A few days after returning from the village in the valley, Lasse, Letty and Lamia were on their way to the Adventurers' Guild.

"We need a meeting with the guild leader.

　When Lasse requested a meeting with the receptionist, the receptionist showed him to the reception room, probably because she had been contacted in advance.

"Guild leader, Mr. Lasse is here.

Come on in.

　From behind the door comes the voice of Trow, the guild leader.

Come in.

　The receptionist opens the door and prompts Lasse and the others to come in.
　When Lasse and the others entered the room, they found not only the guild leader, Trow, but also the mayor.
　The mayor didn't come by chance.
　They had been coordinating their schedules for this meeting for several days.

Thank you for coming. Well, have a seat. Yeah, Lamia. ......

No, don't worry about me.

　Lamia, needless to say, Trow, declines to sit down.
　Nearly 60% of Lamia's body is made up of her tail, so if there's a chair she can sit on, it will have to be custom made.
　But if you build such a large chair, it's obvious to everyone that it won't fit in the room.
　To begin with, there's no demand for chairs for specific races.
　If you make chairs for each race, it's hard to find a place to put them away.

No, I made a rug for you, Lamia, and you can sit there.

"Huh?

　Lamia was surprised at the offer.
　Sitting on the floor was a natural part of her life, so she did not expect to be asked to sit on the carpet.

"No, I was going to say that I'm sorry I always make you sit on the floor, so I got you a rug.

"Eh, ah, ...... thank you.

　Lamia sat down, her face red from premature embarrassment and from Trow's kindness.

'Hmm, let's get this meeting going then. Mr. Lasse, how did you like that strange gem you got?

Yes, it was also about the devil.

　Lasse explains to Trow and the mayor about the magical treasure he obtained from the Lizardman settlement.
　After acquiring the jewel, Lasse consulted with Trow to have it evaluated by Mitic before deciding on a course of action.

Does this mean that the demon will come to this town again if I have the gem?

　The mayor looks at Lasse with a frightened look on his face after hearing the explanation.

Don't worry. Don't worry. The church's experts will take care of the treasure for you. There are dragons in this town and experts in demonology are here to escort you, so you won't have to worry about them too soon.

　The word "specialization" conjured up images of Kara playing with demons in Lasse's mind, but they never dared to talk about it.

(There's no need to make her feel uneasy.)

Two things we're going to do are to see if anyone from this town, or whoever brought the jewels into the town at the beginning of the demon's attack, can be found, and to investigate the ruins of the magical treasures hidden in the Great Demon Forest.

That's about right. We will mobilize our adventurers to explore the forest and find out more about the ruins.

Well, I will talk to the merchants.

I'll talk to the aristocrats and wealthy people.

　Trow, the mayor, and Letty will decide on their roles.
　You will be able to find out the best way to get the most out of your own life.

(I'm a nobleman myself, but an upstart nobleman is looked at through colored glasses.

　I'm tired of remembering the innate gaze of the nobles, Lasse.

Now let's gather information. It is possible that the treasure could be stolen, if it has an owner, and some would prefer to keep the jewels secret because of their monetary value.

Well, good luck with that. We mustn't dig too deep into our own pockets, as it would be detrimental to the unity of the organization.

　Trow chuckles mischievously.

(Well, adventurers are more of a cohesive unit than an organization. You can't help but give strong orders.

"Then we'll be on our way.

"Oh, hoping for information.

　◇

　Returning to the office, Lasse goes back to his room.
　Then the window opens by itself with a click.

I'm just waiting for you.

　No, it was Ketsey, the cat with the words, who opened the window.

Welcome home. How'd it go?

　Ketsey climbs into Lasse's lap as she sits on the bed.

"Outlier. Neither the guilty nor the unguilty had any information on the jewels you wanted.

"Hmm. ......

　Lasse had asked Ketsey to gather information, just as he had done when he uncovered the conspiracy of the new knight commanders.
　Ketsey gathered information on crooks and thieves, adventurers who put contraband on the black market to raise their prices, and seized goods sold to debtors and unrevealed information.

For some reason, bad people like cats.

"They're guilty of doing something wrong, so they naturally want to heal. So if we come close to them, they'll feed us in exchange for stroking our chins.

　It made me realize that humans are sad creatures that can only be ruled by cats. 　
　But that aside, he enjoyed Ketsey's fur.

"Oh, that's pretty good. Your husband's petting technique is the best. The people in the back streets are very tricky.

That's because you're a talker. He'll tell you what to do if you want to pet him, and he'll pet you the way you like it.

"Yes. I can't speak the language with anyone but my husband, so that's not an option. Oh, that's a little something.



　Rumbling, Ketsey wags her tail slowly from side to side.

So now we just need to hear from the guild leaders.

　Lasse struck out and waited for information on Trow and his friends.