'The best. Mr. Cry. I've had a quick look at it, and there are no obvious malfunctions, and it's ready to go.'

'Well, that's good.

Citri, who hadn't visited the Clan Master's office in several days, was in a rare good mood. She was always smiling, but right now she couldn't hide her inner joy.
The loose khaki robe that hid her curves was the same as usual, but the quality of her expression was different.

'Thanks to your quick exit from the venue, I was able to collect it safely. As you may have heard, there were signs of a break-in at the auction warehouse. Nothing was stolen, so it has not been made public. ......'

'Break-in ......? It wasn't ...... Liz, was it?'

I don't know where the auction items are being stored, but the Zebrudia Auction is a state-sponsored event. Security will be adequate, and the prestige of the empire is at stake. You'd have to be crazy to break into it.

In response to my half-joking, half-serious question, Sitri says with sparkling eyes.

'I'm not your sister. Mr. Crye, we destroyed Noto Cochlear, but he's only the head of a research division. That means it still has its roots in this country. Akasha is organized in such a way that each research division is independent, and if one of them collapses, it won't have any effect. I have only heard rumors about the other laboratories. But Noto Cochlear was an excellent imam. Now that his research division has collapsed, there's a movement to claim his legacy! We might be able to get some information on the other labs while we're at it!

Honestly, I'm not interested. I don't care.
I head for the lounge where I'm supposed to meet Citry, giving him a proper talking-to as he talks excitedly.

I'm flattered that Sitri seems so happy, but all I can think about now is how to get the mask.

Eva managed to deliver the message to Ark as I had instructed.
The meeting place is the lounge. From here on out, it's up to me.

Citri turns around while walking next to me and hugs my right arm, making a lusty sound.
Are you out of your mind? We're about to negotiate, and you're distracting me.

It's all thanks to Kry! It's a good idea to take a look at a few of the things that you can do to make sure you're getting the most out of your time in the office. ---- But the other side is a huge organization, and they'll be on the lookout for Mr. Kray next, and the Empire is keeping a close eye on him. I'm not sure what to do.

It seems that Citri is very motivated to take on a secret society that is even wanted.
I wonder if all hunters are like this, since Citri seems to have been chasing Akasha. I don't know what's going on here.

Perhaps he noticed that I was having trouble walking, but he let go of my body.
My personal opinion is that ...... I don't want Citry to do anything too dangerous. She is not a fighter.

'Well, calm down, Citri. You've got what you came for, so you might as well give it some time.

They're a secret society and we're a big clan. They're not going to mess with us.

And if you can, just forget about Akasha. .......

I'm sure you'll be able to understand why I'm so excited about this.

You can break them down if you attack them all at once, but at the same time, you might not be able to defend yourself when you attack. It's a little bit too cautious, but ...... there is also Cry.

I'm not sure what you mean by that. I don't think he understood half of what I was trying to say, but I nodded plausibly.

'I think it's best for hunters to be overly cautious. I'd rather you help me with this. Well, even if you say you want to help me, all I have to do now is make money.

If the mask was given to Ark by the lady, Ark wouldn't give it to me for free.
The basic principle of hunters is equivalent exchange. If he gave it to me for free, it would mean that I owed him a great deal.

I don't want to do that, after all I owe so many people.

Sitri said without a trace of displeasure in his voice, despite my complete unwillingness.

'Yes, sir. With pleasure. As for the money, I would have moved even if Mr. Kry hadn't told me.

That's right. ...... I even spent my wedding money.
We're both poor now, me and Sitri. It would have been better if I hadn't borrowed the money, I'm really sorry.

I'll pay you back someday, please forgive me.

Sitri reached out his arm and grasped my hand. He touched me carefully, as if he were touching a work of art.
He lets out a hot breath and looks up at me, his cheeks flushed.

'So, Mr. ...... Cry. I've been thinking about this for a while, and I was wondering if you'd like to come stay at my place. I have some time on my hands, and I'd be happy to entertain you.'

'Hmmm ............ another time'

'............ I'm sorry.'

Citri's eyes were downcast with deep regret. It is very painful to refuse the invitation offered with a debaucherous smile, but if you accept the invitation of Citry, you will become a bad person.

I live in a clan house, but all of the Ghosts of Sorrows are based in the Imperial Capital.
My sister, Lise, is rootless, but Citri has a rather large house at the edge of the Imperial City. It seems to be a laboratory and a residence, but it's not extravagant or spacious, but it's a calm and cozy house that Citly is proud of.

And the few times I've been invited to this house, I've found the hospitality of the Citry to be a complete disaster machine.

I don't have to do anything there. I'm free from all obligations and responsibilities, and Citri takes care of everything around me. All my needs are met, my sense of time is completely numbed, and I don't even have to think about or endure anything.
The very beginning. I would still be living happily in that hellish heaven if Liz hadn't come to pull me out when she noticed something was wrong. For a weak-willed person, it's like a bottomless swamp.

