Chapter 39 - Guild (4)

“Master, what do you mean? Why are you suddenly telling me to go to the guild?”

“Didn't you say you needed to go there to find someone?”

“Well, yes, but...”

Allua Raven, a rank-6 mage of the Magic Tower, trailed off with a sullen expression. She did have business at the guild, but she had planned to rest for a while first, then at least do some preliminary research on that “item” she had acquired before going.

“The branch manager has formally requested assistance. From what I hear, something serious seems to have happened over there. Wouldn't it earn you a little spending money?”

“... All right. I'll go.”

Raven reluctantly agreed to take the job. She had to visit the guild at some point anyway. If going now would earn her a modest payment, she had no excuse to put it off simply because she couldn't be bothered.

'I did spend a lot of money in the Labyrinth this time...'

Besides, seeing that barbarian a little sooner wouldn't be so bad. An unprecedented variant rupture—and he was the one who had absorbed its Guardian's Essence. He was a specimen every bit as fascinating as that “item.”

“I'll be off, then.”

“Oh, take Tarjin with you.”

“No, thank you. He wasn't much use.”

Using the warp gate on the Magic Tower's first floor, Raven traveled to the location closest to the branch in question. Her destination was about a ten-minute walk away. As she emerged onto the main street, she frowned.

“Why are there so many people?”

There seemed to be several times the usual number. The closer she got to her destination, the more tightly packed the crowd became, until she could barely take another step. It was as though some major incident had occurred here.

'Come to think of it, he did say the branch manager had formally requested assistance, didn't he?'

Raven let out a long sigh. She had only intended to earn a little spending money, but it occurred to her that she might have to work for every bit of it.

“Excuse me, could I ask you something? What exactly is going on here?”

Raven stopped the male onlooker who looked easiest to approach and asked. What he told her made her doubt her ears.

“The plunderers locked up in the branch staged a mass breakout.”

It was a truly unprecedented incident. Not only had there been a prison break, but several prisoners had successfully escaped into the city. And one man, believed to be the ringleader, had reportedly taken the district manager's daughter hostage while she happened to be visiting the branch.

“He must not have a brain. It's not as if the guild would negotiate with him over that.”

Negotiations or not, the guild had no authority in the first place. The royal family of Raphdonia had delegated considerable authority over Labyrinth-related matters to the guild, but it strictly upheld the principle that plunderers must be executed. Had he fled outside like the other prisoners, he would at least have had some chance of survival.

“Well, that's where things get interesting.”

“What do you mean?”

“The fellow holding the hostage keeps shouting that he's been falsely accused.”

“Falsely accused?”

“That's right. Says all he wants is to gather everyone involved and use magic to establish the truth fairly, in front of everyone.”

He wasn't asking for a pardon or anything of the sort. The hostage-taker demanded only that the truth be established. As a result, even suspicions that he might be telling the truth were spreading through the watching crowd.

'What kind of lunatic is this?'

Of course, if his story was true, the initial fault lay with the investigator who had mishandled the case. But staging a mass breakout and taking the district manager's little girl hostage in the process? That certainly wasn't something anyone in their right mind would do.

“Anyway, that's why we're all waiting. The branch manager apparently asked the Magic Tower for help, but honestly, when are they going to get here? Tsk.”

Raven smiled awkwardly at the tutting onlooker. Now she knew for certain, too. She was the mage they were waiting for.

With a heavy sigh, Raven recited a spell.

“Batuna Kor Bier.”

Blue light blossomed beneath her feet, and her body began to rise into the air.

“Y-young lady! You're a mage?”

Raven passed over the crowd and landed on the third-floor terrace of the Explorer Guild branch. Then she spotted a man and stiffened in surprise.

“Bjorn... Jandel?”

Why was he here?

* * *

Was it because the district manager's little girl was being held hostage? Everything moved quickly.

“Here's Koldo Birman, as requested. He was unconscious downstairs, just as you said.”

“Thank you. You may go.”

The investigator bastard arrived first. For the record, he still hadn't regained consciousness. Since he wasn't a pleasant sight, I stuffed him into the wardrobe for now.

After a short wait, the second delivery arrived.

“W-wait! Even if you're from the guild, can you really drag me here like this?”

The explorer in his twenties walking with that awkward gait was Hartz Young. The moronic bastard who had lost his manhood trying to pull something with Erwin.

“Thank you for handling this without asking questions. You may go downstairs now.”

“Yes, sir.”

“A-are you the branch manager? Wh-why am I...”

The instant I heard the staff member heading down the stairs, I sprang out from behind the door and planted my fist in the bastard's face.

THWACK!

One punch wasn't enough to cool my anger. If the investigator deserved first place for letting things get this bad, this bastard came second. Without his false testimony, the investigator would have had no grounds to sentence me to death.

