The Crimson Moon Brigade, located at the Adventurer’s Guild headquarters.
As we ate at the bar near the entrance like usual, Ms. Kaori jogged over to us looking ecstatic.
“Amazing, Shinobu! More people want to join our guild now!”
“Congrats on that. It must be expensive managing the Adventurer’s Guild.”
“Not that one—the reincarnator guild!”
All the otherworlders around us turned their eyes toward her.
It’d been decided that I was going to be in Ms. Kaori’s care for the time being. As it turned out, the reason her members disliked her so much wasn’t just because she was so strict about rules, but also because she had a penchant for shouting out the word “reincarnator” at the top of her lungs. Whether impulses like this were a good thing or not was still up for debate.
“But Ms. Kaori, why would anyone want to join another reincarnator guild? Most reincarnators have been taken by that bastard’s guild, the Lions of Patriotism that control the Merchants’ Alliance.”
“It’s all thanks to you. You took down twenty level 99s head-on. You’ve basically become a legend at this point.”
Whoops. Looks like I’m standing out too much again. Not that I had much intention of hiding it anymore. If Ms. Kaori’s guild could add to my overall strength, I’d take it gratefully.
“Ms. Kaori, about what I asked of you...”
“Oh, right. That.”
She pulled out a photo of a woman who looked like Megumi. This was a different photo than the one she showed me before. Ms. Kaori had obtained this one as a reward for a “certain incident” from Mikagami. “You fit her eyes, therefore I recommend staying yourself” were his parting words when he’d left it with her.
Apparently, he’d said something different to the bastard.
The nobles in this world knew of things called “magic photos.” They could come in the form of crystal balls, plates laced with magic, or even paper. Paper was their basic form, so equating them to something that existed in modern Japan would make them photographs.
The expression I was making as I gazed at this new magic photo was indescribable.
“She really does look like her... Have you located her?”
I might have been Megumi’s blood brother, but even I couldn’t tell whether this was her or not. Mikagami’s statement that Megumi would die upon logging in had been weighing on my mind. So as soon as I saw this photo, I knew I had to investigate it.
“This woman is allegedly a genius mage who resides in the greatest port town in the world—the southern city, Abrasil.”
“Abrasil... In the south? Isn’t that...?” I trailed off as a bad feeling set in.
Ms. Kaori responded with a grave expression. “It’s where the Lions of Patriotism have made their base. Mr. Imabayashi’s stronghold.”
That’s what sealed it for me.
The time had finally come for me to face that bastard in person.