A few days after the Wyrms returned home.

'Hey, Larsen,'

An adventurer's guild in a certain country.

A young man with a hood over his eyes appeared without a sound in Guildmaster Larsen's room.

Normally, he would be the target of capture for sneaking into the guildmaster's room, but Larsen only moved his eyebrows a little because he knew the man.

''You're Julius. How many times do I have to tell you to go through the guild's reception when you come to this room?

Don't be such a tight-ass. I'm doing my job. I'm a bit shy, despite my appearance.

He looks at Julius with a sharp look in his eyes as he replies to the question and answer that he's already forgotten how many times he's done it.

''... He's a joke as usual. Well, that's fine. More than that, I heard that Bailudo is dead, but I suppose you've retrieved A(re)le, right?

The gaze of his intimidating gaze that does not show any decline even though he has passed the age of 40.

I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make it work.

Of course. I'll do the job you ask me to do. Here.

Saying that, he lightly threw over the spirit binding follower ring.

It was the one that Bailudo, who was the first spirit magician of the Humanion Kingdom, was going to use when he tried to subordinate Hinori.

'Indeed. But that Bailudo guy, it's a fool's errand to try to use something that's still in the process of being studied on a spirit beast. And to not even be able to leave that data behind... that's the height of uselessness!

''Just as we reported last time, Beirut seems to be quite obsessed with the spirit animal. If he can't see his surroundings that well, what can he do? After all, they didn't even know who I was until the end of time.

Based on the content of the conversation, it could be inferred that Larsen and Baird were colleagues or bosses and subordinates who were studying the relics of the ancient magic civilization.

In other words, Bailudo was a position of a spy, so to speak, who had connections with the head of an adventurer's guild in another country, despite being a high ranking position in the Humane Kingdom.

Hearing Larsen's words, which made him frown as if he had bitten down on a bitter worm, Julius showed him a shrug of his head to agree with him.

''And Larsen, the spirit that Bailudo contracted with has become my friend. As I've said many times, if you try to mess with my friends, I'll turn against you guys. Thanks for that.

Hmph. At least as long as you're useful, I won't mess with your possessions. It's true that we want to have the power of a higher level spirit, but the current state of affairs is not the best for us to deal with. I'll talk to the top.

Apparently, Larsen and Julius have a cooperative relationship in which their mutual interests are aligned.

However, when Julius doesn't show his true face, that trust seems to be limited.

It's always a great help. I'm sure you'll be able to find out more about this, but I'm sure you'll be able to find out more about this. Would you like to hear it?

The information I wanted to know was...? I don't think that's the first time I've ever talked to you about this.

The Foggy Forest.

What?

Larsen tilts his head quizzically at the unworthy phrasing, but then his eyes widen at the words that come out of his mouth and he exclaims.

Do you remember?

I'm not sure if you remember the 'Will-less Magic Sword', one of the parties that went into the Forest of Demon Mist and disappeared.

The person who wondered why we had lost contact with them was none other than Larsen.

And that even with Larsen's position and connections, he could not find even the slightest trace of why the members of the Will-Free Devil's Sword were wiped out.

The information on the Forest of Demon Fog was difficult to obtain, no matter how hard they tried, even to obtain it.

It was already on the verge of giving up, when Larsen was informed that the information was brought back at a timing that was not too much of a surprise, Larsen could not hide his feelings of surprise, and while he was speechless, he appealed with a glaring gaze that demanded that he speak at once.

Satisfied that his usual irreverent demeanor had been broken, Julius let out a small laugh from his hood and began to speak about the information he had seen about the Demon Fog Forest the other day.

''Let me get to the bottom of this, okay? There's a settlement of spirits in that forest.

...

A village of spirits.

This alone was worthy of surprise, but Larsen listened in silence with his arms crossed, not wanting to miss out on the valuable information he hadn't even been able to get a good deal of until now.

''And in that settlement... there are multiple spirit beasts.

What?

However, the existence of multiple spirit beasts was probably far beyond the scope of prediction for a stone.

Larsen stood up vigorously while tapping the desk with both hands, and at the same time, he let out a voice tinged with surprise that resembled a shout.

Did he think that loud voice was sluggish?

He hears footsteps approaching this room through the door, and with a light knock, a voice is called out to him.

''Guildmaster, what's wrong?''

No, no, that's okay. I'm a little surprised by the report. You're in the clear. Go back to your post.

I understand. Don't get too worked up about it, okay?

Yeah, I know. Thank you.

Perhaps convinced by Larsen's reply, the sign of someone who was probably a guild employee quickly moved away.

''...That information, it must be true, right?''

Perhaps calmed down somewhat by the current exchange, Larsen confirmed the authenticity of the exchange to Julius with a slightly lower voice than before.

''There are three spirit beasts that I was able to confirm. A woman with pale blonde hair and a big tail, a girl with white-haired dog-like ears and a tail, and a woman with red-haired wings like a bird... These are the spirit animals that Bailudo was obsessed with.

I see. So it's highly likely that this abomination was raised in that spirit's dwelling place.

In integrating the information in an instant and arriving at the truth, there was a glimpse of Larsen's ability to serve as a guild master at a young age.

''You seemed to be getting along quite well with him? It's just as if they were our own family.

'Hmm, then there might be a way to cut it down from the abomination's side. That's good information. I'll add on the reward... take it with you.

After collecting some thoughts, Larsen took out several sachets from the drawer and tossed them to Julius.

Judging from the sound it made when I received it and the bulge of one of the sachets, it was probably filled with not a small amount of money, probably gold coins.

I'll accept it gratefully. Well, I'm done with my business, I'll go home now.

Julius's body shakes and begins to disappear as he melts into space.

'Oh, yeah. I've got some personal business to attend to, so I won't be able to take the job for a while. If anything happens, you'll have to deal with it over there, okay? Bye.

Larsen holds his head down, as if a little irritated by Julius' words, which he left on the verge of disappearing.

''Just in time to say... Well, that's fine. This information must be reported to your people at once.

He smiles wryly at the room, which is already empty of anyone but himself.

'It's a good thing we started preparing back then. We have enough forces and supplies. The only thing left to do is.........hurry up with my research, you know.

In his hand, the "Spiritual Binding Subordinate Ring" was shining dully.