The Assassin's Guild's Harsh Welcome
The adventurers' guild was bustling with energy.
The assassin guild's office was no different from the ones of the adventurers' guild leaders who welcomed visitors so easily.
As the assassin guild leader Roman led Lowell and Cali to the sofa, Dark Elf Rain brought in a tray with teacups and placed them down in front of us.
"I'll apologize on behalf of Rain for what happened just now. It seems she caused you trouble because of her past emotions."
Roman gave me another apology before sitting down, and from behind, Rain stared at me with a face full of dissatisfaction.
"But, may I ask what brings you here...?"
I pulled the **Magic Sword** from my magic pouch and placed it on the table. Roman picked it up with his hand to examine it closely.
"Do you know where this sword circulates?"
He slowly turned the blade over and over, then noticed something on the edge and studied it intently before setting it down again.
"This is the **Magic Sword** that has been causing such a stir in the back alleys lately."
"You know this sword?"
"Yes. I've seen a few assassins who work for us using it."
"Then you probably know where they got it from?"
I had thought that meeting the assassin guild leader would lead me to the culprit who spread this sword.
But seeing his face with his eyes closed and head shaking, I realized the answer might not be straightforward.
"I asked the same people who carry this sword, but all I got was that an old man sold it to them cheaply along the way."
"An old man?"
"Yes."
Hearing that, I could only feel disappointed...
That it was just "an old man" meant there was no real evidence at all.
"Is there nothing else? Any description? Something special about him?"
"Hmm... Now that I think about it, I heard something about a 'cult'."
"A cult?"
"Yes. They told everyone to believe in the messenger sent by the gods, and then they just bought it as if they were supposed to."
The gods' messenger... a cult...
Just from those words, I wondered if it was related to a priest from the Holy Kingdom.
But why exactly a priest...
With what I heard from Roman, I couldn't guess why a priest was selling a sword similar to a **Magic Sword**.
"However, Lady Lowell, where exactly did you obtain this sword...?"
"This sword is the one the assassins who tried to assassinate Princess Sophia yesterday carried from the temple's prayer hall."
"Ah... so that's why you came to our assassin guild."
Only then did Roman realize the reason I had come here. He stood up from his seat and brought out a ledger from the desk.
"This is our assassin guild's ledger. If you look through it, there has never been a request like assassinating a princess."
As I read the ledger with Roman's words, there was no request related to Princess Sophia.
I even suspected there might be a secret ledger, but from the assassin guild's perspective, they couldn't touch the princess without risking their entire underground business and the kingdom as a whole...
Moreover, I didn't think they would even accept such a request.
"If there's anything else you'd like me to investigate, I'll handle it diligently."
"No need. Well... we might send someone to the palace later for a separate investigation, but I don't think there's anything more to investigate."
After all, without any major harvest, I closed the ledger and stood up from my seat.
It seemed there was nothing more to find even if I looked further.
If Guild Master Roman had deliberately hidden something, it was something I wouldn't find anyway.
Perhaps it was enough to just know who was spreading this **Magic Sword**...
Besides, Cali's conversation with Lowell and Roman seemed boring, so the Cali sitting beside me was yawning, nodding off.
"Thank you for your cooperation."
"No, thank you. It's an honor to meet Lord Lowell, a member of the Hero's party. Rain over there might not seem like it..."
As Roman said, Dark Elf Rain standing beside me still glared at me, and her eyes showed no sign of losing their sharpness.
"Thank you too, Lady Rain."
"Next time we meet, you should be careful with your neck. Lowell."
With that, I left the assassin guild after the sharp farewell from Rain, and to buy clothes for Cali who had come along, I slipped out of the back alleys and headed toward the main road.
***
The Hero's party had finally managed to enter the second floor of the Kubera Dungeon after three days inside.
Given the remaining food and supplies, entering the third floor seemed impossible, yet the Hero had no intention of retreating.
Retreating now would be like admitting that expelling Elf Lowell was their own mistake.
