episode_0023

Allen cut the building in half, but fortunately, the basement was intact.

Even Allen himself had a clear concept of confining people in the basement, so he could cut the building without much hesitation.

“… There are people after all.”

“Ugh…”

Descending into the hidden basement, Allen could find residents who were presumed to have been kidnapped.

Literally keeping their lives ‘sustained,’ the trapped individuals inside did not seem to be in good condition.

“… I will release you now.”

Clang-

After cutting the bars of the prison where the residents were trapped, Allen hurriedly entered the prison to check on the residents’ conditions.

“Ugh… water…”

“I’m hungry…”

“… Their condition is serious.”

To exaggerate a bit, even as Allen was taking them out, the residents were in such critical condition that they could die.

‘It’s fortunate that I brought something.’

Having anticipated such a situation, Allen had food and drink in his possession.

‘Wait. I remember hearing that it’s dangerous for severely malnourished people to eat suddenly.’

In the modern era where Allen lived, such incidents didn’t occur, but in this world, there were quite a few cases of people dying from eating suddenly after starvation.

‘I should at least cook it before giving it to them.’

“Please wait a moment.”

Saying so, Allen went up and down for a while.

In Allen’s hands upon returning was a pot.

Although the building had collapsed, he could find it among the debris.

Bubble bubble-

Hastily pouring water and lighting a fire, Allen cooked a meal and slowly fed it to the unconscious people.

“Ugh…”

Though they still seemed to be struggling, fortunately, feeding them had some effect as the faces of the people relaxed a bit.

“… Now, I can take them out.”

There was no time to waste anymore.

With ease, Allen lifted two people in one hand each and ascended.

Then, he carefully laid the people amidst the ruins.

‘The guards will be here soon.’

Having identified the patrol route of the guards and infiltrated the building to delay their arrival as much as possible, Allen couldn’t take these people with him as the guards were getting closer.

Moreover, it would be troublesome if it was revealed that Allen was the one who destroyed the building.

Creak-

“!”

“The building collapsed over there! The Red Fist’s hideout has collapsed!”

The guards arrived faster than expected, but Allen calmly sneaked through the buildings.

“Darn it, who could have done this! It’s completely destroyed!”

“Here! There are survivors!”

“For now, let’s move those people first! To the infirmary!”

Surprised by the destroyed building, the guards, upon realizing there were survivors, prioritized rescuing them.

From Allen’s perspective, it was a stroke of luck.

‘… Should I go back now?’

On the way back, although there would likely be guards waiting, Allen felt like playing hide-and-seek after a long time.

***

“Really? Is Allen truly in Atolkin?”

“Yes. We got the information from the Information Guild, so it should be reliable.”

“… Finally, we can catch him!”

Welcoming Irene back from the Information Guild, Jenny smiled happily.

Now that Allen’s location had been pinpointed, they would soon be able to find him.

‘Next… scenes unseen until now will unfold.’

At least Allen probably wouldn’t act that way, but Irene might quickly run to him and try to embrace him when she sees him.

That’s what Jenny thought.

“Now that we know the location, let’s leave first thing tomorrow morning.”

“Yeah. That sounds good.”

“Alright. Finally catching that Allen guy.”

The hero party was filled with hope.

Finally, the fact that they could catch… no, find Allen.

“Today… Shall we have a drink after a long time?”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. We should drink on a day like today. When else would we drink?”

At Irene’s suggestion to have a drink, Rebecca seemed worried as she asked, but Jenny didn’t pay any attention.

“Excuse me! Three beers, please!”

“Yes!”

Jenny, who immediately ordered beer, smiled and looked at Irene.

“Once we meet Allen anyway, heh heh!”

“… Jenny. Be careful with your words.”

“… Why?”

“It’s nothing.”

Rebecca smiled and, without realizing it, fed Jenny the beer that had suddenly appeared.

“… Sir?”

“Yeah? What is it?”

“Where did you go at night?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“…”

Lily looked at Allen in disbelief, but Allen just met Lily’s gaze with a calm expression.

“But… even so, things have gotten this chaotic overnight… It wasn’t you, sir?”

“…”

When Lily went downstairs to the first floor of the inn in the morning, the news she heard was that the hideout of the organization ‘Red Fist,’ which had been committing all sorts of crimes, had been destroyed.

Upon hearing the news, Lily strongly felt that Allen was somehow involved, but Allen denied it.

‘Suspicious…’

“… There is no evidence.”

As Lily continued to look at him with suspicious eyes, making Allen somewhat uncomfortable, he lightly flicked her on the forehead.

Tap-

“Ouch!”

“Let’s go eat.”

“Geez…”

It was the first time Lily had hit Allen, but it didn’t hurt much.

Instead, Allen’s attitude of treating her like a child bothered her more.

“I’m almost an adult too…”

But what could she do.

Rilley’s body was so immature that it lacked nothing to be called a girl.

“Today, you seem taller.”

“In the morning, you naturally grow little by little.”

…

Still looking at Allen, who spoke with a casual face, with resentful eyes, Rilley began to eat the soup in front of her diligently.

“I will grow up quickly and take revenge.”

Although it was a vow whose timing was uncertain, considering Rilley’s nature, it would not be long before it was fulfilled.

“Let’s depart.”

“Yes… Ugh.”

“Ugh…”

The hero party, who had overindulged the day before due to the joy of finding Allen’s location, was slowly riding their horses, looking visibly unwell to anyone.

It would have taken about 3 days to ride to Atolkin Village at a fast pace, but at this speed, it would take a week.

“Ugh.”

The reason they couldn’t speed up was simple.

It was because they were suffering from a hangover.

“… Should I have even tried to cure my hangover?”

“… We should depart as soon as possible.”

Even though Aileen herself was not in good spirits, she had no choice but to set out early in the morning to find Allen, as she insisted.

“… I feel like I’m going to vomit every time the horse moves.”

“… Endure.”

“… I’m finding it a bit tough too.”

Even Rebecca, who had relatively little to drink, found it difficult. Aileen could only tell her to endure.

‘Allen…’

All of this happened because Allen left, so if we catch Allen, we will vent our anger, including this.

“… But Irene.”

“Why is that?”

“To get information from the Information Guild, you have to pay with information, right?”

“That’s right.”

“What information did you pay for?”

…”

At Rebecca’s sudden question, Irene closed her mouth like a cat that got the cream.

She couldn’t say she sold her three sizes.

“I didn’t sell anything special.”

“Don’t say that… Please tell me. We’re in the same party.”

…”

Finally, Irene told the truth in response to Rebecca’s persistent questioning…

“Are you crazy?!”

…”

Irene had to endure Rebecca’s harsh words.

Your Majesty. New information has come up in the Information Guild.

“I’m looking at it now.”

It was an artifact in the form of a note known to be possessed only by Information Guild members, but since there was nothing the Emperor of the Empire could not possess, the Emperor naturally had it too.

“… Interesting information.”

In the Emperor’s eyes was the information that a mercenary named “Irene” was active in Atolkin.

“Irene was Allen’s alias.”

In other words, it meant that Allen was staying in the village of Atolkin.

“I finally found out Allen’s location.”

The corner of the Emperor’s mouth lifted slightly.

“Send knights to Atolkin village immediately and bring Allen here.”