"Alan, someone's looking for you."
Several days after I returned from the depths of the Volcania mines with the Huge Tarkoise in tow, Char from the Dark Guild came bearing a warning.
"Who's looking for me?"
"The Grandl Jewel Trading Company. Specifically, their orders were: 'Thoroughly investigate every adventurer who went to the Volcania mines.' Find whoever scored valuable goods from the mines and hand that information over to the Assassins' Guild 'Pandemonium' — that's the gist."
Right, if they're doing a blanket search, they'd reach me eventually.
"A request came in through Skyview?"
"That's right. My information guild, Skyview, got the job, and it looks like the other information guilds received the same orders too."
Seriously, going so far as to ask a small-time guild like Char's? They must be really desperate.
"So what's this all about? The adventurers who were forcibly summoned turned out to be useless, and the Douglas Knights who supposedly led the charge solved the problem at the cost of their lives — that's what they've been saying, right?"
Not that playing dumb with Char would accomplish anything, but I should deny it anyway, just in case.
For the record, the Knights didn't lead anything. The nobles must have pressured the Adventurers' Guild into announcing that version of events.
And on top of it all, there was even a heartwarming tale about how Count Douglas sacrificed his life to slay the fearsome demon lurking in the depths of the mines.
No,
that is way
too much.
"That's the official story, at least."
Char fixed me with a flat, unamused stare.
"After I took the job, I did some digging. That trading company — not too long ago, they secretly captured Jewel Beasts without killing them, at the cost of quite a few casualties. And then came the whole commotion at the mines."
"So they unleashed that Jewel Beast into the depths of the mines owned by the Gembard Trading Company, deliberately let it drain a massive amount of life force, and then the Knights finally bothered to get off their asses, killed it, and claimed the precious gemstone."
"Yeah, I suppose."
"So it was a two-for-one deal — get the mines from the Gembard Trading Company after their income took a nosedive."
"Most likely."
Shaal nodded.
"And then a request came my way too, asking me to dig around. What should I do about it? What they're after is information on Alan."
"Can't exactly hand over Alan's info, but it'd be bad form to flat-out refuse the Grandal Jewel Trading Company's request. I'll keep them hanging with 'still investigating.'"
"Yeah, that's probably the safest play. They're not exactly counting on much anyway."
"The sad part is I can't deny that. But still, it's irritating in its own way, so how about I squeeze them dry by telling Grandal that the 'advance payment isn't enough'?"
"You, Shaal the information broker... you're pretty..."
"...evil..."
"...aren't you?"
"Oh no, not nearly as much as you, Lord Alan, hoarding all those valuables..."
Wait, hold on — doesn't that make me the biggest villain here?
But this handsome older guy was fun to banter with, so I'll let it slide this time.
◇◇◇◇◇◇
Skills: [Reverse] [Divine Eye] [Sword God] [Fist God] [Spear God] [Scorching Magic] [Frozen Ice Magic] [Clear Gale Magic] [Rock Iron Magic] [Sacred Magic] [Dark Magic] [Space-Time Magic] [Thunder God Sword] [Phantom Thief Gentleman] [Ninja Master] [Seeker of Truth] [Monstrous Strength] [Skanda] [Pain Dulling] [Complete Status Ailment Resistance] [Dark Spirit Protection] [Super Intuition] [Heaven's Gate] [Abyss Contract] [Magic Hand] [Treasure Search] [Seduction] [Incitement] [Eloquence] [Great Luck] [10x Growth Speed] [Growth Limit Breakthrough]
Rank: Orichalcum
Thank you for reading!