I, reincarnate as the leader of the villainous knight order

Chapter 115: Counting Chickens Before They Hatch

“Given that a turning point has occurred here, it likely happened in the past as well. There should be some documents at the lord’s manor in the capital, but does the guild have any similar records?”

“Documents, huh… Well, there are some old books that have been passed down from guild master to guild master.”

The guild master took three tattered books from a bookshelf against the wall and plopped them haphazardly on the table. They looked quite old and weren’t treated with much care. I picked one up and began flipping through it.

“Hmm…? Is this a guild journal?”

“Yeah, but it only records major events. There are five volumes in total, and these three are the oldest. Since this guild has been around for about 500 years, you can think of each volume as covering roughly a century. Most of the major events recorded are things like the appearance of rare monsters or new species.”

“It would be troublesome if big events happened frequently… Ah, here it is! This section is full of monster illustrations, so it must be significant. Yep, as I thought. It seems there used to be a small dungeon here, but it dried up and collapsed. That large depression you mentioned earlier is probably the site where the dungeon caved in.”

“There was a dungeon here!?”

The guild master raised his voice in surprise, though I intended the explanation for Alan.

“Why didn’t the guild master know about this? You haven’t read these journals, have you?”

“Uh, well, the previous guild master told me that as long as I read the latest volume, I’d be fine…”

The guild master averted his eyes conspicuously. I skimmed through the book and reread the parts around the illustrations.

“Well, whatever. It seems the monsters in the area weakened when the dungeon collapsed. The creatures depicted here started appearing around that time. Based on the reports I’ve seen, they match the monsters that have recently appeared. This suggests that the effects of the dungeon’s depletion are diminishing, and the original monsters are starting to reappear. It might even mean that the dungeon could revive in the future.”

“You’re amazing, brother…!”

Alan’s expression mirrored that of Yamato when he would say, “You’re awesome, big brother,” which made me smile involuntarily.

“Rather than worrying about subjugation, the talk is about raising the rank of adventurers in Frales. Low-rank adventurers will likely have to move to other towns. The guild should suggest suitable towns for them to go to. Also, make sure to inform all the adventurer guilds and attract high-rank adventurers here.”

“That’s the only way. Looks like things are going to get busy for a while.”

The guild master stood up and began preparing some documents at his desk.

“Hey, brother, what about the subjugation plan?”

“Until we can attract high-rank adventurers, we need to reduce the number of monsters that are too much for the current adventurers to handle. Assign those of D-rank or below to town defense. If any monsters escape in a frenzy during the subjugation, only adventurers of C-rank and above will be able to deal with them.”

“True. Even D-rank adventurers can handle stray bear-type monsters if they have the numbers. It would be best to limit the subjugation team to C-rank and above.”

“Judging by the adventurers’ attitudes, it’s better not to do a joint operation. Let the adventurers handle the eastern side of the depression and the Third Knight Order handle the western side.”

“What!? If it’s adventurers, I can manage them! So let’s do it together…”

“The way knights and adventurers coordinate is different. Given that you’ve been able to manage adventurers so far, I can trust you with this. Handle that side. We’ll return to town each night, and in about three days, we should be able to reduce their numbers sufficiently.”

“Alright… I understand…”

Alan visibly slumped his shoulders in disappointment. Perhaps he was glad to have a reliable brother around, given how hard he had been working to lead the adventurers of Frales.

However, if I were to take charge of both the adventurers and the knights, it would likely provoke resentment from the other adventurers. To comfort him, I ruffled Alan’s hair.

“How about we hold a party to celebrate once the subjugation mission is over? Both knights and adventurers together… I never thought I’d see the day when I could drink with Yamato.”

I whispered the last part softly, just loud enough for Alan to hear. He beamed with joy.

“Then if I win a drinking contest, you treat, alright? I’m quite the drinker, you know?”

“Haha, so if you lose, you treat, right? Now we’ve got something to look forward to after the subjugation.”

Alan and I copied the strategy map and discussed emergency signals and other details, wrapping up our conversation. Meanwhile, the guild master had been engrossed in paperwork and hadn’t looked our way since we started. He was grinning while scribbling something down

“Let’s see… dungeon… revival… possibility… There! Hehe, this guild’s gonna make a fortune!”

“Sorry to burst your bubble, but even if the dungeon does revive, it won’t be in our lifetime. It’s been about four hundred years since the dungeon dried up and the monsters started to return, so it will likely take another hundred years or more. Anyway, let’s call it a day, shall we?”

“Alright, see you tomorrow. Guild master, I’m heading out too. Good luck rewriting those documents. See you.”

Alan and I exited the guild master’s office, leaving the guild master speechless upon learning the truth about the dungeon’s revival.