Chapter 81
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 81
Yet, neither of the two people standing before him fit that description.
The black-haired man was a particularly strange case. His equipment was shabby, his expression lacked a shred of motivation, and his skin was unblemished, without a single scar.
"...Please continue to strive for the peace of humanity."
Though it left a deeply unsettling feeling, the badge was undoubtedly genuine.
The inspector bowed his head slightly and waved them through. Feeling his suspicious gaze on their backs, Swallow and Rene quickened their pace, eager to move on.
The interior of the Subjugation Agency was vast.
Since the place became packed during peak hours, the lobby had been designed with a spacious, open layout. But with only Swallow and Rene present, the space felt cavernous and empty.
On the far side, a group of people sat huddled around a table, whispering intensely. Glancing at them, Swallow grabbed Rene by the wrist and headed straight for the bulletin board.
The board was so massive it couldn't be taken in at a glance, plastered with countless small sheets of paper.
"There's a hell of a lot of them."
Back at the tavern in Riaze, Melju had described this place as containing 'all the dungeon information in the Empire.'
If she saw this, she wouldn't have been so casual about it.
What they had seen in Riaze was nothing compared to this.
At a rough estimate, there had to be over a thousand requests before his eyes. It made sense, considering it compiled dungeon information from both the Empire and the Kingdom Alliance.
"I wonder if we can get through all of this in time."
"I'm not sure either," Rene replied.
What they needed was 'a powerful monster that humanity had failed to conquer despite numerous attempts.'
There was no need to look at every single one. Fortunately, just as before, the dungeon subjugation requests were color-coded.
He looked up at the papers at the very top. Standing on her tiptoes beside him, Rene followed his gaze.
The papers at the top were red.
Seven sheets in total. Those were the Seven Great Evil Caves.
He briefly scanned the sheet for the Primordial Core before shifting his gaze to the flyer for 'Where Corpses Die' next to it. Since no other details were written, it seemed the humans remained blissfully ignorant of the 'pleasant' time he had spent with Erebos in Hastin.
Swallow was about to scan the other Great Evil Cave flyers when he realized how pointless it was and scratched the back of his head.
I can't exactly recruit another Great Evil Cave.
Well, technically, if he set his mind to it, there wasn't anyone he couldn't drag back by the scruff of their neck—but Patrick would undoubtedly throw a massive fit.
Just imagining the endless nagging instantly crushed his enthusiasm. He lowered his gaze.
Below the red were the purple subjugation requests, the next fewest in number.
The yellow, green, and white requests below them were completely irrelevant to him. It didn't matter if the ones further down were rainbow-colored or neon; they were of no concern.
If the Great Evil Caves were out of the question, he just had to recruit monsters a tier below them. Experience had shown that those were the ones most effective at holding the line against humans.
"..."
However, even the purple requests—the tier right below the Great Evil Caves—numbered well over forty.
"This is driving me crazy."
He turned his head to the right. The sky, which had been crimson just ten minutes ago, was rapidly darkening.
He immediately looked to his left.
Sure enough, the clerk from the counter was slowly walking over.
Even the people who had been having a heated debate over a single request in the distance were packing up and heading out of the building.
"We're closing up soon, so you'll have to come back tomorrow."
Swallow and Rene exchanged glances. Having come all this way to get to work the moment they arrived, the thought of returning empty-handed made Swallow's mind go blank.
"...The witnesses are leaving one by one. Do you think anyone would notice if we 'dealt' with just one person?"
Normally, she should have stopped him, but Rene remained silent, seemingly giving the suggestion serious thought.
—It was a setback for Rene as well. If this dragged on into tomorrow, it would disrupt their scheduled date.
"We'd like to stay a bit longer. Is there really no way?"
"I can't keep the doors open just for the two of you."
The clerk's refusal was swift and absolute.
Should I kill him? Should I really just kill him?
As Swallow scratched his messy hair, his inner scale tipping further toward murder by the second, Rene spoke to the clerk in a low whisper.
"...Spare copies."
"Excuse me?"
"The subjugation requests. You have spare copies, don't you?"
"Well, yes, we do, but we can't just hand them out. You have to officially register a subjugation, pay the fee, and then you can take one."
"We have money."
"...Is that so?"
A brief silence ensued.
Ugh, what a pain in the ass.
Though he maintained a polite facade, the clerk was screaming in frustration internally.
Some of these so-called subjugation squad members were incredibly stubborn. The funny thing was, if you actually peeled back their layers, they were almost always just full of hot air. The two standing before him seemed to fit the bill perfectly.
First, that black-haired man.
Just look at his shabby clothes. He'd be lucky to even be D-rank.
Next, the maid beside him.
She's definitely pretty, but...
It was obvious she had lived a life completely removed from combat. Her pale skin and slender wrists made that clear. She was a hopeless case, too.
They're D-rankers at best. How much money could they possibly have?
"Those sheets are treated with special magic, so they're quite expensive. Are you sure you can afford them?" the clerk asked pointedly. To these impoverished adventurers, money was a sore subject; simply mentioning a high price was usually enough to make nine out of ten run away with their tails between their legs.
"That's a relief."
—An entirely unexpected response.
"What?"
Caught completely off guard, the clerk dropped his polite tone. His eyes, which had been narrowed in a smug smirk, flew wide open. He gasped as the two before him began pulling gold coins from their pockets.
Unless his eyes were playing tricks on him, their pockets were literally bursting with gold.
Staring blankly at Swallow and Rene, the clerk quickly composed himself and cleared his throat.
"...Which subjugation requests do you require? Normally, this is strictly against protocol, but if you insist, I suppose I can make a special exception just this once."
"In that case, give us one of each of those purple sheets over there."
