Disgruntled

That night, Dream Maker’s top officials gathered to voice their complaints.

『What is wrong with those men?! It’s like they just came here to collect dragon stones.』

『Indeed. They probably don’t care about our home.』

『They couldn’t have crossed the monster-ridden sea without our technology.』

The plans laid out at the last meeting were simple.

· Push forward with the destruction of the Roots

· Continue development of Lands Harvest and prepare for the arrival of the second batch

That was all. Both the captain of Ponsonia’s knights and the Beastman King were out on expeditions and were not present at the meeting. Forestia and Bios haven’t had much success. They were eager to score more before the second batch arrived. Vireocean, the country leading the expeditionary army, and its ally, the Quinbland Empire, strove to maintain the status quo.

It was only natural that they saved the reclamation of Dream Maker, which had no Roots to begin with, until after the second batch arrived and things had really settled down.

『Everyone, calm down.』

『But Sir Grucel. How can we calm down when they’re making a fool out of us?』

『Please understand that His Majesty himself feels the most frustrated of us all. His Majesty carries the hope of our people to take back Dream Maker as soon as possible.』

Embarrassed, the agitated officials bowed to Doriachi. The king was smiling softly as usual—no, he appeared to be a little paler.

『Apologies, Your Majesty. We just keep complaining.』

『No need to apologize. I’m glad to hear what you feel. I too feel the same impatience. Let us figure out what to do now.』

The mood changed, giving way to constructive opinions.

『I think we should insist in the meetings that reclaiming Dream Maker should be top priority.』

『We’ve said that a thousand times. Nothing happened. Their goal was to come to Grand Dream, and once they achieved that, they no longer see any value in us.』

『It hurts us that only they have the means to communicate with the other continent.』

『Why do they think lightly of Dream Maker?』

『Probably because Lands Harvest is on the west coast, making it more convenient. Dream Maker is still a couple of days away from here by ship.』

『Also because we rightfully own Dream Maker. There’s nothing for them to gain by taking it back.』

『Should we offer them something, then?』

『Nonsense! Bringing them safely here is the best thing we could’ve offered to them. There is no need for us to give anything more.』

『But it seems they’ve completely forgotten about us. They’re too focused on collecting dragon stones.』

『Completely forgotten us…』Grucel muttered.『I have a suggestion. We will take back Dream Maker ourselves. Dragon stones are of no value to us. We only need our home.』

The officials’ eyes lit up.

『That’s a good idea. Take our home back ourselves. I like the sound of that.』

『We haven’t scouted out the area yet. We can take it one step at a time for now.』

『What do you think, Your Majesty?』

In the face of an overwhelming majority, Doriachi shrank back. He had one question in his mind: Why are they so impatient? Their home was within reach, true, but still they were in too much of a hurry.

This suggestion came from Grucel, the most cautious of them all, Doriachi thought.

The king turned his gaze to the man he trusted the most.『What are our chances of success?』

『We’ll have to create a path first and scout ahead for any danger. We can’t do anything unless we know the extent of the destruction and what kind of monsters lurk about.』

『That is a good point.』Doriachi hesitated for a moment.『Very well. Let us make a move ourselves.』

『Sir.』

Everyone agreed with a bright smile. But Doriachi couldn’t erase the anxiety clawing at his mind. What Grucel said sounded right. But it also felt like he didn’t have any plans. That if circumstances permitted, he would immediately push for the reclamation of Dream Maker.

The army officials felt a little guilty for being too focused on the dragon stones, so they accepted Grucel’s proposal to retake Dream Maker with his men alone without objection.

「Where are those guys going?」

「They’re going to take back their home apparently.」

「I thought the place was destroyed by monsters.」

「No idea. I don’t have an inkling what goes on in these people’s minds. There’s a lot of money lying around and they don’t so much as glance at it.」

Adventurers shot cold stares at the Dream Maker army.

They’re finally making a move.

Hikaru had not met with Doriachi the past few days and was not aware of this decision. He thought about asking the king for his thoughts, but realized he really couldn’t do anything anyway. For Doriachi and his people, Dream Maker was their precious home.

Then again…

Hikaru organized his thoughts while submitting the data he had gathered about the local vegetation and monsters to the temporary Adventurers Guild branch.

Adventurers are short-sighted people. That’s a given. But even soldiers and leaders are acting too hasty. They don’t seem to be thinking things through.

People were too eager in their pursuit of riches. Perhaps they felt competitive, surrounded by soldiers from other countries. But Hikaru couldn’t help but think that there was more to it.

「Thank you, Hikaru. Would you like me to raise your companion’s rank to E?」the receptionist asked with a smile on her face.

「What?」

Hikaru didn’t want to bring Lavia and Paula to a place crowded with men, so they asked them to stay in a place only women were allowed.

As was always the case, the guild receptionist was a beautiful woman. Her long, smooth hair was pulled up to the right, and she had a small mole on her mouth.

「Ah. Yes, please.」Hikaru replied.

「Understood. I will update their ranks the next time they come to the guild.」

「But why? It’s a little too soon, I think.」

The commissions Hikaru took were simple jobs. It would probably take dozens of commissions of the same type before one could rank up. Yet the receptionist offered a promotion to the girls so easily even though Lavia and Paula hadn’t taken many commissions from the guild since they rose to rank F.

Rank E would entail greater benefits. You gain some trust from the guild and permission to enter many dungeons.

「You don’t want to?」the receptionist asked.

「I just found it strange, that’s all.」

「To tell you the truth, there are very few adventurers who accept our survey commissions. They all came here with hopes of striking it rich. So we decided to at least reward those who take the jobs.」

「I guess offering increased monetary reward is not an option, given limited budget and all.」

「Exactly. Not only that, but your party is very thorough in your surveys. I wish everyone else followed your example.」

Hikaru was free to use his Stealth to his heart’s content while in the forest, so surveying the local ecosystem wasn’t really a difficult job.

Either way, Hikaru welcomed the promotion, and thinking that Lavia and Paula would be happy too, he thanked the receptionist and left the guild.

However, Hikaru did not accept another commission, saying he needed a break.

He had one theory about the current issues. But he also knew that it would be difficult to convince those motivated by greed.

「I guess we’ll just have to use force.」

Hikaru had decided what he would do next.