At night, the rain that had started in the evening continued to fall.

Although rain was drizzling down, the temperature didn’t drop and the warm rain clung to the skin in the high humidity, which combined with the tropical summer night, was an unpleasant feeling.

In such weather, angry voices echoed within the Levisor family’s residence in the east of Exil.

「The Silva family has secured an abnormal species!? What were you thinking! Weren’t you the one who told me to be carefuL?」

The man listening to Schaffner’s words frowned. Schaffner only ever gave orders and pushed the role of ever doing anything to others. When things went well, he would claim the credit, but if anything went wrong, the blunder was always the fault of someone else

「I’m sorry, but it was adventurers and not the Silva family who killed the abnormal species. It was also Crimson and the General Princess. I believe you said you would do something about them?」

「That is……ahhh! Are you saying it’s my fault!? The abnormal species and stopping the Silva family, you are blaming it all on me!」

At Schaffner’s words, the man really wanted to say yes. But, if he said that to Schaffner, who had a glass of wine in his hands and was red faced in drunkenness and anger, the old man in front of him would focus his anger towards him.

If that happened, he would be dragged down every time he did something.

Because of that, he spun his words while paying attention to not upset Schaffner.

「No, we just happened to be out of luck this time. In the first place, I couldn’t imagine that the abnormal species would attack the Silva family, let alone that Vosk Silva would become so angry that he would hire adventurers to retaliate. I hadn’t expected him to take any action. Above all, I didn’t expect that the abnormal species would be found so easily in the vast 11th floor. It was all just bad luck.」

「Huff……hufff……yes, that’s right. I am not to blame. It was all bad luck.」

The man gave an inaudible laugh and didn’t say anything as he watched Schaffner drain his cup.

But eyes spoke louder than words.

The man’s gaze towards Schaffner was no longer one of looking at a person. Rather, there was a cold calculative look, like when one was about to dispose of a broken tool.

(In the first place, as long as the Silva family continues to enter the dungeon, the chances of running into an abnormal species aren’t that low. In fact, they had already run into the abnormal species Sword Bee. The only reason why there was no retaliation was because they only suffered minor injuries. ……The situation of abnormal species might not be widespread, but after finding out their existence and recovering their corpses, there is a possibility they will find out. I guess it’s time to get rid of this old man.)

「That’s right. There were some irregularities, but things have still generally gone according to our plans. I don’t think there’s anything we need to worry about.」

「Hahaha. That’s right, that’s right. There is definitely nothing wrong with what I’ve done. You should show your loyalty to me.」

The man said that to Schaffner with a smile and a bow. Schaffner raised his wine glass to his mouth with a smile of his own, as if sure that he would be the final winner.

「Then, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll have to deal with those few accidents. May the Goddess of Holy Light bless you.」

「Hmm. Work hard.」

The man left the room as he heard those words sending him off.

(He’s a naked king who can only adorn himself with words of vanity.)

The man left the Levisor family residence with those thought in his mind as felt the warm humidity from the rain that continued to faintly fall at night. He proceeded to a place covered in darkness.

If it had been a clear day, the surroundings would have been visible under the moonlight, but with rain clouds over the sky, the surroundings were completely hidden in darkness. Nevertheless, the man continued down the road without hesitation, eventually stopped at a dead end in a secluded area before speaking.

「Are you there?」

「Yes.」

A voice answered him from the darkness, but the man didn’t seem to be bothered and continued speaking as if it were normal……

「How are things going?」

「Strict security has been laid around the warehouse secured by the Silva family. Unfortunately, the situation over there……」

「No, that’s fine. Rather, it’s convenient. The lizard’s tail should be cut off at our own discretion rather than not knowing when it will be cut off.」

「Then?」

「Yeah. Attack the warehouse as soon as you can. But……」

「I know. Fortunately, I have someone who used to work for the Levisor family here. Should we keep their corpse near the warehouse?」

「……Oh, that guy?」

The person who passed through the man’s mind was the man who had been assigned by Schaffner to keep an eye on Rei. He had directly met with Rei, who he was supposed to monitor, and offended him with his arrogance, thereby worsening Rei and Elena’s view of the Levisor family.

If it hadn’t been for that incident, Rei and Elena might not have been hired by the Silva family, even if temporarily. If that hadn’t happened, the investigation into the abnormal species wouldn’t have progressed this far either. In that light, the current predicament of the Levisor family was self inflicted by Schaffner for hiring someone like that.

The man sneered in the dark, but immediately shoook his head.

(It’s up to the Levisor family if they want to destroy themselves, but I can’t be caught up in it. Considering that, it would be best to dispose of the tools that we can’t use.)

「Then, I’ll leave the attack to you.」

「Yes sir!」

「And, don’t leave any evidence that we were connected in any way to the Levisor family.」

「That includes people, right?」

「Of course. People are the most annoying evidence.」

When the man said that, a different voice was suddenly heard from within the darkness.

「There is someone who has offered to leave the Levisor family and join us. What would you like to do?」

「……I see. Even if the head of the family is impossibly stupid, there are still people under him who are reasonably intelligent. The Levisor family is a prestigious family, even if they are rotten. What are the abilities of the person who offered to join us?」

「As a researcher, they’re first class, but there have no ethics of any sort.」

The man’s eyebrows frowned unpleasantly when he heard that the researcher had no ethics, he spoke up after a few seconds of silence.

