The sun has set, and the moon hangs high in the late evening.

Two shadows were cast over the high walls of Esper Castle.

The owners of the shadows were none other than Kallos and Abel.

Abel, who easily leaped over the walls, several times larger than himself, grumbled at Kallos, who had also crossed the wall.

“It hasn’t been even a day since you came over here, and you’re already trying to devour everything. Seriously, isn’t that too much? Shouldn’t you at least give a day of rest?”

Kallos looked at Abel with a puzzled expression.

“I must have mentioned in the letter that it’s something that needs to be resolved urgently. Didn’t you see it?”

Abel retorted bluntly.

“Of course, I saw it. That’s why I ran over here without a second thought.”

He didn’t mention that he was accompanied by two beautiful women on either side, enjoying the view of the sea.

“But I didn’t expect you to be in such a hurry. I thought we could catch up over a drink and unravel the tension. But this? It’s neither fun nor exciting.”

“Let’s do that after resolving the issue.”

Abel’s pupils momentarily sparkled. It was like the predatory gaze of a hunter who had spotted its prey.

“Does that mean you’ll play with me once everything is over?”

“……. ”

It was a trap.

Kallos narrowed his eyes.

Abel saw through Kallos’s intention to send him back to the underground world immediately after resolving the problem, and he set up this trap.

He fell nicely into the trap.

“What’s wrong? Why no answer?”

“Abel.”

“Surely, being a lord doesn’t mean you can say two things with one mouth?”

Kallos smirked.

“It seems quite easy for you to change decisions more easily than flipping the back of your hand.”

“Well, I’m a guy who refuses to be an ordinary lord.”

At Abel’s brazen response, Kallos shook his head in disbelief.

Maybe that guy would just float on the water with only his mouth visible if he fell in.

No. Perhaps not. Because of his ability to manipulate water, he probably wouldn’t fall into the water in the first place.

“Enough of this useless talk; let’s go.”

As Kallos turned away and started walking, Abel hurriedly followed, asking, “But where are you going now? What’s this urgent problem you mentioned? Is it because there was a riot among monsters in the Esper Territory?”

The steps that were advancing without hesitation came to a halt.

Kallos, with raised eyebrows, turned to look at Abel.

“How do you know about that? Humans can’t know the news of the underground world, and the residents of the underground world can’t know about the news in the human world. Of course, unless they are like me, who receives reports.”

In the letter Kallos sent to Abel, it only mentioned that an urgent issue had arisen and requested him to come as soon as possible, without specifying the nature of the problem.
Because there was a world gate in the northern territory of the underground world.

Of course, there was also a world gate in the Esper Territory of the human world.

In any case, Kallos never allowed anyone to report to Abel.

But how does Abel know about the monster riot?

“Have you ever come over to this side?”

To use the world gate, permission from the sentinel was required, but the lords of the underground were an exception.

They could open the gate and had the ‘Key of the World,’ the source of power, allowing them to come and go freely.

But if I opened the gate, wouldn’t there be traces for me to notice?

Curious and suspicious, Abel shrugged when asked.

“Never been here. Hugo is keeping an eye on it with a keen eye. How could I come here?”

“If it’s Hugo, is he the newly appointed assistant?”

“That’s right.”

Abel sighed deeply, pinching his chin with his hand.

“Interfering in everything I do. He even speaks without fear to me, the lord. He’s not afraid at all and talks without hesitation. Other guys tremble and shut their mouths just by me looking at them, but this guy doesn’t care at all. Very audacious.”

“Well, the reply was polite.”

“Reply? Did he send you a reply? What did he send? Oh, he probably sent something like ‘I have a lot to do, so send me back quickly.’ So, what about you? Did you reply like that?”

“I didn’t reply.”

Abel didn’t reply at all, knowing that he might not listen to what he had to say, and there was no guarantee of how long it would take to resolve the issue.

Upon hearing this, Abel seemed genuinely relieved.

“Well done. If you had replied that you would do it and didn’t keep the promise, you would have to live with it for the rest of your life.”

“If I had replied, I would have kept it.”

“Does that mean you won’t send me back now?”

Carlos didn’t answer and walked ahead.

Abel, looking at Carlos’s back, which was getting farther away, soon followed quickly.

The place where Carlos, who walked only in places where he could feel the popularity, stopped was in front of the walls surrounding the Esper Territory.

Abel immediately understood why Carlos had brought him here when he saw the barrier surrounding the walls.

“It’s a mess.”