Roland and his team were making steady progress through the "Volcano Dungeon," but when they reached the halfway point of the "Metal Line," their momentum began to fade.


    Behind them, they could hear the sound of many footsteps, and the "Wise Man''s Crown" must be close at hand.


    Leon began to feel uneasy.


    Roland. Are you sure you can go on like this?　The troops are getting tired, and the "Wise Man''s Crown" is almost upon us. We have a battle with the White Wolves coming up, and if the "Crown of Wisdom" guys try to set us up, we''re going to ......


    Don''t worry. I''ve already thought about that."


    I see. If you say so, well, ......"


    （The ace in the hole is already worn out. Jamil will not miss it.)


    Good. I see the guys from the "Arsenal of Spirits" alliance. We''re almost there!


    Neil said as he led at the head of the Grand Alliance.


    Neil. I think it''s time we had a seat at the negotiating table with them."


    Ian suggested.


    ''If we continue to engage in encounters in the dungeon, we could both suffer tremendous damage. To avoid that, we should ......"


    Negotiations?　There''s no need for that. The only time we sit down to negotiate is when they bow down to us!　If they refuse to give way, we will force them to leave. Tomorrow is war. Get your heads up and get ready, you guys.


    Neil said that much and went into his tent.


    (Neil''s guy, are you going to fight with the "Arsenal of Spirits" alliance? ...... I guess it was a mistake to blast him. I didn''t expect him to be this much of a handful.)


    Three days into the chase.


    The "Grand Alliance" had become a top priority to overtake the "Arsenal of Spirits" alliance.


    To do so, they sacrificed everything.


    Ian was worried.


    Ian was anxious because he had a suspicious feeling about the movements of the "Arsenal of Spirits" alliance.


    （Something is not right with them.)


    While the "Arsenal of Spirits" alliance was the first to arrive, the "Philosopher''s Crown" was able to pick up rare metals.


    Neil did not care, assuming that the "Arsenal of Spirits" alliance had dropped it, but Ian did not think so.


    （Ian didn''t think so. (The fact that they did so means that the "Arsenal of Spirits" alliance has already finished procuring most of the ore. ) Nevertheless, they continued their dungeon search without stopping. I can only assume that they are after something. What on earth are they after?)


    The next day, the "Grand Alliance" was eager to finally overtake the "Spirit Arsenal" alliance, but the "Spirit Arsenal" alliance had disappeared without a trace.


    In the morning, they packed up their belongings and made a detour down the mountain.


    （They were beaten!　(I knew the "Arsenal of Spirits" alliance had already procured the ore.)


    Ian finally realized that they had been lured in by the "Arsenal of Spirits" alliance.


    (The aim is to make us fight the White Wolf? (They want to use us as bait to dodge the White Wolf''s ambush.)


    Neil was rather glad to see his rival disappear.


    (Finally, the bump over his eye is gone. Now I can concentrate on searching and collecting ore.)


    The ''Arsenal of Spirits'' alliance fled in fear of us. Anyone who runs away from a dungeon has no right to call himself an adventurer!"


    Neil blew this to boost the morale of the troops.


    Ian was the only one with a grave expression on his face.


    （Ian was the only one with a grim look on his face. (I have no doubt that the "White Wolf" will focus its attacks on us.) All we can do now is hope that the "White Wolf" will devote a little more troops to the "Arsenal of Spirits" alliance.


    Ian looks downward.


    （Ian looks downward. But what do you think?　The White Wolf isn''t so naive as to let you off the hook for free.)


    Jamil was following behind the "Arsenal of Spirits" alliance and the "Grand Alliance" as he prepared for their descent.


    He had selected in advance the points where he would ambush the descending troops, and he had also prepared a base from which they could escape when they retreated, where he had hidden items such as potions and spare equipment such as armored suits of arms.


    As Jamil was making the final checks with the leaders of each group, Rodo, who had been on a scouting mission aboard the "Fire Dragon (Fafnir)," came back.


    Jamil, the guys from the ''Arsenal of Spirits'' have started to descend the mountain.


    I see. So?　Did "The Wise Man''s Crown" manage to chip away at the "Arsenal of the Spirits" even a little?"


    The "Hinya. Not at all. They won''t even let me fight.


    "...... I see."


    (Tsk. They''re useless.)


    It can''t be helped. The main power will be applied to the "Grand Alliance". Zain. You take a reserve unit and head for the Alliance of the Arsenal of Spirits.


    Okay.


    (Roland. Don''t think you can get away with it just because you''ve successfully scattered the Grand Alliance. You''ve come into our yard, and we''re going to make you pay for it.)


    Halfway down a road that sloped down on one side, the "Arsenal of Spirits" alliance came under attack.


    Arrows rained down on the troops.


    Enemy attack!


    They''re coming from the right.


    Roland quickly deployed his troops and fortified his defense.


    (Quicksilver ambushes us in a good spot. Now the second half of the battle begins. (What will happen when we add Euphine and the others to the mix?)


    Rick was enthusiastic as he held his shield on the front line.


    (Hmmm. Finally, the Thieves'' Guild has arrived. I''ve been forced to do nothing but defend myself, and here I''m going to make it up to them.)


    After holding his shield up for a while, the rain of arrows stopped.


    Good. Now. I''m going to cut you down. Follow me!"


    Rick pulled out his sword and valiantly charged into the enemy lines.


