After encountering the carriage escorted by the adventurer Dolph-san, we continued to travel for a few days, and we finally arrived at the royal capital.
　We entered the city before dusk and stopped the carriage in front of the Adventurer's Association to say goodbye to Arderbelle and the others.

''Okura-kun, thank you for escorting me again this time,''

No, no, no, it was nice of you to pick me up this time.

　I received a certificate of accomplishment of the request from Arderbel-san, who got down from the carriage.
　This time I didn't have to do any fighting, and I was able to finish my escort request with ease.
　It would be wonderful if I could always finish the request like this.

I'm sure my daughter was enjoying herself quite a bit thanks to you guys. I can't say whenever, but if you have a chance, I'd be happy to have you come to the main residence as well.

　Saying that with Arderbel-san, he handed me a piece of paper with something finely written on it from his pocket.
　When I looked at the paper I received, it was a map of the royal capital.
　There is a part where a red circle is scribbled on it. Maybe the location of Arderbelle-san's house?

'Oh, thank you!　If we get a chance, we'll be happy to visit!

　I didn't expect you to even invite me to your main residence.
　
　When I looked towards where those officials were, I saw Annelie-chan hugging Estelle, her cheeks puffed out and her eyebrows raised in frustration.

''Moo, I hate to say goodbye to Estelle here!

　Apparently, she didn't want to leave, as if she was reluctant to say goodbye.
　To such Annelie-chan, Esther smiled and called out to her.

''It can't be helped. If you have time, I'll go see Annelie, so cheer up!

'Really!　I promise!

I promise.

　When Estelle patted Annelie-chan's head and promised her, she stopped hugging her to see if she was satisfied.
　I guess she's getting used to it, and Estelle isn't as distraught about being hugged anymore.

'Annelie, it's time for us to leave, so get in the carriage.

Oh yes. I'm sorry, but I guess I'll say goodbye to you this time. Estelle, see you later!

Yeah, I'll see you around.

　Finally, after squeezing one of Esther's hands with both hands, Annelie-chan got into the carriage.
　And as Egon-san departed the carriage, Annelie-chan looked at me through the back window and waved at me.
　Estelle waved back as well, and it continued until the carriage was out of sight.

''Phew, you've finally finished your request for an escort.

That's true. I'm glad nothing happened to you this time.

　On the way, other than the carriage being escorted by the other adventurers had an accident, there were no problems on the way.
　Those guys were treated and the carriage was fine, so we should be arriving at King's Landing in a few days.

　Well, we should take care of our own business.
　We'll deal with the house and all that later, but first, let's just report the request for escort.
　Let's just go inside and ... well, before that.

''I'm going to report to the Adventurer's Association before I leave, but Sisha, do you want to leave first?

What? Are you sure?

'Yeah, I'll just report back to you. Go home and show Luna your face.

　I've been squirming around for a while now, and I can't wait to get home!　And Sisha complained with her body.
　If you just want to report to the association, I'll be fine with just me, and I'll send you home as soon as possible.
　Luna must be feeling lonely too...........I wonder if she's asleep.

'As expected of Okura-san for being so attentive!　It's so manly!　Oh, you son of a b*tc*!

Don't poke me with your elbow!

　I don't know if she was really happy, but Sisha poked me with her elbow with a twang.
　

●

　Only Sisha was sent home, and me, Noor and Esther walked into the association.
　Then a woman's voice, which I hadn't heard in a long time, echoed through the association.

'Ah!　Okura-san!

　The receptionist, Widge, seems to have seen us over the counter and shouted at us.
　She was immediately angered by the other receptionist who was nearby, lightly slapping her.

''Ahh it's been a while. You're back, aren't you?''

Yes, I returned with a request for an escort from Queles.

It's been a long time, sir.

　When I headed to the reception desk, Widge-chan was a little sluggish, probably because she was pissed off.
　I had come back once to meet with Dius and the others, but it's been a long time since I've seen her since she's been active in Queles for a while.
　The receptionist of the association doesn't feel right if she's not the right person, after all.

'Your sister looks as healthy as ever.

I'm good at being cheerful. ........Well, are you here today to report a request?

Oh, yes.

