She Who Became Immortal

"Speaking of which, Euphemia, the folks from Simlika said they wanted to talk to you."

We had successfully integrated Volte Claus, and I left the task of showing him around the fortress to Biante. Feeling a bit sorry for Regalo, who got dragged into the task, I was thinking this as if it was someone else’s problem when suddenly, the Lion Princess, Lapis Kruger, spoke up.

Simlika referred to the three mole beastmen, the Mole Tribe, who were always hooded and part of Lapis' entourage.

"Hmm? If they want to talk, I’ll listen," I replied.

Now that she mentioned it, amidst all the chaos, I hadn’t had much conversation with Lapis’ bodyguard, the leopardess beastman Nerva, or with Grandpa Roppa, the gnu beastman.

Not that I had stayed up all night chatting with everyone I’d met so far, but if someone wanted to talk, I had no reason to refuse—provided I had the time.

So, we headed to the dining hall where they usually were.

The dining hall was like a food court in a department store. The taurus beastwomen, who were cooking, were at the center of the bustle, surrounded by those serving food, receiving food, and eating. Despite having massacred a dozen of human knights the day before, the atmosphere was surprisingly peaceful.

"Oh, it’s Lady Euphemia!"

"Oh my! And Sir Junos is right beside you!"

"What’s everyone gathered for?"

"Kyaa! She’s so cute despite being so powerful!"

The busty beastwomen squealed in delight. I responded with a casual smile, which only made them squeal louder, but they seemed to be having fun, so it was fine.

Junos, who walked beside me, ignored them completely. Not even a cold response—just complete indifference as his form of self-defense.

Anyway.

At the far end of the dining hall, around a long table, sat the three mole beastmen, the leopardess beastman, and for some reason, the introverted demon kind, Carozza. Grandpa Gnu was in the center of the hall, chatting with various people.

"Oh! Eu-Eu-Euphemia, it’s you... hehe..."

Since no one else responded to my presence, Carozza looked around nervously before giving a weird laugh.

I found her amusing, so I quite liked this girl.

Feeling a bit mischievous, I unnecessarily approached Carozza, grabbed her head with both hands, and brushed aside her messy long hair to look at her face with a smile.

"Hyah!? W-What are you doing, Lady Euphemia!?"

"No special reason. I heard you three had some business with me, so I came over," I said.

Carozza's reaction was so funny that I felt completely satisfied.

But since the conversation wasn't progressing, I fixed—well, more like messed up—her hair and turned to the mole beastmen.

As always, all three were silent and hooded, giving nothing away from their appearance.

So, I prompted them.

"I heard you wanted to talk. What is it about?"

"We heard that the Princess has become one of your subordinates. If that’s the case, we’d like to be your subordinates too. Is that alright?"

"Well, if you’re okay with it, I don’t mind. If you’d rather stay under Lapis and not under me, that’s fine by me too."

"No, that would be confusing. It's better to keep things simple. We thought we’d find another place if we followed the Princess. Since she chose to serve you, it means our place is here too."

"I see."

Not fully understanding, I tilted my head.

The three mole beastmen exchanged glances and then pulled back their hoods, revealing their solid black eyes without whites.

Their appearance—humanoid moles slightly stylized—had short, shiny, dark gray fur. They looked more human than kobolds like Iota and Polo but more like plush toys compared to dog beastmen like Alto Bernard. Their height was also just a bit taller than kobolds.

"We Moles are beastmen close to spirit beings. We can use unique earth and stone magic. The magical iron reinforcements in the walls you made are impressive. Very impressive."

"Yes, very impressive."

"Indeed, very impressive."

The moles clapped their soft-looking hands together, so I joined in with a light applause, but no one else seemed to react.

"I have a vague idea that you, Euphemia, have been taking iron from the ‘Labyrinth of the Gods’ and that the dwarves are doing the smithing."

"Nobody’s hiding it."

"But we don't know the exact location."

"Well, it’s not something we share with just anyone."

In a sense, it’s top secret. Even Lex Asuka doesn’t know about that particular dungeon—or at least she’s not supposed to. Unless, of course, there's a spy among us, but officially, it’s undisclosed.

"We want you to take us to the labyrinth and the smithy."

"We can use earth and stone magic."

"We can process iron and magic stones."

"Process iron?"

"For example, the swords the beastmen use. The mountain knife that Nerva uses was made by us mole beastmen."

"Not a bad piece."

"But the magical iron reinforcement is better."

"Interesting."

A little mystery was solved at that moment. Rather than having blacksmiths among the beastmen, there were beastmen who could create weapons using magic.

"Are you saying you want to help?"

At my question, the three moles nodded in unison.

"We’re bored here."

"We have skills."

"We’re interested in the dwarves’ smithing."

"We’re interested in the labyrinth too."

"We might understand something about the labyrinth."

"We’re close to spirits."

Ah, this way of talking in chorus feels a bit nostalgic.

However, unlike the discomfort I felt with the 'Twin Gilletes', I didn’t sense any unease from the moles. There was a strange certainty that the moles wouldn't reach the same kind of danger I had worried about with the Gillete siblings.

They weren’t aiming to reach the sky, pierce the heavens, or touch the moon.

The Gillete siblings probably had no limits.

"Well, alright. I’ll show you the way," I said, glancing at Junos.

"Understood. I’ll arrange for Jade and Alto. Take Katarina as well. Leave Lapis here... Four days should be enough, right?"

"Even if they’re extremely competent, that should be enough. It takes time and effort to reorganize the army. We’ve already brought Volte over to our side."

Our prediction was that the enemy—the Tiant territory knights—could no longer form a proper unit. If that were the case, it was unlikely they’d attempt to attack the fortress again with just the forces they had at the 'camp' as Volte called it.

After all, they had launched a full-scale assault, suffered significant losses, and retreated without inflicting any damage. They probably had around sixty injured, and the reports said thirteen were dead.

Even if the 'Prodigal Prince' had preemptively gathered his forces at the border territory’s camp—though that seemed unlikely—he would still need time to organize his troops.

In other words, we had a gap in which to act.

For both us and them.

Of course, if we sent our entire force to the border territory’s 'camp', we could likely wipe them out. However, doing so would leave the enemy with no choice but to escalate.

The important thing is finding a middle ground.

This is a common key to resolving most issues.

"Anything else?"

"When Kairine returns, send her to the rocky area. I’ll listen to her report directly. If the enemy advances, find a way to contact us. If you focus on defense, I doubt they can break through. If there’s an opening, you can go on the offensive."

"What about enemy scouts?"

"If they try to cross the hills and approach Grimoire territory, kill them. If they scout around the fortress alone, kill them too. If they’re observing from the ridge, ignore them. However, if there are many of them, use Zonda’s group to intimidate them. You can kill them if necessary."

"Understood. Wait here for a moment."

With that, Junos briskly turned and walked away.

As I watched the back of Grimoire’ dependable leader, feeling a mix of admiration and gratitude,

"Hehe! Lady Euphemia and Junos, you two seem like a married couple! Just kidding... Ah, sorry! I just wanted to say that... hehe," Carozza said, her mood swinging wildly as she laughed awkwardly.

Yep, I really like this one. She’s amusing.