''Mr. Org is a........knight?

　I was surprised to see that the adventurer's guild in Togai's town was in a state of disarray when I came back after a long absence, but now Aug-san is a knight?

How did you become a knight?

Hahaha, well, there's a lot of things, but to summarize, my ability caught the lord's eye.

　'I'm sure it's nothing,' says Mr. Aug, as if it's nothing at all.

'So, but Mr. Aug is a commoner, isn't he?　Isn't it very difficult to become a knight from a commoner?

　It's true that even commoners can join a knight's club, but the basics are usually chores and common soldiers.
　I'm not a fan of that.
　The position of the knight is usually filled with the children of the nobility.
　I'm sure a commoner needs a lot of merit to become a knight.

I'm not sure if I want to continue as an adventurer or not. To be honest, I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue being an adventurer. I'm an A-rated adventurer, so I'm confident I can earn more money than a lowly nobleman. But when the lord asks for your help, it's hard to say no to him.

It's true that A-rank adventurers are capable of defeating powerful demons.
Even the Evil Boa that I defeated in the past was worth 1,000 gold coins, so Aug-san, a skilled adventurer, must have earned a lot of money.

To be honest, I don't even know if Aug-san is still A-ranked, as he's skilled enough to easily defeat Evilboa's children, who are so troublesome to defeat.
.........or maybe Aug-san is hiding his abilities for some reason, just like me.

Isn't that why he's only ranked A on purpose?
I see, when you think about it, it all makes sense!
He hides his ability by not daring to raise his rank.
It's just like you, Mr. Aug!
No wonder the lords want it!

It's not a job that can be continued indefinitely, and we don't know when we will die. When we broke up the previous party, we thought about how we should look after ourselves.

　Come to think of it, I don't know anything about Org's past.
　I've only heard that he's an A-ranked adventurer.
　The fact that he's hiding his abilities, and the fact that he's hiding something deeper than he's telling us.
　Yes, it's a waste of time to ask that, isn't it? Let's not ask for details!

'Is that where we're going to have this re-conversation?　It's about time we talked about business.

　Oops, I just got caught up in the small talk with Mr. Org.

"Excuse me, Guild Master!

Ha ha ha, I don't mind the old acquaintance. You'll be working with me from now on, you know.

You're coming with us?

　What does that mean?　Since Mr. Aug is now a knight, he has nothing to do with the Adventurer's Guild, right?

Yeah. I want you guys, or more correctly you, to investigate what's going on around this Togai town.

Is there a survey?

　The guild leader nods silently and recounts his request.

'Recently, an unusual number of orcs have been seen in the vicinity of Togai town. At first I thought they were orcs who had been driven off their land after losing a battle with another pack and had fled, but apparently I was wrong.

　The guild leader let out a sigh.

The newcomers who were out gathering and guarding the guards were attacked one after another, so we decided that we needed to do a large scale defeat, so we joined with the knights to defeat the orcs.

　Huh?　But we fought quite a few orcs before we came to this town, didn't we?

Are you sure you couldn't take it down?

But the guild leader shook his head.

''No, we killed a bunch of orcs that were hiding in the forest near the town. In fact, we didn't see any orcs for a while after that...

Did he show up again after a while?

　The guild leader nodded with a face that looked like he had bitten down on a bitter worm.

''That's right. After a while, the orcs started to show up again.

　If that story is true, it means that a significant number of orcs are not too far from this town.

Could it be the Orc Empire...?

I uttered the words that flashed through my brain and looked at the guild leader's reaction.

''........I guess I'm right.

　An orc empire is a country created by a higher species of orc that has mutated and united other orcs.
　In this case, an empire is not a town or city like ours, where they rule the land, but rather a group of orcs who have gradually grown in number from humans and other higher-ranking demons, and are now raiding the land in search of food.
　Starving Orcs will raid neighboring villages and towns, as well as grain-growing regions, where they will have more babies and multiply their numbers.
　They will be joined by another orc pack from a neighboring village, and their numbers will continue to grow.
　This uncontrollable group of orcs is known as the Orc Empire.

"You're right, the lord is worried that an orc empire may have appeared.

'My lord?　So the Knights aren't working on it, then?

　If the lords are running it, I think the private knights of the lordship are running it.

Yes, of course the knights are working on it. But it seems that Orcs are attacking the fields and cattle in neighboring villages, so they don't have time to investigate.

Okay, that's why he wants us adventurers to investigate.

The easiest way to find out if the Orc Empire exists is to check out the boss at the center of the pack. But even if the boss is found, if he is found, he will be surrounded by orcs that will cut off his escape route. If that happens, it will be extremely difficult to escape. The bigger the size of the empire, the greater the danger, the less likely it is that we will be able to rely on inferior people.

That's me?

　I understood why I was asked to be appointed by the King's Capital Guild Chief.
　No matter how important the document is, it's unlikely that it would move an S-ranked adventurer on such an errand.
　Or rather, this was the real deal.
　It's true that if there's an outbreak of high-ranking orc emperors and orc queens, we're in trouble.

Yeah, you're an S-ranked kid, so I'm sure you'll be able to pull yourself out of this mess, even if something were to happen to you.

I understand. If that's the case, I'll take care of it!

　Torgai is the first town I've ever been to, and it's my second home, so to speak.
　And the people of this town are good people, and there is no way I'm going to let an orc trample me!

That's very helpful. And by the way, I'd appreciate it if you could bring the bumbling knight over there along for the ride.

I'm not a bimbo!

　Huh?　Are you coming with us, Mr. Aug?
　But since Mr. Aug is now a knight, he shouldn't be obligated to accept any more guild nomination requests or compulsory call-ups, right?

