The Holy Ogress Empire

In terms of territorial size, the Holy Ogress Empire was the third largest nation in the world, coming after the Garhart United Empire and the Demon King's Territory of Augustria.

In terms of national strength, it would probably rank second in the world, surpassing even the Demon King's Territory. Three heroes had been sent to such a vast nation. One was rescued, and one was killed.

And the last one was the hero with Absolute Stealth.

According to Mako, the combat ability of this hero girl was extremely high.

Especially in close combat, she had demonstrated her ability to the fullest.

After all, she could 'disappear' right before your eyes.

There were some heroes with outrageous gifts who wouldn't even be affected by that, but she was certainly someone to watch out for.

And currently, Sei and the others were enjoying their train journey.

It would take three days to reach the imperial capital Manesh, even while transferring to trains that ran through the night.

It would probably be faster to have Lavi fly them, but then they would have to rest at night anyway.

On the other hand, there were trains that operated even at night.

Considering the commotion that would arise if people witnessed a dragon flying, traveling by train was the safer option.

The fastest method would be Ria or Carla's teleportation, but both of them seemed to be busy with something, so this task had been left to them. Well, Carla was probably busy with childcare too, so that couldn't be helped.

… That said, seeing Ria properly participating in childcare had been a fresh experience.

"If we're going to travel, a carriage journey would have more atmosphere to it…"

Kukuri complained as such, but was in the process of conquering the various boxed lunches sold on the train.

"I want to take a bath… Even a shower would be fine."

"Same here. Even just bathing in water would do."

These were Mako and Laila's impressions. The female members were apparently concerned about such things. They had been keeping themselves clean with the Cleanse spell, but it was probably a matter of feeling.

That said, it was peaceful.

It could be said it was natural since they were traveling by train, but nothing eventful happened.

Their journey up until now had included conflict zones and places with poor public order, so being able to cover this much distance this peacefully was a bit strange.

Time passed as they played card games and listened to Kukuri tell stories about various regions and legends.

Even so, the three days had been boring.

"When the heroes return, you'll go back too, Sei…"

Though it was obvious, Laila said somewhat sadly.

"That's still quite a ways off, though."

They would go from Ogress to Garhart, and then circle through the Dragon Wing Continent and Dragon Claw Continent.

Excluding Mako, there were still ten heroes left.

You could say the end of their journey around Nears was in sight.

However, the remaining Dragon Wing Continent and Dragon Claw Continent were where evil gods were running rampant, so you could also say the real challenge was yet to come.

The three heroes in Ogress and Garhart, where peace continued, were in some ways still the easier ones.

While looking at the faces of his companions, Sei steeled himself anew.

 

*

 

The imperial capital Manesh of the Holy Ogress Empire.

It was a vast space protected by lengthy castle walls.

There was a small demon forest nearby, so the walls weren't meaningless. However, the ever-increasing population had been expanding buildings beyond those walls as well.

"Manesh was originally the name of a single country, but when the Dragon Emperor founded the Ogress Archduchy, it became its capital."

Kukuri shared this tidbit of knowledge. The Dragon Emperor was, of course, Ria.

"Within a few decades of its founding, its territory expanded explosively. When civil war broke out in the Kingdom of Casalia, which had originally been the suzerain state, she intervened and destroyed it, and that's when it became known as the Holy Ogress Empire."

That was nearly 3,000 years ago.

After the death of Ria's father, the king, a succession struggle broke out in Casalia. It was a fight among Ria's half-brothers.

At that time, the effects of the Great Collapse still lingered, and the entire world except for Garhart was close to a warring states period, as Carla had told them.

Ria hadn't particularly had any ambitions, but the security around the borders had deteriorated, so as she went about suppressing that, before she knew it, her nation had become a great empire that had absorbed Casalia.

Ria had wistfully said she never wanted to return to that paperwork hell.

The train passed through Manesh's walls and arrived at its southern station.

"Woooow…"

"This is amazing."

Mako and Kukuri were marveling at it. Sei had visited once before, but that had been basically just seeing the royal castle, so he didn't know the full picture of Manesh.

At any rate, the largest station was dome-shaped, and near it stood rows of high-rise buildings.

And from there, subways actually ran, and buses were also used as a means of transportation.

However, only a handful of cars were running.

A station attendant told them that only nobles were allowed to use personal vehicles, and commoners used public transportation. Incidentally, there were also taxis, but these were only used by nobles or for emergency hospital transport.

Horse carriages were also prohibited. Since there was the issue of horse manure disposal, that was understandable.

"Now then, our target should be somewhere in this city…"

The only hero that showed up on Sei's Map was Mako. When he searched for people Level 50 and above, as expected of the imperial capital, dozens of individuals appeared.

According to the Labyrinth's map, there was little doubt she was in the capital, but that was as far as it went.

As expected, Absolute Stealth couldn't be detected even by Sei's Map. If he'd known this would happen, he should have had the hero with Absolute Detection stay.

"We'll just have to steadily gather information and put out requests to adventurers."

Kukuri said that, but even when Ria had put out a request using her power and wealth, she still hadn't been found.

"This might take more time than expected… For now, let's head to the inn."

Sei's destination was the royal castle. He'd nearly forgotten himself, but Sei had been granted noble status in Ogress. So he could use taxis and the castle's lodging facilities.

 

*

 

"Ooooooh!"

