Chapter 37: On the plain outside the town.

The next day —- an interesting conversation took place at the residence of Marquis Ignat in Eupheim.

Ulysses, naturally, had the same expectation as Radius, and Ulysses rather moved quickly to find out if there was a Dispel user.

As a result, there was a Dispel user in one of the trading houses.

The said Dispel user had joined the trading company five years ago, and he was a man with a strong work ethic.

However, after the incident, he immediately left the capital and disappeared somewhere.

The knights and many others were searching for him.

“Edgar, the results.”

It was in Ulysses’ office at the residence of Marquis Ignat.

When his name was called, Edgar bowed his head and told Radius.

“The man had left the capital and is two days away from the capital by magic ship.”

“He was there, which means he is no longer there, right?”

“Yes, as Your Highness said.”

“Then where did he run off to? I assume, since it’s you, that you already know that.”

“In that case —-.”

The gentleman in the tailcoat looked at his master once.

And when he saw that his master nodded, he continued.

“The man is in the basement of our house.”

The man in question had already been captured by Ulysses before the knights. He, too, had been working in secret. The Trading Company had been too busy protecting its own interests to report the incident, but Ulysses was having none of it.

“What? You had already caught him?”

“Of course we did. We have already interrogated him and confirmed the circumstances of the theft and the stolen goods. By order of the master, I have also confirmed that there is no discrepancy between those items and the stolen goods.”

It was a matter of course.

Ulysses had already investigated many things as Radius had expected, and unexpectedly, he had already captured an important person.

I’m afraid of Ulysses, who accomplished it so easily without showing any such signs.

“I am truly glad that you are on our side.”

“Ha ha! I’ll take that as a compliment!  And for the record, I was going to report it today. It’s nothing to hide.”

“I’m sure you’re right. So, did you get the purpose of the theft?”

“It’s money. He said he had been offered a deal by a certain person, and that he had done a lot of work to get it. This certain person, he must be a member of the bandit gang.”

“He said he caused such a big incident just for the sake of money?”

“We will leave it to imperial law to decide how to deal with such foolish shallowness. What we should be concerned about is the purpose of the person who offered the deal. —- Edgar, please present the documents to His Highness.”

“Ha!”

When he handed Radius the documents that had been prepared in advance, he immediately understood much of what was going on.

“The stolen documents have something in common, don’t they?”

Ulysses nodded.

“Information on magical tools installed in the imperial capital and Elendil, that’s the common denominator.”

All the documents containing information on magical tools that were contracted by the Trading Company and other magical tool craftsmen on an individual basis were stolen.

As we gathered up this information, strangely enough, only the information on magical tools installed throughout the town stood out.

“Are they looking for gaps in security?”

“I don’t know. But you needn’t worry about it.”

“And what about the stolen documents?”

“The man who was using the Dispel skill doesn’t seem to have them. He wasn’t involved in the theft in the first place, but only cooperated by using the spell.”

I might add that the man was nearly killed after he had done his job.

It would be quite normal from their point of view. It would be more natural for them to kill him when they were done with him in order to keep their information from getting out to the outside world.

The man had received a lot of money as a start-up fee.

When he was about to receive the rest of the money, he sensed danger and ran away.

“I admire his survival instincts, but I have no sympathy for him.”

“Then may I leave the rest to you?”

“I don’t mind. I will make arrangements to move him to the Imperial City prison. As for the rest, well, I’d like to see if the demon king’s cult is involved.”

“I agree. The next step is to investigate that.”

“It’s a complicated matter, but if the demon king’s cult is involved, we won’t remain silent.”

After the first phase was settled, we moved on to the next phase.

As the conversation progressed, a cup of tea brewed by Edgar was placed in front of them, and a quiet conversation ensued.

In the conversation that resumed after a few minutes’ break, Ulysses changed his demeanor, “By the way. It was the kind of smile that gave the impression of a monstrous pressure behind the smile on his face.

Radius, on the other hand, wasn’t intimidated, but simply replied matter-of-factly.

“What is it?”

“I want to hear what your Highness thinks. If the cult was involved, what would your Highness do?”

“It is obvious. I’d capture every last one of them and squeeze every last bit of information out of them.”

“I’m not asking such an ordinary question. Is it not a matter of course?”

“If that is the case, what do you want to ask?”

The two cups left their hands at the same time and were placed on the table.

A clank echoed through the room.

“Do you really think that’s all there is to it?”

Radius instantly realized the true meaning of what the strongman had just said.

“Aren’t you asking a nasty question?”

“I beg your pardon. I’m sorry, but it’s very important to me. I’m not sure how well polished your fangs are.”

“That’s an inappropriate question. I’m the third prince.”

Radius stood up.

“I would like to move to take the initiative this time.”

He said in a voice that even sounded like he was trying to be strong.

This was precisely the best answer Ulysses could have hoped for.

“When it is confirmed that the cult is involved, will you be okay with that?”

“I’m a descendant of the Lion King. If there are any fools who bare their fangs, I will break their fangs and destroy the habitat of the beasts that swarm around. I will not allow anyone to take revenge on Leomel.”

He gripped the doorknob with his own hand and continued on his way out.

“Ulysses, I will pay you back for what you did for me in the Baldor Mountains.”

With these words, he left Ulysses’ room this time.

Edgar also left to escort Radius out of the room, leaving Ulysses alone and smiling.

He was convinced that the bandits were involved with the demon cult.

