Sleepless nights had become the norm.
It was the season when the humid heat of Baim, so close to the sea, became unbearable.
Even so, we were making our way through dim corridors. Behind me and to the side walked Novem, who had lit her staff with magic.
The ceiling and floor were both rough-hewn rock. Moss clung to the damp walls. By dungeon corridor standards, this was fairly spacious — the ceiling stood eight meters high and the width stretched to twenty. In the event of combat, narrowness would not be a concern.
Surrounding us were three Valkyries in armor the color of dark blue — or perhaps more accurately, indigo — serving as escorts for Novem and me. Still, there was hardly any need for an escort.
Two weeks since leaving Baim.
At present, I — Lyle Walt — had been dispatched to subjugate a Dungeon that had appeared.
The Memory of the massive Monster army's assault already felt like something from the distant past.
"…Clara, stay on standby as you are. Miranda, return to the surface. Aria, go ahead and begin eliminating the Monsters."
I issued orders while walking, but the distance between me and them — my party members — was considerable.
Through my Skills — Connection — I relayed instructions to Aria, Miranda, and Clara, who were leading the Valkyrie series units ahead of us.
I glanced sideways at the Valkyrie series unit walking on the opposite side from Novem.
(The mass-produced models that Damian and Grandpa Rataata completed… not bad.)
They were simplified versions of the Valkyries that had been completed ahead of time. While there were differences in appearance and style, the performance was on par. They wore visor-like face covers, so it was impossible to tell what expression they wore, but the Valkyrie series were expressionless by nature.
Wing-like binders on their backs held fuel made from liquefied Magic Stones, which had significantly reduced my magic consumption — a welcome relief.
Black hair was the default, though each one had put effort into their hairstyle. Bob cuts, wavy long hair, braids. It seemed even mass-produced units could have personality.
As I walked along the uneven dungeon corridors, I organized the information flowing into my mind.
This latest Dungeon, which had appeared inside a cave, extended only three floors underground. The troublesome part, however, was its vastness.
There appeared to be only a single boss on the lowest floor, and the Monster spawn points were unevenly distributed. We wouldn't face any particular difficulty, but three Dungeon subjugation requests had come in to Baim. There were few adventurer parties to dispatch.
Alette and the others headed to a different Dungeon, while it was decided that the Southern Branch would dispatch a mercenary group for the remaining one.
The Eastern Branch, ideally, didn't want to pass Dungeon subjugation requests on to other guilds. If they did, they'd lose one of the Eastern Branch's key selling points. Adventurers wouldn't gather there.
As I walked through the slightly chilly cave, I ran into Miranda and the others as they were heading back up.
"You can hear their voices the whole time, but meeting them in person still feels different, doesn't it?"
Shannon was drenched in sweat, her knees trembling, surrounded by four mass-produced Valkyrie units and carrying luggage.
One of the Valkyrie held a lantern in its hand, illuminating the surroundings.
She wore a hat and had a large backpack slung over her shoulders. Gone was her usual skirt outfit—she was bundled up in thick clothing and wore gloves.
"Looks like things went smoothly on your end too. Shannon, the trip back will be easy since there are no Monsters."
Shannon raised her head, but she was so exhausted that she didn't hurl her usual insults at me.
"...I want to take a bath."
Miranda bonked Shannon on the head for her whining.
"Shannon, knock it off. Look, we're almost at the first basement floor. Once we reach that point, we'll take a break before heading outside."
Miranda's encouragement had its effect, but Shannon just trudged forward with drooping shoulders. Miranda and the others headed back the way we'd come. I let out a sigh.
"Shannon seems to be doing alright."
It was Novem who replied. She was giggling softly, and having watched Shannon's progress firsthand, she was probably happy about her growth.
"She used to really struggle because she lacked stamina. If you push through little by little, your endurance builds up. That said, this Dungeon is really vast, isn't it?"
Second basement floor.