It's a good thing that you're not the only one. It's also because I'm a former adventurer, so if I check out the Orc Empire with you, I'll be in the face of the lord's knights.

　As I understand it, Aug-san is a former adventurer, so he knows how we adventurers do things, and he also knows how to scout out a small group of people.
　When you think of it that way, you're certainly the right choice for a backup from the Order.

But in reality, I was just forced to be a chaperone by the Order.

"Don't say that, Guild Master.

　A chaperone. I'm sure that such a thing has always existed.

It's a good thing that you're a chaperone, but that's the legitimate business of the Order. It's a very good idea to have a good idea of what you want to do.

　Well, the lord of this town seems to be a surprisingly well-spoken man.
　If you think about it, he's the one who recruited you, so maybe he's an aristocrat with a very flexible mind.

In that case, it's a pleasure to work with you from now on, Aug.

Yeah, me too.

　Me and Mr. Org hold each other's hands tightly.

'Come to think of it, this is the first time you and Mr. Org have had an adventure together.

Yeah, that's right.

'I'm going to study the work of Mr. Aug, who was recruited by a knight!

I don't think it's something to be expected, you know?

　I was excited to see how good he was, but he remained humble and said he was nothing special.
　I see, he does not change his pace, no matter who he is competing against. That must be his strength!

Hmmm, that sounds like it would go down better if I didn't say anything.

　And the head of the guild who was listening to our conversation nodded yes, as if he understood something.

　◆

　After the discussion with the head of the guild is over, I will join the others with Aug-san and explain the situation.

It's a good thing that I'm not the only one.

Nice to meet you!

Oh, you're with this guy.

　When Aug-san greeted him with a grin, Jairo-kun gave a disgusted voice.

I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make the most of your time in the city. I'm sure Aug-san's work ethic will be a learning experience for us.

I think my brother's work is better than mine.

　Haha, I'm glad to hear you say that, but Aug-san is the senior adventurer.
　Even though I have memories of my previous life and past lives, I'm still no more than an amateur as an adventurer.
　Let's take this opportunity to learn some skilled techniques from Aug-san!

'I'm Lilliera, who is having a party with Lex-san. It's nice to meet you.

Oh, nice to meet you!

　Org exchanged greetings with Liliella-san, but for some reason, she smiled as she looked at me and smiled.

''What's wrong?''

Nah, I just thought you'd be doing it.

　Huh?　What did I do?

You did a great job throwing a party with this cute little girlfriend, didn't you?

''Ka, she?!''

　Liliera-san's face turns red when Aug-san calls her a girlfriend.

The actuality of this is that it's not such a girlfriend... Well, it's not hard to see that when you have a party of men and women close in age, but that's not yet the case with me and Lex-san.......

'Mr. Aug, Liliella is one of mine. We don't have that kind of relationship.

'What?　Seriously?　You guys aren't even dating?

'Yes!　We're not together!　I'm with you!

　Rielieliela is a very reliable companion who knows a lot about adventuring that I don't even know.
　I'm not going to be able to say that I'm in love with such an amazing person, but it's really rude to Liliella-san.

....

'Huh?　What's the matter, Mr. Liliera?

　For some reason, Liliera-san is staring at me, what's going on?

It's nothing.

　What's really going on?
　Oh, maybe she's nervous about meeting Aug-san, a skilled adventurer!
　Liliera-san has only just become an A-ranked person, so I think she saw how Aug-san behaved and saw that he was hiding his abilities.
　That's probably why she's deliberately overreacting to Aug-san's joking comments.
　In order to find out its true strength.

You'd better say hello too. It's Mina. I was originally a member of the guild here, but I'm working with Lex in the guild in the royal capital.

"Megri. Also formerly from the guild here. I work with Lex now.

Norbu. This is the first time we've talked like this.

Come on, you need to say hi.

　As everyone greets each other, Mina pulls out Jairo, who hasn't said hello yet.

'Ouch, that hurts, don't force me to pull you!　f*ck. That's a gyro, nice to meet you, old man.

It's you.

　Apparently, Jairo-kun and Mr. Org don't get along with each other.
　We're going to be working together from now on, so I hope we can get along.

Well, now that we've said our goodbyes, let's get on with the investigation. Well, now that we've said our goodbyes, let's go and investigate the surrounding area.

Wait, you're jumping to a conclusion?　You're on a survey this time!　Don't you need to buy food and tools first?

　Mina rolls her eyes at Aug's sudden announcement that she's going to investigate.

I'm sure you've got a lot of questions to answer. Are you still an A-ranked person?

　Then Mr. Aug grins.

''Sweet, girls. This request is a tricky one, as it requires you to find the other party's main unit while dodging through a large group of orcs. Moreover, the danger level increases as time passes. Searching blindly under such circumstances is a waste of time. The first thing we should do is to investigate the vicinity and find out which direction the orcs are coming from.

""Direction?"

　As Jairo and his friends scowled, Liliella said with a hint of understanding.

It's a good idea to have a good idea of where the orcs are coming from, whether that's a place where they can use their horses, a steep mountain or a swampy area that requires equipment other than food. The equipment you will need will also be very different depending on that.

'Correct. Besides, moving around with a heavy load on your back simply slows you down and makes you tired. Let's keep the effort to a minimum.

　In response to Liliella's answer, Aug tells her with a big smile that she is correct.
　As expected of Liliera-san. I immediately realized Aug-san's true intentions.

　And Mr. Aug hasn't let his guard down in the slightest, even if he is an orc.
　So this is the mindset of a true skilled adventurer!

Yeah, you were an ex-A student.

Well, you're good at it.

　Although he was a bit flustered, Jairo-kun also understood Aug's true intentions and grudgingly agreed with them.

''I understand. Well, let's go investigate the surrounding area!