Chapter 79

“Good morning.”

“…Morning. What’s up, Alice? It’s early; I’m still sleepy.”

For some reason, Alice was the one waking me up.

“What do you mean ‘what’s up’? Didn’t you hand over those Underground Guild members to my seniors last night?”

“…Oh, those guys. Did any info come out of it?”

To be precise, I didn’t “hand them over” so much as “dump them near her comrades,” but close enough.

“Quite a lot, actually. It seems they were members of an Underground Guild called ‘Black Fang Wolves.’ And get this—the elf you bought was apparently a contractor for the ‘Spirit Queen Titania’!”

Ah, I heard that yesterday.

When I got curious and contacted Ril and the others last night, they mentioned it. They also had a lot to say and ask about Alice.

“What, was their plan to use her as a military asset?”

“No, they were planning to use her as bait to overhunt even more spirits.”

“Wait, weren’t they already doing plenty of that?”

“Word from the nobles was that they couldn’t form contracts with any of the spirits they had. So, the plan was to use her to poach even more.”

…Maybe it’d just be faster to crush the entire Underground Guild?

No, that’d be a hassle…

“Do you think they’ll choose to give up since the plan failed?”

“They likely won’t. By the way, if they failed, they were reportedly planning to raid the elven village.”

…Would they really go that far for a few spirits?

Maybe it’s true that human greed has no bottom.

“What will you do? Even if we wanted to help, we have no way to get to the village.”

“No, it’s fine. Let the elves handle their own business. I’m going to crush the Underground Guild’s headquarters instead. Do you know where it is?”

“Wait, are you planning to go alone!? That’s reckless! They have plenty of strong warriors and mages! It’s dangerous!!”

“It’s not a problem. When humans are the opponents, I don’t even need a warm-up. Now, shall we head to the Guild for some food?”

I got up and sent a mental message to Tiamat.

『You were listening, right, Tiamat?』

『Yes.』

『Don’t leave a single one alive. Only the Underground Guild members, though.』

『Understood.』

As I was confirming things with Tiamat, Ril and the others chimed in.

『Ryu, can I go wild too? I haven’t hunted lately, so I feel like my body’s getting dull.』

『I want to fight too! Papa, is it okay? I practiced not starting forest fires with Grandma, so give me permission!』

『In that case, please grant Ouka permission as well. I believe it is time for her to experience actual combat.』

『Ryu, is it settled?』

『The opponents are humans. They might use Magic Tools, so as long as you’re careful while hunting, you’re good to go.』

My family members were practically cheering inside my head. Well then, time for me to eat and get ready.

“Alice, we’re going to eat. I’ve decided to dismantle the Underground Guild.”

“Are you serious!?”

“After that, I’ll liberate the nobles’ spirits and elves. Let’s move fast. By the way, do you know when they plan to attack?”

“They said tonight.”

“Then I’ll finish most of the preparations during the day. Tonight is going to be a fun time for a hunt.”

A smile played across my lips.

It had been a while since I’d faced humans.

Plus, if it’s the Underground Guild’s headquarters, it might be crawling with strong enemies.

I was looking forward to tonight.

“Sir… Ryu…?”

“Hm? What’s wrong?”

“No… it’s nothing.”

“Alright. Then let’s move fast.”

I felt a strange sense of dissonance from the way Alice was looking at me, but for now, food took priority.

Upon arriving at the Guild, I first collected the payment for the Poison Spiders.

It came to two large gold coins and a bit of change—a small reimbursement for the fortune I’d spent buying the elf.

The only thing that actually scared me, though, was Alice’s expression.

She stared at the large gold coins with such an intense look; I guess it was her first time seeing them. It was honestly terrifying.

“Sir Ryu, just what exactly did you take down to get that much money!?”

“Just twenty whole Poison Spiders. If you kill twenty of them, it adds up to about this much.”

She looked stunned when I said it so nonchalantly, but I decided not to let it bother me.

After that, I bought some food, and we discussed the plan while we ate.

“This time, we’ll mostly be operating from the shadows. Is your side okay with that?”

“We’re fine. It’s a bit hectic since this was decided so suddenly, but we should be able to make it in time somehow.”

“Glad to hear it. Sorry for just deciding things on my own.”

“Don’t worry about it; this is an issue we wanted to settle as early as possible anyway. Still… you really are strong, aren’t you, Sir Ryu?”

What was that about?

“I’ve never seen anyone take down that many Poison Spiders before.”

“They’re just common pests. By the way, are you really getting paid? You’re eating spider legs again today.”

“Well, um… the people who secure vital intel get high salaries, but I usually work as part of a general team, so…”

“The shares are small, then?”

“Yes…”

Is Light-Light really just a ‘black company’?¹

Maybe they’re pouring all the budget into Thea and finding excuses to underpay everyone else…

“Please don’t look at me like that… I know my pay might seem low to someone who earns large gold coins so easily, but still…”

“Ah—sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean it like that…”

“It’s fine. Someday, I’m going to eat my fill of delicious meat. And I’ll do it with my own money.”

She’d definitely turned sulky.

She went back to silently devouring her spider legs.

“Sir Ryu, who is this child?”

I turned around to find Mark standing there.