「…aah, no problem.」
When I answered him, the hero, for some reason, let out a sigh of relief.
I cocked my head to the side in confusion.
It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that the hero and I hated each other.
As for me, I hated him, so I made sure to avoid him, but why did he have a change of heart?
While I was thinking about something like that, Kurou started talking.
The large number of people made the room feel small, and his gaze, which was sharp even on normal days, became even more pointed.
The hero and the others stirred.
Was Zeal-san used to it, it had nothing to do with me, so I was sipping the tea that had been served.
「If that were the case, I want to kick everyone except for Zeal boy out of this house, but….」
Kurou glanced at me.
「In consideration for his recuperation, I’ll allow it. Though if you’re noisy, I’ll have you sleep outside, no questions asked.」
I gave a wry smile at his complaint that was merciless as usual.
It seems that he was, more or less, taking me into consideration, and was a tsundere through and through.
Due to the number of chairs, other than the hero and Kyousuke, my classmates were standing.
Kurou was in front of Zeal-san, I was in front of Kurou, and Amelia was next to me.
The hero, who was sitting across from Amelia, was blushing due to Amelia’s beauty, but Amelia was indifferent towards the hero.
Kyousuke, who was across from me, and Yoru, who was on my shoulder, were staring at each other and having a silent exchange.
Sparks were flying.
「First of all, Kurou. What happened with Linga?」
I asked about the thing that I had requested of him when I collapsed due to magic exhaustion.
At this rate, the conversation wouldn’t go anywhere, and it seems that Kurou didn’t seem interested in facilitating between them from the very beginning.
Everyone’s gazes landed on Kurou.
He frowned, as if irritated at that, and took a sip of his tea.
「…that guy’s innocent.
I was surprised.
I thought that Linga was the one who assisted the demons.
Or rather, in terms of the circumstances, Linga was the most suspicious.
No matter how much it was rumored that the dungeons were created by the demon king, there was no way that they could pinpoint the exact location of the dungeon to transfer to.
Even if it was Mahiro’s magic circles, some sort of mark was necessary for the transfer point.
Before, Commander Saran, had said that magic was not omnipotent.
Magic that allowed you to go to a desired location in an instant indeed existed, but you could only travel to places you’ve been to before.
Mahiro’s magic circles should have their own limitations as well.
If it was Linga, he was the guildmaster of a city with a dungeon, and that was strength in itself as well.
I thought that he would be able to mark the lowest level of the dungeon.
「However, there was another suspicious guy.」
Kurou clenched his fists.
His nails bit into his skin, and he was bleeding.
It seems that Kurou was unaware of this.
「It’s the guildmaster of the guild in the largest city, Uruk, that guy’s already corrupted.」
「His name?」
Sitting on top of my shoulder, Yoru reacted.
Amelia seems to have stiffened as well.
In Kurou’s eyes, there was undoubtedly killing intent as he said that name.
「His name is Gram. the former beastman prime minister, the current king’s nephew and the target of my revenge.」
My eyes widened when I heard that name.
It was a name that I’ve heard before.
I looked at Yoru.
『Master-dono’s guessed correctly. It’s the name that was uttered by the assailants in the elven territory who tried to kidnap Miss Amelia.』
At that time, Yoru had said that there seemed to be a prime minister named Gram, but to think that he became the prime minister.
Moreover, for him to be the target of Kurou’s revenge….
「…this is the first time I’ve heard about Kurou’s revenge, but did Amelia and Yoru know about it?」
There was no way for us to share information.
There were too many things happening one after another recently, and then Amelia was abducted, so there was no time to sit down and talk.
「I heard about it the day I was abducted by Aulum. From Yoru.」
「Talk about that over there. I don’t want to hear about it.」
Perhaps it was an extremely unpleasant topic for him, because Kurou turned away.
I gave Amelia a look, asking her to tell tell me about it later, before turning back to Kurou.
「So then, the Gram or something, how is he suspicious?」
At my words, Kurou, who had turned away, looked towards me.
「How or whatever, that guy is nothing but a scoundrel. Just by asking around, you would find out about his impropriety, underground dealings, and whatnot.」
Nothing but a scoundrel.
It certainly described him perfectly.
「Embezzlement, human trafficking, larceny, kidnappings, imprisonment…. He’s done everything but murder. It seems that he lets his subordinates take care of that, but it doesn’t really make a difference.」
Kidnapping, imprisonment, and trafficking of the elves, huh.
However, if you looked into it, you would immediately uncover the skeletons in his closet, so why were they letting him do as he pleased?
I quickly figured out the answer to that.
「It’s because he’s part of the royal family, huh.」
Kurou nodded.
Amelia bit her lips.
As someone who was also royalty, it was probably unforgivable.
「That guy used his position as the king’s nephew and committed various crimes ever since he became the prime minister. There was one time where he was exposed and was relieved of his position as prime minister, and even when he became the guildmaster, he didn’t stop.」
I lowered my gaze and stared at the light amber-colored tea.
For such a guy to actually exist….
He was much crueler than Retice’s princess.
「It’s because he’s royalty. Just because of that, he wouldn’t be punished for anything. According to the rumors, it seems that he’s employed a skilled mercenary, so even if you tried to assassinate him, that person would take care of everything. …that guy doesn’t deserve to live.」
Doesn’t deserve to live, huh.
If that was all I heard, that’s certainly what I would think.
However, I don’t want to be like the self-proclaimed hero who killed the demon king’s wife.
It may be necessary for me to investigate it myself.
