214-208 Tangled thread

The Master meditated and seemed to recall the scene.

Then he began to speak in turn.

'There was information that Garba had grabbed about Luciel's rumors going around, so we made sure to let us know if anyone had spread Luciel's information beforehand so that there would be no confusion. That's where the rumor was spread by the guy who accidentally spread it.

The master remained meditating.

'So you caught him and interrogated him, didn't you?

'Yeah. I gave him object X to drink, and if he passed out, I woke him up, and then I repeated the process over and over, and he crashed faster than I thought he would, in about two hours.

That spouse, that spouse, must have had a lot of guts, since his master and Mr. Guruger did such an imitation.

But how dare you try to interrogate them just for mentioning a rumor.

Well, I'm sure you did your homework........

''........Well, it must be hard for you if you don't have a tolerance, right?

'Yeah. Well, after comparing the information I got from that kind of interrogation with the information Garba got, I found out that he was telling the truth. That's where I found out some other facts besides the one about Luciel, but I'll leave that for now. So that guy I caught was just an ordinary human race that was hired to spread rumors.

I don't know how much he got paid, but it would have been a request that was definitely not worth it.

I can't help but feel sorry for him.

'Of course your employer knows that you were hired, right?

'Ah. That was the nobleman of Brange, Lord Camilla, who I mentioned earlier. I had Galba look into the matter right after I got him to open up.

...I see.

If you're looking for information, Galba-san is the right person for the job.

'So the human race we captured spoke up and seemed to be remorseful, so we released them after letting them spend the night in the Adventurer's Guild.

It's like a plea bargain in a previous life.

''Well, if we punished you for spreading rumors, that could be a problem...''

'Yeah, everyone gossips about things, at least. And in this case, I was in the middle of looking into it, and there was something suspicious about it, so I just asked for details.

I guess it's a master quality that the interrogation has become just a story before you know it.

'Huh?　But then there's a gap of about two months between the time of the master's injury and the time of his release from his employer's tribe, right?

It must have been a month after the rumors came out that he was headed to Nerdal. But didn't you say your master was injured about ten days ago?

'....Yeah. Once or twice a week I'd be working out myself while accompanying the adventurers.

The Master's face was strained for a moment before he went on to explain with Galba-san in tow.

''This is the Guild Master, okay?　Can you believe it?　Sure, you say you're getting the paperwork done perfectly, but you're still throwing urgent requests to Gruger?　I know you think it's irresponsible too, Luciel.

However, Garba-san was staring at such a master with his eyes uncharacteristically narrowed.

He must have been indulging in his training.

'Eeeee, Galba!　Don't break your story!　Let's get back to the story. I was training in the forest at the foot of the mine about 10 days ago when I suddenly heard shouting and sword fights. When I went to help them, I didn't know if they were bandits or mercenaries, but they were fighting with our adventurers.

Master reopened the door with a backhanded smile and proceeded with the story at once.

''From the way the story is told, one of those attacking faces was the human race that spread the rumor, wasn't it?

'Ah. Those who lose themselves to bandits are supposed to be beheaded or sold to another country as criminal slaves, so I decided to take heart and deal with the whole tribe.

But my master was injured.

I couldn't understand this for the life of me.

If he was going to be injured that badly, was Master going to be missed?　Because ten days ago, my abilities wouldn't be that much different than they are now.

I felt a blur boiling up inside me.

'If you were injured like that ten days ago, then you've regained enough strength to fight today, right?　And yet you've been injured so badly?

''Yeah. I didn't expect a few of them to turn into demons.

What?

I froze in a state of shock, my mouth half-open in astonishment at the fact that my master had confronted the demon race, and then I dropped my eyes to the map.

When I looked past the forest to the southeast of Meratni, I saw that the Duchy of Brange existed there.

Even if not, those demons must be the request to defeat the church headquarters from Duchy Brange.

''Well, I didn't feel that strong, but I couldn't control this body properly, and I took a couple of discarded blows and ended up like that.

Master spoke of the strength of the demon race in a matter-of-fact manner, but if it was a discarded attack...?　Repeatedly?

How many times, then, have the other adventurers?

