The next day, I went back to the adventurers guild in the afternoon since I never got around to asking for tips on where to go next yesterday. After entering the guild hall, I quickly flagged down Hanna and got permission to go visit Chloe.

Will Chloe be annoyed that I interrupt her work? I have to tell her that I delivered the letter, right? Yep, let's go with that. I'm totally not abusing my rank.

I took the now familiar route to Chloe’s office and got permission to enter.

“Hello again,” I said, taking my usual spot on the couch.

“It’s good that you came,” she replied, putting down her pen. “I trust you remember what you promised yesterday?”

“Hmm,” I pondered, a slight smirk on my lips. “Searching for your kids? They still haven’t returned?”

Chloe frowned, letting out a sigh. “Yes, exactly that. And they’re not my kids.”

“Yes, yes, I remember,” I chuckled. “I’ll go after my other business is done.”

“Did you have something else you needed me for?”

“Firstly, I delivered the letters. Grahl was annoyed that you didn’t tell him sooner.”

“It couldn’t be helped,” Chloe sighed. “I had to discuss the matter with Marquess Riese first and then get the letter to Grahl. It’s not something I could have used our magitech device for. You being here already saved us a week.”

“Glad I could be of service,” I smirked. “My main reason for coming here yesterday is that I’m wondering where to go next. Are you familiar with Troadis and the Beast Nation?”

“A little bit. I have been to Troadis a few times, but I don’t know too much about the Beast Nation.”

“I see,” I pondered. “Could you tell me what you know then?”

“I do have a job to do here, you know,” Chloe frowned.

“So your job doesn’t include taking care of your favorite SSS rank adventurer?” I asked, batting my eyelashes.

“It’s easy to be the favorite when you are the only one that exists,” Chloe said, letting out another sigh.

She seems stressed.

“Now, now, don’t be like that,” I replied, pulling out one of the cakes I bought in the capital and putting it on the table.

“Are you trying to bribe me with cake?” she asked, eyeing the cake.

“I’d never do something like that,” I grinned, pulling out a knife and slicing the cake into pieces. I then grabbed a piece and took a bite. “Oh, this is simply delicious.”

Chloe stared at the cake, sighed, and came over to take a seat on the couch opposite me. “I guess I can indulge you for a moment if it means you will do my request afterward.”

Chloe quickly grabbed a piece of the cake, looking absolutely delighted as she took a bite.

Indulge me, huh? You clearly wanted some cake. She probably needed a break, as well.

“So, what can you tell me?”

“To get to the Beast Nation, you will have to travel through the vast Troadis kingdom and then sail across the sea,” she said, taking another bite. “I’m not sure how far away it is since I have never gone there myself, but they say it takes several weeks on a fast ship.”

That sounds bothersome. I don’t know if I can fly that far without landing… and then there is the sea itself. I might have to think about a way to bypass that trip.

“So it’s that far away,” I muttered. “No wonder there are so few beastkin around here.”

“It is said to be a beautiful country. I would like to go at least once in my lifetime. Are you planning on going there?”

“Maybe? I haven’t really decided. I usually don’t stay in one place for long, so I’m getting rather bored. Either way, exploring the Troadis kingdom would be a better destination first since I would have to go through there anyway.”

“We are allied with them, so crossing the border would prove to be no problem with your guild card. It’s not so different from there, though, so it might not alleviate your boredom for long.”

“Have you been there before?”

“A few times in my younger days. I, too, wanted to travel and see the world when I was younger before I got tied down with this job,” she chuckled.

“Why does it sound like all guildmasters are forced to work against their will?”

“Let me guess, Grahl was complaining as usual?” Chloe asked, reaching for another piece of cake.

“All the time,” I replied, letting out a laugh. “A woman named Saria had to scold him constantly.”

“Without Saria, the guild in the capital would fall into disarray,” she chuckled. “She is the perfect match to keep my work-shy uncle in check. It came as quite a shock when I heard he took the job and that they got married.”

“They’re married?!” I blurted out, my eyes wide from the surprise revelation.

“Didn’t they tell you? The only reason he took the job was to settle down with her.”

What’s the age difference there? Grahl is sixty, and Saria doesn’t look a day over forty. But then again, neither does Grahl.

“That explains her rather harsh treatment of her boss,” I smirked. “Easy to see who wears the pants in that relationship.”

“She really has him under her thumb,” Chloe laughed, finishing her second piece of cake.

“Back on topic,” I said, looking at the map on the wall. “Is there anything else you can tell me about Troadis?”

“I don’t know what to say, really,” she pondered. “Both countries are quite similar in both climate and how they operate internally. But it’s quite a bit larger than Lasduma, so you might find more interesting places to visit.”

“Hmm, I guess I will have to see for myself. What about the continent to the east?”

“I don’t really know anything about that place. Our country as a whole has minimal contact with them due to how hard it is to travel there, and Baruda is on the other side of the country.”

“Right, Hanna told me about the Crystal Trench.”

“I haven’t seen it myself, but it’s said to be quite a peculiar place.”

“What about to the north?”

“You mean Kaydossa?”

