In the Kingdom of Onryn, the royal capital, Breon.
　It is a room in the upper level of the castle, where only those who have been authorized by the king are allowed to enter.
　It's a large, simple room without any decorations.

　There is not a single sound in the room, which is surrounded by silence.
　There are several people standing there.

　Wearing a jet-black robe as if they were trapped in the dark night.
　Each of them have numbers embroidered in gold on the hem of their right arms.

　A person with a knowledge of warfare would have noticed them if he or she had seen them.
　They do not make a single sound and do not even move.

　And those who have a deep knowledge of magic would have understood.
　The top-notch magic items they wear and the amount of magic they contain.

　Their martial arts surpassed even knights, and they were wielders of magic comparable to court magicians.

　They are known as the Selectors.

　They are the elite of the kingdom who have mastered witchcraft, martial arts, and all manner of fighting techniques.
　The Selectors are a group of people who are appointed by the king to select and dispose of those who are harmful to the kingdom.

　The selectors, who were on duty away from the royal capital under the king's orders, were gathered in a room in the royal castle.

　None of the selectors opened their mouths.
　The room was filled with a tightening tension.

''Yo.''

　A man walked into the room.

　He is a man of mature age, wearing the robes of a court magician.
　He has unkempt red hair and a beard that is left to grow.
　His downcast twin eyes have a murky glow, as if all kinds of delusions have been boiled down and locked away.

　His appearance gives the viewer a messy impression, as if he doesn't belong here.
　But he stood in front of the selectors, undaunted by the pressure they exuded.

'The orders from His Majesty the King are simple.

　Without any preamble, the man tells the selectors in a hoarse voice.

''Capture the brave Iori Amatsuki, I don't care if he lives or dies. Even if you have to kill him, you must seize that man's custody. Dispose of anyone who gets in your way by any means necessary.
...............

　A silence falls on Liuzas as he gives the order in an arrogant tone.

''...... Any reply?''

''--Ha.''

　A short, aligned reply.
　As soon as it's done, the selectors make their move.

"...... tch.

　As he looked at it, Liuzas clicked his tongue.
　'Oh well,' he muttered quietly, 'that's fine.

I'm sure that's what he did. Well, I didn't expect it from the start.

　A man's voice echoes in the empty room.

'So I'm the only one who can kill that guy after all.

　Narrowing his cloudy eyes, the man says.

''Come on, Amatsu. Let the revenge (...) begin.

　The court wizard.
　"The Great Magician, Leusas Gilburn.

　He sneered at his right arm.
　It's a very good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for.

◆

　The sound of the waves coming in at regular intervals and the strong scent of the tide tickling my nostrils.
　It wasn't a cloudless sky, but a different kind of blue was spreading across my vision.
　The sounds of people moving about busily and the chirping of seabirds could be heard without stopping.

　A few days after we left Hot Springs City, Elfi and I had come to the port town of the Confederacy.
　As the port city, you can see a number of fishing boats.
　The fishermen were bringing back some of their catches, and Elfi was eating a hot spring bun in his hands.

　Our next destination is the Empire.
　The Allies and the Empire are separated by sea, and we have to cross the sea by boat to get there.
　That's why we've come to this port city located at the southern end of the Confederation.

The sea. ....... I'd like to try some fresh fish dishes .......

　We pulled Elfie, the Great Demon King of Rampage, to find a ship to the Empire.
　It's not uncommon for ships to not leave when the sea is rough or demons are out, but fortunately we were able to find a ship to the Empire.
　We confirmed the next departure time and hung around the port city.

　There were also some adventurer-like looking people wandering around, just like the ones we saw in the hot spring city.

''So there are adventurers here too?''
'To begin with, the adventurers themselves are still only in the Confederacy.

　Most ships that cross the sea employ adventurers as escorts.　
　I suspect that many of the adventurers here have taken the job of escorting them.

''Well, ...... we're adventurers too,''

　After the Purgatory Labyrinth incident, for what it's worth, me and Elfi registered as adventurers.
　My rank is A. I have no plans to work as an adventurer.

　We don't plan to work as adventurers, but we can use the guild card we get when we register as an adventurer as our ID card.
　Since the adventurer system is a system that many countries pay attention to, other countries should be able to gain some trust by showing their guild cards.

　We walked for a while and entered the library.
　When I show my guild card, I can enter the library for free.
　I sit on a seat in the corner and take a breath.

''The Abyssal Labyrinth and the Purgatory Labyrinth. With the two labyrinths having fallen, the demon king's army should be on the move by now.
...... I'm sure they knew Elfie was out there.

　We don't know how much information they have on us.
　I'm sure you'll be able to find out more about this, but it's highly likely that he's a messenger of Dionysus and doesn't have that much information.

I'm sure that the demon king's army and probably the kingdom is coming after me as well.
'That Liuzas or something like that. I tried to fight him, but I don't think we'd be much of a threat now.
No,

　I shake my head and explain to Elfie.
　When I was in the Kingdom back in the day, I heard about the "selectmen".

Hmmm: ......
''Each and every one of them are capable of surpassing A-ranked adventurers. Considering they're led by Liuzas, I don't expect them to lose, but it's troublesome.

　Well, that was thirty years ago, so I don't know what's going on now.
　It might be weaker than we thought.

Let's just be on the lookout for them.

　After our talk, I went to the library to search for materials.
　Since it is a port town, there are many materials about the sea.
　I found the material I wanted, but it didn't contain the information I wanted to know.

''Iori, what have you been researching earlier?　...... Is that a record of the war thirty years ago?''
Yeah. I was looking for information on one of the traitors.

　I know he's in the Empire from the adventurer's information.
　Apparently, he's now a nobleman.

Well, it doesn't seem to have been recorded so conveniently.

　Well, even without the information, we know what that guy did.

'...... just fine. And while we're at it, I'll tell you something about my revenge.

　He lowers the tone of his voice and Elfie moves his face closer to mine.

'You told me when we fought that demon tribe in the Purgatory Labyrinth. That demon was toying with the corpses of my men.''
...... Yeah.
The one who directly killed my men ...... and among them are the targets of your vengeance. Dionis and Lucifina.

　Giri and his teeth snapped and Elfie continued.

'...... As for those two, I'm going to have to get my hands on them.

　Dionysus and Lucifina.
　Those are the former companions I most want to avenge.
　I will have to exact even more terrible revenge on those two than on Merwin and Beltranga.

　I'm not going to hand them over to Elfi.

''I'm not asking for revenge on me alone in any way. You'll be able to get your revenge by yourself and Iori. ...... Is that not good enough?
............, okay.

　Elfie has helped me get to this point many times.
　I've made him go along with my vengeance many times.
　Besides, with this proposal, there's no reason to say no.

'It's settled. How about I crush you with my heavy-handed crushing of the pressure?
That's not good enough. I'm not going to kill you that easily.

　Me and Elfie are "mates."
　Then it's not just my job to make it convenient for you.

　...... mate.

I'm a friend.

　An hour or so later, it was time for the ship to set sail.
　When I showed my guild card, I got a discount and got a cheap ride.

　Our destination was the Empire.
　It's one of the Five Generals Labyrinth, the Dead Swamp Labyrinth.
　And one of the targets of my revenge.

　I headed to the Empire, thinking of the way to get revenge against "that woman".