“──… Uh, huh? Where am I…?”
“I’m so glad… Good morning, big brother!”
Was I… sleeping? What was going on again…? Right, I was investigating the history of Ednail’s royal family in town with Diar, and then the military police… Ah! That’s right.
“They threw poison into the cell… and I lost consciousness. Huh? This room… It’s really extravagant. Definitely not a cell.”
“We’ve been given a room at Edna’s Adventurers’ Guild lodging. Since we couldn’t find the one who threw the poison bottle, we decided to rely on the Adventurers’ Guild for the time being. That was a clear assassination attempt targeting you and me, and since we don’t know which faction the assassin belongs to, it’s likely someone from Ednail sent them, right? As long as that suspicion remains, Ednail has no grounds to detain you.”
“Ah, right? Since Diar and I are adventurers under the guild’s jurisdiction, Ednail can’t just dispose of us on their own. Even if they ask the guild to incapacitate us, I doubt the guild would approve so easily. So instead, they tried to take the easier route with an assassination… Is that how it went? Until they clear up the suspicion of trying to bypass the guild, we’re under their protection… makes sense.”
So Diar set things up to work that way. Still… it’s a bit of a hassle. I don’t really like owing the Adventurers’ Guild.
Well, it can’t be helped… It was my carelessness that caused this in the first place. If Diar hadn’t been there, I’d be dead for sure.
──Knock knock.
“Hey, you’re awake, aren’t you? Mind if I come in?”
A relaxed woman’s voice echoed from the other side of the door. Sigh… Just great, even she had to get involved.
“Come in…”
“All right~! Ahh, Jandalum-kun, almost dying from poison is pretty pathetic, isn’t it? Another breath or two, and you would’ve been gone. You should be thanking your little sister, and me too, since I detoxified that troublesome poison for you~.”
“Could you please stop floating in and looking down on me the moment you enter, Guildmaster?”
Yes, this overly laid-back woman is the top of the worldwide adventurer organization, the Adventurers’ Guild Master, Odos Kagyu. She’s human, and while she appears young and beautiful, this woman has lived hundreds, if not thousands, of years. She’s one of the few human mages.
Her green hair sticks up from bedhead, her clothes are rumpled, she doesn’t care much about her appearance, she smells of alcohol, and she loves gambling. She always seems lethargic but suddenly perks up when she finds someone’s weakness to poke fun at. Her strength is what lets her get away with this; she’s quite a piece of work.
But she’s not a villain, just difficult. She’s very capable, often skips work, but completes important tasks reliably. She’s efficient.
“Hey, I’m the top of the guild, so it’s fine, right~? And you refused my offer to look after you, but here you are needing my help anyway, so it’s only fair that I get to look down on you, right~?”
Ugh, annoying… I glance at Diar. Surprisingly, Diar doesn’t seem irritated by Odos at all. Huh…? So Diar’s okay with her attitude!?
“I’m really sorry… I was careless. I didn’t expect they’d go straight to assassination.”
“Big brother! I was so worried about you! I couldn’t stop thinking about it…”
“That’s right, Jandalum-kun. If you’d died, your little sister might have gone berserk and destroyed the world. Well, even if you had died, I probably could have resurrected you.”
“Resurrection magic!? Isn’t that a legendary thing!?”
“Well, if you call it legendary, sure. I don’t think anyone else can use it but me. It’s not something I’d use lightly, though. It costs me some of my lifespan, and it’s very exhausting. Even if my favorite country were to face destruction, I doubt I’d feel like using it.”
“Oh… that much? Well, I guess that makes sense. Bringing someone back from the dead should come with a cost…”
“It’s less about the cost, really… It’s just a hassle. Nations crumble every few centuries, and people die quickly. Resurrection isn’t worth trading my lifespan and peace of mind for.”
Odos looked up at the ceiling with a melancholy expression. I didn’t realize she had such a look in her.
“I see… Odos isn’t bound by human limits anymore. I guess you could call her a magic user of a different kind. But having someone like her around gives me hope.”
“Huh…? What are you talking about?”
Odos looked genuinely confused by my words.
“Because even if nations fall and people die, Odos will remember us, right? Someday in the distant future, if you tell someone about me, it’ll feel like I’ve traveled into the future. In a way, I get to keep journeying, even after I’m gone.”
“What are you talking about? If you don’t experience it yourself, that’s just a lie, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, but memories can still form. People walk with memories and live on. It’s hard to put into words, but it makes me feel… less alone. If someone like you remembers me far into the future, then I’m really lucky.”
“That’s selfish of you, Jandalum-kun. Ever considered how it feels for the one left behind…? The kinder you are and the more memories you leave me, the more you’ll hurt me. Good people are the worst because they’re unforgettable.”
Odos gave a troubled smile. It seems she was genuinely concerned for me. She’s not straightforward, but it’s hard to dislike her.
“Now then, Jandalum-kun, let’s talk about what’s changed while you were out and what’s next.”
“Yeah, please do.”
Diar and I listened as Odos updated us on the situation, and we began our meeting.
First, Ednail denied any involvement in the assassination attempt on Diar and me. Not that they’d admit it if they were actually involved.
Next, they declared the head of the military police, who had detained us, as the culprit and intended to execute him.
But Odos is objecting to the execution. There’s no proof that the head of the military police was the actual assassin, and Ednail’s report claims he acted alone. But that sounds too suspicious.
The military police head seemed genuinely pleased when I praised Ednail. I can’t believe he’d go through with an assassination in that situation. The poison bottle was thrown with such skill that Diar couldn’t fully intercept it.
According to Diar, it would be impossible to pull off that feat without some sort of magic or spell that manipulates perception. She would have intercepted it otherwise. But apparently, the military police head doesn’t have any magic skills.
Considering all that, it’s hard to believe he’s the culprit. Of course, there’s a slim chance he’s an amazing actor and secretly a top-tier mage, but… yeah, that’s a stretch.
“So, Jandalum-kun, how about we go mess with Ednail’s mastermind?”
“Huh? Mess with them? Odos, what exactly do you mean?”
“Oh, just the usual: you and I will go gamble, drink, and casually gripe about how it’s strange an adventurer looking into the royal family got targeted for assassination, and now the head of the military police is being scapegoated. It’s almost like… cutting off the tail of a lizard, don’t you think?”
“Haha, I get it. All right, let’s go right away. Ah, but wait. Diar, I have a favor to ask.”
“A favor? From me?”
I made a request of Diar, and then Odos and I headed to the gambling hall in Edna.
