"So, what business brings you here this time?"
I greeted my visitor with that opening.
"I've come to hear about what happened in the Salierra Kingdom."
The man before me—clad entirely in black armor, the Administrator known as the Black Dragon—spoke in a calm, measured voice.
What happened in the Salierra Kingdom?
I found it hard to believe this person would suddenly concern himself with the outcome of a human war. Even if that nation happened to be founded upon the Goddess religion—a faith devoted to that being.
If that was the case, then what he wanted to hear about wasn't the war's outcome. It had to be something that had occurred in that kingdom—something that either piqued his interest or that he deemed necessary to know about.
The only thing I could think of was the creature known as the Nightmare.
"Are you asking about the Nightmare that appeared on the battlefield?"
Circumlocution was unnecessary with this person. I shot back with a direct question.
"No. That isn't what I wish to know."
But the answer that came back wasn't what I had expected. Granted, even if he had asked what I expected, there was little I could have answered. What that creature called the Nightmare actually was—even I didn't know.
An unknown monster that had suddenly emerged from the Great Ello Dungeon and thrown the Salierra Kingdom and the war there into chaos.
What I did know was that the creature had likely risen to the rank of Overlord, and that for some reason it seemed to be hostile toward the oldest Divine Beast. And that it was probably still alive somewhere.
I couldn't believe that a human attack—even one involving a great magic spell—could kill something the oldest Divine Beast had failed to destroy. The official story was that the Hero's desperate stalling and a great magic spell had finished it off, but hiding underground hardly counted as dead.
If I wanted to be optimistic, I could speculate that the oldest Divine Beast had finished the job, but I couldn't afford to be optimistic. The imperial mage who had retrieved the Hero was also someone to watch carefully.
According to the reports, no one had been near the Hero or the Nightmare in the moments before the great magic spell struck. There was no way a third party could have teleported in and rescued the Hero in that window.
Given the circumstances, the one who had performed the teleportation was most likely the Nightmare itself. Why it had rescued an enemy Hero along with itself was a mystery, but if it had subsequently handed the Hero over to that mage, the pieces would fit together.
I wanted to extract information from the mage somehow, but the Empire's guard was tight. A bit of digging revealed that the mage was said to be the Empire's most powerful.
In that case, I couldn't just dispose of him recklessly. I couldn't afford to squander a valuable human combat asset. The best I could do was arrange for someone to keep an eye on him and pull strings to send him to the front lines of the war against the Demon race.
Even that would be a delicate operation. He was dangerous, but unless he made a suspicious move, I'd have to leave him be.
For now, I had to be satisfied with having managed to separate the Hero from him before any strange ideas could be planted.
"As always, you seem to be running your brain at full speed."
"Oh, pardon me. Age may accumulate, but this bad habit of mine never improves. If only there were some good medicine for it somewhere."
I made a joke to deflect. With my thought acceleration active, I shouldn't have been showing any visible signs of deep contemplation—but apparently, that didn't work on this person. In truth, the bad habit of my thoughts constantly drifting off-course was incurable. Saying I was "deep in thought" sounded nice enough, but in essence, it meant I seemed absent even during face-to-face conversations. Ever since learning thought acceleration, I'd at least gotten better at covering it up, but before that, things had been quite miserable.
Oops. My thoughts had drifted again.
"So then, Lord Black Dragon, what is it you wish to hear about?"
"You seemed quite fixated on the daughter of the lord of Kelen that you conquered. What's so special about that girl?"
The response came without a beat's pause after my question.
How should I handle this? Knowing this person... he was either vaguely aware of what the girl from Kelen truly was, or he already knew everything and was probing my intentions.
I'd better assume it was the latter. If so, the less I said, the better.
"That girl is the legitimate heir who carries the blood of Kelen. In order to eliminate any future threats, I had wanted to prevent her escape, but a mysterious group attacked the unit sent to secure her, and it suffered heavy losses. What became of the girl after that is unknown."
Now then, how would he take that?
"I see. Very well understood."
In an instant, the pressure in the room surged violently. Dense, suffocating magic energy swirled as though the very air had become a physical weight.
"If you insist on taking that attitude, then I have plans of my own."
A palm-sweating tension clung to me. Without letting it show, I opened my mouth slowly.
"Hmm? I'm afraid I can't fathom why Lord Black Dragon would be so agitated."
"
This warranted a careful response.
"Indeed. My answer serves only the survival of the human race."
If a third party overheard this conversation, they would have no idea what any of it meant. But this should get through to him.
"Very well."
Lord Black Dragon murmured softly and rose from his seat.
"I've given you my warning. Keep your hands off them as much as possible."
"Your warning has been duly received."
"And yet, even having received it, you won't stop, will you?"
"Well now. That is something only the world itself can say."
Lord Black Dragon placed his hand on the door.
"You won't stop. I'll tell you one thing: the current Demon King shows no mercy. Do whatever you can to prepare so that the human race isn't destroyed."
Leaving those ominous words behind, Lord Black Dragon vanished beyond the door.
A moment later, sweat erupted across my entire body.
Phew.
I had expected that this person wouldn't kill me on the spot—given who he was—but my blood still ran cold.
Still, given how things had gone, I'd better assume I had indeed been tested. If that was the case, it meant Lord Black Dragon already knew of the existence of the Reincarnators. "They"—that must have been what he was referring to. He had warned me knowing full well.
And what did that mean?
Also—the current Demon King? Not only had the Hero been replaced, but the Demon King as well?
This was bad. I had too little information. I prided myself on having the finest intelligence-gathering capability among the human race, and yet it wasn't enough.
Strengthening the intelligence network, countering the elves, searching for the missing daughter of Kelen.
It seemed there was a mountain of things to be done.