「What does that guy have to do with guiding the demons to the Brute Dungeon?」
「…aah, no problem.」
When I answered him, the hero, for some reason, let out a sigh of relief.
I cocked my head to the side in confusion.
It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that the hero and I hated each other.
As for me, I hated him, so I made sure to avoid him, but why did he have a change of heart?
While I was thinking about something like that, Kurou started talking.
The large number of people made the room feel small, and his gaze, which was sharp even on normal days, became even more pointed.
The hero and the others stirred.
Was Zeal-san used to it, it had nothing to do with me, so I was sipping the tea that had been served.
「If that were the case, I want to kick everyone except for Zeal boy out of this house, but….」
Kurou glanced at me.
「In consideration for his recuperation, I’ll allow it. Though if you’re noisy, I’ll have you sleep outside, no questions asked.」
I gave a wry smile at his complaint that was merciless as usual.
It seems that he was, more or less, taking me into consideration, and was a tsundere through and through.
Due to the number of chairs, other than the hero and Kyousuke, my classmates were standing.
Kurou was in front of Zeal-san, I was in front of Kurou, and Amelia was next to me.
The hero, who was sitting across from Amelia, was blushing due to Amelia’s beauty, but Amelia was indifferent towards the hero.
Kyousuke, who was across from me, and Yoru, who was on my shoulder, were staring at each other and having a silent exchange.
Sparks were flying.
「First of all, Kurou. What happened with Linga?」
I asked about the thing that I had requested of him when I collapsed due to magic exhaustion.
At this rate, the conversation wouldn’t go anywhere, and it seems that Kurou didn’t seem interested in facilitating between them from the very beginning.
Everyone’s gazes landed on Kurou.
He frowned, as if irritated at that, and took a sip of his tea.
「…that guy’s innocent.
I was surprised.
I thought that Linga was the one who assisted the demons.
Or rather, in terms of the circumstances, Linga was the most suspicious.
No matter how much it was rumored that the dungeons were created by the demon king, there was no way that they could pinpoint the exact location of the dungeon to transfer to.
Even if it was Mahiro’s magic circles, some sort of mark was necessary for the transfer point.
Before, Commander Saran, had said that magic was not omnipotent.
Magic that allowed you to go to a desired location in an instant indeed existed, but you could only travel to places you’ve been to before.
Mahiro’s magic circles should have their own limitations as well.
If it was Linga, he was the guildmaster of a city with a dungeon, and that was strength in itself as well.
I thought that he would be able to mark the lowest level of the dungeon.
「However, there was another suspicious guy.」
Kurou clenched his fists.
His nails bit into his skin, and he was bleeding.
It seems that Kurou was unaware of this.
「It’s the guildmaster of the guild in the largest city, Uruk, that guy’s already corrupted.」
「His name?」
Sitting on top of my shoulder, Yoru reacted.
Amelia seems to have stiffened as well.
In Kurou’s eyes, there was undoubtedly killing intent as he said that name.
「His name is Gram. the former beastman prime minister, the current king’s nephew and the target of my revenge.」
My eyes widened when I heard that name.
It was a name that I’ve heard before.
I looked at Yoru.
『Master-dono’s guessed correctly. It’s the name that was uttered by the assailants in the elven territory who tried to kidnap Miss Amelia.』
At that time, Yoru had said that there seemed to be a prime minister named Gram, but to think that he became the prime minister.
Moreover, for him to be the target of Kurou’s revenge….
「…this is the first time I’ve heard about Kurou’s revenge, but did Amelia and Yoru know about it?」
There was no way for us to share information.
There were too many things happening one after another recently, and then Amelia was abducted, so there was no time to sit down and talk.
「I heard about it the day I was abducted by Aulum. From Yoru.」
「Talk about that over there. I don’t want to hear about it.」
Perhaps it was an extremely unpleasant topic for him, because Kurou turned away.
I gave Amelia a look, asking her to tell tell me about it later, before turning back to Kurou.
「So then, the Gram or something, how is he suspicious?」
At my words, Kurou, who had turned away, looked towards me.
「How or whatever, that guy is nothing but a scoundrel. Just by asking around, you would find out about his impropriety, underground dealings, and whatnot.」
Nothing but a scoundrel.
It certainly described him perfectly.
「Embezzlement, human trafficking, larceny, kidnappings, imprisonment…. He’s done everything but murder. It seems that he lets his subordinates take care of that, but it doesn’t really make a difference.」
Kidnapping, imprisonment, and trafficking of the elves, huh.
However, if you looked into it, you would immediately uncover the skeletons in his closet, so why were they letting him do as he pleased?
I quickly figured out the answer to that.
「It’s because he’s part of the royal family, huh.」
Kurou nodded.
Amelia bit her lips.
As someone who was also royalty, it was probably unforgivable.
「That guy used his position as the king’s nephew and committed various crimes ever since he became the prime minister. There was one time where he was exposed and was relieved of his position as prime minister, and even when he became the guildmaster, he didn’t stop.」
I lowered my gaze and stared at the light amber-colored tea.
For such a guy to actually exist….
He was much crueler than Retice’s princess.
「It’s because he’s royalty. Just because of that, he wouldn’t be punished for anything. According to the rumors, it seems that he’s employed a skilled mercenary, so even if you tried to assassinate him, that person would take care of everything. …that guy doesn’t deserve to live.」
Doesn’t deserve to live, huh.
If that was all I heard, that’s certainly what I would think.
However, I don’t want to be like the self-proclaimed hero who killed the demon king’s wife.
It may be necessary for me to investigate it myself.
「What does that guy have to do with guiding the demons to the Brute Dungeon?」
