Chapter 99 - Conquerors (2)

That's quite a fierce statement.

The two guilds were already famous rivals, and if they became outright enemies, it would likely shake the entire balance of the Explorer guilds.

That would mean weakened deterrence against Abyss Worshipers, which would disadvantage me too.

"Fortunate indeed."

"So speak freely. Is there any specific reward you want? We could permanently loan an A-rank artifact."

Ref was asking if he should show us their artifact catalog.

Though I was curious, that wasn’t what I was after.

"We have something we're preparing."

"Preparing?"

"We're creating a guild."

"Oh?"

Ref's bushy beard quivered.

Seems it was quite unexpected.

"A guild... But I heard you're a Novice?"

"I recently got promoted."

I revealed the Senior badge that had been hidden.

"Members? Have you gathered eight?"

"No. But we can get them anytime."

"You mean your 864th class classmates."

As expected of a major guild's vice master, Ref quickly deduced the answer.

"Even excluding those already in guilds, you'd have more than enough for eight. That's what you mean?"

"Correct. And we have more potential members beyond just classmates."

"Telema School?"

"That's one possibility."

"Then is Mea your strongest force?"

Rei and Leaf seemed surprised to hear that name here.

Rei showed it in her expression, Leaf in her shoulders twitching under her cape.

But I was different.

Within expected parameters.

I figured Conquerors would thoroughly understand our situation.

Not just their information network, but Conquerors has something.

A Devil Sorcerer from Telema School.

Hecate told me about the true active school members registered at Telema School.

While there were many ghost members, as the Director once said, five were real.

There were three excluding Hecate and Mea who were also members of the school.

Though they were all dual members and their being a part of Telema School was really just in name only, but that was beside the point.

"You think so?"

"Hecate can't move. That leaves only Mea."

Can't, huh?

Hecate avoided talking about it, but my guesses seem to have hit the mark.

Probably has something to do with her price.

Hecate was a Devil Sorcerer in a pact with a Devil too powerful for me to brand.

I often forget since I used it for free, but with Devils, the higher their rank, the more enormous price they demanded.

It was just that Devil Sorcerers' own ranks must rise to form a pact with such high-ranking Devils, so it balanced out somewhat.

So unlike me, Hecate must pay an unimaginable price to use her power.

Let's set that issue aside for now.

Hecate's matter could be solved gradually later.

Unlike Mea, she didn't go down to the Abyss anyway.

There was plenty of time.

"Mea has her own team, she's still considering. But if we ask, she'll definitely join."

"Not bad. Looking after a fellow school member? Heard that wasn't her style though."

"We have something like a master-disciple relationship."

"Could be."

Hecate and Mea.

The two were surprisingly well-known even among the Explorer society's upper echelons.’

Perhaps that was why Ref showed more interest now that Mea's participation was presumed, compared to when we three proposed creating a guild.

Should I say it now?

Though my planned order was Frontier-Enigma-Conquerors, reverse order wouldn't matter.

After all, my initial plan was to persuade with promises.

"We'd like you to accept us as a subsidiary guild."

"Oh?"

The Half-Dwarf's previously round eyes narrowed.

"Is this as compensation for earlier, or a guild-to-guild proposal separate from that?"

"Would it be possible as compensation?"

That would make things very simple.

But Ref cut it off firmly.

"No That cannot be compensation,” he said.

"We will compensate. Definitely. That's Conquerors' rule. But the subsidiary matter is separate."

As acting guild master, he could probably approve first and report later.

Yet he refused, suggesting it didn't align with Conquerors' principles.

Personal compensation stayed personal.

Perhaps if we'd already created our guild, they'd accept it as guild-to-guild.

"Then let's go with the latter."

"Good. If it's a promising new guild with potential, it's worth investing in."

One might think this way was actually simpler, but we haven't revealed the main point yet.

"However, there's a condition."

"Speak."

"We'll make subsidiary contracts with other guilds besides Conquerors. With Frontier and Enigma too."

Ref, who had been answering smoothly until now, showed displeasure for the first time.

"That's hard to accept."

Having subsidiaries was a matter of guild pride.

Confidence that we could protect you.

Pride that our influence was this vast.

But sharing a subsidiary guild with other guilds?

That implied we alone couldn't handle you.

"You think we'd accept that? Though you're benefactors, remember my patience isn't great."

"We've already discussed with Frontier and Enigma."