We'd had Aria and Miranda, whom we'd sent ahead, take care of eliminating the Monsters. Clara was handling Monster elimination on the first basement floor.
We'd probably rotate Eva and May in to replace Miranda.
"A second Dungeon subjugation and I'm already the overall commander. Well, I suppose we're the only ones who were dispatched, though. Seriously, so much for 'small-scale.'"
For a Dungeon, it was the third basement floor. It was just spacious—the boss was still only a single entity.
The Monsters were simply skewed in distribution; there weren't any particularly strong ones. Honestly, the Guild's classification of it as small-scale wasn't necessarily wrong.
Still, it rubbed me the wrong way a little.
(The amount of Magic Stones you earn from a Dungeon subjugation is fixed too, which is a problem. I'd like to just rush down the shortest route, kill the boss, and be done with it.)
From the Guild side—specifically from headquarters, not the Eastern Branch—there were orders to secure a set amount of Magic Stones.
I'd asked Alette about it, and apparently such instructions were quite rare. The only time she'd heard of something similar was when they'd been asked to secure as much as possible of a particular rare material.
The Third Generation spoke to me with an amused tone.
"You're being nicely disliked, Lyle. Just a little longer."
—I knew that, but having them needle me with petty harassment was tough.
As we walked through the wide Dungeon corridors, we were also conducting a trial operation of the mass-produced Valkyrie models as part of the subjugation.
On the surface, Damian was standing by with Ratat, and Adele and Maxim were participating as well.
Monica, however, was on guard duty at the manor.
Novem smiled at me.
"That's because they believe you're capable of it. The Guild isn't stupid enough to have you make unreasonable demands and end up losing control of the Dungeon."
"...I really hope that's the case."
Last time, Fidel had run us around and apparently we'd had to compensate for twelve cannons. The Guild executives seemed to have accepted him in order to secure his backing.
In exchange for his support in covering up their failure during the defensive battle, they'd agreed to Fidel's demands.
(Well, two of those cannons ended up flowing to me through Vera, but still.)
We'd been talking, but cutting the conversation short, I drew the weapon at my waist. Novem was illuminating the surroundings and couldn't move, so she stepped back and brightened the light.
The Valkyrie series drew weapons from the binders on their backs. Those weapons were guns.
They seemed to be improved versions of what Grandpa Rataart had prepared.
The Valkyrie series.
"Target confirmed. Eliminating."
"Confirmed."
"Taking the shot."
When the guns roared to life, three Monster signatures vanished at the end of the dark corridor. Even so, survivors kept coming.
As the Valkyrie series swiftly moved into their next volley, only the third one lowered her gun.
The Monsters in the dark corridor fell without ever showing themselves.
I sheathed my Katana and scratched my head.
"…Sure, they're high-performance, but..."
Novem also gave a wry smile. Coming to my side, she agreed with my assessment.
"A single Magic Stone from this Dungeon is worth more than the ammunition used. …We're operating at a loss."
They were high-performance, but there was no getting around the cost problem. This was a test, so I'd let them use one of their weapons—the guns—but they were definitely something I didn't want to use often for financial reasons.
The Valkyrie series picked up the tools for stripping Magic Stones and materials.
"It's time to harvest."
"We will harvest cleanly."
"I excel at dismemberment. Someday, I will also take apart the money-eating leeches and the clunky Miranda that were mass-produced ahead of us."
The third one made a frightening statement, but I ignored it. I understood this was just how they communicated.
"I don't want to spend too much time here either. Once we head to the third underground floor, let's have Eva or May deliver our supplies. Did we meet our quota?"
Using the Connection, I checked in, and the surface Valkyrie series replied. They were apparently supporting Adele.
“…According to Alete, we’ve currently achieved sixty percent. But she’s in a panic after hearing about the bullet consumption.”
Incidentally, I could also hear Alete’s voice over the Valkyrie series connection.
“Waaaaaah!! The expenses! Why?! Why are we using such weapons?! The deficit! The profits from this dungeon subjugation are gooooone!”
