"…Ok then, let's obtain the king's cooperation."

  "The king?"

  "Yea. Going to another country after acquiring info and cooperation from the country will definitely make things go smoother than going without any information whatsoever."

  However, asking for an audience with the king would take too much time.

  He'd come for sure, but dealing with procedures and stuff is annoying.

  Therefore…


  "But we'll be using a back door."

  "Back door?"

  "Yea, the principal. If we bring the horn of the demon we beat earlier to him, things should proceed the quickest."

  The principal knows the king personally after all.

  I mean he went and brought me to the king quite easily back then, we should be able to get the king's help while bypassing annoying procedures.

  We're not in that much of a hurry since the magic stone mana won't stabilize for a while… But going abroad feels like it's going to get troublesome. I'd like to have some free time with us if possible.

  "I see, the principal huh… Principal Edward is quite a mystery himself…"

  "You're right, apparently he's friends with the king… I feel like my common sense is paralyzed with Mathi-kun around."

  Well, whether we're meeting the principal or the king, we've got to go to the royal capital anyway.

  "Let's return to the royal capital for now."

  "I got it!　…Should I fly?"

  "No, let's just run. Looking for a place to land that won't cause uproar around the royal capital is too much work. Just running is safe and fast."

  Besides, Iris's body seems to still have damages left on it, transforming back to her dragon form would put a large burden on her.

  Her wings and magic circuit are recovering little by little, but it should take time until they go back to normal.

  Even if she had no choice but to transform back, surely there will be a better time for it than just for returning to the capital.

  "True, we'll be back in no time by running if it's just to the royal capital!"

  "Now that you mention it, it does feel close by!"

  "…Nearly 100 kilometer away shouldn't have been called 'close'… But it does feel like it's not that far."

  The girls seem eager to run too.

  Of course, that means we'll be passing through Cikirisbia forest, but no one is objecting unlike the time we departed.

  Thus, we quickly got ready and began to run toward the capital.

  "Cikirisbia forest has this scary image to it, but it's just a normal forest when you take a better look."

  "It is, it might be a bit dark… But you can cover your vision with 『Passive Detection』."

  "I don't recommend relying only on Passive Detection since monsters may sometimes be attracted to it. …You can use this time to practice investigating which monsters get attracted to Passive Detection and those that can't be detected by it."

  "Gotcha!"

  Passive Detection isn't almighty.

  In order to avoid an ambush from opponents where Passive Detection doesn't work on, you need to secure your vision and perceive their presence.

  …Well, there's no particularly strong monsters in this route, there's no need to worry about that now.

  We smoothly advance toward the royal capital while practicing as such.

  And, in the evening.

  "Arrived!"

  "Feels like it went by far quicker than when we left!"

  We arrived at the capital.

  And immediately went to the site where the second academy was located.

  But what await us there was…


  "…Huh? This was where the Second Academy was, right?"

  "No mistake about it, it should be here. I can sense the barrier's core."

  "It looks like they're constructing something…"

  It's a construction site where a huge building is seemingly being built.

  Just what the heck happened in the short while we were not in the capital.