“Aaargh! Wh-what are you doing? Who are you—!”

“Shut up and take your beating.”

One punch, two, three... As I drove my fists into his face again and again, Hartz Young soon passed out, bloody froth bubbling from his mouth.

He wasn't a pleasant sight either, so I stuffed him into the wardrobe as well. It looked a little cramped thanks to that lump of lard of an investigator, but it shouldn't be much of a problem. The more I looked at them, the more they seemed a perfect pair.

While I was admiring them, the branch manager cautiously spoke up.

“... What exactly do you want?”

Oh, I hadn't told him yet. But there was no need to explain twice. Once the rest of my supplies arrived, he'd find out whether he wanted to or not. With that in mind, I held my tongue.

Except...

“Branch Manager! I'm afraid we won't be able to bring a priest.”

The priest, the key card in this whole affair, was now out of the picture. The ordained priest affiliated with this branch was currently away. Calling another priest wasn't an option either. Even the Explorer Guild couldn't summon a priest who served a god as casually as a neighborhood friend.

'Even at the branch manager's request, it'd take at least a day.'

Priests in this world were nobles. Not in status, but in the way they behaved. A bitter taste suddenly filled my mouth.

'Not a single thing is going right.'

I had wanted to handle this as quietly as possible. Had the branch manager heard that, he'd probably have shouted at me for spouting such bullshit after making this mess. But the breakout could somehow be explained away as an “accident.”

What about the guild sentencing an innocent rank-9 explorer to death, though? The moment that became public, the Explorer Guild's reputation would be flushed straight down the shitter.

'They do at least claim to be an organization that protects explorers, after all.'

That was why I had asked for a priest. If I could prove my innocence before one, I could settle things relatively quietly. At the same time, the Explorer Guild wouldn't dare cover it up. But that plan had hit a snag right from the start.

“Thank you for informing me. You may go downstairs.”

“Yes, sir! Keep up the good work, Branch Manager!”

Listening to the staff member's retreating footsteps, I finished my brief deliberation.

'If I can't get a priest to certify it...'

I'd have no choice but to make this an even bigger affair. Only then would the Explorer Guild be unable to kill me to shut me up. Of the various methods that came to mind, I chose the most drastic and effective.

“Aaaaah!”

“Wh-what are you doing!”

Stepping onto the terrace with a sword held to the district manager's daughter's throat, I saw a crowd gathered along the main street. They seemed to be onlookers who had assembled because of the earlier breakout.

“Up there! There's a thug up there!”

One of them spotted me and shouted. All eyes converged on me in an instant.

“Ahem.”

After clearing my throat, I put my naturally powerful barbarian voice to use and shouted.

“My name is Bjorn Jandel! I'm a rank-9 explorer the guild falsely accused and tried to kill! I swear to God that I'm innocent!”

The response was immediate.

“Who the hell is that?”

“Is he an escaped prisoner?”

It didn't matter whether they believed me. I'd thrown out the bait, and curiosity alone would draw more people. Even the Explorer Guild couldn't casually bury an incident everyone was watching unfold in real time. Now I only had to hold out until the mage arrived.

Instead of my shield, which had been reduced to scrap and lost...

“Mmph, mmph!”

I'd make good use of my district-manager's-daughter shield.

* * *

How long had it been since the breakout?

“What? Why are you here, Mr. Jandel?”

“I never imagined you'd be the mage the Magic Tower sent.”

Koldo Birman opened his eyes to the conversation of an unknown man and woman. His surroundings were dark, and he couldn't move.

'What? Am I trapped? Why?'

Ignoring his growing headache, he searched his memories. A few scenes immediately came to mind. Prisoners running wild after escaping their cells. The interrogation room where he had fled and locked the door. And the barbarian who had smashed through that door and driven a fist into his face!

'Huh? But what happened after that?'

He didn't know. He hadn't the slightest idea. So he focused on listening.

“You heard what happened outside, so that should save us some time.”

“Save us some time? What on earth were you thinking? Do you think you have lives to spare, Mr. Jandel?”

“If I did, I wouldn't have done this.”

Mr. Jandel? What? Was that barbarian out there?

“Never mind that. Just cast the spell.”

“If you promise to do me a favor later.”

“I don't know what it is, but as long as it's within my power.”

“Good. That's a promise. Dertei Narbas! H-huh...? Why isn't this working? Mr. Jandel, do you happen to have a magic item that creates a mental barrier?”

“Can't you tell I don't just by looking at me? Phew. I suppose we'll have to wake these bastards after all. Can you cast ‘Visual Memory,’ by any chance?”

“Yes. You want me to record everything from this point on, right?”

Just as the conversation was leaving him increasingly confused...

“Agh! Aaaagh!”

