Chapter 568 – The Empire’s Shadow and the Quest
Just as Tauro and his party were about to leave the special room after accepting a quest, the branch manager of the Adventurers’ Guild’s Swen branch entered the room in a panicked manner.
“Viscount Jirosugar, may I have a moment of your time?”
“…?”
Tauro wondered if he had done something wrong, but nothing came to mind.
“It’s about that impostor.”
The branch manager’s expression was deadly serious.
“…I understand.”
Tauro agreed, and the group moved to the branch manager’s office.
The Adventurer’s Guild branch manager’s office.—
“So, has there been some development?” Tauro asked, sensing from the manager’s expression that it wasn’t good news.
“I’m not sure where to begin… First, regarding the fraudulent withdrawal of your savings by the impostor—we have confirmed the matter with headquarters, and the Guild will fully compensate you for the damages. The dey in our response was because the tags the impostors possessed were confiscated by the military. Without that evidence, it was difficult to process your compensation claim… We sincerely apologize.”
The branch manager bowed deeply.
“It’s fine. I wasn’t in urgent need of the money.”
Tauro had practically forgotten about the issue due to the ancient ruins quest, so he wasn’t bothered by the delay.
“…And now, regarding information connected to the impostor… Please keep this confidential. It appears that the Northern Empire’s government was directly involved in this matter…!”
The branch manager lowered his voice to a whisper so as not to surprise Tauro.
“Oh, I already knew that.”
Tauro suddenly recalled that he had omitted mention of the Empire’s involvement in his report to the Guild, as the military had asked him to keep it confidential.
“You… you already knew?”
The branch manager looked deflated.
“Yes. The military ordered us not to speak about it. My apologies.”
“Ah, I see… When we protested to the military about the tag issue, they finally provided a partial explanation. I received an answer that the impostor was apparently an imperial spy. The tags were expertly crafted by imperial engineers, and when combined with the legendary-class ability ‘Charm,’ it would have been extremely difficult to prevent the deception. the guild is working with the military to prevent this from happening again.”
The manager wiped sweat from his brow as he explained.
“With the military? Is that how the information came down to you?”
Tauro felt one of his questions answered.
The military wouldn’t casually share classified information with the Guild. They must have disclosed some details to ask for the guild’s cooperation.
“Yes. However, it seems there’s turmoil on their side as well. The general disciplined the subordinates responsible for the blunder and has submitted a request to central command regarding his own position. He’s currently under suspension. The adjutant is now in charge, but things aren’t going as smoothly as they did under the honorary count general. After all, the lord of this city, Count Swen, and the military are like oil and water. When we tried to establish cooperation between the military and this Guild branch, the lord interfered and caused trouble. Only the general could stand on equal footing with him… And now that he’s no longer there, it’s been difficult persuading him.”
The branch manager gave a self-deprecating smile.
“Haha… sounds tough.”
Tauro recalled the general himself mentioning that he and Count Swen were on bad terms and sympathizes with him for his hardships.
“—So, that’s why we were delayed. Again, our apologies.” The branch Chief apologizes again.
“No, really, it’s fine. By the way… do you know what happened to the impostor?”
“…It’s better that you don’t. Since we were also victims of the deception, we heard a little. But the facility in question houses not only the military but also a military research institute. Let’s just say they are being thoroughly investigated there.”
The branch manager’s expression soured, as though he had eaten something bitter.
“…Ah. I see.”
Tauro guessed that too.
In other words, interrogation—and likely inhumane experimentation as well.
It was best not to ask further.
“…Also, I heard you accepted a special quest earlier. Allow me to thank you for that as well.”
The manager bowed once more.
“It’s nothing. We thought it best not to participate in the ancient ruins quest, given the other adventurers. This one simply caught our eye.”
“…That ancient ruins quest is something the lord is particularly invested in, so our top-tier adventurers will likely be tied up with it for a while. Your help is truly appreciated.”
The branch manager seemed genuinely concerned about the quest Tauro’s party had taken.
“I see there have been multiple failed attempts. Do you have the reports from those failures?”
“Yes, of course. Though they may not be helpful. One team was wiped out entirely. Another submitted a bizarre report that lacked coherence and was dismissed as an attempt to justify failure with fabricated claims. There are several more failed reports since then, but all of them don’t fit together.”
The manager had a staff member bring sealed copies of the reports and handed them to Tauro.
“…You’re right. These are strange… Not a single report matches another. Most importantly, the identity of the monster in question differs completely between them… This might be…”
Tauro skimmed through the reports and handed them to Aeris and the others.
“Tauro, this is…”
Aeris looked at him knowingly.
“…Yes. Thank you for the reports. We’ll use these to complete the quest.”
Tauro thanked the branch manager and then they left the office.
“Leader, isn’t this the type Ragune’s not good with?” Ankh remarked meaningfully after reading the reports.
“I already overcame that weakness at the ‘Dragon’s Den.’ It’s no longer a problem!” Ragune protested.
“I might be a little bad with this type…” Zion admitted with a slight grimace.
“Hahaha. Well, we won’t know until we encounter it ourselves. Let’s not jump to conclusions. We’ll depart tomorrow morning, agreed?”
““““Yeah!” / “Right!” / “Sure!” / “Yes!””””
With everyone nodding, they began preparations for their new quest.