The one looking up at the royal castle in admiration was Kukuri. Others in the group also had their mouths wide open in surprise, but in truth, Avalon's royal castle was larger in scale.

However, this was a white castle. It was said to have originally been built with yellowish marble, but it was almost completely destroyed in a battle with a dragon, and after that, white marble was mainly used.

The lodging facilities in one corner were originally meant for foreign dignitaries, but there was nothing wrong with Sei using them.

After securing rooms, Sei asked a lady-in-waiting about the schedules of the emperor or prime minister, but unsurprisingly, they couldn't meet immediately.

However, he asked her to convey that Duke Parla, Sei, had arrived with his companions.

"Alright, then let's start with the classic adventurer's guild."

Kukuri said excitedly, but in truth, sightseeing the capital was probably the real goal.

However, that was put on hold.

"Bath first."

"Yeah, I at least want to bathe in water."

At Mako and Laila's insistence, Kukuri obediently yielded.

 

*

 

In the vast bathhouse were four girls.

Sei watched the other three from the corner of his eye, gulping.

While thinking how glad he was to have become a girl.

"You use hot water… Does it feel good?"

Lavi asked while cocking her head to the side, addressing Laila, who had only ever bathed in water in the Great Forest. Well, a divine dragon wouldn't die without bathing.

"Oh, absolutely. Baths feel good on their own, but when it's this luxurious…"

Mako said this for some reason while puffing out her chest. Unrelated, but her bust had grown considerably since they first met.

Incidentally, the other three had modest chests.

"I see. Well then, let me try."

"Wait! It's proper manners to wash off your body's dirt first!"

And thus began the playful bath time.

Sei watched it with excitement nearly to the point of getting a nosebleed.

 

*

 

Now then, the one who took the longest after the bath was Bungol, the high orc with fur.

When Sei used the Warm Wind spell, one of the useful daily life spells Ria had taught him, to remove the moisture, Bungol wore an expression of supreme comfort.

A relaxed high orc was rather cute.

Having finished their preparations, the group finally headed to the imperial capital's adventurer's guild.

The number of adventurers in the capital wasn't that high. When monsters swarmed in nearby demon forests, the army would normally handle it.

Even so, it was a huge capital. There was plenty of work available if you weren't picky, and adventurers existed as a niche industry.

Visiting the adventurer's guild near the walls, Sei and his group first checked on the progress of Ria's request.

"Unfortunately, there is nothing to report."

Given who the requester was, the one who met with Sei's group was the guildmaster of the capital.

Based on Mako's memories, Ria had created photographs of the person to search for and distributed them to the guild.

The photographs were also posted at guard stations and community centers, and rewards were being offered to informants, so even if the capital was vast, you would think she'd be found.

Large-scale searches by mages had also been conducted, but the hero with Absolute Stealth still hadn't been found.

"Um, is it possible she's being sheltered by a criminal organization?"

The guildmaster shook his head at Sei's question too.

"Criminal organizations in the capital are all small operations. If we wanted to, we could wipe them out immediately, but they're being overlooked as a necessary evil."

"… In the first place, even if Kasukabe-chan is hiding somewhere… she would definitely need a bed or a bath…"

According to Mako, the hero with Absolute Stealth was an ordinary Japanese high school girl who desired ordinary comforts.

For her to have been hiding in the capital this whole time meant she was either putting up with considerable hardship, or there was some blind spot.

After leaving the adventurer's guild, Sei's group stopped by a guard station.

What humans needed to survive was clothing, food, and shelter. Using the Absolute Stealth ability, dine-and-dashing or pickpocketing might be possible. Sei wondered if such petty crimes were occurring frequently, but apparently there was nothing of the sort.

"Clothing, food, and shelter… preferably at the same level as Japan…"

Mako crossed her arms and thought, but the capital's standard of living was high. At the very least, the lodging facilities were more luxurious than even Japan's top-tier hotels.

"Is there some blind spot…?"

Sei put his hand to his chin and thought, but nothing came to mind.

"What if a noble is sheltering her instead?"

Kukuri suggested, but the reason a noble would shelter her? The emperor had issued search orders. What reason would warrant going out of their way to shelter her?

"Her gift would be suited for assassination."

Saying something ominous, the group followed up with the city's information brokers, and the day passed.

 

*

 

Having returned to the castle, Sei and Mako were invited to the emperor's dinner that evening.

Since he couldn't make time otherwise, they would talk during the meal.

If it was dinner with the emperor, it made sense that only Sei, a noble, and Mako, a hero, were invited.

The divine dragon Lavi was hiding her true identity, after all.

"… By the way, how is the Founder doing?"

While the emperor dined with elegant movements, Sei and Mako ate with help from the ladies-in-waiting.

"Master? I don't have a complete picture either, but she seems to be in contact with divine dragons in various places and old companions."

"I see… It is not a favorable sign that she is taking action. It means a world crisis is approaching…"

The emperor spoke with a pained expression.

"The person search the Founder requested isn't going well either…"

Hearing those words, Sei suddenly had a thought.

Something clicked into place in his mind.

"Your Majesty, if one wanted to live the best life possible in this Manesh, where would one live?"

"That would of course be this palace or… if considering convenience, there are luxurious inns as well, but…"

That was the answer Sei was looking for.

Map. This gift that had been most helpful in searching for heroes.

It seemed this gift would be the key this time as well.