## Chapter 912 – Otherworld Dungeon

The next morning.

As if Marquis Lormanza’s words had been properly conveyed, the entire Royal Army was lined up in front of the entrance, fully prepared for battle. Of course, the Royal Knights were there, too, and the Elven forces were arrayed beside them.

Their discipline seemed very tight.

Anyway, we approached them.

“…”
“…”
“…”

However, the atmosphere wasn’t as good as I’d expected.

The Elves and humans were positioned a little apart, and it was obvious they disliked each other.

Well, that was to be expected.

You can’t just become friends after fighting once.

Still, all they had to do was keep their mouths shut.

No one was crazy enough to attack first, so if they didn’t say anything, there wouldn’t be a fight.

Yeah, this was just the right atmosphere. Logically, they wouldn’t all mix together and carry out a joint operation; once inside, they’d all separate and do their own thing, right? There was no need for them to be friendly.

They just had to avoid fighting.
Truly an ideal relationship.

The Elves and humans just needed to ignore each other.

But looking around, it seemed no forces had entered the palace yet. They were just fully armed and ready to go. Were they planning some kind of operation and controlling the entrance?

“Um, Blackie. It doesn’t seem like we’re going in yet?”

Wienia seemed to have noticed the same thing.

“I’ll go ask for a moment.”

I went straight to where the Royal Knights were and looked for General. The entrance was being controlled, and they were just waiting in front. I needed to find out when we could enter.

Asking the knights who gave me friendly looks, I was able to find General.

“Ah, Paladin… you’ve arrived.”

He was standing with his hands behind his back, and he gave me a salute with a rather tired expression.

But he looked worried about something.

“Good morning. And you don’t have to worry about me. The grudges with the Elves have all been resolved. Unless the Elves provoke me first, I won’t do anything either.”

I returned a light salute as I replied.

“Yes. I could tell that Paladin values honor. I’m just a little worried about the Elves. If something like that happens again, I don’t think Paladin will stand for it…”

He said worriedly, but in reality, I would never tolerate being insulted again.

It’s only natural for warriors to protect their honor.

I just shrugged.

There was nothing I could do, even if he asked me to restrain myself.

“Actually, as you can see, the Elves have a very negative view of humans. They just don’t engage in full-scale war due to the treaty, but if you’re dispatched to the border area adjacent to the Elven Forest, you can see these conflicts very frequently.”

I guess those guys who showed that attitude wouldn’t be any different normally.

“Is that so?”
“Yes. For example, problems arise when the giant trees and vegetation of the Elven Forest expand outward… Even if the forest encroaches on the kingdom’s land, the kingdom’s land is still the kingdom’s land, isn’t it?”
“Um… I suppose so. But is that a problem?”
“It is. The Elves consider the area where the forest has expanded to be their territory.”
“That’s quite a problem.”

Are they crazy?
No wonder there are so many conflicts.

“Then what if the forest disappears a little due to the climate? Does that land become the kingdom’s land?”
“That’s why we haven’t gone to war yet.”
“Ah.”

If the forest shrinks, they readily give up the land?

Well… it’s fucked up in many ways, but if it’s a give-and-take culture…

This isn’t quite enough reason to wage an all-out war.

“So there are a lot of minor disputes like that. This incident is similar.”

General sighed deeply as he spoke.

He was a very capable man who had risen to the rank of regimental commander, but he was still just a royal official.

“But we can’t really go to war with the Elves, can we? They are a very strong race. For example, imagine the Elven Forest Keeper Unit infiltrating the kingdom’s land on a large scale, killing farmers and conducting large-scale guerrilla warfare. It would be very difficult to stop that. The Karga Kingdom has a lot of mountains, doesn’t it?”
“I suppose so.”

It would be very difficult to stop that.
We could stop it.

But as with any war, the damage would be very great.

“Of course, we could counterattack, but it would be very difficult to burn down the Elven Forest, and it’s also problematic to attack directly. We don’t know the paths in that forest, and decisively, we can’t beat the Elves when fighting in the forest.”
“Hmm…”
“But still, if we were to wage a full-scale war, the Elves would eventually suffer devastating damage as well. The human kingdom isn’t just here.”

But we can’t burn down our own house to catch a rat.

This is what it means to wage war with another race.

We have to fight until one side is completely ruined, but no one wants that.

“So I’m under orders to tolerate the Elves’ tyranny as much as possible… I’m putting aside my pride and honor to some extent, but if there are more people like Paladin, it will inevitably be difficult.”

I couldn’t say anything to that complaint.

“…I understand. Anyway. There’s something important I want to talk about.”

So when I brought up that topic, General nodded.

“An important story… Paladin probably already knows. It seems that an individual who is the leader of these otherworld monsters has appeared. For now, we’ve only received eyewitness reports from Marquis Lormanza and his forces, but there’s no reason for them to lie.”
“I heard it directly from him.”
“Is that so? Then the explanation will be faster. We will begin a joint subjugation operation in earnest starting today.”
“A joint subjugation operation?”

It seemed they had planned the operation because the number of troops had increased with the support of the Elves.

“We were able to persuade the Elves, who had some lingering resentment, to reluctantly agree to this. Even though they have an anti-human way of thinking, it was true that they were concerned about this situation.”

Faced with the threat of the leader monster, they seemed to have put aside their unpleasant feelings for the time being.

“That’s why Paladin’s strength is also needed.”
“Of course, I will also lend my strength to exterminating that command entity. In fact, I wasted time unnecessarily due to that dispute.”
“Thank you.”
“But when are we going in?”
“It should be about time.”

ㅡSwish.

As he said that, he picked up a stack of papers and handed it to me.

“This is our side’s operation map.”

