“Ah, yes. Then…”

She wanted to discuss more—whether there were any quests that needed to be cleared before receiving the final quest, how best to utilize the newly acquired skills and titles.

But before Natalie could bring these up, McClain cut her off with a resolute face.

“Things will be quite different from now on. I’ll do my best, so you should also prepare yourself mentally.”

“Yes, of course I should, but…”

As she tried to continue, McClain turned his head. Orlando, who had completed preparations for departure, was approaching.

McClain looked back at Natalie’s face, which seemed to have lingering thoughts, and smiled bitterly.

“Then we should depart now, so it would be good for you to gather your belongings.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Natalie had no choice but to turn back obediently. She couldn’t hold him back and cause delays in such an urgent situation.

There would be time later.

They wouldn’t ride non-stop until reaching the imperial capital, so she could request a conversation with him during a brief rest.

However, reality was completely different from what she had expected.

Perhaps stimulated by Natalie’s growth experienced that morning, the expedition team rode without stopping until they reached the imperial capital.

They had departed from the northern corrupted area and performed numerous quests along the way, and on top of that, everyone had barely rested due to the demon lord’s appearance and Natalie’s fever the previous night. Yet despite the marching speed that seemed excessive, no one complained.

She thought there would be time once they reached the imperial capital, but that wasn’t the case either. As soon as they arrived at the military camp in the imperial capital, McClain immediately ordered everyone to disperse.

“Well, this journey is over for now, so everyone go home and rest well today. It’s late now, so I plan to report the current situation to His Majesty the Emperor tomorrow. It will take at least three or four days to recruit troops to face the demon lord’s army and request personnel from the magic tower, no matter how quickly we move.”

“Will the magic tower really provide personnel?”

To Jorel’s question, which seemed devoid of any expectation, McClain replied in a dry voice.

“It would be difficult for them to ignore the crisis when the Empire is about to disappear without a trace. First, we need His Majesty to recognize the seriousness of the situation.”

“I suppose you’re right. His Majesty does have quite a positive disposition.”

Positively speaking, the Emperor was optimistic, but more accurately, he was an excessive optimist.

“Everything will work out fine,” “Surely it won’t get that bad,” “What problem could possibly remain unsolved when the Empire’s greatest warrior takes action?”

These were the Emperor’s typical responses whenever McClain reported on the expansion of corrupted areas and monster activity.

“I’ll report to him first, then summon you once our future schedule is confirmed. Don’t waste even a moment—keep training in the meantime.”

“Yes, understood.”

“The rest of us can ride our own horses, but what about Miss Pereira… I could escort you if needed.”

As Orlando glanced toward Natalie with his question, McClain stepped forward and waved his hand dismissively.

“No, I’ll drop her off on my way. Don’t worry about it.”

Natalie brightened at McClain’s words.

She thought she would finally have a chance to talk with him alone.

It made sense for him to take her, since McClain lived in the territory neighboring the Pereira family.

However, only after mounting the horse did she realize that a meaningful conversation would be impossible in this state.

Since they were riding a single horse rather than a carriage, Natalie sat in front with McClain behind her, holding the reins as if embracing her.

In that position, with the wind pressure hitting her face from their speed, she could barely open her mouth, let alone have a conversation.

She even thought it might have been better to use her flight magic and travel together with McClain that way.

After taking the wind full in her face for the entire journey, they eventually arrived at the front gate of the Pereira mansion.

Looking at the mansion that remained unchanged from before her departure, Natalie thought, ‘I guess they resolved the urgent debts with the money I gave them before the expedition.’

While she was thinking this, McClain dismounted first.

He extended his hand toward Natalie indifferently, as if telling her to hurry down. His dry gesture, seemingly lost in thought, made Natalie feel strangely disappointed.

After she deliberately took her time dismounting, McClain greeted her as if he had been waiting for this moment.

“Take care going in. I’ll contact you again once the schedule is confirmed.”

He spoke so hurriedly that it seemed as if someone was chasing him.

