I see. Quite clever. Or perhaps I should say “greedy”?
“Why go that far? Your salary here should be more than enough for you to buy a few sweets, right?”
“Well, you see, sweets bought with my own money just don’t taste quite the same as sweets the guild paid for,” she said with a big grin. “Kind of like when a hunk of a man offers to treat me to dinner, you know?” She looked right into my eyes.
Wait, is she flirting with me? Am I supposed to reply, “In that case, how about dinner?” here?
Unlike Ridelle, whose hair and makeup were always perfect, Parfait presented herself just barely above the line of what would be considered crude for a receptionist. According to Miroslav, she really wanted a promotion. So perhaps with my status as a dragon knight and connections to the Dragonauts, I measured up to what she was looking for.
Not that I could care less. Instead of answering her, I gave her the cold shoulder.
“Huh?” Parfait tilted her head a little, puzzled by my behavior. She didn’t seem to have expected that reaction. She opened her mouth to speak again, but before she could, there was another light rap on the door. This time Ridelle strode in. She looked surprised to see Parfait there but quickly recovered and told me she would escort me to the guildmaster’s room. She also said that upon hearing of my arrival, Elgart had immediately cleared his schedule. Perhaps he was worried that if he made me wait too long, I might get fed up and leave. With a snort, I stood up and followed her.
“The last time we met like this was during your duel with Raz, wasn’t it? You’ve grown so much since then, I almost didn’t recognize you, Sora.” The Rank 1 adventurer and Ishka’s guildmaster, Elgart Quis, smiled softly. There was no hint of unfriendliness in his words or expression. His appearance, right down to the faint scent of perfume and well-groomed beard, was just refined as always.
“Weren’t we supposed to be sharing what we know about the situation in Titus Forest?” I replied coldly, dispensing with the pleasantries and cutting right to the chase. I wanted him to know I had no intention of being on friendly terms with him, especially after our last discussion.
Elgart’s smile became strained. Ridelle, on standby behind him, gave me a sharp glare, but I pretended not to notice. I was just going to ask what I needed to ask, hear what I needed to hear, then get out of there. That was all.
“Yes, that’s correct. Then let’s get right to it, shall we? Over the past several days of investigating, I’ve concluded that a monster stampede has broken out in the forest.”
Elgart had started from the conclusion, so I did the same.
“Then I’ll tell you what I’ve learned. The depths of Titus Forest are like an iron kettle about to boil over right now. And at this rate, it’ll only be a matter of time before the monsters in the depths make it to the forest outskirts.” That would mean the monsters already on the outskirts would be pushed out of the forest.
Elgart nodded, as though he’d already suspected as much. “In other words, it won’t be long before those monsters head for Ishka. Correct?”
“That’s right. And I’m guessing the monsters in the depths won’t be far behind.” That would mean Ishka would experience a monster invasion more dangerous than any previous attack. And from what I’d witnessed in the depths, it was only a matter of time before it came to pass.
Elgart looked up at the ceiling in silence, then muttered, “So it’s a repeat of the nightmare from twenty years ago.”
“What happened twenty years ago?” I asked.
The guildmaster sighed heavily. “The truth is, this kingdom has experienced a monster stampede like this before—twenty years ago, when I was even younger than you are now. But back then, the abnormality didn’t come from Titus. It came from the Skim Mountains.”
Elgart went on to say that the enormous stampede had laid waste to many towns and villages. At the time, he and his adventuring party had stood against the horde, and he’d lost two of his comrades in the process. Ishka hadn’t come out unscathed either. In fact, the fortress wall had been erected after that incident to ensure nothing like that happened again.
I frowned in puzzlement. “And did you ever figure out the cause of the stampede?”
“Yes. Most likely, the volcanic activity in the mountains caused a sudden disruption in the monsters’ ecosystems.”
In other words, it had just been due to the whims of nature. That was better news than it being caused with malicious intent, but it was worrying nonetheless. Still, the present incident was our immediate concern right now. And judging from Elgart’s conclusion, the cause was probably something just as serious as a volcanic eruption, if not more so. The question was, what was it?
That was the reason I’d accepted the guild’s invitation today—to find out the answer. The guild had far more information and connections than the Bloodstained Blades did right now, so I needed their help. I had no choice but to admit that. That said, if they’d gotten to the bottom of things already, they wouldn’t have needed to share information with me in the first place, so they most likely didn’t know the answer either. But I thought that by accepting and learning what they knew, I might at least get some sort of hint.
And Elgart’s next words proved that guess of mine correct.