「Don’t take him in. We might be Shadows, but even Shadows have our minimum standards of humanity.」

「Still, as I said, he’s a first class researcher. It would be a huge loss to dispose of them here. And, if they run away and are caught by the Silva family, it could be a lethal source of evidence.」

「I knew. If they really have the ability……no, that’s right. Does that person really have the skills?」

「Yes, for certain.」

「Then, you don’t have to kill him, but bringing him in is a big risk to us. Hand him over to the Marschel’s.」

Hearing that, there was a moment of confusion within the darkness.

「The Marschel family? It’s true that they are doing a lot of work with magic stones, but they’re looking in a different direction in the experiments they’re conducting compared to the Levisor family.」

「What, if that person is truely first class, he will be able to make his mark even if the direction is different. If we hand him over to the Marschel family, they will also feel a little indebted to us. That’s all that matters.」

「……I understand. Then, arrangements will be made for that.」

The voice that had interrupted them disappeared and the voice that had been originally talking to the man spoke up again.

He had been interrupted while he had been speaking, but he didn’t show any signs of frustration about it as he resumed their previous conversation as if nothing had happened.

「Then, it’s okay to start the attack tonight?」

「yeah. It’s been a while since the corpses of the abnormal species were brought in. Given that, some results would have been taken to the guild and the Silva family’s residence. All of that should be disposed of. It would be impossible to erase everything completely, but be sure to dispose of the corpses of the abnormal species at least.」

「I understand. Then, we’ll do it ourselves without using others.」

「That’s fine. ……Is there anything else?」

At the man’s words, silence filled the darkness for several seconds.

However, eventually, a third person that wasn’t the first man to speak or the one that interrupted them spoke out, breaking the silence.

Unlike the first two, this voice belonged to a woman and had a hard tone with a soft resonance.

「Crimson and the General Princess. What about those two? This all happened because of their involvement in the first place. Considering that, wouldn’t it be better to deal with those two while we still can? Fortunately, this is Exil. If anything happens to Duke Kerebel’s daughter, we won’t be suspected.」

It was a proposal that could only be called extreme. The man thought if the proposal was reasonable for a few seconds……before shaking his head.

「No, let’s leave it for now. They are two people with titles and there’s also a Griffon. The other sides’ strength is too great and there is a risk we will fail to finish him off. If we could do that without risk of failure, then Exil would definitely have been the place to do it. ……No, this is my mistake. If I had brought a few Stigmas with me, it would have been a different story.」

Stigmas. The moment those words came out of the man’s mouth, the atmosphere became tense.

「We can’t say their names……they are our symbols. We can’t take them out for underground work.」

「Haah, I know. I’m just saying. But the fact of the matter is, those three……or four if you include the Dragon familiar? Any how, if we were to take them on, our strength is overwhelmingly insufficient. Because of that, we cannot allow them to touch us under current circumstances. Do you understand?」

『Yes sir!』

At the mans’ words, several voices conveyed their acknowledgement in unison.

「Then, we will disperse. Each of you do what you have to do. May the Goddess of Holy Light bless you all.」

『Blessed be the Goddess of Holy Light.』

After those words echoed out into the darkness, all signs of people vanished the next moment.

Including the man, who was their leader, the many people who had been there disappeared without leaving a single trace that they had been present.

 

 

「It’s already night, but it’s still so hot.」

「That’s because it’s raining. Continue to keep a good eye on lookout. If big brother Vosk catches you slacking, there will be hell to pay.」

「I know. But what are we going to watching keeping watch here. It’s not like monsters will attack us in Exil. And there’s still a lot of time until the next shift.」

「No, if they come out from the dungeon……」

「There’s no way.」

「……I guess so. I’ve heard that they’ve come out before, but it’s been a long time since then.」

At the warehouse not far from the guild. At the entrance, two adventurers were standing guard in the humid tropical environment.

Although they were tired from the heat and were feeling drowsy, as adventurers hired by the Silva family, they continued to serve their role.

If they had been working as bouncers at a bar or bodyguards for a merchant, the two of them might have taken their work somewhat more seriously. But this time, they had been ordered to stand guard at a warehouse.

They had been told that there were corpses of abnormal species inside, but those were still the corpses of monsters and they had no idea who would attack such a place.

There was no evidence that the the abnormal species were artificially created and Vosk had decided that it would be too dangerous if that were true and hadn’t told anyone after Rei had spoken with him. Because of that, the two adventurers guarding the warehouse were doing so with an attitude that could be described as casual.

……That was why the two of them exposed a fatal gap.

「Hm? Just now……」

One of them felt something move in the darkness and he stepped forward to take a look, staring into the darkness.

Hyu-!

His forehead was pierced by a knife painted black to hide within the darkness as it flew out with a whistle. The next moment, the man’s consciousness fell away into eternal darkness.

He fell to the ground with the dagger still stuck in his forehead.

Hearing that sound, the other adventurer must have realised that something strange was happening. He was about to call out to the other adventurers in the warehouse……when a hand suddenly reached out from behind him, covered his mouth, and with a swift motion, broke his neck, killing him.

The men that took out the two adventurers without hesitation were dressed in black, as if blending into the darkness, just like their knives.

There were about 20 of them. They didn’t speak with each other and, when they saw their leader wave his hand down, they entered the warehouse without a sound of giving away any sign of the presence.

 

 

An hour later, Vosk, who was sleeping at his residence, received a report that a suspicious fire had destroyed the warehouse, where they had been conducting research on the abnormal species, as well as several other buildings in the area.

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