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'All I want is to get Delia away from this place so nothing happens to her. But she wants to be here. I know I brought her here, and... at the end of the day, she felt happy for saving other people's lives...'
That's why it's so hard to agree with her being here when I just want to protect her.
"...Take care of yourself."
'I may regret this, but… even if it's hard for me to accept it... It's her life and her decisions.'
"I'm more worried about you. I have an escape route and bodyguards, but what about you? What can you tell me that will make me feel safe?" Delia said, looking me in the eyes.
'Ah, she is feeling the same worries I feel for her.'
Emir: "..."
"You don't know how to respond, do you?"
In response, I shook my head.
"But I do know."
Emir: "?????"
"Don't think I haven't noticed what you do"
Emir: "!!!!"
Even though I knew it would draw a lot of attention to add so many status points to a single attribute, I couldn't help but do it.
'Hmm… Anyway, until she asks the question outright, I won't say anything!'
And so, her serious look disappeared, returning to her usual expression.
"Take care of yourself too!" she said with a smile.
"Yes, I will" I couldn't help but smile too.
Only then were we able to say goodbye.
'- Delia.'
'- Mm?'
'- That man is heading to his other woman.'
'- Mn, I know.'
Saint Delia's Spear: "..."
***
After changing my appearance to that of the Emir that you can find anywhere, I left the forest and headed to Alessia's.
She, along with the three annoying beauties, are resting from the repeated military formations; by their expressions and manner of speaking, they must not be aware of the situation yet.
"Hm? Emir? What are you doing here?"
'Hmm. I like strangers being around, because Alessia calls me by name. I like it when she calls me master, but it is also nice to have some novelty'
"I must speak to the four of you right away."
My words caught them off guard as they looked at each other, not knowing how to respond. A second later, Irina takes a step forward and nods.
Then we walked quietly to a secluded space, and I said what was on my mind. "The full-scale war will start in about 40 minutes. You must decide... will you stay and be part of the war or... will you escape and take shelter in a safe place?"
All: "!!!!"
Since their looks explain everything, I decided to delve deeper into the subject.
"You must have already noticed the strange atmosphere; perhaps in this place it is not so visible, but in other military divisions it is more noticeable..."
I didn't hold anything back. I told them everything I heard from Commander Cael and what I had seen on my way here. After several minutes of explanation and answering their questions, they made a decision.
"We will stay," Irina declared her team's decision.
And as for Alessia...
"I will stand by them. I want to help them."
'Haa... I can't help but bring my hands to my head. Why do my women have to think so much about others? Why aren't they a little more selfish? I don't ask for much; I just want them to see me as an example to follow when it comes to selfishness. Hm. Now that I think about it, it's better that they don't take me as an example.'
"In the worst-case scenario, the war could last 7 days straight. Are you sure?" I asked them again to make sure.
"Yeah, it's not like we're not going to be able to fight for 7 days." said Irina.
"And it's not like they're handing us a lot of responsibilities either" Zia sighed.
"Ah, right. Those guys from the previous mission have been watching us all this time. Perhaps they were waiting for the right moment to tell us about this" said Miria, putting her hand to her brow.
"We should go talk to them. If it is what I think, then we could be very lucky. That is... if we don't let Miria talk."
"Why me? I'm the most social of the group!"
'- True, but only with women' They all mentally sighed.
Alessia smiled at her friends' carefree act, and only after noticing my look did she shake her head.
"I'll make sure to stay in a safe place along with the others," Alessia said.
'Haa... Despite everything, I have confidence in the strength of Alessia and the three annoying beauties. If they take care of themselves, it's unlikely that anything bad will happen to them other than... But they're beautiful. For sure, there'll be a crazy guy willing to sacrifice himself for them.'
"All right, then go with them and listen to what they have to say. I wish you luck." I said the last sentence looking at the whole group
"We don't want those words if they come from you." they reply in unison.
'These women said that just to annoy me...'
"Wait, Emir. What about you? What are you going to do?"
