Volume 9 Chapter 4 (1/2)

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!”