Chapter 239: Farewell Greetings
“How was it? I hope you were satisfied with the meal?”
After the banquet, we found ourselves in a separate room, facing the Second Prince, the commander, and what appeared to be other guards from the Majin Tribe. Being summoned against our will, the food was terrible, and there were even traces of poison—there was nothing good about this situation. At the very least, it was clear that I couldn’t expect anything in terms of ‘food.’ It seemed best to make a quick exit.
“It was absolutely terrible. Thank you very much.”
“Huh?”
“What!?”
As I delivered my opening punch of a response, the commander’s puzzled expression was met with Ivan’s incredulous interjection.
“I-I see… There must be some cultural differences in cuisine.”
The commander managed to say this while forcing a smile, though his face was twitching, likely holding back his anger. If anyone should be complaining, it was us.
“So, how do we return to our original world?”
“…Return?”
The commander’s expression turned serious, as if he didn’t quite grasp what I was asking.
“Of course, we have lives back in our original world.”
“Ah… I see… However, that is impossible.”
He nodded slightly, but his words were firm. I had suspected this from the start; whether there was a way back or not, it was clear he had no intention of letting us go.
“I see.”
“Don’t worry. We will ensure your food, clothing, and shelter here.”
Perhaps noticing my disappointment, the commander quickly added this reassurance.
“No, if we can’t go back, then there’s no need for you to guarantee anything.”
Even if they had the intention to send us back, I had no desire to rely on them for food, clothing, or shelter. The Second Prince, who had been watching our exchange from behind, seemed to grow increasingly irritated.
“Listening to you, it seems you have quite the audacity for someone we summoned!”
Suddenly, he exploded in anger.
“Huh? You summoned us?”
What kind of delusional self-importance did this guy have? Was he implying that they had invited us from a primitive world to their advanced one? At least the food had been inedible.
“What is a prince of a criminal nation, who abducts citizens from other countries, even saying?”
“I never asked to be summoned!”
“The food was subpar, and it seems we can’t expect much from you in terms of clothing and shelter either.”
“We’ll manage on our own, so you needn’t worry about us.”
As I and Rio continued to speak, the prince’s face turned increasingly red. The commander drew the staff at his waist, and the guards from the Majin Tribe placed their hands on the hilts of their swords.
“A criminal nation, you say…?”
“Haha… Perhaps your words are a bit excessive?”
“Isn’t abduction a crime?”
As I piled on top of the prince and the commander’s words, I could see their temples twitching in agitation.
“To abduct on a national scale, what a truly barbaric nation you are.”
“You insolent—!”
“Don’t move!”
The prince drew his sword, and the commander conjured a fireball at the tip of his staff. As expected of the commander of the magic brigade, the fireball was charged with potent magic power.
“Hey, hey, is this really okay!?”
Ivan stood up from the sofa, panicking, but I figured it would be fine.
I leave the commander to you.
Understood.
I sent a telepathic signal to Rio, who then restrained the prince with a Spatial Isolation Barrier. After extinguishing the commander’s fireball with her own magic, she bound the commander with the same barrier and then deployed a Magic Disruption Field.
“Ugh!?”
“W-What!?”
“Your Highness!”
As the guards drew their swords and rushed toward us, I sent them flying with a shockwave spell.
“Shall we go then?”
“Y-Yeah.”
“Phonia-chan, let’s move.”
“Okay!”
As I called out, Phonia jumped off the sofa, cradling Nil in her arms.
“W-Wait!”
Who would wait just because they were told to?
“You won’t survive in this land without our protection!”
Oh, really? But there’s no need to worry about that. I took a quick glance inside the Dimensional Box and confirmed that we had a Camping House and a stockpile of food. Even if we couldn’t buy anything from the general store and food procurement outside the city was impossible, we were fine.
“Well, just accept that you summoned the wrong people.”
Waving my hand dismissively behind me, I headed toward the door. I turned the doorknob, which was positioned slightly above my line of sight, and stepped out into the hallway. I could hear something about the effects of subjugation from inside the room, but I ignored it all.
Expanding my Presence Detection to its fullest, I began to map out the terrain.
“Outside is… that way, I think.”
It seemed we were underground. Since it appeared impossible to exit without encountering anyone, I decided to take the shortest route to the surface. I moved down the empty hallway and entered the room at the end. It was locked, but of course, I broke in silently.
“What is this?”
Inside was a spacious area, about the size of a gymnasium, filled with stacked wooden crates. Was this a warehouse or something? I casually opened one of the lids and found it filled with chunks of stone that resembled ore. Upon appraisal, it identified as “Tungsten Ore.” I felt like I had heard of it before; wasn’t it a type of metal?
“Shu, it looks like a dead end, but how do we get out?”
“Hm? Oh, this room is just a hollow space, and right above it is the surface.”
“Wait, are you saying…?”
We could break through the ceiling without needing to climb any stairs to reach the surface.
“Got it.”
Understanding my intent, Rio floated up toward the ceiling.
“Where should I aim for?”
“Um, a bit further over there.”
Once I indicated a spot that was hidden from view and in the shadow of the building, Rio used Spatial Magic to carve a hole in the ceiling.