　Once Widge-chan had regained her composure, she submitted the certificate of the escort request she had received from Arderbelle-san earlier.
　I asked her to look over it immediately and receive the same 600,000 G as I went, as a reward.
　It's only 6 gold coins, but I feel uplifted when I receive the reward.
　After receiving it, Widge-chan called out to me even more........

''I heard it! Okura-san and the others, you're also active in the Queres....Ah.

　Halfway through, I screamed, put my hand over my mouth, and shucks!　The behavior has stopped with a look of "I'm sorry.

Is something wrong?

'I was told to let the head of the association know when Okura-san and the others were coming!　Please wait a moment!

What?

　After gesturing a restraining gesture with the palm of her hand to wait, Widge-chan left the counter and ran to the second floor of the association.
　

Did we have a problem?

I'm sure I didn't do anything.

You're not talking about the black magic stone, are you?

'Oh, by the way, did you say that the receptionist at Queles reported it?

　I wasn't in King's Landing, and I didn't do anything that was called for in Queles.
　If I have any idea, it's probably the example of the magic light stone that I had them check out a lot in Queles.
　A little while later, Widge-chan came back while making a thumping noise again.

''Sorry to keep you waiting!　The head of the association would like to speak with you, if you could take a moment!

Yes, that's fine.

　As it was, we were led by Widge-chan to the room where Christophe was.

'Hey, sorry to call you out,'

No, no problem. It's been a while.

　We sat down on the couch face to face like last time, and I had to talk to Christophe.

''I was surprised to hear about your exploits in Queles. I heard that you defeated two Grandis, after all.

'Ah, yes. I was hunting and I happened to run into it. It was obviously a dangerous looking demon, so I took it down.

'I didn't expect you to achieve so much so soon after being promoted to a B grade. As for me recommending you guys, I've got a nose for it.

　As soon as I was promoted to B-rank, I received an escort from Arderbelle-san, and then took down the two Grandis in Queres.
　When I think about it, it seems like a long but short period of time. I'd say it was a good achievement for a short period of time.
　Grandis is said to be a big defeat-class demon, so I think it lived up to my expectations just by defeating it with a single party.

''That was a demon that was quite a challenge.

'Well. The magic wasn't very helpful to me because it was hard to work,

That's reliable ladies.

Well the girls are really quite reliable.

　Nole really doesn't know the bottom of the barrel when he can get away with that.
　Christoph-san's face looks a little tight as he listens.
　When I was dealing with Diabolus, I was able to crush a group of Grandis and Trent by myself and still have time to spare.

You're not going to be able to find out what you're looking for. I'm sure you have a general idea, but I called you up this time about the black magic stone that you found.

　I knew you wanted to talk about that magic light stone.

"To be honest, I still don't know what it is either. However, from the reports I've heard, there's no doubt that it's involved in the outbreak of Grandis.

I'm sure we're all guessing the same thing.

　The site where Grandis was found. And the second time I encountered Grandis, I told him in detail what happened.
　And that Diabolus came out from inside and had that stone.
　I'm sure the information was passed on by the Society of Queres, so Mr. Kristoff should be able to tell us that he knows everything about this case.

''And the problem is the demon that says it had the magic light stone. Since you said that there is no record of it on the Queres' side, I had that demon that was entrusted to me carry the item that was dropped by that demon to this association to examine it.

You have been researching in King's Landing, haven't you?

Oh, so you already know what that demon is.

　The horns and spear that fell from Diabolus were deposited with the Society of Queles, but they were transported to this Society to investigate.
　The association in the king's capital is probably a place like their home base, so at least they would have information on Diabolus as Esther said.

　
　Eh..........no way.

''Could it be........that the association in the royal capital had no information about it.......?

　When I asked, Mr. Kristoff shook his head.
　What?　

''All the information on the demons that adventurers have defeated so far is kept by the association. But as for that demon, it seems to be the first one brought in this time.

Do you mean we're the first to defeat that demon?

It will.

　I don't know how long the Adventurer's Society has been around, but it must have been around for a good long time.
　And yet I don't have any information on it.......where the hell did Diabolus come from?

''As of now, the association has no accurate information to provide.

"Doesn't even the King's Society know...

I don't think I can do that anymore.

