His words are polite. However, the voice is neither high nor low. I can’t tell if it belongs to a man or a woman.
Not only the voice, but his gender also can not be determined with his mannerism. His mask probably possesses the same effect as mine.
This person whose age, gender, or name can not be determined is Noname.
“Business huh. You should already know what I want to say right?”
“You said it as if I set this up. I have taken a handoff approach regarding your inquiry you know. The Council simply succumbed to the pressure from the other countries, that’s all.”
“Yes. it is as you guessed. I was the one who filed my complaint to the council regarding the Spirit Turtle incident. With all the incidents lately, you were the only one who gets the credit right.”
“So it was you after all.”
“Personally, I drew up a scenario where you become fed up with the Empire and when the S-rank adventurers failed to subdue the Spirit Turtle, I would defeat it myself and replace you as the Empire’s sole SS-rank adventurer. Still, you sure flipped my expectations.”
Even though he just admitted that he crossed me, I couldn’t feel any shred of fear from him at all. He is talking about it like it is someone else’s business.
“That’s a shame wasn’t it.”
“Yes, it really was. Honestly, Sokol has already run out of patience with me as well.”
“It was because you immediately captured any dungeons they found right.”
“Dungeons are the most efficient method after all. Most monsters will immediately run away when they sense the power of my magic sword. There is no escape for them inside the dungeons you see.”
“So you only value Sokol because of their dungeons huh. Their citizens will cry if they hear that you know.”
“I’m fine with letting them cry though. I hate them for all their demihuman discrimination anyway.”
“Hou? Hearing something honest like that from you is quite surprising. Then why have you based yourself inside their territory for so long?”
Noname lightly shrugs at my words.
Was he serious or was he only acting? I can’t tell. And I am quite good at telling such a thing apart too.
“I do have my opinion about them but my goal is much more important to me than my opinion. To make my magic sword stronger, I need more dungeons. Sokol empire is the only nation that took the initiative in discovering new dungeons and supporting the adventurers for capturing them. That’s all there is to it.” ṝ𝖆NǑ𐌱ÊŠ
“And they finally exhausted their usefulness so you decided to jump ship?”
“Yes. I hear that the Empire is a good country and I expect them to have a lot of unexcavated dungeons as well. The only problem I have is that the Guild won’t allow 2 SS-rank adventurers to settle in the same country.”
“I guess so. The Empire will probably don’t allow it as well. Too much medicine can become a poison after all.”
Having adventurers to deal with monsters is like having medicine for your country. Among the adventurers, one could say that SS-rank adventurers are a particularly powerful drug. Having two in your country would be like swallowing a powerful poison instead.
That’s why in order to get the result Noname wants, he has no choice but to eliminate me.
“Exactly. You were an obstacle for me who wanted to get in the Empire and now the Council has their eyes on you. The people of the Council favor me relatively well so after the inquiry if I put in my request to relocate to the Empire, there should be no problem.”
“You think the Empire will allow that?”
“They will. With internal and external conflicts, they would have to be vigilant against monsters without the presence of an SS-rank adventurer. The Empire has been heavily ravaged by monsters these days and the overall quality of their adventurers is low. One could say that they are quite reliant on you to combat the monster threat.”
That’s why they will accept me.
I see. What a guy. It really shows how terrifying he is thinking that he put so much thought into his actions.
“You heard him? Miss Finne.”
“Yes. Unfortunately, the Empire does not accept you. Noname-sama.”
“Do you have the authority to say that? Miss Finne von Kleinert.”
“Of course. The rare beauty with a blue seagull hair ornament. There is no reason not to notice your identity. However, that’s a shame. It seems you are Silver’s ally huh?”
“I was sent to the Adventurer Guild Headquarters as an Imperial Ambassador. My opinion is one with the Empire. Silver-sama has done his best for the sake of our country. We have no intention to accept the inquiry nor any attempt to remove Silver-sama.”
That was probably how Noname viewed Finne but it seems that his opinion of her changed because of her reply.
Finne was not selected as an ambassador just because of her fame.
She has the skills required to be an ambassador and she has the experience of conducting the secret maneuvers with me. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ NoveI~Fire.net
She should be able to handle even a minister of foreign affairs from another country.
“If you do not accept me then what do you plan to do? I think that your country is in quite a difficult position though?”
“It is exactly as you said. However, you have also contributed to said difficult situation as well.”
“I am sorry for that. I intend to make up for it with my work.”
“That is alright. Even if Silver-sama has to leave the Empire after the inquiry, there is already another SS-rank adventurer inside the Empire after all.”
“…….Elder Egor huh. I’m surprised that the old man is still in the Empire. But that old man’s quirk is that he can’t settle down in one place. I do not think that he will stay in the Empire for long.”
“That doesn’t matter. Suppressing the rebels and intercept the foreign invasions. If he stays with the Empire until everything is over, then Silver-sama can return to the Empire again. If the Council is that prone to other countries’ pressure then after the conflict is over, I see no reason for them to not succumb to our pressure as well.”
Egor is currently staying inside the Dwarven Village for Sonia.
He will stay with the Empire at least until Gordon’s rebellion is completely suppressed. What happens after that will depend on his mood but Finne’s assessment is correct.
If he can stay with us to that point then the Empire can just pressure the other countries to stop pressuring the Guild as the victorious country. If that happens, the Council will lose grounds to raise any complaints toward me.
“I am quite hated it seems.”
“That is a given with your goal is it not.”
“……I simply want to create a magic sword that can surpass the Holy Sword though.”
“That is the same as surpassing the Hero, the symbol of our country. As long as you have set such a goal for yourself then the Empire can not cooperate with you.”
“I see. You are quite a capable lady huh. By the way, Silver. The fact that you came to me means that you have already gained the cooperation of the other SS-rank adventurers right?”
“Of course. You are the one that is the most unlikely to cooperate after all.”
“It is all to achieve my goal. I have nothing against you personally. But I understand. I will cooperate with you in this inquiry. Even if I choose to be on the Council’s side, the vote can be overturned with 4 SS-rank adventurers. All I can do is only sway some council members who favor me to my side but……..I wouldn’t want to be in their debt. It would all come to waste if it ends up interfering with my goal after all.”
Saying so, Noname raises both of his hands as if to announce his surrender.
By bringing Finne with me, I was able to remind him that the Empire would not accept Noname. Now he has no reason to not help me.
“Give up on the Empire and look for another country.”
“I will do that. However, it was not just because of the dungeons that I wanted to relocate to the Empire.”
“It was because I want to confirm something that I wanted to go to the Empire. I want to see how much different my magic sword is from the current Holy Sword. That was what I wanted to know.”
“…….You intend to pick a fight with the prodigy of the Brave house?”
“Please. I only wanted to see the Holy Sword with my own eyes. But you have already seen it haven’t you. Being as powerful as you are, you should be able to tell the difference between the power of my magic sword and the Holy Sword. That’s why what I ask in return for my cooperation is a match with you. Silver.”
Saying so, Noname pointed his jet-black magic sword, the Dis Pater, at me.
In the end, it has come to this huh……