Chapter 14 : Collaborator

side：？？？

『Could you explain the previous situation?,Who are those collaborators and how did you manage to prevent the a.s.sa.s.sination? You did well, though after calculations, you had only 10%
chance to do it.』
『Stop joking around!! Did you plan on leaving Aria-nee-sama to die!?』

On the monitor, the second princess of the country, Seraria-Sama, attacked the man who asked the question. After all, it looks like the fact that Mauve knew the princess beforehand was true.

『I will explain everything. Please Herge, Oriel, help me and restrain the Drills. Because we can’t ignore this unskillful, and annoying Princess, i’ll start from the beginning.』
『Ane-Sama, please, I request your calm』
『Seraria-Sama, even if Yuki is irritating, please control yourself as the talk can’t go forward.』

I was relieved, seeing Serira-sama separates from him.
Herge ・ Rou・Roshuru. Unlike me, she’s a real Holy Woman, she received the divine protection from the lord Lily-Sama.

The disturbance was caused by your a.s.sa.s.sination 『Herge ・ Rou・Roshuru』.

「aahah!! She’s such a high spirited Oujo-Sama, unlike Herge」

Mauve-San is laughing. Although I heard from him the circ.u.mstances behind his meeting with Oujo-Sama, such a casual way of doing things can be considered as a strength and a weakness.

『Silence!! Mauve, I heard about your behavior from Herge. It’s not because she forgave you that I will comply. One hundred times!! I will slap you One hundred times!!』
「Isn’t it a story from the past? But with your tiny arms Ojou-Sama, i will welcome you any time」
『Heh, despite of her slender arms, this Ojou-Sama is a level 63 Valkyrie you know?』
「Bu!? A level higher than mine!? Furthermore a woman as a vanguard!! Wait, if I let you hit me 100 times, i’ll die !!」
『It’s alright!! Herge can heal you every time I hit you… Fufufufufu…』

So that’s the reason, Seraria is a battle maniac. This is the first time I heard about her cla.s.s. I’m surprised, this cla.s.s is like a G.o.d of war who rises in the battlefield, cutting
without distinction between humans and demons.

『An act is fine, but now, please start with the real talk.』

Who’s that man? Guessing from the flow, it seems that he is the only one who can push forward the conversation. In regard to the Princesse, Move-San and his buddies were the one who
helped them. So who in the world is this man?

「Understood. Then Oujo-Sama, for now let’s put the matter regarding the hundred on hold. I hope for a penalty reduction though.」
『Rejected. Now speak about the details.』

It’s not yet the time for me to intervene. And for the time being, I’m still interested in this story.

「Let’s see, from where should I start the story…」
『Mauve-Dono, please start from the moment right after I left with Seraria-Sama and Herge-Sama.』
[ I wasn’t there at the time. If I was there, would you reconsider that matter a bit?]
『Not possible. If anything, you should be happy that I was unconscious due to the poison. If I could move at that time, the first thing i would do is to kill your bunch.』
[So scary. Then i’ll explain from the vicinity.]

Side : Mauve, Somewhere in the past.

「That’s my first time coming to this guild, do you have any valuable work?」

I was supposed to buy a slave after parting from Curse and Raija, but after getting in touch with Yuki, when he said 「I’m looking forward to see your taste in woman」, I decided to
involve Raija and Curse.

[Yuki probably wants to hit right into your delusion. At any rate, it’s bad if I don’t examine everything as being told. I have to check the army’s movement. Please, go inside the
adventurer’s guild and gather some information.]

That’s how it was up to the present day. However, I’m becoming more and more suspicious. This evil scheme may only on after spilling some blood.

While I was pondering about such things, a slightly older sister replied to my question

「There is 2 types of request. The first one depends on your rank and the second one is open to everyone. By the way, what is your rank? Without knowing I can’t give you proper advice.」
「Oups. Here, take this.」

I took my guild card from my bosom. It’s an amazing tool. It can hold the record of completed quests, the number of monsters subjugated and it can even store money.
When I told it to Yuki he replied 「It’s better than the other side because it’s a fantasy world after all…」. If this guy’s hometown doesn’t have something like a guild card, it is
really inconvenient.

「Oh!! It was Mauve-San after all. The Protector Hero. 」

「When the girl raised an utter cry, I became the center of attention for the people from the guild.」

「Oi oi, Mauve, That Mauve-San?」
「A guild card can’t be falsified, there is no mistakes, he is the hero.」
「Protector Hero?」
「Precisely, I heard that there was once an attack orchestrated by the demons against a city from the country of Gal. Because the main soldiers under the Town’s Lord were away in
order to exterminate a group of thief, the Town was led near his extinction.」
「At that time, a man stepped forward and led a small group of adventurers to defend the Town. They perfectly reprimanded the demons.」

They’re talking about my younger days here. Sigh. Usually, because I don’t want to expose myself, I usually hit the receptionist desk. But this time it was different. I did it in
order to make my job easier.

