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3 Late Fire Moon (September) 8:02 AM

Perfectly outfitted in his white full plate armor with his sword strapped to his hip, Climb stepped into Valencia Palace.

The palace was made up of three main structures, and he entered the largest one, where the royal family resided. Unlike the mess hall he had just come from, the palace was designed to allow in so much light that the interior itself brightly shone.

He walked down a long corridor so clean that it seemed unlikely one would find even a speck of dust, never mind garbage. His gear made hardly a sound because it had been forged from a mix of mythril and orichalcum, as well as enchanted.

Along the broad and spotless hallway stood the elite soldiers who guarded the palace, clad in full armor, standing rigidly—the kingdom’s knights.

In the empire, knight meant an ordinary person who was transformed into a professional soldier, but in the kingdom, the word referred to those who had life peerage. Third or fourth sons of nobles, men who wouldn’t inherit their houses, often aimed to join the knighthood. That said, the royal household paid consummate wages, so only those skilled enough were chosen. Not even a noble could get by on connections alone.

The most straightforward way to describe the kingdom’s knights was perhaps “the king’s bodyguards.”

Incidentally, Gazef’s title of warrior captain was something the king fabricated because a great many objected to knighting a commoner. Correspondingly, the elite soldiers he hand-selected to serve under him became known as the Royal Select.

Climb bobbed his head toward the knights. They, at least, usually returned his greetings. There were a few who did so unwillingly, but some actually meant it, too. These men were nobles, but at the same time, they were loyal to the king and had the hearts of warriors. Naturally, they had plenty of respect for an outstanding soldier who would never lapse in his devotion to the king.

At the same time, there were others Climb passed in the corridors who directed outright hostility at him—the maids. Most made unpleasant expressions whenever they saw him.

Unlike the average servant, most maids who worked in the palace were the daughters of noble households, hoping to raise their prestige through service. In a way, these maids were higher in status than Climb. Quite a few were from elite noble families, particularly the maids who closely attended the royal family. Their discontent at having to pay obeisance to a lowborn man was clear in their angry faces.

True, Climb’s social standing was lower than theirs, so they probably wanted to express their displeasure when Renner wasn’t around. Climb understood that, and he didn’t protest.

But those feelings made for a blank expression in response, which the maids mistook to mean he was ignoring them. This further increased their dislike for him, resulting in a vicious cycle to which Climb was completely oblivious. In fact, if he were better able to realize these sorts of things, he would’ve been better at handling all sorts of situations.

The young soldier was a bit dense, but walking through the palace like this did place a little mental strain on him.

Naturally, there were other members of the royal family around besides Renner and Ramposa III.

Ack!! Seeing one draw near, Climb shifted to the side of the hallway, stood at attention, and raised a hand to his chest in a salute.

There were two people. The one bringing up the rear was tall and lean with blond hair slicked back. His name was Marquis Raeven, one of the six great nobles.

The problem was the plump man walking in front of him. His name was Zanac Valléon Igana Ryle Vaiself. He was second in line for the throne, the younger of the two princes.

His feet stopped, and his flabby face twisted into a sarcastic grin. “Oh, if it isn’t Climb! Going to pop in on the monster?”

There was only one person Prince Zanac called a monster. Though Climb knew it was disrespectful to speak out, he couldn’t just stand there and do nothing. “Your Highness. With all due respect, Princess Renner is in no way a monster. As kindhearted and beautiful as she is, one could say the princess is the kingdom’s treasure.”

If a woman who proposed policies like eliminating slavery to help the populace wasn’t a treasure, then who was? Due to the nobles’ interference, not many of her plans had seen the light of day, but Climb was certain. He knew how much Renner thought about the people.

Zanac, who did nothing, had no right to utter even a single word about the kindhearted woman who shed tears before Climb every time her proposals were mocked and rejected.

He was taken by the urge to shout the prince down, to pummel the rotund man with his fists.

Zanac’s words were not something a person should say about their blood relatives—half siblings though they may have been. But it would be unforgivable for Climb to reveal his inner rage.

Renner had warned him, “My brother is trying to provoke you into saying something defamatory. He wants an excuse to separate you from me. Climb, don’t ever show him any weakness.”

Climb remembered the day he had sworn to her sorrowful countenance—to his master denied by her own family—that he would never betray her.

“It’s not like I was calling Renner a monster or anything. You must just think she is, in your heart…is what I would say, but I won’t spout anything as clichéd as that. But a ‘treasure,’ huh? Do you think she actually expects her proposals to pass? I have the feeling she brings them up knowing all the while that they’re futile…”

That can’t be true. Impossible. This is just the envy of a man who can only make groundless accusations. “I do not believe that to be the case.”

“Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh. So you really can’t see that she’s a monster, huh? Got any eyes in that head of yours? Or is she just that clever? …It wouldn’t hurt to doubt her a little bit, right?”

“Doubt her? Princess Renner is the kingdom’s treasure. My conviction on that point will never waver.” Everything she does is right. Climb could declare that precisely because he watched her closer than anyone.

“I see, I see. How amusing. Then will you tell the monster something for me? …Our elder brother thinks her a tool in his schemes, but if she cooperates with me, I can revoke her succession rights and set her up with a domain on the frontier.”

Climb was assailed by an unpleasant feeling. “…You jest. I can’t believe you would speak of such a thing here. I’ll pretend I didn’t hear it.”

“Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh. That’s too bad. Shall we, then, Marquis Raeven?”

The man who had been silently observing the two bowed his head slightly.

Climb wasn’t sure about where the nobleman stood. Marquis Raeven always seemed to keep his distance, but when under his gaze, Climb got a different feeling from him than the other nobles. Renner had never told Climb how to behave around him, either.

“Oh. The marquis agrees that she’s ghastly. No, it would be better to say that we’ve formed an alliance because our opinions align on that matter.”

“Prince—”

“Let me tell him, Marquis Raeven. So, Climb. If I thought you were too far gone I wouldn’t say this, but…I have to warn you, since you might be getting duped by that beast… She’s a monster!”

“I beg your pardon, but allow me to inquire. What is it that makes you think Princess Renner is a monster? Is there anyone who thinks more of the people, of the country, than her?”

“It’s because almost everything she attempts ultimately ends in failure. Too many of her plans go nowhere. At first I thought she was just bad at laying the groundwork, but then I spoke to Marquis Raeven one day, and suddenly it dawned on me: What if it’s all according to plan? When thinking about it that way, everything started to make sense. If that’s true, then that would mean that a woman who doesn’t even have a decent contact with the nobles, who is basically shut up in the palace, is still somehow manipulating them all… If that’s not a monster, then what is?”

“It’s just a misunderstanding. Princess Renner isn’t that kind of person,” Climb declared.

Those tears couldn’t be fake. Princess Renner was a compassionate, kindhearted person. Climb, whom she’d plucked off the streets, knew that better than anyone.

But his words didn’t reach the prince. Zanac flashed a wry smile and walked away with Marquis Raeven following behind.

In the now-empty hallway, Climb whispered, “Princess Renner is the kindest person in the whole kingdom. I may be a nobody, but I guarantee it. If…” Climb swallowed the words that came next. But he continued his monologue in his head. If Princess Renner ruled the kingdom, it would be a wonderful country that always considered its people.

Of course, considering the succession, it was an impossible wish. Still, Climb couldn’t abandon the thought.

3 Late Fire Moon (September) 8:11 AM

Eventually, Climb arrived at the room in the palace he visited the most.

He scanned the area a couple of times before turning the knob. Not knocking flew in the face of common sense, but that was the princess’s wish. She wouldn’t allow him to knock no matter how much he protested.

So Climb gave in. He would be in too much of a spot if the princess started crying. He did manage to get her to allow for special circumstances. For example, certainly when the king was watching, he couldn’t enter without knocking.

It was true, though, that pushing the door open without knocking caused him a lot of anxiety. It was no wonder he got stressed when the thought running through his head was There’s no way this is okay.

