Intermission: A Certain Master and His Vassals Conversation (1/2)
Intermission: A Certain Master and His Vassal's Conversation
”--As has been said, with the cooperation of all temples and magicians, the labyrinth won't expand toward the city, and as long as the ceremony is maintained, the barrier will last. In the future, for the sake of reinforce the barrier, we'll build several holy monuments in the eastern district. Please sign these documents for securing those sites.”
The white-haired official-- consul of the earl, Ortes, read the report while adjusting his monocle.
”Then, is it usable? That labyrinth?!”
A man bend his body forward on the desk while having a joyful look-- the earl of Seryuu.
Can the labyrinth be commercialized? He asked.
”The three great temple, Parion, Garleon and Tenion have conducted ceremonies to determine it and the result are 『ġēse』, 『ġīse』, and 『ġēse』. They're relatively favorable.”
The consul stop there, and add, ”However.”
”Our experts have pointed out several problems.”
”The first one must be about the entrance which is inside the city.”
”That's exactly right. Other labyrinths have shown that monsters could overflow from it after some years. Therefore, it is necessary to have something to have blockades in case it happens.”
”Additional walls outside the barrier huh... quite a lot of expense. Since we already have the quarry from 3 years ago, we only need the workers huh.”
”Yes, and we have just secured women and men slaves who looks able from slave dealers.”
The earl becomes dubious after hearing the consul.
”Do we need to buy slaves for this? Don't we have enough labor already?”
”The people have become agitated, we'll use the slaves until temporary walls are complete. After we have finished using them we could just put them in the mine. Or we could make the obedient ones to be soldiers.”
The earl considers the prior investment before deciding. When the labyrinth is able to steadily supply magic cores, the economy of earldom will most likely quickly grow.
”Have you blocked the entrance for the time being?”
”Our experts said that it's dangerous to completely block it.”
”The reason?”
”It could ruin a country they said.”
”You mean 『The Nightmare of Ishtan』? I thought it was just a myth, did it actually happen?”
There was a country called Ishtan 200 years ago. The country suffered significant damage from monsters that emerged from a labyrinth. The king who was worried with that invited a famous magician to seal off the entrance of the labyrinth. For safely closing the labyrinth and made the monsters threat disappear, the king was hailed as the wise king. However, 10 years later, the seal was broken by tsunami of monsters which overflowed from it and destroyed the entire country in a day.
The consul presents the document which he has prepared it beforehand.
The earl signs while reading it and continues to talk with the consul.
”There's another problem in regard with the labyrinth.”
”What is it?”
”The Dungeon Master was the senior demon who had attacked this castle some times ago.”
The earl breaks his intense expression, and ask the consul expressionless.
”Is that definitive?”
”Yes, a magic soldier who participated with the castle's defense was on the spot. Furthermore, the assistant priest of Garleon, Nebinen, testified for the power of the demon.”
”Fumu, we don't know the demon's goal but we've obtained the answers from the oracle. It can't be helped if we're anxious.”
The consul furrows his brow a bit, but regains his composure.
”We're obliged to tell the king about the labyrinth, how will you choose the representatives?”
”Yeah, if I'm not mistaken one of the survivor of the labyrinth is a noble.”
”It's viscount Belton.”
”Then let's make Belton with several officials to be ones.”
”I understand. I'll send a messenger to inform Viscount Belton.”
The consul summons his subordinate and tell him to prepare the letter for the Viscount while adjusting his monocle.
The report itself has actually been sent to the kingdom with the magic mirror. But it's considered proper for a noble to be the messenger for reporting directly to the king.
”Were those all the things about the labyrinth?”
The earl is confirming while stroking his goatee which doesn't really suit him.
”No, I was wondering if we could send inspection teams to the labyrinth city, Selbira.”
”Learning from the pioneer huh. How many do you suppose we should send?”
”Four groups consisting of two military units groups, a merchants group and a general citizens group would be good. Let's make them bring back the know-how about the public order problem, tax, and structure of explorer guild. If possible, I'd like them to invite some high ranking explorers to investigate our labyrinth's rank.”
