I'm Actually Not Overpowered!

If I were to use the logic of the world I came from, it was practically like letting a huge pile of gold waste away in the possession of monkeys.

Adu probably saw this scenario in that light.

How could I argue with that perspective when I would have had the same opinion in my old world?

"That gives the demons no right of conquest. At the very least, the strong exists to protect the weak." I managed to mutter.

"According to who?"

Another difficult question was.posed by Adu, but my head was already aching too much due to overthinking.

"We'll split up now. Take that side, and I'll take this side. We meet here in thirty minutes. Do your best to observe everything and take note of anything valuable."

With a new mission silencing the question Adu raised, we both parted ways. I could hear my sigh of relief as Adu walked off, grudgingly obeying my command.

'Alright. It's my turn, I guess...'

There was one thing I was hoping to see, but it evaded my sight. Maybe with further investigation, it would turn up.

'Still, I was hoping to at least see the Chief's Residence.'

*************

[Over An Hour Later]

Adu and I returned to our rendezvous point with the others. It turned out I didn't really get any new information, and Adu basically reported most of what I already knew of.

The information we got on the Elves was sufficient enough, but there was so much room for speculation that I couldn't decisively reach a conclusion.

'Well, let's hope the others have better luck.'

After easily navigating our way through the forest, we finally came out of it—earlier than I had expected.

'Maybe it's easier when you're leaving a place you've been visited?'

In any case, we were able to leave the Elf Forest without much trouble. We didn't even encounter any guard or patrol officer on our way back.

'Ah... what's this?!' I thought to myself as I saw all my subordinates waiting for me.

It seemed Adu and I were the latecomers, even though we didn't even take as much time than I expected.

'Does that mean they didn't get as much information as us? Or maybe... wait, who's that?'

My eyes twitched the moment I noticed someone I didn't recognize among the group. There were five, instead of four people waiting for us.

A stranger was among them—though he appeared unconscious.

'Uh...?' I tried my hardest to stay as expressionless a possible, but my heart was racing as Adu and I drew closer to the awkward-looking group.

Lucy looked as stern as usual, and her partner also didn't look like he had a problem. The issue existed with Asa's team.

The Elf lady had a guilty expression on her face, and Heshu also appeared a bit uneasy. It was quite obvious who was responsible for the addition of a new member.

"It seems you have all gathered here. Well done." I muttered, my gaze stylishly falling on the unconscious fellow who was hanging between Asa and Heshu.

His arms were hung on their shoulders, and his slumping frame duly expressed that he was out cold.

Still...

'Are those pointy ears I see? And what's with that getup? Looks fancy.'

... This was the strangest thing I had seen all day.

'An unconscious Elf that's dressed in such a cool attire. What?!'

This literally went against what Adu and I just discovered in the Elven settlement.

"H-Hero, I can explain!" Asa's voice snapped me out of my thoughts, causing me to raise my gaze from the stranger to her.

Now wasn't the right time. I was confused, plus I had to also consider the effects of our Magic Items.

"Later. Let's get out here first." I replied calmly, to which she broke into a relieved smile.

I shifted my gaze to Heshu, and he also nodded sharply.

It seemed there was a bit of a complication in their mission. Thankfully, their expressions told me their blunder didn't endanger the mission.

'Huu, I need to hear the details when we return.'

I just sincerely hoped that this Elf here wasn't some bigshot where he came from... though something told me I was being too optimistic.

*

*

*

"Okay, let me get this straight..." I stared hard and fast at the girl known as Asa.

She had this cute and guilty look that made it very difficult for me to get upset at her—not that I planned on doing so, to begin with.

I mean, being rational, it was sort of my fault that this was happening.

"... This Elf's name is Dustinel, and he was your father's close friend in the past?"

Asa responded with a light nod, still looking as meek as a puppy.

Apparently, this Dustinel was so close to her family that her father gave him the second heirloom of the Elves that allowed him to sense the presence of the first.

In essence, his item could detect Asa's presence due to her Magic Ring's proximity to him.

While undergoing their investigation, she got busted by him, and they had no choice but to capture him in order not to prevent any information leaks.

"Heshu used a very small Spell to render him unconscious. He said it would hardly be detected."

If Heshu was the one who said it, then I had to give credibility to his words. That guy knew what he was doing.

Besides, I knew Asa had a lot of personal stake in this matter, especially regarding the Elf called Dustinel.

'I wasn't wrong, after all. The Elves are indeed all dressed in rags and stuff. Dustinel seems to be the odd one out.'

That only meant one thing... and I was certain Asa knew that already.

'He's most likely working for the Chief. That's why he's able to afford such decent wear and he looks so healthy.'

I could only imagine how heartbroken Asa was, but... her father's trusted friend now worked for the enemy.

'Regardless, this works well for us!'

Why?

Because this little error now solved the most prominent issue that I was trying to get my head around.

Information!