That man back then... had been a demon.
If I’d accepted his offer to travel together, what would have happened to me by now?
As if he had read something in my expression, Sir Lusein asked carefully.
“Do you know him, by any chance?”
“No. He just looked like someone I’d seen before.”
I decided not to bother saying that I had met him.
There was no need to invite pointless suspicion.
“I see.”
Lusein answered briefly, then, after a moment of silence, reached out his hand.
“In any case... a letter at a time like this...”
He slowly took out an envelope sealed with wax.
The red seal, clearly stamped with Sereon’s crest,
gleamed faintly under the light.
He carefully removed the seal and took out a single sheet of paper from inside.
It was fairly high-quality paper.
The ink had settled neatly, and the margins were generous.
But at a glance, there was nothing especially remarkable about it.
There were only words written neatly by someone’s hand.
“This is...”
Sir Lusein’s expression began to darken rapidly as he skimmed the contents of the letter.
What on earth could it say?
A moment later, he raised his head.
“This... isn’t a simple greeting or administrative notice.”
I quietly nodded.
The moment I’d glimpsed the back of the letter, a few words had entered my field of vision.
Phrases like “no response,” “upper-level list,” and “possibility of defection.”
Lusein let out a low breath and lowered his voice.
“In fact, two months ago, I submitted an investigation regarding an entity that appeared to be a demon. I attached witness testimonies, records, and even part of a corpse.”
So the matter of demons had already come up two months ago?
Naturally, this was the first I’d heard of it.
“But... that report vanished after Headquarters claimed there was ‘no record of it being received.’”
He held up the letter.
Written there were careful, yet clear, words.
『According to Headquarters records, your report was not reflected in the system. Possible mid-network omission or intentional concealment.
There is a possibility that someone within the organization is ignoring the existence of demons, or concealing it systematically.』
“...An internal traitor, in other words.”
Lusein murmured softly.
The weight contained in those words was considerable.
“Refrain from contact with the outside for the time being and report the situation on-site in secrecy. Future contact will be made through a trustworthy route.”
Lusein folded the letter again and said,
“This incident, too, seems to hinge not on the existence of demons itself... but on who tried to hide it.”
I nodded without a word.
Truthfully... it wasn’t a matter that had much to do with me.
I wasn’t a hero who had to protect this world,
and I didn’t really know what was happening here.
No, perhaps it would be more accurate to say I hadn’t even cared.
Just surviving... and returning home.
That was my only goal.
When I nodded with an expressionless face, Sir Lusein carefully spoke up.
“Could you deliver a letter reporting this matter? As you know, things have become complicated.”
“Understood.”
In any case, if I wanted to receive my reward, I had to return to where I’d originally been.
While I was on my way, delivering one letter wasn’t impossible.
But... that wasn’t the end of the request.
“I have one more favor to ask. To investigate this matter, I think I’ll need the help of my former comrades. Could you perhaps stop by there as well?”
“Pardon? Where is that?”
Lusein hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth.
“The Rahazach Desert. Those friends should be running a trading company there.”
The Rahazach Desert.
It was definitely a name I’d heard somewhere before.
Hmm... Ah, the Blue Magic Tower. I’d heard that the Blue Magic Tower was in that desert.
I remembered Valdik saying something like that once.
“Hmm... I can, but are you sure you should entrust something like that to me?”
“You are someone Luna entrusted a task to, so I believe you are trustworthy.”
Luna, huh. It seemed they were quite close.
But Sir Lusein looked fairly young too. How old was he, exactly?
“Besides... you are an Inheritor, are you not?”
“Pardon? An Inheritor?”
When I blinked at the unexpected words, Sir Lusein asked back with an even stranger look.
“Back at the fire scene earlier... were you not using a relic to confirm where the people were?”
“Ah...”
An Inheritor.
It seemed that was what they called someone who used relics.
Only now did I understand why Lusein had misunderstood.
There was no need to go out of my way to correct that misunderstanding.
“Yes, well... something like that.”
“Then... would you be willing to accept the request?”
With his face scorched by fire and not even properly treated, he pleaded so earnestly... Honestly, it wasn’t easy to refuse.
However, I was a modern person accustomed to capitalism.
“By any chance, the compensation...?”
I asked the most important question.
He could have frowned at the mention of money, but without any disdain whatsoever, he instead nodded calmly.
“As I am a priest... it would be difficult for me to pay you in money. Instead, this.”
He removed a bracelet from his arm and carefully handed it to me.
A silver ring and an old knot.
At a glance, it looked like an old bracelet.
“It is Margane’s Bracelet of Protection.”
“A bracelet of protection?”
“Once a month, when danger befalls the wearer, it unfolds a magical force field to protect them.”
A barrier that activated once a month... That felt rather ambiguous.
I wasn’t sure how useful it would be, but from the standpoint of someone who could use Water-Current Barrier, I couldn’t expect too much from it.
“Before I began living a life of faith, I bought it simply out of vanity, but it saved my life several times. This incident was the same.”
“Is this a relic?”
At my question, he slowly shook his head.
“No, this is simply a magic tool made by the Margane Workshop.”
“A magic tool?”
Margane Workshop magic tool... It was a name I’d never heard before.
From a rough guess, it seemed to be a workshop specializing in the production of magic tools.
“Yes, a magic tool. It was made by a fairly renowned workshop. I bought it when I was young, and though I don’t remember the exact price, I believe it was about one gold coin.”
One gold coin... Even accounting for depreciation, it was enough as payment for the request.
“Understood. I’ll accept the request.”
Perhaps accepting only after confirming the compensation made me look a bit materialistic.
But what could I do? I was, from the start, a mercenary who moved for payment.
