The meeting was over. Chi-Woo saw the witch off and came down from the castle walls. When he arrived back home, there were six people waiting for him: Ru Amuh, Ru Hiana, Zelit, Allen Leonard, Eshnunna, and Hawa. They were all staying awake, waiting for the results.

“You are here!” Zelit especially had been waiting impatiently and dashed forward as soon as Chi-Woo came in through the door.

“I’m sorry.” Chi-Woo sighed. Hearing this, everyone’s hearts dropped, but they tried not to show it on their faces.

“No, what is there for you to be sorry about? They were the ones who had the upper hand anyway.”

“I only got half of the deal.”

“What?”

“She said they would only accept half of our conditions.” Then Chi-Woo began to explain what Evelyn told him. She would pretend to attack the demon empire with her troops so that they could safely move the previous recruits to the fortress by drawing attention away from them. But in exchange, Chi-Woo would have to help them fight against the Sernitas. Yet Evelyn didn’t accept Chi-Woo’s request to sweep away the monsters wandering this region; more specifically, she said she would take care of the monsters she saw on her way back, but Chi-Woo’s group needed to take care of the rest by themselves. Thus, the heroes would still have to get to the capital on their own.

“How surprising. There are some considerations she had made, but of course, all the little details are at her advantage,” Zelit said after hearing about the deal, specifically...