Chapter 49: Eye Of The Storm.

I finished the last report with a tired breath and leaned back into the bear-fur chair. Supply allocation to Fittoa Refugee Camp was at its wits end, but the majority of the main issues, physically and financially, had been solved.

Philip had deflected all accusations, and no one had the guts to assassinate them with Ghislaine being there. Thanks to the timely organized movements and all the gold I had burned through, a lot of people had survived and returned home.

I remembered falling to my knees bawling out crying when I realized that the people I knew had luckily survived. It was selfish, but I couldn’t help but feel relieved at the thought.

Other than that, everything else was blank. I couldn’t find Nanahoshi, nor could I find Orsted. It was most likely that I'd have to take flight and knock at Chaos Breaker’s front door if I wanted to meet Pergius.

I could head to the North to search for missing survivors, but between Zenith and a thousand strangers, I would throw everyone else off the boat without hesitation.

Guilt or not, I’ve done far more than enough as an obligation. To begin with, I burned through my gold reserves. There was a hard limit on how much corn I could effectively sell. So I won’t be changing priorities, like it or not.

Considering most of these kids are silent magic users with decent magic, I could throw them all in Ranoa as special students. With the leftover reserves of gold, I could buy the old, haunted house in the North.

Rudeus’s house, to be exact, the one with the murderous puppet in the basement. Knowing its existence, handling it wouldn’t be an issue. I’ll settle Lilia and Aisha there, get a strong and reliable woman to the team to handle succubus attacks, and dive headfirst into the Teleport Labyrinth with Geese by my side.

When I told Geese about going to the labyrinth, he looked at me questionably.

“You’re not bringing the others?”

“Nah. They aren’t going to make it. Most of them aren’t going to make it.”

I couldn’t send Vast Expanse into the Begaritt Continent. Nor could I send them anywhere, to be honest. They may be called high-ranked adventurers anywhere, but considering these idiots were practically bought, captured, and raised by me, I doubt they would be able to manage it.

As for Vast Expanse, while it was a shame, I’ll have to temporarily halt work… As for the person I could ask for help, Elinalise was a preferred choice. But since she’s out of the equation and currently in the Demon Continent… Should I just beg the guild master to come along?

Among the people I know who I could reach out to, she is by far the most skilled and experienced adventurer. Personally, I suspect that she was very strong. She was, definitely by all means, strong.

The frowny face of a black-haired, doll-like woman with a figure as hot as hell yet a personality as cold as ice came to mind. She’s cold and harsh, yet at the same time, she’s also very generous to her subordinates. If I prostrate on all fours and beg her earnestly... It might actually be doable???

“…”

For the first time in a long time, I sat there on my chair without doing anything aside from thinking about the Adventurer’s Guild Master… Thinking back, I owed the Adventurer’s Guild Master a lot of debts. And by that I mean a LOT. Hell, I was literally spoon-fed all the way to S-rank. Since I’m already in debt, it wouldn’t matter if I shamelessly begged for a little more, right?

Sure, that woman’s icy-cold glare is scary as hell, but if all she ever did was stare, then it’s not really a problem. Now that I think about it, she wasn’t really that scary. In fact, if she ever pouted, then she would certainly look adorable.

…Wait. The hell? For me to think that the Adventurer’s Guild Master is cute… Have I finally gone mad from all the stress? But she was kind of cut—wait. No. Nope. Not going to be fooled twice.

I’m not going to be deceived by that woman’s looks. Elinalise it is! Yup! That thousand-year-old woman cleaved a Snow Dragon into two equally separate pieces of meat with a casual flick of her wrist. I’m not dumb enough to try testing her patience.

Anyways, in short, the plans had been sketched out. Literally, I just sketch the plan in my second notebook. Now I just have to run off to the north to settle the kids in Ranoa’s Magic Academy, and then I’m good to go.

Sylphy could take care of the rest. Given the situation, she’ll probably do so voluntarily, and it’ll be a family reunion for her and Laws as well, so there’s that.

Unlike everyone else, I had full knowledge of who’s who, so Hitogami is out in the light, while I’m in the dark. While I had no reason to antagonize him for no reason, if the Man-God had parasitized Rudeus again, then the clash was inevitable.

The stage had been set; the people needed had been gathered. Now, only the main actors are missing for the play to begin. Yup! Let’s end this well, hop on Orsted’s ship when necessary, and stay happy.

…

Hitogami’s POV

…

In the world with nothing but light was Hitogami, the Man-god. Hitogami had Future Sight. And he saw it, yet again. Hitogami’s worst nightmare. His death. Not sealed. Death.

Hitogami had tried all ways to get rid of the inevitable for the last few centuries, going so far as to destroy the Fighting God’s Golden Armor. And yet its presence lingered, wearing that same damn armor as if ridiculing him.

It had already grown far beyond a mere threat by now. The moment it crawled up here, Hitogami WILL die. However, this time was also different. That thing’s sole weakness had reincarnated.

That thing tried to hide it by blocking Hitogami’s All Seeing Eyes, but Hitogami had luckily managed to cross path with said weakness six months ago. The eye of the storm. Hitogami had found him.

“Found you, puppeteer bastard.”

Hitogami had found Laurel.