The Principle of a Philosopher by Eternal Fool “Asley”

“Sir Barun? He returned to T’oued soon after arriving here.”

Ah, so that’s why he’d been missing for such a long time.

Still, I never would’ve expected Barun to be operating in T’oued now.

I guess it goes to show how hard it is for targeted individuals to stay in the War Demon Nation… in the Nation’s current form, that is.

“Ah, I almost forgot!”

Fuyu said, clasping her hands together and standing up.

“Everyone in Team Silver will arrive at T’oued tonight. When they go get there, may I call Natsu here?”

Fuyu turned to ask Warren.

Hmm, I see, so they’re on the move… And it’d naturally be more efficient to contact them once they’re at the destination, so that’s reasonable.

“Thank you very much!”

That’s reasonable, too — the team’s wide range of capabilities is too good to just ignore.

There’s no telling how much stronger everyone has become while I was gone, too.

And now I really want to see Bruce and the others again as soon as possible.

After talking for a while longer, breakfast was served.

Pochi must have eaten already, but she proceeded to wolf down about four more servings.

“Whew… That was so delicious!”

“Delivered straight from Lala Farm. Their produce’s flavor never disappoints.”

“Lala Farm… Wait, is that Lala’s place?”

“Yes — her wonderful farm’s location used to be a place called Faltown, I believe. I happened upon the place by pure chance and signed a trading contract with them!♪”

Pochi, Lina, Fuyu, and I looked at one another. Everyone seems surprised.

Really, this guy sure likes to appear in unexpected places at unexpected moments.

“Now then, it’s about time we got to work.”

Warren said before standing up.

The rest of us followed him, heading toward the meeting room that we had entered on our first day here.

Waiting for us inside was… Irene, of course.

Lina and Fuyu’s levels have barely gone over 100, but HER… she’s already at 143. Goes to show how long she has lived and how much she has trained, I suppose.

Irene, looking somewhat peeved, walked over to us and looked up at me.

“…Looks like I still have a long way to go.”

“The monsters will become much more aggressive once the Devil King enters the Fetal Stage. That’s when we have to start taking fights seriously, but we should also try to gain as much experience as possible before then.”

“I know. Seriously… I wish the enemy’s personality would be as simple as yours — sure would make things much easier.”

“Aw, that’s so flattering. Hahaha…”

Irene gave me a blank stare.

“…Well, anyway… Have a seat.”

I’ve got to stay on top of my game, too — wouldn’t want to embarrass myself again. I mustn’t hold back no matter what I’m up against. It’s such a simple principle that’s so difficult to uphold — and maybe I’ve even forgotten about it at some point.

“Hmm? Is something the matter, Sir Asley?”

Lina, noticing the look in my eyes, tilted her head — Yes, because I was looking at her, my dear apprentice.

I smiled… and Lina tilted her head the other way, and then, seeming to have given up trying to read my thoughts, smiled back.

Where are the other Resistance members, anyway? Were they not called to join this meeting? Well, not that I’m one to question how they run things, I guess…

Pochi, Lina, Fuyu, and I took our seats as told by Irene. Warren stood to her side before starting things off,

“Now then, we don’t have much time, so I’ll keep it short. Currently, the Resistance’s existence is of no significance to our enemy. We may be able to elevate our threat level to them somewhat by showing opposition, but the Nation is now preparing military forces to go against the Devil King who will appear in the future. If we wish for both of those sides to fall, we’d best keep our heads low, but doing so would result in the adventurers and the younger generation of the Nation losing their lives unnecessarily.”

Right — the modern Devilkin’s military force includes innocent citizens bound by their contracts to the Black and White Chain. 

Personally, preventing them from being used as cannon fodder would be ideal.

“Asley, I’d like to ask you again on Miss Sayla’s behalf — Would you consider cooperating with the Resistance?”

“……Oh, that reminds me, I’ve already taken that entrance exam, right?”

“You mean that incident with Miss Sayla?”

I looked at Pochi for a moment before nodding to Warren.

Warren glanced at Irene and chuckled.

And Irene looks… happy, for some reason.

“…I was going to bring that up in the case that you turned our invitation down. Never thought you’d be the one to mention it first.”

