To The Base

After another week passed, we returned to the Imperial Capital without any results. We had now parted ways with the knights and were heading toward the base of Ernesto’s faction.

“…What do you think is the right thing to do about those knights?”

Rebecca muttered quietly, and I struggled to find the right words.

“If they become enemies, we’ll have no choice but to defeat them without hesitation. But the real issue is if they switch sides to us. If they end up having a bad influence on the future Empire, we’ll probably have to capture them or exile them from the country… something like that.”

“Yeah… it’s difficult.”

If those knights served faithfully under Ernesto, there would be no problem. But since they had been doing whatever they wanted until now, the chances seemed slim.

While talking about that with Rebecca as we walked through the Imperial Capital, we arrived at the base we had been told about. Just as Ernesto instructed, I knocked on the door three times, waited two seconds, then knocked twice more.

“Who is it?”

A voice came from inside, so I replied with the password.

“I’m a meat seller. I have some rare star-shaped meat.”

The moment I said those words, the door opened and we were welcomed inside. The one who opened it was a young man.

“…New recruits? That’s unusual.”

“Ernesto accepted us as allies. Has word about us not reached here yet?”

“From Ernesto-san?”

When the man heard Ernesto’s name, his eyes widened, and he relaxed his guard more than before as he invited us further inside.

In the back there was a large table surrounded by many chairs, and several people seemed to be working on various tasks. Some looked like children, while others were quite elderly, making it clear that they truly lacked manpower.

“Everyone, we’ve got new recruits. Apparently Ernesto-san personally recruited them.”

“I’m Luca.”

“I’m Rebecca. Nice to meet you.”

Everyone in the room turned their gaze toward us at our greeting, but they still didn’t seem to trust us yet. Well, that couldn’t be helped for now.

“You look strong. Are you combat personnel?”

“Yeah, that’s the intention behind joining.”

“I’m confident in battle. Especially Luca—he’s strong enough to easily defeat large monsters by himself, so you can rely on him.”

“…Are the only members of Ernesto’s faction the ones here?”

I asked cautiously, thinking that if this was all they had, the difference in strength would be far too hopeless. The man who had opened the door laughed it off.

“No way. The ones here are only members who aren’t combat personnel. Those who can fight are knights or soldiers, and some are out of the city securing food supplies.”

I see. That was a bit reassuring.

“So how many people are there in total?”

“…Just a little over a hundred. That includes people like us too. Are you two from this city? I don’t think I’ve seen your faces before.”

“No, we’re adventurers from the Albanell Kingdom. Various circumstances led to us helping Ernesto. We’re not people of the Empire, so you don’t have to worry about us betraying you.”

While thinking about how much to reveal, I explained the necessary parts to gain their trust. The expressions of the people in the room relaxed a little. It seemed that the fact we weren’t from the Empire was important after all.

“It’s reassuring to have people from another country helping us.”

“What rank are you as adventurers?”

“Huh? You know about adventurer ranks?”

Rebecca tilted her head in confusion at the young man’s question, and he nodded with a wry smile.

“I used to be an adventurer in this country. As the nation started falling apart, most adventurers left, but I happened to injure my leg and couldn’t move well, so I had no choice but to stay here.”

“I see… I’m Third Rank. Luca is First Rank.”

“…Huh!?”

When the man heard the words First Rank, he jumped to his feet and shouted, causing the others to look at him suspiciously.

“Is First Rank really that surprising?”

“F-First Rank is the very peak of adventurers! There are only a handful in the entire world! How has this country become so cut off that even common knowledge like that doesn’t spread anymore…”

The man furrowed his brow in frustration, let out a large sigh, and sat back down in his chair.

“Well, it can’t be helped since no one connected to the Guild remained… First Rank is a rank given only to someone with overwhelming power, something that would normally be impossible. He’s stronger than Ernesto-san. Much stronger.”

When he said that Luca was stronger than Ernesto, the comparison seemed easy to understand, and the others also showed surprise.

“…Is that true?”

“Of course it is. You must have some incredible achievements too, right?”

“Let’s see… Luca has entered a dungeon during a Stampede and destroyed the Dungeon Core, defeated an Earth Dragon, and defeated a Metal Lizard. Recently he’s also defeated many Black Bears, Fire Wolves, and Orcs around this city.”

“Well, Rebecca helped with those too.”

I added that with a wry smile at Rebecca’s words, but the looks of shock and respect directed at me didn’t change.

“S-So maybe you’re an incredibly reassuring ally?”

“He’s First Rank, so of course! Not only reassuring—someone like him alone could make an entire operation succeed.”

“Seriously!?”

After that Rebecca and I received a warm welcome, and we listened to many stories about their past activities and everyone’s backgrounds. Until Ernesto arrived, we decided to wait here, and that night we borrowed an empty room and fell asleep.