Chapter 164

Alex, who couldn’t accompany me due to the funeral preparations, let loose a torrent of nagging.

“Remember. The Dark Knight is as strong as you are.”

“I know.”

“You might know how to beat it, but if you let your guard down, you’ll be in big trouble. Got it?”

“I said I get it.”

“You remember how badly you were hurt last time, don’t you? Be careful, and then be careful again.”

“Ugh, stop nagging. If I get caught up with the ladies, are you going to take responsibility?”

“Ah, right… I get it. Hurry up and go.”

“I’ll be back on the day of the funeral at the latest. If anything happens, tell the Constellations.”

“Alright. You contact me if anything happens, too.”

As I left the estate, I summoned Kaiel and Johan.

I deliberately didn’t contact Dante. He would have undoubtedly opposed my trip to Akron.

The three of us, along with Miyorne, stepped onto the teleportation circle.

Miyorne seemed uncomfortable around Kaiel, but he didn’t show it openly, likely conscious of my presence.

Thanks to Kaiel’s mana, we were able to cross over to Akron without any motion sickness from the circle.

“Ah! Guild Master, welcome! We’ve been waiting for you!”

Upon our arrival in Hwa-On, Suren greeted us with tears welling in his eyes.

Whereas before he had been meticulously polite to avoid fault, now he was pouring his heart and soul into his welcome, as if greeting his savior—a slight exaggeration, perhaps.

His attitude toward Kaiel had also become deferential. Last time, he looked at Kaiel like he was something dirty.

There was even a banquet prepared. It was filled with all my favorite foods, and there was even a wide variety of desserts.

“Um, Guild Master. Is the food to your liking? The desserts were specially brought in from Taikan… Are they to your taste?”

No wonder. For Akron, the desserts were surprisingly elaborate and delicious.

“It’s fine.”

“Well… I apologize for bringing this up while you’re eating, but the Council of Elders has requested a visit. They asked when would be a good time. How should I reply?”

The elders, who had previously barged in unannounced, were now asking for a suitable time to visit.

It was clear they were treading carefully, afraid I might change my mind and leave. Their change in attitude was so drastic it was almost cute, moving past mere unpleasantness.

“Hmm, I’m a bit tired…”

As I trailed off, feigning contemplation, Suren’s expression darkened.

He must be desperate for me to negotiate with the elders and deal with the Dark Knight as soon as possible, but he couldn’t say a word. He must be dying of frustration.

“Th-then, shall I tell them to come tomorrow morning?”

“Tomorrow? I don’t know.”

“Guild Master…”

“On second thought, I don’t have much time. Tell them to come after the meal.”

“Ah! Yes, sir! I’ll relay the message!”

Suren’s face instantly brightened, and he dashed outside, likely eager to inform the elders.

After finishing our meal, we moved to the drawing room. As soon as the maid had set down the tea and left, Johan quietly asked.

“Lady Astell, what will you do now?”

“Sir Johan, if I get injured fighting the Dark Knight, please heal me.”

“That is my duty, of course. I was asking about the matters besides the Dark Knight.”

“I’m not sure about that.”

“…Pardon?”

Johan’s mouth fell slightly open in surprise.

“I’m only going to deal with the Dark Knight. That was my intention from the start.”

“But the elders…”

“Sir Kaiel will handle the elders.”

Kaiel looked at me, his gray eyes widening slightly in surprise.

“You said you wanted to be the branch manager. I took that to mean you would be the one to deal with Akron. Was I mistaken?”

“Ah… that’s right. But.”

“Then why are you surprised?”

“I didn’t think you’d actually entrust it to me…”

“We made a promise back then. A verbal contract is still a contract.”

Kaiel pressed his lips together. His cool eyes wavered with a quiet sense of being moved.

“Thank you.”

“There’s no need. I’m essentially working a talent like you for three years without pay. At this rate, it’s not a bad deal for me either.”

“I see. Then I will stop being grateful.”

He looked like a mastermind, but he was surprisingly good at joking. He certainly seemed more at ease than before.

Just as we were chatting idly, Suren announced the arrival of the elders.

They’re finally here. I set down my teacup and stood up.

“It’s all up to you now, Sir Kaiel. Negotiate well with the elders. Use me as a card to your fullest advantage.”

A cold smile spread across Kaiel’s previously gentle lips.

“With the best card in hand, all that’s left is to maximize the profit. I will take this opportunity to extract everything I possibly can.”

I was sure Kaiel could bleed Akron dry.