「Say, Mauve-San, Weren’t you under a contract of exclusivity with that town?」

「What, was it not transmitted here? Is this a flag? When Princess Herge came here, she promoted me..」

「That’s the case since the war started.」
「Ee! I didn’t hear about such a thing! Please wait a little bit, I need to talk with the Guild Master.」

I wonder why? The guild should be able to exchange information easily. .Although they might not have a monitor, they should still have a communication crystal so they can still
transmit sound. I think that the main guild was in the holy kingdom of Ritea right?

「Can you stay here for a bit? I’d like to hear a story from you?」
「I’m honored to be able to help a level 8 adventurer like you. What would you like to hear? 」
「Can you tell me the situation of the war? Because, as a level 8 adventurer and under contract with a Town, I couldn’t get much information.」

Meanwhile, I took out my purse. Gold is often used by adventurers as a mean to exchange information.

「I see, I don’t mind telling you this much for a few golds. About this story, everything started inside a village from the Country Gal. After she heard how awful was the treatment for the people living there, the Holy Woman decided to head out in order to save the village. However, Gal considered it as an act of aggression and claimed that she was a fake sent by our King. This led to the current situation and that’s how everything began.」

Hey! How can it become such a story here? The princess was completely put under the light. No, that’s understandable, but some items didn’t fit with this story.

「Mauve-San, The Guild Master is calling for you.」
「Sorry that I have to go, here, you may take this.」
「No, no i’m okay, there is no need.」
「Don’t worry about this, it’s meaningless for me.」
「Thank you… I hope to become an adventurer like you in the future.」
「You should quit already, you don’t want to end up like me…」

Things being said, I met with the Guild Master for my interview.

「Sorry, Although I got the proof from the headquarters that your testimony was correct, a problem came up.」
「What’s the matter?」
「I will not be wrong id I say that you already knew about communication crystals?
Yes, I heard about the communication crystals, you can contact someone else owning another one.」
「That’s the problem here, only the guilds use this kind of stuff. It’s convenient in order to contact each other guild branch.
「How is that a problem?」
「It’s usually not an important matter, but in time of war, there is the possibility that a guild may be doubted as a spy.」
「Sounds legit.」

「Now that you understood our circ.u.mstance, we can talk properly. I know that we may be a bit overdoing things, but we are suspecting you. An adventurer does often take over a mercenary quest when their country is at war. But it seems like you ran from your hometown, which was close to “that” village after all.」
「Because the war came nearer, I escaped and came here. But I got it, I should stop listening right now and take my leave.」
「I’ll talk for you so please be a.s.sured. You were able to escape here in order to escape from troubles. You should not try to partic.i.p.ate in this guild’s request to partic.i.p.ate in the war. Otherwise, it would be really troublesome…」
「I’m indebted to you now」
「No need for worries. What about your party? Are the members safe?」
「We’re lodging at the same inn inside the capital.」
「That’s a relief, we will help you. So, try not to do anything reckless」

Look like I pa.s.sed, what a relief.
After collecting a bit more information, I joined together with Raija’s party.

「And so, that’s about everything I learnt inside the Guild.」
「My Old Man already talked about this once before. The Guilds, aside from adventurers, never take part in the fight between countries.」

Curse, as the lord’s son, agreed easily with my story. After explaining everything to them, we got fixed upon our next decision.

「What now? We should go to the castle before the princess gets kidnapped.
Indeed, but listen to this interesting story.」
「What, a story?」
「Oriel ran away from the country, and the soldiers already gathered to make pursuit.」
「Oriel running away does probably mean that the princess already left.」
「All the soldiers are elites from the Royal Guard. Though they should be sent to fight against Gal.」
「Isn’t it only a coincidence? It could be a strategy meeting, right?」
「That would be good, but what if they are preparing for something else?」
「It’s too early to jump at the conclusion.」
「Yeah, We don’t know their numbers and their aim. What is the army thinking?」
「That’s not our problem for now, unless they plan to chase for the Princess.」
「We should go back to the inn and contact Yuki. I don’t know whether he will lose, but winning will be hard thing.」

After that, we reached the Inn and got into contact with Yuki.

『Humph, it’s a difficult matter.
「Yes
『I’m not yet able to conclude, I don’t have enough information.』
「Contact me when the army starts their move and also try to estimate their numbers.
Understood, we will contact you when the time comes」
『Try to find who is leading the army … And whether there is any strange human being mixed within the army.』
「A strange human? What do you mean?」
『It’s hard to explain, basically, you should look for someone not usually found within an army, like a minister, a merchant or a messenger from the kingdom.』
「An official, in order to move the army?」
『Not in order to move the army, but more in order to take over another country, is that a good reason?』
「I don’t understand, can you please explain as I got no idea what he is talking about.?」

I asked Curse who probably understood it better than me.

