Labyrinth City Labyrinth (3)
"If you haven't been dismissed, then it must be you. You were the Adventurer Guildmaster when I came here five years ago."
Lumine walked right up to him without the slightest hesitation and held out her hand.
Erna's father recognized her at once and seized that hand in a firm, delighted grip.
"Ohhh! So that's who it was—the Chief Mage of the Lord Alliance's household!"
"It's been a while, Mr. Derk."
"I heard the rumors that you'd gone missing recently... but you look perfectly fine!"
"There were reasons."
"Hmm... I don't know the details, but you seem to be in a bit of a tight spot, so I'll pretend I never heard a thing."
He nodded as if that settled the matter, even though he clearly understood very little.
Rumors that the Lord Alliance's Chief Mage was currently in Labyrinth City would not be good for her, after all.
"Thank you, Guildmaster."
"Hahaha! More importantly, we ought to throw a festival today. Two world-famous figures arriving on the same day!"
"My, my. Your wife, whom you haven't seen in ages, is quite famous herself, you know?"
Enge latched onto Derk's arm and began clinging to him with playful affection.
She did say she was enormously famous among the adventurers of the West Continent.
"I completely forgot! It's already been more than fifteen years since they started calling her the Ice Empress—"
"Honey? When exactly did I give you permission to say that out loud?"
"S-sorry..."
Ah.
I get the picture.
Mr. Derk lives completely under Mrs. Enge's thumb.
More importantly, her epithet is pretty cool.
Mine's Demon God.
Or just Demon.
Meanwhile, a single letter had thrown the great castle of the Imperial Capital into chaos.
Not long ago, the letter Esilly had sent from the port town had arrived safely.
Its contents exposed the corruption and true nature of the kingdom's high-ranking officials, so in a way the letter itself was a weapon that could only benefit the Empire.
Yet the fact that the sender was Esilly von Yggdrasil made her existence something the Empire found teeth-grindingly terrifying and something they had to treat with the utmost caution. Believing the letter at face value was therefore difficult.
And then there was the other thing she had enclosed with the letter, which only deepened the confusion.
The imperial bureaucrat who first opened the letter was clutching his head and heaving deep sighs.
"Is it true a letter arrived from Esilly von Yggdrasil?"
The man who burst through the door was named Chentler, a marquis and one of the Empire's highest-ranking nobles.
He had just arrived after receiving the Emperor's order to obtain a full explanation.
"It is still only a 'presumption'... but the residual mana examination has all but confirmed it is from her herself."
"Residual mana examination...? What kind of letter did she send that would require—"
"Rather than a letter... it's this..."
"...What is this?"
The high official who had come to inspect the letter picked up the scrap of cloth lying beside it.
It was a pair of panties suitable for a young woman.
And not just any panties—old, well-worn ones.
Nothing more, nothing less.
"The sender enclosed them as proof that she is indeed Esilly von Yggdrasil... her undergarments."
"Is there some obscure elven custom of declaring war by sending panties?"
"There is no such thing..."
The official who had first examined the letter was himself an elf.
If any such minority culture existed, he would have known about it.
That was precisely why his headache was growing worse.
He simply could not read what Esilly von Yggdrasil was thinking.
"Then what in the world is this...?"
"Exactly as the letter states—to prove her identity."
"And the contents?"
"First, the corruption of the kingdom's officials. And if any harm should come to the kingdom's people..."
"A threat to smash our Empire to pieces, I take it..."
"Yes... unfortunately... it says she will 'annihilate' us."
"Mmm..."
They fell silent.
If it had merely been some insane elf who enclosed her own panties with a letter, they could have dismissed her as a madwoman and been done with it. But the fact that the sender was Esilly von Yggdrasil meant they could not overlook it.
She already had a track record of making an entire imperial legion vanish without a trace.
Actions that would normally be impossible, when attached to her name, did not end at "maybe she could" but at "she might actually do it."
"Haa... His Majesty intends to accept every reasonable demand Esilly von Yggdrasil makes."
"Then there will be no need to take the lives of the kingdom's people."
"That would be the case. Even if we destroy the kingdom, the common folk are not at fault, are they? Besides, the people become military strength and labor power."
They had invaded under the banner of "annihilating" the kingdom, yet the Empire was, among the nations of the Central Continent, remarkably sensible.
In fact, it was the invaded kingdom that was more often called senseless and cruel.
"More importantly, this is serious... We must heighten our vigilance against the elf known as Esilly von Yggdrasil even further after this incident."
"Indeed. If we were to offend someone who sends the panties she was wearing as proof of identity..."
"Our Empire would be... destroyed. No—annihilated."
Whether Esilly von Yggdrasil actually intended any such thing was irrelevant.
What mattered was that they received it that way and would now treat her with heightened caution.