Watching the elders appear with tense expressions, I whispered.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

The elders looked extremely unwell.

Elder Maga did nothing but sigh, while the others couldn’t even meet my gaze.

I stared at them intently and spoke.

“First, I need to understand the current situation. Who’s going to explain?”

The elders exchanged glances, but no one stepped forward.

“I thought this was urgent, but it seems you have time to spare?”

Only then did Elder Maga reluctantly open his mouth.

“What we found out was that magic doesn’t work on it, and that it remains still unless attacked first.”

It seemed they hadn’t figured out the condition that only the strongest could face it.

“So we gathered all the warrior-rank hunters from among the slaves.”

They must have hoped to at least inflict some damage, even if they couldn’t defeat it completely.

“How many?”

“About thirty.”

“You didn’t send all thirty in at once, did you?”

“…”

I couldn’t believe it. It seemed they really had mobilized all thirty at the same time.

“Attacking an opponent you haven’t even properly assessed with a large group right off the bat. Who gave such a foolish order?”

“Ahem!”

One of the elders let out a dry cough. Wasn’t that the old woman who had yelled at Kaiel, calling him a slave?

“The slaves didn’t last even a minute. They were all annihilated without inflicting any damage on the creature. Only then did we realize it had the ability to replicate.”

Having lost all of their already scarce warrior-rank hunters, the Council of Elders was thrown into a panic.

When people panic, they lose their sense of judgment. They end up making foolish choices they would never imagine when thinking clearly.

“We were convinced that magic was ineffective because of the Dark Knight’s armor. The problem was that we had no way to remove it.”

“And so?”

“The Dark Knight is immune to magic and replicates itself when attacked by multiple opponents. So, we had no choice but to aim for an indirect effect.”

It was a similar strategy to how I had defeated the Dark Knight by turning the ground into a swamp.

Oh, as expected of mages, they were clever. It took me a full day of fighting in my past life to figure that out.

“So we decided to install a magic circle near it to make its armor rust.”

Did I hear that right? I asked again.

“…What?”

Seeing my dumbfounded expression, Elder Maga sighed.

“We know now. It was a foolish method. But at the time, it sounded quite plausible. We were in a situation where we had to try anything, so we weren’t in a position to be picky… We thought that since a magic circle that corrodes metal isn’t an offensive type of magic, there would be no loss even if it failed.”

The Dark Knight begins its attack once it recognizes an opponent for a duel.

It doesn’t matter whether the opponent attacks or not. If multiple people approach, it doesn’t even give a warning like, ‘Are you the one who will duel me?’ It just wipes them out instantly.

I couldn’t understand how they could have come up with such an idea after seeing people die before they could even attack the Dark Knight.

“Are mages always like this? I don’t know whether to call this bizarrely creative or just plain stupid.”

The elders’ faces turned red.

“W-well, anyway, we worked through the night to create the magic circle. Then, the mage-rank hunters set it up near the creature.”

“I don’t even need to hear the rest. They were all wiped out, weren’t they?”

“That’s right. The creature considered the mage-rank hunters as multiple enemies and killed them all in a single strike without warning. Not a single one survived.”

That incident dealt an unspeakable blow to the Council of Elders.

It was a natural consequence of proceeding with an absurd plan and suffering a massive defeat.

Moreover, the hunters mobilized to install the large-scale magic circle were all important figures from each faction.

Not only were the elders’ positions in jeopardy, but the very existence of their factions was at risk.

When news of this spread, the citizens of Akron began to denounce the Council of Elders and demand they take responsibility.

“On top of that, a rumor somehow spread that Guild Master Astell had come to help us but left for Taikan after a fight with the elders. Thanks to that, the criticism grew uncontrollably. It felt like a riot could break out at any moment.”

Strange. My visit to Akron was supposed to be a secret. How did such a rumor spread?

‘Could it be… Kaiel?’

Kaiel showed no reaction, as if he knew nothing.

That only made me more certain. He was the one who had spread the rumor.

“We have no other options left.”

Maga, who had been speaking gloomily, looked at me with desperation.

“Guild Master Astell, you can ask for anything. We will bear the full cost of establishing a branch. We will also leave the selection of the branch manager to you. Please, just help us.”

“I understand the situation, but there’s no use telling me. I don’t have any authority.”

“What do you mean?”

I extended my hand and pointed at Kaiel.

“Let me introduce you. This is the branch manager who will be handling Akron on my behalf from now on. You all know his name, don’t you?”