Chapter 493 – Return to Aianos

After finishing my conversation with King Melvin, I returned to the square before the Moon Temple aboard the dragon palanquin.

As for the supplies… they should have been moved to the back of the Adventurer Guild to avoid attention when using teleportation magic.

So I headed to the Guild office, where Old Sigmund, Valentina, Charlotte, and Forset were all present.

Forset had been working with Old Sigmund in the workshop on research… but since there was a possibility Sion and the others might fight due to the Sea King’s involvement, he probably decided to join the battle as well.

“Ah, Professor.”

Charlotte seemed to have been killing time by looking at the request forms posted on the Adventurer Guild’s wall, but when she noticed me, she smiled.

“Oh, Theodore. The chaos in the sea country… Another troublesome matter, it seems.”

“That’s right. Though… since it appears the seal was broken only recently, now would be the best time to deal with them if we’re going to act,” I replied to Old Sigmund.

“Please allow me to join you as well. The integration with Silvatoria’s barrier magic is almost complete… If I push through to the last moment, I might be able to make it in time for the operation,” Forset said. …I see.

They originally came from the same technological system from the moon. But Forset joining us has other implications too.

“Thank you. I’m sure Sion and the others will be reassured.”

Though Forset didn’t say it aloud, he must be worried about Sion and the others. When I responded, Forset narrowed his eyes.

Then… since this was their first meeting with Rovisa and the others, I decided to introduce everyone first.

I explained that Old Sigmund and the others came from the Sages’ Academy of Silvatoria, that Old Sigmund was my grandfather, that Valentina and Charlotte were relatives on my mother’s side, that Forset was from the southern regions and served as Sion’s guardian, and so on…

Then I introduced Rovisa, Weltes, and Marion – the three from the sea country – to Old Sigmund.

“I am Siegmund Willcloud. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

“I am Rovisa, the Water Guardian. The pleasure is mine.”

Rovisa returned Old Sigmund’s gentle, smiling demeanor with a calm smile of her own, and they shook hands.

Valentina and the others also exchanged handshakes with Weltes and his group.

“Are the preparations complete?”

“Yes. All the supplies to be taken there were just moved to the back conference room. All that remains is to teleport over there.”

I see. In that case, Claudia and the others must be in the back room as well. I should head there first.

When we were all escorted to the back room of the Guild, everyone was there checking the supplies while waiting.

Given that desks and such had been moved out into the hallway, they must have been working at a frantic pace to prepare. The cleanup after teleportation would be left to the Guild members…

“Sorry for the trouble.”

“Not at all.”

Heather, who had guided us to the back room, said this with a slight shrug of her shoulders.

“Welcome back, Theodore.”

Claudia smiled when she saw I had returned.

“Yeah. I’m back. My business here is finished.”

“We’re ready to depart anytime on this end as well.”

“Supply confirmation and personnel roll call are both complete.”

“Thank you,” I said to Elliot.

Watching this exchange, Weltes made an impressed sound.

“To think we’ll be heading to Aianos on that flying ship again… Quite efficient. Speed is said to be the essence of military strategy, after all.”

There’s that saying about troops and haste, isn’t there? Even if it’s not perfect, moving quickly to resolve the situation early leads to better outcomes later. Our ability to respond quickly is thanks to communicating the situation via the communication device.

Since we’ve been conducting various drills in anticipation of fighting demons, we’ve established systems to make such preparations rapidly as well.

Anyway, it seems the preparations are complete… After saying our goodbyes and delivering any messages, we should teleport to Duke Driscoll’s territory.

When the light of the teleportation magic faded—we found ourselves in the courtyard of the Moon Temple in Duke Driscoll’s territory.

Looking around, everyone was waiting there. We had notified them via communication device that we would be teleporting here. There were things to do like loading supplies onto the Sirius and various other tasks.

The moment Marlene saw us, she broke into an unburdened smile and ran over.

“I’m back.”

When I responded, Marlene nodded repeatedly, and seeing this, Grace and Ashley smiled as if watching something heartwarming. Rosemary kept her expression hidden.

“Welcome back, Theo.”

“No major problems occurred here while you were away.”

“I asked Grand Duke Debonnis to prepare shadow clones just in case.”

“Mm. Thank you.”

Hmm. The number of people has increased all at once. Those who knew each other exchanged greetings upon reuniting.

