Published: February 1, 2026
The great invasion had come to an end.
It had been resolved the very next day after it began—an unprecedented development—along with the appearance of figures who were almost certainly elves and had been witnessed by many.
Thinking about how this would almost certainly trigger a flood of troublesome aftermath, it was inevitable that Shadow found himself wondering if solving it so quickly had really been for the best. The town and its people were the priority, of course, but being buried in cleanup work and really ending up with those sleepless nights Lizel had warned him about was hard.
He had already shown his face to announce to the populace that the great invasion was over; there was no way things would go on as they had so far, at least for a while.
Without stopping his hands, Shadow found himself thinking of Lizel and the others, who were no longer in this city, Malcaid.
Even if you removed the culprit, if the great invasion had continued, even Lizel would have found it hard to leave halfway through.
Even if the city was surrounded by monsters, there were underground passages, so it wasn’t impossible to slip out—but given his fame and the way “Single Blade” had drawn attention here and there, if people started saying he’d disappeared in the middle of a great invasion, it would be called a violation of guild rules (the obligation to participate and cooperate in a great invasion).
To be honest, as long as Stud was around, there probably wouldn’t have been a real problem with the guild, but Lizel’s stance was that to greedily enjoy the rights while ignoring the rules and acting outrageously was far too disgraceful.
The result was that he asked the elves and carried out a full sweep of the monsters. He erased every reason that he should remain in the city and then walked out of the country in broad daylight.
“After stirring everything up, he dumps all the follow‑up trouble on us. He’s a man who never does what he doesn’t like doing.”
“Ifおらんかったら壊滅しとったかもしれん事を思えば御の字じゃろ。それに基本的に気遣いを忘れん奴じゃ」
“I know.”
After Lizel left the country, a barrier covered Malcaid’s city walls. He must have done something with the mana devices he’d left behind.
The elves were invited in, but Lizel had made sure they had no contact with Shadow at all. Framed as private collaborators of an adventurer, Shadow could stick to “I don’t know anything about it” no matter what came in from outside.
The culprit they’d captured had been restrained so he couldn’t use magic to begin with, but since he was in a state where he couldn’t even move a finger, it was probably pointless no matter what he tried to do. “Here, antidote. This might be the only thing that works,” the snake beastman had said, and then snuggled up to his own party leader, clearly wanting to be praised.
And if they were going to be overworked either way in a normal great invasion, then the sooner it ended, the better. In that sense, the outcome was excellent.
“But you, you’ve done nothing but talk about him since the great invasion ended.”
“…If you’re done here, get out.”
Insai left the room with a sly grin, and Shadow clicked his tongue sharply, face twisting.
He was aware of it himself—no one heard that small murmur.
At that time, Lizel, having dropped off the elves, was in a room at an inn where he intended—as promised—to take a break in the hot spring. He sat facing Gill.
Both sat on the bed, heads almost touching. Lizel was probably wearing the most serious expression he ever had, while Gill sat with arms folded, face completely blank. Eleven was sprawled out behind Lizel, watching the scene.
Leisurely crawling forward across the bed, propping his cheek in his hand, Eleven looked up at Lizel from below, an amused smile on his face.
“The only reason we managed to get ahead of Mr. Ruler this time is undeniably thanks to the books.”
Gill didn’t even twitch an eyebrow at that calm tone, which held a hint of pleading more than a tone of admonishment.