When Natalie nodded slightly, he turned away without giving her a chance to suggest they talk for a while. Watching him mount his horse without a trace of lingering attachment, Natalie let out a small sigh before turning away.

Click. As she opened the mansion door and entered, an unfamiliar yet familiar face rushed toward her. It was the maid, Maria.

“Oh my, Miss! Madam! Miss Natalie has returned!”

At Maria’s cry, Lady Rose, who was in charge of the kitchen, and Count and Countess Pereira all rushed to the entrance at once.

“My goodness! Our Natalie has returned!”

“Are you alright? Are you injured anywhere?”

“Yes, I’m fine. Not a single injury.”

When Natalie answered casually, Maria, who was wiping away tears beside her, spoke in a choked voice.

“Miss Natalie! You have no idea how worried the Count and Countess were after you left like that. Oh my, just look at your face. You must have suffered so much—your face is half its former size.”

“That’s right, absolutely. You’ve become half your size.”

Countess Pereira waved her hands at Maria and Lady Rose while giving instructions.

“Lady Rose, please go prepare something for Natalie to eat. And Maria, go prepare bath water. She needs to wash up and have something warm to eat.”

“Yes, Madam.”

Only after the household’s fuss had died down and Natalie was being led toward the stairs by Countess Pereira did she hear it.

The sound of a horse neighing and galloping away.

What had he been doing all this time to only depart now?

Natalie paused briefly, puzzled. But soon forgot about it as Countess Pereira urged her, “Let’s get you washed up and changed first.”

※※※

The next day, when McClain met with the Emperor in the audience chamber, he heard unexpected words.

“I’ve been troubled by the northern corrupted area for some time, but thanks to you, I can now rest easy. Well done, truly well done.”

Confused by the Emperor’s words and beaming smile, McClain asked:

“What do you mean? You said you can rest easy?”

“How can you ask me that? You’re the one who stopped the expansion of the corrupted area. I should be the one receiving a report on what brilliant method you used to handle it so easily.”

McClain’s brows furrowed involuntarily at this unexpected response.

He shook his head firmly, denying the Emperor’s words.

“I think you’ve been misinformed. I did not stop the expansion of the corrupted area. Rather, regarding that…”

“What are you saying? You didn’t stop the expansion? Reports have already come in that not only has the expansion stopped, but you’ve even reclaimed parts of the Deloa territory that had been consumed by demonic energy.”

“Reports from Deloa territory said that? But…”

McClain tried to explain the situation, but the Emperor had already sunk into his own thoughts and was unable to properly hear his report.

“So this is all your achievement, isn’t it? When I heard of your return, I prepared a banquet to commend your hard work. I’ve scheduled it for four days from now, so make sure you attend with all expedition members.”

“A banquet, Your Majesty? With all due respect, we don’t have time to waste on such things.”

It was an incredibly rude statement to make before the Emperor, regardless of McClain’s status as the Empire’s greatest warrior and a duke.

However, as the original developer of this game, he thoroughly understood the personalities of all the characters in it.

He knew exactly how far he could go with talking directly without causing the Emperor to become enraged.

And the Emperor, who was set as an extreme optimist who preferred to avoid most conflicts, reacted just as McClain expected. He frowned briefly but soon softened his expression and asked curiously:

“What do you mean?”

“The rapid expansion of this corrupted area wasn’t caused by monsters or demonic races.”

“Then what else appeared?”

“The demon lord.”

The Emperor frowned deeply at McClain’s answer. He asked in disbelief:

“What? What did you just say?”

“The demon lord appeared, and I faced him directly.”

The Emperor’s expression suddenly brightened at McClain’s answer. He had started making his own judgments again.

“Aha! So you dealt with that demon lord. That’s why you reclaimed the Deloa territory.”

“With all due respect, I couldn’t even touch a hair on that creature. In fact, I nearly lost my life to him.”

“That can’t be. How could you possibly be defeated by a mere demon lord? Stop joking.”