The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 257
An ironic situation where we came to subjugate the dungeon but ended up being guided by the dungeon’s monsters.
The atmosphere was very warm.
This was because the white-armor elf Mirabel was fawning over Eo, Elena, and the twin babies to an almost excessive degree.
Mirabel embraced them so intensely it was embarrassing. While Eo might be okay with it, Elena, being older, seemed embarrassed by such skinship, her face turning red.
Elena gestures to be let go.
“A-Ancestor, I should really… Oof!?”
However, to Mirabel, everyone was like a newborn baby, so she continued doting on Elena without concern.
Dumbfounded by this ridiculous scene, I spoke to Vindalin.
“Did you already know about this Cradle of the Swamp?”
“It was a famous incident.”
“For something so famous, Altron didn’t seem to know anything about it.”
For some reason, Vindalin showed displeasure at the mention of Altron.
“That fellow never had much interest in worldly affairs to begin with. Can’t you tell just by how he shut himself away on an island with the elves? Besides, he had particularly long sleeping periods. When this happened, he was conveniently asleep.”
“So that’s why he only knew about Mirabel through rumors.”
I decided to ask something I’d been curious about.
“Vindalin, did you approach me knowing I was the person of prophecy?”
“Person of prophecy?”
He tilted his head as if hearing this for the first time.
This unexpected response made me ask hurriedly.
“According to Altron, I’m the person of prophecy. He said I would find him 30 years from now, learn the truth of the world, and unify the continent.”
“This is the first I’m hearing of this. I see, so Altron finally…”
“If you didn’t know… Then why did you approach me? You confirmed my attributes in Ramdamen and guided me to the Royal Academy. You even cast that strange magic that reads the dungeon’s past. Wasn’t it all intentional?”
“You’re right. I knew you had come to this world and deliberately approached you. Above all, I didn’t want to let you go to the Alliance.”
“How did you know without knowing about the prophecy…?”
“Because you were General Wade, famous in the Magic Continent.”
“…!?”
Vindalin continued calmly.
“I can travel to and from the Magic Continent. Since Omeron separated the Magic Continent, I’ve continued researching and found a way. The elves of Kuravel Holy Nation were able to cross over to this world thanks to the method I showed them.”
“Ah…!?”
“Then I noticed something strange happening. I felt the transfer magic circle that had been abandoned for decades at Kuravel’s old site activate. I immediately headed to Crossing and Kuravel’s old site to investigate. And I discovered that Wade, the mercenary known as a genius general, had disappeared along with his vassals.”
Vindalin says he considered it a fateful variable when Wade, renowned in the Magic Continent, crossed over here using the magic circle he had developed.
“So I quickly crossed over to this continent to find you. It would have been troublesome if someone of your caliber sided with the Alliance. The magic to read the dungeon’s past was something I cast while I was at it. I was curious to see what changes you, considered a young hero in the Magic Continent, would bring here.”
“I-I see. Have you been watching me ever since?”
“Occasionally. Even so, I never expected you to intervene in the royal succession battle to put the queen on the throne, or to release all the magic stone storage. It was also very surprising to me that you contacted Altron and opened up the elves’ island. That’s when I became convinced that you were an important figure who would bring great change to this world. Whether that change would be good or bad, I couldn’t know, but I chose to believe in your fundamental goodness. And just now, what you said about Altron’s prophecy confirmed it. You are a destined figure standing in the whirlwind of the world.”
“Huh….”
Though the story was a bit grandiose, in summary, Vindalin had been watching me occasionally and didn’t know everything.
“Despite such expectations, this turbulence has occurred.”
“Hmm, while this is certainly a major incident, there are plenty of positive aspects too. Like this Cradle of the Swamp, for instance.”
“What positive aspects are you talking about?”
“Just watch quietly.”
Just then, we arrived at the center where the wooden house was located.
Since not everyone could enter the house, only I, Eo, Elena, the twins, Vindalin, and Mirabel went in.
At that time, Ryuna threw a tantrum saying she wanted to go too to protect her siblings, so Yumir had to calm her down.
“Ah….”
Inside the house were male and female elves who appeared to be a married couple.
They embraced the returning Mirabel with sighs of relief.
‘If this was the fortress meant to protect Mirabel who was about to be born…’
This couple must be Mirabel’s parents.
‘So that’s why Mirabel was in this house. But then something’s strange?’