He was about to push it wide open when he heard a heated exchange through the crack, so he stopped his hand.

There were two voices, both women’s.

Climb was still outside, but the owner of one of the voices didn’t notice him because of how absorbed she was in the conversation. He didn’t want to ruin the moment, so he stood immobile and listened in on the voices inside. He did feel guilty for eavesdropping, but he would have felt worse if he disrupted such passionate discussion.

“—what I’m telling you. People generally focus on the immediate benefits that are right in front of them.”

“I dunno…”

“Your plan is to rotate different crops. And…I don’t really think that’ll make them grow better, but…when would we see a result?”

“By my rough calculations, it would take about six years.”

“So during those six years, what are the estimated financial losses due to changing crops?”

“It depends on the crop, but…if we say a usual yield is one, then point eight. So a point two loss. But after six years we should end up with a steady gain of point three. And if we can get the livestock grazing in a cultivated pasture, that should increase even further…”

“If they were only hearing that last bit, anyone would go for it, but will they accept a point two loss for six years? I wonder.”

“…What if the government lent that point two with no collateral and no interest and only asked them to pay it back once they could? I don’t think there would be a problem… And if the yield doesn’t go up, then they won’t have to pay it back, or something like that. If the yield does go up, they’d be able to pay it off in four years…”

“Seems like a hard sell.”

“Why?”

“I’ve been telling you! People focus on the immediate benefits they can see—most people want stability. Even hearing they’ll have one point three times more in six years, it’s only natural to hesitate.”

“I…don’t really get it. The test fields are doing fine…”

“The tests might be going well, but that doesn’t make the results absolute.”

“…That’s true—the results aren’t certain because the test can’t account for every possible scenario. Considering variations in soil quality and climate, and we’d have to do a pretty large-scale test…”

“So it’s not very persuasive. I don’t know if that point three increase is the minimum or the average, but it won’t be very convincing in the face of all those qualifiers. You have to be able to promise enough long-term benefits after promising immediate benefits.”

“So if we offered them the point two without asking them to pay it back?”

“That’ll make the opposing nobles happy, since the king will lose some of his power.”

“But if after six years we can really get that boost in agriculture, the kingdom’s power should increase…”

“That means the nobles against us would get stronger, too. And the king’s power would lessen. The nobles supporting him will never allow that.”

“In that case, we could appeal to the merchants…”

“You mean the wealthy ones? They have their own considerations. If they cooperate too much with the king’s faction, they could potentially lose business with the other faction.”

“This is hard, Lakyus…”

“Your plans fall through all the time because you’re no good at laying the groundwork and making the necessary preparations… I mean, I understand that it’s harder because there are two large opposing factions… How about implementing your plan only on lands directly within the king’s demesne?”

“My brothers would never let me.”

“Ah, those idi— Honorable men who left all the wisdom inside your mother for you.”

“…………Well, it’s not as though we share a mom.”

“Then it’s from the king? Really, it’s so sad if the royal family can’t even agree.”

The room quieted down, and Climb realized there was a lull in the conversation.

“Oh, you can come in anytime. It’s okay, right, Renner?”

“Huh?”

Climb’s heart nearly leaped out of his chest. He was shocked she had noticed him, but it also made sense. He slowly opened the door. “Excuse me.”

The familiar decor appeared before his eyes.

This room was luxurious without being gaudy, and at a table near the window sat two blond-haired ladies. They were both beautiful, and their pretty dresses suited them.

One was obviously Renner—it was her room.

Across from her sat another woman. Both her green eyes and pink lips had a healthy glow. She wasn’t as beautiful as Renner, but she overflowed with a different sort of charm. If Renner had the glitter of a jewel, then this woman was filled with the spark of life.

Her name was Lakyus Alvein Dale Aindra.

One would never guess from the pale-pink dress she wore at the moment, but she led one of the kingdom’s only two adamantite-rank adventurer teams, as well as being Renner’s best friend.

Her overwhelming natural ability must have been what allowed her to perform so many feats and achieve adamantite rank at the young age of nineteen. Sometimes, deep inside, Climb felt jealous in spite of himself.

“Good morning, Princess Renner, Lady Aindra.”

“Morning, Climb.”

“G’morning.”

Having greeted them properly, Climb moved to stand in his usual spot behind and to the right of the princess, but she stopped him. “Climb, not there, over here.” She was gesturing to the chair on her right.

Climb was confused. There were five chairs around the circular table. That was the usual number. But there were three cups of tea: one in front of Renner, one in front of Lakyus, and one at the place next to Lakyus—not where Renner was indicating he should sit. He scanned the room but didn’t see a third person.

Feeling strange, Climb gazed at the chair.

His master was asking him to commit the disrespectful act of sharing a table with royalty despite being a commoner, had ordered him to come in without knocking (as a favor for her), and more. Most of his master’s orders weighed heavily on him.

“But…” Climb looked to the other woman for a lifeline.

His plea to be spared from sitting with them met a simple rejection. “I’m fine with it.”

“B-but…Lady Aindra…”

“I told you before, you can call me Lakyus.” Then to Renner, she said, “Climb’s special.”

“…Grah.” At Lakyus’s syrupy tone, as if the sentence was punctuated by an affectionate heart, Renner forcibly smiled as she voiced her displeasure. If it was possible to call upturned lips with completely serious eyes a smile.

“Lady Aindra, no more jokes, please.”

“Okay, okay, Mr. Straitlaced. Maybe you should learn a thing or two from me about how to relax.”

“Huh? You were joking?” Renner asked in surprise.

Lakyus froze in response as if on purpose, then let out an exaggerated sigh. “Of course. Well, Climb is definitely special, but it’s because he’s yours.”

Climb awkwardly averted his gaze from Renner as she blushed and held her face in her hands when his eyes suddenly popped open.

Melted into the shadow remaining in the corner of the room was someone sitting against the wall, holding their knees. A woman wearing all black, formfitting clothing, she didn’t match the atmosphere of the room at all.

“What the—?!” Taken by surprise, Climb reached for the sword at his hip, lowering his center of gravity, and moved to protect Renner.

Lakyus sighed. “See, you surprised Climb because you’re dressed that way.”

There was no caution or panic in her composed voice. The tension left Climb’s shoulders as he realized what that meant.

“Got it, boss.” The woman sitting in the darkness leaped to her feet.

“Ah yeah, you haven’t met her, huh, Climb? She’s one of my team members—”

“Her name’s Tina.” Renner finished Lakyus’s thought.

Climb’s understanding was that the adamantite-rank team the Blue Roses comprised five women: the leader, a faith caster, Lakyus; a warrior, Gagaran; an arcane caster, Evileye; and the two who had mastered thief skills, Tia and Tina.

The former three he had met before but not the other two.

She’s… I see. She’s just like the rumors said. With her slim body swathed head to toe in clinging black fabric, she certainly looked the part.

“…Please excuse me. How do you do? My name is Climb.” He bowed low to Tina.

“Huh? It’s no big deal.”

After waving off Climb’s apology, she approached the table almost soundlessly with sleek movements akin to a wild animal. Then she pulled out the chair next to Lakyus and sat down. Apparently, the cup was hers.

There were three cups on the table, so the number alone suggested she wasn’t here, but Climb intently scanned the area anyway for the other woman he hadn’t met.

Lakyus realized what he was doing immediately. “Tia didn’t come. Gagaran and Evileye also said they hate formalities… It’s not even that fancy! I dressed up just in case, but it wasn’t like I was going to force them to,” she said. In reality, formal dress was the correct attire for meeting the princess. Climb, however, didn’t have any intention of pointing that out to a woman who was Renner’s friend and a noble besides.

“I see. But I’m very happy to finally meet the famous Lady Tina. I hope you’ll remember me kindly should we meet in the future.”

“How about sitting down and then chatting, Climb?” Renner said, serving tea into a fresh cup. Steam rose from the tea pouring out of the magic item, Warm Bottle, as if it were freshly steeped.

