . That is my decision . Now settle down . ”

While she was dissatisfied with the King’s decisions, Princess Juliana reluctantly yielded to his will .

With Princess Juliana pacified, Prince Sect respectfully kneeled before the King .

“Your orders have been received . I shall strive to meet His Majesty’s expectations . ”

King Carlen, merely nodded at Prince Sect’s display .

“Then it is decided, as soon as the forces have been gathered, the reinforcements shall be sent to Nozan . ”

After saying so Dylan looked back at me for confirmation, and I nodded in agreement .

With that, King Carlen decided to bring the meeting to an end .

While everyone began to prepare for upcoming events, I also began to look ahead towards the future .

It would be my first time transporting five thousand people, but just what was my maximum capacity?

Before that, I should find a good spot to make a drawing of this palace, as I still needed to make the transfer marker between Nozan and Rhoden .

As that thought occupied my mind, I saw Prince Sect approach Dylan as he prepared to leave the room .

Dylan glanced at him with saying anything in particular .

“Dylan-dono, I have to ask, do you plan to seek aid for Nozan from one of the Empires?”

I just managed to hear Prince Sect’s whisper .

Certainly, if one of the pinnacles of human power became involved, then gathering troops would be a non-issue, but that was an impossibility .

“Unfortunately, we do not have a connection with either of the empires……”

Dylan replied to Prince Sect with a chuckle .

…… That was also a problem .

However, Prince Sect continued to press the issue .

“Then, you would if you had those connections?”

“…… Given the circumstances, I do not believe that the participation of one of the empires is necessary . ”

Prince Sect’s eyes narrowed as he apologetically lowered his head .

Nozan was the one requesting aid after all, and Dylan goal was to gain the participation of the elves . However, there was another, fatal flaw .

I couldn’t transfer to the empires with my magic .

To be precise, there were a limited number of locations inside the empires that I could travel to using my magic .

Using 【Transfer Gate], I was only able to travel to places I’ve been before and could clearly remember . I couldn’t just travel to places I’ve never been before .

Speaking of which, I wondered how that one imperial town I visited was doing now…… the one where I blew up that Hiruku church?

While I was nostalgically looking back on such things, Prince Sect turned a thin smile in my direction .

“Is that so, please excuse me . I look forward to working with you now and in the future . ”

Prince Sect offered a small nod and left the room after saying that .

His appearance and manners marked him as the embodiment of a prince, something about him left a  strong “tough to swallow” impression . While I kept my impression to myself, Ariane and Chiome seemed to be in agreement with them, as suspicion could clearly be seen on their faces as they watched him leave .