Jack of All Trades, Party of None

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“Ah, Sophie, good morning!”

As I entered the room set up for the explorers of the silver rabbits of the night sky, Carol, who was already there, called out to me.

“Yeah. Good morning, Carol.”

Carol should have been tired too, but she wore her usual cheerful smile as if nothing was wrong.

It’s hard to believe it’s already been two months since Mr. Orun and Sister Ru left the silver rabbits of the night sky.

In these two months, the environment around us has drastically changed: dungeons across the continent began flooding, causing large numbers of demonic beasts to appear on the surface; the war between the kingdom and the empire, which had been intensifying, was put on hold; and many other shifts have occurred.

What changed the most for us was that our opportunities to go somewhere other than Tsutolairu increased dramatically.

To hunt the demonic beasts that appeared on the surface, we explorers have been dispatched to various parts of the country.

Today, too, we are scheduled to head to a nearby town to provide support.

“Good morning, Log.”

I greeted Log, who was sitting next to Carol, frowning as he read the newspaper.

Log lifted his gaze to me, and his expression softened just a little.

“Ah, good morning. Sophie, have you read this morning’s paper yet?”

“No, I slept in until the last minute today, so I haven’t gotten around to it. Was there something big in it?”

“Hmm, it’s kind of big news in its own way.”

Carol answered my question.

It seemed she had already read it.

Since Mr. Orun told us last year that we should keep up with the papers, we have done our best to read them whenever possible.

“Here, take a look.”

I took the newspaper Log handed me and focused on the article.

On the front page was a report about the recent summit of leaders from various countries.

The summit was made possible because, shortly after demonic beasts began appearing on the surface, the Seeker's Guild called on all nations to convene.

At the meeting, the Seeker's Guild first announced the appointment of a new grandmaster.

Then, three agreements were reached.

The first: to set aside national boundaries and unite people to confront the threat of demonic beasts.

The second: to conquer the three remaining Great Labyrinths on the continent.

And the third: Mr. Orun, who had shown attitudes seemingly siding with the demonic beasts, was given the title “Demon King” and placed on an international wanted list as a common enemy of the world.

“Amazing... It’s exactly as Mr. Orun said…”

I couldn’t help but whisper after finishing the article.

The day we returned from Darane, Mr. Orun suddenly announced his withdrawal from the silver rabbits of the night sky.

Along with that, he spoke of the future that was about to unfold.

I barely believed the words about dungeons across the continent flooding, but it really happened.

At that time, Mr. Orun said he would cause a major incident to be known as the very person responsible.

I think that incident was the grandmaster’s assassination in the Royal Capital.

And, just as Mr. Orun wished, he became the common enemy of the world.

Everything is unfolding exactly as he laid out to us that day.

“Right? And still, being called the ‘Demon King’... sounds kind of cool.”

Carol responded to my whisper.

Cool...?

“That means ‘King of the Demonic Beasts,’ you know? There’s nothing cool about that.”

Log rejected Carol’s impression.

“If what the master says is true, then the Seeker’s Guild caused this whole mess, right? So why is that guild now seen as the world’s ally? The master didn’t do anything wrong!”

Log suddenly raised his voice, perhaps out of frustration.

“Hey, if someone else hears you say that, it’ll be a big problem!”

I hurriedly tried to calm him down.

Only nine people who heard Mr. Orun’s story in the leader’s office that day truly know his intentions.

Because the leader officially expelled Mr. Orun as planned, other members have only seen the surface of what Mr. Orun did.