Alete was having a hard time too.
“Alright, let’s impose a usage restriction on the guns. Any more and poor Alete will be beside herself.”
Then, a dumbfounded voice came from within the Jewel.
“Lyle, do you even understand that this is also your problem? Make sure you generate proper profits. The exam is important, but financial matters are just as crucial. Keep that in mind.”
That was typical, strict advice from the Fourth Generation when it came to making money.
──The office of Rauno, the information broker.
There, the windows were shut tight and the curtains darkened the room. The only faint brightness came from Innis, Rauno’s assistant, using her Skill──Information.
It was a Skill that predicted the future based on the information Innis had acquired.
Rauno had both hands shoved in his trouser pockets and was looking down at Innis.
“How is it, Innis?”
Innis had her eyes closed. After a while, she opened her mouth. We had given Innis a massive amount of information for Rauno to collect as much as possible.
To predict the future and be accurate, a certain volume of information was necessary. It wasn’t a matter of having more information guaranteeing accuracy; some of it could be false.
However, with a greater volume of information, certain things would begin to emerge from the increased basis for judgment.
“…Baim is recovering from the damage caused by the great army of Monsters.”
When the great army of Monsters had surged forward, he had scattered money to mass-produce weapons. But since Lyle had wiped out most of the Monsters at Redant Fort, the actual damage was minuscule in scale compared to the enemy’s forces.
More than human casualties, the financial and resource losses had been severe.
“It recovered this well in just a few months. Well, that’s Baim for you.”
Rauno's quip went unremarked by Innis. Instead, she began elaborating on her predictions.
"There's been unusual activity in Kartafus. It could escalate into a large-scale disturbance. And also—"
"And also?"
"Dissatisfaction with Lyle is growing among the Guild headquarters and the merchants. I believe the pressure is coming primarily from outside the directly involved parties."
Rauno gave a wry smile.
"Well, rile up the head of House Trace, rile up the branch directors of the Southern Branch, and yeah, you're going to make enemies. I don't think he's unaware of that, though."
"…House Trace is taking a wait-and-see approach. They haven't shown any interest even as other merchants and the Guild have started moving. The current head of House Trace would normally have offered support. I believe there's a high chance Lyle deliberately provoked him."
Rauno couldn't figure that part out. He'd confirmed through rumors and Lyle's own account that Lyle had seduced the daughter of House Trace.
Yet he couldn't understand why that would anger the head of the household.
"You mean he's already earned all the money he needs?"
"…I don't believe that's it. There's a strong possibility he made a major shift in strategy midway through."
Rauno had been carefully observing everything Lyle did. Not because he was a client.
It was because Lyle consistently defied every one of Innis's predictions.
Even during the great army of Monsters, Innis had judged that Lyle would suffer significant damage but still emerge victorious.
But the actual result could only be called a crushing victory.
"Playing the Guild and the merchants like puppets at his age… He won't live long, will he. Once Baim kicks him out, where's he going to go? Off to Zayin or Rolfis to become the holy maiden's or Her Highness the Princess's husband?"
Innis responded to Rauno's jest.
"His actions suggest he actually wants to be expelled from Baim. As for the marriage possibility, I consider it unlikely."
Even though Rauno knew Innis wasn't very reliable when it came to matters concerning Lyle, he couldn't stop himself from investigating his actions.
"Well then, what will my client do next, I wonder."
When Innis opened his eyes, he nearly collapsed to the floor — perhaps from overusing his Skills. Rauno hurried over and propped him up, then laid him down on the sofa to rest.
—The Adventurers' Guild Headquarters.
There, the discussion had moved from the previous defense of the Redant Fortress to the changing situation in the neighboring country.
It was fine that the neighboring country had been destroyed, but in its place, the great nation of Banseim now bordered them.
The royal family of the fallen neighboring country had fled and taken refuge in Banseim, but they didn't seem to be hoping for a restoration of their territory. No — more likely, they simply weren't in a position to hope for such a thing.
