Seirei Gensouki's
Chapter 146: Restoration Journey to pt3 ~

Arein, a rank 2 adventurer looking for someone who is looking for Lucius, the assassin of Rio's mother is recruiting adventurers in the post town to talk to the wanderers who came by using human wave tactics.

Afterwards, Arein watched over Rio who was reacting to Lucius' name, and then ordered the young adventurers from Orein's group to chase after Rio-tachi but ……. .

「Your work is simple. Follow that guy in front of us. Keep a reasonable distance so as not to miss them or be found by them. Even though I don't mind if they find you, don't ever initiate contact with them. Even if they greet you, just pretend that you're a fellow traveler. That's it"

Arein went to explain the job to Orin-tachi after they all gathered at the post town gate.

「Understood」

When Orin-tachi nodded at his explanation, Arein's lip tip slightly increased.

「Yosh. In that case, chase them immediately. You should know about the crossroads that will lead east and south in the south of this city right? 」

"Of course . Anyway, this area is our activity area 」

「Alright, once you arrive at that intersection, take a different route from their group. After that, rest for a few minutes. Yourjob. I will take different actions for a while and then meet you guys 」

「Understood」

Orin immediately replied. Although he had yet to understand the general framework of this request, it was a simple job.

"There question? 」

"No……"

Although slightly hestitated, Orin simply denied it. Deep down he wanted to move the conversation to remuneration but, it was a difficult situation because he was the one who made the request for the job.

"I saw . Like I said before, I own a small business. It may take a while to get back. Although I'll be back when the sun goes down, you'll wait a little longer. Well, you can do what you want until then 」

「Understood」

「Then, later」

After saying that, Arein went to the city for the second time.

（This ............... Which one should I follow? Should I tell Haruto about this?）

Aisia pondered while looking at the back of Orin-tachi who was advancing towards the south with quick steps.

（Uhn. There should be no problem leaving them as they are. Then, I should go after that guy）

After making that decision, Aisia decided to follow after Arein.

◇ ◇ ◇

Back then, the earl of Claire territory, the capital of Creia.

Christina――'s search team commander Charles Arbeau locked himself in a room he kept from Celia's father Roland Claire, and followed the news of his 2 troops of 400 men.

「Have you found out about the whereabouts of princess Christina! ? You're not good for nothing! 」

Charles shouted as he slammed his hands into the messy table.

Alfred who was standing in front of him frowned hearing that.

「Soldiers move according to your instructions. They froze the highways to the east and north and even searched within the forest. But, it looks like they can't find any trace of the target 」

He said so with facts.

「Are they really searching correctly? It won't end up as a joke if it later proves they're ignoring something you know? 」

「They are exhausting themselves」

「Then show the results. Working meaningless without result 」

Charles did not even try to hide his irritation.

「Soldiers move according to your orders, they have no responsibility in this. Responsibility falls on their boss who rules them 」

「................. Do you mean I gave the wrong command? 」

「I didn't mean it that way. I mean, stop looking for other people's mistakes and impose your responsibilities on your subordinates 」

When Alfred objected to the direction of the roundabout, Charles glared at Alfred with a dangerous light in his eyes.

"What's? "

"Silent . Maybe we need to change our point of view in this case 」

「………………. . You mean what? 」

Charles slapped his lips and then asked Alfred for further explanation.

「South highway. Although I already said this at first, it does not rule out the possibility that they are fleeing from that direction. Although we are currently short on personnel, it is still not too late either. Now, should I send a search team in that direction? 」

「…………. No . We don't have enough personnel 」

"Why? The search range will become larger as the days go by. We will still be short of personnel by then 」

Alfred showed a astonished face while saying as if he could not believe what he had just heard.

「3 days have not passed. We cannot ignore the possibility that they are fleeing from the north or east. 」

Charles tried to reject the idea for such reasons.

"Craud . They may have fled the southern route due to the lack of manpower there. Charles, stop making silly mistakes if you're also a commander

"SILENCE! My commander. Stop commanding me with such a condescending attitude. You're nothing more than my assistant in this, right? So stop meddling with me! 」

Charles becomes hysterical and then vents his frustration to Alfred.

His inferiority complex over Alfred can be seen from his comments earlier.

「…………………. . I'm giving you advice, you know? 」

「Do not worry. I'm not going to impose responsibility on you. Seeing that you are against my idea, the achievement in this will not be yours 」

"I saw . I don't mind such a thing 」

Although Alfred was about to hit with a dizzy spell, he could barely stand on his own by pressing on his forehead.

Charles looked at Alfred's movements with an irritating expression.

In the end, Charles sent a search party southward a few days later.

◇ ◇ ◇

Going a little south from the capital of the earl Claire region, Creia, there was a small town with a population of about 1000 people.

A man came to the quiet town bar that— His name is Arein.

