I wandered outside for a bit and headed back after a couple of hours had passed.

I figured the incident would be resolved and their conversation would be wrapping up by then.

"You're here?"

And I wasn't wrong. At the cost of receiving stares that silently asked if I had caused trouble again, I was able to hear a summary of the situation.

The gist of it was that a problem had arisen with the Young Lord of Ednium, so we needed to head over there.

"Under normal circumstances, I would have ignored such a personal request... but the Young Lord of Camberer brought us a rather well-founded story."

The Archmage didn't seem too thrilled about this quest.

Maybe it was because I was the one causing trouble, or maybe it was because on the surface, this quest seemed like a personal issue (romance).

"He said a request for help came hidden in slang within the letters he exchanged with the Young Lord of Ednium. And with animal fur enclosed, no less."

As for me, romance issues were a staple quest trope, so I didn't think much of it.

Besides, any gamer has probably played the role of a messenger at least once, right? Let alone a messenger, there are times when you have to run around doing all the legwork to procure the gift itself.

"The problem is, according to the Young Lord, the Young Lord of Ednium has an animal allergy. A rather severe one, at that."

However, if I were keeping to my concept, I would definitely hate this task even more than the Archmage. I'd probably react with a, 'Why should I do such a thing?'

"Thus, he never goes near animals himself, and the castle staff takes care to ensure birds and cats cannot enter the castle... Isn't it strange? For someone with such a severe allergy to send a missive enclosing animal fur, claiming it's 'fur from a cat that visits often these days.' Not to mention, he was signaling a crisis using slang."

In that regard, this explanation wasn't bad.

Romance issue or not, it definitely reeked of something worth meddling in. Though that was probably why the Archmage accepted it.

"Could the Young Lord of Ednium have information regarding the beast incidents in Camberer?"

"We cannot be certain. However, it is rare for a person to act completely out of character without reason, so I believe the possibility is high. And even if he doesn't, it doesn't matter. We were planning to investigate in all directions to find the source of the mana-eating beasts anyway."

"Berserker doesn't understand what you're saying. So we just have to go?"

"For now, yes."

"We still haven't caught the tail of that abominable bastard who showed himself this time..."

As the consensus seemed to lean toward 'let's go to Ednium,' the Inquisitor slightly furrowed her brows. From my perspective, there was no need to be so indignant.

Honestly, with this kind of development, it felt like the demon would just pop out on its own as soon as we went to Ednium.

To make a wild guess based on common clichés, maybe the ruling family of Ednium were the bad guys, and the demon who joined hands with them was the bastard who messed with me this time?

Or maybe the ruling family of Ednium was innocent, but there was a faction operating in the shadows, and they were in cahoots with the Temple intruder.

"Let us leave them to these people for now. Didn't you yourself, Inquisitor, uncover that there were no traitors within the Temple?"

"... Yes. You are right. I must trust them."

The only thing that was certain, though,

was that we could catch that bastard's tail in Ednium. Not here.

"So we're going to Ednium after all..."

As the conversation reached a conclusion, the person who had been silent until now finally spoke up. It was DeB.

"It seems so. Is there a problem?"

"No, not a problem exactly."

"... If there is something you are uncomfortable with, please tell me. It could be something I am missing."

"I'm telling you, it's not like that."

... Come to think of it, wasn't there a similar conversation when we left Hudelen? Even back then, DeB asked to confirm that we weren't going to Ednium.

Does he perhaps have a bad memory in Ednium?

"Are you sure?"

I briefly recalled the Thief's story from the original work.

I didn't know if DeB's past aligned with it, but if it was similar, he would definitely be reluctant to go to Ednium.

"You don't have to force yourself to bear it because of us. If you don't want to go, just..."

"A-Ah, I said it's not like that!"

Since it must be the place where he lost someone who was basically family to him.

"You..."

"...!"

Was this the first time DeB had raised his voice in anger at the party? Thanks to that, the mood instantly turned icy.

The Inquisitor's eyes widened, and even the Archmage seemed quite flustered.

As for the Berserker, well. Let's leave her out of the equation. She was just yawning with her face resting on her hand.

"... I keep saying no, so why do you keep asking?"

Even the person who got angry was just as taken aback.

It seemed DeB hadn't intended to react so emotionally either, as he hurriedly lowered his voice and mumbled an addition. It didn't have much of an effect.

RATTLE.

In the end, DeB fled the room.

"... T-That punk?! If it's no, it's no, why is he yelling...!"

Those who had been left dumbfounded were also able to speak again. The Inquisitor breaking out of her panic to ask, 'What is wrong with him?' was proof of that.

"Now, now, Inquisitor. Even though he said no, what do you think was the reason he raised his voice?"

