∗ ∗ ∗
We conversed while gathering up various materials, and afterward, we brought the unconscious mage’s guild leader in the coach and returned to the city of Midrogue. As it happened, besides the bones and mana stone fragments of the skeleton king, we also collected its cursed sword and armor. Usually we’d have been at a loss as to how to transport them back, but this time we had Katarina’s coach. It belonged to her personally, so we didn’t have to pay the fee that a hired coach would usually charge for extra baggage. We eagerly took advantage of her kindness.
The possessions of the mage’s guild leader himself were technically part of my haul as well, but I relinquished them to Katarina, who I assumed would want them. Naturally, he had a lot of different expensive—and therefore useful—magic tools, but currying favor with Katarina was more important. However, Katarina said that once the investigation was over, she’d hand them all over to me or buy them at market price. She stressed that since I’d been the one who defeated him, I had the right to take spoils.
This could’ve been interpreted as Katarina being loath to owe me a debt, but it was long past time for that. If she felt that way at all, she wouldn’t have entrusted me with this job. In other words, this was purely her being considerate of me.
I was extremely appreciative of this, and I had no reason to turn her down. So I accepted Katarina’s offer and told her that if there was anything she wanted, she’d get first dibs to buy it.
✦ ✦ ✦
∗ ∗ ∗
“The mage’s guild leader, huh? Well, he was always a pretty shady guy, but I never would’ve expected him to be a necromancer,” Fresco remarked weightily when I returned to the adventurer’s guild to report in. Katarina had hired us through the adventurer’s guild, so I had a duty to report. But given its nature, the details of the job were a secret from all the staff except for the guild leader himself. That was possible, if you were someone with influence.
Well, Katarina wasn’t that big of a deal, but it was possible this time due to Katarina and Fresco’s personal affiliation. Besides, their goals of improving Midrogue were in alignment. The mage’s guild leader must have been quite a hindrance to them, I thought.
“He was shady?” I asked.
Fresco reiterated, “Yeah, he was shady as hell. He’s on the city council, but he’s opposed basically every city growth proposal.”
“It could just be that he has a different perspective, right?”
A plan that Fresco and Katarina were sure would benefit the city might be disadvantageous for the mage’s guild leader. For example, a proposal might allow the city to grow as a whole but undermine the mage’s guild or endanger its continued existence altogether. In those cases, the mage’s guild leader would be forced to oppose the proposal in order to protect his own position, the guild, and its members. It was a common enough situation.
But Fresco shook his head. “Nope, that wasn’t it. Me and Lady Katarina both started out with a lot of proposals that would mitigate the mage’s guild leader’s power. He was vocally against those. We wanted to take the reins wherever we could, of course.”
“Then...”
“But when things get into a long-standing deadlock, it doesn’t help anyone. Once we realized that, we started to compromise. We didn’t like having to do it, but we all live in the same city. We gotta compromise where we can so that we can all benefit. That was our line of thinking. So most of our proposals didn’t put him at a disadvantage.”
“And yet he was still opposed? Well, I guess that does seem strange.”
“There’s more. In general, he really didn’t want to bring people into the city. He vehemently argued that it was a waste of money to repair highways or plan celebrations so we’d get more visitors. And that brings us to now...”
“...With the repeated attacks on merchants along the highways, huh? That does seem to narrow down the culprits.”
“Exactly. But still, he’s the mage’s guild leader. Shady or not, we figured he wasn’t directly interfering with things. Turns out we were wrong. Sheesh.”
“It makes me wonder what he was doing all this for.”
“I don’t know the answer either.”
“You’re going to go interrogate him along with the other city council members, right? I guess I can’t ask about the specifics of that.”
I wasn’t on the city council. I’d just been hired as Katarina’s escort. Naturally, I wanted to know more about his motivations since I’d already gotten involved this far, but I knew my boundaries. I had supposed that hearing the details of the mage’s guild leader’s questioning would be crossing the line.
But to my surprise, Fresco said, “Nah, why not? Lady Katarina’s probably going to tell you about it anyway.”
“Huh?”
“At a glance, it looks like everything’s settled now, but there might be another disturbance on the horizon. She’s pretty perceptive about these things. I think she’s planning on talking to you about it so she can get your help.”
✦ ✦ ✦
∗ ∗ ∗
“All right, let me tell you about the interrogation.”
When we returned to our present lodgings at Katarina’s manor, Katarina was waiting. She cut right to the chase.
Cath was stretched languidly on her lap, getting plenty of attention. She showed none of the majesty one would expect from a demon cat.
Well, she’s still only a kitten, so that’s only natural...but isn’t she a little too friendly? I’d been able to form a <Follower Contract> with her, so she was clearly an eccentric kind of monster. I’d proved myself to the kobolds by force, but Cath had been a different story.
Speaking of which, I’d noticed a change in the skills on my status card earlier. I had wanted to check it as soon as I got back, but given the current situation, that would have to wait a bit longer.
Left without a say in the matter, I sat down close to Katarina. “I’d like to hear, but are you sure? This seems like a confidential city affair,” I asked.
“Well, that is true. But you’re the one who contributed the most in this matter, Noah. You have a right to know.”
“And what’s your real motive?”
“We learned a lot of bothersome things, so I want to tell you about it and get you further involved.”
“Thanks for being honest. I prefer it that way, since I can trust you more. So, what’d you find out?”
“After we brought Glydel back to town, he was bound and imprisoned in a magic-sealing prison. Ah, let me give you back this white rope.”
“Oh, thanks.”
“Don’t mention it. The other council members were astounded by its effect, but I came up with some excuse, so they won’t make any inquiries.”
“Thanks for being prudent.”
“You’re welcome. So, let’s continue. I’ll start from when Glydel woke up.”