'I'm sorry to have you all here on such short notice. There's something I need to talk to you about right away. Specifically, it's about the human trustees of ...... athropolis.

　Of course, the agenda is the matter of the Duke of Kingswell and Councilor Algernon.

　However, since those who are not clerks or members of the group - specifically the Ezell sisters and Dustin - are also in attendance, we'll start with a reaffirmation of the basic information.

　-- The beginning of things goes back to before the unification of the continent by the Westland Kingdom.

　The place where the regular entrance to the 'Millennium Corridor of the Abyss' is currently located is now under the direct jurisdiction of the Royal Palace, which is ruled directly by His Majesty, but before the territorial reorganization that accompanied the unification, it belonged to the territory of the successive Duke of Kingswell.

　For some reason, the current duke's brother ...... namely Algernon Councilor was attracted to the labyrinth, which was perceived as a dungeon with a high degree of difficulty and nothing to gain, and was not valued by anyone other than those who believed in the divinity called the Wiseman. It was a good thing.

　Algernon was more passionate about his own research into the labyrinth than he was about taking over the house, which caused his predecessor to give up on him, and his brother, the current duke, took over the reigns.

　After that, Algernon continued his research, ignoring incidents such as the unification of the continents and the changing of territories, he simply devoted himself to his research and finally disappeared while exploring the Millennium Corridor of the Abyss.

At the same time, a request for help arrived in the Kingdom of Westland from deep within the Thousand Year's Corridor of the Abyss.
A dwarf's request for a threat from the Demon King Gandalf: "That's why Lord Luke was hired by the brave Falcon to hide in the labyrinth.
''Yeah. Then a lot of things happened and I was left behind in the depths of the labyrinth, and somehow, thanks to the evolution of my [Restoration] skill, I was able to come back alive, but I heard that my coming back alive wasn't a very negligible case for the ...... duke.

　-- Algernon disappeared, leaving behind a large amount of research material and a ridiculous hypothesis, neither of which the dukes considered to be of any importance to the duke family, who only kept them in their proper place and never reported them to the royal court.

　The theory was so unorthodox that if it were to be made public, it might cause suspicion of their sanity.

　However, the fact that my skills had evolved after coming back alive from the labyrinth could confirm part of Algernon's ridiculous hypothesis.

　Although it was a hypothesis that he was hesitant to make public, if not reporting it would be to the detriment of the kingdom, it would give his political enemies a great opportunity to attack him.

　Therefore, the Duke decided to prepare for either side of the argument.

　He made me the target of the Silver Wing Knights' surveillance by placing appropriate charges on me, never confiding in anyone about my brother's research, and making sure that I was ready to respond quickly if anything happened to me without anyone knowing.

　Of course, it was an extremely annoying act for me, but in the end it led to the early detection of the Demon King's Army's plans and minimized the damage.

''So far, so good. The duke's self-preservation only took a turn for the better in the name of his injuries. The problem lies in the fact that the truth of the events that occurred at the same time ...... the serial dismemberment murders in King's Landing and the Night Ripper (Night Ripper) incident were connected.

　--The Night Ripper case. A series of bizarre murders that caused a stir in the royal capital.

　Since it was a brutal case in the lap of His Majesty the King, the investigation was so massive that the Adventurer's Guild even dispatched an A-ranked adventurer, Roy of the Hundred Beast Plain.

　In the end, after a great deal of commotion in which Garnett and I were also involved, the real culprit was revealed to be a highly autonomous doll disguised as a human.

　An autonomous doll that acts indistinguishable from a human is a thing that surpasses modern human technology no matter how you look at it.

　This alone was quite a surprise, but an even more unbelievable fact came to light later.

　All of the victims of the Night Ripper Incident were actually adventurers who had been hired by Algernon to dive into the Thousand Year Corridor of the Abyss--!

''If we integrate the various information leading up to this point, it is highly likely that the mastermind who sent the Night Ripper and the 'true enemy' who once defeated the Demon King's army are the same force. And ......
I guess that's what it means.

