“The Guild Master is rather tough,” I responded.

I had knocked him back twice, but each time, with a roar, he’d leap back onto the roof, charging at me like an animal. Well, animals didn’t use swords, and despite his current feral state, he seemed to still be able to understand how to use a weapon. Calling them completely mindless would be incorrect.

“What should we do, Master?” Alysia asked. “I can knock him unconscious.”

I glanced over in the direction of the undefended dungeon. If the residents of Chalm were being controlled by the dungeon now, it seemed kind of odd that the primary entrance to the dungeon wasn’t being protected at all. The people all remained in the city. This could mean that the people had some basic attachment to the city. They may be aggressive, but perhaps they remained in their comfort areas instinctively. This could also mean some kind of trap near the entrance. I didn’t know.

Shaking my head slowly, I focused back on the charging man. “Don’t take him down. I have another plan for him.”

I dodged the Guild Master, leaping back to the previous building. He immediately changed his footing to follow. He was quite adept with footwork. I had thought all of my time in the dungeons had caused me to far outstrip the simple people of Chalm. However, I continually find myself amazed at how small my worldview had been. The Guild Master, for example, seemed to be just as strong as any of my girls had been around the time we defeated Demon Lord Aberis for the first time.

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I hadn’t seen him in the battle, although he had surely helped fight the demon armies, and he had even led the local adventurers in battle. I recalled hearing something about the adventurers being one of the stronger teams. At the time, it hadn’t registered. After all, I had joined the adventurers once, and while no one died, they had been beaten back by the zombies of Mina’s dungeon. This had given me an impression that Chalm’s adventuring guild wasn’t that strong.

Then again, that had been Chalm Crossing. It stood to reason that as Chalm was reclaimed and quests going out to the wilderness became available, that stronger and more capable adventurers would have been pulled out west by the promise of adventure. I had donated a lot of my coin which had ended up paying these adventurers to keep back the wilderness. It wasn’t all the dungeon dissuading them, but also the work of the people putting their lives on the line. That was something I shouldn’t forget. It looked like my party weren’t the only Chalm residents getting stronger.

Now that I remembered it, Big Sis Ruby had also managed to keep up with my girls, although she had ultimately decided that we were too reckless and stopped following me. Ah, speaking of which, if Guild Master was under control, then wouldn’t she…

“Trap!” I tried to leap to the side, but a hidden person had been waiting as the Guild Master had forced me back while I considered how I was going to capture him.

Ruby appeared, stabbing me in the back with her blade. She let out a howl as she stabbed into my back. Guild Master took the initiative and also attacked, stabbing me from the front. Blood splashed from my body as I was cut from both sides. I hadn’t expected them to coordinate like this. It looked like the higher their levels, the more intelligence they retained.

“Master!” Alysia let out a cry as I was skewered from both sides.