--The four demon generals of the Demon King's army, Norzuri the Ice.

　When an agreement was made to grant an audience with Demon King Gandalf, using my right arm as collateral, he was presented to me as a hostage from the other side.

　It seems that he was not happy with the development, but that doesn't matter now.

　What is important is that he lost his original body in the fight with us, and now he is using the body of a female dark elf.

　Norzuri's original body was retrieved by the Golden Fang Knights, but it was destroyed in a split second, and the work that was probably planted in the corpse was also completely destroyed by the evidence.

　From then on, how the demon generals were replacing their bodies remained a mystery.

　The only new revelation that has come to light since the Demon Lord's War is that the Fire Demon General Suzuri's current body is that of Sakura's father, who was thought to be dead, and that he can use a human body if he wants to.

　All of this might remain a mystery.
　So it was thought to be--.










　A few more days after the incident with the prosthetic limb, I was going down the slope of the lush "Sundial Forest" to visit Hollow Bottom Fortress.

　I was descending the slope of the lush 'Sundial Forest' to visit the Hollow Bottom Fortress.

　Not the Adventurer's Guild's Hollow Bottom branch at the bottom of this open dungeon, but the Golden Fang Knights' Hollow Bottom Fortress, which is beyond the hidden passage to the underground space side.

　That's where we're headed today.

　It is a facility that adventurers must pass through whenever they head out to search for the Ark of the Elements, and we pass by it every chance we get, but we rarely have a need for the fortress itself - it is such a place.

That's why you're suggesting we go see him or her. ...... Really, what the hell are you thinking?

　My brother (Mark), walking next to me, contorts his face in a heartfelt and dumbfounded manner.

''The other party is a demon general. It's a general of the demon king's army, a senior level demon tribe. It's not a good opponent to watch on a sightseeing tour, is it?
I explained it to you in the beginning. You're not gonna have a problem with that if you have a good reason.
I don't think I'm the type of person who likes to blabber about secrets.

　Mark cowered his shoulders as he watched.

But even so, we can't afford not to do it just for the sake of it. There's a big difference between reporting that you couldn't do it, and reporting that you didn't do it because you thought it was useless.
Well, ...... that's true,

　Today's visit is not as the White Wolf Shop, but as the White Wolf Knights.

　It's not only to mediate between the adventurer's guild side that conducts local explorations and the royal palace and other knightly orders that are involved in politics - at the same time, it's to attempt to uncover the secrets of the Ark of the Elements, which is believed to be related to the ancient magical civilization.

　Since that's the role of the White Wolf Knights, it's definitely one of their jobs to try to draw out information from the Demon General Norzuri.

''However, the attempt to extract information from Demon General Norzuri itself should also be done by the Golden Fang troops in the fortress.

　It was Lionel, a member of the group sent by the Golden Fang Knights, who threw that at me from behind.

　The three accompanying them today were Mark and Lionel, plus Garnett as usual.

''I haven't even heard myself say that I was able to successfully get information out of them. As long as we couldn't even forcefully interrogate them, I knew there was little hope from the start.

　Norzli's position is not as a prisoner captured in battle, but as a hostage who ensures that his meeting with the Demon King Gandalf will take place without delay.

　Therefore, we have received a strict order from the royal palace that acts such as interrogation and torture will not be allowed.

　Although it's not a big problem for the White Wolf (us), the Golden Fang is making it a little difficult to do ......, which is what Lionel, who originally belonged to that side, said.

I also believe that the probability of pulling out useful information is low. But, as they say, one should never try things.　Besides, ...... apparently I'm special to them, because I'm special to them.
''The fact that the Demon General Norzuri attempted to kidnap the Commander is another piece of evidence of that.

　--Arfazul and the Wise Man (Wiseman), Bireig and the Nameless One (Nameless).

　At the end of an ancient magical civilization, there was a human man who was called by various names.

　This man was apparently an excellent wizard, and the prototype of the countless dungeons that existed in this world was a place of refuge created by Alphasul to help humanity survive the collapse of civilization.

　It is said that this is the true form of the Ark of the Elements, the dungeon we are heading to.

　Alpha-Zulu is clearly a substandard existence, but for some reason, Demon King Gandalf has a section where he equates me with Alpha-Zulu.

　The power of [Restoration] that continues to evolve.
　The existence of the 'Right Eye of Wisdom' residing in my right eye.

　In the past, the Demon King Gandalf, who faced us in the final phase of the Demon King's War, was obsessed with securing my custody for those reasons, and perhaps that obsession was avenged and he suffered defeat.

　Moreover, Gandalf wasn't the only one who showed an unreasonable obsession with me.

　The high elf Ail Sesromnir, who has lived since the ancient magical civilization and is thought to have been acquainted with Alfazul before his death.

　He also considered the connection between my body and Alfazul so serious that he even interfered with me at the edge of international affairs.

　It's a good thing that there are so many circumstantial evidences gathered, I can assure you that I'm of high value to those who lived through those days - a real pain in the ass for me.

"...... special existence, huh?

　Mark muttered softly, then his expression twisted as if he was trying to stifle mixed emotions.

''This is just a confirmation as a member of the group. Is your body really okay? I don't want you to fall down all of a sudden.''
Body?　Yeah, this feels pretty comfortable. It's not as inconvenient as a flesh-and-blood arm, though.

　I stretched my right arm, which had been replaced by a prosthetic hand, forward and let the five fingers open and close in turn.

　Today I was dressed in long sleeves and gloves, so you must not be able to tell from the outside that it was a prosthetic hand.

　The movement of the prosthetic hand, developed by Ambrose's friend and adjusted by Alexia, was that much more elaborate and uncomfortable.

''No, it's not!''

　Mark shouts out in frustration.

'Right eye, right eye!　I heard there was something strange going on!　What happened to that one!
What, you wanna talk about it?

　I could only chuckle as I put my right arm down.

"I still don't know much about the 'Right Eye of Wisdom'. To tell the truth, I only wish I could get that part out of Norselli, too.