“No, I have no plans to visit them,” I replied. “Isn’t there anything beyond that?”

“That is something I don’t know. To sail beyond that, you would need to cross Kaydossan water, and that is easier said than done,” Chloe said, an annoyed look on her face.

“Maybe I should burn that country to the ground,” I muttered.

“I would appreciate it if you didn’t.” Chloe frowned. “A ruined country brings its own share of troubles.”

“I wasn’t serious, well, that serious,” I smirked. “What about to the south?”

“South, eh…” she muttered, appearing to be thinking about something. She then stood up and walked over to a bookshelf, placing her hand on some kind of magitech device, which made a small door open. She pulled out a book and sat back down.

“What I’m about to tell you is not public knowledge and will stay that way, understood?” Chloe said, looking at me with a serious expression. “Only we guildmasters and the higher-ups in the military are supposed to know.”

State secrets? This might be interesting.

“If it’s a secret, why tell me?” I wondered, glancing at the book in her hand.

“It’s probably better to tell you rather than you finding out on your own and making a mess.”

“How thoughtful,” I smirked. “So, what is it?”

“The vast sea south of here is called the Dread Sea. It’s filled with far more monsters than the sea between Troadis and the Beast nation. It’s also prone to violent storms and is often engulfed in mist.”

“That’s rather underwhelming for a state secret,” I pondered.

“I’m getting to the actual secret,” Chloe continued. “Beyond the Dread Sea is another continent. About fifteen years ago, an expedition of twelve ships managed to navigate through the Dread Sea and make landfall. However, only two returned.”

“I’m surprised anyone came back at all if the trip is as dangerous as you described.”

“The voyage itself wasn’t the most dangerous part,” she said, flipping through the book until she landed on a particular page. “According to their report, only three ships were lost to the sea, the others…”

“Pausing for dramatic effect?” I smirked.

“On the continent, they met other people, if you can call them that,” she continued, ignoring my remark. “They called themselves demonkin.”

“Demonkin?”

“The survivors said they appeared mostly human, but some of them had horns, other hooves instead of feet,” she replied, continuing to read the page she had open. “They might be similar to beastkin.”

“I see,” I pondered. “And I assume they were hostile?”

“Very much so. The survivors who made it back said they were vicious. That’s why the public story goes that all the ships were lost at sea, and the survivors that came back found nothing. Knowledge of an enemy across the sea would only bring public unrest.”

“I guess it’s best not knowing about an enemy that might not even be able to travel here,” I replied, thinking through the information I had been given. “But wait, they called themselves demonkin? Does that mean they spoke the same language?”

“That’s what it says.”

“Interesting,” I mumbled. “I wonder how they learned that.”

Chloe was about to say something when I quickly interrupted her. “Someone’s coming.”

Chloe closed the book and put it down beside her on the couch when the doors flung open, and Hanna and another man rushed in.

“Guildmaster! They just returned,” Hanna said in a frantic tone.

“Calm down,” Chloe scowled. “Are they okay?”

“They are resting downstairs. But never mind that!” Hanna said, panic in her voice. “An army! An army has crossed the border!”

“What?!” Chloe yelled, jumping to her feet and turning to the man. “You! Report to the lord, now!”

“Right away!” he said, turning around and running out of the room.

“And you,” Chloe continued, turning to Hanna. “Tell me everything.”

Great, so they actually did decide to invade. Were the recent events connected, after all? But why did they choose to go through with it when their plans failed? I suppose there may have been more things set in motion than what I happened to run into. Or maybe they would invade either way? 

I don’t particularly want to get involved in human wars, but it’s not like I can just leave this alone. I like this place, and I don’t want it to turn into rubble. And even though adventurers aren’t drafted, Liz might still want to defend her home. They will probably retreat if I give them a poke… probably.

“Brad scouted them with [Farsight] and saw thousands of soldiers, possibly even more.”

“Thousands? How could they have mustered such a large force and crossed the border without alerting the border outposts?” Chloe muttered, walking over to the map on the wall, Hanna following her. “Where did they spot them?”

“To the northeast, right about here,” She said and pointed at an area. “It was yesterday, so we aren’t sure how far they have advanced since then.”

To the northeast… Isn’t that area where…

I jumped up from the couch and rushed over to the map, pointing at an area just below where she had indicated. “What’s this small dot?!” I yelled at Hanna.

“T-That’s Kleadan village,” she stammered. “I don’t know-”

Before she could finish, I rushed over to the window. “Wait, what are you going to do?” Chloe said in a slight panic after seeing my ominous expression.

“That’s Liz’s home village,” I shouted as I attempted to open the window. However, I quickly realised that it wasn’t a window that could be opened, so I took a step to the side and punched the wall to create a path. This caused dust and rubble to spread throughout the room and bricks to fall onto the street below and get blown onto the roof of the building on the other side of the street.

Both Chloe and Hanna stared in shock at my actions before Chloe called out. “Just… don’t do anything stupid.”

“That’s not up to me,” I said in a growling tone before using [Erase Presence] and jumping out of the hole I had created.

Let me make it in time.