I was ushered into a room next to the main hall, just as Abigail had said.

　Perhaps it was in response to the demand from the bigwigs who had gotten the conversation going at the evening party, who wanted a place to exchange ideas without having to worry about the eyes of the people around them.

''Excuse me,''

　As I entered the reception room after passing through the heavy security and physical inspection, I was greeted by an unexpected group of people.

　First, the Duke of Kingswell, whom I had planned to meet from the beginning.

　Next, Sir Angelica, who had said she would be present at the meeting with Senator Eil, and the two rainbow-scaled knights of Hild who hadn't been seen in the hall - apart from the Commander's squire, of course.

　I'm sure you'll be able to find out more about this as well.

'His Majesty is here too? I see that Senator Eil has not yet arrived.''
Well, we'll be a little while longer before we get there. So let's get some things done that we need to talk about before we do.

　As recommended by His Majesty Alfred, I sat down in the vacant chair.

　Just when I thought I should say a few words of greeting or preface, the Duke of Kingswell cut to the chase without any preamble.

The rainbow rainbow. Both I and Rainbow Scales have a few things to tell Sir Luke and His Majesty.
We'd like to start with the Duke, sir.

　Apparently, the preliminary arrangements had been made between Sir Angelica ...... or rather the rainbow scale side and the Duke of Kingswell, and they were in control of the proceedings of this place for now.

　For our part, we are hoping for new information to be provided.

　If Sir Angelica is involved, and yet His Majesty is also the subject of the explanation, there will be no strange setups being made.

'Since it is not my intention to waste His Majesty's time in vain, I'll start with a conclusion and say it in a nutshell. I see the purpose of my brother Algernon's research in favor of Agat Ram.
"Nah, ......!　Is it true, Duke of Kingswell!
'But don't get your hopes up too high. It's very unfortunate that it was the sort of thing that, as it turns out, means nothing.

　The Duke of Kingswell addressed the first half of his remarks to His Majesty the King and the second half to me.

'The material left by my foolish brother is for my own review of the research, not for others to understand. So there is no explicit description of the purpose of the research, and it was quite difficult to analyze it: ......

　The result of the analysis that was announced after a pause was, as the Duke said, 'a kind of thing that means nothing when you understand it.

...... Apparently my foolish brother was motivated by a desire to get as close as possible to the secrets of that dungeon with his own hands, so he just kept on exploring.
You're going to be able to see that intellectual curiosity and inquisitiveness were the motivation, and that the search for the labyrinth was both a means and an end at the same time. It's a very good idea to have a good idea of what to expect. Well, I can't speak for others either.

　I had the same thoughts as His Majesty, though I didn't say it in words.

　However, Hild, who was present at the table according to Sir Angelica, didn't seem to be able to make sense of it and casually turned his gaze to me as if he wanted an explanation.

　The reason why he looked at me instead of His Majesty and the Duke is probably because he is a far easier person to talk to than those two.

　I took a body to confirm 'Is this understanding okay?' and threw out a statement that summed up the two men's statements in a nutshell.

"You didn't think about contributing to society like a researcher on the rainbow scales, you were just exploring according to your intellectual desires, without any thought of contributing to society, so to speak, only wanting to push forward with the idea that you wanted to do so.
That's right. I had no intention from the start of my life to give back to the world, whether it would accept me or not. After all, my foolish brother is a man who won't stop until he's satisfied with himself.

　Hearing this, Hild also looked convinced.

''I see. ...... There is no idea of sharing the results of your research to improve the whole, as we do, and no intention to bring back useful knowledge or relics for society, just to satisfy your own curiosity...'' ...It's certainly tricky.

　In short, Algernon was an adventurer of too extreme a nature.

　He didn't explore dungeons because he wanted something, whether it was knowledge or goods, but rather for the purpose of trudging through the unexplored territory on his own.

　A pure desire for adventure that is rare even in an adventurer's guild.

　His Majesty and I immediately agreed, and the reason why Hild hadn't been able to fully understand one thing at the moment was probably because of that.

''However, this is only the result of analyzing the materials left on earth. I'm not going to be able to say that I've had a change of heart since I broke through the labyrinth ...... that is to say, the 'thousand year corridor of the abyss' and stole away from the demon king's army and stepped into the second level, I have no way of knowing.

　The Duke of Kingswell shook his head as he exhaled for a long time.

　This is all a limit that can't be overturned no matter how hard I try, regardless of the Duke of Kingswell's scent and self-preservation strength.

　It's a very good idea to be able to have a good time with your friends and family.

　Even if they were able to examine my every word and action and every record before accepting the brave man's request, it must be impossible for them to know how I decided to take an adventurer's leave of absence after I left the labyrinth.

　The same can be said for this time.

'It's Luke. What do you think about whether or not Algernon has changed his mind...... what do you think?
If you don't mind my asking, I can give you my thoughts.
Okay. Let's hear it.

　I took a moment to breathe firmly and then decided to explain the thoughts that came to my mind as His Majesty had asked me to do.

'Even after Algernon encountered the Adventurer's Guild on the second level, he didn't show any pretense of taking advantage of us and consistently maintained his position as a collaborator of Agart Ram.

　I didn't feel particularly uncomfortable at that time, but now that I've heard about the Duke of Kingswell earlier, things are different.

''It may be a rather prejudiced view, but if he's someone who will use any means to get to the secrets of the labyrinth, it's not surprising that he would think of using both the Adventurer's Guild and Agart Ram.

　But in reality, that didn't happen, and Algernon remained an excellent and loyal collaborator.

　There must be some reason for this - it's just my own personal imagination.

'Perhaps Algernon has found some specific search goal after his search. I don't think he could get there by turning to the Adventurer's Guild, and I can assure you that the most certain way to get there is to slip into Agart Ram: ......
'I'm of the same mind. Perhaps the 'something' that Algernon is looking for is a substitute that goes directly to the heart of Agart Ram.

　His Majesty pondered seriously, and then turned his gaze to Sir Angelica and Hild.

''Let's hear about the rainbow scale knights next. As you might have guessed, you guys are also reporting on the 'Thousand Year Corridor of the Abyss', right?