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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Yuziro
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“My colleague had witnessed it himself. He said that in the blink of an eye, as the blade flashed, the enemy’s head was severed. He praised your extraordinary skills so much that he was out of breath.”
“It seems we’ll get to see the reality behind the rumors during this request. I have high expectations of you.”
At first, I thought they were just nicely exaggerating when they called me Lightblade out of sympathy, but their reactions truly seemed sincere no matter how I looked at it.
I was so flustered that I wanted to ask what they were talking about, but in this situation, it would have been an embarrassing question, so I decided to let it go.
While Lightblade is not a bad name, I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was an awkward nickname.
For them to describe my somewhat fast swordsmanship like that made my face burn.
Unlike me, who was mulling over such petty sentiments and the question of why I alone didn’t know my own nickname in this situation, Yekaterina, who had no need to ponder such doubts, looked at me with curious eyes and asked:
“What do you even do to make your blade shine like that?”
“It probably just reflected the light.”
“Eh, is it a trade secret? Can’t be helped then, I suppose.”
Despite my sincere response, Yekaterina seemed to have misunderstood and shrugged with a disappointed look.
The others didn’t bother asking further questions either.
Right.
It would be better than me floundering to explain something I didn’t understand myself, so I decided to just look at Engrim.
“The reason I specifically gathered all of you is simple. Since this is a request meant to be kept confidential, you attracting less attention when suddenly assembling and moving is beneficial. You were all recruited for possessing abilities suited to the request. As a sort of dream team formed by compiling the opinions of not just myself but key guild members, I don’t think we need to worry about completing the request.”
“If the party itself isn’t a concern, then what is?”
Ginh accurately pinpointed the core issue, and Engrim nodded in response.
“Yes. Just one concern – maintaining confidentiality.”
“Honestly, we’re not exactly amateurs here. Aren’t you worrying a bit too much, Guildmaster?”
Unlike the others who laughed heartily along with Gaendal, I felt like I understood why Engrim had tried to recruit Cheryl and I as suitable candidates after the thief request.
To be frank, this group alone could probably tear through most regular requests.
“He’s not worried about confidentiality being breached among us.”
Everyone’s gaze besides Engrim’s focused on me.
It would be an awkward situation if I misunderstood, but judging from Engrim’s reaction, that didn’t seem to be the case.
“It’s because we may need to kill more people than we would monsters. He’s wary of leaving any survivors.”
“……Correct.”
“Wait, hold on. But since this is a request from the Guildmaster, I’m not questioning it! But we’re dealing with criminals, right?”
“Of course. Our targets are demon worshippers.”
Engrim stated it calmly and matter-of-factly, but the content was anything but light.
While the others may have felt differently, for me, it was an exceptionally important matter – one of the most significant I had ever encountered.
Demon worshippers.
In the years-long war against the Demon Lord’s forces, that term meant only one thing: treason.
They had allied with the actual Demon Lord’s army or demons in the past, selling out the country, so with evidence, they would be summarily executed.
But that part didn’t really matter to me.
“Have demons actually been sighted?”
It had been nearly 7 years since I last had the chance to directly encounter a demon.
“Based on the circumstances, we’re assuming demons associated with the Demon Lord’s forces are involved.”
“But even so, does it really need to be handled this secretly, to the point of having to eliminate them like this? Wouldn’t it be better to call in the military instead?”
Yekaterina’s assertion was reasonable and utterly sensible.
It was hard to think of a reason adventurers would need to secretly handle something considered an act of treason, rather than the military getting involved.
However, I could easily surmise that this was similar in context to heroes battling the Demon Lord.
“The mere fact that demons have infiltrated internally during this long war is already adversely affecting public morale. This request came directly from the royal family.”
Assassination.
Of course, not the type of assassination where someone silently kills alone without anyone knowing, but in the sense of swiftly striking and eliminating the targets before any external signs can emerge.
As the saying goes, if you don’t get caught, it’s an assassination either way.
“So the military would attract too much attention.”