"Excuse me?"
Dumbfounded once more, the clerk swallowed hard, his throat clicking.
He quickly revised his assessment. These weren't poor bluffers; they were wealthy lunatics.
"...I neglected to mention this earlier, but we cannot simply hand these over just because you have the funds. If we provide requests that do not match your capabilities, it is tantamount to us recommending those dungeons. To take a purple request, you must possess the qualifications of an A-rank subjugation squad member..."
Rene silently held out a silver badge. The clerk stared at it, then immediately changed his tune.
"I'll just give you all of them," he said in a flat, resigned voice.
* * *
"None of these guys are any good."
Having acquired a massive stack of subjugation requests, they spread them all over the floor of their inn room. The room was spacious enough that even with over forty sheets laid out, there was still plenty of space left.
Rene meticulously examined each request to filter out potential candidates. Swallow lay facedown on the bed, dangling his head and arms over the edge to lazily scan the sheets she set aside.
"There aren't many decent monsters this time," Rene noted.
Being listed on a purple request guaranteed a baseline level of strength, but the reasons for their high ratings varied wildly.
Some dungeons were rated highly simply because of geographical advantages, or because the average level of the common monsters was exceptionally high, rather than the boss itself being strong. Such dungeons were useless for their purposes.
"The Avatar of Fire that burns all creation..."
Recruiting a creature like that would be a disaster. It couldn't distinguish friend from foe and would probably burn the entire cave to ashes.
"The terrifying monster Argos, who rampages for seven days and nights without rest... No."
This one was out, too. The moment they turned their backs, it would probably break out of the dungeon, lay waste to the forest of Graphenia, or invade Hastin.
"Ancient Metal Slime... Oh?"
Swallow, scanning the sheets, let out a soft exclamation.
"Rene, what about this one? It's an ancient slime."
Anything with 'ancient' in its name rarely disappointed.
To borrow Patrick's phrasing, they were always 'grand and magnificent.' True to its ancient nature, it was incredibly powerful yet so lazy that there was zero risk of it escaping.
Just like a certain someone.
Ignoring Patrick's imaginary nagging in his ears, Swallow asked in an excited voice.
Rene let out a soft sigh and replied in a downcast tone.
"I thought it was perfect too, but the location is terrible."
"...Ah, you're right."
Swallow sighed as he read the rest of the flyer.
It was perfect in every way, but the dungeon was too far. Crossing the continent just to recruit a single slime was one thing, but transporting the damn thing back would be an absolute nightmare.
"Aaaagh, damn it."
Can't we just pick anyone? Why can't we just make Patrick do all of this? he grumbled inwardly. But if they couldn't find a suitable monster here, they would have to go back and get the next list.
Was he truly destined to work even inside an inn? Overcome by a sudden wave of existential dread, Swallow tossed the flyer aside and rolled around on the bed.
"Maybe I should have just recruited Melju."
As he racked his brain for who to bring, Melju naturally came to mind.
She was an undoubtedly reliable ally, her magic was useful for various tasks outside of combat, and she never caused any trouble. On paper, she was the perfect companion.
"Usually, Demon Kings and Dragons are too proud to be easily recruited, but Melju wasn't like that at all."
Rene, who was busy scanning the flyers, glanced over at him.
"I should have just asked Melju to stay in our dungeon."
"...I thought about it too," Rene said, her voice deeply serious. "But you know as well as I do, Master Swallow. Miss Melju is simply too..."
"Weak," Swallow finished for her.
Melju was a Demon King. Even in a Great Evil Cave, they couldn't treat a Demon King like some common mob wandering a room. Since appointing her as a gatekeeper was out of the question, it ultimately came down to whether she could handle being a room administrator.
Considering the caliber of humans who raid us, she wouldn't last long.
Melju had barely managed to fend off the humans invading her own Demon King Castle—a tier far below their own. Against the high-level raiders challenging a Great Evil Cave, she would likely be killed in no time.
Rene estimated she would last three years at most.
"And this might just be my personal opinion, but I think a Demon King is at their best when they are reigning as a Demon King."
If someone accustomed to looking down on others were to serve beneath someone else, could they ever truly shine?
"I suppose so," Swallow muttered, nodding in agreement. "...Still, I feel like we could have at least asked."
To be honest, he felt a twinge of regret. Melju had been a massive help in rescuing Rene, yet their parting had felt incredibly abrupt. Perhaps it was because he still harbored a tiny speck of guilt for blowing up her Demon King Castle.
Hearing Swallow's quiet confession, Rene stared blankly into space for a long moment. Lost in thought, she let go of the flyer she was holding, letting it flutter to the floor.
"I believe Judeca is held over the course of two days," Rene said softly. She carefully parted her lips. "If you wish to go, we must arrive before it ends. Shall we?"
Whether it had already ended or hadn't even begun, they had no way of knowing. They would have to go in completely blind.
"...I suppose it wouldn't hurt to check it out," Swallow replied, weighing the pros and cons. If it was nearby, he felt it might be worth the effort. "If it's too far, we'll forget about it. But if it's close, let's go."
"The location of Judeca can only be determined by reading the constellations. It's a method unique to Demon Kings, so I don't know how to read them."
"Well... let's put that aside for now," he brushed the issue off vaguely.
A brief silence fell over the room.
After a moment's hesitation, Rene closed her eyes and began gathering the flyers.
"I will always follow your will, Master Swallow."
"Thanks, as always."
Outside, the night had grown dark. Swallow, who looked as though he might remain glued to the bed forever, slowly sat up.
"Oh, and..."
Swallow spoke, his voice tinged with sheepish embarrassment, as if confessing a secret shame.
"I actually know how to read constellations."