The Warm Bottle would maintain any drink’s temperature and quality for about an hour and was one of Renner’s favorite items. She used it especially often when welcoming guests who were important to her. In fact, she rarely used it otherwise.

With no avenues of escape left to him, Climb accepted his fate, sat down, and took a sip of tea. “It’s delicious, Princess Renner.”

Renner beamed, but in truth, Climb had no idea whether it was delicious or not. He just figured that since she had prepared the tea, it must be.

Suddenly, he heard a level voice whose emotions were difficult to discern. “She should be out collecting intelligence today—on the orders of someone who gave her work even though we were supposed to all come to the palace together. It’s all our demon leader’s fault.” It went without saying the voice belonged to Tina.

Averting his eyes from Lakyus and the terrible smile that appeared on her face in response to the words demon leader, Climb said, “Is that so…? I’d like to meet her sometime.”

“Climb, Tina and Tia are twins, and their hair is about the same length.”

“So seeing one of them is enough.”

It wasn’t about what was enough or not, but Climb indicated his understanding for the time being.

He started feeling flustered under Tina’s unreserved gaze. He thought he would just endure it, but then he wondered if she had noticed something he’d carelessly missed, so he made up his mind to ask. “What is it?”

“You’ve gotten too big.”

“…Huh?” That made no sense. Climb had several question marks over his head when Lakyus interrupted to apologize.

“Never mind, it’s just her thing. Don’t worry about it, Climb. Really, don’t worry about it. Really.”

“I see—”

“What are you talking about, Lakyus?” Climb had forced himself to accept the explanation, but unable to do so herself, Renner interrupted.

Lakyus made a whiny face at her. “Ugh, whenever it comes to Climb…”

“Oh, I just—”

“Shut up. The reason I didn’t bring Tia is because she’s always trying to put weird ideas into Renner’s head. So can you just understand that and be quiet?”

“Aye-aye, demon boss.”

“But… Lakyus. What is it?”

At Renner’s follow-up, Lakyus’s face twitched violently with an expression of agony.

Right when Climb thought he should maybe chime in, she suddenly turned to him. “Uh…Climb, looks like you love wearing that armor.”

“Yes, it’s fantastic armor. Thank you.”

The word forced was far from enough to describe the change of topic, but hoping to prevent the princess’s guest from losing face, he replied and ran his hand over the white armor he’d received from Renner. It had been constructed from quite a bit of mythril and a little orichalcum; was enchanted with various spells; and was surprisingly light, sturdy, and mobile.

The Blue Roses were the ones who had offered to supply the mythril for his equipment, free of charge. No amount of bowing could possibly be enough to express his gratitude.

He was about to lower his head when Lakyus stopped him. “No worries. We just gave Renner the leftovers from when we made our own mythril armor.”

Even mere scraps of mythril could fetch an extremely high price. An orichalcum-ranked adventurer might have had the means to forge a full set of mythril plates, and a mythril rank could have possibly owned a mythril weapon. But the only ones who could hand over the material like it was nothing were probably powerful adamantite-ranked adventurers.

“Besides, it was Renner who asked. We couldn’t say no.”

“You wouldn’t take my money. I even saved up my allowance for it…”

“…Isn’t it weird for a princess to have an allowance?”

“The money from my estate is separate. I wanted to make Climb’s armor with my allowance…”

“Yeah. You wanted to give him armor you made with your own money.”

“If you knew, then why did you give the metal to me for free? You jerk.”

“Do I really deserve to be called a jerk for that…?”

Pouting Renner and smirking Lakyus started quarreling without really fighting.

Watching the two, Climb’s stoic expression nearly broke, but he held it together.

The fact that he was able to see this—this peaceful, warm scene—was thanks to his master, who had taken him in. But he couldn’t ever open up and reveal his feelings. Showing his gratitude was proper, but he had stronger feelings deep inside, those he couldn’t show.

They were…love.

Climb shoved them down and suppressed them. Instead, he said the words he’d repeated many times. “Thank you, Princess Renner.”

The way he held his body clearly demarcated a line between their respective positions—clarifying their relationship as master and servant. Renner reacted to this with a smile that contained the faintest hint of sadness, which Climb only noticed precisely because he watched her more than anyone every single day.

“You’re welcome. Now, we seem to have gotten a bit off track. Let’s return to our earlier discussion.”

“About the Eight Fingers, right? You got that we snuck into three villages growing the drugs and burned the fields, right?”

At that name, Climb mentally frowned behind his blank visage.

The Eight Fingers was a criminal organization operating in the kingdom’s underworld. His beloved and respected master was figuring out what to do about them.

If they torched the drugs supplying the livelihoods of those villagers, the question of what would become of them didn’t have any good answers, but they were necessary sacrifices in eradicating the narcotics eating away at the kingdom.

Someone with absolute power would have had a number of ways to solve the problem, but despite being the princess, Renner had virtually no support. Consequently, she had to make realistic choices as to who she could save and who she needed to ignore.

If she petitioned her father, the king, she might have been able to attack with military and authoritative might wherever she wished. But since the Eight Fingers had clear ties to various nobles, intelligence would most certainly leak, allowing the criminals to anticipate her moves and destroy all the evidence of their crimes.

That’s why Renner had chosen to rely on her friend Lakyus and her team directly.

Climb knew that such a request was a risky move. Normally, adventurers fielded jobs via the guild; accepting jobs directly was not permitted. What they were doing was against the rules.

Granted, the guild couldn’t very well penalize or banish a team at the highest rank. Still, breaking the rules could hurt their reputation internally and put them at a disadvantage in the future. The reason they undertook the mission regardless must have been because the Blue Roses loved their country and saw Renner as a friend.

She was putting herself and her team on the line, making Climb even more grateful to her.

Lakyus felt it was about time to bring up a certain topic, so she opened the bag Tina had brought and withdrew a piece of parchment.

It was something the Blue Roses hadn’t been able to decipher. Lakyus thought Renner, who had the best brains of anyone she knew, might be able to figure it out.

“We found these when we were lighting the narcotic fields. They seem like some kind of instructions, so we brought them back with us, but…can you make anything of them?”

On the unfurled parchment were symbols from no writing system for any country they had ever seen. Renner answered nonchalantly after just a glance, “It’s a substitution cipher.”

A substitution cipher was a type of code where symbols or other characters were substituted for single or multiple character units of normal writing. If A is ∆ and B is , then ∆∆∆ is AABBA.

“That’s what I thought, too. So I looked everywhere for the key, but unfortunately I couldn’t find it. It’s possible they have it memorized, so it made sense to charm the man we captured into being our ally and get it out of him that way. He seemed like someone in charge. But as you know, charm magic is less effective when the same person casts it on the same target multiple times. I wanted to make sure the first round was a good one, so I thought we should check with you first.”

“I see… Why was this at the scene anyway? Is it a trap…? Or was there some other reason? Then they wouldn’t use something very hard to crack. Right. I think this is pretty easy to decipher.”

Lakyus’s eyes widened. She exchanged a glance with Tina beside her in spite of herself.

She couldn’t believe it. On the other hand, well, it was Renner.

“Uh, so, in the language of the kingdom, the first letters will represent either the masculine article, the feminine article, or the neuter article, so… One second…” As the princess mumbled, she got up, still holding the parchment, and grabbed a pen and paper.

Then the letters started to flow onto the paper.

“This is a pretty simple cipher, since each symbol stands for a single character. And we’re lucky they were using the language of the kingdom. If the key were a book from the empire or something, it’d be pretty much impossible. With this…well, if you can figure out one letter, it’s just about filling in the rest from there. Anyone can decipher this with a little effort.”

“Noooo, it’s easy to say that, but it’s impossible unless you know tens of thousands of words, right?” said Lakyus.

“These are instructions written in code! You wouldn’t expect any overly complex phrasing, and the possibility of there being difficult vocabulary is extremely slim. It should be written in plain language even a child could understand, so that narrows it down quite a bit.”

