Spending My Retirement In A Game

Before long, Eisen was able to see some concentrations of mana in front of him. It was forming a large, hollow dome. It was a barrier that was intended to hide this group's base. That was the bare minimum they should do, really. Otherwise they would have already been wiped out long ago by the Irngrad's men.

Though, while Eisen was able to see the barrier itself, he still wasn't able to see what was obscured behind it. The magic that was used was powerful enough to obscure even the mana that was within the barrier's field from his view. That being the case, Eisen wasn't directly sure how they were going to get in here. There didn't seem to be anything physical that could be triggered from out here.

So instead maybe there was something like a passphrase? Or someone was inside that could create an entrance for whoever might be approaching, if they were supposed to come inside.

"Alright, how do we get in?" Eisen asked the man that he had thrown over his shoulder. But he just scoffed, "Get in where? We're in the middle of the forest."

"You know just as well as I do that that's not the truth. Listen, I would really rather like to do this peacefully. How do I get through the barrier? Or at least, how do I get someone from inside of the barrier out here, so that I can talk to someone with actual influence?" the old man asked. The support mage on his shoulder stayed silent for a while.

He was smart enough to tell that there really wasn't any way out of this situation anymore. And even if he himself was convinced that Eisen and his party wouldn't be able to get through the barrier, he also knew that if they wanted to, they could very easily kill him and the other members of the scout group that was taken down earlier.

They were all tied up, it was probably the easiest thing in the world. Nobody became as powerful as Eisen without being able to ruthlessly hunt monsters, and for the most part, get rid of people as well.

"...If you let me down, I'll go talk to them. I can't just bring you inside, but I can call for someone else," the mage finally let out, and Eisen curiously raised his brow. He could already tell that his words were truthful, though Eisen still had to make sure of a few things.

"And how do you ensure that we won't just be attacked by your whole group?"

"I promise you, that's not my-"

"Even if it's not your intention, if I can even believe that, how am I supposed to trust that others will think the same?" Eisen interrupted. The mage frowned as the old man finally set him onto the ground so that they could look into each others faces, "You've got hostages, don't you? A dozen people, tied up, that you can just get rid of whenever you want.

I promise that I'll do everything in my power to prevent anyone from attacking you."

Eisen thought about it for a while. This young man was the squad leader of the scout group, so he had to have at least some level of influence out there. Not to mention, them beign the scouts, their bosses had to put a lot of trust into their words. After all, if the scout lied or betrayed them, then the whole battle, or even war, could be lost as easy as that.

"Fine. I'll give you twenty minutes. Just a minute longer than that, and I'll break down the barrier forcefully," Eisen said, snapping the threads that were tying the mage down so that he could move toward the barrier. Without as much as another word, the mage nodded and turned around, heading to where the entrance seemed to be.

"You sure that was a good idea?" Sal asked with a frown, staring at the support mage's back. Eisen sighed and shrugged, "Honestly, I hope so. But we'll see how it turns out. For now, let's just take a break, it's getting a little cold out here."

Eisen pulled up his item storage and pushed his hand into the opening, grabbing one of the keys off the shelf. Quickly, he pushed said key into the middle of the air, twisted it around, and watched as a wooden door folded away from the key. And from there, the rest of the building folded outward, turning into a simple, quaint log cabin.

Eisen opened the door and let the others enter first, quickly following behind them. Caria practically immediately threw her coat off her back and onto the ground, though Sal, while rolling his eyes, picked up after his sister and hung it up on the coat rack together with his own and Melissa's. Eisen quickly followed suit, and then looked toward the seating area.

This was really just a small cabin, nothing much. Just for small breaks like this. It had nothing but a simple bedroom and this open livingroom. Though, said livingroom at least had a few couches, armchairs, and a livingroom. The kids quickly sat down on the comfy and warm furniture, as Eisen sat down on one of the armchairs.

He snapped his fingers and ignited the fireplace, letting the room fill with the heat of his magic.

Kiron also slowly sat down, pushing his tail to the side so that it wouldn't bother anyone too much, though Melissa quickly grabbed onto it and pulled it over her lap, practically using it as a pillow.

"Isn't that too cold?" the half-dragon asked somewhat nervously, but Melissa quickly shook her head and kept hugging onto the tail.

"I'm glad to see you can relax a bit as well, son," Eisen smiled as he had one of his duplicates grab some prepared ingredients and cups from one of the shelves. Kiron carefully nodded his head, "Well... I think I simply understand that there is little need for me to be as careful as I initially thought I would need to be, Grandfather. Not that I am neglecting my duty as your Knight, of course!

Just that... I..."

"You understand that you're also my grandson, and not just my Knight?"

"...Right... I know it may be selfish, but seeing these children, I..." Kiron looked at Caria, Sal, and Melissa, the latter of them still holding onto his tail. He grew too awkward to finish the sentence, though he really didn't even need to. Eisen knew what he meant, and he was glad that Kiron was slowly getting to this point.

After all, it was an old man's duty to spoil his grandchildren, and the grandchild's duty to be spoiled.

"Let's just take our break, alright? With how cold it is up here, we've really got the perfect thing," Eisen smiled, grabbing the pot that his duplicate has placed in front of him. It was already filled halfway with milk, so now Eisen just had to add the most important ingredient; some chocolate.

Using his magic, the old man heated up the milk, letting the chocolate melt into it, and watched as the substances merged together smoothly. He then poured the hot chocolate into some cups, quickly handing them out to the kids and Kiron, grabbing one for himself too. He had a bit of a sweet tooth himself, after all.

Without even having to think about it, though Eisen was sure they had never seen hot chocolate before, the kids and Kiron started drinking what was given to them, especially since Eisen himself was already sipping from it too. Their cooled-down bodies quickly started to warm up from the inside, and it didn't take long for the first of them to fall asleep either.

Melissa, practically drooling onto Kiron's tail, was hiding in her oversized hoodie as she dozed off, too comfortable to let this opportunity slip. It had also been a fairly long day already, after all.

It was to the point that Eisen wondered if maybe they should just camp out here for the night so that the kids could rest properly, but he figured that it would be better if they returned back to the Irngrad's castle once they had finished their business here.

Not long after they had all settled down, just thirteen minutes after the support mage had left, there was a knock on the door. With a flick of his wrist, said door opened up, and together with a cold gust of air, a woman stepped inside.

She was accompanied by two heavily armed individuals, and from her outfit, as well as the mana permeating her body, she was not only powerful but incredibly influential within the organization that had set up camp up here.

"Ah, there you are. Come take a seat," Eisen smiled, waving toward the armchair on the opposite side of the semi-circle of couches and chairs, and she looked back at Eisen confused, "Who... no, what are you? Where did this... house, suddenly come from?"

The old man continued to smile, "That's a question I can answer in a bit. But first, it would be nice if you answered some questions that I have for you instead."

The woman frowned lightly. She could tell that Eisen wasn't someone to be messed with. She lightly glanced at the two men behind her, who seemed to take a more relaxed stance, at least outwardly. It was clearly just to seem less threatening, though Eisen could tell that they were just as combat-ready as they were a moment ago. This was a well-practiced scenario.

The woman sat down on the armchair, glancing around the room.

"Would you like something to warm you up?" Eisen asked, holding forward a cup of hot chocolate that he had already prepared for this woman, but she just shook her head. The old man looked at the two armed men, "Your companions?"

They didn't react. And so, Eisen shrugged and leaned back in his seat, "Alright, in that case, let's just cut to the chase. What's the deal with the 'God of the Mountain'?"

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