His instincts and the intuition appealed to him, even though he clearly couldn’t have arrived at that answer based on the information so far.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

The next day, word arrived at the mansion that Ren’s request had been completed. The guild was notified shortly after Radius returned to the capital.

The completion of the request stunned Ren.

Just like that? Ren wondered, but if the guild had decided that he had completed the request and that the guild was okay with it, there was nothing more he could say.

(I guess the Arne Velde Trading Company must have gotten some important clue..)

I was happy to think that I was lucky and that there had been progress in the bandit racket.

He had successfully promoted his guild rank and now had a rank of Ⅾ.

After leaving the guild, Ren looked up at the bright sunlight and squinted.

He returned to his residence, put down his belongings, and went hunting with Lo.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

A few minutes after leaving Elendil, there is a plain with lush green grass and flowers. The snow had recently melted and new life was finally beginning to sprout.

The plains were crowded with peddlers and adventurers.

It was only about an hour’s ride by horseback to Elendil, making it a good place to take a break.

There were also simple stalls where meat and vegetables were grilled in the open air for travelers, adventurers, and those following the road nearby to stop by. The aroma of these stalls was also very fragrant.

When Ren arrived there, he felt a sense of discomfort.

There was a sense of uneasiness in the air in this normally friendly place.

The vendors and stalls were open, but there were adventurers with their arms folded, discussing something with each other, and those who seemed to be escorting the merchants were talking to each other.

Once back at the mansion, Ren, who had ridden Io to this point, approached them.

“The Earth Wizard is here?”

“I’m sure of it. It’s those bandits.”

He heard the words that caught his attention and got off Io to get even closer to those who had been there.

“Anybody hurt?”

“I don’t remember what it was, but there were a few guards from some trading company. It’s terrible. One’s leg is stuck in the stone and earth, and the bone is shattered.”

“We’d better hurry and get him to Elendil —-.”

“That’s true, but we should evacuate. Those criminals won’t take kindly to us.”

“I know. I’ve asked for the help of adventurers who were in the neighborhood and alerted the young adventurers outside as well as around the streets.”

As Ren listened to these stories, he thought about many things.

(What’s up with all those bandits who couldn’t get their tails caught being here?)

It was sudden, even though they must have boasted of their noteworthy alertness before that.

Ren, who had come up to the side of those who were talking, asked as an adventurer himself.

“Where did it happen?”

“Ah… it was just a few minutes ago. A group of merchants were attacked as they were traveling along the outskirts of the city.”

There were three of them, and they escaped thanks to the adventurers they had hired. Although they were by no means unscathed, with several people sustaining injuries, they escaped total annihilation.

The situation wasn’t favorable, but they managed to escape with the help of those who happened to be there.

“Did you have any information that convinced you that it was a bandit group?”

“No, but given the recent events, you can’t help but think so, can you?”

“Yes. Even bandits only show up in this area about once a decade or so, and if they were to do something like this, it would be…..”

“Thank you. I’ll be careful too.”

I thanked him and left the side of those who had gathered.

Ren looks at the terrain around him and rides Io, thinking of what to explore.

He let Io walk for a bit and and was about to run.

“You.”

There was a man who called out to Ren.

The man was a tall man in a clean white shirt, slender but muscular in appearance. He was standing beside a leather tent, or a small tent, with a group of men around him who appeared to be his companions.

From the way he stood, it was clear that he was a swordsman, a skilled one at that.

“Yes?”

Ren stopped Io when he answered and looked down at the man from his horse.

“I thought you were told earlier that it was dangerous. I can’t overlook the fact that you don’t want to go back to the town.”

“Well…..I’m glad you’re concerned, but who are you….?”

“Excuse me. I’m a swordsman belonging to the Arne Verde Trading Company. So are the people around me.”

The Arne Verde Trading Company? Ren twisted his head.

He wondered why they were here, but he opened his mouth to say hello anyway.

“My name is Ren Ashton. What are you all doing here?”

“We’re here for a reason. Forget about us, what about you? It’s not safe, go back to town. You could get hurt.”

“Yes…. that’s a possibility… but…”

Ren had no intention of turning back

A thought has already birthed in his mind. It was that mixture of devotion and anger.

I will protect those around me! What a mouthful, but I couldn’t ignore the incident that I had just overheard.

—–I’ll do what I can, too, before the threat reaches those I’m supposed to protect.

These words echoed in my mind many times.

So does the fact that the incident took place near Elendil. If the other party was a bandit group, the question remains as to why the bandit group acted on such short notice. But apart from that, Ren is desperate to protect his people.

The people who had been working to protect the trading company had just appeared, and he didn’t want to waste any time in getting information. Therefore, he decided that he should make his move here and now.

In light of the seriously injured, I want to eliminate that risk if I can.

It is only natural. Considering the life Ren had led up to this point, there was no way he would turn a blind eye to the threat he saw.

“Thank you for your concern.”

With that, Ren turned to leave the man who claimed to be from the Arne Verde trading company

“And thank you for informing me of the accomplishment of the request. Thanks to you, my guild rank went up, so I’m very grateful as well.”

Then —-

“You accepted our request, you say?”

“Eh, yes. Just the other day.”

For some reason, the man let out a stunned sound.

The man was about to say something, but quickly said, “Wait for me,” and left Ren.

He went into the leather tent, which he had just entered, and came right back out.

“Our Master wishes to ask you some questions about what you just said.”

“…… huh?”

The word “Master” is a big word.

Ren, who thought he might be an executive of the Arne Verde trading company, had no choice but to get down from Io again and approached the leather tent, pulling on the reins.

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