Published: January 22, 2026
With the thanksgiving festival just a few days away, two individuals faced each other in a small meeting room of the Explorer’s Guild.
One was Leon Conti, the Guild Master responsible for managing the southern part of the continent, including the Great Southern Labyrinth.
The other was Philly Carpenter, an enchanter currently belonging to the hero party.
The atmosphere between them was far from friendly; a tense undercurrent stretched taut between them.
“First of all, well done. Achieving the quota in less than two months—that’s truly worthy of a hero party. Collecting that amount of magic stones must have been quite the challenge,” Leon said cheerfully, as usual, his smile never fading as he offered words of praise.
“...Is that sarcasm?” Philly replied, her expression bitter and tense as she responded to Leon’s praise.
“No, no, I didn’t mean it like that,” Leon said sincerely.
The number of magic stones the guild demanded as a penalty, excluding the silver rabbits of the night sky and red copper twilight, would have taken even an a rank party at least three months to gather.
Yet they achieved it within two months. That was certainly commendable.
“—Well, I did think your first dungeon exploration since joining the hero party was rather disgraceful. You dug your own grave by being overly cautious.”
“Ugh... That’s not important right now. The reason I came here today is one: why didn’t you report to me that Amuntzarse—and the white demon—were in the Great Southern Labyrinth?”
Though her tone was soft, Philly’s gaze was so sharp it could make an ordinary person tremble.
“Why? Because I imposed a gag order. There was no way a mere explorer like you would be informed.”
Leon answered calmly, unfazed by Philly’s piercing stare.
“Mere explorer? That’s just a pretense. I’m a close aide to the grandmaster. My position is higher than yours. Know your place.”
“Suppose I had informed you that Amuntzarse was active. Can you imagine what would have happened? You and the white demon would have started a fierce battle, causing great harm to the people living in this city. Knowing that, there was no way I would tell you.”
“...Your imagination is probably correct. If I had known, I would have definitely moved to kill that woman. What’s wrong with that? She’s a clear enemy. And there’s the righteous cause of eliminating a murderer who’s been killing explorers. Killing her is a priority. If it means all the city’s residents die, it wouldn’t matter to me at all.”
“...What do you even think of human life?”
Leon’s cheerful expression faded, and struggling to suppress his anger, he spoke in a strained voice.
“You don’t care about people at all. If anything, you see them as convenient puppets to serve as your hands and feet, don’t you?”
Philly said that with a tone as casual as if it were obvious.
“You’re a fiend...”
“I don’t understand why you’re so determined to protect those inferior beings. Ah, right, you’re inferior yourself.”
She mocked him with a deeply contemptuous and belittling expression.
“...You’d better not look down on us too much. If you do, you’re going to get hurt someday.”
“Heh heh heh, get hurt, huh? How exactly do you think that will happen? If I use my supernatural ability, you’ll forget this conversation the next moment. What can a fragile existence like you possibly do to me?”
“...Do you really think I’m doing nothing even though I’m talking to you face to face right now?”
“...”
“Your supernatural ability is powerful. Depending on how you use it, you could even remake the world as you like. But it’s not perfect. Try using that power on me. The moment you do, the location of the guild’s headquarters and all their past crimes will be broadcast worldwide. How do you think Amuntzarse will respond? They’ll almost certainly launch an assault on the headquarters, mobilizing the full strength of the organization.”
“—But even so, you wouldn’t...”