    However, his companions were sparsely following him.


    What?"


    Eventually, Rick, who stuck out, was attacked intensively.


    Rick pulled back in a hurry.


    Hey," he said. What are you guys doing? This is your chance to cut into the enemy!"


    But his allies around him never want to move forward from the safe zone.


    (What?)


    In the end, the "White Wolf" gets away with it after being cut down so much in a one-sided manner.


    Hey," he said, "I''m not going to let them get away. You guys. What do you think you''re doing? Have you come this far and got scared?　The enemy got away from us."


    Rick was indignant, but the local adventurers just shrugged their shoulders.


    (d*mn. These guys ......)


    Leon watched with bitterness.


    （I guess this is what happens on the way home," he said. I wondered what would happen with the addition of the "Guardian of the Magic Tree," ....... The most important thing to remember is that you should not wear out the ore you''ve got. I don''t know why we''re in this bad habit, but it''s pretty serious.)


    At the next ambush point, the "Arsenal of Spirits" alliance was again taken out first by the "White Wolf" light troops, and the "Arsenal of Spirits" alliance was unable to keep pace with the assault.


    The "Arsenal of Spirits" alliance could not keep pace with the attackers. Enough!　If this happens, I''m going to have to go in alone. Agility Granted."


    Rick''s body seemed to be enveloped in a green light, and he ran up the slope with tremendous speed.


    But just as he was about to cut into the enemy, a red ray of light came toward him.


    "!!!"


    A fireball hit Rick''s armor.


    G......a."


    Rick cringes and falls to his knees.


    (What the hell was that attack? It''s not even ordinary "flame blast magic. Don''t tell me this is "Dragoon''s Baskets"?


    The Dragoon has hit!


    Now. Concentrate fire."


    Countless arrows fly toward Rick again.


    What? This is it.


    Rick rushes forward again with his shield at the ready, undaunted by the hail of arrows raining down on him.


    The bandits, however, retreated and dodged Rick''s attack.


    An arrow shot from high up on the side forced Rick to retreat.


    ''Gghh. Oi, ......."


    Rick''s attack missed, but Erio''s tongue was in his mouth at the sight of it.


    (Amazing. That''s the spirit of an A-class shield user ......)


    As the battle stalemates, Lelio finds a perfect shooting position.


    It is a low spot, but there are shrubs that prevent attacks from above.


    (Okay. There it is. ......)


    !　Wait, Lelio. You can''t go that way."


    Not hearing Jeff''s attempts to restrain him, Lelio took off running.


    But as he made his way toward the place he was going to run into, iron spikes rained down on him.


    (?　(What the hell is this?)


    A sharp pain runs through my leg.


    Ugh. Ggh."


    (Crap. Is this ......, a scattering of water chestnuts (......)?


    He found that water chestnuts were spread all around him.


    Roland was forced to devote a number of people to rescuing Lelio.


    Yuffine and Shakuma were completely bewildered by the "White Wolf''s" fighting style while recovering and providing support.


    What is it with these guys and their fighting style?


    The "hearts and minds" of the people are being chipped away at, rather than destroyed. It''s like that.


    As Rick and Lelio retreated, the entire unit began to pull back.


    The unrest was about to spread throughout the alliance, as the "Guardians of the Magic Tree" and the local guilds were not aligned.


    Hey, that''s not good, Roland.


    Leon said.


    The Guardians of the Magic Tree are still getting used to fighting the White Wolves, and our local guilds are reluctant to fight them on the way home," Leon said. We had just successfully gotten through the "Wise Man''s Crown". If we don''t do something, we''ll be entangled with the White Wolves. We have to do something. ......


    Leon. Don''t you realize?"


    An?"　What''s that?"


    Fafnir hasn''t come at all since a while ago.


    "Oh, ......."


    The enemy we are fighting now does not have anyone who can handle ''Ryuin''. In other words, ......


    Roland pointed to the sky.


    It means that our ''dragon sound'' is effective.


    He already had Nicola play the lyre (harp).


    A large shadow crossed between the troops.


    As if a yell rang out in the sky, three "fire dragons (Fafnir)" attacked the "white wolves".


    The bandits fled in panic at the surprise attack from behind.


    Roland and his men left the line of fire without pursuing the enemy too deeply.


    Zain tried to regroup his troops to pursue Roland, but it took a long time because they were not the main force.


    Roland and his men took the opportunity to run down the mountain and scatter the "White Wolf" pursuit force.


    They returned to the town almost unharmed.


    In the town, the residents were waiting for the adventurers to return.


    They were anxious to see who would return first, the "Arsenal of Spirits" alliance or the "Grand Alliance.


    Some of them climbed onto rooftops or watched from observation towers to see which alliance would return as soon as possible.


    As soon as it was announced that the "Arsenal of Spirits" alliance was the first to return, the town was filled with joy.


    The residents believed that the "Arsenal of Spirits" alliance had defeated the "Grand Alliance.


    The people gathered in front of the dungeon to celebrate the adventurers.


    Roland ordered his allies to take the long way back to the "Arsenal of Spirits.


    The town then took on the appearance of a parade.


    A new culture was taking root on the island.


    A culture of seeing the first guild to return from the dungeon.


    And a culture of high expectations for the local adventurers.


    Some of the local adventurers were even gambling on whether the locals or outsiders would win, but the expectations of the residents for the local adventurers only grew higher by the day.


    <>