“Master?”

Dewey, who followed along, called out with confusion, but Kallos didn’t respond. All his attention was focused on the shadow cast by Irene.

Her bedroom was secured to the extent that not even an ant could pass through, so there was no chance of enemies entering. He had worried that something might have happened to her, but fortunately, she had merely fallen asleep.

The source of the dull sound was from a book she dropped while dozing off.

Kallos couldn’t help but chuckle softly, relieved but finding his own actions regarding attaching a shadow to Irene somewhat amusing. In his weakened state, unable to repair the barrier on his own and having to seek help from Hweedor, attaching a shadow to Irene seemed like a crazy act.

Perhaps the reason her left leg hadn’t returned yet was connected to this.

Perhaps.

“…….,”

When Kallos’s gaze shifted to his left leg, Dewey’s eyes followed.

“Master…….”

As Dewey’s teary expression blurred, Kallos briefly stuck out his tongue, turning his head.

“Fortunately, it seems the recovery of the territory is going smoothly.”

Turning the topic so blatantly made Dewey consciously calm down as he responded, “Yes. As you can see, the recovery of the territory is progressing smoothly. However, the problem is finding the culprit who released the monsters. With the Empire and the attention of the entire continent focused here, if we don’t find the culprit quickly, strange speculations will abound. Of course, strange speculations are already plentiful.”

“Strange speculations?”

“The Potion Incident was a mistake made by the Esper family, and they are trying to cover up that mistake by creating a non-existent culprit… at least, that’s the rumor.”

Kallos chuckled.

“People sure have nothing better to do.”

“Well, it can’t be helped. People usually enjoy talking about others.”

Dewey sighed briefly.

“Before strange speculations grow like a snowball, we need to quickly catch the culprit and settle it… it’s a big problem.”

If they didn’t know who the culprit was, Kallos would have either urged him to find them or taken the initiative himself. Unfortunately, knowing who it was and being well aware that they couldn’t catch or find the opponent with their own strength, Dewey couldn’t do that, so he mumbled the end of his sentence.

Looking at the buildings being diligently reconstructed in silence, Kallos threw his words like a toss.

“In that regard, I’ve already taken care of it, so there’s no need to worry.”

Dewey’s eyes widened.

“You’ve already taken care of it… Are you planning to publicly announce that person as the culprit?”

Kallos, smiling as if amused, responded, “Do you really think that’s possible?”

“Ah.”

Realizing how foolish his question was too late, Dewey awkwardly laughed and scratched his head.

“I’m sorry. I misspoke due to my surprise.”

“No need to apologize. You had every reason to be surprised.”

“Rather than that, is there still no response from Hweedor?”
“Yes. Even when I set out the letter, there was no reply. The door didn’t open either.”

“Really?”

Seeing Angellia return, it was certain that the recipient had received the letter, but it was strange that there was still no response.

Could that person have received my letter and ignored it? It couldn’t be that guy.

“I should send it again.”

Rather than waiting idly for a response, there was a very important issue that needed to be resolved quickly.

Kallos thought about sending the letter again as soon as he returned to the castle, hastening his steps.

When Kallos finished patrolling the territory and returned to Esper Castle, the sky was a reddish twilight.

“What about dinner?”

“Skip it for today.”

If Irene were awake, they would have eaten together, but she was still asleep.

With no intention to eat and a more critical matter at hand, Kallos headed straight to the study.

Just then, Jessie appeared in front of him and handed over a letter.

“A response has arrived from Hweedor, Master.”

Finally here. Kallos immediately checked the letter.

“To the esteemed Lord Esper, who we admire.”

He thought that guy had written it, but it seemed a subordinate had written below.

Kallos carefully read the contents of the letter.

There were many detailed passages, but there was only one thing he wanted.

He didn’t know why he was being called, but there was a lot of work to be done here too, so the Lord was urgently requested to return.

In other words, that guy, Abel, had already set out.

Normally, after adjusting the schedule, a reply would be sent in advance about when they would return. However, seeing that a subordinate sent a letter to him in a fidgety manner, it seemed that he had set off without replying.

“That guy, huh.”

Smirking, Kallos turned to Dewey.

“Since Abel will be here soon, get ready.”

“Yes.”

Knowing that Abel was coming, Dewey responded calmly.

“Yes?”

Jessie, who didn’t know anything, asked in surprise.

“Is the Lord of Water coming to this place?”

The underground lords were given nicknames based on the color of their hair and their abilities.