「Mauve-San, Yuki probably mean to 「Please stop the a.s.sa.s.sination of the King if you can」
『Exact』
「Right now, if someone suspicious is with the army when the King gets a.s.sa.s.sinated, he will be regarded as innocent.」
「I disagree, because he’s not around the scene, wouldn’t he also be considered as a suspicious person?」
「Yeah, but that’s not what he is aiming for. He will hire an a.s.sa.s.sin and pretend to suddenly know about it. Quickly bringing the army back, he’ll be able to earn himself high evaluations. They will say something of the like “this country’s Minister is a good man, loyal and intelligent”.」
「Obviously.」
「Furthermore, this army consists of this Country’s elites. The King himself will be blamed for is own a.s.sa.s.sination, because he sent all the army to do a meaningless fight. This will
lead the Royal Family in a really dire situation, They will still exist, but without any power.」
「And that crafty man will seizes all the power.」

Afterward, Curses asked Yuki about his own thought on the matter.

『Magnificent, it’s almost up to my thoughts. Do you want to replace me as the Dungeon Master?』
「I refuse, it would remind me of my younger days, as the lord’s son I did not have any freedom.」
『Such a pity. Nonetheless, it’s necessary to stop the a.s.sa.s.sination in order to break the enemy’s plan.』
「It will prove to be really difficult…」

I can’t understand at all why they worry this much…

A simple matter, we could end it only by saying to the King he might get a.s.sa.s.sinated!!
「…」
『…』

Yuki and Curse stared at me with a blank gaze. I wonder what is wrong about what I said?
As I thought about it, Reija placed his hand over my shoulder.

「Think carefully, we have no relation to the King. He would throw us in jail for less than this. Think about his face and how he will get insulted if some mere commoners like us say something as unbelievable as this.」

So it was like that, how troublesome.

「Should we secretly protect him during the night or something?
「It’s a possibility, but when it comes to you, his chances of surviving are really small.
「I will try to earn some knowledge and obt map about the castle as much as I can.」
「Not like the a.s.sa.s.sination will happen immediately. But it will be proven quite difficult.」
『Be careful, because if you do this the wrong way, the Royal Family might end up thinking that you’re the one trying to a.s.sa.s.sinate the King.
That’s why, Mauve-San, because you’re bad with this kind of things you should head to the slave market for the time being. Ah, and don’t forget to report the army’s movements like I
told you.』

This was how the talk ended, I quickly observed the army and found that they departed on the next day.

『Minister Loire… This guy looks good enough to be the ringleader of this plan. But if it comes to this, he isn’t someone you can deal with your current level, and without me landing a hand anyway.』
「About that, we managed to know about their numbers. It’s an army of 2000 soldiers. Please don’t die.」
『Oh ! They took into consideration the fact that I can escape. I’ll only be using them as a mean to test the Dungeon after all, and please, tell me if they send any reinforcement.』
「Alright, you can leave it to me.」

After the report ended, I went to continue my shopping.
By the way, Raija and Curse refused to come with me at the shop… At this rate, I will have end up buying all the slaves according to my tastes.
While I was Loitering around the Town… I met with a little group of youthful,elegant and alluring women!

「I..I came for an important business. S.. so.. I can’t accompany you.」
「Ah? You’re wrong though?」
「Seems so. Let’s have fun together !!」
「Can you see those huge b.r.e.a.s.t.s? I intend to use them you know?」

Did you think I’m foolish? On the contrary, I agree that when I was younger… No, I must have been one until recently. Her chest… They are like big melons….or more like watermelons?
They’re overflowing, indeed, they’re suitable. But because I still love my wife, even though she’s dead, I’m not ready to be driven in pleasure once again.

「Haihai, although you’re really alluring, aren’t you ashamed to do this being so young?」
「Nieee?」
「What did you say old man?」
「We are rank 4 adventurers you know? Do you understand the meaning?」
「Humpf」

She looked at my figure, probably thinking that I’m another weakling. You should not judge someone by his appearance you know?
Did I meet her somewhere? It’s almost as if i can remember her.
Does she resemble Herge? No way, she got blue hair and an overwhelming chest, then, is it about her atmosphere?

Oi ! Are you listening to me, Old man?
Stop ignoring us!!
Let’s beat him !!

And just like that, all of them jumped at me at the same time. However, I only needed a few breaths.

「Let’s see, little girl, Did we already met somewhere?」

The three girls were already sunk into the ground.

side：???

『And that’s when you met her… I mean the collaborator.』

While saying so, he, altogether with everyone, turned their gaze into my direction.

「I’ll be the one continuing the story.」

I took one step forward.

「Allow me to introduce myself, I’m from the Saint Country Ritea, My name is Lulu, previously known as Lulua Ritea. Formerly, the Holy Woman of Ritea.」

I said so and took off the hood hiding my face, together with my gla.s.ses.