That's weird. I can't believe Infinite Circle asked for a mediator.


　The skinheaded, strong-faced guild employee, still unpopular at the reception table, looks at Tsutomu and Daryl as he receives his status card.


''I'm just killing time,''
I suppose. I'm sure there are a lot of people who have a lot of experience in this field. It's not a good idea to be designated as a PT mediator.
Yeah?　Who is it?
It's that Aldrete Crow guy. He's been here a lot lately.


　Tsutomu couldn't help but look back to the first table when he was told that, but Stephanie was reflected there. The guild staff laughed at him with a great deal of bitterness.


It's a bit of a scary apprentice, but are you okay?　He's going to show up for PT mediation every once in a while, too, so I'm sure we'll run into him eventually.
Well, if it happens, I'll protect you again!
I'm sure you were pretty stiffed at the time. It's just that they're not monsters.


　When the guild staff laughed off Daryl, who had come forward to assert himself all the way, Tsutomu shrugged his shoulders in annoyance.


''Well I honestly don't know too much about what caused Stephanie to be like that to deal with it. Do you have any information on the guild?
Aldrete Crow is treating Stephanie like a clan leader these days. Luke is happy about it, and people around him have come to accept it because she's so good at what she does. That may be why, but I don't get a lot of bad news about Stephanie. It's not exactly what you read in the papers, is it?
I haven't had a boyfriend for about a year and a half.
Well, you know what? A girl in love can do some crazy things sometimes.
''It would be awful to have that be reduced to a maiden in love, but........ Besides, I've seen her character during her time as an apprentice, and I don't think she would be like that in love.


　Even if Stephanie was a damsel in love, I don't think she would be crazy enough to bite off her fingers in front of the object. So I think there was enough of a catalyst for that to happen, but I really don't have any idea what Tsutomu has in mind and I'm not wrong in that perception.


It's just fine then, if you're going to do a PT mediation, you're going to have to team up anyway, so why don't you go talk to that guy?


　Turning his gaze towards the guild staff's pointing, he saw a man wearing black equipment sitting there with his eyes single-mindedly focused on the divine table. Sova, who was currently housed in the Third Army at Aldoret Crow, was eagerly looking at the God's Table and writing notes.


''Sova-san, is it? What brings you here when Aldoret Crow is here?
I think you're hitting the wall. You want to try different things. Now, the only other place I can think of to work with you guys is here.


　Several status cards of various colors stored in the shelves behind him were pulled out by the mages and the guild staff laid them out on the table. Sova's status card that was nominated earlier is gray since she has reached the Light and Dark hierarchy. The only other status cards are light blue, which indicates the snowfield hierarchy, and red, which indicates the volcano hierarchy.


''Both volcanoes and snowfields have to be dealt with in the environment...''
You know those 50 layers that are so popular now?
No. Besides, it's been taken care of.
"Then you're going to the canyon?　It's not worth it.
It doesn't matter where it is, it doesn't matter where you go. It doesn't matter what level you reach, just put in an interesting searcher from the guild's point of view. I don't care what level you reach, so please include some interesting explorers from the guild's point of view. We're not the kind of people you'd want to let pass the time with.


　Promising new explorers are usually found quickly by the labyrinth maniacs and published in articles, and they stand out because the clans recruit them all together. Therefore, Tsutomu has a good understanding of the newcomers who are coming up to the scene.

　However, there are some information that can only be obtained by the guild staff who work in the guild where the platform is located and have a close relationship with the searchers. When Tsutomu asks that since there is a possibility that there will be more clan members in the future, the guild staffer taps his cleanly shaved head.


'He sounds interesting. If you don't mind the level, there are several candidates. Then I'll go through the formalities, just wait in the guild for a bit. We'll get together in about fifteen minutes.
Yes, sir.
Yes, sir.


　Tsutomu and Daryl chewed the paper that was handed to them in return and handed it to the guild staff with saliva, then sat down on a suitable seat to pass the time while looking at the God's Table. There are different ways to look at such two people. Tsutomu, in particular, is still a hot topic of conversation among the searchers, as he has yet to be seen dead.

　Death is a commonplace thing for searchers. Some newcomer searchers who have died several times after arriving from King's Landing say that Tsutomu is a coward who is incapable of dying. Even now, some of the upstart groups in the King's Capital are still looking at him that way.

　But the Maze City group, who are so used to dying that they no longer count the number of times they died, looked at him as if he were an alien. It had been about a year and a half since Tsutomu started at the first level. In that period of time, he was the only one who hadn't died once while in the frontline group. His existence even seemed unusual to those who had a divine dungeon close by.

　That and the nobleman's group who used their abundant financial resources to gather powerful equipment and PT members and are now the center of the new explorers, Tsutomu, who appears to be involved with the Babenberg family, seems to be a scary presence and doesn't have any gaze down on the commoners like he usually does.


