Finally, I can Retire, Or so I Thought

Inside Dion’s mansion, the living room was suffocatingly tense. Edgar sat beside Aria on one sofa, while directly across from them, Dion sat frozen like a statue, forcing a strained smile onto his face. The reason? Luna and Cleo were sandwiching him on either side. To Luna’s left, Sheila sat with her arms crossed and one leg resting over the other, while to Cleo’s right, Mei sat bolt upright, hands resting squarely on the hilts of her twin swords. Gina perched atop Dion’s head, wrapping her little arms around him from behind. Every eye in the room was locked onto Aria, who sat looking completely unbothered next to Edgar.

Three automated golems stepped into the room carrying a tea set, a teapot, and a plate of snacks, setting them neatly on the coffee table. One golem poured tea into seven cups, serving Edgar, Aria, Dion, Luna, Cleo, Sheila, and Mei. Once finished, the golem placed the teapot down, delivered a crisp military salute, and turned to march back out. Edgar’s eyes never left the three server golems for a single second.

”Alright then... What do you say, Lord Dion? I can draft the partnership contract right now,” Edgar offered, pulling out a notepad and pen.

”Hold on. When it comes to business matters, let’s discuss them in private, Master Edgar. Come with me, I’ll be handling negotiations on Dion’s behalf,” Luna said, standing up.

”Ah, very well. Lead the way,” Edgar replied, getting to his feet.

The two stepped out of the living room and moved into the adjacent dining room. A couple of golems promptly followed, carrying Edgar’s and Luna’s tea and snacks into the next room. Once the doors slid shut behind them, Dion turned to Aria.

”So... What actually happened back in Minatheras? Why did you come all the way out here, Aria?” Dion asked.

”Hmm... I’ll tell you, but first... Please tell me, what on earth is that on your head?” Aria asked, pointing at Gina clinging to the back of Dion’s head.

”Kyuuu?”

Gina hid behind Dion’s head, peeking out with one eye to inspect Aria. Dion lifted Gina down and set her in his lap.

”This is Gina... She’s a baby dragon,” Dion introduced her.

”Hmm... Is that so? I’ve heard dragon scales can be crafted into incredible gear,” Aria mused.

Hearing that, Gina went instantly pale, scrambling straight into Dion’s shirt to hide.

”Hey Aria... Your name is Aria, right?” Sheila cut in.

”Correct. Princess Sheila of Northgard,” Aria answered smoothly.

”Hoo... So you know who I am. Good, that makes this quick. What’s your real motive for coming here? You’d better answer truthfully,” Sheila demanded.

”Like I said earlier, I heard there was a settlement for former slaves out here. I brought a group of former slaves I freed from Minatheras with me,” Aria replied casually, taking a sip of her tea.

”I hear the illegal slave trade in Minatheras is rampant and completely open because of a massive syndicate backed by high-ranking nobles. Did you liberate them from that syndicate?” Cleo asked, eyeing Aria closely.

Aria paused for a moment. She took another sip of tea, set her cup down, and casually refilled it before looking Dion dead in the eye.

”Yes... I freed them from the illegal slave trade. They were actually villagers I happened to know... Dion and Luna know what I was up to back then,” Aria said.

”Ah... Right,” Dion muttered softly.

”You knew about this?” Mei asked Dion.

”Yeah... Back when I was still an active adventurer, my party went to rescue a village from a goblin raid. But when we arrived, there weren’t any goblins, and the villagers were completely gone. My party ran into Aria there instead,” Dion explained.

”Exactly. The goblin raid was just a cover-up. In reality, the entire village of about 50 people had been rounded up and sold into slavery by a local noble... So Dion and I... liberated them,” Aria added.

Sheila, Cleo, and Mei instantly turned to stare at Dion, who remained frozen in his seat with his head lowered. Even Gina poked her head out from his shirt to check on him.

”Wait a second... If I remember correctly, there was a high-profile case in Minatheras where a high noble was assassinated by some unseen, mysterious force... I remember hearing rumors about it roughly two years ago,” Cleo recalled, rubbing her chin.

The room fell dead silent. Sheila, Mei, and Cleo kept their eyes glued to Dion, who was now visibly breaking out into a cold sweat. Aria stared at Dion as well, but before anyone could say another word,

Blam!