“Ah, so that’s what you were going for.”

“So, would I be right to assume that you’ll join us?”

“…If you think I’ll be useful, yes.”

With me saying that, Pochi leaped onto the table.

“My Master and I could take on armies! And what’s more! I was the one who delivered the finishing blow to the Devil King! Not my Master, but me! ME! Eh-hem!”

“Ugh, listen, doggo… We DON’T have our Holy Warrior powers anymore. You didn’t forget that, right?”

“Boo-hoo! Of course I know! I’m not like you, Master!”

Pochi said, pouting.

Ngh… I can’t possibly go against her when she does THAT — it’s pretty much one of my biggest weaknesses.

“Just settle down and stay in your–“

“Yes, ma’am.”

With Irene’s command, Pochi sat down as if she was the former’s Familiar — and she did it so quickly that she even interrupted the former.

How!? She barely even listens to me! Inconceivable! I will never live this down!

“A-anyway, what am I supposed to do from now on?”

“Asley and Pochi, you two currently are the Resistance’s most powerful assets. That will likely not change until the Devil King is resurrected.”

Pochi turned to stare blankly at me.

Hey, now is a good time for you to run your mouth, doggo. Come on, say something.

Well, I guess I’ll have to speak for myself.

“So you see — right now, the Devil King hasn’t entered the Fetal Stage yet, so you won’t exactly be able to quickly gain levels by killing large hordes of monsters in a short time. In other words — Lina, Fuyu, Miss Irene, Warren — as things currently are, your levels will take forever to catch up with ours.”

That, and we have XP-Boosters with us. There’s no way they’re going to catch up with us through normal means.

“Sir Asley, that means we must carefully plan how you and your assigned team act, yes?”

Lina offered her view without reservation, and Warren nodded.

“We intend to use our precious military force as effectively as we can, of course. Are you mentally prepared for what is to come, Asley?”

“Uh, well… Yes.”

He’s not doing his usual evil-looking grin — Warren’s expression is serious like I’ve never seen before.

That itself is quite a surprise, but now I wonder… what is it that Warren is actually aiming for?

“First of all, Lina and Fuyu, we have a favor to ask of you two. We would like you, with Baladd and Platina’s assistance, to travel to various regions and recruit influential persons to our cause. Miss Trace will be giving you a list to work with later.”

“”Yes.””

Starting with securing more military strength, I see.

Pulling the adventurers to our side before Ishtar’s faction can bind them to theirs the Black and White Chain contract — that’s probably the idea.

But doing that should be harder than it sounds… right? Aren’t there only a handful of people that actually know what’s going on with the Nation right now?

“Hehehe… Seeing you make that face, I feel compelled to give you answers, but this one time, I’m afraid I must keep my lips sealed.”

Warren said, smiling.

He MUST keep his lips sealed? What did he mean by that?

As I pondered that over, Irene stood up and put her hands on her waist.

“Honestly speaking, a formal letter from me, by itself, does not hold all that much power to convince those who aren’t already in the know.”

“What do we have to do, then?”

I have the exact same question as Pochi.

The Resistance is an organization that plans to stand against the Nation. Even using big names like Irene, Jennifer, and Viola would still be too weak to convince people. It will take more… power of persuasion than that to draw in more allies.

So what in the world is Irene planning to do…?

“For starters, you’ll have to rescue the Puppet Monarch from the War Demon Nation.”

The first reaction to that declaration was Pochi turning to look at me. Seems like she’s not processing any part of the plan at all.

And then Lina looked at me. Her eyes are round like a full moon.

And then Fuyu looked at me. She’s trembling pretty hard.

And THEN Warren looked at me. He’s smiling ear-to-ear.

Surrounded and stared down by four pairs of eyes, I took off my glasses and pressed the inner corner of my eyes. Then I put my glasses back on.

Now I need to take a deep breath. That will probably help to alleviate the surprises that may come after this.

“Breathe in… Breathe out…… Huh?”

“Rescuing the War Demon Emperor is the top priority mission, Asley.”

Maybe I should’ve said no to Warren back when he asked me whether or not I was mentally prepared.

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