A figurative sweat drop dangled in Lakyus’s mind.

Her friend talked like it was simple, but it wasn’t such an easy thing.

She can do it, but…she really is incredibly smart.

Every time they met and talked, she was surprised anew. Lakyus didn’t know anyone who fit the word genius as well as Renner.

Lakyus secretly had the creeps, but Renner was relatively nonchalant when she said, “I got it! It wasn’t instructions, though,” and handed over the paper. It was a list of various places in the kingdom. There were seven in all.

“I wonder if it means there are drugs stored here or that they’re important strategic locations,” Lakyus suggested.

“I doubt they would write down such important information and leave it lying around a mere production facility… They must be decoys.”

“Decoys? You mean it’s a trap?”

“Hrm, I don’t think so. Uh, the Eight Fingers is one organization, but people say it’s split into eight organizations that kind of work together, right?”

Lakyus nodded.

“So they’re intentionally giving away information about the other seven organizations, er, divisions, I guess, to divert attention from themselves.”

“They prepared intelligence on the other seven divisions…? I expected the organization was far from a monolith, but I didn’t expect them to be this…” To adventurers, betraying one’s comrades was disgusting. “I knew we’d have to move fast, but yeah, I guess if we don’t, we’ll have issues.”

Renner nodded and Lakyus asked another question.

“So then, what about that brothel? Apparently, it’s a pretty nasty one where you can do anything.” Just saying that made her insides boil with rage. Those filthy pieces of trash! Garbage who can’t think of anything except their own desires should drop dead! She snarled in her mind, recalling the information she had on the brothel, not as a noble’s daughter but as an experienced woman adventurer. She didn’t even need to guess what “anything” meant. She knew that multiple people, men and women, had been killed for pleasure.

Back in the days when there was slave trafficking, a few of those types of brothels existed in the underworld. But right before her eyes, by the work of her friend, slavery became illegal, and those facilities began disappearing. This place could very well be the last brothel in the royal capital or even the kingdom.

That was precisely why it couldn’t be expunged so easily. They would surely meet strong opposition. It was the last filthy paradise for people with unspeakably sleazy tastes.

“Hey, Renner. Since there’s no way to use your authority to carry out a search, why not have us force our way in and blow the lid off the place? There won’t be any trouble as long as we find evidence, right? If the slave-trafficking division is really running the brothel, it’ll be a huge blow to the Eight Fingers if we take it down, and depending on what evidence we find, it could also be a heavy strike against the nobles who do business with them.”

“Maybe, Lakyus. But won’t that cause troubles for your family, the house of Alvein? So it’s tricky. It’s tricky if we mobilize the Blue Roses…but it’d be impossible for Climb to go in and take them out on his own…”

“I’m sorry I’m not strong enough.”

When Climb bowed his head, Renner cupped his hand in hers and smiled kindly. “Sorry, Climb. I didn’t mean it like that. It’s the only underworld brothel in the capital. No one could take it out alone… I trust you the most, Climb. I know how hard you work for me. But don’t do anything reckless, okay? And I’m not asking as a favor—that’s an order! If anything ever happened to you…”

Even Lakyus, watching from beside Renner, felt the peerless beauty’s teary eyes pierce her heart. How was Climb’s heart doing?

He frantically tried to keep a straight face but couldn’t quite manage it. On the contrary, his blushing cheeks said it all.

If a bard were to title this scene, it would be The Princess and the Knight—it was moving, but a touch of fear unsettled Lakyus. She didn’t think it was possible, but if Renner was doing all this on purpose, then she knew every trick in the book—it was unbelievable.

What am I thinking? That’s not the kind of thing you should think about a close friend. Everything she’s done speaks to the fact that she’s not a bad person like that. If I can’t believe in the Golden Princess who’s done so much to help people, then who can I believe in?

Lakyus shook her head and spoke, in part to clear away those horrible thoughts. “By the way, Tina and Tia’s research turned up the names of a few nobles with connections to the slave-trafficking division chief, Coccodor. The only thing is…it’s too soon to move on the info, since we haven’t confirmed whether it’s true or not yet.”

When she listed the names of several nobles, there was one that prompted a simultaneous reaction from both Renner and Climb.

“His daughter is one of my maids.”

“I can’t imagine he had her placed here to spy on you…but there’s no guarantee she’s only here to cultivate prestige.”

“Yes. I should be careful how I’m handling information. You remember that, too, Climb.”

“Okay, let’s decide what to do about those places we learned from the coded message. And Renner. Can I borrow Climb? I want him to go tell Gagaran and the others it seems like we’ll be making a move really soon.”

2

3 Late Fire Moon (September) 9:49 AM

Climb walked down one of the capital’s broad streets. There was nothing about his appearance that made him stand out, so he melted completely into the crowd.

His white full plate armor certainly would have attracted attention, so he’d taken it off. If he used a special alchemical item, he could change its color, but he didn’t feel like going to that much trouble just to wear it. There was no need to equip full armor just for a walk around the city anyway.

So he was dressed lightly, with mail hidden under his shirt. The only thing that set him apart from an ordinary civilian was the longsword at his hip. That was about the same level of gear as the patrolling soldiers—guards—mercenaries, and other people on the street wore. Even if some people gave him a relatively wide berth, he wasn’t armored heavily enough that the crowd parted or anything.

Any ponderously outfitted people were adventurers. This style was less for necessity and more to stand out.

For an adventurer, dressing to attract attention was not strange. It was advertising. Some even dressed in a particularly eccentric way to create a strong impression, spread rumors, and make a name for themselves. In other words, style was like an adventurer’s trademark.

But for adventurers at the level of the Blue Roses, whom Climb was currently going to meet, there was no need for fashion statements. At their rank, a stroll down the street was enough to get people talking.

Eventually, on one side of the street, an adventurer inn came into view. On its grounds were the inn proper, a stable, and a yard large enough to practice with a sword. The fantastic exterior made it easy to imagine the beautiful interior, and the windows of the guest rooms were fitted with clear glass.

That top-class hotel was a gathering spot for adventurers confident in their skills and able to pay the fairly high rate.

Ignoring the guards on either side, Climb opened the door.

For how large it was, there were few adventurers in the spacious bar and dining hall that took up the entire first floor. There just weren’t very many elite adventurers to begin with.

After a slight murmur traveled through the group, their curious eyes gathered on Climb. He paid no mind and scanned the room.

The occupants were all extremely powerful. Any one of them could have easily defeated him. Every time he came to a place like this, he was reminded how insignificant he was.

Climb endured the depressing thought and held his gaze on one particular point in the bar.

He was focused on two people sitting at a round table all the way in the back.

One was small and cloaked in a black robe.

The figure’s face was hidden. It wasn’t because of the quality of the light but because the person was wearing a strange mask, with a crimson jewel set in the forehead, that covered their entire face. There were eye slits, but even the color of the irises behind them was out of sight.

Then there was the other person.

The one in robes was small, but this character was overwhelmingly large—to the point it brought to mind the word megalith. The entire body was thick in a way. But it was not wrapped in body fat.

The figure’s arms had the girth of logs. The neck supporting a square head seemed about the size of a woman’s thighs put together. A broad jaw clenched with effort, and eyes resembling those of a predatory beast kept tabs on the area. The short blond hair prioritized only function. The chest conspicuously bulging under the clothing brought to mind the image of pectoral muscles trained to extremes—frankly, it was no longer the chest of a woman.

The adamantite adventurer team comprised entirely of women—the Blue Roses.

This curious pair contained two of its members—the arcane caster Evileye and the warrior Gagaran.

Climb continued his approach, and the one he had been aiming for called out in a husky voice, “Hey, virgin!”

The gazes that had left Climb gathered on him once again, but no one jeered. On the contrary, the adventurers lost interest immediately and averted their eyes with something resembling pity.

The reason for this detached treatment was that everyone knew getting involved with a guest of Gagaran’s was not brave but reckless, even for an orichalcum- or mythril-ranked adventurer.