Yeah. It sounds like it's Citri's fault, but it's totally my fault. No offense to her at all.
I now perceive her hospitality as a kind of spiritual discipline. I've been lounging around for the past few days, but if I stay in such a place, I'll become a cripple this time.

Ark and his friends were already waiting for him in the lounge.

A reserved but at the same time strong Priestess (Saint), level 5 Yuu Shiiragi.
Isabella Mernes, level 6, a Magi from the far north who has a somewhat strong feeling towards me.
Armel Helstrom, a warrior of level 6, and Benetta, a thief of level 6, who is always getting into trouble with Liz and has a hard time with me.
And then there's the blackest of the spectacular party members - one of the strongest in the Imperial City. The leader of the Ark Brave, the level 7 Ark Rodin of the Silver Star Thunder.

He has good looks and a cheerful personality. And power. He is a man who was born with everything and is destined to be a hero.



Unlike the usual adventurer's style and the uniform of the Footprints, today Ark was in plain clothes. However, there was no gap in his appearance. He has a cheerful smile on his face, but he has an indescribable dignity. He must be busy, but there was no hint of fatigue on his face.

And in front of him was Liz, whom I don't recall having called, propping herself up in a pompous manner. When she saw me, she raised herself up and waved widely with a big smile.

'Hey, Cry, come here, come here. Isn't it cruel that you didn't invite me to such a fun thing?

Aside from Ark, the look in his companion's eyes wasn't very friendly. They probably had plans, but since they were called out of the blue and had to face the communicative Liz, it was unavoidable.

'This is going to be a ...... rough one. There's nothing fun about it.

'Leave it to me, sir.

'I can at least negotiate on my own. I'm dealing with Ark, I can handle it.

We came early so as not to keep them waiting, but Ark and the others' meticulousness has backfired.
With our party, it would have been better if half of them had arrived on time, but not the Ark Brave.

I at least put on a smile and raised my hand. Ark also smiled cheerfully as usual.

'I'm sorry for calling you suddenly, Ark. Please forgive me, it was an emergency. It shouldn't be too bad for Ark.



§§§§


Interesting man.

For Ark Rodin, that's how he would describe the 'Thousand Transformations' in one word.

Every year, many hunters and aspiring hunters from the outside come to the Imperial City of Zebrudia, the sacred ground for treasure hunters.
And the majority of them retire before they reach greatness. Some die after failing to search the treasure hall, others are severely injured that interfere with their hunter activities, and still others are unable to leave the city again due to psychological trauma.
And even those lucky enough to escape such a situation, most of them are unable to make it in the Imperial Capital due to their lack of ability and change their bases to other cities.

Krei Andrich was just one of those common country folk.
He was not an experienced treasure hunter, but an aspiring hunter who had never been engaged in the search for treasures until he came to the Imperial Capital.

The quality of treasure hunters in the Imperial Capital is quite high. There are only a handful of truly talented treasure hunters who can make it in such a city.
The environment of the Imperial City is not so lenient that even if you have some training beforehand, you can still make it.

There are too many treasure halls. There are a lot of rivals who have been tortured and refined by them, and there are ruthless men who are vigilantly looking to prey on broken-hearted hunters.
The more goods and people there are, the more villains there will be. The imperial capital is a good place to live only for hunters who have a certain level of skill and can fight off such foreign enemies.
It could be said that this was a baptism for the hunters who had come to the Imperial City attracted by the sweet illusion.

But the Ghost of Sorrows defeated all of them. The Ghost of Sorrows defeated the Treasure Palace, the unpopular senior hunters who looked down on talented young people, and the criminal parties who favored new hunters, and increased its fame at a tremendous speed.

It was half inevitable that his appearance caught Ark's eye.

The Ghost of Sorrows was always covered in blood.
For a hunter, mana material is the core of his power. A man of ordinary talent who has been accumulating mana material for decades is stronger than a man who has been a hunter for a year with a talent that comes along once in a hundred years.
And this fact spurs those who seek to nip talented newcomers in the bud.

The members of the Ghosts of Sorrows were all filled with brilliant talent. That made the others jealous.
There were many obstacles. There were attempts on our lives and we heard many unpleasant rumors. But it made the party stronger.

Before we knew it, we had gone from being eaten to being the eaters.
From provincials with unworthy dreams, they turned into an awe-inspiring party with fearless talent and no mercy for any enemy.

Ark Rodin was also a man who became a hunter in the Imperial Capital, but the ground was different.
The Rodin family had the know-how. They had fame. He had been training hard to become a hunter for a long time and had conquered many treasure halls before he became a hunter. He had the cooperation of the nobility, and it was easy for him to gather friends.

It was just the opposite. At least, Ark thinks that the Ghost of Sorrows and his party are the opposite.

--And so is the quality of the leader.

He's still an interesting guy.

