TBAGM Vol. 3 Chapter 3 Part 2

“I have returned, Lady Ellis.”

“Welcome back, Serina. Did you find anything?”

“Yes. I failed to finish him off, but I did obtain some information.”

When I stepped out of my room, Serina suddenly appeared.

She really was formidable. No, she probably possessed power on par with an S-rank adventurer, one that even surpassed Mint and Loren.

Her status had been far too well-balanced, and that was what had felt so strange to me.

Well, the same had been true of Wraith, so the two of them had likely been working together. It had to be something along those lines.

“Come to think of it, Ellis. How did you know about Lishia?”

That was the one thing that had been bothering me.

I had never told them about my past. The fact that she had not even questioned the name Lishia itself was strange.

“That is…”

“Lord Lloyd. Allow me to explain that myself.”

“Fair enough. I would appreciate it if you could also explain that abnormal strength of yours.”

When Ellis hesitated, Serina offered to speak in her place.

There was no doubt that Serina was deeply connected to the heart of this matter.

If Serina had not been there, if Wraith had not been there, I did not know whether I would still be alive.

“Lord Lloyd, knowing you, I imagine you will take bold action. So when the time comes, please tell Lord Nero and the others yourself.”

“I will.”

“Then let me briefly explain my past…”

After that, Serina told me about her past and her connection to Noir.

“So that was it… I hardly know what to say…”

“No. My suffering is not as great as yours, Lord Lloyd. Even if it was not Noir himself, I was still able to slaughter all of them, so my suffering is…”

“There is no such thing as suffering being heavier or lighter. I want you to value yourself more, Serina.”

Serina’s past had been unbelievably tragic.

It had to have been far more painful than mine. Multiple members of her family had been killed.

Even so, she had never let any of it show on the surface. I could not help but feel respect for her for that.

“So you were gathering information while cooperating with the royal family of this country?”

“Yes. That was also how I came to know Lady Ellis. I can never thank Lady Ellis enough.”

“It was just chance. Serina’s eyes were different from those of the criminals I’d seen before. So I had her investigated, and that led us to a criminal organization.”

The incident in which Serina lost her family had taken place in another country, but because she herself had been born in Fereia Kingdom, she had been repatriated to her homeland. During that repatriation, exaggerated tales of her exploits spread, and in this country the legend of the great criminal Seriana had become widely known. I had known the name as well.

Apparently, Ellis had met Serina when she helped arrange a royal pardon as a member of the royal family.

The subordinates Noir had brought with him had been members of a massive criminal organization. Though Serina had buried a great number of them, the organization itself was still intact. If the people learned that those involved in human experimentation were still at large, the country would undoubtedly be thrown into turmoil.

That was why the royal family and Serina had decided to cooperate.

By acting as the eyes and ears of the royal family, Serina had gradually destroyed the organization’s branches all over the world. Naturally, she erased every trace that could link either Fereia Kingdom or herself to those operations.

“I also learned about you, Lord Lloyd, in the course of that investigation.”

“Ellis, did you know about my past too?”

“No. I only learned of it recently. I intended to remain silent until Lord Lloyd chose to tell me himself.”

The more I heard, the more I realized just how awful I had been.

It was true that I had not wanted to make Ellis and the others worry unnecessarily. But if she had been waiting for me all that time, then I should have told her much sooner.

“So then, Lord Lloyd. What will you do now?”

Ellis asked with unmistakable eagerness.

That was right. The past would not return. All I could do now was look toward the future.

“By the way, Serina. What was that information you mentioned earlier?”

“Ah, I forgot to mention it. I have identified Noir’s base. The problem, I believe, is that we do not have enough fighting power.”

I truly could only be grateful. At the same time, it drove home once more that she really was an outrageous monster worthy of S-rank.

There could not be anyone else capable of gathering this much information in such a short time.

Feeling my gratitude for her all over again, I asked,

“How much do we need?”

“Roughly speaking, the equivalent of three S-ranks.”

They said that ten A-ranks together were equal to one S-rank. And one A-rank was equal to fifty B-ranks. The conditions were incredibly harsh.

Even so, it had to be done.

Because that was my job, and my duty as guildmaster.

“All right. You two go to the Adventurer’s Association.”

“The Adventurer’s Association?”

Caught off guard by the sudden order, the two of them tilted their heads.

I raised the corners of my mouth slightly and said,

“We’re holding an emergency meeting of Lunair at the Adventurer’s Association. I’ll gather fighting power, even if I have to use every connection I have.”

With that, I left Veiled Moonrise behind.

—

An hour later.

I stepped down from the carriage and found myself visiting the guild I had thought I would never set foot in again.

The moment I entered the building, I headed straight for the reception desk.

“Hello. It has been a while, Selrone.”

“L-Lloyd?!”

The receptionist, Selrone, recognized me and widened her eyes in shock.

That was only natural. After all――

“Why are you here when you were supposed to have been expelled?!”

Because this was Incarnation of the Sun.

The largest guild in the country, and the one that possessed the greatest fighting force.

“Could you let me see Kyros? There is something I want to discuss with him.”

“T-The Guildmaster is not here at the moment…”

“There is no need to lie. I know Kyros is here.”

“B-But…”

Selrone fell silent.

Even if I had been an executive until recently, I had still been expelled. Asking to see the Guildmaster without an appointment was probably too much, even for me…

As I struggled with that thought, a man stepped into our conversation.

“It is fine. I will allow it.”

He was a large young man with a heavily muscled body. Slung over that imposing frame was an enormous greatsword suited to his build. He carried a pressure that could not even be compared to that of an ordinary adventurer.

His name was Edgar. He was one of the only four A-rank adventurers in this guild.

Selrone could not hide her agitation at Edgar’s sudden appearance.