Shamed, Climb kept walking nonetheless.

Gagaran wouldn’t change his nickname no matter how many times he told her, so giving up and just pretending he didn’t care was the most effective thing he could do.

“It’s been a while, La— Er, Gagaran. And Lady Evileye.” When he arrived in front of them, he bobbed his head.

“Yeah, long time no see! Did you come to get laid?” she asked with a wild, animalistic grin on her face, gesturing with her chin for him to sit down, but Climb remained expressionless and shook his head.

This could be called Gagaran’s usual greeting, but she wasn’t kidding. If Climb responded affirmatively, even as a joke, she would probably drag him up to a private room on the second floor. He would have no way to resist her overwhelming muscles.

She endlessly professed her fondness for relishing “fresh cherries”—that was the kind of person she was.

In contrast, Evileye faced straight ahead, unmoving. Climb couldn’t tell where her eyes were focused under the mask.

“No, Lady Aindra asked me to come.”

“Hmm? Our leader?”

“Yes, I have a message for you. She says it seems like you’ll be moving very soon. Details will come when you get back, but she wants you to be combat ready at any time.”

“Whoa. Well, sorry you had to come all the way here just for that.” Gagaran laughed heartily, and Climb remembered he had something else he needed to tell her.

“Today I was blessed with the opportunity to receive training from Captain Stronoff, and he praised that move you taught me, the overhead strike.”

Gagaran had taught him that move in this inn’s backyard. She broke into a smile as if Gazef’s praise had been for her. “Oh, that? Hmm, nicely done. But you know…”

“I know. I won’t be satisfied with this. I’ll train even harder.”

“Well, that too. Assume that move won’t work out, and come up with the next thing and chain it.”

Curiously, or perhaps because it was just common sense among top-class warriors, Gagaran’s advice bore a strong resemblance to Gazef’s. Climb was surprised at the coincidence, but Gagaran must have read his reaction as something else. “Of course, the downward slice I showed you has no point if you don’t use it with the intent to make it a one-hit kill.” She laughed. “Really, the correct answer is to have countless moves and choose the appropriate ones as you go, but you can’t do that.” She remarked in a roundabout way that he lacked innate talent. “So make a chain of three moves so that even if your opponent blocks them, they can’t transition into a counterattack.”

Climb nodded.

“Well, there will be times that it won’t work, like when your opponent’s a monster with lots of arms, but you’ll be fine against a human. If they learn your pattern, you’re doomed, but for first-time opponents, it’ll be pretty effective. Make a chain so you can push, push, push.”

“Got it.” Climb nodded emphatically.

That morning, the only time he’d been able to penetrate Gazef’s space as far as he had was when he had used that move. Except for that, the captain had seen through him instantly and left Climb defending against counterattacks.

But did Climb lose confidence because of it? No.

Did he despair? No.

Just the opposite.

An ordinary person had come that close to the strongest warrior in the kingdom—no, in the entire region. He knew it was because his opponent had been holding back, but for Climb, going down his pitch-black path devoid of light, that was plenty encouraging.

Your hard work isn’t all for nothing.

Remembering that, he realized what Gagaran was trying to say.

He wasn’t sure he would be able to devise a chain attack, but still, the passion to do it bubbled up inside him. He wanted to get strong so that next time he sparred with the captain of the Royal Select, he would be worth just a little more of his superior’s effort.

“…Oh yeah. You were asking Evileye for something, too, right? Magic training, was it?”

“Yes.” Climb glanced at Evileye. When he’d asked her, she’d scoffed at him from under her mask, and the conversation had ended. Since nothing had changed, if he brought it up again, he would probably get the same response.

But—

“Kid.” Her voice was hard to hear. Even ignoring the effect of the mask, the tone of her voice was very mysterious. Despite the mask, as long as it wasn’t too thick, it should have been possible to tell what sort of voice she had to some extent. But Evileye’s didn’t betray her age, emotions, or anything like that. The sole, barely discernible trait was that it belonged to a woman. She sounded both old and young. Her voice was detached and flat.

It was probably because the mask she wore was a magic item, but why did she need to go to such lengths to hide her voice?

“You don’t have the aptitude. Pour your efforts into something else.” She made the dismissive declaration as though that was all she had to say to him.

But Climb knew that perfectly well.

He had no magic aptitude—no, not only magic.

No matter how many times he swung his sword, no matter how many times his blisters bled, popped, and healed over, he hadn’t been able to reach the realm he aspired to. Someone born with talent could scale that wall easily, but for Climb, it was an unapproachable precipice.

But that didn’t mean he could neglect his efforts to overcome it. Without aptitude, all he could do was work hard and trust that he would be able to advance even one step forward.

“You don’t seem convinced.” Apparently noticing Climb’s emotions beneath his expressionless facade, Evileye continued. “Gifted people show it from the beginning. Some people say that ability is like a flower before it has bloomed and that everyone has the potential, but…hmm. If you ask me, that’s nothing but wishful thinking. Something inferior people say to console themselves. But that’s what the leader of the Thirteen Heroes was like, too.”

The leader of the Thirteen Heroes… The legends said that he was originally an ordinary person. He’d been weaker than everyone, but as he continued fighting with his sword, getting injured along the way, he became a hero stronger than anyone had ever seen. He had potential that endlessly grew.

“He already had it, it just hadn’t bloomed yet. But you’re different. You work hard and stay the same… That’s right. Natural aptitude is unmistakable. There are those who have it and those who don’t. So…I won’t say to give up, but just know where you stand.”

Evileye’s harsh words invoked a moment of silence. And it was Evileye who broke it again.

“Gazef Stronoff…he’s a good example. That’s a man with potential. Climb, do you really think you can close the gap in your abilities with hard work?”

His words wouldn’t come out. He had been reminded today during his training bout with Gazef that it was a distance he couldn’t cross.

“Well, it’s probably unfair of me to compare you to him. I don’t know anyone equal to him with a sword besides the Thirteen Heroes, perhaps. Gagaran here is pretty skilled, but she can’t beat Gazef.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! That guy’s already got one foot in the realm of heroes.”

“Hmm. People say you’re a heroine yourself…although there’s a question mark with regards to your gender.”

Evileye faltered for just a moment, but Gagaran smiled and said, “Hey now, Evileye. Isn’t the definition of a hero a monster with extraordinary power who’s transcended human limits?”

“I don’t deny it.”

“In that case, I can’t set foot in the heroic realm. I’m a human.”

“…Still, you have a gift. You’re different from a human like Climb with none. Climb, you’re not meant to spend your time chasing after the stars.”

Climb knew full well he was lacking, but this constant confrontation with the fact drove it home. Still, that didn’t mean he intended to change his way of life.

I exist for the princess. To do her will.

Evileye must have sensed something martyr-like about him. She clicked her tongue from under her mask. “…You probably won’t quit just because I said all that.”

“You’re right.”

“What a fool you are. Truly a fool.” She shook her head and exclaimed how she couldn’t understand. “Those with dreams that can’t be attained destroy themselves, you know. I said it before, but you need to know your place.”

“I understand.”

“But you don’t feel like listening? You are a man who’s beyond foolish. The type who dies an early death… Is there anyone who would cry if you were killed?”

“What’s this, Evileye? You’re harassing him so much because you’re worried about him?”

At Gagaran’s words, Evileye bitterly slumped her shoulders. She turned to face Gagaran, reached out with a gloved hand to grab her collar, and shouted, “Shaddup for a second, meathead!”

“But it’s true, isn’t it?”

Gagaran was unfazed, even held by her collar, and her remark left Evileye speechless.

The robed woman sank into her chair and, to change the subject, directed her frustration at Climb. “First, learn about magic. If you increase your knowledge, you’ll be able to understand the intentions of an opponent who uses magic. That way you can take more appropriate measures against them.”

“Aren’t there too many types of magic for him to study them all?”

“No. There are relatively few core spells that casters rely on. He can start with those.” Evileye added dismissively that if he couldn’t do that much, he should just give up. “Besides, as long as he learns up to tier three, he should have no problem.”

