Grand Gruen Volcano Labyrinth

Inside Royal Palace of Ankaji…

The Butler, Mervyn ran through the corridor with a speed that was unfitting of his age. He had a calm expression contrary to the cold sweat pouring down his cheeks.

'How can a human give off such an aura? My whole body shuddered from the pressure directed at that foolish knight, not me.'

Two people hurried toward him, they were the guards he ordered to keep an eye on the young man.

"Mervyn-sama."

"W-What is he? The way he looked at us, my legs are still trembling."

Mervyn patted their shoulders with an 'I feel you' look. He left the guards behind and ran toward the room of the Lord's son.

"Bize-sama! Open the door!"

A young man garbed in white clothing opened the door. His face wearing a confused expression by the sudden appearance of his family butler.

"Mervyn-san, what's the matter?"

"Please come with me, we have an urgent situation."

"O-Okay. Lead the way."

Mervyn explained the situation to Bize while walking toward the gate and saw three people. One white-haired young man with two beautiful ladies standing on his sides.

His eyes froze on the golden-haired girl, her blood-red eyes bewitched him. He suddenly felt a chill, he looked around and noticed a pair of cold eyes.

He composed himself and asked, "I'm Bize, son of Duke Lanzwi. Why do you people want to meet father?"

Leo looked at the young man or so called next lord. He nodded when he didn't feel any haughtiness or arrogance from him.

"You family knows what happens in your territory, right?"

Bize was confused at his question. He assumed a neutral face and replied, "We do."

"Shea, bring them out."

"Hai~"

One by one 23 beastmen children stepped out of the caravan and stood in a circle around Shea.

"These children were transported from your territory, most probably to be sold in Fuhren. I saw the guard at the gate approving the exit for these caravans without even taking a look at what's inside."

Bize mouth opened wide in surprise, if what the young man said was true, then this issue was about corruption. If commoners came to know about this, his family might fall in a precarious position.

"Oh, there is also a child of Dagon race with them. If Erison people know what happened here they might just stop the export~"

Dagon race was most protective of their family. The vigilante squad might just wage war on them even if they can't win it. The war for marine supplies, Ankaji Dukedom, where the main source of revenue was marine products will be in crisis.

Bize waved his hands in panic. "No, no, please don't tell them. We'll investigate this properly and send every one of them to their home. We'll punish every guard involved in this crime."

Leo grinned ear to ear in happiness. His plan worked just fine. "Send them to their house safely, if you don't," he released a bit of pressure. "I'll make sure that no royal palace exists in Ankaji~"

Every one of them wanted to say 'Bullshit' but they didn't, the heavy pressure on their chest nearly suffocated them, sealing their lips.

"Well if you do this, I'll owe you a favor," he tossed a necklace at Bize. "Pour some mana in it, it will connect to me, only if you are in trouble. I'll do anything except killing innocents."

Bize smiled awkwardly. "Thank you."

"Myu won't go anywhere!"

Myu shouted while peeking from Drachen. "Yes~ Myu will stay with Shea onee-chan."

"...Nn, Myu is a good child."

"Thanks~ Shea onee-chan! Yue onee-chan!"

He released a sigh, Yue and Shea really felt attached to the cute Myu. He also liked her quite a bit.

"You know, we can't take her to Labyrinth with us."

"I-I can take care of her if you..."

A timid voice came from behind. Three pairs of dead eyes locked on him.

"Pervert." "...Die."

Leo stayed silent, but the 'Say one word and I'll kill you' look on his face terrified him.

"N-No, it's not like that. My sister and mother will take care of her, not me."

He nodded his head. "Okay, I'll ask you when we go to Labyrinth."

Shea gathered every child's attention and said, "Follow this uncle, he will take you back to your home. If he tries anything funny, hehe~"

The children nodded their head cutely while Bize cold sweat poured down Bize cheeks.

So, after leaving the burden—heavy responsibility to Next Lord, they went back to the inn. The sun was already high in the sky, reminding them to take a sleep.

They ate breakfast and slept, Myu was awfully tired, both physically and mentally.

In the evening, the trio with a cute child wrapped in a single headed out of the inn. He needed to buy clothes, of course, for Myu.

He enchanted her clothes with [Auto Temperature], [Physical resistance], and [Elemental Resistance]. No one will ever suspect that a four-year-old child is wearing clothes that far surpass national artifacts.

After leaving teary-eyed Myu in care of Bize's Family, they headed toward Grand Gruen Volcano in Drachen.

***

Leo stared into the endless desert, he couldn't help the sigh. "Myu was so persistent, her puppy eye attacks are lethal."

"Myu-chan is such a cute child~," she stared at him. "I want a cute daughter like her."

"...Nn. Me too..."

He ignored them and kept driving. He wasn't ready to be a father yet. Shea pouted at his silence.

They saw a giant dome in the distance, Leo drove for 20 hours straight except for a few dinner breaks. The sandworm monsters annoyed him every now and then. He just stored the corpses in Yue treasure trove ring without dismantling them.

The dome was the Great Gruen Labyrinth with a height of 3000 meters. Its top was covered with lava. A massive sandstorm always swirled around it, making it hard for normal adventures to even reach the entrance. He stopped Drachen in front of the sandstorm.

"Drachen speed isn't high enough to go through that," he whispered. "Let's make a camp here for the time. I need to modify Drachen and Shea, please cook something."

"Okay~ Normal meal or Monster meat?"

"Anything is fine."

"...I'll help," Lazy Yue decided to help out.

Seeing the raging wind, a ide appeared in his mind. "Yue, can you use the wind in that storm to push Drachen?"

"...That's easy," she replied with a smug face.

"Then I don't need to modify it. Still, I can enchant the exterior with diamond protection for extra durability and add some weight."

He did the enchantment and ate the delicious meal prepared by Shea.

"Charge~"

He drove the Drachen inside the sandstorm. Yue channeled wind magic and manipulated the surrounding wind to boost their speed. He sensed two presences coming from both sides.

"Shia! I'm leaving them to you."

"Yeah~" Shea pulled down the window and aimed the long-barrelled rifle at the sandworm and pulled the trigger.

Bang!

The bullet pierced the monster's head and dyed the storm blood red for a moment.

Clunk! The shell fell to the ground.

"Leo-san! Give me this rifle! It is so fun blasting their heads off with this~"

Bang! Bang! Bang! The heads os sandworms blasted with every shot, a cheerful smile appeared on her face. Strangely, he didn't find it weird, not one bit.

'Am I turning strange with them? Love is really blind.' he thought with an amused smile on his face.

After sandworms, came giant brown spiders and ant-like monsters. Leo held Severance in one hand and sniped them one by one. Drachen jumped out of the storm, the party found themselves in a giant mountain completely surrounded by a massive sandstorm. Sunlight still peaked through the sandstorm.

He shrugged and kept driving until they faced uneven protrusions on the ground. The party came out of the Drachen and advanced on foot.

He spread his senses for any ambush and progressed. They arrived at the top, a strange place buried by different types of rock. Some were slippery smooth while others were sharp-pointed. One rock was more than ten meters, it was arch-shaped, making it look like some kind of entry gate. The party went there and saw the stairs.

He looked at Yue and Shea, a flame burning in their eyes as they gazed at the stairs.

A smile broke out on his face. "Let's do this! Hydra or God, we won't lose, not again!"

"God or Demon, I'll blow them away~"

"...Smash."