"Ouch! That sure hurts a lot" [Ash]

"Sorry, but bare with me" [Royal Healer]

After the fight with Agnes and the Corrupted Thanatos (now simply Thanatos), we have the people that's lock underneath the ground being released. I'm not lying when I say that their reaction sure bring tears to my eyes (as well as the thugs which honestly makes me see them in a different light right now. Guess all they need is someone to actually guide them). They have been handled by Haliza since then

As for the two priest that we caught in the act, they apparently vouch not guilty and refused to talk any further. Even the church demanded their release and have been pestering me to apologize for everything that have happened.

(Yeah, I sincerely wanted to punch each one of them) [Ash]

But thank god it doesn't affect (or should I say they're afraid) to touch those little kid at Malsia's Orphanage. They knew that I have been helping to make a second Orphanage here at Malsia so naturally these little kid will be an easy target for vengeance but Haliza's influence manage to stop them. Speaking of the Orphanage, Kana here will work for the Orphanage. I still remember how each one of the kids rush and wanted to hug him first. They remember him dearly, and it makes me jealous a bit.

"Thank you, I can fulfill my promise to take care of them" [Kana]

"Don't sweat it. Plus, having you here actually makes me feel better" [Ash]

Kanji, Qudus (after receiving citizenship from Haliza) and the thugs are all taking their time to determine what they should do next. Kanji wanted to become an adventure with Naoto supporting him. Good for him

As for the Thanatos, it simply vanished (after giving his vouch to never let this kind of thing happen again). I thought of asking him a thing or two about Achalasia Externa and the fallen god (should he knew about it) but he simply say some peculiar thing regarding my Scythe. Thanatos say that I actually don't take the full advantage of this special scythe of mine. I do agree as the only time I use full advantage of it is to meet mom, and I can hear dad occasionally giving his opinion (but he never shows up in the end). Still, it will be nice if you actually give me a hint or two, not just says that and left me wonder all by my own.

And after all of that, it leads to

"There, all done. There's no more mana clump beside your spine" [Royal Healer]

"Thank you. Geezz... finally, I don't feel any sort of mass every single second" [Ash]

"It actually a miracle for you to survive. Most that have that clump of mana anywhere inside the body tend to become sick, and even die because of it" [Royal Healer]

"Guess I'm just lucky" [Ash]

Thanatos dark arrow are concentrated in mana that it actually take a physical form and leave a clump of mana at my back (which, if not for Goddess Achalasia blessings, who knew what will happen to me). That's why Haliza's family personal Royal Healer decided to just remove it before it started to act funny

"You look better now" [Haliza]

"Yeah, I can walk comfortably now" [Ash]

"Hmph! If he can't handle that, then he is just a fake" [Rude Captain 2.0]

"Say someone that doesn't contribute a thing" [Ash]

"!" [Rude Captain 2.0]

"Now now" [Haliza]

"I swear to god" [Mira]

Well, we started to walk to the meeting room as to discuss what happen and our future course of action. Apparently, Diana and Qis will also be there. They also mentioned that they will surprise me with something (now I'm curious...)

"Tchh!" [Rude Captain]

"Sigh... Rude Captain and Rude Captain 2.0. Diana, can't you bring someone nice for once" [Ash]

"It's been a while and that's the first thing that come from your mouth" [Qis]

"Haha. Now now, in his defense, you're acting not befitting as you should" [Diana]

"Oh, my sincere apologies dear Princess Diana of the Kingdom of Estel, this humble gentleman just can't forget how this great knight of yours act toward my ten siblings during our first meeting, and his subsequent manner. I do apologize for hating him for such a valid reason. Then again, you're right about me having no manner" [Ash]

"Sigh... this is what Princess Diana just talked about" [Mira]

"Some people will never learn..." [Diana]

We make our way to the meeting room. There, our group is the last to enter. As we take our seat, I noticed that Guild Master Ram and another person whom I presume to be Malsia's adventure guild master are sitting right next to each other. Make sense, I'm sure they're an acquittance, or at least known each other given their respective position