“Somehow, I did get the feeling the team composition was heavily skewed towards assault…”
Surprisingly, no one seemed taken aback by the fact that the request came directly from the royal family.
The explanation of “public morale” alone was enough for them to understand just how much the prolonged war had been eating away at the country.
In fact, for a country that had been at war for nearly 7 years, it seemed remarkably intact to me.
But for those living ordinary lives, that may not have been the case.
“If we assume there are demons involved, what do we do if we capture one?”
Ginh asked the question I wanted to ask.
Of course, I would want to thoroughly extract every bit of information the demon possessed the moment it was captured, but…
“Attempts should be made to gather information, but if unsuccessful, they must be killed without hesitation.”
“And if successful?”
“Kill them all the same.”
While a merciless stance, given the adversary was a demon, I couldn’t help but find it reasonable.
Not because they were a nation’s leader who had to be killed no matter what, but because demons were simply that powerful.
Demons are a race structured entirely on the principles of might.
Unlike humans, the stronger they are, the higher positions they hold, and the stronger they are, the more dangerous missions they’re assigned.
The concept of disposable pawns doesn’t exist for them.
It’s kill or be killed – an utterly ruthless approach, but one they’ve used to wage war on the kingdom for 7 years.
For them to be operating in the heart of the kingdom means they have the well-founded confidence to handle most situations alone.
Well, since we have no idea what kind of demons they are, the premise is to be extremely cautious, or else one of our heads might get torn off.
Of course, by demon standards, we’re still amateurs at best, since we haven’t actually participated in the war itself.
The truly powerful demons are likely all deployed on the frontlines, guarding the Demon Lord, or wreaking havoc with guerrilla tactics.
Which means…this incident could present an unexpected opportunity for me.
“Since I actually have a lot I want to ask from the demons, in the event of a personal opportunity arising, would I be allowed some discretion as long as I don’t jeopardize the party?”
I casually raised my hand, and everyone’s gaze turned towards me.
“You want to converse with the demons?”
“Well, if threats count as conversation? I’ve studied quite a bit about demons in order to learn more about them. Unless someone else is confident in extracting information from demons, I’d like the opportunity.”
My natural response to Gaendal’s question made Engrim unable to hide his puzzlement as he asked:
“You’ve studied demons? Not that I don’t believe you, but that’s quite an unusual case. Is there a reason behind it?”
I studied to “know thy enemy and know thyself” was there any other special reason?
However, I could understand why Engrim would ask such an obvious question.
The kingdom has been remarkably lax in its efforts to uncover new information about the demons through the long war.
Instances of waging war with little to no research, as if fighting humans, are all too common.
That’s not to say there is no information written about demons.
A visit to the royal library alone would reveal that even before the war, many scholars had already been studying and verifying the ecology of the demon race, steadily producing results.
There are many baffling cases where such information is simply disregarded and inexplicable nonsense occurs instead…but there’s no easy solution.
Even if I ranted passionately, as a mere Novice adventurer, who would properly listen?
Studying independently was the best I could do for the time being, much to my regret.
As a result, I knew more about demons than most others.
And in this situation, my knowledge and reactions could be seen as suspicious, so I decided to just lay all my cards on the table.
“It’s because I’m the sole survivor of the first attack on the outskirts of Ogwen 7 years ago. In my pursuit of revenge, I’ve been studying quite fervently.”
“…Whoa.”
“Wow. Seriously?”
“I heard no one survived…”
Even as I received astonished looks that could only be described as understandable, I met Engrim’s gaze intently while seeking his agreement, acting as if the surrounding reactions were irrelevant.
For some reason, Engrim seemed the most shocked of them all.
After pondering for a while, he spoke up.
“What exactly are you hoping to find out?”
“It depends on what that demon knows. If you’re asking about my personal interest, of course I want to know who the commander was that attacked our village.”
If coincidences had aligned to create this opportunity, perhaps I could even learn the name of my nemesis this time.
Just the thought of that happening made my heart race.
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