Then me and Garnett went into the Knights' headquarters and decided to have lunch in the cafeteria as planned.

　The food here has been outsourced to Wakaba-Tei in Spring and they have sent a chef, so the quality of the taste is unmistakable.

　Except for the fact that you can't freely choose your menu, you can enjoy a meal just like you would if you went out of your way to town to enter a diner.

　At least since the opening of the Knights' headquarters, there has never been a demand from the members for improvements in their food.

''For now, let's go around and check on everyone in one way or another after this is over.

　We finished our meal without any problems, and were about to leave the dining room for the moment, when we bumped into a girl who was not a member of the group.

''Ah, Luke-san!　Hello!
'I see it was Sylvia who was on duty today. Thanks for everything.

　The chefs dispatched by Haru no Wakaba-tei are not always fixed, but change frequently according to their circumstances.

　Since the main business is the innkeeper's side, employees who are available at the time are dispatched on a priority basis.

　For this reason, Sylvia, the daughter of the company's leader and cook, sometimes comes over, and it was not unusual for them to meet each other in the headquarters like this.

　After chatting with us for a while, Sylvia suddenly remembered and asked an unexpected question.

The first thing that comes to mind is that Ambrose-san doesn't seem to be here since the other day, is something wrong?
Ambrose?
'Yes, sir. I don't seem to have been asked to bring food to your room lately. And I haven't seen you today either.

　I see, so that's what it is.

　The members of the Order are gathered from all over the continent, and since they have different former affiliations and lifestyles, they don't necessarily have the same behavioral patterns.

　Ambrose in particular avoids exposing his true face due to the influence of the human body modification caused by the Demonic Beast Factor, so he doesn't share meals with the other members of the group, and eats in his own room rather than in the cafeteria at the headquarters.

　So from Sylvia's point of view as the person in charge of the meal, she would be more easily impressed and concerned about it than the other group members.

''I'm having Ambrose travel to the royal capital. I found out a lot of things in the last big job, so I needed to have a discussion with the scholars in the royal capital about that area.

　I can't tell you what exactly we found out - but I don't say every single thing.

　Sylvia is a smart girl.

　It's not necessary to go to the trouble of explaining to her that there are too many events in the situation we're facing that we can't just talk about.

　I'm sure you'll be happy to know that one of the reasons why Ambrose went to King's Landing is also because of my right hand.

　As a quality (...) grass (...) guaranteeing a safe end to the meeting with the Demon King's army, he was entrusted to the other side in exchange for the custody of Demon General Norsulli, literally my right arm itself.

　Although the meeting was realized and it was handed over to us safely, and we confirmed that at least there was no strange tampering with it, there was nothing better than doing a more serious inspection just to be sure.

　Besides - the fact that the severed right arm did not cause even the slightest bit of decay and was no different from the one right after it was cut off is not something that can be ignored.

　How did he keep his right arm, which was supposed to be rotten by nature, intact?

　If we can unlock this secret, we may be able to create new technology that will be useful in various aspects of society.

　That's why my right arm is not reattached to my body and sent to King's Landing, but instead an artificial limb made by Alexia is connected to my right shoulder.

''I see, you have been doing an important job!　Mr. Hild was busy in the room, and I'm really impressed with the scholars!
...... By any chance, is Hild still stuffing his room today?
'Yes, in place of Ambrose-san's disappearance, this time Mr. Hild asked me to bring his food to his room. I didn't call out to him, though, as he seemed to be working on his roots and researching. ......

　I closed my mouth and scratched my head lightly.

　Although I had anticipated this to some extent beforehand, it seems that Hild is going into overwork to a degree.

''Well then, I'll go back to the Wakaba-Tei. I'm sure another cook will be here at dinner time.''
Yeah, have a safe trip home.

　He looked away from Sylvia and then let out a long, dumbfounded breath.

''So, what do we do now? Should we go check on Hild first?
No, ...... I'm afraid of what's to come if I interrupt you. Let's go see Sophia or something around her first.

　Hild is an exiled demon race (elves) from the northern dungeon "The Chalk Fairyland".

　In this dungeon, knowing information about the ancient magical civilization is considered a kind of taboo, and only the high elves who lived in that time period have a monopoly on knowledge, and they do not share any information with the elves born afterwards.

　However, Hild had a strong interest in the ancient magical civilization and wanted to start researching it, even if it meant violating the rules, but was prevented from doing so by the High Elves who controlled the dungeon.

　However, Hild was not weak enough to give up on that, and after defecting to the then enemy nation of Westland and revealing his true identity to only a few, including His Majesty the King, he joined a group of knights who were able to study the ancient magical civilization.

　Since she had such a background, the truth about the destruction of the ancient magical civilization told by Demon King Gandalf and High Elf Ail Sesloum Nil in this one case, the truth of the destruction of the ancient magical civilization that was told from the mouths of Demon King Gandalf and High Elf Ail Sesloum Nil, intensely aroused her desire to study it.

　Gathering information, comparing it to each other, and considering the shortcomings - every process was an exciting one for Hild, and she has been immersed in research ever since she returned to earth.

'I told you to take a break in moderation: ......
Anybody who would listen in here would have folded a long time ago.
There must be .......

　I felt a strange sense of conviction and sympathy as I decided to put off checking on Hild for now and go see Sophia first.