Welcome to the Special-Grade Guild! ~ The Beloved Elf Poster Girl Soothes Everyone’s Hearts ~
Chapter 185

185. Side Gilnandio 3 (Part 1)

“The teleportation magic circle’s here. I’ll also be heading over with you. Once you’re all inside, channel your magic power. But with this many people, it’ll require a lot.”

“We have plenty to spare. Ash will take care of it.”

“Me!? Well, very well.”

We followed Rodrigo, the Dwarf patriarch, through the mine. The tunnels were incredibly complicated, I’m sure even I would get lost. Because you can’t be sure that a path you’ve already taken will lead to the same place the next time. This is how they protect themselves, their mines, and their magic circle. There’s no way to get through without a guide.

The place we arrived at was a small room with a heavy door. That iron door, in a mine filled with nothing but rocks and minerals, was an odd sight. And it’s imbued with incredibly complex magic… Trying to force it open will probably send you right back to the entrance. That’s pretty brutal. It reminds me of Saura’s traps.

“Alright, I’m opening it.”

Rodrigo said this, and then placed his hand on the magic stone in the door. It’s a large, black magic stone. It’s probably sensing the Dwarves’ magic power, because the door slowly started to open with a heavy creak.

“Get on that magic circle. Don’t channel your magic power yet.”

We followed his instructions and stood in the center of the magic circle. Rodrigo then nodded. The Demon King nodded back.

“Alright, I’m starting, ready?”

We all responded with a nod, and the Demon King began to flow magic into the teleportation circle with an exquisite balance of magic that was neither too strong nor too weak.

The circle, sensing the magic power, started glowing. It’s activating quickly. As expected of the Demon King. Not only the quantity, but the quality of his magic power is in a different league.

“Mmm, it seems like we’ve arrived.”

“…It’s much faster with the Demon King. It takes us at least twice as long, and we can only activate it once every three days.”

The Demon King said this when the light subsided, and Rodrigo muttered that with a look of exasperation. I see, so it’s not the first time the Demon King’s used this magic circle.

“Thanks, Rodrigo. Sorry for yelling at you before.”

“Hmph, you call that yelling? How pathetic.”

“Y-You stubborn geezer…!”

I think the Don just fundamentally doesn’t get along with Rodrigo. The Don sighed to calm himself down. He also has a short fuse, you know?

“Rodrigo, tell me about your son, in detail. We might be able to find him quickly.”

I want to bring Meg back, as soon as possible. I’m sure she’s with his son. But we need to confirm that it’s his son. I asked Rodrigo for his name, so we could at least look for a boy with that name.

“His name’s Ronaldo. He has reddish brown hair, tied back just like me. He’s a bit shorter than me.”

“Okay, we’re grateful.”

I hope that boy’s with her… It’ll be safer for them, if they’re working together. And they might even know about the magic circle and how to get to the mine.

Maybe because of how she looks, everyone worries about her, but Meg’s actually quite clever. Well, I’ll admit I’m also a bit overprotective. Since her soul’s that of an adult, I’m sure she’s not just letting things happen, she’s probably thinking things through.

But she’s just… completely oblivious to how she’s perceived. Thanks to everyone spoiling her, she probably has no common sense… I am reflecting on this.

Let’s believe that she’s doing better than we think. But if something did happen… No, it’s not something I should be thinking about right now. I lightly shook my head.

“There really are very few magic particles here…”

“Yeah, it’s going to take a while to recover…”

I heard the Don and Adol talking.

“Don’t be naive. We’re still inside the mine. There are still some in the surrounding area, but once you leave the mine, there are barely any. If you want to use magic, you’ll have to rely on your own internal reserves.”

“Ah, that’s right. Magic power recovery’s also manual, so it’ll take a while. We can’t even afford to get hurt.”

I see. This is my first time on this continent too. I’ll keep that in mind.

“N-No way… Even I’m feeling a bit sluggish. Will Meg-san be okay…?”

Adol muttered that, and it made me nervous, but the Don easily brushed it aside, saying, “She’ll be fine.”

“Meg’s still young. With a child’s adaptability, she’ll get used to it in no time. I am a bit worried about her getting hurt… The amount of medicine is limited, so she won’t be able to heal any serious wounds.”

“Mmm, I’m starting to worry… Eugene, let’s start the search as soon as possible.”

I see, so it’ll be difficult to rely on medicine, even if she’s hurt. It shouldn’t be a problem with minor injuries, because of a child’s healing ability… No, even a minor injury is unacceptable. I’ll have Ludo take a look at her thoroughly, once we’re back.

“U-Um… It seems like I won’t be of much use for a while…”

Adol said this apologetically. What’s he talking about? Does he not understand how much he’s contributed, just by getting us this far?

“Don’t make that face, Adol. It’s okay, I’ll take good care of you. We were able to get this far because of you, after all.”

The Don said what we were all thinking. Even the Demon King was nodding. Adol, seeing this, looked embarrassed and averted his gaze.

“Get some good rest and recover your magic power. But there’s one more big task I might need you for.”

“Another big task…?”

The Don said this, a mischievous grin on his face.

“We’re headed for the central capital, in the largest country on the human continent, Tortiga.”

He explained that we can’t really use magic for our search here, because there are no magic particles, and it’s much larger than the Demon Continent. We’ll have to rely on our physical strength. He then added that we’re heading for the center of that country called Tortiga, to gather information efficiently.

“If we go there, we’ll at least be able to gather information on Tortiga. Meg stands out, for better or worse. If we’re lucky, they might even have information on her.”

Adol responded to the Don’s words.

“…That’s highly likely. If they used that kind of teleportation magic circle on this continent… then a considerable amount of manpower and money was involved. You’d need a very large organization to be able to use something like that.”

“That’s right. That’s why we’re going. …Let’s find out who our enemy is.”

At those words, “our enemy”, the Demon King, and I both circulated magic power through our bodies. We’re not going to make the mistake of releasing it here, of course. We need to conserve our magic power. But even circulating it internally made the air crackle. Adol grimaced a little.

“…Let’s go. To meet the emperor.”

We all nodded.