From the generalization that a person who would enclose panties in an official letter was capable of anything, a plan for a peaceful invasion began to sprout within the Empire.
Of course, Esilly had never intended any such thing, and she would never even learn that the incident had occurred.
The interior of the office was neat and pleasantly cool.
I was sitting on a plush sofa, being treated to sweet drinks and delicious snacks, when the Guildmaster—who had been wearing a full-on doting-father smile—came in, sat across from me, and immediately put on a serious face.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. Let's get straight to the point, then."
"Nom nom nom."
Straight to the point is good.
I prefer cutting to the chase and laughing it off rather than dragging things out, too.
What he was about to bring up floated up automatically in my mind.
First would be asking me to sell the Serpent Dragon's spoils to the Adventurer Guild.
Well, I needed money anyway, so I was planning to sell them.
I'd realized that hanging onto them was meaningless.
I never knew when or where I might run into my old unit members.
If I met them, I would have to take care of them, which meant I needed a large amount of cash on hand.
"You're talking about the Serpent Dragon spoils, right?"
"Th-that's right... As expected of Hero Esilly... you already knew."
"Of course I'll sell them to you. Ah, but I have one request of my own."
"Speak! If it's something I can do, I'll do anything!"
Oh, now that's a big-hearted answer.
Saying he'll do anything makes him sound reliable.
"Actually, I'm thinking of having a weapon made from the Serpent Dragon's fangs. Do you know any good blacksmiths?"
"Kwahahaha! Leave that to me! Our Labyrinth City Labyrinth has two blacksmiths who are called master craftsmen!"
"Ohh..."
"One of them is even called a Divine Craftsman who surpassed the master who forged forty-eight swords from the fangs of a Holy Dragon."
"Ohhh."
I like the sound of that even more.
If I'm going to entrust the job to someone, I want a proper craftsman who can make a proper sword.
Right... a Divine Craftsman, huh...
If it's a Divine Craftsman, I can trust them with it.
"We'll cover the entire cost on our end as well!"
"I'd be grateful if you did."
"Haha. In return, I'd like you to let us purchase the higher-quality parts of the Serpent Dragon spoils... if you would."
"Of course. I have no intention of stabbing Erna's dad in the back."
No matter how many nicknames like Demon God or Demon I might carry, I never treat people who like me that way.
The ones who tried to use me and suck me dry are already gone from this world.
"Ah, and one more request. Or rather, it would be more accurate to call it a commission."
"I'm an adventurer too, so if it's a designated commission, of course I'll take it."
"I'm grateful. The truth is, I would like to ask Hero Esilly to handle a monster subjugation."
"Monster subjugation? But aren't there plenty of people at the Adventurer Guild who would take something like that?"
Earlier the guild had been packed with people.
A monster subjugation request would probably vanish within twenty seconds of being posted in a crowd like that.
Sure enough, the Guildmaster nodded.
But his eyes grew a little clouded.
"The truth is... this is not the first time this commission has been issued. Hero Esilly would be the hundredth person to take it."
"What? Don't tell me... you've been posting the same monster request for the hundredth time?"
"That's right. Not a single person who accepted the commission so far has returned alive."
Huh?
Doesn't that mean we might die too?
"Don't worry! I won't be sending only the two of you. This time I intend to form a large-scale expedition force."
"I see... So if it shows up, I just need to take it down, right?"
"Mm. As expected of Hero Esilly—you understand two things when told one."
"Hehe. Flattery like that won't get you anything, you know."
A little embarrassed, I scratched my head with a smile.
The Guildmaster is surprisingly good at praising people.
"Kwahahaha! That's a shame!"
He laughed heartily again, then looked at Lumine sitting beside me.
It seemed he wanted her to join the expedition as well.
The more strong people there were, the fewer injuries there would be.
"What about you, Lumine? Want to come along?"
He seemed a bit reluctant to ask her directly, so I spoke up for him.
Lumine and I had already decided to form a party and travel together, after all.
"Hmm. Well... what should I do..."
Lumine stroked her chin for a moment, lost in thought.
Being cautious about entering a dangerous place was only natural.
"I'll go as well. I can't very well stay behind when Lady Esilly is heading there."
"Ohh! Excellent! The expedition will depart in one week from the northern labyrinth entrance!"
"One week? That's sooner than I expected."
"I'll explain the reason separately later. More importantly, would it be all right if we proceeded with the purchase of the Serpent Dragon spoils right now?"
"Of course. I'll take them out now."
It wasn't as if I didn't understand the Guildmaster's feelings.
If they used the Serpent Dragon spoils I had brought to craft weapons and armor, the number of wounded and dead—already reduced thanks to Lumine and me—would drop even further.
To an adventurer, armor was as good as life itself!