novel
| ← Ch.183 | Ch.185 → |
Just when I thought I could relax, an Abyss Howl showed up after the dragon's trial.
He arrived here using a single-use tool Rorono made that functioned as a Transfer array. This allowed the Abyss Howls to come to me like this in times of emergency.
And the emergency this time, according to Kuina's message, was that "Rorono-chan's in danger".
For her to be that panicked, it surely can't be trivial.
And so, I spoke to the [Time] Demon Lord and asked him for permission to set up a Transfer array within his dungeon so that the Abyss Howl could take me home swiftly.
Thankfully, Dantalian approved.
The Abyss Howl worked as fast as it could, but I just couldn't help but feel impatient as it drew the point-of-origin Transfer array we were going to use.
After what felt like an eternity, it was finally done.
"Be safe, Rorono."
Whispering that prayer, I, along with Duke and the Abyss Howl jumped to Avalon.
◇
The destination Transfer array was in the basement of my estate.
In case something unforeseen was to happen within the city, most of my top monsters were to meet in a room in the basement that could serve as a command room. It had all kinds of equipment prepared, like communications as well as surveillance equipment.
It was almost like being in the crystal room in the deepest part of my dungeon.
When I opened the door...
"Kuina, reflect. You shouldn't have jumped to a conclusion right away."
"I'm really sorry, Rorono-chan, but if anyone saw you like that, they'd misunderstand too."
... Rorono, who was supposed to be in danger, was pressing her knuckles to Kuina's temples.
Meanwhile, Kuina was teary-eyed and profusely crying.
"Because of your lapse in judgement, not only did you waste that mobile Transfer array—which I worked hard on—you've also summoned master to come home even though he's in the middle of undertaking the dragon's trial. You lack calm, Kuina. Reflect on that."
"Uuuuuuu, I'm sorry, I didn't mean itttttt."
Kuina was actually in a bit of pain. Even her prized tail was in bad shape.
After all, despite Rorono being a production-type monster, she still had extremely high physical strength as well as the skill [Herculean Strength]. It was more than enough to hurt Kuina.
I don't know what happened, but at least it seems that Rorono's safe. That's a load off my chest.
"Why don't you two tell me what happened first?"
"Oto-san!"
"Master, "
When my two daughters saw me, they ran up to me right away.
◇
"I understand the situation now. When an adventurer controlled by a Demon Lord used a mysterious item, a large number of monsters suddenly appeared in the city. Am I correct?"
Monsters aside, adventurers were free to come and go in Avalon.
The rationale behind that was that they were just adventurers, so the threat they presented was small and manageable.
Unfortunately, that was taken advantage of today.
An unknown seal was carved in the said adventurer. When that seal shone brightly, a lot of monsters poured out.
It sounded like it was a magic spell that was similar to [Storage] or maybe even [Transfer], but I had never heard of magic spells that could replicate those things.
My next guess was that it was a Demon Lord's skill. If so, it was a truly troublesome skill because it would essentially turn humans into pack mules for transporting monsters.
The point where this ability would shine the most was perhaps when that Demon Lord allied themselves with other Demon Lords. And with the monsters of several Demon Lords pouring out of the humans, even a dungeon with as much defense as Avalon would be put on the back foot.
But then again, in the attack just now, there were only about 20-30 monsters—most of which were C ranks—making me think there was some kind of limit to that ability.
I would be happy if that was the case, but that might be too good to be true. If they intended to kidnap Rorono, they would need a force of at least 10 times the previous one to get past the Ocean Singers, Abyss Howls, and golems protecting Rorono.
"Mhm. Each of those enemy monsters headed to my workshop. It would have been easy to defeat them, but the humans in Avalon would have been caught in the middle. Obviously, that was not ideal... but then I remembered that they were after me, so we gave them a false target."
"You've prepared something like that?"
"Mhm, a moving doll. Its appearance is exactly like mine. It even gives off the same scent as well as touch as me. And to a point, even the same magic power signature. It's very hard to tell us apart at first glance."
By giving the moving doll to the enemy monsters, they would think they had accomplished their mission and leave Avalon as soon as possible. And thanks to that, a battle didn't have to take place.
"It not just a doll though. So long as it's not in another dimension, it would periodically send signals telling us where it is. Soon, we will know the enemy's headquarters."
"Ohh, that's interesting. What is the maximum range it can support?"
"Up to 200 kilometers."
By "another dimension", that included a Demon Lord's dungeon.
Because each dungeon room of a dungeon was on a different dimension, communication devices that used radio signals couldn't breach through.
Even so, it was more than enough to know the doll's location before it entered a dungeon. Because then, we would be able to confirm who the enemy Demon Lord was.
Of course, there was also the chance their dungeon was more than 200 kilometers away, it would at least give us clues.