In this dungeon’s history, Mirabel was a newborn. Yet here she appeared in her prime.
Mirabel soon introduced her descendants to her parents. Eo and Elena awkwardly approached the couple at her gesture.
The couple stroked them with kind faces, then shifted their gaze to the twin babies.
“Ah…!”
Tears flowed from their eyes when they saw the babies.
Mirabel too was crying, seemingly moved.
The couple carefully picked up the twins and laid them in the Cradle beside the bed.
At that moment, the Cradle began to shine and the surrounding objects began to disappear, turning into magic. The dungeon that had fulfilled its purpose had begun to dissolve itself.
As the dungeon began to disappear, its history unfolded in my mind.
The content wasn’t much different from what Vindalin had shown, but there were some differences.
It was the madness shown by humans.
Humans displayed mad behavior such as capturing other races to use as slaves, desecrating the corpses of dead elves, and indiscriminately consuming the flesh of beast-type monsters.
‘This is definitely strange.’
Even for me, who had witnessed various forms of madness while moving through battlefields, these actions were disturbing. It was as if they were possessed by something.
“Haa! Haa! Haa…!”
When the vision ended, my head throbbed with pain and I was out of breath.
Anyway, once that vision ended, the dungeon’s dissolution accelerated.
Mirabel was embracing her disappearing parents and weeping bitterly.
Finally, the dungeon, the ancient elves who guarded this place, the beast-type monsters, and all the nature created by magic disappeared.
What remained was only the dungeon turned to magic stone, us, and Mirabel.
Since the wooden house had also disappeared, the vassals outside could see this scene.
“…Huh?”
I could only be bewildered. How was Mirabel still here when the dungeon had disappeared?
Vindalin explains about this.
“It’s because Mirabel didn’t belong to the Cradle of the Swamp.”
“Then does that mean she was bound to this dungeon!?”
“No, dungeon binding doesn’t work on higher beings. This one is exactly that. She was just here to meet her parents. I brought her here.”
“Are you saying this person is part of another higher dungeon?”
“Yes, have you heard of the Empress of Magic Realm?”
A dungeon in the Northern Continent, known to be stored in the Alliance’s magic stone storage. People refer to it as, “One of the 10 most vicious dungeons!”
“Yes, this one is its master. Though it must have lost its function now since she’s away from her post.”
In the past, the Cradle of the Swamp had occurred as a dungeon. And the Empress of Magic Realm had also occurred as a dungeon.
“Back then, the timing didn’t match, but this time was different. Both dungeons were released simultaneously. Thanks to that, Mirabel was able to cross thousands of years to reunite with her parents.”
“I can’t believe such a thing is possible…”
I was speechless from disbelief.
Mirabel approached me and extended her hand as if asking for a handshake.
Vindalin grinned and said, “She’s saying she’ll follow you. Although she hates humans, her fundamental goal is to eliminate Mother Goddess and her kin who are working behind the scenes. Her intentions align with yours. Well, for now, take her with you and teach her how to speak first.”
“Gasp…”
To think I would end up receiving a dungeon monster as a vassal.
At this shocking event, not only me but also my vassals had their mouths wide open.
* * *
Whatever the process, the subjugation of the Cradle of the Swamp ultimately ended in success.
‘Maybe it was natural that we failed at first.’
After all, the leader of the 10 great dungeons had made a surprise intervention.
In that surprise attack, our core strength, Master Ilya, was taken down, so there was little room for recovery afterward.
“Heheh!”
Mirabel seemed extremely happy, holding the twins in her arms. Not content with just that, she had Eonia sitting on her lap.
It’s fortunate that Elena escaped beforehand, otherwise, she might have become a victim too.
“Ugh, Lord Ars, please help.”
Eo’s face was flushed, seemingly embarrassed at being treated like a child.
“Sorry… Since we can’t communicate, there’s no way to stop her. Besides, she doesn’t seem to like me very much.”
Still, I tried gesturing to at least let go of Eonia, but Mirabel glared threateningly.
The pressure was so tremendous it sent chills down my spine.
Gaspar, who was riding in the same carriage, says, “This is the first time I’ve seen such a monster. This one… Is stronger than Anton.”
Gaspar’s hair was standing on end as if he had goosebumps.
For him to make such an assessment, Mirabel’s aura as a warrior was beyond imagination.
