Gathering Wives with a System

Chapter 674: The Demon King, The Hero, And The Saintess

Isaac stretched in his chair as he finished reading through another stack of documents. His main body was currently traveling outside the city, but most of his clones had remained behind to handle the various matters that could not simply be left unattended. The clone responsible for the office was still being directly controlled by Isaac, allowing him to work almost as efficiently as if he were sitting there himself.

A knock came from the door, and Isaac looked up briefly before returning his attention to the document in front of him.

”Come in,” he said, and a young man stepped inside after carefully closing the door behind him.

The man was named Adrian Voss, and he had only been working as Isaac’s secretary since Vale left. He had previously served as an assistant clerk in the city administration, where his ability to organize records and deal with difficult awakeners had eventually caught the attention of one of Isaac’s people. Adrian was competent, quiet, and, more importantly, understood that working for Isaac required him to know when to speak and when to simply handle a problem himself.

”Sir, there are six adventurers waiting to meet you. They say they have come from the far east and would like to speak with you personally,” Adrian said.

”Then tell them to make an appointment and come back at the proper time. I have enough work waiting for me without adding unplanned meetings to the schedule,” Isaac said, reading the document in his hands without showing much interest.

Adrian hesitated for a moment before continuing. ”There is one other matter. One of them is a saintess.”

Isaac’s hand stopped halfway through turning the page, and he slowly raised his eyes from the document.

”A saintess?” Isaac asked.

”Yes, sir. That is what they claimed, and the people accompanying her appear to be protecting her rather seriously,” Adrian replied.

Isaac leaned back slightly and considered the information. He knew who these people were, or at least he was fairly certain that he had heard of them before. There was a six-person adventuring party from the far eastern kingdoms that had been attempting to explore the Great Dungeon, and they had even crossed paths with Emily once.

Normally, Isaac would have had little reason to involve himself with a group of adventurers simply because they wanted an audience with him. The situation was different when one of them was a saintess, however, because someone with that position could become a valuable ally, particularly if she belonged to a recognized religious order.

”Bring them to the meeting room. I will be there shortly,” Isaac said as he closed the document.

Adrian gave a small bow before leaving the room. Isaac watched the door close and then remained seated for a few moments, thinking about the unexpected visitors. There was no reason to be hostile or arrogant toward guests who had done nothing wrong, and treating them properly cost him very little.

If the saintess was genuinely important, there was even less reason to create unnecessary tension before he knew why they had come. Isaac placed the document aside and stood up, leaving the rest of his paperwork for later.

The six adventurers were already waiting when Isaac entered the meeting room. At first glance, they looked remarkably similar to humans, except for their red skin. Their features were also unusually refined.

The young woman standing among them drew Isaac’s attention for a moment longer than the others. She was the saintess, and unlike what Isaac had expected, she did not seem particularly nervous about meeting him. She simply watched him with a calm expression as he took his place across from the group.

The man standing at the front stepped forward first. ”Thank you for agreeing to meet us on such short notice, Lord Isaac. My name is Reiner Albrecht, and I am the leader of this party.”

He gestured toward the others as he introduced them one by one. ”This is Sarah, our saintess, and these are Daren, Mira, Klaus, and Elin. We are all citizens of the Kingdom of Veloria, though our group has traveled through several of the eastern kingdoms during our journey.”

Isaac nodded as he listened. Veloria was one of the larger kingdoms in the far east, known for maintaining close ties with several neighboring nations—large Fortified Cities. Its royal family also had a reputation for being rather involved in adventuring and dungeon exploration, although Isaac had never paid much attention to their internal affairs.

Reiner continued after the introductions. ”There is something else you should know before we explain why we came here. I am the younger brother of the current king of Veloria.”

Isaac raised an eyebrow slightly. That explained why an adventuring party could travel so freely while receiving protection from people who clearly knew their identities. A prince traveling as an adventurer was not something one encountered every day, although Isaac supposed the Great Dungeon was enough of a reason for someone of royal blood to take such risks.

Sarah then stepped forward and placed one hand lightly against her chest. ”I serve the Goddess Witra, and I serve as a saintess in the High Temple of Veloria. We came because we believe there is something we should discuss with you personally.”

Isaac gave her a small nod, as he sat. ”I understand, and I appreciate you introducing yourselves properly. You mentioned that you have been exploring the Great Dungeon, so I assume your visit is connected to what happened there.”

The group sat after receiving his nod.

Reiner exchanged a brief glance with the others before bringing out a weapon from his spatial ring. He carefully removed a sword from its sheath and held it out in front of him, revealing a weapon whose craftsmanship immediately stood apart from ordinary adventurer equipment.

”This is why we came. I would like to offer you this legendary-rank sword,” Reiner said.

Isaac’s eyebrows rose as he looked at the weapon. A legendary-rank item was not something that could be casually offered to another person, especially not by a prince from a foreign kingdom. He did not reach for the sword.

Legendary weapons were undeniably rare and powerful, and there was a time when Isaac would have been genuinely excited to obtain one. He still was, however, he had long since passed the point where a weapon of that rank could make him forget to ask questions.

He looked at Reiner, then at the sword in his hands, before finally asking, ”What exactly is this about?”

Reiner seemed to have expected the question, and he lowered the sword slightly. ”I was hoping that, in exchange for this sword, you would allow us to recruit Lady Emily into our party.”

Isaac frowned. His expression changed immediately, and the faint interest he had shown toward the weapon disappeared as he focused entirely on Reiner.

”I think you should explain that properly before we discuss whether I will accept your offer,” Isaac said.

”Of course. The situation in the east has become increasingly dangerous, and the main reason we came here is related to that problem. There is an Ascender causing chaos in the eastern kingdoms, and none of the ordinary forces sent against him have been able to stop him,” Reiner said.

”How powerful are we talking about?” Isaac asked

”Powerful enough that several kingdoms have already suffered serious losses. Even the strongest people who have confronted him have been unable to defeat him, and the longer he remains active, the more difficult the situation becomes,” Reiner replied.

He paused before continuing, as though he wanted to make sure Isaac understood the seriousness of what he was saying. ”My elder brother, the current Ascender of our kingdom, is stronger than the enemy, but he was seriously injured during the previous battle. He is alive, but he cannot fight again in his current condition.”

Isaac’s eyes narrowed slightly. That explained why a prince and a group of adventurers would be traveling so far from their own kingdom while carrying the resources of what appeared to be a much larger mission.

”So you are searching for something that can heal him?” Isaac guessed.

”Yes. There are certain materials that may restore his strength and allow him to recover from his injuries. They are extremely difficult to obtain, which is why my companions and I left the kingdom and began traveling through the Sector,” Reiner said.

Isaac remained silent for a moment. The more Reiner explained, the more familiar the structure of the situation seemed to become.

There was an overwhelming enemy threatening several kingdoms, a powerful figure from the opposing side, a wounded champion who was unable to fight, and a group of young adventurers traveling across dangerous lands to gather the materials needed to restore him. It sounded suspiciously similar to the demon king versus heroes sort of rehashed story Isaac that had encountered countless times in his old world, where a powerful enemy appeared and a group of heroes set out on a journey to defeat them.

The difference was that this was apparently happening in the real world, and Isaac had no intention of treating it like some simple adventure story.

”Where does Emily appear in all of this?” Isaac asked.