　Dustin, who had been quietly listening to the explanation so far, interrupted midway with a sharp voice.

It is possible that the person who gave the adventurer's information to the 'true enemy' is none other than Algernon himself. It was thought that the person may have been captured by the 'true enemy' while exploring the dungeon and was given the information ...... not?
'......, you're understanding it very quickly indeed. Or did you know that all along?

　There was no particular response from Dustin, so I decided to resume the explanation for now.

　--I'm not going to be the only one who has a problem with this.

　The so-called "true enemy" wanted to protect the secrets hidden in the thousand-year corridor of the abyss, but the demon king's army held the "castle area" in front of them and they couldn't find out what was going on, so they were reluctant to send their forces to the ground from another route to gather information.

　In the midst of all this, they captured Algernon, who broke through the Demon King's Castle Realm on his own, and found out that he had been investigating the Millennium Corridor of the Abyss.

　It is hypothesized that the adventurers who heard from him were killed by the Night Ripper to keep their mouths shut. ......

''By the way, the important thing is that Algernon was not only held captive, but also housed as a council member of a neutral city. Moreover, Noir says that he may have the White Wizard Bran, who was thought to be dead, in tow.
The whole premise might be turned upside down. No wonder they'll call an emergency meeting.

　The brave Ezell nodded vigorously with a satisfied face.

　Squire Eddie also spoke his opinion in a serious manner.

''Will you make the pursuit of Councilor Algernon the mainstay of your activities in the future?
No, our first priority is to build a human base of operations in this town. We're currently rootless with no foothold and no backing, and they're building a solid foundation for their activities as councilors.

　To put it bluntly, we're in a rather precarious position compared to Algernon right now.

　Pursuing the truth is also essential, but it will be difficult to even stand up properly if we don't finish gaining a foothold first.

We're going to have to work with the adventurers who are planning to join us to set up a base of operations as our first goal, while at the same time gathering as much information as we can at the same time. Besides, we need to get the information to Fraxinus, the administrator, as well.

　It is unlikely that Algernon would be able to keep information against him under wraps to the administrator, Fraxinus.

　If we communicate information from a different perspective ...... especially the fact that our relationship with the 'true enemy' is suspected, Fraxinus may also change his treatment of Algernon.

'Lord Luke. What shall we do about Bran? Will this one remain a collection of information as well?

　Sakura asks a question, refrainedly and with concern for Noir.

'Yeah, I guess so. It may not be considerate to say this in front of your immediate family, but if someone looks like ...... Bran and says his name is Bran, how can you be sure it's really Bran?
...... You're certainly right. Even if the body is Bran's, it doesn't necessarily mean that the personality is his.
'We want to avoid prejudice as much as possible. Let's gather as much information as we can about authenticity, life and death with as few preconceptions as possible.

　Not only did Sakura ask the question, but Noir also seemed to have understood my statement properly, and she fell on her face with a somber expression.

　The outer and inner do not match - we've encountered such cases many times before.

　For example, the Magician Norzuri.
　He lost his original strong body in the war and uses the body of a dark elf, even a different gender, as a substitute.

　For example, Sakura's father.
　Just like Norzuri's body, this one, too, has been used as a vessel for Demon General Suzuri.

　For example, the Night Ripper.
　Those puppets were given an exterior that resembled a real person and were hiding in human society by taking the place of that person.

　There is no guarantee that the "Someone Calling Himself Bran" that Algernon is following is really Bran, and the possibility that the corpse is even being used to disguise itself cannot be denied.

　However, it's also dangerous to act on the assumption that he can't be alive.

　My opinion on this matter is that it would be best to have as little preconceptions as possible and gather information on 'someone' who has Bran's name and appearance.

'One last thing. For the time being, I want you to go out with at least two or more of us for the time being. Even if we intend to proceed with our preparations, there's no guarantee that they won't hurry up and resort to forceful measures.

　I told everyone to take precautions, just in case, and I decided to call this meeting to an end.