(They don't talk to you, do they? I thought I'd be invited to join the PT)


　Nevertheless, as a nobleman who wants to return to the capital to achieve results as soon as possible, there is no choice but to use Tsutomu, who is influential in the explorer's circles. In fact, the eyes of the aristocrats who saw Tsutomu and Daryl alone were glazed over, but now that they had finished their PT mediation, they had become much more docile.


(.........Ah, so that's how it is.)


　Tsutomu wondered about this, but when he saw the two men and women requesting PT mediation at the guild's reception desk, he figured out why the nobles had become so quiet. The eldest son and the eldest daughter of the Babenberg family. The two of them gave a light eye bow as they finished the PT mediation quickly. I looked at the skin-headed guild employee and nodded with a meaningful face.

　Currently, the eldest son and eldest daughter of the Babenberg family was also handed over to the head of the family and is also performing activities as an explorer. They are in the middle of updating the hierarchy smoothly at the moment, and their usual PTs were partnered with those they hired for money. But this time, he seems to have come in after seeing Tsutomu working as a PT mediator.


(So the mediation PT is the two members of the Babenberg family and someone else? Well, I guess Sova-san is going to come in.)
He's just a guy with a lot of talent and a lot of class.


　Tsutomu was looking at the situation around him and the guild staff to speculate on the mediation PT members when he heard a small, whining voice. When he turned his eyes to Daryl, who was a dog person and had good hearing, to confirm it, he gently looked away.

　Then he turned his gaze to the source of the voice and saw that someone, who could be described as a boy, had his mouth covered by a hand from the surrounding PT members. It seems to be the right place. Tsutomu stood up after estimating the general strength of those PT members with their shabby appearance and equipment.


'Hey, there, PT.'


　When Tsutomu called out to them and beckoned them over, the PT members who had stopped the boy all looked despairing. The boy who was actually complaining did not expect to be called out by himself, and he also seemed to be trembling with fear, as he was attracting a surprising amount of attention from the people around him.

　But even so, it may be that he was the one who started it, and he came right over to Tsutomu with a determined look on his face. However, the bluster had already disappeared, and he was waiting for a word with a nervous look on his face.


''Oh, you don't have to be so stiff. I'm not going to blame you here for what you said earlier.''
Oh, I see...


　When he said that, the boy exhaled with a visibly relieved look on his face. And Tsutomu again observed the mixed male and female PT members who were about to follow the boy.

　He had shown up at Garum's and Daryl's orphanage several times, so he could tell by the atmosphere to some extent. Perhaps these PT children were also orphans in the royal capital. I looked at Daryl who was sitting next to me, and he looked at me sympathetically, as if he knew that too.


''You guys came from King's Landing, right?　Then you know a certain amount about the explorers from King's Landing.
'Yes, sir!　I understand!


　Before the boy can open his mouth to answer anything, a little greasy brown-haired girl who hasn't bathed in days answers.


'People from King's Landing, uh, I just want you to be clear, what do you think of me?'
...well...
You've been called the lucky one, haven't you?　That's what everyone calls it at home.
Hey, Riki!
He's the one who asked you to speak up, remember?


　The boy called Riki, who was complaining earlier, said that with a lightly mocking look. When Tsutomu heard that and looked at the people around him who are from the royal capital, especially those who do not seem to have grown up in a very good environment, there were indeed a number of people who looked at him in that way. Probably because of the information that Tsutomu is an orphaned child, they seem to recognize that they can do it too.

　But as for the other royal city residents, many of them are related to the nobility or know the reality of the divine dungeon, so I didn't get the impression that they were underestimated to that extent.


(Hmm. It doesn't seem like they have that much influence on the orphans... but I can only assume that these guys are spreading the word)


　Tsutomu has not been well received by the crowd lately. Not that Tsutomu is taking a body that doesn't care, but "Live Dungeon! I'm sensitive enough to such things to see the exposure thread of It's a very good idea to be able to have a good time with them.

　But after listening to Riki's comments earlier, I thought the cause was the orphans from the capital spreading a bad rumor about him. And looking at the equipment, Riki and the other PTs are probably the most advanced of the orphans from the King's Capital, it seems that they have advanced the most among the orphans from the King's Capital. Their influence over the orphans would be there.


''Thanks for telling me. Then--''
Hey, Tsutomu!　We're ready for PT mediation!


　And before Tsutomu can try to talk about anything, a voice from the guild staff calls out to him. Hearing that voice, Tsutomu crossed his arms as if to think for a moment, and then spoke to a brown-haired girl who seemed to be the PT leader holding Riki down.


'I want you to come back to this place in the guild this Saturday at noon. Is that alright?
Yes, yes....
I don't know why I'm following your orders.
Riki!　I'm going to be mad at you if you don't do something right!
Yeah, yeah let's not do that.
Good luck.


　Something started to cause a commotion in the PT, so Tsutomu headed to the reception desk and Daryl followed with a slightly worried look on his face.