"Are you saying there's a reason? Then he should just say it..."

"Didn't I explain that everyone in the world has at least one secret they do not wish to reveal to others?"

"That is..."

More importantly, what to do about this.

A mature person would recover on their own if given some alone time, but for someone like DeB, it seemed better for someone to go after him, pat him on the back, and comfort him.

However, the Archmage—the person of character—was the one who lit the fuse. Plus, she was busy educating the Inquisitor so she wouldn't add fuel to the fire.

Then me? Would this damn concept let me go after him?

SNOOOORE.

The Berserker was even fast asleep. Comforting him or anything else didn't seem possible.

It was a completely hopeless party.

Leviathan narrowed his eyes at the person Pandemonium had connected him with. The snake wrapped around his neck and shoulders was flicking its tongue, softly voicing its complaints.

It seemed highly displeased that, despite it being time to eat and having a mouth-watering human right in front of it, it couldn't eat them.

['Hold on a little longer. If that human fails to give a satisfactory answer, I'll hand him over to you.']

However, he was just as displeased to be in front of a human.

Leviathan delivered a veiled threat under the guise of appeasing his familiar. The human, who had been listening quietly, offered a pale smile.

He certainly had a lot of nerve.

['So, do you have what I want?']

"Right here."

Still, if the human had brought what he wanted, he was more than willing to let it slide.

Leviathan accepted what the human held out. The first was a tightly sealed metal bottle, and the second was a bundle of papers.

['You actually brought it.']

The price he offered was massive, but even so, to think they procured it in just one day. Especially the Fragment of Nightmare, which could only be obtained by crossing the desert and facing Sloth.

"Trust is our greatest pride, after all."

['Bullshit.']

Rarely was anything as worthless as trust in the face of desire. Leviathan snorted and picked up the second item.

This one was quite surprising as well. Given that he had only allowed a single day, they had brought back a rather thick bundle of papers.

It was too thin to fully grasp a person's entire life, but thick enough to contain the information he wanted.

A look of satisfaction spread across Leviathan's face.

['Take your payment and leave.']

However, if one obtained what they wanted, it was only right to pay the due price. Leviathan raised a hand and cupped the corner of his eye.

DROP, DROP.

Soon, water droplets fell from his eyes. They were tears that hardened the moment they flowed, harboring a radiant hue like pearls.

They were gems known to the world as tears shed by a Merman, but were actually only formed from the eyes of a Great Demon.

['With this, our transaction is complete.']

"Confirmed."

Tears, once they begin to fall, do not stop easily even if one wishes them to.

Leviathan tucked away the bottle and flipped through the papers in his hand, leaving the gems to continue forming.

During that time, the human collected the teardrop gems he had shed.

"By any chance, was that human chosen as the next knight?"

But how far had he flipped through the papers? The human, having collected all the gems, carefully asked a question.

Leviathan's eyebrow arched up.

['I did not grant you permission to ask questions. You are incredibly presumptuous.']

"I figured you might allow this level of 'envy'."

HISS.

There is a thin line between presumption and not knowing one's place. For that reason, the snake flicked its tongue as if begging to eat him right this instant, but...

['You are correct.']

Leviathan did not dislike seeing such things.

Whether it was a desire for power or something else, wasn't jealousy—the act of envying and keeping others in check so as not to be robbed of what one possessed—truly base and clearer than anything else?

['I am generous, so I shall allow your pathetic attempt to keep him in check.']

Of course, the nature of that emotion often caused him to either cooperate or squabble with Pandemonium over talented individuals... but what was good was good.

It was because there were humans who were blatantly honest about their emotions that they were able to reach this position.

['Furthermore, there is no chance that something like him will be chosen as a knight.']

"As I suspected."

So, Leviathan personally gave him an answer. It was a very slight kindness.

A subtle look of relief crossed the human's face.

['Why, were you getting anxious that he might bypass you and be nominated as a knight?']

"Anxious...? How could I be."

['Drop the clumsy lies. Unless you've forgotten what kind of demon I am.']

The desire blatantly floating in his eyes belonged to someone aiming to be chosen by a Great Demon and become one of the 72 Knights.

If that were all, it would be none of his business, but such desire was usually accompanied by envy toward those who seized power before them.

['What a shame... If your envy was greater than your greed, I would have taken you under my wing.']

"It is an honor."

He wanted to incite his jealousy further, but he didn't want to make someone he didn't even like into a knight just to play with a single human.

Nor did he want to cause friction with Pandemonium just to acquire a paltry thing like him.

['Let's see how well you do. Though I don't know how far you'll be able to go.']