The space around him suddenly opened up, and his weight pitched downward. Landing with a thud, he hastily raised his head. He was in the branch manager's third-floor office, a place even he had visited only a handful of times.

“What, you were already awake?”

Four people were looking at him: the barbarian and the branch manager, a woman who appeared to be a mage, and another woman who looked to be of quite distinguished standing.

Not knowing what was going on, he simply shouted.

“B-Branch Manager! It's him! He's the one who led the breakout!”

“I'm already aware of that.”

“P-pardon...?”

His mind went blank for a moment. He couldn't understand it at all. If they knew this man had committed such an outrageous crime, why were they just standing there watching?

“I hear you handled this man's investigation. Is that true?”

“Y-yes, but...?”

Only then did he notice the heavy atmosphere filling the room. Reading the room was the only skill his work as an investigator had sharpened, and he could tell. The mood here was by no means favorable toward him.

“This barbarian... No, Mr. Jandel here claims that you declared him a plunderer on the basis of unverified information. What do you have to say to that?”

“That's preposterous!”

“That had... better be the truth. This won't end with just you losing your job.”

“Wh-wh-what do you mean? He's only a rank-9 explorer!”

“Watch your mouth! Whatever his rank, is that any way for a guild employee to speak?”

“P-pardon?”

The thunderous rebuke left Birman utterly dumbfounded. Why was the man who usually led the way in looking down on lowly explorers suddenly acting like this? It was almost as if he was conscious of how this would look to the public.

'Oh! Come to think of it, they mentioned some “Visual Memory” spell earlier!'

Apparently, their conversation was being recorded in the crystal ball the mage was holding.

“Ahem! Since we judge right and wrong, the guild must exercise its authority carefully and impeccably. Tell me the grounds for your judgment.”

Snapping to attention, he recited his findings as instructed. He felt it was his only way to survive.

“F-first, there were the magic crystals. At the checkpoint, he produced enough to far exceed the average income of a rank-9 explorer. Finding this suspicious, we searched his backpack and discovered equipment that appeared to have been stolen.”

“And?”

“Our investigation was unable to establish the truth of that matter, as the magic failed to work on him.”

“Then on what grounds did you ultimately determine that Mr. Jandel was a plunderer?”

“Because of a separate incident. A message stone was found among his possessions. Using that to trace its original owner's movements, we obtained testimony from a fellow clan member that Bjorn Jandel had murdered an innocent person and stolen their belongings.”

As he explained the investigation, confidence gradually filled his voice. He didn't know why the branch manager was treating him so reproachfully, but there had clearly been some mistake.

“Branch Manager, there is nothing wrong with my verdict. If you suspect I have said anything untrue, you're welcome to verify it with magic.”

“You don't have to look at me like that. I'm already doing it. Everything he's said so far is true.”

The mage, who had been watching in silence, nodded. Just then, however, the barbarian sneered, not knowing his place.

“It was still nothing but testimony from someone in the same clan. Testimony with no validity, since it hadn't even been magically verified.”

“Is Mr. Jandel telling the truth?”

“W-w-well, yes, but...”

“Why didn't you verify that part?”

The branch manager's voice had turned cold again before he knew it. But he had an answer for that, too.

“First of all, this barbarian's constitution is the problem! Perhaps because he knew magic wouldn't work on him, he was uncooperative and kept making false statements!”

“False statements? What exactly do you mean?”

Birman answered confidently.

“At one point, he claimed he'd survived being stabbed in the throat. But there wasn't a mark on him, so I pressed him. Do you know what he said? Honestly! He claimed he'd absorbed a Vampire's Essence in a rupture, and that was why the scar had disappeared!”

“He absorbed a Vampire's Essence?”

“Yes, Branch Manager! Does that make any sense? A Vampire appearing in a first-floor rupture?”

From beginning to end, this barbarian had spouted nonsense.

“Telling a new lie to cover up the first one. It's the most common pattern in criminals' statements. How could I send our esteemed mages on a wild-goose chase based solely on this man's claims?”

Of course, his repeated claims of innocence had made Birman wonder once or twice. But he'd decided it wouldn't matter much. After all, what could possibly happen if one naive barbarian who had only just come of age died an innocent death?

'... Besides, calling in a mage would cut into the money I could pocket.'

Still, there was a silver lining. Of all things, a Vampire on the first floor? Once they confirmed he had made such a ludicrous statement, it should be enough to convince everyone that Birman's judgment had been sound.

'If you were going to lie, you should have come up with something better!'

He turned a triumphant gaze on the barbarian. But only for a moment.

“That part's true, though.”

The mage's casual remark brought his thoughts to a halt.

“... Pardon?”

“Haah, I was there myself... What should we do about this? I can't exactly cast the spell on myself.”

What on earth was this mage talking about?