With that, we begin the meeting (just how many meetings do I had attended with the top of the country now?). Well, I gave them my report, about how Kanji, Qudus (his peculiar ability is kept a secret only)and I manage to find Kana (for which, his secret as a male witch only known by Haliza and King of Malsia). I also talk about my fight with Agnes and Corrupted Thanatos and how I managed to defeat it

"Hmph, you, defeating it?" [Rude Captain]

"Usually I will slam you back for that, but I have to agree with you this time around. Defeat is a strong word here, I merely remove the evilish miasma that corrupted the Thanatos and it simply vanished afterward" [Ash]

"Haa! See, I told you!" [Rude Captain]

"Calm down. He might not defeated it, but at least the threat of an S rank monster roaming around Malsia is no more. Plus, soloing an S rank monster is no small feat, you should know that" [Malsia guild master]

"Still, what could cause the Thanatos to be corrupted?" [King Malsia]

"Agnes, she's the one that causes it. I don't know how but I'm sure how, whether it's her ability, whether she's a witch, or because of her blessings" [Ash]

"Blessing?" [Diana]

"Yeah, she outright say that she received blessing from the fallen god itself" [Ash]

"!" [Other]

"Don't bullshit us!" [Rude Captain 2.0]

"No, I didn't. Sure she can just claim it, but I can clearly felt there's something different about her, plus..." [Ash]

"Plus?" [Haliza]

"I'm sure she's hiding more than that. She's a shrewd one and if in terms of adventure ranking, she could easily become an A rank adventure" [Ash]

"That's worrisome" [Qis]

"I see, and how about you? Did the priest that were caught say anything?" [King Malsia]

"They didn't. Plus, it seems like there are some sorts of barrier that prevent us from looking directly into their mind" [Magician]

(That's an interesting magic, I'm sure I can do that) [Ash]

"And how about the Estel's side of thing?" [King Malsia]

"Well..." [Diana]

As for Diana, she did mention that an engineer group (which I presume to be Erinmorlin) also found a tunnel made by the traveler king. Is this just a coincidence? Other than that, they also mentioned that they manage to arrest a group of mercenary and a priest. Just like how the church here in Malsia react, the church there also react in the same way. That's to be expected.

"Should we really hide these things from public?" [Magician]

"Yes, we should. If words do come out about what have been happening, I'm sure it will spells more trouble. Plus, they do believe in the church more than us" [Haliza]

Yeah, as frustrating as it is, we should just kept it as a secret for now. I'm not sure what will be the worst possible scenarios, but I assume it could turn bloody (that is if the history back on earth can be applied here)

With that, we concluded our meeting with plan moving forward. While the finer details about how they will handle the church request is left to them, they requested me to keep on investigating about the tunnel made by the traveler king. I don't have any complaint but I did tell them that I will map it out for few days before going back to Estel as. Reason? I just say that I missed the ten of them

~Giggle~

"?" [Ash]

Why did she giggle like that? Oh well, guess someone rude like me saying something like that bound to make that happen. With that, the meeting concluded. While Ram and the other guild master discuss about adventure related stuff, Diana, Haliza, Qis and Mira plan to go straight to the orphanage. They even have huge amount of foods prepare (and all of that were put inside my item box). I also got my payment from Haliza

We take Haliza's carriage and went there straight. At the door, I can hear Charlotte playing tag with them. Guess I must have missed them even more than I initially thought.

"Welcome back!" [Charlotte]

"Charlotte, I'm back! Oh, how I missed you guys so much!" [Ash]

"Me too!" [Charlotte]

There's the hug. I lift her up and pinch her cheeks. This sure is a strong hallucinations. Maybe too strong. Wait a minute... Is this really a hallucinations?

.

.

.

~Pinch~

"That hurts!" [Charlotte]

"Ehh! Charlotte! What are you doing here!?" [Ash]

"Haha" [Farhah]

"All of us are here as well" [Rean]

"Well, except Grandpa Claude and Sis Rafiah" [Elise]

"Ehh! You guys!" [Ash]

"Let me explain" [Diana]