Luna pushed the doors open, holding her own tea cup. She shut the doors behind her and casually reclaimed her seat beside Dion.

”Hey... What’s with the heavy mood? Oh, by the way... Master Edgar was called away by his staff for a moment. He’ll be right back to discuss establishing an official branch of his trading firm right here in our village,” Luna announced nonchalantly.

”Huh?!” Dion, Sheila, Mei, and Cleo gasped in unison, staring at Luna’s relaxed expression.

”Wait... Hold on... Wasn’t Master Edgar proposing a joint venture to mass-produce golems?” Dion asked, stunned.

”Originally, yes... But why go through all that trouble? It’s much better for us if he simply opens a trade branch here. That way, we secure a trade route and get easy access to supplies without having to travel and most importantly, without exposing Gina to the outside world,” Luna explained, shooting Dion a sharp glance.

”Oh... That makes total sense... I agree,” Dion stammered, relenting immediately.

”Hold on, don’t change the subject! We were in the middle of discussing something critical here,” Cleo interrupted. ”The person who assassinated that Duke back then... Was that you, Dion?”

”You know about that case too, Mei?” Sheila asked.

”Hey... I’m a Shadow Hand. I know every piece of intelligence in the world,” Mei replied flatly.

”Oh, that incident? Yeah, Dion wiped out the Duke and his knights, then freed the enslaved villagers. Unfortunately, we couldn’t save everyone, we only managed to rescue about ten people,” Luna added casually.

Dion whipped his head around to look at Luna, who blinked back at him in confusion.

”Why are you looking at me like that? It’s the truth, isn’t it?” Luna asked Dion.

”Yup... That’s right. Luna was right there with me at the time. After that, I continued operating solo in Minatheras, infiltrating the underground network under the guise of a merchant to rescue slaves. That’s how I ended up leading the syndicate over there and bringing those people here today,” Aria chimed in.

”Hoo... So that’s how it is. In that case, welcome to our territory, Aria,” Sheila said, her hostity instantly evaporating into a warm smile.

”Ah... Right. She brought former slaves to settle here before we even arrived,” Mei explained to Aria.

”To the nobles and the royal family of the Minatheras Kingdom... I’m officially branded a criminal over there for freeing those slaves and, well... shaking down a few corrupt aristocrats for cash... But now that I’m out here... I’m scot-free, heheh,” Aria said casually, flashing Dion a bright grin.

”Hmm... So the famous syndicate boss who frees slaves and robs the nobility in the Minatheras capital was actually you. Word of your exploits even made it all the way to Lutherias,” Cleo noted.

”Hah! You completely brainless princess! Did you forget that you’re royalty from the Thetor Kingdom?! Are you trying to trigger a war between two empires?!” Luna snapped at Aria.

”Hey! Watch your mouth, you brainless bimbo! You’re the kind of girl who smiles to your face and then beats people to a pulp without thinking twice!” Aria yelled, pointing a finger directly at Luna.

”Hah! What did you just say, you lousy princess?!” Luna shrieked.

”Great... Here we go again,” Sheila sighed, getting ready to step in and break them up.

”Sigh... Well, at least the air isn’t so suffocating anymore,” Cleo muttered, taking a relaxed sip of her tea.

From there, the conversation picked back up. Mei even pulled Gina out from under Dion’s shirt to officially introduce the little dragon to Aria, though Gina remained visibly terrified of her. But while everyone was busy talking, debating, and squabbling, especially Luna and Aria, Dion was staring off into space, his mind spiraling out of control.

”Wait a second... Something is terribly wrong here... Luna and I might be fine... But Cleo is a rogue archmage from Lutherias... Aria is a troublesome princess and a crime boss... Mei is an assassin who killed a prince... Sheila ran away from her kingdom and crushes anyone who gets in her way... Why does it feel like my territory has turned into a hideout for international fugitives and bandits?! Oh man... Doesn’t this mean... my domain is basically a sanctuary for criminals?!” Dion thought in total panic.

His realization was spot-on, even if he failed to notice that he was the ultimate trigger behind every single one of their backstories. Plus, he completely overlooked one crucial detail: the little dragon resting in his lap had already triggered an international disaster of her own.