"...Are you leaving again already?"
At the training grounds of [Ruberios].
Hinata, who had been lost in the exchange of blades with her master for the first time in a long while, murmured regretfully with her usual blank expression.
Until just a few years ago, they had all traveled around the nations of the West together, and even kept multiple residences, like the mansion in [Ingrassia]. But after becoming the commander of the [Crusaders] and one of Luminous's closest subordinates, Hinata had gradually been forced to settle down in [Ruberios], so it was only natural she would feel disappointed.
In this land ruled by the stern laws of religion, there were hardly any people she could truly speak with at ease.
"Hinata..."
Of course, Shizue had considered staying here longer for her disciple's sake.
It simply wasn't possible because the circumstances didn't allow it.
She felt the same regret.
And Adelio—
"You don't need to be that disappointed. We'll be seeing each other again soon anyway."
—gently patted Hinata on the head while once more recalling, in silence, the plan he had long been considering to deal with the [Seven Luminaries].
"...M-Master?"
Normally, her expression barely changed at all, but the moment Adelio's hand touched her head, that blank composure crumbled in an instant.
When she was younger... back when she had first been transferred here and had only recently become his disciple, he had patted her head a few times like this. But for some reason, this was one thing she had never gotten used to.
"......"
Standing right at Adelio's sides, Ria and Shizue watched the scene with less than pleased looks, but perhaps out of pride as fellow masters, neither of them said anything and simply observed in silence.
"Ah..."
At last, when Adelio took his hand away from Hinata's head, a small sigh escaped her lips.
Fortunately, it was too quiet for Adelio to hear, and he smiled faintly before speaking again.
"Hinata."
"Y-Yes?"
"For the time being, be careful around the [Seven Luminaries]. Especially the Sun Priest. If possible, it'd be better not to meet him at all."
"...You mean old Gran?"
"Right. The other [Seven Luminaries] won't pose any threat to you, but the Sun Priest is a little different."
Before coming to the training grounds, Adelio had heard the message Gran had sent to Hinata, and from that alone, he realized Gran was preparing to move [Siltrosso].
Gran was not someone who acted personally within [Ruberios] unless it was something serious, so the fact that he had gone out of his way to send Adelio a message made it painfully clear that the preparations were already complete.
'He's probably already sent people to [Cerberus] and to [Falmuth] too.'
For the war against [Tempest].
[Cerberus] still had no choice but to obey the Rosso family because of Yuuki's objective, and [Falmuth] would surely see this as the perfect chance to uproot a budding new power before it could fully grow into a rising great nation.
...Without realizing that this opportunity was actually the worst possible choice, one that would bring about their own ruin.
"Anyway, if the [Seven Luminaries] ever give you some strange order, just refuse it outright, even if you have to invoke Luminous's name. I've already spoken to her in advance."
Leaving that advice for his second beloved disciple as he pictured the very near future, Adelio departed from [Ruberios].
And then, [Ingrassia].
Sensing that the time to prepare for war had nearly come, Adelio headed straight for the Free Academy, where Rimuru and the children were.
'By now, Viole should have finished her preparations too, so now—'
He had ended up returning earlier than originally planned, but since he had already decided to change course, he was thinking it might actually be for the best when—
Thud!
Something heavy fell inside the classroom.
"Hey, Kenya! I told you to set that down more carefully!"
"I-I know! My magic just scattered for a second, that's all!"
"...Isn't it just because you still haven't memorized the body-enhancement spell properly?"
Then came the children's noisy chatter.
"......"
"...W-What are they doing?"
Startled by the children being even louder than usual, along with the continuing sounds of things being moved around, Shizue asked the question.
"...I have no idea either."
But if even Shizue, who had spent the most time with the children, didn't know, there was no way Adelio would. Wearing a slightly dubious expression, he opened the classroom door.
Rattle...
And the sight beyond the door, which slowly opened with care... was more ordinary than expected.
"Teacher Adelio!"
"Huh? The teachers are here!"
"Welcome back!"
The moment they entered the classroom, Chloe came running over first. Alice was moving all kinds of books through her dolls, Gale was clearing away desks and chairs with a golem, Ryota was cleaning the classroom with a water spirit, and finally there was Kenya, who had just been getting scolded by Alice.
They seemed to be replacing everything from the old classroom with luxurious daily necessities that looked as though they had appeared from nowhere.
"These things are..."
Adelio was just about to ask about the oddly familiar household items, despite being sure he had never seen them before, when the rear door of the classroom opened and two figures entered.
"Oh, Adelio! When did you get back?"
One of them was Rimuru, who at some point had put on the academy cap he had received from the Free Academy, and the other was—
"A-Adel... io?? If you mean Adelio... then are you referring to the Ashen [Hero] himself?!"
—Mjormile, the great merchant from [Blumund], a flashy middle-aged man with a brown mustache and such short stature he could easily be mistaken for a [Hydwarf], also known as the "Don of the Underworld."
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