The children of the World Tree, known as the fairy royal family, are said to have had three princesses in the current generation.
The eldest, Urd. The second, Verdandi. The youngest, Skuld.
Princesses named after the three goddesses of fate, representing the past, present, and future.
Of them, the eldest princess Urd ascended to the throne. However, she fell in battle a hundred years ago during the racial war when the allied races retreated against humans.
After that, the throne should have naturally passed to Verdandi, but she had already embarked on her quest for the Holy Grail under Urd's orders.
Now, in the Elven Autonomous District, leading the enslaved elves is the youngest, Skuld, who holds the throne in name only.
'Verdandi must be a key part of the fallen king's plan.'
Intending to gather the scattered races from various parts of the continent to the southern front.
In the long run, Verdandi, who will establish a connection with the Elven Kingdom, was an important client to me.
I intended to stay silent until she revealed her intentions, but Dusk Bringar spoiled everything...
"You were at the forefront of burning our kingdom during the war a hundred years ago, weren't you? Why are you acting so friendly now?"
As Verdandi sharply yelled,
"Ah~ I apologize for that time. I had no ill feelings towards you, but when the Emperor orders, I must follow..."
With an insincere tone, Dusk Bringar perked up his ears.
"After all, aren't we all now under Ash, merely as guests? Let's get along."
"Who, who said I was a guest?"
As Verdandi retorted sharply, I looked at her with a hurt expression.
"Really...?"
"No, no! You gave me sunflower seeds, food, and took care of many things! On second thought, I am indeed in a guest-like situation...!"
Verdandi's eyes trembled in confusion. I smiled inwardly.
Yes. I've fed her after all. She'll be under my command eventually.
"It's okay, Verdandi. I don't care about your status."
Though I've been really curious from the start. I showed a genuine smile.
"We became friends, right?"
"Ash...!"
Verdandi, moved, tightly held my hand. Yep, you're mine.
So, the dragon and the elf were arguing, and as a human caught in between, I was looking for an angle to benefit,
"Hey! Young prince! Why are you here now?"
From the base camp's center, a familiar dwarf popped out.
It was the master blacksmith Kellibey. Covered in soot, Kellibey shouted urgently with a sweat-drenched face.
"Come here quickly! The equipment you entrusted is fucked up!"
What?
The equipment is messed up?
Before I could react,
"Really?"
Again, Dusk Bringar stepped forward with a pleased expression towards Kellibey.
"Who's this now? Kellibey!"
"Whaaat?!"
"'Golden Branch Mining Team's' youngest, right? Why are you here...?"
Recognizing Dusk Bringar, a shocked Kellibey yelled.
"This damn, Dusk Bringar?! Why is this dragon old bastard here?!"
"Hey, that's harsh. Calling me an old bastard... By that measure, aren't you a super old-timer since you're older than me?"
Dusk Bringar grumbled and lightly tapped her silver crown.
"I owe a lot to your two older brothers. This crown was even forged by them when I ascended."
"..."
"So, where are they? I'd like to greet them."
With a sigh, Kellibey reluctantly answered.
"They're dead."
"...What?"
"While searching for the 'Golden Branch' in the deep darkness of this place, they were killed by a monster."
Kellibey's brothers were killed by the vampire lord Celendion. That's one reason why Kellibey liked me, since I killed Celendion.
"Sorry about that."
Dusk Bringar awkwardly apologized, scratching the back of her head.
"You seem particularly oblivious today..."
She was the target of everyone's piercing gaze. But, with brazenness befitting her age, Dusk Bringar casually brushed it off and whispered to me.
"This is quite interesting, Ash."
"Huh?"
"All the fugitives seem to be hiding here on the southern front, from elves, to dwarves, and now beastmen..."
After glancing at the beastmen of the Penal Squad in the distance, Dusk Bringar smirked.
"If we have merfolk too, we'd have all four major races in one camp."
"..."
We do. We have merfolk.
Thoughts of Serenade with her water-hued hair flashed in my mind. Was she working hard in Crossroad right now?
Then, Dusk Bringar began murmuring to herself.
"Gathering every race in one place...? Hmm. Does that mean I can gather the guardian trees of every race too..."
"...?"
"Perhaps coming to you was inevitable..."
What are you talking about?
If you keep having these monologues that only make sense to you, huh? If this were a mystery novel, you'd have been killed by the culprit already!
I quickly distanced myself from Dusk Bringar, who began to mumble incomprehensibly.
I've got enough on my plate without trying to understand your cryptic breadcrumbs!
"...Of all the weirdos you could recruit, now there's a mischievous dragon too..."
As I approached Kellibey, he let out a sigh and gave me a side-eye.
"You sure have a distasteful bunch, kid. Or should I say, good taste in comrades?"
"Haha."
I responded with a neutral laugh. I'm going to keep on recruiting even weirder folks, so brace yourself.
"Anyway, come on. The equipment you entrusted is on the brink of destruction."
We rushed to Kellibey's magical blacksmith shop.
It looked like the forge was in full swing, with strange-colored flames bursting from the furnace, radiating intense heat.
"What a mess this has become, damn it!"
What Kellibey was currently working on was Evangeline's personal equipment.
The [Cross Family's Spear] and [Cross Family's Shield].
I thought it was just a matter of supplying materials and upgrading, but something went wrong, as the equipment was still in this state, well past its deadline.
Clang! Clang! Clang-!
Kellibey, with a welding mask flipped up, desperately tried to control the magical flames, striking the equipment hard. He then quickly glanced at me.
"Can you see the state of your equipment?"
"...!"
