LEGEND

Chapter 456

As he watched the sun set through the warehouse window, Vosk turned towards the four objects in front of him.

Because of the attack when they had the Spear Frog, this time the investigation was being carried out within the Silva family’s grounds.

There were three human corpses and a non-human corpse that resembled a Cactus Mimic.

They were the ones that Rei and Elena had encountered in the dungeon.

And, those corpses were potential clues to who were creating the abnormal species.

「……It really hurts that we couldn’t catch them alive. If they were still alive, we could have used any means to get information from them.」

The only other people to hear Vosk’s words were Sanctions and several other adventurers.

All of them were people Vosk trusted.

「But big bro, didn’t these men kill themselves immediately with poison because of their loyalty to their superiors and organisation? Even if we had been able to capture them alive, I don’t think we would have been able to get any information out of them.」

When one of the adventurers said that, another adventurer shrugged his shoulders as he spoke.

「Didn’t they kill themselves because they thought they wouldn’t be able to withstand the interrogation and torture? If that’s the case, I’m certain we could have gotten more information out of them if we had taken them alive.」

「Does that mean that Crimson isn’t as good as the rumours say he is?」

「No, the first time his title started to spread was during the spring war. The most important thing to remember is that it was due to his combat strength. He might not be used to capturing people alive. It’s also only been a year since he first became an adventurer. ……Well, there are a lot of unbelievable stories around him reaching B rank.」

Sanctions looked at the adventurers conversing like that and cleared his throat with a small cough.

「You all don’t know, but item boxes can’t store living things. That’s why if they were still alive, it would have been very difficult to bring them out of the dungeon. Considering that, in the worst case scenario, there would be a good chance that they could have escaped. I don’t think the end result is that bad.」

「Huh? Is that so?」

Sanctions gave a small nod as the adventurers, who barely knew anything about item boxes, all looked at him.

Next to Sanctions, Vosk nodded as well.

Vosk already knew that living things couldn’t be stored inside item boxes. But even so, he couldn’t help but complain in his mind that he wished the men had been caught alive, even if it would have been difficult, that would have given them the most useful information.

Regardless, he couldn’t keep thinking about the past as he reached for a dungeon card placed near the men.

The faces and names written on the cards were all unfamiliar.

「Tch-, of course, they’re either fake names or forgeries. ……Sanctions, I’m pretty sure we saw something related in the documents and items we confisticated from the Levisor family, right?」

「Yes. I’ve already secured what we found at the guild.」

「Contact them and ask if there is any information about these men. Tell them that the guild, which has the role of uniting adventurers, should take the initiative to correct and wrongdoings.」

「I understand. Right away.」

After seeing Sanctions give a graceful bow and leave the warehouse, Vosk ordered another adventurer to look for anything on the corpses that could be a clue to their identities. But……

「I’m sorry big bro. All they have are items that can be bought anywhere, there’s nothing that would give any clues to their identity.」

「……Damn it, they were thorough, as they should have been. But then, does that mean all these men received proper training?」

Vosk thought to himself as he clicked his tongue.

(They aren’t from the Marschel family, are they? They hire people, but unlike us and the Levisor family, there aren’t as many and most of them aren’t adventurers. It shouldn’t be a situation where they can train people to act systematically like these guys.)

Thinking that far, Vosk frowned unpleasantly.

He knew what that meant.

(If the Marschel’s haven’t been secretly creating some organisation, that means there’s a third party. That’s troublesome.)

Vosk’s guess had been that the Marschel’s who were behind the Levisor family, but the reality before them denied that.

「In addition……」

As he muttered, he shifted his gaze from the dead adventurers to the dead Cactus Mimic.

Vosk oftem led his brothers into battle himself, he was also an adventurer that had reached B rank with his talents.

Because of that, he naturally knew the monster in front of him. ……No, rather he knew what it had been.

「I never thought that a Cactus Mimic could change like this. Abnormal species? That is definitely the right thing to call it.」

It was much larger than anything Vosk knew of, the thorns growing from its body were sharp, long, and tough.

Thinking of the countless thorns that would be flying at them, it was easy to imagine that if they were to fight it like an ordinary Cactus Mimic, they would most certainly die or be injured.

「Big bro, what do we do about the Cactus Mimic over there?」

「Right, how many of our researchers are safe?」

The Silva family was primarily well known as a martial family. As a result, there had many people who were mainly engaged in combat roles and not so many in research positions.

It was under such circumstances that the warehouse holding the Spear Frog had been attacked. Many of their already few researchers had been killed……

「Only a few who happened not to be in the warehouse at that time of day.」

「……Tch, damn it. Hey, contact the guild and tell them to send someone strong in the field. The guild was also one of the attacked parties, but the number of people they had working there was significantly different to start with.」

「Yes sir!」

Nodding at Vosk’s words, the adventurers left.

Vosk felt depressed as he saw them leave, thinking about the future management of Exil.

「……What? They didn’t come back?」

It had been several hours since the three dead bodies and the dead Cactus Mimic had been brought to Vosk’s warehouse. Inside a room in the the Marschel family’s residence in Exil’s west, after the sun had completely set, Oricule frowned disapprovingly at the report from his subordinates.

