303 - - an unexpected clue

Finally.

Sorry to keep you waiting. The simulation went on for a little while.

"I fully understand the importance of training. I understand the importance of training. I just slipped up in the heat of anticipation. Don't worry about it."

Thor's mouth relaxed as he listened to the man who took no notice of his rainbow-colored adventurer's tag.

The owner of this room, located on the second floor of the Adventurer's Bureau behind a large oak door, has not changed a bit.

"It's been a while, Mr. Oren.

"Oh, the ash-eared lady. Your name is Euril, I think. I'm glad you're here.

Hello, it's been a long time.

"How are you doing, old man?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Your names are Sora and Mummeme. I read with great interest your record of the battle.

It was Oren, the head of the archives, who had gone to the trouble of summoning Thor and the others via the Director General, and who was responsible for compiling a vast bibliography.

He was the one who had once taught us many things about the Witch of the Spectacled Swamp.

Moe, who had approached the mature man with round glasses, tapped him on the thigh with a friendly smack.

"There's a lot of books here. Hey, do you have any books on beetles?"

"Yes, we have."

Apparently there is.

"Hmmm... this way, I think. Oh, here it is."

Oren pulled out from the back shelf a lavishly bound book half as tall as Moe.

On the cover, however, was a poisonous moth and the title "Insect Monster Atlas.

"Look, the pages from here on are beetles.

"Oh!　That's great, old man!"

A child with eyes and mouth open roundly releases an excited voice at the finely drawn picture of a monster with a crustacean.

After having a table and chairs set up for him, Moe immediately began to flip through the pages with great enthusiasm.

Sora, who loves curiosities, peeks over his shoulder and reads the explanatory text for Moe.

"Wow, I heard that the belly part of this tastes good. Oh, this one has three horns!

"So, wow. ......"

Leaving them to their own devices, Thor cuts to the chase.

"So, you wanted to ask me about the demon tribe, right?"

"Yes, sightings of large species are valuable. And if he is the master of the labyrinth and has even managed to defeat them, I would like to hear all about it.

As Oren leans forward with his notebook in his hand, Thor and Ulir talk about the battle at the lowest level of the Flaming Hell, supplementing each other's information.

Beginning with a description of their appearance, Thor and Yuril listen to the minutest details of their habits and behavior.

Of particular interest to Oren was the story of the four faces on the neck of the chief of the demon tribe.

"They imitate exactly the magic that you chant ......."

"Yes, it is hard to believe, but it was almost as good as the magic we use."

"I've heard such theories for a long time, but this is the first time I've heard of an actual example."

By cultivating the tree of skills given by the mercy of the Creator God, human beings can master martial and magical arts.

And the subhuman race, the servants of the god of destruction, have similar skills and dark arts.

Oren proposed the theory that these dark skills are actually brought about by the mutated skill tree.

There is even a theory that the magic stone at the neck of the subspecies is an organ that converts the miasma into magical power.

"Come to think of it, a first-class magic stone was also extracted from the face of the labyrinth master's neck, wasn't it?"

"It is said that perhaps the quality of the magic stone reduces the reproducibility of the magic technique. Or perhaps only the demon tribe can fully draw the power of the magic stone.

"It makes sense if you think of it that way, but, you know, it's a very impolite story."

It's not just profane.

If a monster is using the power of the tree of technical skills, which is the blessing of the six great gods, the very nature of this world will be overturned.

The three of them looked at each other and nodded quietly.

"Let's leave it at that for now. You guys, please don't say anything else.

"Yeah, the temple people might hang us upside down."

If it's a temple of exploration, they'll just bury you in the snow.

"Please don't do that either. I don't like the cold. Well, there's been a couple of related reports circulating. Shall we listen to them?"

When Thor nodded, the man with the round glasses tapped a stack of papers on the desk and continued talking.

"First of all, we have decided to name the fourth level you have found, the level of everlasting darkness.

"I see. Well, it's inconvenient not to have a name. By the way, what's the name?

"Basically, it seems that the director of the Dadang Bureau has decided."

Thor's eyebrows lifted wide at the revelation of a fact that had become clear to him in his twenty-sixth year as an adventurer.

I'll also confirm something that has been bothering me.

"Is this the first time that the door to this new level has appeared on its own?"

"No, I have seen a report that a door to the lower level appeared on the third level when the labyrinth master, the Corpse Dragon, was defeated for the first time.

Thor and Yuril exchange glances at each other at the unexpected response.

This confirms their suspicions that the abandoned underground prison itself is a trap to lure their prey deeper into the depths.

After Tolle and the others gave them a detailed explanation, Oren made a startling remark with a difficult look on his face.

"Actually, I heard that a similar nasty trick has been found in a fixed dungeon in a nearby border town."

"Is that so!"

Although they are in a position to seek out the best adventurers, the border towns are not seriously at odds with each other. In fact, a cooperative relationship is essential because the destruction of one of them would lead to a chain reaction of severe situations.

It is said that once a year, a meeting of town leaders is even held.

There is even an exchange of adventurers who are compatible with the fixed dungeons in each area.

"I have heard through that meeting that the difficulty of conquering dungeons has increased, unlike in the days of Director Dadan and his colleagues."

The underground labyrinths have been transformed over time from mere caves to lure adventurers to the surface in large numbers of monsters.

Come to think of it, even outbreak-type dungeons produce valuable ores, but perhaps this is also to attract more people.

As Thor thinks about this, an image suddenly comes to his mind.

It was the scene he had seen from the flying dragon boat that day.

A huge black void that continued to expand.

Thor shook his head from side to side as if to drive out the image of the "coma hole" which he could not turn his eyes away from, as if he had been captivated by it.

So, what's the other report?

"Yeah, the witch you guys defeated earlier, but the similarities in her body structure raise the possibility that she's a demoness."

It is said that the parts of the witch's body that had been recovered previously were very similar to those of the King of Flowers and the Three Heads that Thor and his group had brought back.

At first glance, they looked like plants, but they did not seem to need water or sunlight, and in addition, they were highly resistant to heat and thick miasma.

"Maybe the theory that the demons were not born in this world is correct. If they were alive, more research could be done. ....... The swamp witch in particular is a rare case that we could observe on the ground. It was a great loss of opportunity, or rather a mistake, to have defeated her, I am sorry. But I believe that the demon tribe is deeply involved in this situation. I wish I had some clue as to their purpose. ......"

Sola, who had been looking at the illustrated book with Mu, suddenly looked up and interrupted Oren, who had fallen silent.

"Hey, Thor-chan. Maybe there are still some left..."

"............, that's a good possibility."

"Do you know anything about it?"

"I can't say for sure, but I know where we can find the demons on earth. Maybe we can observe them safely and up close."

"What the hell?　Where is that?

Thor nodded and replied quietly to Oren, who was about to drop his glasses.

"This is the village where Sora and I were born."