At noon, the three finally reunited and formed a party again after quite some time apart.
After receiving Naohara's Message, Momonga quickly used teleportation magic to arrive in the Kingdom.
Herohero also canceled his plan to go enjoy today's "buffet."
Now the three of them were wandering along the main street, trying to find the meeting place agreed upon with Princess Renner.
Earlier, Renner had sent someone to contact them and secretly commissioned them to eliminate the [Darkness of the Kingdom].
To avoid attracting attention and slipping past certain nobles' eyes, the mission was highly confidential. The meeting point was not set at the royal palace.
Naohara said, "I think it's this way."
Herohero replied, "No, it's over here."
Momonga added, "Actually, I'm pretty sure it's this direction."
On the street, the three were arguing.
Although Renner had provided the exact location, unfortunately, none of them had much of a sense of direction.
They wandered around for most of the day. By the time the sun began to set, they finally found the agreed location.
"See? We're here. I told you it was this way."
Naohara wiped imaginary sweat from his forehead and shot an annoyed look at the two troublemakers behind him.
If these two hadn't been confidently pointing the wrong way, they wouldn't have taken so many detours and would have arrived long ago.
Hearing that, Herohero and Momonga turned their heads away a little guiltily.
"Hey! You're way too slow! What took you so long?"
The meeting place turned out to be an unremarkable small house. A figure stood at the entrance, complaining loudly.
It was a petite girl wrapped entirely in a robe, wearing a strange mask.
Evileye.
"No worries, no worries. We made it, didn't we?"
"By the way, were you waiting for me?"
Naohara walked up with easy familiarity, smiling as he reached out and patted her head.
Mm. That familiar feeling again. Even better than Aura's.
"No way!"
"I—I just came out to get some air!"
Evileye flustered as she jerked her head away from his hand.
Under the mask, her small face had flushed red. How could he pat her head at a time like this? People were watching.
At the very least… he should wait until no one was around, idiot.
Naohara simply chuckled. That was a textbook tsundere response.
"Let's go."
He turned and took Evileye's small hand, then pushed the door open and walked inside.
Evileye only struggled halfheartedly before lowering her head and falling quiet.
Behind them, Herohero and Momonga exchanged amused looks, clearly entertained, then followed them in without a word.
...
"Oh? Naohara, you finally made it. Our little one has been waiting outside for you for quite a while."
The moment he stepped inside, Gagaran's teasing voice rang out.
"Gagaran, shut up! I told you, I just went out for some air!!"
"Hey, hey, Evileye, haven't you been getting more short-tempered lately? Why are you always snapping? You weren't like this before."
"Gagaran, you…!"
Even with her mask on, the anger in Evileye's glare was obvious.
Lakyus and the other two stood off to the side, smiling as they watched the commotion unfold.
"Well, well. This team is quite entertaining."
Momonga observed the scene before him.
Blue Roses, a name he had often heard among adventurers. He felt both familiar and unfamiliar with them.
They "knew" him, but only through a stand-in. The one they had met before had been a Doppelgänger in disguise.
This was his first real meeting with this adamantite-ranked adventurer team.
"You've finally arrived. I'm very glad you could come, my friends."
At that moment, Renner stepped forward with a gentle smile.
Evileye and Gagaran stopped arguing.
"First, I want to thank everyone for being willing to come. The task ahead is quite dangerous."
Renner lifted her skirt slightly and gave a small bow before continuing.
"I believe you've already guessed. This commission is to eliminate a criminal organization known as [Eight Fingers]."
"We have already identified several of their strongholds. As long as you take down these bases, the mission will be considered a success."
With a small gesture from Renner, Climb immediately stepped forward and laid a map out on the table, pointing to the circled locations.
"What's the plan?" Momonga asked.
"Eight Fingers has clear divisions of responsibility. If we remove these key strongholds, they will have only two choices: send reinforcements or abandon them."
"I have already persuaded Father to introduce new enforcement measures. The nobles who trade with Eight Fingers will not dare to act recklessly for the time being."
"Without noble protection and assistance, I believe the managers of Eight Fingers will soon grow restless."
"At that point, we can eliminate them in one sweep. The remaining bases will no longer be a concern."
Renner explained everything calmly and methodically.
As Momonga watched her, he could not help feeling that she resembled Demiurge in some way.
The plan itself was simple, but its logic was airtight.
"The only thing we need to be cautious about is a division within [Eight Fingers] called [Six Arms]. It is said that among them are individuals who have stepped into the realm of heroes."
Renner's tone turned serious.
The realm of heroes. In the entire Kingdom, there was only one person who had reached that level.
If not for Blue Roses and Naohara's adamantite-ranked team, the Kingdom would never have dared to move against Eight Fingers.
One wrong move could throw the entire nation into chaos.
"Then leave it to us. The realm of heroes, huh? Sounds interesting."
Naohara raised his hand lightly. Herohero and Momonga nodded as well.
Naohara was looking for some fun.
Herohero was curious about what the heart of a so-called hero-level strongman would taste like.
As for Momonga, he was simply going with the flow. In the end, it would likely be resolved with a single Grasp Heart.
"If it's the three of you, then I can rest easy."
Renner did not object. She had seen Naohara's strength with her own eyes.
That power had already surpassed the Kingdom's strongest warrior, Gazef.