　Ooho, even the association in the royal capital didn't expect to hear about it. The opponent is a complete unknown to me.....
　I was hoping to solve this mess at the drop of a hat, but it doesn't look like we're going to be able to do anything about it.
　As I was thinking pessimistically, Christophe continued, "I don't have any accurate information.

'I don't have exact information, but I have an idea of what I know about the story that might be involved.

'What? Really?

'Yes, but this is a story I learned from an old source. I don't even know if it's true.

But it's better than not knowing anything!

Sure. I'd love to hear about it.

　Oh!　That's the head of the association!　You're the man to trust!
　I want to know as much as I can about anything that might give me a clue, even if the information isn't accurate.
　I was about to listen with high expectations to Christophe-san's words that followed, but........and then the shocking words came out.

''Do you guys--did you know about the existence of demons?''

　....What?　A genie?
　A genie... is it that genie that Widge-chan told me about before, the one that's already been destroyed?

You're a genie, aren't you?

Well, he disappeared in a battle 200 years ago, I believe.

'I heard that story too. I heard that they were destroyed because of their small numbers and their belligerence.

　Hearing our words, Christophe-san nodded his head and nodded his head.
　Wow.........you're that demon after all.

''You seem to know him.

'Using demons but that's what we're doing in this country now, isn't it?　I heard you have a mage on the wyvern.

　Using a demon...?
　It seems like they already do that in this country, and there must be demon users in the first place.

That's right. Generally speaking, when we talk about using demons, we are referring to things like the manipulation of demon users.

　Apparently my thoughts aren't wrong.
　But still, if you're going to talk to me, does that mean it's different than a demon user controlling demons or something?
　Other than that, using a demon in a fight what else could you do?

'It seems that the experiments I know of on demons were different. It seems that they were trying various methods to see if they could artificially generate demons and strengthen the demons themselves. I haven't found any documentation of the experiments, so we don't know what they were actually like.

　Artificially generating demons, strengthening demons. That alone was so mind-blowing that my body reacted with a jolt.
　Both of them had been said by Esther a while ago, anticipating the effects of that black magic light stone.
　The Grandis we encountered would be circumstantial, and the latter's demonic enhancement would apply.

''From what I've heard from you guys, I suspect that the Grandis that appeared so suddenly this time around was the result of something of that sort being used.

So, does that mean........that the demon is still alive somewhere?

　Does that mean the killer could be a witch?
　There are those who survived the conflict 200 years ago, hiding from people and not perishing in the conflict. It's natural to think that way.
　Just because they were defeated in the conflict in the first place doesn't mean they are completely destroyed. It's possible that there are survivors.
　

　If that Fiend was as strong as the GC Fiend, there would definitely be casualties with his current strength.
　In GC, the strength changed depending on the difficulty level, but I don't know how strong the genie is in this world.
　I suppose it's possible that they're weak enough to defeat them with room to spare, but... I'd prefer to avoid fighting them if possible.

'I don't know that either. It's possible that a demon is doing this, or whoever obtained the materials for that experiment is doing it. Or it could be something else.

So, at the end of the day, you don't know what's right.

Ugh, this is getting difficult...

　It doesn't seem to have been decided that the other party is a demon.
　Either way, it's still going to be troublesome, but... my hope is that it's the latter.
　In the end, I don't have enough information, so I can only speculate, but I think Christophe-san's story is starting to solve the mystery a lot.

''At any rate, this is not a situation that can be overlooked. From now on, I'm going to ask for the help of A-rank adventurers and gather as much information as possible. There may be times when I will have the cooperation of Okura-kun and the others. At that time, we would appreciate it if you could help us out.

Yes, we will do everything we can to help.

　Finally, Christophe bowed his head and asked me to cooperate with him, and this discussion was over.
　I can't turn down a request from the association head personally.
　It looks like they're even going to pull out A-ranked adventurers, so it's going to be a little easier to gather a little more information from now on.
　When I left the association and went outside, Noll was twisting his head with a dour voice.

''Mmmm, I think it's becoming somewhat of an epic story,''

'Fiends, you know. It doesn't feel real to me to be told out of the blue that such a being might exist.

'Well..... There won't be much we can do, so let's leave it to the head of the association for now.

　We can't go any further on our own.
　If there's anything we can do, we'll have to work hard to strengthen our forces in preparation for fighting demons, and it looks like the only thing we can do is....