I took it and saw that it was a map of the first floor and a partial map of the second floor. Instead of speaking, I looked at his face.

“The first floor has already been subjugated. It’s completely empty.”
“It seems so.”
“So everyone will advance together to the only entrance to the second floor, but after going up to the second floor, we plan to enter in this way.”

I unfolded the map of the second floor, and he pointed to the location with his finger as he explained.

Almost only Lormanza’s guys had explored the second floor. The area that had been explored was very small. So they were planning to divide the allied forces into four groups and advance in a fan shape.

The first force was the Royal Knights.
Next was the Royal Army.
Next was the Elven Army.

The rest were the local lord’s army led by Marquis Lormanza, along with adventurers and mercenary groups.

When these four forces went up to the second floor, they would enter in their respective directions to explore. This wouldn’t cause any major problems with the chain of command, and they wouldn’t fight each other. It could be said to be a very good alliance.

“It doesn’t matter if Paladin supports one of the groups, or if you go another way in the middle. But please remember this signal. If you encounter their command entity, retreat while making a loud noise, and then gather here.”

He pointed to a place marked on the map.

So the plan was to search in a fan shape, and if they found the monster, they would immediately retreat and respond together. It was a very safe operation. Because it was safe, it was simple, so there was nothing difficult about it, and it would work in its own way.

“I’ll keep it in mind. I hope there’s good news.”
“I’m looking forward to it too. Then I’ll see you upstairs.”
“I understand.”

I finished talking and came out.

If we all went together and then acted separately, there wouldn’t be a problem. If we encountered it first, we could fight it once and retreat if it didn’t work. If it was discovered elsewhere, we could immediately go to support.

“Katt. What did he say?”

When I returned, Cloudie came running up and asked.

“Take a look at this.”

I immediately showed her the map and gave her a simple explanation. It wasn’t a difficult story. The girls nodded after hearing my explanation.

“That seems like it won’t be a problem.”
“I’m glad we don’t have to act with the Elven chauvinists!!”
“Father. Over there. It looks like they’re starting to go in.”

As Arie said, looking at the entrance, a full-scale advance was beginning.

“Oh.”

ㅡThump, thump.
ㅡThump, thump.
ㅡThump, thump.

The first to enter was, of course, the Royal Knights. Dressed in proper ceremonial armor, they entered with measured steps.

It felt like watching an army company heading to the training room for a mental education session on the daily schedule.

Next to enter was the Elven army, wearing camouflage-patterned leather armor and wooden helmets with weeds growing on them. They didn’t really follow any formation, but they looked pretty cool because of their camouflage.

The third was the Royal Army infantry.

The last was the combat mage unit led by Marquis Lormanza and the other armed forces he had gathered. That old man, even though he was a mage marquis, seemed to have done a good job of creating a group.

“Let’s go too.”
“Yes.”
“Blackie, let’s go.”

We joined the end of the line and entered the palace.

Before entering, I turned around one last time.

The remaining troops were standing guard with the spirit of guardian deities. They would now guard the entrance and patrol the interior of the first floor with a small number of troops.

* * *

We passed through the corridor on the first floor, where traces of battle remained, and went up the stairs to the second floor.

The stairs were quite high. And as high as they were, the second floor was also very wide and had a high ceiling. The ceiling was even higher than a duplex, which was notorious for its poor heating efficiency.

It seemed they were planning to set up a command post here. Soldiers carrying supplies began to put down chairs and raise flags.

This would be the starting point for entering in a fan shape, like tree roots.

I headed towards the front for a moment.

“…”
“…”
“…”

But as I was going, I felt the Elves’ gaze.

Looking at them, it was clear that they still had quite a bit of dissatisfaction.

ㅡTsupat.

I glanced at them once as a warning.

“Do you have something to say to me?”
“Ah, no. It’s nothing like that. I just looked because you were there…”

When I asked, the Elf panicked and turned his head.

“I understand.”

What a bland bastard.

“Don’t act rashly. That human Paladin’s skills are at least at the level of a Guardian Warrior.”
“He suppressed our warriors so easily… That’s obvious.”
“Don’t cause unnecessary disputes.”

As soon as I turned around, I heard those words from behind.

But Guardian Warrior?
Is that a high rank among Elven warriors?

Anyway, the command post was set up properly.

The ceiling was high, so it seemed like we could even put up a tent.
But we didn’t go that far.

“Ah, Paladin… you’ve arrived.”

It was the Elven commander who greeted me.

“Nice to see you. You look very tired.”
“That incident happened yesterday…”
“But looking at it, it seems you did well. Everyone is quiet.”
“I don’t know how long it will last.”
“What about the adjutant?”
“I sent him away.”

Of course, that’s what you should do.

“Advance!”

At that time, an advance order was issued from over there.

Judging by the voice, it was General.
The knights immediately began to move.

“It seems like it’s starting.”
“Shouldn’t the Elves go right away too?”
“We’ll start soon.”

Then let me ask just one thing.

“Ah, by the way. What is a Guardian Warrior?”
“Guardian Warrior? Ah, you heard the warriors talking.”

She nodded and began to explain.

“An Elf with outstanding skills and abilities is qualified to serve as a Guardian Warrior after gaining sufficient experience. In other words, it is the strongest group of warriors in Elven society.”

That’s totally me.

“Their mission is to protect the World Tree. Of course, they have to be strong.”
“Hmm… Is that so? But isn’t this top secret?”
“It’s not really top secret, and everyone who knows knows about it. Well then. I have to go give orders now.”
“Goodbye.”

Soon she began to give orders.

In that way, all the troops advanced, and we also headed towards the other side of the corridor. We were planning to stick to the rear of Lormanza’s group and then drop out in the middle.

The leader of the otherworld monsters…

First of all, I want to see what it looks like.