Alina tried to leave, but completely lost her moment, and the little sickroom, filled with people, became temporarily quite lively.
Glen had arranged for Jade and Lowe to get a private room, so even with the guildmaster of the Adventurers Guild visiting, there was no large fuss made.
Jade watched Glen’s private secretary Fili smoothly leave a visitor’s gift and then leave as he casually asked Glen, “Oh yeah, so, Glen, did you ever find out where the Sage was, in the end?”
“…The Sage?” Alina scowled, thinking that another troublesome-sounding term had come up.
Glen scratched his cheek awkwardly. “Yeah, there’s a bit of a reason for that. I went to the Dark Guild headquarters in order to look into the whereabouts of the Sage, who vanished fifteen years ago.”
“You seemed like you were getting along with Gramps…the Dark Guild guildmaster, so the negotiation must’ve gone well. That’s nice,” Lowe said, like it was none of his business.
Beside him, Jade groaned quietly. “…Considering the poor relationship between the Adventurers Guild and the Dark Guild so far, isn’t it a pretty big deal to have forged a connection with the guildmaster of the Dark Guild…?”
“Indeed it is. I got results pertaining to the whereabouts of the Sage, too.”
But despite Glen saying that, his expression grew solemn. He glanced around briefly, then lowered his voice slightly.
“After his disappearance, the Sage was apparently living quietly as an adventurer in a tiny rural village called Fillua. He lived there for about five years.”
Alina was about to say, Hey, you’re talking about that sketchy stuff again. Can you stop trying to drag me into it?—but then she suddenly closed her mouth.
…Fillua?
That was the name of the town where Alina was born.
And also, if he had been living there for about five years since his disappearance, that would have been right when Alina was still in Fillua.
Alina had been born and grown up in Fillua until she had turned fifteen, become a receptionist, and moved to Iffole. Of course, there had been no rumors of any “Sage” or any other weirdo showing up there—Fillua was peaceful place, far away from that sort of fishiness.
“…” Alina furrowed her brow quizzically, and she listened to Glen, out of mild curiosity.
“Why would the Sage be living as an adventurer in a little village…?” Jade wondered.
Glen groaned in resignation. “I don’t know. It’s a little sad for it to be that he wanted to throw away the title of Sage. He was a sharp and able man; he should have been able to conceal himself more thoroughly.”
“So then where did the Sage go after that?” Lululee tilted her head.
Glen paused. He fell hesitantly silent, then eventually opened his mouth slowly. “The Sage—died.”
Instantly, tension ran through the sickroom.
“H-he died…?!” Jade’s eyes widened, and he leaned forward automatically.
Lululee and Lowe were also frozen with shock. Thus far, it had been unknown whether the Sage was alive or dead. The one saving grace was that there had been no proof to say for sure that he had died.
“The Sage disguised himself as an adventurer and settled down in Fillua, and then he was unluckily attacked by monsters in a dungeon and died, I’m told,” Glen explained.
But Jade muttered as if that just didn’t make sense to him. “…Attacked by monsters and died…? Is that true? I’ve only heard of him in stories, but I heard that he was quite the master in battle…”
“I’m still not convinced about the cause of his death, either. The fourth generation Sage was originally talented in both the literary and military arts and had a powerful skill. He wouldn’t have been carelessly killed by monsters… Oh yes, when he was in Fillua, of course he also changed his name,” Glen said, as if he’d just remembered.
And then he said the name of that adventurer who had died, the name the Sage had used as a disguise.
“—His name was Shroud.”
The End