If they calculated the food needed to return to the dungeon entrance, there would only be three days left to proceed.
But neither the Holy Power of the Saintess Adelia nor the mana of the Mage Selina was infinite.
They had already reached the point where they could no longer use magic, and even after trying to recover, the monsters kept coming and consuming it, leaving them unable to stand.
"Quaaaak!!"
"Hic... hic... hic..."
The Hero was no different from his party members.
After descending to the second floor, they had been fighting monsters without rest day or night, and his stamina had long since run out—barely able to hold a sword.
If only Elf Lowell had been there, he could have set the sword down for a moment and let them recover some strength...
In the Hero's mind, there was only Elf Lowell, with no room for concern about the monsters around or his party members.
Exhausted, he even began to blame his own actions.
"[Heal]"
Saintess Adelia healing the wounds all over the Hero's body from the orc attacks.
Her healing magic was likely to be the last one.
Before the overwhelming divine power that she couldn't compare to when Elf Lowell was present, she was growing more and more powerless.
At times like this, the first thing that came to mind was Elf Lowell.
If he had been there...
The Saintess wouldn't have had to use healing magic so often that she forgot when it was the last time.
Fwoosh!
Meanwhile, Selina, who had been dealing with the monsters rushing toward the Hero like a tidal wave, also had no mana left for magic—her final spell.
In her mind, just like now, with mana shortages or during brief incantations, she remembered how Elf Lowell would support the Hero and always create space for her and the Hero.
After a fierce battle with the monsters ended, they collapsed on the floor as if they had been worn out.
This time, not even a finger could be raised among them.
"Sir Hero... it really won't work like this."
"Yes. Sir Hero. We were almost killed just now if we had made one mistake."
This time, not only Saintess Adelia but also Selina had realized the recklessness of the situation and were trying to persuade the Hero.
The Hero had understood the meaning of their words and fully grasped the current situation, yet his pride would not allow him to retreat.
"How much longer can we hold out...?"
"Food is only about three days... Potions and spell scrolls are already used up."
"Just a little... Just a little longer... At least until we find the entrance to the third floor..."
"Sir Hero... you know yourself that it's impossible."
Saintess Adelia rebutting the Hero's words.
In response, Selina, unlike her usual support for the Hero, nodded in agreement with the Saintess.
After not sleeping properly for days, mana was not accumulating in her body, and she could sympathize with the Saintess if the next wave of monsters came.
"If only Lowell had been here..."
"Lowell! Lowell! Lowell!!! I'm so tired of it! Stop it already!!"
Finally, the Hero exploded at the Saintess's words.
But the Saintess did not retreat as usual; instead, she started to rebuke the Hero.
"Sir Hero, in this situation, we won't even be able to hold out for three days, let alone tonight. And how do you plan to find the third floor entrance without Elf Lowell?"
"....."
The Hero, hearing the Saintess's words, became speechless in an instant.
The second floor of the dungeon they were sitting on also fell deathly silent.
But...
The Hero's voice rose again.
"I'm the Hero! The Hero who will save this world!! Do I have to retreat like this because of that damn Elf?"
"Sir Hero, no Hero in history has ever defeated the Demon King alone. Why is there a Hero party then?"
"You all are the Hero party only for me, the Hero!! You only need to follow my commands, you're not the kind who would dare to order me around!!"
"Then does that mean the Hero doesn't consider us his comrades?"
The Saintess, undaunted by the Hero's shouting, pushed him further.
The last words she spat out showed that the Hero was flustered, and the Selina who had been standing by as a third party had no choice but to listen attentively.
"Th-that's right! G-go... How dare you call yourselves my comrades? Don't speak nonsense. You are nothing but the same as Elf Lowell! Just subordinates who live and die only on my commands!"
"....."
"....."
After the Hero's words, neither Saintess Adelia nor Selina said another word.
Until they finally escaped the Kubera Dungeon, not a single word passed between them.