"By the way, if they tried to dismantle the doll or a day have passed after it left Avalon, it is set to explode. It has as much explosive power as can be fit in a humanoid sized body. At point blank range, even Kuina would be in trouble."
"Why does Kuina have to be the example!?"
"Because you're sturdy and you're the most familiar to me."
"Rorono-chan, you're mean!"
Teary-eyed, Kuina protested so.
"It's that strong, huh."
"Aghh, you too, Oto-san?"
This time, Kuina was also puffing her face.
A bomb that had enough power to heavily injure even Kuina certainly was reliable. It was enough to kill most average A rank monsters and even Demon Lords. If it detonated in the center of an enemy formation, the damage to them would truly be major.
"When did you make such a thing?"
"Quite a while ago. It was in preparation for the possibility that our enemies would target your [Monsters of the Covenant]. As such, I have also made dolls resembling Kuina and Aura."
"Interesting. Mind showing them to me?"
"Mhm, alright. It's in my workshop, so please follow me."
At any rate, Rorono was safe.
And apparently, it was greatly thanks to a Dwarf Smith. That same Dwarf Smith was about to explain in more detail what happened.
She had noticed that the attacking force was too small if their true intention was to kidnap Rorono. So much so that if they ever succeeded, it would all come down to miraculous luck.
And so, she theorized that the attacking force was most likely an expendable force sent to assess how we were going to protect Rorono.
So, in order to not only suppress the damage to Avalon as much as possible but also to not expose our hand, the decision to give the enemy a fake was made.
It would be most welcome if we could identify the Demon Lord behind the attack. If that happens, we would immediately go to [War] and eliminate them.
If we couldn't formally go to [War], we could always simply dive into their dungeon and break their crystal.
As I currently was, I believed that to be more than possible.
They had dispatched monsters to Avalon as well as stolen property from us in the form of the Rorono's doll.
In other words, the other side raised their hand first and we were only exacting what we were due.
"Master, you seem lost in thought... ?"
"Oh, yeah... I'm just thinking how amazing my monsters are."
The reason we did a great this time was because the Dwarf Smith thought of this strategy and also because Rorono made the doll that fooled the enemy monsters.
"... Oto-san, Kuina's very sorry. Kuina misread the situation and thought Rorono-chan's been kidnapped. Plus, Kuina wasted the valuable mobile Transfer array thingy."
Teary-eyed once again, Kuina apologized like that.
"No, it's fine. You were just doing your role. You wanted me to know that Rorono was in danger as soon as possible, right? I can't fault you for something like, now can I?"
I replied like that and then patted her head.
Even though we won this time, it was unlikely the enemy Demon Lord would give up just like that.
Of course, it would be ideal if that Demon Lord was somehow caught up in the explosion Rorono's moving doll was going to cause, but that might be asking for too much.
What could their next move be? Well, whatever it is, we'll smash it too.
"Dwarf Smith, has the corpse of the adventurer who released those monsters been preserved?"
"Yes. The Ocean Singers have used their magic to freeze and preserve the corpse. There should be no trouble for Duke-sama to resurrect the adventurer later and interrogate him."
It was possible we wouldn't get any information at all, but it was worth the shot.
◇
After that, we headed toward Rorono's workshop.
We were currently looking at the dolls that resembled Kuina and Aura.
"Woah, it looks exactly like Kuina.... Amazing, this feels just like Aura-chan's chest."
For some reason, Kuina grabbed the doll Aura's chest and began moving her hand.
But still, the dolls were surreal.
"You've made them so well. Can you make a doll of anyone?"
"If I tried, I could. Obviously, there's one of master too."
"Could you show it to us as well?"
"...... no. Not right now."
Before Rorono turned her head, I saw that it grew bright red.
Could the reason she can't show it be because it's broken? I have a feeling asking more would be like stepping into a landmine. I better just keep quiet.
Nevertheless, the dolls for Kuina and Aura were so convincing, even I had trouble telling them apart. No wonder the enemy monsters couldn't either.
Moreover, if the dolls were this exquisitely made, they could serve purposes other than just being a decoy.
But it's better to drop the issue because that'll mostly be just a waste of Rorono's efforts.
"Master, the signal transmission from the doll has ceased. It's still within the maximum range, so it's more likely that it had entered a different dimension."
Rorono then took out her tablet and opened a map.
A certain point in the map was glowing red.
"Great job. I'll go consult Marcho about it tomorrow. She should know whether there's a dungeon there. If there is, she might also the Demon Lord it belongs to... Once we've confirmed those, we'll go crush them."
Though it was an unsuccessful attempt, the fact of the matter was that they aimed for my important daughter.
For that crime, I'm going to make them pay. That is unless they've already been blown up by the Rorono doll.
| ← Ch. 183 | Ch. 185 → |