They had turned a blind eye to the Dungeon's rampage, which had caused enormous damage to other nations. If their country were to be revived with Banseim's support, Baim would not sit idly by. Still, Baim wanted to maintain a buffer state between itself and Banseim, so their position was to squeeze the neighboring country just enough without crushing it entirely.
However, the reality was not quite what any of them imagined.
"What did the Banseim envoy say?"
In the meeting, where executives from every branch had been gathered, the response to Banseim was being discussed.
"They made no particular demands. Now that they share a border, they said they'd like to maintain the same border demarcation as before, and they want to hold discussions on various matters regarding tariffs."
Negotiations were about to begin, but that was the merchants' domain, not the Guild's.
Tahnia, who was watching the proceedings, was attending as a bodyguard for her superior, an executive of the Eastern Branch.
"So the Guild will continue with its current approach?"
When one of the executives spoke up, the chairman presiding over the meeting nodded.
"There's a chance they might request our aid in subjugating Monsters. But Banseim is a great nation. They have their pride — they may not deign to ask us for help."
The executives chuckled among themselves.
They took a rather light view of aristocratic pride, thinking that sooner or later Banseim would come crawling to them.
The executive from the Southern Branch spoke up.
"When it comes to Banseim, they've had a lot of internal conflict in recent years. I'd like to be more proactive about deploying mercenary companies — what do you think?"
The chairman, hearing this, nodded.
"Since even the mercenary companies have been behaving themselves lately — Zayin and Baim especially — it's true that their profit opportunities have dried up. Let's put a proposal to the merchants on our end."
The Southern Branch executive listened to this and let out a laugh. No — he looked more relieved than anything.
Tahnia's superior spoke.
"They haven't been making much money lately. Just the other day they forcibly seized a Dungeon subjugation commission from someone else. They're getting pretty desperate."
Tahnia replied to her superior in an even tone.
"Isn't that dangerous? When you consider the temperament of mercenary companies, sending them into a country rife with civil unrest — who knows what might happen…"
It was the same adventurer's Guild under Baim, but its policies differed. And the Eastern Branch had no fondness for the Southern Branch's rough methods.
When adventurers from the Eastern Branch were dispatched, many of the reasons they were met with suspicion stemmed from the Southern Branch's more violent adventurers — the mercenary companies.
Even now, it seemed they were considering letting the disgruntled mercenaries loose in Banseim to run wild.
"That's the kind of work they do. Well, we're not all saints ourselves, either."
The meeting then moved on to a different topic.
Once again, it was an opening remark from the Southern Branch executive that set it off.
"Come to think of it, there's an adventurer stationed at the Eastern Branch — Lyle Walt. She originally drifted over from Banseim, didn't she? A noble, I believe."
With that deliberately roundabout phrasing, Tahnia's superior smiled and nodded.
"And what about it?"
"Well, it's well known that a daughter of House Walt married into the Banseim royal family. She seems to be causing quite a commotion over there, but the other party is the queen of a major nation. Shouldn't we be showing some sincerity as well?"
Tahnia's superior regarded the Southern Branch executive, who was clearly angling to make a move against Lyle.
"You say sincerity, but… She was indeed expelled, yes, but after that, Banseim hasn't interfered with us at all. I don't think it's wise to poke the nest, do you?"
The Southern Branch executive pressed on stubbornly.
"That's precisely why. If it comes to light later, they'll lose trust in us."
The Chairman had listened to both of their remarks. And then delivered his judgment.
"…The discussion hasn't even begun yet. Let's observe the situation and act accordingly. Besides, he is useful to the Guild. The Guild takes care of those who produce profit."
In other words, he was weighing Lyle against Ceres, and if Lyle's output proved inferior to Ceres's, he would discard him without hesitation.
(...What on earth did you say to the Southern Branch executive, Lyle?)
Tania, inwardly exasperated, worried about Lyle—