He peered into the hole with great interest. Underneath the hole that Paula's bodyguards dug was a tunnel wide enough for two people to walk abreast.

『It looks long, all right. But is it really connected to the other continent?』Gin asked, doubtful.

『It's not connected yet, but you just have to trust us on this one.』Lavia said.『It's not like you're going to lose anything if it doesn't work.』

『Hmm…』

Groaning, Gin climbed back up the hole. Citizens were waiting for him above ground.

『Can we really escape through here?』

『What are we waiting for, then? Let's go.』

『Do we have to travel for months in that long tunnel? No thanks.』

『If I can see His Majesty again, I'm going.』

『What if it collapses?』

『Ah, okay, okay! Just shut up for a bit!』Gin silenced the people.『I'm actually not sure about this yet. Let's get things straight..』

First, taking the tunnel would get them to the other continent.

Second, the connection could only be done today and once only.

Third, s.p.a.ce would be shortened, therefore travel time would be for a few hours.

To top it all off, all this information came from Silver Face's party, who could offer no basis for their claims. All the people could do was trust them.

『Pretty simple, right?』Gin said.『It's just up to us whether to trust them or not.』

『No way!』one person said.

Some even looked at the masked strangers with distrust.

Makes sense. Can't really blame them, Gin thought. The citizens must be frustrated after being forced out of their homes. As they were the first ones to evacuate, they didn't see the monsters. They had no “sense of crisis” so to speak.

But it's my job to correct their perception… I think.

Perhaps Grucel or the king was counting on something else. Gin could only make a guess. Still he had no choice but to think about the problem himself.

『I trust them.』Gin said with pride, and everyone went silent.『Silver Face put his life on the line to protect us. He killed gigantic monsters that no one else could, investigated the ruins of the city from 500 years ago, sensed the revolt and the monster attack, and came up with countermeasures with His Majesty. After all he's done, there's no reason for me not to trust him.』

The citizens listened to him intently.

Oh, he's surprisingly popular. Did Grucel leave him in charge of this place, knowing that? Hikaru was genuinely impressed.

『But most of you had not interacted with him before. So those who don't trust him may stay behind. As the man in charge of this place, I will stay behind as well. Crossing over to the new continent requires courage. I'm sure it'll be fine, but staying behind is also risky. We can't discard the possibility of a dragon finding us and attacking. You're free to choose. The plan is to go today. I'll give you an hour to make a decision.』

The people started talking among themselves. Gin alone stood somewhere far from the group.

「Hikaru. How many do you think will come?」

「Hmm… I don't know. Half I guess?」

「I think most of them will come.」

「Why do you think so?」

「There's no benefit in staying here. On the other hand, their wars.h.i.+ps and their king are over there. And there's fewer monsters that'll attack them. They know that the monsters over there are weaker.」

「I see.」

Hikaru saw Paula and bodyguards discussing. Or rather, it was mostly just Paula telling the men to come.

What do we do about those guys? I guess it's up to Paula…

Having sworn to dedicate their lives to Paula, they would leave every decision to her. Having them around would be great, though, given how strong they were.

They might just come in handy with my plans…

Hikaru was absorbed in his thoughts.

『Have you made up your mind?』

An hour had pa.s.sed. The citizens were done discussing the matter.

『Well, then…』Gin said, raising his right hand.『Those who will remain behind, move to my right. Those who choose to go, to my le—』

『There's no need for that.』an elderly man said.

『We'll all go.』

『I'm going with you, big bro!』

『We might as all go together.』

『Let's go. We'll surprise His Majesty!』

Gin was caught by surprise.『What? Really? Are you sure?』

『Yes. You said you trust them. So we decided to trust them as well.』

『I…』Gin wiped the tears welling up in his eyes with his sleeve.『Thank you for trusting me. It was really hard to see you left behind when you're the ones who followed the evacuation procedure faster than the rest. But…』

『Gin. Let's pick this up later once we're on the other side.』a man said as he stroked Gin's back.『Sir Silver Face is waiting.』

The others bowed towards Hikaru.

『We'll be in your hands.』

『We're counting on you.』

『Let's go!』

Hikaru too was surprised. He thought half would remain, or worse, no one would come with them.

「I guess Gin is a bigger big shot than expected. Drake, you got a huge responsibility in your hands.」

『Whaaat?! Me? I… yes…』The drakon appeared dispirited.『I'll get this done lickety-split!』he said in his usual tone.