So, firmly setting aside his possessiveness, Leviathan put down the paper he had finished reading.

['However, I shall give a piece of advice to you, who has caught my fancy.']

FWOOSH.

The brazier warming the air in the center of the desk eagerly swallowed the papers.

['Do not forget that your master is also a demon filled with desire.']

As expected of a merchant company created by the underlings of Greed, they truly possessed many wondrous and amusing things.

I wasn't sure if I should call it a relief, but when evening came, DeB returned with a normal expression.

Having properly collected himself, he even apologized to the Archmage. Although rather than accepting the apology, the Archmage expressed her own apologies, claiming she was the one in the wrong.

And when that evening passed into night, and that night passed into a new dawn.

We departed for Ednium. To get there, the place we had to cross was Baekmyo Ridge, where we had spent the night before last.

"It seems the frequency of wild beast appearances has increased."

Just as the Archmage said, it definitely felt like the number of wild beasts had grown.

Even just thinking back to the night before last, it was obvious. Setting aside when they swarmed us at the end, the attacks had been much less frequent back then.

"... Isn't that a bit strange? It would make sense if they came out more at night, but them coming out more during the day doesn't add up."

"Did fewer come out than this during the night?"

"Yeah."

"Bizarre."

Every incident has a cause. This is especially true if it is a matter of nature rather than a human affair.

Rain clouds are formed because water evaporates from solar heat and turns into water vapor, and wind blows because of convection.

"Perhaps it is connected to you all suddenly being attacked by that pack."

"Do you think a demon is controlling them from behind the scenes?"

"It is not impossible."

The Archmage summoned chains with a finger, binding a few jackals. Behind her, the horses were barely holding their ground without going completely wild.

"Or, there might be another issue altogether."

"I, sup—"

SMASH!

"—pose so!"

Using her assist, the Inquisitor swung her mace like a bat. Instead of a baseball, an animal's body was sent flying.

"Whoa! What are you doing launching it at me?!"

"Ah, my mistake."

"Is 'my mistake' supposed to fix everything?!"

DeB wasn't slacking off either. He hopped around, dodging the jackal carcass flying at him, before dishing out damage by throwing his daggers.

His skills were quite good, so the blades lodged into vital spots like the head for the most part.

CRUNCH!

"Kuahaha! Die!"

"... Sir Fighter sure is having a blast."

"Ahahahaha!!"

Well, it looked like things were finally wrapping up. Dodging a tree the Berserker had knocked down, I slashed at the last jackal.

Since I had been slashing while avoiding the blood as much as possible—both to look cool and to stay sanitary (after killing so many, I was starting to get a feel for where to cut so the blood wouldn't splatter)—I ended up being the only one uniquely clean compared to the surrounding situation.

Even so, the horses would still hate me the most.

It seemed fine in the beginning, but for some reason, as the days went by, they kept slowly avoiding only me.

I was fine with the bastards trying to make me their prey, but it made me a little sad that herbivores like horses hated me.

Was it because of the smell of blood? Was it really the smell of blood?

"Phew, is it finally over?"

"Mhm! It was perfect pre-meal exercise!"

"You're just naturally assuming we're going to eat now, huh."

"The sun is right above our heads. Doesn't that mean we should eat lunch?"

"Hmm? Ah, is it already noon?"

"Indeed. It's definitely time to eat. Still, how about we move locations? We can't eat in a place caked with dried blood."

"What's wrong with blood? Berserker really doesn't get it."

"... It's because it'll become a hassle if more animals gather after smelling the blood. If we're attacked while eating, our food might get ruined, right? It's dangerous for the horses, too."

"Aha."

On a separate note, was it just my imagination, or did it seem like the Archmage was slowly getting the hang of persuading the Berserker?

Of course, the Berserker was surprisingly easy to handle.

Maybe it was because of her simple, straightforward way of thinking. If you explained things logically, she would usually accept it.

The only problem was that persuasion wouldn't work when she got fixated on something—which was usually fighting.

"Then I'll look for a water source."

"I'm counting on you."

In any case, this pretty much confirmed our break.

I flicked the blood off my sword and sheathed it. CLICK. With a faint noise, my ankle turned.

SSSSS.

As if replacing that movement, the mist, which had not receded even though it was noon, wrapped around my ankles in a hazy white. It wasn't so thick that I couldn't see an inch ahead, but it was a haze that obscured everything a few dozen meters away.

"Ugh, this damn mist shows no signs of thinning out."

"I'm not pushing it away this time."

"I'm not even asking you to push it away right now. Just do it later when we eat."

It was the kind of mist that, if it appeared in a novel, comic, or game, would definitely be harboring at least one negative thing inside it, like poison or enemies.