Light Novel Volume 23/Summary

Note: Information to be added later on

Chapter 9
Rudeus and Eris arrive in the town of Hammerpolka in the Strife/Conflict/Warring States region after parting with Sara and the Amazonesses. On the lookout for the North God Kalman and Geese, they run in to Zoldat, who is facing off against a group of Milis Knights demanding that he hand over a Demonkind party member. Rudeus gets the knights to back down after realizing that they were acting on his request to track down Geese. Zoldat tells Rudeus about his clan's funding and how he spends his days tackling labyrinths and acting as a mercenary. Rudeus asks if he has considered retiring, to which Zoldat responds that someone needs to look after the new recruits. Zoldat then tells Rudeus that Kalman was indeed in the Strife/Conflict/Warring States region a few years back—he taught the new recruits North God style swordmanship despite not using a sword himself. Having learned that Kalman is no longer there, Rudeus gets ready to leave, but not before telling Zoldat that he'll always be welcome in Orsted Corp. should he ever need a job. Zoldat comments that Rudeus has come a long way from the time when he begged Zoldat to take him to a brothel and got so drunk that he wanted to kill himself. Eris demands to know what Zoldat is talking about, and Zoldat, not realizing who she is, retells the story of volume 7 chapter 6, complete with pantomime and sound effects. Eris and Zoldat then introduce themselves, and Zoldat, surprised, asks if Eris returned to Rudeus knowing that she had driven him to the verge of suicide. Eris runs out of the room; Rudeus realizes that Eris knew about his previous experiences, but she had never heard about just how cornered he felt firsthand. Rudeus says goodbye to Zoldat and goes to find Eris, locating her sprawled on the ground staring up at the sky. She states that she did something horrible to Rudeus by leaving him behind, but Rudeus tells her that he would never have met Sara or Zoldat if she had stayed. Eris tells him that she won't suddenly leave without telling him ever again. As the two prepare to leave, they notice some townsfolk staring at them; the townsfolk tell them that in their religion, the forest goddess "Laine" was searching for a red-haired woman, and telling her her whereabouts would bring about fortune and victory. Rudeus and Eris then locate the graves that Ghislaine made for Philip and Hilda, upon which Rudeus imagines what must have transpired when they were teleported. Eris says that her parents would have been happy to know that they got married, and Rudeus agrees that both would have been happy (for very different reasons). Rudeus decides to move their remains to a graveyard for Asuran nobility, where they are buried near a grave that reads "Here lies a ferocious lion." Returning to Sharia, Rudeus reports his findings to Orsted and learns that Kishirika has been apprehended.