Why!? Why Is The Granveil Grass Gone!?

(…Heh heh heh, I wonder if the man named Ilvis is already dead?)

After parting ways with Ilvis and the others, Raios walked through the cave, thinking that in an excellent mood.

Raios thought that if possible, it would be even better if the two guards died as well, since that would leave no loose ends. Those two were disposable too—thugs hired while hiding his identity. It did not matter whether they lived or died.

As he walked, he came to a space where moonlight streamed in.

Bathed in moonlight, a green medicinal herb shone there.

It was Granveil Grass.

This place was one of Varnir’s experimental sites. That was why there were doping kobolds here, and why Granveil Grass was being cultivated here as well.

That exceedingly rare medicinal herb stood there quietly under the moonlight.

“It’s growing well.”

Raios loosened his mouth in a smile.

The nuisance who had kept delivering high-quality medicinal herbs was gone. The medicinal herb market would return to being monopolized by Black Dragon’s Fang once more. And if they succeeded in the Granveil Grass deal, which even Orfred had his eye on, then the position of his superior Varnir would grow even stronger. That would lead to Raios’s own advancement as his subordinate.

“Hahahaha…!”

Everything was going perfectly. He could not stop laughing!

Raios kept walking farther in, then exited the cave.

From there, he returned straight to Black Dragon’s Fang’s hideout.

“Raios, I have returned.”

Despite the lateness of the hour, Varnir was still working in his office. Raios did not think Varnir had been waiting because he was concerned about whether the job succeeded or failed. It was simply because Varnir had too much work under his charge.

Without showing any fatigue, Varnir looked at Raios.

“You’ve done well. So, how did it go?”

“It was perfect, Varnir-sama. By now, that brat is surely nothing more than a cold corpse!”

Wanting to proclaim his success, Raios declared it forcefully.

“Just as planned, I lured him into the place where the kobolds were! By now, he has surely been attacked by a pack of kobolds that can even bring down ogres and stands no chance at all!”

“By now… surely… stands no chance…?”

Varnir turned a cold gaze on Raios and continued.

“There are a lot of assumptions and conjectures in your words. Did you not verify it with your own eyes?”

“Hah, uh—!?”

Raios hurriedly searched for words.

“I-I certainly did not confirm it, but! That is because if I approached that pack of kobolds, I would have been killed too. Surely that is…!”

“You should know the whistle signal that calms the kobolds, shouldn’t you? After it was over, you could have blown it and then approached to confirm the target’s corpse.”

“T-that is true, but…”

“That is negligence of duty.”

Those merciless words bore down on Raios.

Once his superior said that, Raios had no way to talk back. Swallowing the words I did do my best, he replied like this.

“Y-yes, that is true… then, I shall go and check now.”

“I’ll come too. I want to see how the Granveil Grass is doing as well.”

And so Raios and Varnir left the hideout together.

By the time they reached the cave, night had already turned to morning.

They entered the cave and first headed toward the chamber where the kobolds were gathered in great numbers. Raios blew the whistle in a fixed rhythm with a peep-peep sound. That would make the kobolds cease activity.

As they approached the chamber— the thick smell of blood reached them.

Raios smirked, thinking it must be the corpses of Ilvis and the two guards.

See? What do you think? He’s dead properly, right? Wonderful!

That was what Raios had planned to say to Varnir when they found the corpse. But the scene Raios saw in the chamber was completely different from what he had imagined.

The corpses of the two guards were there just as expected, but— the corpses of doping kobolds were strewn all over the place. They looked like ordinary kobolds, but each one was a monster possessing strength rivaling even an ogre— and they had all been wiped out…!?

On top of that, there was no sign anywhere of a corpse that looked like that brat Ilvis.

“At a glance, it feels like the number of corpses does not match the story you told me, does it?”

“N-no, well, that…!”

Raios searched for words. The conclusion he reached was—

“F-for example! Since the kobolds have lost their sanity, perhaps they ate the brat’s corpse. And then perhaps, driven by their battle instincts, the kobolds killed each other and wiped themselves out…”

Varnir laughed softly.

“And you expect me to believe that?”

“N-no, th-th-th-that is not it at all! I merely meant that it was, well, one possible explanation!”

Varnir shook his head.

“There is no point in imagining such a convenient conclusion. We should assume that the target survived despite facing this number of doping kobolds.”

“Y-yes, indeed! Exactly as you say!”

“If he has returned to the Imperial Capital, then checking with the Adventurers’ Guild again will tell us whether he is alive or dead. There is no use thinking about it here. Tomorrow—no, is it already today? Investigate it at once.”

“Y-yes!”

Raios obeyed with utmost humility.

Raios inwardly sighed that something outrageous had happened and that he had no luck, but an even greater shock struck him next.

Leaving the blood-soaked chamber behind, the two headed for the place where the Granveil Grass was being cultivated.

The moment they arrived, Varnir muttered,

“…The Granveil Grass is gone?”

Varnir’s voice was cracked.

Just as his words said, there was nothing in that space. The medicinal herb that Raios had definitely seen had vanished without a trace.

Even though it had certainly been there just a few hours ago—

Raios felt as though his heart had been ripped out. His legs trembled with chills.

Something that absolutely must not have happened had happened.

Had not Orfred, the strict and famous leader of Black Dragon’s Fang, said it himself?

—Engrave it in your heart that failure will not be tolerated.

If Orfred found out about this—

From beside him, Raios heard Varnir let out a groan.

“U-uh, ah, aaah—”

Varnir clutched his head and reeled back.

“UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

It was a roar of despair and rage that even Raios, who had known him for so long, had never heard before.