A complete lie, of course.

"...Hmm?"

"You must know how close we are to Frontier, Ref sir."

"I did wonder why you came to us instead of Frontier."

"That's the answer to your wonder."

"Was it since the Second Floor closure operation? It did seem strange how readily you accepted when we offered to send people. Who proposed this plan? Not Viola Pelletier... Kirantel? Frontier's witch has been thinking."

Typical of smart people.

They imagine there must be some grand hidden meaning and let their imagination run wild.

As Vice Master of the massive Conquerors guild, Ref was quite intelligent.

He definitely knew a lot too.

Just the name Kirantel, I had only heard in passing and didn't know who they were.

But Ref created various hypotheses and guesses on his own before quickly identifying Kirantel as the mastermind.

"Then they judged you worth that much. They decided it needed three Pioneers. Isn't that right?"

"I'll leave that to your interpretation."

"Hmph."

Ref snorted as if saying, “Why hide what I already know.”

At this point, he was almost certain.

"Tell me. What you're hiding. The reason Pelletier and Kirantel measured your worth as equal to three Pioneers. We can't accept this proposal without knowing that."

Conversely, this meant they might accept if they knew.

Revealing my information was something we'd already agreed upon among ourselves.

I spoke immediately, "Two people."

"Hmm?"

"The answer to your questions, Ref sir. The secret of our team. Only two people in Frontier know it. In Enigma, none. But, well, you know them..."

Letting my words trail off with the implication that they were the type to do anything interesting, Ref nodded in understanding and asked, "...Are you certain?"

That those two haven't spread your secret to others.

I gladly nodded.

"Of course."

Arthur showed loyalty.

Viola protected our lives.

I trust them.

Though I had experienced firsthand how futile and sometimes irresponsible it could be to trust people, nevertheless.

"So?"

"If Conquerors absolutely must know, it must be limited to two people. And one must be Conquerors' Guild Master, Sullivan Evans."

"Ha!"

Ref let out a derisive laugh.

"How bold."

Though he said that, Ref didn't seem particularly displeased.

"What if we don't accept your proposal?"

"Nothing would change."

But while Conquerors was busy recovering from unexpected losses on the Second Floor, the outside would change rapidly.

Our guild would be like an intermediary nation.

Among major guilds too tangled in various interests to either cooperate or conflict easily, we could become an inflection point.

A subsidiary guild under joint names.

And of three of the top five guilds at that.

Then what would those guilds who grasp us as a connection think?

Wouldn't they try to create a new order?

As Piakra said, guilds were inherently competitive.

"How can we trust you'll protect the two-person limit?"

"There will be a Contract of Truth, won't there?"

"...You've thought this through."

The B-rank artifact, Contract of Truth.

Its effect wasn't extraordinary.

The contract had no enforcement power.

There were no severe penalties like losing life or power for breaking it, just one penalty: it informed the contract parties who broke the contract.

Because it was such a weak, simple penalty, it was almost impossible to neutralize.

So much so that there were no officially known cases of neutralization.

"Conquerors could impose any penalty and we couldn't handle it anyway. So, let's have you fight yourselves. What Conquerors stakes is their own trustworthiness."

The credibility Conquerors had built up.

That itself became the penalty.

Ref, who had been speaking boldly befitting his Dwarf bloodline, fell silent for the first time.

Then he suddenly called out toward the door.

"Margie! Angie! Stop eavesdropping and come in!"

Clunk.

"We're caught."

"Sorry."

"Our timing was."

"Off."

"Never mind that. Put those down and get the Contract of Truth from storage."

At Ref's words, the twins opened their mouths in a “we're surprised” expression, scurried over to set down the tea and refreshments, and said, "Hey."

"Vice Master."

"They said two people."

"Wouldn't we be perfect?"

"Ah! Since we're twins."

"Maybe we could count as one person together."

As the twins rapid-fired from his left and right, Ref showed no mercy, grabbing the twins—smaller even than himself, a Half-Dwarf—by their collars.

"Stop talking nonsense and get the contract, kids."

Whoosh—whoosh!

Showing his strength, Ref flung the twins beyond the door with just a light wave of his hand.

Using the twins' fading screams as background music, Ref returned to his seat and spoke like a businessman about to make a deal.

"We have one condition too."

"I'm listening."

"We'll dispatch the guild members who learn your secret to your guild."