“Hey, Evileyyyye. They say there are spells that go up to tier ten, but no one can use them, right? So how do we know about them?”

“Hmm…” With the air of a teacher instructing her students, Evileye did something beneath her robe. Suddenly, Climb felt all the sounds around them grow distant, as if their table had been placed inside a bubble. “Don’t panic. I just used a trifling item.”

He wasn’t sure how wary of surrounding ears she had to be to use the item, but Climb sat up straighter when he realized the answer to Gagaran’s question was important enough to take precautions.

“In one of the myths, there are beings known as the Eight Kings of Avarice. It’s said that they stole the powers of the gods and ruled this world with their enormous strength.”

Climb knew the story of the Eight Kings of Avarice. It was far from popular as a fairy tale, but people who possessed a certain degree of knowledge knew the story.

To summarize, five hundred years ago, the Eight Kings of Avarice appeared. Described as taller than the sky and dragon-like, they obliterated a country in the blink of an eye and conquered the world with their overwhelming power. They were unaccountably greedy, however, and fought because they coveted one another’s possessions. At the end of the story, they all died.

It was only natural that a tale like that would be unpopular, but where opinions split was whether it was a fairy tale or something else. Personally, Climb thought it was rather embellished. But among adventurers, there were some here and there who believed it depicted actual beings—those more powerful than any that existed in the present day.

As grounds for this belief, they pointed to a city said to exist far away to the south in the desert. Supposedly it had been built by the Eight Kings of Avarice to serve as their capital when they ruled the continent.

While Climb stewed in his own thoughts, Evileye continued. “It’s believed the Eight Kings of Avarice possessed countless powerful items, and among them was a grimoire known as the Nameless Spellbook. That’s your answer.”

“Huh? You mean it was all written down in that book?”

“Indeed. Supposedly all the spells are listed in that unimaginably powerful magic item left behind by the legendary kings. Rumor has it that, perhaps through the workings of some magic, every new spell created is listed automatically.”

Though Climb knew the story of the Eight Kings of Avarice, he had never heard about this book before. Vaguely realizing what a rare piece of knowledge this was, he focused again on listening.

“That’s how we can be certain tier-ten spells exist. Of course, few know even this much—that the Nameless Spellbook is real.”

Climb gulped. “H-have you ever tried to find it? The Nameless Spellbook?” He asked precisely because these two stood at the pinnacle of adventurers.

Evileye snorted as if to say, Don’t be absurd! “Hmph. According to someone who’s laid eyes on the thing, it’s protected by such a strong magic charm that no one but its rightful owner can touch it. It reportedly has power equal to an entire world, but that just means it’s equally dangerous. I know my place, so I have no intention of coveting that sort of item and dying a foolish death like the Eight Kings of Avarice.”

“You say that even knowing the leader of your team is famous for owning a weapon that belonged to one of the Thirteen Heroes?”

“It’s supposedly on a whole other level, that book. Well, it’s secondhand info from someone who saw it, so I don’t really know the details. Aren’t we off topic? Anyhow, that’s the answer, Gagaran. Got it?”

After that, Evileye seemed to hesitate a bit, a rare occurrence, and turned to Climb. “Climb, don’t do anything foolish like giving up your humanity just because you want power.”

“Giving up my humanity…? You mean like demons in the stories?”

“That or becoming undead or a magic being.”

“A normal human can’t do those things.”

“Yeah… Most people who turn undead end up warping their minds. They’re passionate about their ideals, so they pursue that route to realize their desires, but…the physical changes strain their mind too much, and they transform into something horrific.”

No emotion was visible behind the mask, but Evileye’s voice was clearly tinged with pity. Watching her adopt an apparent faraway gaze, Gagaran spoke in a terrifically cheery voice. “Plus, if the princess woke up and Climb was an ogre, she’d go into shock!”

Evileye must have understood the feelings driving Gagaran’s remark. Her voice returned to its previous inscrutable state. “…Well, that’s one thing you could do. Using transformation magic, you could change temporarily. In all seriousness, that is an option! For increasing physical ability, I mean.”

“I think I’ll pass.”

“It’s effective in the sense of purely physical enhancement. Humans don’t have a terrible amount of ability to start with, you know? Given the same talent, starting from better basic attributes would naturally give you an advantage.”

That was obvious. At the same skill level, the one with better physical ability would have the edge.

“Actually, most of the Thirteen Heroes hailed from other races, not humanity. By the way, we say the Thirteen Heroes, but really, there were more. Only a mere thirteen made it into the legends… The fight against the evil spirits united beings across racial boundaries, but people focused on humans, probably not willing to spread sagas featuring the exploits of other species,” Evileye remarked sarcastically. Then her demeanor changed entirely, and her narration turned nostalgic. “The warrior wielding the whirlwind ax was chief warrior of the air giants, and there was a royal family of elves that shared the characteristics of the ancestral elves, as well as the original owner of our leader’s sword, Killineiram, the Black Knight, who possessed the Four Great Swords of Darkness and was part demon.”

“The Four Great Swords of Darkness…?” asked Climb.

One of the Thirteen Heroes, the Black Knight, was said to possess four swords: Evil Sword, Humiris; Demonic Sword, Killineiram; Canker Sword, Coroquedavarre; and Death Sword, Sufiz. One of them was currently in the possession of none other than the leader of the Blue Roses, Lakyus.

“The most powerful Sword of Darkness, created by condensing infinite shadows, Demonic Sword, Killineiram… Sooo, is it true that if you unleash its power completely it would radiate enough dark energy to swallow a country whole?” asked Gagaran.

“What in the world?” Evileye seemed confused.

“I heard it from our leader. She said it when she was on her own the other day. She was holding her right hand and saying something about how only a woman who serves the gods like her could control its full power, et cetera, et cetera.”

“I never heard anything about that…” Evileye cocked her head, puzzled. “But if the owner of the sword said so, it might be true.”

“Then is it true that there’s a dark Lakyus born from the mind of that darkness?”

“What?”

“Nah, I mean, she was mumbling that to herself a different time. She didn’t seem to realize I was there, so I listened in to see what was up, and she was saying this crazy stuff like, ‘If you get careless, I, the black root of all darkness, will rule your flesh and unleash the power of the Demonic Sword.’”

“I…can’t say that it’s entirely impossible. Some cursed items take over their owners’ minds… It would be a massive pain in the neck if Lakyus was possessed, though.”

“It seems like she wants to keep it a secret, but I bet if we ask her straight, she’ll blush and tell us not to worry about it.”

“Hmm. As a priest who’s supposed to break curses, she’s probably embarrassed that we’d worry about her being cursed instead. Does that mean she’s determined not to make us worry and bottling it all up?”

“I haven’t seen anything like that happen since then, but… Do you remember? She started wearing those meaningless armor rings right after she got that sword, right?”

“I thought they were just a fashion statement, but are you saying they might be magic sealing items or catalysts?”

Climb couldn’t maintain his stoic mask any longer and furrowed his brow.

From what he’d heard just now, it sounded like Lakyus might be falling under the control of an evil item. Thinking about where he’d just come from, his uneasiness grew. “Is Princess Renner in danger?”

He seemed ready to fly out the door, but Evileye held him back. “Don’t panic. It’s not like anything’s going to happen this second. Even if she were about to lose herself to a dark power, it’s not like it would happen before she realized what was going on. The fact that she hasn’t told us about it probably means she thinks she can control it. I mean, she’s mentally strong, right? But…I had no idea that sword had such power!”

“Should we tell Azus just in case?” asked Gagaran.

“Having to borrow the strength of a rival is somewhat unfavorable, but…she’s his niece, so yes, we should probably tell him.”

“Okay, I guess we should do that right away? We have to figure out where he is first.”

“Yes. We should be ready to support Lakyus at any moment.”

“Plus, the only ones who can stop an adamantite rank are other adamantite ranks.”

