Early in the morning, we returned to the Royal Capital utilizing the skeleton carriages, with the same amount of members that we left with.
It would have been strange if the number of members we returned with was different, but this isn't really a problem as the main force has already hidden in the Royal Capital's underground area.
Osvel is a relatively advanced city in this world. The citizens are able to live conveniently because they spent a lot of time and money to build an underground water supply and a sewer system, with guidance from the [Sage from Another World].
For that reason, it's no longer necessary for them to draw water from wells or rivers since they can simply turn on the faucet for fresh water that can be immediately drunk. The restrooms which are the type that is flushed with water aren't understood, though.
However, he honestly wanted to make a simpler structure, but the Royal Capital was extremely large and had many buildings that were already completed. It seems that the [Sage from Another World] did not have much-specialized knowledge himself.
They were both set up underground with steady effort, and as a result of delicate curving and even slight mistakes, a complicated path was made which was similar to a labyrinth. It was so complex that if an unskilled person entered it, they would get lost without having a clue where they were.
On top of that, it's considerably dangerous since there are monsters, including several species of rats, that have settled in there and can show up out of nowhere, such as:
"Iron Rat," a rat that's approximately the size of a small dog, with hair and teeth that are as hard as iron.
"Chain Explosion Rat," a rat that's harmless, but has a troublesome trait, where they will gather into a group if one of them is killed. After that, killing one will set off a small explosion that will cause a chain reaction if nothing is done to stop it.
"Bugs Rat," a rat that possesses the distinctive traits of various bugs, such as a hornet's stinger that has a powerful poison and a bombardier beetle's ability to release high-temperature benzoquinone gas.
"Trash Slime," a slime that grows by taking in waste and sewage.
"Trash Mamba," a monster that's covered in filth and swims in the sewage.
And so on...
However, even though they're dangerous, these monsters prefer the darkness, so as long as their numbers remain low they are unlikely to appear above ground. There's been no evidence up to this point of a resident of the Royal Capital being attacked by these monsters, as long as they don't enter the underground, that is.
For that reason, the general public is never allowed to approach the underground complex. Having said that, it's not a particularly uncommon occurrence for children playfully entering the underground, only to later be discovered as corpses or pieces of meat. It also appears as though abandoned and unwanted children are often left there on purpose.
Normally, only adventurers enter the underground, since they regularly receive requests to exterminate the monsters there to keep their population down. It's a very welcoming place for those people doing shady things, though.
On top of gathering the abandoned children as if they're pieces of merchandise, many scoundrels have made their homes here so they can perform various illegal activities that aren't allowed on the surface.
Organizations of various sizes have hideouts in every sector and they're usually at peace with each other because of an agreement similar to a scoundrel's pact. It seems that there are periodic turf wars every few months, though. This makes the dangerous underground an even more dangerous place, but let's ignore that for now.
I've been searching the underground with my clones to see if it would be of any use to me, and as an extra benefit, I'm able to freely hunt in most areas for the foreign spies that are secretly moving around.
Although there was originally a hideout for an organization that made benefit out of buying and selling certain drugs. I crushed them for they were of no use to the Tomboy Princess. This caused their hideout to become an available space.
Since the unattended rooms were quite clean, it would be a shame not to use them, so I decided to use it to hide our main force for now. That being said, I decided to entrust the various expansion projects, which will become necessary as the main force's numbers increase, to the group members from our forest base with build expertise. They are currently working diligently to make it easier to live underground.
By the way, it's not like I consider the Royal Capital's guards useless. However, for not noticing an army of 400 entering the Royal Capital, it would be safe to say that they were. That being the case, as I dug out a direct route beneath the walls, there was no way they could have known about it. I would be surprised if they discovered it.
Well, this may have been a trivial story. For the time being, we should wait until the fish takes the bait, so I decided to enjoy the moment as I calmly waited for them to do so.