To survive in a place like this, I had to make sure I received what I was owed.
“Thank you. I will write the letter myself and deliver it to you sometime today.”
“By the way, are the burns on your face all right?”
“Hmm... Ah, the matter was so urgent that I...”
As if he had only just remembered the burns on his face, he suddenly put on a devout expression and quietly offered a prayer.
Woooong—
A faint white light rose from his body and gathered over the burns on his face.
The white light slowly covered the red coloration, and before long, the traces of the burns vanished cleanly, leaving behind only a faint reddish tint.
Seeing him heal in an instant, I couldn’t help but gape.
‘So that’s a real healer.’
Even the hemostasis spell Valdik had used had been impressive, but to think this level of recovery was possible too.
If a chief priest was at that level, then even without knowing the religious hierarchy well, I figured he couldn’t be in a low position.
“Phew, then I will go write the letter now.”
After finishing a brief prayer, he quietly disappeared among the villagers.
...If he could heal himself that quickly, why didn’t he do it right after the work was over?
Surely he hadn’t deliberately put it off to win my sympathy, right?
No way. A priest couldn’t possibly be that shrewd.
Shaking off the stray thought that had briefly surfaced in my mind, I headed toward Aileen.
“Liv!”
Aileen, who had been waiting in the distance, confirmed that I was done and hurried over.
Concern was clear on her face.
“Aileen.”
“Are you okay? You’re not hurt anywhere, are you?”
Aside from being covered in a bit of soot, I wasn’t injured.
I reassured her and calmly told her about the conversation I’d had with Sir Lusein.
After relaying everything, I handed something to Aileen.
“This is...”
“It’s the bracelet I received earlier. I have magic, so it would be better for you to wear it.”
“...”
Aileen silently stared at the bracelet for a moment, then slowly put it around her wrist.
I could feel her gaze waver slightly, then grow firm.
“Thank you, Liv...”
I smiled at her gratitude and nodded.
***
It was around the time the sun began to sink low.
Step, step.
From the direction of the temporarily set-up campsite, I heard the sound of someone approaching.
“Is this the place? Is anyone here?”
It was a small, clear child’s voice.
The one who poked her head out from between the bushes was a little girl who looked to be around elementary school age.
Wariness toward outsiders could be seen on that young face.
“Sir Lusein sent me. He told me to deliver a letter.”
“Sir Lusein did? Where is he now?”
“He said he’s looking after the sick people.”
“I see...”
I nodded, while in one corner of my heart, I thought of Sir Lusein’s virtuous figure.
He really is an impressive person.
“Here.”
The child took out the envelope she had hidden in her clothes and held it out.
Perhaps because she had tried so hard to hide it, the envelope was slightly crumpled.
“Ah, right! And he told me to give you this too!”
Suddenly, the child took a small metal badge from her pocket. It was a yellow badge depicting a flame shape crossed by a sword.
When I looked at her with curiosity, the child hesitated as though trying to remember, then finally managed to recall what she’d been told and said,
“He said to show this if you find his comrades!”
“Really? Did you happen to hear the name of the trading company too?”
I’d forgotten, but I hadn’t heard the name of the trading company those comrades operated.
If the child didn’t know, I’d have to go back and ask him myself.
“The Flame of Purification.”
“Hm?”
“It’s the Flame of Purification Trading Company.”
For a trading company to be named “The Flame of Purification.”
No matter how I looked at it, it sounded like the name of an order of holy knights. As expected, they didn’t seem to be ordinary merchants.
“All right, thank you.”
“Yes, goodbye!”
The moment she received the jerky I offered as thanks, the child scurried away.
...She seemed awfully timid. I’m surprised he managed to send her.
Aileen, who had been quietly watching from beside me, asked in a low voice,
“Are you going to the desert first?”
“No, let’s go to Mondark first. It’s quite a distance to the desert. We need to restock our supplies too.”
In truth, just the word desert brought to mind all sorts of things we would need to prepare.
Sandstorms, high temperatures, lack of water, and the corresponding consumption of mana.
It was far too risky to head there blindly.
“Then are we leaving right away?”
At those words, I turned my head and looked at the coachman dozing off at one side of the campsite.
He was still sitting beside the carriage, nodding off.
“...Let’s leave tomorrow.”
***
The next morning.
The sky was clear, and the air was cooler than the day before.
To exchange our final farewells with Sir Lusein, we stood once again in front of the temporary shelter outside the village.
“May God’s blessing accompany you on your journey.”
Sir Lusein gave his farewell with his usual dignified manner.
His tone was always restrained, and because it carried no unnecessary emotion, it somehow felt even more sincere.
“Yes. I hope you stay healthy as well, Sir Lusein.”
After lightly shaking hands, we loaded our luggage onto the carriage and finished preparing to depart.
The coachman adjusted his grip on the reins and looked at us. He was probably signaling without words that it was time to leave.
And so, leaving Riverton Village behind, we headed once again toward Mondark.
“What a shame. I didn’t even get to sell my goods properly.”
The coachman lamented with a regretful expression.
“Are there any villages worth stopping by on the way?”
As if he had been waiting for the question, the coachman rattled off the names of several villages in succession.
It seemed his losses had been fairly large.
We, too, had been camping for over a week, so we wanted to rest somewhere for a while.
We had intended to stay in Riverton for a bit, but an unexpected incident had thrown our plans off course.
So there was a need for us to soothe both body and mind for a while at the next village.
“Then let’s go to the closest village.”
“We’ll have to go to Rahillside Village.”
The coachman said, lightly pulling on the reins.
And after two days on the road, we were finally able to arrive at Rahillside Village.