「Yes, they should have been back by now considering the time they entered the dungeon, but there’s no sign of them anywhere. I secretly asked one of the gatekeepers to check. They confirmed they did enter the dungeon, but they hadn’t left……they’re probably.」

Although he didn’t finish his words, Oricule immediately knew what the man was trying to say.

That is to say, there had been some kind of trouble.

「Are the others safe?」

「Yes. Only those three haven’t returned.」

Hearing those words, Oricule was slightly relieved.

If their identities had been found out, he judged that it wouldn’t only have been those three who didn’t return, others would also have not made it back.

「Where was their destination?」

「The 13th floor.」

「The 13th floor……oh, Cactus Mimics. So that would make it the 3-2-7 chaos seed, right?」

It had been the latest result of their research, so it was very painful for him and his team to lose track of it.

However, what hurt the most was that they had no idea where the missing three men were.

Knowing they worked in the shadows, they definitely didn’t want to do anything that would reveal their whereabouts.

「How many people can we move?」

「About 10. Some died during the attack on the warehouse and some still have injuries that have yet to heal. 」

「……10 people? Then it would be very dangerous to touch the Silva family.」

「Do you think they were captured by the Silva family.」

Oricule shook his head slightly at his subordinate’s words.

「I don’t have any proof, but the worst case would be that they were caught by the Silva family. However, the Silva family is also the place with the largest concentration of strength in Exil. At the very least, it’s not something we can take on with just the 10 of us.」

「It’s certainly impossible to attack with 10 people and kill everyone like at the warehouse, but wouldn’t it be possible to at least check if the three men were captured?」

「Don’t underestimate him……Vosk. At first glance, he might look like a man with a wild streak, and indeed he is, but he’s also a man with an uncanny intuition. Even if we were to plot something, he’s the kind of guy who could sense it through intuition. Try sneaking into a place with such a man there. You can be sure he’ll sense you right away.」

「……To that extent?」

「Of course. In the first place, when the young man took over as family head, the Silva and Marschel families had been at roughly the same level of power and the Levisor family wasn’t as weak as it is now. Do you understand now?」

A third person’s voice echoed into the room where only two people were supposed to be present, Oricule and his subordinate.

The moment he heard that voice, Oricule’s subordinate tried to pull out a knife from his waist, but Oricule stopped him.

「Stop it. ……Eavesdropping isn’t in very good taste, Pree-sama.」

With those words, laughter echoed out from the door.

「Hohoho. No eavesdropping? Everything that takes place in this mansion is heard by me.」

The door opened and a middle aged woman in her 40’s entered.

She wore jewelry all over herself, earrings, hair ornaments, necklaces, forehead ornaments, rings, bracelets, anklets, and was holding a doll about 30cm in height in her arms.

Pree Marschel. SHe was the head of the Marschel family, in whose residence Oricule was staying.

At the appearance of the hostess of the mansion, Oricule frowned internally, but opened his mouth with a smile.

「I beg your pardon. You are indeed one of the best mages in Exil.」

「Of course, it is Master after all.」

Although Oricule’s words could only be called flattery, the doll in Pree’s arms replied proudly.

It’s voice was hard to hear as usual, but Pree herself didn’t seem to care as she smiled.

「Hohoho. I’m glad to hear you say that. ……Well, that aside, please stop messing with the Silva family. At least for now.」

「……Why, may I ask?」

「You aside, I don’t intend to have a serious fight with Vosk. The Levisor family has already lost its power, if the Silva and Marschel families were to get into a full fledged conflict, there is a high possibility that the three ruling families of Exil will be disqualified and the Kingdom will intervene.」

When she spoke up to that point, a sour look came over her face, as if her good mood from a few seconds before had never existed.

「That is……but then our goal.」

However, perhaps because he couldn’t stand Pree’s words, Oricule’s subordinate interjected without thinking.

Hearing his words, Pree smiled as she spoke.

「Oh? Could it be that the original goal of the Church of Holy Light was to throw Exil into chaos? Oh dear, oh dear. As ruler of Exil, I’ll have to deal with this properly.」

「Please wait!」

The moment Pree licked her lips, Oricule shouted out.

His subordinate couldn’t understand why his boss had suddenly shouted out, but suddenly noticed a cold touch on his nape.

Moving only his eyes, he soon saw what it was……a doll, about 30cm in height, was on his shoulder, the knife it was holding was against his neck, cutting through his skin like paper, from which a line of blood was flowing.

If Oricule’s voice had been even a moment later, he would have been dead. Stifling his inner fears at this unmistakable fact, he turned to look at Pree again.

The doll that had been in her arms a few seconds ago was gone.

That wasn’t surprising. After all, the doll was now holding a knife to his neck.

(When did that happen……?)

The man, who hadn’t felt the doll move at all, had sweat pour out from his back and forehead due to his nervousness.

「……Regarding my subordinate’s words, that was my fault. Could you please forgive me?」

「So, can I assume that your purpose isn’t to throw Exil into chaos?」

「Of course. I have no intention of doing so.」

「I’ll take your word for it today.」

When Pree smiled, the doll with the knife at the man’s neck jumped off his shoulder lightly before returning to Pree’s arms.

As she went to leave the room while stroking her doll……she stopped for a moment and spoke as she turned to look at Oricule.

「The issue for me is if the turmoil grows too big and the Kingdom intervenes. In other words, if the turmoil is small……you understand?」

Saying that much, she left the room.