“Lord Forset!”

Sion and the others spotted Forset and happily ran over to him. Seeing their reaction, Forset’s expression softened too.

Since there were many people meeting for the first time, like Prince Helfried… it naturally became an opportunity for those meeting for the first time to introduce themselves.

“Sheila, thank you for watching things while I was away.”

“Mm. No problem. Justia and… Dominique and Cyrille are with you?”

“Everyone wants to help since Justia’s homeland is in danger.”

“I see. Then I’ll do my best too!”

“Me too!”

At Irmhild’s words, Sheila nodded with her usual tone but with a somewhat resolute expression, and Seraphina energetically raised her hand.

Well then… Since we’ve teleported to Duke Driscoll’s territory and gotten closer to Caduceus, the Five Senses Link seems to have been restored.

Using Caduceus’s claws in his cat form, I lightly tapped the floor to signal that I had returned… Queen Eldorene seemed slightly surprised by the speed but returned her expression to a serious one and directed her gaze to the map before her.

What Queen Eldorene was looking at was probably a topographic map of the seafloor. Information necessary for planning the operation to capture the City of the Sea.

“Hmm. First should be loading the supplies, I suppose. We have carriages prepared,” said Duke Driscoll, returning after completing his rounds of greetings.

“That’s right. Let’s get it done quickly.”

It would be troublesome to descend upon the temple in large numbers.

“Indeed. While we’ve informed the temple members and received their consent, considering we’ll be holding a strategy meeting afterward, it’s better to act quickly regardless.”

We had to notify the Moon Temple about prayers in case of demon-related incidents anyway. Their efficiency in these matters is quite helpful.

Well then… let’s divide the work and load the supplies onto the carriages. As the Duke said, we have the strategy meeting with Queen Eldorene coming up afterward.

After loading the supplies, we boarded the Sirius and hurried to Aianos. Another high-speed journey, but… well, there’s no helping it. Between loading and moving. Though we tried to hurry as much as possible, it was completely dark by the time we arrived.

Using night vision magic to survey the seafloor terrain while sensing Aianos’s coordinates through the link with Caduceus, we descended.

“Wow…”

“It’s beautiful.”

When the Sirius entered Aianos’s barrier, exclamations of admiration rose from those on the bridge at the sight of the underwater city.

Nighttime Aianos… had corals glowing faintly throughout the city, and from above, it possessed an indescribable, fantastical beauty.

Since lights were arranged along the main streets, descending toward the square was easy.

As for Queen Eldorene, she had already come to the square to greet us. We had notified her via Caduceus that we had arrived above Aianos.

Carefully lowering our altitude, we docked at a height where we could lower the gangway.

“We’ve arrived.”

With that, the Sirius suddenly became bustling.

Some began preparing to disembark, others headed to the cargo hold to unload supplies, some moved to the ship’s kitchen to prepare meals… various activities.

Even with Marl’s Blessing, many people seemed unsettled in the water, so numerous members would be staying aboard the Sirius. With enhanced security as a result, there shouldn’t be any worries about the Sirius.

I’d like to continue interactions with Aianos’s residents too. As long as they don’t stray far from the ship, Corulis and the others should be fine going outside.

Then… we’ll need to periodically purify the air inside the ship to prevent oxygen depletion. Well, we’ll monitor the situation regarding that.

Princess Elham said she would be holed up in the smithing facilities making spearheads. Since that consumes oxygen, it would be best to have Baror, who has replenished magical power, accompany Princess Elham and continuously purify the air around the facilities through magic use.

Well… we’ve prepared vitality recovery potions and magic tools, but I hope Princess Elham doesn’t push herself too hard.

“That was fast. Impressive, or should I say…”

When I appeared on the deck, Queen Eldorene, holding Caduceus in her arms, said with a bright expression.

“I’ve returned now.”

I responded with a bow.

The main members would head to the palace and proceed to the strategy meeting. We’ll need to consider information about the Sea King’s subordinates, the terrain around the City of the Sea, the original plans the Queen and others had made, and develop various scenarios and strategies.

Strategy, huh. While many members will basically be waiting in the ship’s air bubbles to intercept approaching enemies, we should probably conduct underwater combat training or lectures before starting the operation. Once the strategy meeting reaches a certain point, we’ll proceed with that in parallel.