“Hmm? Oh! Speaking of which, Gagaran. There’s supposedly a third adamantite-rank adventurer team now in E-Rantel.”

“What? Really? First I’ve heard of it… Did you hear about them this morning at the Adventurers Guild?”

“No…uh, oh—sorry, I forgot to tell you: Apparently, they’re black.”

“Black? There’s red and blue, so I thought for sure the next would be brown or green!”

“Black is one of the colors used in the Six Gods faith, so it’s not really surprising. Perhaps next will be white.”

“I’m not really a fan of the Slane Theocracy. There was that one time we wound up really getting into it with those secret unit guys, you know?”

Climb felt like he was hearing something terribly dangerous, but they ignored him and kept going.

“You don’t like them, Gagaran? …They’re trying to kill me, but I agree with their policies. Or rather, the task they’ve set for themselves, the vow they made to protect humanity, isn’t wrong from the human race’s point of view.”

“Huh? So it’s okay to kill subhumans and elves who didn’t even do anything wrong, then?” Vivid disgust appeared on Gagaran’s face, and flames of intense anger burned in her eyes.

Evileye shrugged off the heat directed her way. “In this area, you have several human countries: the kingdom, the sacred kingdom, and the empire. But Gagaran, did you know that the farther you get from here, the fewer human-majority countries you find? Subhumans and other races superior to humans are building nations. There are even some places where humans are slaves! One of the biggest reasons there aren’t countries like that around here is because the Slane Theocracy has for years beat back any subhumans on the rise.”

Gagaran quieted down and began to sulk. “Well, yeah, subhumans are physically superior to humans. If they were to gather in one place and develop their civilization, there wouldn’t be much humans could do at that point…”

“If you’re a human, you should appreciate what the theocracy is doing. Certainly, some of what they do is heartless, but there is no one serving humans more than them. Of course…whether I’d be able to say the same thing from the perspective of the unwanted minorities is another question. Also, there’s a very good chance the Slane Theocracy were the ones who created the model for adventurers’ guilds.”

“Seriously?”

“Who can say? The truth is unclear, but there’s a good chance. The guild system appeared after the fight with the evil spirits when humans were weak. The theocracy authorities were saving their strength, so they probably created the adventurer framework as assistance that they could offer without creating international conflict.”

The silence particular to a lull in conversation descended on the table. Unable to bear it, Climb spoke up. “Sorry to interrupt, Lady Evileye. About the new adamantite-rank team, what are the members’ names?”

“Hmm? Ah yes. I believe one was named Momon. He’s the leader and known as the Dark Hero. Apparently, they don’t have a team name. But I guess people call them Jet-Black.”

“Whoa. Huh. And the other members?” asked Gagaran.

“It’s a two-person team. He works with an arcane caster named Nabe, known as the Beautiful Princess.”

“Huh? Just two people? What’s up with that? Are they just ultra-confident idiots…? Well, no, they’re adamantite rank. So they have some tricks up their sleeves, then. And? What’d they do?”

Climb listened in, too. This was a team that reached adamantite rank. They must have done things no ordinary person could imagine. He knew even before hearing them that the stories would be thrilling, and his heart buzzed in anticipation.

“I heard they did it all in the span of two months, but…first they handled an incident in E-Rantel with several thousand undead. Then they wiped out a coalition of goblin tribes coming up from the south, gathered ultrarare herbs in the Tove Woodlands, subdued a gigantic basilisk, and destroyed a division of undead that streamed in from the Katze Plain. I also heard they took out an immensely powerful vampire.”

“A gigantic basilisk…?” Climb gasped.

Basilisks were huge monsters similar to lizards or snakes, over thirty feet long, with a petrifying gaze and bodily fluids so poisonous they caused instant death. Their skin was so thick it was comparable to mythril—in short, they were the worst enemy. If this party could defeat a monster capable of devastating an entire city, it was no wonder they had reached adamantite rank.

There was just one problem. That was…

“That’s…pretty amazing! But did they really do it with just two people? A gigantic basilisk has to be impossible to manage with just a warrior and a caster. That can’t be true.”

Yes, that was the catch. It would be virtually impossible to do it with two people. Especially with only a warrior and a caster—how did they heal? They couldn’t possibly have a way to defend against a basilisk’s every special attack—the petrifying gaze, poisonous fluids, and so on.

“Oh, sorry! I guess I can’t say they are just two. They also tamed the Wise King of the Forest so it serves them.”

“…The Wise King of the Forest? What kind of monster is that?” asked Gagaran.

Climb remembered hearing the name in some folktales, similar to the sagas of adventurers. But he felt it would be rather impertinent to chime in at this juncture.

“I don’t know the details, but folklore has it that the Wise King of the Forest is a magical beast who has reigned in the Tove Woodlands since eons ago. Its might is supposedly unrivaled. Someone I know went to the Tove Woodlands a long time ago…mm-hmm, some two hundred years ago, and didn’t see it, but…” She said two hundred years with a shrug of her shoulders.

If she were an elf or something, that age would be entirely possible, but from her attitude Climb concluded she must have been joking.

“Whoa. So how much of all that is true? It has to be mostly exaggeration, right?”

That’s how it usually played out. When people told stories, they exaggerated unconsciously. Corpses found in pieces made it difficult to accurately count, and on occasion, adventurers themselves made outlandish claims, so stories simply became wilder and more grandiose.

In response, however, Evileye wagged a finger disapprovingly and said, “Tsk-tsk-tsk. No, apparently all this is true. The first rumors circulating after the E-Rantel incident claimed that he defeated an undead giant by throwing a sword and then broke through an undead mob thousands strong. That info is from surviving guards who witnessed it, and they all said the same things, so it doesn’t seem to be exaggerated. The fact that they beat the two ringleaders behind the mob was confirmed with corpses. And that was after they defeated two skeletal dragons.”

Climb asked the speechless Gagaran, “Would that be hard even for you?”

“If the several thousand undead were zombies and skeletons, then it wouldn’t be a problem. I could break through. I could probably also manage two skeletal dragons somehow, but the two ringleaders who caused that big of an incident? I dunno. I can’t say for sure if I don’t know their abilities.”

“The unofficial consensus is that they were from Zurrernorn.”

“Are you serious, Evileye? Ahh, if we’re talking about their disciples, that’d be the end for me. It would be rough after all that other stuff. And if I made the slightest wrong move—got poisoned or paralyzed—I’d be done. How do they heal? Do they rely on potions? Or maybe the warrior Momon can use faith magic like our leader. Or maybe the Beautiful Princess can?”

“Can’t deny the possibility.” Evileye nodded.

“But a giant basilisk would be…impossible. For a warrior, someone who mainly fights at close quarters, that’s a serious challenge. I have Gaze Bane, but I’d still be in trouble without support.”

“There’s your answer, Climb. Apparently, it’d be impossible for Gagaran on her own. So it would depend on what the woman, Nabe, can do. If we fought together, we could do it…probably?”

“Yeah, if she were on your level, they’d be more than strong enough. If you made it a mostly ranged battle, you could probably beat a gigantic basilisk on your own without even going all out, no?”

“Mm, no, that would be impossible. I would need to apply my full power.”

“If you were with me, the only opponents it would make sense for me to handle out of those two incidents would be the skeletal dragons…so I’d basically be relying on your strength. With an orichalcum-rank caster…there’d just be no way.”

Climb felt puzzled. Is Evileye really that powerful of a caster? Usually teams were composed of members around the same strength. Plus, Evileye and Gagaran had been adventuring together all this time. Would such a significant gap really open up under those circumstances?

“That’s not true. I know how strong you are, Gagaran. You can definitely match these newcomers,” Climb assured her.

“Hoo-whee! Thanks for the praise. All right, wanna sleep together?”

“No, I respectfully decline.”