Even though I was completely ignorant about blacksmithing,
Seeing the surface of the spear and shield turning pitch black, and writhing like tentacles, it was clear something had gone wrong.
Splat!
One of the tentacles splashed a dark liquid, narrowly missing my face. Eeek?!
I screamed and clutched my head.
"What on earth did you do?! It was just supposed to be a simple upgrade!"
"I tried to improve it, but got a little overzealous! It was fine until a few hours ago, but something went wrong during the additional enchantment process... At this rate, it's fucked!"
"It already looks pretty fucked up to me?!"
It's... just... erupting everywhere! A lot! Damn!
"Forget it, you were going to enter a dungeon today anyway, right?!"
Kellibey started scribbling something on a piece of paper on his workshop table. Once done, he tossed the note at me.
"Hurry up and fetch the materials! Unless you want to see this precious equipment go up in smoke!"
[Emergency Equipment Repair Quest!]
An urgent quest popped up.
Materials that could only be found in the deepest parts of the dungeon... a ridiculously large quantity was needed... and the remaining time... Oh shit, only 6 hours?
With a rush, I gripped the list Kellibey handed me and sprinted to my party members.
Seeing this, Evangeline, with twinkling eyes, eagerly jumped forward.
"Senior! My equipment! Is it being crafted properly?"
"..."
"I've been really looking forward to it! I'm curious about how our family heirloom will be upgraded!"
Cold sweat poured down my back, drenching my shirt.
Visions of Evangeline's spear and shield, writhing like octopus tentacles, flashed in my mind.
If I handed over such equipment as her personal set...
Staring into Evangeline's innocently sparkling green eyes, I was certain.
'Rebellion's on the horizon!'
With two consecutive disappointments involving her golem armor and bone armor, her equipment satisfaction had already plummeted.
If I presented the family's ancestral spear and shield in this tentacle-ridden state, all hell would break loose! She might even try to kill me!
Gently, I grabbed Evangeline's shoulders and offered a reassuring smile.
"Your equipment is turning out fantastic. I'm sure you'll love it. Just wait a little longer."
"Wow!"
Evangeline beamed brilliantly. It was the most beautiful smile I'd seen in a while. Damn, I'm in too deep now!
"Alright, let's get going! Let's head in~!"
I urgently assembled all the party members.
In the process, I also dragged Verdandi along by the arm. Having been intending to watch from afar, Verdandi followed with a puzzled expression.
"Uh, Ash?"
"Verdandi. I'm in deep trouble right now. I need your help. Can you bring your colleagues...?"
After surveying the area for more recruits, it seemed the available members were all present.
Including Verdandi's Holy Grail Seekers, we had five parties.
A total of 25 members. It was the largest dungeon raid team to date. Gathering them, I announced,
"We have 6 hours! We need to gather all the materials listed here within that time!"
Upon hearing the materials and quantities, the party members' faces turned pale.
Don't give me that look, guys. If you don't want to see the lord perish, help me out...!
"Today's dungeon concept is 'Hunt and Loot!'"
An age-old gaming term. Hunt and Loot.
When you need to grind for item drops, nothing beats this.
"Attack every monster you see, loot them, and raid treasure chests! It's a blitz! We strike like lightning, loot, and get out!"
It might not have been the original intention of a blitz, but who cares!
Most of the parties were already familiar with the dungeon, and with Dusk Bringar and the knights having excellent stats, even the first-timers would do fine.
"We don't have time! Let's roll!"
Upon my shout, the party members, not quite understanding the full picture, hastily followed me into the dungeon.
***
The monster of the season was the iconic fantasy world creature, the Troll.
Known for its high regeneration and sturdy physique, it's a typical tank monster.
If you don't take them down in one shot, they can be quite a hassle due to their ability to heal quickly.
However,
"Wipe them all out!"
That's only if your firepower is lacking.
Smack! Smack! Boom!
Under the storm of swords, magic, arrows, and more, the horde of trolls fell without even having the chance to scream.
The enemy isn't falling easily?
Then perhaps we should check if we're lacking in numbers on our end!
The force of the 25-member dungeon raid team was terrifying. Moreover, each of the parties was elite, so the pace was insanely fast.
It took us 5 minutes to carve a path to the boss room after entering the dungeon, and just 3 minutes to defeat the boss.
After raiding a few places like this, it felt wasteful to have everyone enter the same dungeon.
The space was limited, and our firepower was overwhelming, resulting in constant overkills.
"Hey! I'll assign each of you a dungeon! Rotate through them!"
So, I divided the five parties into five different dungeons. Each party diligently cleared one dungeon at a time.
After tirelessly raiding and raiding and raiding...
"...we've cleaned them all out."
In no time, all the dungeons in the 6th sector were drained dry...!
'As for the materials...'
They were still insufficient!
I shivered as I reviewed the slightly short quantities. Time was ticking...
"Hmm~?"
Behind me, Evangeline leaned in close, casting a round-eyed glance and whispered,
"Senior, you aren't hiding something from me, are you?"
"No, hell no! Have you ever seen me lie to you?!"
"Hmm~ Right? I knew it~"
Evangeline smirked slyly.
Did she catch on?
Save me, damn it.
"Regroup!!"
With my desperate bellow, our five parties reconvened in front of the last remaining dungeon in the 6th sector.
After a brief rest and healing minor injuries, we entered the largest and most perilous place in the 6th sector.
The massive dungeon. We entered the [Research Lab].
'I will gather all the materials and return no matter what!'
To prevent the future where Evangeline stabs me in the back... no, no!
To safeguard our precious comrade's equipment!