Published: January 24, 2026
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“Hello, Ms. Eleonora.”
A few days later, when I arrived at the Seeker’s Guild, I called out to Eleonora, a guild staff member who had been kind to me since I became a seeker.
“Oh, Orun-kun, hello. It’s been a while. I heard you went to clear several dungeons domestically. Since you’re back, I assume you finished without any trouble?”
Eleonora greeted me with a delighted smile as she noticed me.
“Yes, I was able to finish without any problems.”
“As expected. Good work. So, did you come here to report to the Guild Master? He should be here all day today, but I’ll check for you. Please wait a moment.”
Before I could say anything, Eleonora seemed to sense my purpose and said this before disappearing toward the back of the building.
Left with some time to spare while waiting for her return, I headed to the guild’s archive room.
This was where countless reports submitted by seekers were stored, and any seeker could freely browse through them.
Relying on memory, I wandered until I found the report I was looking for.
I picked it up and checked its contents.
“Hahaha… looking at it again, it’s really a crude report.”
What I was looking at was the very first report that Oliver, Luna, and I had painstakingly created when we first became seekers, under Eleonora’s guidance.
Reading it now, the quality was terrible, but the words conveyed how vividly we had been living as seekers.
After the cult’s attack destroyed our village, took my friends, and altered my memories, we ended up in Tsutolairu.
The dream of clearing the Great Southern Labyrinth was something Philly had deliberately planted in my mind.
Now that I’ve regained my memories, it wouldn’t be true to say I have no thoughts about that.
But that past version of me is undeniably part of who I am today, and it shouldn’t be denied.
I’ve gained many things precisely because I came here.
I have many precious things now.
I definitely don’t want to lose this place.
Even if I can never return again, as long as everyone can be themselves, that alone is enough for me.
“Oh, Orun-kun, you’re here. The Guild Master is waiting for you in his office. Could you go see him now?”
Lost in thought while looking at the report, I was called over by Eleonora, who had come to find me.
“Understood. Thank you for going out of your way.”
After expressing my gratitude, I headed to the Guild Master’s office.
“Excuse me.”
“Welcome, Orun-kun. I’ve heard a brief report from Eleonora. It sounds like you’ve safely finished clearing dungeons across various locations. Good work.”
When I arrived at the Guild Master’s office, he greeted me with his usual smile and words of appreciation.
“…Thank you.”
“Still, you could have just reported to Eleonora. Coming all the way here to report to me—that’s very conscientious of you.”
“Actually, for convenience, I made it a report, but the real reason I came was to talk to you about something else.”
“Hmm. Talk to me? What kind of matter is it?”
“Before that, may I ask you a question? What are your thoughts on the guild’s true purpose?”
Although the Guild Master did not change his expression, his eyes no longer smiled.
“The guild’s true purpose? You mean the guild’s principle of ‘managing dungeons and supplying magic stones to various regions without fail’? I think that’s important. Magic tools are indispensable in today’s world. Supplying the magic stones that power them in proper amounts is the mission the Seeker’s Guild must fulfill.”
What the Guild Master said was not wrong.
The Seeker’s Guild, which exerts influence worldwide without belonging to any nation, can be said to act as a neutral organization balancing the world.
But that’s not what I want to hear.
“I don’t want to hear such textbook pretense. You should know the real reason the Seeker’s Guild exists.”
The Grandmaster of the Seeker’s Guild, Belia, has lived since the era of fairy tales.
Back then, he fought the evil god alongside August, and after sealing the evil god, he also helped create the World of Principles of Techniques.