As the sun set and the moon rose high in the late evening.

Two shadows fell across the high walls of Esper Castle.

The owners of those shadows were none other than Kalos and Abel.

Abel, who had easily leaped over the castle wall several times his height, grumbled at Kalos who had likewise crossed over:

“It hasn’t even been a full day since coming over here, and you’re already trying to put me to work. This is too much. Shouldn’t you give me at least a day’s rest?”

Kalos looked at Abel with puzzled eyes.

“I wrote in the letter that it was an urgent matter to resolve. Did you not see it?”

Abel retorted curtly.

“Of course I saw it. That’s why I dropped everything and came running.”

He didn’t mention that the “everything” he dropped involved sitting between pretty women and enjoying the view of the sea.

“Still, I didn’t think you’d be in such a rush. I thought we’d have a drink together and catch up after not seeing each other for so long. But this? There’s no fun or excitement at all.”

“We can do that after we resolve the problem.”

Abel’s eyes sparkled for a moment. It was the look of a predator spotting its prey.

“Does that mean you’ll play with me once we’re done?”

“…”

It was a trap.

Kalos frowned.

Abel had seen through Kalos’s intention to send him back to the underground world as soon as the problem was solved, and set this trap.

And he had fallen for it spectacularly.

“What’s wrong? Why aren’t you answering?”

“Abel.”

“Surely a ruler like you wouldn’t speak with two tongues, would you?”

Kalos chuckled.

“That’s rich coming from someone who changes his mind easier than flipping his palm.”

“Well, that’s because I refuse to be an ordinary ruler.”

Kalos shook his head at the shameless response.

That fellow would probably just float with his mouth above water if he fell in.

No, wait. With his ability to control water, he probably wouldn’t fall in to begin with.

“Let’s stop this pointless chatter and get going.”

As Kalos turned and strode away, Abel hurriedly followed, asking:

“So where are we going now? And what’s this urgent problem that came up?”

Kalos’s letter to Abel had only said that an extremely urgent matter had arisen and to come as quickly as possible, without specifying what the problem was.

“Is it because of the demon beasts causing a riot in the Esper territory?”

The feet that had been moving forward without hesitation came to a stop.

Kalos turned to look at Abel with raised eyebrows.

“How do you know about that?”

Just as humans couldn’t know news from the underground world, the residents of the underground world likewise couldn’t know news from the human world.

Of course, it would be possible if they received reports like Kalos did, but that would require permission from the ‘Gatekeeper’.

The august Gatekeeper who guarded the ‘World’s Gate’, the only passage connecting the underground world and the human world, was none other than Kalos, the ruler of the northern territory.

The reason Kalos became the Gatekeeper was quite simple.

It was because the World’s Gate was located in the northern territory of the underground world.

Of course, there was also a World’s Gate in the Esper territory of the human world.

In any case, Kalos had never given permission for anyone to go report to Abel.

So how did Abel know about the demon beast riot?

“Did you perhaps come over to this side?”

While using the World’s Gate required the Gatekeeper’s permission, the rulers of the underground were an exception.

Not only could they open the gate, but they also possessed the ‘Key of the World’, the source of their power, allowing them to come and go as they pleased.

Still, if he had opened the gate, traces would have remained and I would have known?

Perplexed and confused, he asked, and Abel shrugged his shoulders.

“I haven’t come. With Hugo watching with eyes blazing, how could I?”

“Hugo? You mean the new aide?”

“That’s right.”

Abel put his hand on his chin and let out a deep sigh.

“He interferes with everything I do. He’s even fearless enough not to be afraid of me, the ruler, and speaks without hesitation. Other guys would clam up just from me looking at them, but this one doesn’t care at all. His arrogance reaches the sky.”

“Well. The tone of his reply was polite though.”

“Reply? That guy sent you a reply?”

No sooner had Kalos nodded than questions poured out.

“What did that guy say? Ah, I’m sure he asked you to send me back quickly because there’s a lot of work to do. So? Did you reply that you would?”

“I didn’t reply.”

Kalos hadn’t replied because he didn’t know how long it would take to solve the problem, and besides, Abel wouldn’t listen even if told to go back.

At that, Abel genuinely sighed in relief, stroking his chest.

“Good. If you had replied that you would and then didn’t keep your promise, he’s the type to milk that forever.”

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

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

Kalos gave no answer and walked on ahead.

Abel watched Kalos’s retreating back with a grin, then quickly caught up.

*

The place where Kalos stopped after walking only through areas with few signs of people was in front of the walls surrounding the Esper territory.

As soon as Abel saw the barrier surrounding the walls, he immediately understood why Kalos had brought him here.

“It’s a mess.”

There were cracks here and there, and even holes big enough for a person to pass through.

“You left it like this? What if strange creatures come in or out?”