The dark-haired man sitting across from me was the same as when I first met him a few years ago, the weakest of the bunch.
I know he's called the devil's advocate. And that his words are so accurate and far-reaching that they can even be called future vision.

But even taking that factor into account... it's too much.

Ark knows several hunters who are at a higher level than him. Some of them are far below him in terms of combat ability as well as in terms of "Thousand Transformations".

But no. The high level hunters had power and strength that could be seen and understood.
But the man in front of me, who should be higher level than me and who should have a good track record, doesn't have that.

Interesting man. A man too weak to be the leader of a party too strong.
It piqued my curiosity. This is also the reason why Ark's party was recruited by many established and powerful clans to participate in the "Footprints of the Beginning".

And yet, the true nature of this event remains to be seen.

ARK is often compared to a thousand changes, but it is a mistake to compare them in the first place.

It is meaningless to compare them numerically. The Silver Star Thunder and the Thousand Transformations cannot be simply compared.
For example, if you add or subtract power, the two will never be equal.

Perhaps it is not their "rank" but the way they are walking - their dimensions are different.

People around them are jealous of their existence. Some admire him, others see him as an enemy.
Ark Rodin was born to win. He was born to walk alone. Therefore, he does not harbor any jealousy.
There is only the insatiable inquisitiveness that has been passed down from the first Rodin.

Therefore, if I were to describe the relationship between Ark Rodin and Krei Andrich in words, I would settle on the word 'friend' rather than 'rival' or 'strong enemy'.

The man who suddenly summoned Ark, who had been flying around on business for the Rodin family, did not show the slightest expression of apology and crossed his arms in a pompous manner.
He was dressed in his usual black clothes and had treasure rings on all his fingers. He didn't care about the disgruntled glances of Ark's party members.

'Let me get straight to the point. I want you to go to Miss Eclair right now. You'll understand everything once you get there. You know that me and Miss Eclair were bidding against each other for the treasure and Miss Eclair won, right?

'Yeah, I've been busy the last few days, but I heard. Just so there are no misunderstandings, that was something that Miss Eclair did on her own, and had nothing to do with me. She's intelligent for her age and she's not a bad person but she tends to go out of control.

Ark doesn't have time for this. As a member of the Rodin family, he has plenty of things to do when he's not exploring the treasure house.


帝都がオークションで湧いている間もそれに関わる暇もなくずっとあちこちに呼ばれて出ていた.

《千変万化》が望んだ宝具がそれを理由で値上がりしているという話を聞いた時には思わず笑ってしまったし,何故かエクレール嬢がその競争に割って入ったと聞いた時には驚いたが,それだけだ.

クライの隣で背筋を伸ばし足を組んでいたリィズが,甲高い声で抗議する.

'えぇ！？ 私が行こうと思っていたのに,アークちゃんに行かせるのぉ？'

'はぁ！？ またアークさんをパシリにするつもり！？ ただでさえアークさんも忙しいのに,自分で行きなさいよッ！'

即座に噛み付くパーティメンバーのイザベラに,アークは深々とため息をつく.
イザベラは優秀な魔導師だ. よくやってくれているが,挑発に弱いのとアークを軽んじられると我慢ならないことだけが玉に瑕だった.

'あぁっ！？ てめえ,ただのアークちゃんの腰巾着のくせに,クライちゃんに舐めた口利いてんじゃねえ,ぶち殺すぞッ！ てめえらに許された言葉は,『YES』だけだッ！'

'腰巾ッ！？ ッ……上ッ等ッ……'

立ち上がりかける二人に,シトリーがにこにこしながら手を叩いた.

'まぁまぁ,お姉ちゃんもイザベラさんも落ち着いて. アークさんとクライさんが困ってますよ？'

'……チッ'

《嘆きの亡霊》と《聖霊の御子》. そのメンバーの一部が犬猿の仲なのはいつものことだ.
こんな事でいちいち話を止めていては話が進まない.

クライの表情はいつもと違い酷く真剣だった. その表情にアークも身を引き締める.

'言ったんだけど,聞かなかった. アーク,あの宝具は――ある意味危険なんだ. アーク,君ならばなんとかできる. 多分ね. 今すぐ行けば間に合うと思う'

相変わらず具体性のない言葉だ. だが,クライの言葉がいつも大事件を予期しているのは知っている.
幸い,アークは戦闘能力には自信がある. 何が起こるのかは知らないが,声を掛けられるのはこれが初めてではない.

あらゆる疑問を一旦脇に置き,聞き返す.

'……武器はいるかい？'

'え……？ ああ,いらないよ. むしろ持っていかない方がいいと思う'

武器がいらない……？ 珍しいな. 戦闘じゃないのか？
だが,危険といったはずだ. 危険なのに……武器はいらない？

'……間に合わなかったら？'

眉を顰めて尋ねるアークに,クライは首を傾げると,困ったような表情で答えた.

'僕が悲しい'