“You recovered from skill exhaustion so severe, you were prepared for death…so the medicine worked, after all!” Lululee, sitting beside the bed, flashed a smile.
“I just about died from that medicine.”
“I wrote down the recipe, so it’ll be possible to mass-produce. You can relax and devote yourself to skill practice.”
“…”
She wasn’t listening to him at all. Lululee seemed really happy for some reason, her cheeks flushed, just like a child who had been praised for their cooking for the first time. Well, I guess I’ll let her do what she wants, Lowe thought, upon seeing her expression, and he prepared himself for what was to come, in many senses of the word.
“Oh yes.” Looking satisfied, Lululee stuck up a finger like she’d just remembered something. “When I was making my special medicine, I heard a little something from the researchers… Apparently, the crystal gate that we found during the Great Plains Quest wasn’t made by the guild after all.
Leaning against the wall, Jade was the first to react to this information. He must have been concerned about it, too. “That crystal gate for teleporting monsters?”
“The researchers were all baffled. They said they’d never seen a crystal gate like this…”
Lowe furrowed his brow at Lululee’s report. “So then there’s someone else aside from the Adventurers Guild that can analyze relics and make crystal gates?”
“And they’re misusing them to teleport monsters…,” said Jade.
They could only catch a slight glimpse of the ancients’ technology through analyzing relics. The Adventurers Guild currently controlled the study of relics and was putting it to good use. This was to prevent the technology from being abused, just like it had been in the Great Altano Plains.
For that reason, the guild bought relics at a high price that adventurers found and hired excellent researchers like Shelley under good conditions. There were currently no other large organizations that had the kind of people with expertise and funds in order to make crystal gates on their own.
“This time, the gate showed up in the middle of the Great Altano Plains, so there wasn’t a lot of damage, but if you were to bring that into town…,” said Jade.
“I’m told that we don’t need to worry too much about that yet,” said Lululee.
“Did the researchers say that?”
“That’s right. Apparently, you have to place the gates that use those crystals an appropriate distance apart, so they don’t interfere with each other. The big town crystal gates have a very wide interference range, so if you put any other gates inside the city, they would break.”
“I see, an interference range… So that’s why the gate using that green crystal wasn’t near town, but in the center of the Great Altano Plains?”
“So then the problem is who made the crystal gate, huh?” Lowe said.
“I can’t imagine it…,” said Jade. “Even the Adventurers Guild took many years to develop the crystal gates, and they invested in a whole bunch of researchers…”
“You can’t think of anything, Lowe?” asked Lululee.
“Me? Hmm.” Though Lowe made a pondering gesture, he already had one idea. He knew of one organization with technology that rivaled that of the Adventurers Guild. It wouldn’t have been strange for them to have developed crystal gate technology in secret.
Guess I’ll look into it…
Despite thinking one thing, he said the opposite aloud. “Not really. The higher-ups at the guild would know way more,” he lied without so much as a blink, shrugging calmly. He kind of hated himself for being so used to doing this sort of thing. Of course, he also had the skill to keep those feelings off his face.
“Well, there’s no immediate danger, so I guess it’s best to leave it to the guild.” Jade folded his arms and gave a little nod. “I’ve told Glen. The guild should look into it.”
“That reminds me, is Glen all right? He’s gone to the Dark Guild headquarters, hasn’t he?” Lululee’s expression grew concerned, as if she’d just remembered. They had heard from Jade that Glen was heading to the Dark Guild headquarters to get some information on hidden quests.
Even if it was for hidden quests, Jade seemed to have doubts about this, a serious look on his face as he groaned and scratched his temple. “I tried to stop Glen…but it was no use… He’s just as stubborn as Alina…”
“Agh, this is the problem with people who have too much initiative,” said Lowe.
“H-he’s not going to start a fight, so I’m sure he’ll be fine!” Lululee added.
Lowe wasn’t so sure about that.
So long as their territory was respected, the Dark Guild wouldn’t do anything. But they would never forgive people who tried to waltz in on their turf or people who tried to run away with their treasures—their knowledge. If the worst happened, Glen might really not come back.
Of course, Lowe would never dare to say such things to his nervous companions.
“Well, I’m sure it’ll be fine. Glen isn’t an idiot.”
With another lie, Lowe put on a smile.