Chapter 329: Councilor
A few days had passed since the introduction of the Wi-Fi environment. Today, I had come alone to check on the state of the Forest while also setting up a surveillance camera at the entrance of the Dungeon. Crossing dimensions significantly increases the consumption of Magic Power, so I decided to place the camera outside the Dungeon. Since the entrance is underground, I aimed to set it up discreetly in a corner of the room to ensure a clear view.
Using Spatial Magic, I created a hole leading to the Camping House, then reached in to pull out the LAN cable and power cable extending from the router. I minimized the hole and filled the gaps with Earth Magic to prevent any openings. Once I set up the camera and covered the surroundings, it was complete.
“Hey, can you see it?”
I powered on the camera and called out to El, who was at home, using Telepathic Communication. The camera had a feature that notified me of any changes in the footage, such as something crossing in front of it, so I made sure to enable that.
“No, not yet… Oh, there it is!”
I waved my hand in front of the camera to test it.
“The image is grainy, but I can see you waving, Shu.”
“Really? That’s great!”
Thanks to my Skill of Night Vision, I could see clearly, but when I checked the screen on my smartphone, it was pitch black, and I couldn’t make out anything. I was curious about how it looked, but I decided to teleport home after checking the state of the Forest in the area I hadn’t confirmed yet.
“…What are you doing?”
As I entered the Living Room, I found El and Phonia sitting side by side at the table. This combination of the two was quite rare, but I greeted them nonetheless.
“Hehe! I’m teaching El Onee-chan Japanese!”
Phonia looked up at me, puffing out her chest proudly. Her ears and tail stood erect, twitching adorably from time to time. It seemed she was genuinely delighted to be able to teach someone, despite being the smallest among us.
“Ah, I see.”
Peering over the table, I noticed both of them were practicing writing in Japanese. It seemed they had mastered Hiragana and were now tackling Katakana. Still, I thought Phonia might benefit more from studying Brinks Language, which she would use more often than Japanese.
“Is Rio and Ivan in the backyard?”
“Yeah, they were training together.”
“I see.”
As Phonia had mentioned, when I stepped into the backyard, I found Ivan sprawled out on the ground, looking utterly exhausted. The sight conveyed his fatigue vividly. Rio, on the other hand, was inspecting her katana with a serious expression, and upon closer inspection, I noticed various swords scattered around.
“Oh, welcome back!”
“I’m home. What were you up to?”
As Rio looked up, I scanned the area. There didn’t seem to be any broken swords, but a few had cracks, which could be dangerous.
“Ahaha.”
With a wry smile, I stood up and began collecting the swords into the Dimensional Box.
“I lost when I clashed my sword made from Earth Magic against Ivan’s spear…”
“You lost?”
Even though Rio specialized in magic, the difference in their physical stats was nearly tenfold, so I found it hard to believe she could lose.
“Ah, that’s not what I meant. The sword I made lost.”
“I see?”
“At first, it only took one hit, and it cracked, which made me really frustrated.”
From what I gathered, it seemed that while dodging Ivan’s attacks, she had been crafting swords and engaging in combat.
“Thanks to that, my crafting speed has increased, though.”
As she spoke, Rio conjured a sword in her right hand. It was a rugged yet sturdy weapon that took about a second to materialize, but the blade was missing, rendering it harmless.
“Damn it, next time, I won’t give you any openings to create weapons!”
Ivan, having caught his breath, stood up while grumbling. If he could afford to let her create a weapon for nearly a second during their duel, it was no wonder he felt overwhelmed. Even if he felt he wasn’t being taken seriously… well, it was Ivan after all. He seemed motivated, so perhaps it was fine to let things continue as they were.
“Good luck! I’m heading to the Guild for a bit.”
“Take care!”
As Rio waved me off, I stepped out into the front yard. Unlike the backyard, the front yard had been somewhat maintained, making it a pleasant sight. Along the path leading to the gate, I had installed LED lights with motion sensors at regular intervals, and flowers had been planted as well. El was probably responsible for the flowers, but I was delighted to see the garden looking so nice.
Upon arriving at the Adventurer’s Guild, I reported to the Guild Master in his Office as usual. Lately, the horde of Monsters had been approaching the city, and the Guild Master’s brow had been furrowed with worry.
“If this continues, we might have to raise the Alert Level to 2…”
As I overheard him muttering that on my way out, it seemed the time limit was drawing near. Perhaps Rio and I should investigate the Dungeon once more before the level increased.
While pondering this, I stepped into the Guild’s lobby and was suddenly blocked by a man.
“Hmm. You must be the S Rank Adventurer, Lord Shu.”
He was a man dressed in a formal black tailcoat that seemed out of place in this setting. His neatly groomed beard gave off an air of a capable middle-aged man, but his sticky gaze was quite off-putting.
“Who are you?”
His appearance was not that of an Adventurer, which drew some attention as I questioned him.
“My apologies for the late introduction. I am Wesley Grubbs, a Councilor.”
He offered a polite yet insincere bow before continuing.
“I believe you have received a Summons before, but since you have not made an appearance in the Royal Capital, I have been dispatched to meet with you.”