After observing the inside of the bar for a while, he chose to sit in one corner of the room. There he found two men in their thirties dressed in adventurer clothes already sitting in that place.

「Yo, Your Honor, Lucci. Wandering around in this kind of bar since afternoon, it seems like something good just happened 」

「You yourself early. Being on . Don't tell me you've finished your work? 」

「Punches. I'm not done yet. My job is the most difficult. I've come to ask for your help because you guys most likely left your current job while exchanging information 」

「I agree with exchanging information. But we don't throw away our work. We were on stand by. So we will be ready anytime if anything happens 」

The man with the big body―― Lucci nodded while rejecting Arein's words earlier with a grin on his face.

After that, to there――,

「Wat is your command, sir? 」

The bar spilled guards came to request their order.

"Bir . What about you guys? 」

「Both for us」

Arein threw one big copper at the barmaid while ordering the same thing as Ven duo.

"soon"

After picking up the large copper, the shopkeeper returned to the table and started pouring liquor for them.

「Well, sit. Come chat while drinking our liquor 」

Arein sat on the chair after being urged by YM.

Immediately, the barkeeper brought a beer and then Arein-tachi began to exchange the information they had about them.

「As expected, the national army living in Creia is really looking for something. I mean several hundred of them spread everywhere on the northern and eastern highways, even as far as searching the surrounding forest 」

So, Ven said that while drinking his beer.

After swallowing his liquid, Lucci continued to chase after him,

「The thing I'm worried about is people having bad blood with our leader. If that's according to Reis-sama, it looks like he ran south but, what did you find in the south, Arein? 」

Saying so, he asked Arein.

「South side is really short of energy. Although they did check at every inspection station before the highway, no results so far 」

「In that case, we might as well say that this enemy and the target of the search is a completely different case, right. Yes, the story about the enemy itself may be a fake story but, that does not mean that person also does not exist 」

Lucci was brushing his unshaved beard.

「No, the chances of fake stories are low. Even if the commander of the search force gives false information to Reis-sama, it would be too unnatural for him to suddenly mention the name of our leader 」

Arein firmly denied that.

「I'm with Arein in this case. As long as we observed the search party, it was not the atmosphere where they were looking for enemies. Although that person might attack the search party, I concluded that it was a completely different matter to the party the search party was looking for 」

Ven cut in between the conversations while expressing his opinion.

「Why do you think that two are completely different problems? 」

「Fuck I know about that. From the start, I didn't even know what the soldiers were looking for 」

Ven kicked the bucket easily when Lucci asked that question.

「What should we do, how about we kidnap one of the national soldiers? 」

「We can do it too, but let's keep that as our last option. It's too early to do that. It is still not too late even if we collect information in secret 」

「It waay is too troublesome. Working behind the scenes like this. I want to take action in large-scale operation 」

Lucci scratched his head with a troubled expression and told his goal to Ven.

「If that's the case, come with me. Even though I had already formed a network in the post town along the southern highway, I still needed someone else to help me. Leaving search team investigation to Ven 」

Arein invites Lucci to come with him.

「Have you found any clues to the enemy? 」

Ven asked with a curious face.

「Although I am not 100% sure, I found a suspect. Well, the probability of losing is also high 」

「Is it okay for you to come here? 」

Lucci asked Arein.

"No problem . I hire adventurers with money. But, I have to come back soon. I've run out of time 」

「Go with him, Lucci. I alone is enough for this kind of work 」

Ven agrees with Lucci to help Arein.

「Yeah, that's great. Someone who defeated some knights. It seems like he has some skills with him. I'd like to test-drive against it if possible 」

「Yeah, it depends on the situation. In order for Reis-sama for us to find someone but, contact with the target need not be 」

「Ou, understand. Well, I still want to test that guy's skills. Moreover, we have no other way to confirm whether he is the person we are looking for or not without testing his skills 」

After saying that, Lucci emptied the beer in his glass and then showed a wide smile on his face.

Arein only sighed in looking at that.

Someone eavesdropped on their conversation right by their side.

（As I thought, these people have something to do with Lucius. Especially, Reis. He who taught these people）

That's Aisia.

Although he eavesdropped on their conversation in his spirit form, these people themselves never expected someone would eavesdrop on their conversation in this almost empty bar.

「Then, let's go. Lucci 」

「Ou. Will we reach daylight? 」

「It's a distance of one and a half hours if we use griffon」

Arein leaves the bar along with Lucci. Just like that, they left the city, entered the nearby forest and then stood on the back of the enslaved griffon.

（Come tell Haruto about this）

Aisia followed them towards the direction Rio was heading.

◇ ◇ ◇

In a different place, a moment before.

Rio-tachi who left the post town was walking along the highway that would take them to the fortress of Restoration.

「Haruto-dono.

At that moment, Vanessa was summoned to Rio in a low voice so as not to attract the attention of the other members of their party.