'It was a wreck, but we managed to beat it down with the advantage of our numbers. Well, we didn't take it down, so we took the damage for that, but we're just lucky the others didn't get hurt or lose their lives.

Master speaks a little proudly, but I have mixed feelings about it.

Because if things had changed even a little bit, it would mean that Master wouldn't have been here.

Well, the adventurers who saved my life gave me all the potions I could drink and multiply them, and managed to get me to Meratoni, where I was seriously injured, and I survived.

I'm really proud of you for surviving.

'Oh. As expected, it's the life that Luciel saved in exchange for something important. As expected, I couldn't give up.

If you think that's the case, then pull yourself together a bit!　I wanted to yell at him, but since everything was an irregular event, shouting here would only be my own self-congratulation, so I continued the story.

''If that human race was a real human, then there must still be something that led to the demon race... was there anything suspicious or distinctive about it?

"It wasn't in the guy itself. When I felt the sudden increase in magical power, the miasma spewed out of his body and he changed his form in an instant.

''Well I see. I wish I had a clue what to do.

"...I don't know if that's a clue, but do you remember the slavers we fought in Grandle?

Yes, of course.

You can't forget a reincarnation.

''When you first fought that man, didn't you try to summon something in exchange for a magic stone at the end?

Yes. A glowing red-black magic circle has appeared, but...

'I didn't see a magic circle this time. But I did see a flash of red-black light. Well, I don't know if that's helpful or not.

Master nodded with a serious expression on his face.

When you put all the stories together so far, one fact emerges.

''........You mean that the one who is creating the demon race is not the Empire, but the Principality of Brange?''

'Don't get so upset. We don't know about that yet Galba, do we?

'Yeah. I don't know the details about that red-black light and the summoning technique, because the information is kept under wraps. But with Brange, I was able to get some other information.

Do you have any other information?

'Yes. Before we talk about it, didn't I tell you about the information Brod got from the person who started the rumor about you, Luciel, earlier?

Yes, sir.

As a matter of fact, since the information would involve the Empire, I asked him to listen to Duchy Brange first, to avoid any complications.

So now we're talking about the Empire please.

I looked at Lionel and the others and they nodded, so I decided it was okay and decided to ask them to continue.

'You do know that there is a Warlord General in the Empire right now, right?

Yes, sir.

I'm sure it's the guy Lord Wisdom mentioned in Neldar.

'The man's name is Cloud. He's a swordsman, a magical swordsman who wields multiple magics and is also a registered adventurer in the Adventurer's Guild of Grandle.

Do you know who you are?

'Hmm, just a name and a little information. I heard that when he registered with the guild, he couldn't use a sword or magic, but he gradually gained strength, or maybe he learned transformation magic at one point, but after that, the man's footsteps were supposedly gone.

So now you're telling me there was a rumor in the Empire?

'Now yes, but not exactly in that order. First it was Blange, then Rubruk, and now it's the Illimassia Empire.

That guy's purpose, Duchy Brange, and the Empire... it's certainly a lot of information to wrap one's head around.

'Well, to summarize briefly, it's starting to seem like Duchy Blange is involved in everything, including the church headquarters.

I see. That's why you asked me what I wanted to do with the church headquarters in the Holy City of St. Schuler's Cooperative Kingdom?

Yeah. 'Yeah. If we're not good, it could turn into a war all at once. The only ones who seem safe at the moment are Yenis and Nerdal, and then Grandle. Everything else is in a complicated state of flux.

I understand the situation. But I need some time to think about this for a while. Including whether I'm going to get my hands on this or not.

That would be good. Alright, let's stop talking about this for now. Luciel, where do you want to stay?

What do you mean?

Your room is still the same as it was?

It's still there. Well, I'll rent that room for you.

Oh. All right, then. Then those who want to mingle with the feast, and those who want to head for the inn, do so.

Master said that and broke up this meeting.

I was overloaded with information and wanted to think about nothing, so I decided to get a good night's sleep just for today in that nostalgic room and let everyone else head to the inn I had booked.

I felt like everyone wanted to talk, but I didn't have the luxury of that right now.

'Why is it so difficult to just be normal ... what we want of a normal ... peaceful life?'

The words muttered as a sigh were drowned out by the hustle and bustle of adventurers who were fussing over the feast.