”General citizen? Is there any meaning in sending commoners?”
The earl asks dubiously.
”It's my bad for calling them general citizens. I mean to say 'people who are knowledgeable about the streets.'”
The earl who seemingly agree with the consul's answer exaggeratedly gives permission.
”Excellent, I'll leave personnels' selection to you. Tell me when you have your candidates.”
”I respectfully accept it.”
◇
”Were you able to grasp the identity of the silver masked hero?”
The public call him hero, but no one know his identity. Since the earl cannot overlook an existence that could equal senior demon hiding in this city, he did not only make his formal investigators but also the consul's spy to investigate.
”We have succeeded in narrowing down the candidates, but we're lacking conclusive evidence.”
”Who and who?”
”The first candidate is Sir Kigori from the knight. He has body reinforcement magic and herculean-strength skill. He was off duty so he stayed at home during that day. There are many other things that match like his long blond hair, but he should has been boasting more if he was really the silver mask.”
”Right, he's a narcissistic man isn't he?”
”The second candidate is Yasaku-shi the explorer. He's a level 45 warrior. He's not only high-leveled but also equipped with various strong magic tools, so he could possibly endure the demon's attacks. He's accustomed with fighting monsters and demons. However, his hair is black.”
”What is such man doing in this kind of frontier place?”
”Your excellency, please stop belittling your own territory.”
The earl is laughing while expressing his gratitude.
”His aim is probably dragon scales from the Dragon's Valley.”
”Is he suicidal?”
”No, what I said isn''t exactly right, he's probably aiming for dragons which are nesting away from the dragon's valley. As one would expect, he couldn't possibly come back alive if he goes to the Dragon's Valley.”
”Yeah, it'd be over just by the scales tribe before he could even meet the dragon.”
The consul clears his throat and goes back to the discussion.
”The conversation had wandered off. The third candidate is Yasaku-shi's companion, the magic swordsman, Tan-shi. His level is high at 42, and he's probably used with dealing with demon like Yasaku-shi. He's a blond, but he can't possibly fought the senior demon while being only able to use body reinforcing magic.”
”Right, it's not like the opponent is unaffected by magic.”
”Moreover, explorers usually fight in party.”
After being lost in thought for a while,
”I see, certainly we're lacking the decisive evidence to ascertain who the silver mask is.”
”Yes.”
”Is there no other candidate?”
”It's not like there isn't, but beside the three above, it's impossible judging by their ability...”
”They might be hiding their true ability you know?”
The earl is grinning.
”There are four people who were omitted from candidacy. The first one is the Earl predecessor's bastard child, Ratts-dono. He was present in both uproars. His hair and height match the condition. He also has the need to hide his true ability and identity. That said, someone like him probably remained as a spectator until the end.”
”That's right, brother-in-law is that kind of guy.”
The villainous face of his brother-in-law floats in the earl's mind. It looks like a villain compared to the real person, probably because of the long discord between them.
He's not related with the silver mask, but since he was present during both the incident with the demon, the earl orders the consul to keep an eye on him.
”The second one is the alchemist, Akabana-dono. He wore the same robe as the silver mask, he even had the silver mask in his house. He was present at the day of the uproar, showing his face on the relief station.”
”Hou? That's suspicious.”
The consul shakes his head at the earl's words.
”However, silver mask isn't an uncommon thing. Because it's used during harvest festival to ward off demon, there are probably more than 10 shops which sell it.”
”Fumu, was it a man who was fighting?”
”No, the figure was slim and the skin was abnormally pale that it didn't match the strength the silver mask was showing. A friend of mine testified that.”
”Maybe he drank medicine that could change his body?”
”The elder confirm the existence of such medicine but the feedback reaction is too strong that it's suicidal for healthy person to drink it.”
”Is that so.”
Even if it's possible, if the medicine makes your body handicapped then there would be no meaning in fighting. The earl thinks so and moves his interest to the next candidate.
”The third one is a man called Usu who's affiliated with a criminal guild called Brown Rat.”