“And that’s why you’re a virgin! It’s like not eating when a meal’s put in front of you. You don’t get a prize for keeping your virginity forever, you know. What are you going to do when it’s time to sleep with your real woman? Do you want her to complain about how bad you are? Is that what you’re into? Are you a masochist?” Having made all those assertions without waiting for Climb’s response, Gagaran heaved a conspicuous sigh. “Well, I won’t force you. I’m good for it anytime, so if you want to, just say the word… But hey, how embarrassing is ‘Beautiful Princess’ as a nickname? She can’t possibly live up to it, right?”

“Apparently, Nabe is quite beautiful. At least, according to what I heard”—Climb sensed Evileye’s gaze for just a moment and understood right afterward that she had indeed glanced his way—“she’s as beautiful as the Golden Princess.”

Gagaran turned mischievous eyes on Climb. Anticipating what she was going to say, Climb made the first move. “Appearances are a matter of personal taste, and for me, there’s no one more beautiful than Princess Renner.”

“I see.” The tone was distinctly disappointed.

“Hmm. We’ve been chitchatting too much. Sorry to make you go along with this nonsense. We’ll follow Lakyus’s orders and begin preparations now.”

Gagaran and Evileye stood up. Climb followed their lead.

“Sorry, Climb! There’s a lot of things I’d like to do with you, but it seems we don’t have time for that anymore.”

“Please do not worry about it, Gagaran. And Lady Evileye, thank you for the informative discussion.”

Gagaran looked at Climb and gave a tired laugh. “Well, that’s fine. Okay. So you’re probably going back now, right? Take care of our leader. Counting on you, virgin! …Oh, and make sure you equip your items. That sword on your hip isn’t your usual weapon, right?”

“No, this is a backup.”

“You never know what will happen. Whatever you do with your armor, you should always carry your sword! That’s the proper attitude for an adventurer, especially as a warrior. And do you have the items I gave you?”

“The bells? Yes, I have those right here.” He patted a pochette on his belt.

“Okay, good. Remember this: All we warriors can do is swing our weapons, but sometimes that’s not enough. What fills in that gap for us is magic items. Acquire lots of them, and don’t let them go. And make sure you always have at least three healing potions. That’s saved me before.”

He had three potions but was currently carrying only two. Climb indicated his acknowledgment.

“You’re surprisingly caring…”

“Don’t make fun of me, Evileye… Sorry to have held you up. What I mean to say is, don’t slack on preparation and precaution.”

“Understood.” Climb bowed deeply to Gagaran.

3

3 Late Fire Moon (September) 6:00 AM

There were nine men and women seated at the round table.

Despite the fact that the chiefs from all eight divisions of the Eight Fingers had gathered, they hardly spared a glance for one another. Instead, they examined the papers in their hands or exchanged words with their subordinates behind them.

The atmosphere made it seem like eight completely separate groups were holding a meeting. It wasn’t quite a powder keg situation, but everyone was obviously cautious, as though they were surrounded by threats. Still, this was the natural state of affairs for them. Although they shared loosely symbiotic relationships within the same organization, they often fought over conflicting interests, and true cooperation rarely materialized.

For instance, the drug-dealing division oversaw every aspect of their business, from production to distribution. They would never work with the smuggling division in the drug trade. Even if the divisions were never openly hostile, it was utterly ordinary for them to obstruct and frustrate one another behind the scenes.

Detrimental behavior like that was the result of once separate underworld syndicates coming together.

These people weren’t on good terms with one another, but they participated in the regularly held Eight Fingers division chief meeting in the capital for a good reason. Those not in attendance were often purged on suspicion of potential treachery. That made it so even those who rarely visited the capital came all the way over for the meeting.

Even those who normally stayed holed up in safe places came, in a sense, out in public. It was no wonder many feared assassination and brought along escorts—a pair of elites, the maximum number of attendants allowed from each division.

Only one came alone…

“Okay, everyone’s assembled. Let the regular meeting begin.” At the sound of a voice, chairs creaked as people settled in.

The speaker was the man who would run the meeting, the leader of the Eight Fingers. His age appeared to be around fifty, and he wore a water god sigil. With his gentle face, he didn’t seem at all like the type to be deeply involved in the criminal sphere.

“We have a number of issues, but the first we need to deal with is—Hilma.”

“Aye.” The one who answered was a pearly-white woman. Her skin was so pale she seemed ill, and she was dressed completely in white. A snake tattoo climbed to her shoulder from her hand, which held a pipe emitting noxious purple smoke. Her lipstick was the same shade of purple as her eye shadow. Clad but lightly, her figure exuded the decadence of a high-class prostitute. She yawned conspicuously. “Could we have done this any earlier?”

“…We’re discussing the raids on your narcotics cultivation facilities.”

“Yeah, someone attacked some villages with production equipment. It cost a fortune. It may result in reduced supply for distribution.”

“Do you have any information about the raiders?”

“Nope. They did a perfect job of it…although that’s why I have an idea who it might have been.”

“Which color?”

Everyone there knew exactly what he meant.

“I don’t know! We just found out about it. How could I figure that out so fast?”

“I see. Well, everyone, that’s the situation. If you have any information, raise your hand.”

There was no response. They either had no information or they did and didn’t want to share it.

“Then next—”

“—Hey!” There came a low sound, a tremendously powerful man’s voice.

All eyes gathered on him. It was a bald man whose face was half-obscured behind a beast tattoo. Everything about him was big. The bulges of his muscular physique were clearly visible even through his clothes. The cold gleam in his eyes gave off the impression of a warrior.

Every other chief had brought escorts, but there was no one behind this man. Of course there wasn’t. What good was it to bring someone along who wouldn’t be any help?

He glared at Hilma, chief of the drug-dealing division. No, he probably didn’t mean to glare at her, but it was hard to see a look from his razor-thin eyes as anything else.

The escorts behind the woman caught their breath for just a moment—a natural response because they understood the gap between their abilities and his.

That man was a monster capable of massacring everyone in the room.

“Why not hire us? Your small fries don’t have what it takes to guard the facilities, right?”

Zero was in charge of the security division, which provided everything from doormen to armed escorts for nobles. He was even more famous for having the highest combat ability in all the Eight Fingers. But his proposal—

“No need.”

—was flatly rejected.

“We don’t need you. And we can’t have outsiders knowing where our critical bases are.”

That was the end of that. Zero’s eyes closed, as if he’d lost interest. It was like he’d turned into a rock.

“In that case, I’ll take you up on the offer.” The one who had spoken was a slender man. His lithe build was the exact opposite of Zero’s. “Zero, I’d like to hire a man.”

“What, Coccodor? Can you pay?”

If Hilma’s drug dealing was fairly lucrative, Coccodor’s slave trafficking was on the decline. Since the Golden Princess had made slavery illegal, he’d had to shelter his business further underground.

“I’m good for it, Zero. And I’d like one of the best of the best, preferably Six Arms–class.”

“Ohh?” Zero seemed interested for the first time in the meeting, and his eyes opened back up.

He wasn’t the only one who was surprised. Almost everyone there felt the same.

The Six Arms was a collective term for the six members of the security division with the highest combat ability; it came from the fact that the god of theft’s sibling had six arms.

Of course, at the top was Zero, but the other five were no less powerful. There was one said to be able to cut space, another who manipulated illusions, and even one who was an immensely powerful undead—an elder lich.

If Gazef Stronoff and adamantite-rank adventurers were the strongest of those in the light of day, the Six Arms were the strongest of the underworld. Employing one of them meant only one thing.

“You’re in that much trouble? Okay, then. Take heart. My man will guarantee the safety of your assets.”

“So sorry to trouble you. An issue came up with a woman we were planning to dispose of. It might be going overboard to enlist so much power, but if our shop gets taken out, I’ll have problems. So yeah, I’ll consult you later about the contract and fee.”

“That’s fine.”

“Is immediately after the meeting all right with you? There’s something I’d like you to do right away.”

“Got it. I brought a man with me, so I can lend him to you.”

“…Okay, I’m moving us onto the next topic. Is there anyone here who knows the new adamantite adventurer Dark Momon? Has anyone invited him to join us?”