“That’s hard to say. From what I heard from Juras, Anton has been focusing solely on martial arts training since we disappeared. He must be much stronger now.”
“Well, Anton is a monster too. We won’t know what kind of match it would be until we actually fight.”
“…Anton probably has the advantage.”
“Why is that?”
“Because this one has a weakness.”
It was the weakness that Vindalin had told me about.
Namely, that Mirabel cannot benefit from teleportation scroll.
“Since her body is fundamentally composed of magic, it seems she can’t perform spatial movement. So teleportation scroll doesn’t work either.”
“Indeed… In a one-on-one battle, the presence or absence of teleportation scrolls makes a big difference.”
After traveling for about 3 hours, Baien came into view.
Since Sophia and Leitin would handle reporting to the command room, we could return straight to the mansion.
Mirabel, curious about the magnificent mansion, started looking around while dragging along Eo holding the twins, and Elena too.
I spoke to the other vassals.
“Although it’s still hard for me to accept… Anyway, that’s how it turned out. In that sense, we need someone to teach Mirabel the language.”
Since Eo and Elena weren’t suitable as teachers in that state, we had to entrust it to someone else.
“……”
Everyone was silent. Their gazes naturally turned to Bisketa.
She was indeed suitable, having lots of experience, being knowledgeable, and having been the prime minister of the Kuravel Holy Nation which had close relations with elves.
Bisketa nodded with a bitter smile.
“Alright, I’ll try. It reminds me of when I was teaching Eo letters.”
“Thank you so much, Bisketa.”
“More importantly, Elaine? Won’t the mansion space become a bit tight like this? Especially if other vassals join later.”
“Yes, as you say, it’s already at capacity. I was thinking of requesting a new mansion from Queen Rosa.”
“If that’s the case, let’s use the mansion I’ve been overseeing the construction of.”
“Ah.”
Come to think of it, we were supposed to build a mansion on the outskirts of Baien. I had forgotten about it since Rosa had granted us a nice mansion, but it seems Bisketa had been steadily proceeding with it.
“That mansion is nearing completion. What do you think about moving some people there?”
“Hmm, alright. Let’s discuss the personnel distribution slowly.”
When I tentatively asked around, surprisingly many people seemed to want to move to the mansion on the outskirts.
When I quietly asked Ash why, he wailed, “Isn’t it because you’re lovey-dovey with your wives every night! So they’re trying to be considerate and move out!”
“Oh, so that’s why.”
Since I felt a bit sorry if that was their reason for wanting to move to another mansion, I decided to ask Rosa for one more mansion in addition to the one being built on the outskirts to comfortably distribute the personnel.
* * *
After returning to the mansion and recovering from travel fatigue, I headed to the palace to meet Vindalin.
There were still things we needed to discuss.
I headed to the palace garden with Rosa.
Rosa, having heard the situation beforehand, still seemed unable to believe it.
“Is it really Vindalin? Not an impostor?”
“If that’s what you want to believe, then believe it.”
“No, that’s not what I meant…. It’s just that it sounds too far-fetched…”
Soon Vindalin came walking with a staff. Rosa was startled that he had passed through the royal guards’ security without a trace.
Vindalin glanced at Rosa but, seeming uninterested, soon turned his gaze to me.
“Ars Elaine, regarding what you want to ask, there’s already no need.”
“You speak as if you know everything.”
“You want me to enable travel with the Magic Continent, right? But that Juras Pamilion has already taken measures. Results will come soon, so wait patiently.”
“I see…”
It seems the main request won’t work. So I moved on to the next topic.
“You said you knew I came here and looked for me?”
“And?”
“During that process, did you see any other missing people?”
Since Vindalin could probably freely go to the Lost Lands, I thought he might have clues about the missing people we still haven’t found.
At this, Vindalin’s expression clouded with difficulty.
“Back then, I didn’t know exactly who was in your group. Finding you was most important, so I wasn’t interested in anyone else.”
“Your long introduction means you found someone.”
“Hmm…. But when I went back there after finding you, she wasn’t visible.”
“By she, you mean…!”
Sister Julia, Lysithea, Princess Melodie. It must be one of the three.
But since Sister Julia was likely to be with Olaf, it meant one of the other two.
Vindalin nodded and continued speaking.
“Yes, though it’s just speculation now…. I think I saw Melodie Malorn in the Eastern Continent.”
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