“We’re constantly checking on that part.”

“Wouldn’t it be less troublesome to just repair it than keep checking? It would reduce the risk factors too.”

Kalos smiled bitterly.

“If that were possible, I would have solved it myself without calling you.”

“True.”

Abel agreed and looked back at the barrier.

The smile had now disappeared from Abel’s face.

“…”

Kalos watched Abel examining the barrier with an unusually serious expression for a moment before asking:

“Can you repair it?”

The reason Kalos had called Abel was none other than to entrust him with repairing the barrier surrounding the Esper territory.

Because he couldn’t repair it with his current power.

He wanted to resolve it with his own strength as much as possible, but since he couldn’t repair it with his current power, it was an unavoidable choice.

“I think I can repair it… but there are too many broken parts, and above all, since it’s not a barrier I created, it will take a long time to fix everything.”

“How long will it take?”

“Hmm, well.”

Abel rubbed his chin, pondered for a moment, and then answered.

“It will take at least a week. Depending on the situation, it might take longer, but it won’t exceed ten days.”

“I see.”

Fortunately, it was almost the same period Kalos had anticipated.

Still, just in case, I should tell Dewey to use any means necessary to further delay the investigation delegation sent by the imperial family and the temple.

“More than that, there’s something I want to ask.”

Abel looked at Kalos with his hands behind his back as if clasping them.

By now, the serious expression had disappeared without a trace, returning to his usual playful expression.

“You’re at your limit now, aren’t you?”

However, his eyes looking at Kalos were more serious and sharp than when he was examining the barrier.

“…”

Moreover, knowing what Abel meant by the limit he was talking about, Kalos was momentarily at a loss for words, but tried to ask back as nonchalantly as possible.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Abel looked at Kalos with narrowed eyes for a moment, then burst into laughter.

“Haha, so that’s how you’re going to play it.”

And like a bee hovering around a flower, he slowly circled around Kalos.

“No matter how secretly I came without replying when I would arrive, if it had been you in the past, you would have detected and intercepted an outsider entering the castle the moment they arrived. But you didn’t notice I had entered the castle until I approached that woman.”

Abel’s actions were scattered, but his words pierced right to the core like a well-honed sword.

Kalos’s will to refute whatever Abel said faded.

“Not only that, but you asked me for help to fix the barrier. Long ago, when the underground residents caused a riot to take revenge on humans and the Esper territory was devastated, you said you would handle it alone, but now you’re asking me for help just to repair a barrier.”

“…”

“And.”

Abel, who had been circling around Kalos, suddenly attacked his left leg.

Kalos quickly pulled his body back to avoid the attack.

As he retreated, his left leg lost balance and staggered for a moment, but it was only for an instant.

He quickly regained his posture, so an ordinary person wouldn’t have noticed the stumble, but unfortunately, Abel was no ordinary person.

Abel pointed to his left leg with his chin.

“Show me.”

“…Abel.”

“Surely you don’t want me to strip it off and check for myself?”

Abel rolled up his sleeves and took another step closer, as if ready to do so right away if desired.

“…”

Kalos reluctantly lifted the left hem of his trousers to show his semi-transparent leg.

“Haah.”

After confirming the problematic leg, Abel let out a deep sigh and rubbed his face as if he had just witnessed the world crumbling.

“Since when has it been like this? Don’t tell me it’s been like this since the demon beasts rioted? Is it that you used a lot of power to subdue the demon beasts then, and it hasn’t returned to normal since becoming semi-transparent?”

A barrage of questions followed.

“Wait a minute. That woman is right next to you now, isn’t she? So why hasn’t it returned to normal yet? If you had taken power from that woman, your leg should have quickly returned to normal, right?”

“…”

“I saw earlier that that woman’s mana was unstable, so I thought you had already absorbed it, but I guess not?”

Kalos’s expression, silent to the end, seemed somewhat suspicious.

Abel, who had been carefully examining that face, suddenly asked in bewilderment as a thought crossed his mind.

“Don’t tell me that woman is…”

“It’s my problem, so don’t worry about it.”

Kalos, who finally opened his mouth, responded coldly, causing Abel to frown in displeasure.

“You ask me for help and then tell me not to ask about anything. In other words, you’re saying you just want to suck out what you need and throw me away. Don’t you think that’s too unconscionable?”

“…If you don’t want to help, you can refuse.”

“Hey, look at this guy?”

Abel crossed his arms and looked at Kalos with incredulous eyes.

“Do you really mean it’s okay if I don’t help? It will become difficult then.”

“It doesn’t matter…”

“Just to clarify, I meant it would become difficult for that woman, not you.”

At these additional words, Kalos closed his mouth.

“You asked me for help because you don’t want to make things difficult for that woman, right?”

“…”

“So is it really okay if I don’t help?”