It was as if he was just going out for a walk.

Vireocean's seas were calm and beautiful, sunlight s.h.i.+mmering on the waves. The sun cast a pleasant glow on the scenic capital city of Ville Zentra.

In contrast, the Supreme Leader, Patricia Zylberstein, was troubled. News of sending an observation team to Grand Dream was bigger than expected. The number of people that each country wanted to send was higher than antic.i.p.ated.

She thought there would only be a hundred at max. She estimated twenty people from Ponsonia, twenty from Quinbland, twenty from Forestia, and thirty from Vireocean, as the managing country of this expedition. But that wasn't the case.

「Fifty from Ponsonia, sixty from Quinbland, and seventy from Forestia?!」

She threw the papers at the elder secretary standing beside her. Disheartened, the man just accepted it. He understood his boss's irritation.

「Yes… Since Forestia is comprised of seven regions, they said they somehow managed to bring the number down to ten from each.」

「What's this even?! Fifty from Einbeast and a hundred twenty from Bios?! They're not even invited!」

「About that… Einbeast seemed to have gotten wind of it somewhere. They said they wanted to join in order to show the continent's diversity…」

It was as though they were saying “you humans better not keep us out of this”.

「What about Bios?! I thought they had some trouble going on with the Pope!」

「Apparently, the Pope wants to leave matters unsettled by using the new continent, suspending deliberations, and pus.h.i.+ng for a missionary work towards Grand Dream.」

「That old fart! A hundred twenty people to spread the word of G.o.d?!」Heaving a deep sigh, Patricia sank down on her seat.「I never knew humans could be so shameless. Managed to calm down thanks to that.」

「Of course. There's no one as stubborn than you, after all.」

「If there's anything good about all this, is that the islands down south are not saying anything.」

To the south of Vireocean and Bios was a group of over ten small countries, their forces centered around a decently-sized island.

「Maybe the rumors had not spread further south…」

「No need to tell them, then. They have their own problems to deal with.」

「But we have diplomatic relations with them. They might complain later if we kept this secret from them.」

「Okay, fine! We'll tell them after the first batch, which will be composed of only people from Vireocean.」

「You think the other countries would agree to this?」

「There's not a lot of time left before the s.h.i.+p from Grand Dream arrives at Dew Roke. Their “reply” won't make it in time.」

「I see.」

A knock came at the door, and a young boy—a servant—entered.

「What's wrong?」the secretary asked.

「About a hundred people from both Quinbland and Ponsonia claiming to be part of the observation team has arrived.」

Patricia and her secretary exchanged glances.

「They thought I'd keep it all to myself.」Patricia said.

「So it seems. What should we do?」

「What else can we do?! We'll just have to narrow it down to a hundred people!」Patricia slammed the table and stood up.

「Supreme Leader! Supreme Leader!」

「What is it this time?!」

A man burst into the room. Patricia's expression changed as soon as she saw him. It was a messenger that guarded the fortress at the border. He looked totally exhausted, covered in mud. It was apparent that he sent his horse on a gallop just to get here.

「What happened? A war in the south?」

「N-No. A man named Silver Face wanted me to deliver this.」he said as he handed the secretary a letter.

「Silver Face?!」

The secretary looked at his boss. Silver Face should be in the other continent by now. How did he appear south of Vireocean?

「That's not all. He appeared out of nowhere together with four thousand dark-skinned people from the mountains! He said “The Supreme Leader will surely treat us with hospitality.” He seems to be rich as well. He bought a lot of food from a nearby town.」

「Wh-What? What's going on?」

Dark-skinned people? Residents of Grand Dream… and at least four thousand of them?!

「Please read this first, Ma'am. There must be some information in there.」the secretary said.「Messenger, we might ask you to do something. Sit down and wait.」

「Yes, Sir!」

「Please bring this man some light meal and water.」

「Y-Yes, Sir!」As soon as the boy was gone, the secretary handed the letter to Patricia.

It was a simple, small letter. But somehow it felt heavy.

「It's been a while since I've received a letter I really don't want to open. 」

Her hunch was right. The letter that Silver Face sent would lead to a turmoil that would involve not only Vireocean, but the other countries as well.

Grand Dream, a continent ruled by evil. The formation of an allied army, never seen before in the history of the continent, to take it back. A grand operation.

Vireocean's seas were calm and beautiful. It would not be long until a huge fleet appeared on its horizon.