Just before I leave, Alessia stops me.
Unlike Delia, she is more aware of my current situation. I will act a little cocky so as not to raise flags.
"I'll have a little fun," I said as I smiled.
Alessia: "..."
'- That's the first time I've heard that someone will have fun in a full-scale war!'
I know she may have a lot of complaints in mind, but I won't answer them. That's my way of giving her strength to survive... If she wants to know more, she will have to wait to see me again.
Without hesitation, I turned around and waved my hand in the air to say goodbye to them all.
***
"I knew you'd come back, Golden Archer... Or should I call you Emir to remember old times?" Cael said with a smile.
'That's my biggest mistake. Although I came to this place with my appearance completely hidden, I didn't think of hiding my name. But well, nowadays my two identities contradict themselves… No matter if he knows my name, it will be impossible for Commander Cael and anyone else to be sure about my real identity. And even if he discovers me, if I want to leave, no one can stop me.'
"Should you really say that to someone who was about to grab his bags and run?"
"I have a good eye, you know, and I'm very good at reading people."
With a smile, Commander Cael burns the documents on the table with his ring and then walks to my side.
"Follow me. You'll be in the military division of archers, and you'll be entitled to unlimited use of different types of arrows. But we both know those things are sh*t compared to yours. Anyway, they'll serve you well so you don't lose mana," he said, lifting his shoulders and lightly tapping my shoulder.
I followed the commander for about 5 minutes until I arrived in front of a carriage packed with boxes in the back.
"All these boxes are filled with potions!" I said it loudly.
"Be thankful, dammit. If I hadn't signed the paperwork for them, these potions wouldn't be in front of you" Cael snorted.
"Do I really have to thank you just for wiggling your fingers!"
"Hey! keep the shenanigans to yourself."
The boxes on the right hold MP potions, and the ones on the left Energy potions. The latter are minor in comparison. Apparently, he is taking it for granted that I possess more energy than mana.
To keep up appearances, I flashed my storage ring when storing them. But in reality, I kept them in my inventory.
"Just how much did you spend on that storage ring? There were almost 100 potions in there, you know? Haa, not for nothing you have Gold as part of your last name."
'Golden Archer is just a nickname that I thought of in a hurry...'
"Here... there are the arrows" The commander threw me a ring and said, "Take care of it. You have to return it if you come out alive"
'Hey, no way I'm giving it back while I'm dead.'
'- Why is my stress bar going up? Should I abuse this guy more just in case?'
'Ugh, I better stop criticizing him in my mind. My instincts are warning of danger.'
After equipping the storage ring, I checked its contents. I was surprised when I discovered that it contained approximately 500 arrows ranging in size from the smallest to nearly my own height.
'With this, my artillery of arrows is unlimited! I can shoot infinitely!'
''Well, I've done my job. Now you must go to Armand Teninse. He is the general of the military division of archers. Tell him that I am sending you, and he will grant you a suitable position." Cael walked away from the place, saying, "I hate these damn days. I will have so much work because of The Shitters guild. I will be sure to beat the shit out of their guild master if I see him... No, wait. What if he really smells as bad as the rumors say?"
Somewhere along the line, his farewell turned into a speech to blow off steam.
I stopped listening to him halfway through and headed over to Armand Teninse's.
"Now!!! shoot!!!!"
*Swish* *Fwoosh* *Swosh*
It wasn't hard to find him; the military division of archers is quite close to the place where the carriage with the potions was. Everything hints that Commander Cael held our meeting at that place with that purpose in mind.
[Armand Teninse] [Magic Archer Lvl 20]
Armand is a man with brown hair tied in a ponytail and green eyes. He is a bit handsome but has several points of femininity in his appearance. He must be aware of this, as he wears dark clothes adorned with mythical beasts.
As soon as they broke military formation, I approached him.
"General Armand, I am the Golden Archer. I was sent by Commander Cael."
"Ah... You're that man they praise so much for his archery. Hahaha, I see, I see..." He said it with a villainous look.
Emir: "..."