“L-Lord Edgar?! But Lloyd was expelled from this guild…”

“What? Is a receptionist going to defy me?”

“N-No! Of course not!”

The moment Edgar glared at her, even if only slightly, Selrone immediately shrank back.

She had just been subjected to the pressure of an A-rank adventurer. One could hardly blame her for that reaction.

“I will get Kyros’s permission myself, so continue with your work.”

“Y-Yes! Understood!”

“Then, Lord Lloyd, this way.”

“Ah, right…”

Led by Edgar, I headed for Kyros’s room.

As I followed behind him, I cautiously opened my mouth.

“If I remember correctly… you were in the Second Unit…”

“Yes. My name is Edgar.”

Unlike the way he had treated the receptionist earlier, his manner toward me was polite.

I had seen him from a distance several times before, but this was the first time I had ever spoken with him directly.

“Thank you for helping me back there. You really saved me.”

“Not at all. If I can be of service to you, Lord Lloyd, then that is reward enough for me.”

When I thanked him, Edgar looked genuinely delighted.

According to what I knew, Edgar was brusque and never lowered himself before anyone. Not even before Kyros, the Guildmaster.

And yet he was speaking to me with full respect? It was beyond merely feeling strange.

“I have been wondering this for a while now… but isn’t your attitude toward me a little odd?”

“Is it? I do not believe there is anything strange about it…”

“Do you speak to Kyros that way too?”

“No. I speak casually with that guy. The only person I respect is you, Lord Lloyd.”

Edgar answered as though that were the most obvious thing in the world.

He respected not the Guildmaster of the guild he belonged to, but the Guildmaster of a rival guild. What part of that was not strange?

At that, Edgar stopped walking and turned to face me.

“I am deeply grateful to you, Lord Lloyd.”

“To me?”

“Yes. Because of you, I was able to reflect on myself. I was able to rediscover where I started.”

Edgar fixed me with a powerful gaze.

There was not the slightest hint of a joke in his expression. I could tell he meant every word.

“To be precise, it was Nero and Ellis who made me realize it, though.”

“That was during the Volcano Dungeon… did you know?”

That had been before the showdown against Oni’s Fang.

In the Volcano Dungeon, Ellis and Nero had once saved Edgar.

The two of them had insisted that there was no way he had noticed, but there was no way he could have missed it.

“Ahaha… well, there is no one else who can destroy magic or cast a gigantic 【Water Ball】 like that.”

Edgar said it with a wry smile.

He was not supposed to be the sort of man who wore a smile like that.

I had thought Incarnation of the Sun had rotted through and through, but perhaps that had been nothing more than my own assumption.

“I am going to become even stronger. And just as Ellis told me, I will become an S-rank adventurer. I have no intention of losing to Nero either.”

Edgar clenched his fist tightly as he declared that.

He looked exactly like Ellis and Nero had before. The determination in him blazed so fiercely it was almost palpable. A resolve that said he would absolutely achieve it.

As long as Edgar was here, Incarnation of the Sun would not collapse.

He would surely be the one to lead its reform.

“And once I become an S-rank adventurer… I want to join Veiled Moonrise.”

“I see… I am looking forward to the day that happens.”

The moment I answered that way, Edgar happily struck a triumphant pose.

An everyday life in which everyone could wish to grow stronger and aim for the summit.

To protect those peaceful days――

“This is far enough. From here on, this is my job.”

Kyros. I need your strength.

Parting ways with Edgar, I stopped in front of Kyros’s room.

It had unnecessarily lavish decorations, and a door larger than any other room’s.

“How nostalgic…”

The words slipped from my lips as I looked at it.

This was probably what people called trauma. Even now, I could vividly remember that moment when I was expelled.

I had been bitter about being cast out. I had not wanted to accept it. But I had not wanted to show anyone how pathetic I was either.

So I had run away. Even though I knew there was nothing waiting for me at the end of that road, I still turned my eyes away.

But now, there was no pain and no anguish.

Because I had met people who needed me. Because I had come to like myself.

And all of that had only been possible because I had been lucky.

If Ellis had not reached out her hand to me, if Nero had not placed his trust in me, then the person I was now would not exist.

In that case, was it not my turn to reach out a hand now?

Slowly, I pushed open the door to Kyros’s room.

“Hello. Have you been well, Kyros?”

“Wha!? Lloyd!? Why the hell are you here?!”

Kyros, who had been sitting there with his cheek propped on his hand, sprang to his feet the moment he saw me. He looked haggard, and traces of exhaustion showed on his face. He was probably busy dealing with our guild. But that would end today.

With a serious expression, I told him,

“I will get straight to the point. Please lend me your strength.”

“…Ahahaha! I wondered what you were going to say, and it is ‘lend me your strength’? So you are after the Saintess Summoning too!”

The Saintess Summoning. It was the greatest event in the country, set to take place the day after tomorrow.

A ritual that reincarnated into this world a person from another world who possessed powerful healing abilities.

Certainly, any guild that obtained the Saintess could expect tremendous growth. If I said that the old me, the one I had been until yesterday, had felt no interest in that ritual, I would be lying.

But now, I did not care about that at all.

“The priest is alive.”

“You will never take the Saintess from me… what did you say?”

Kyros had been clutching his stomach as he laughed mockingly, but the moment he heard my words, he sucked in a breath.

With that single sentence, his attitude, his presence, everything about him changed.

Then I continued.

“Let’s stop this already. Kyros… no, Brother.”

“…………”

“I need your strength to bring him down. We do not have the luxury of wasting time on a quarrel between brothers anymore. So please… lend me your strength.”

I bowed my head to Kyros, who remained silent.

Even he must not have expected this much, because I could tell from his presence that he was stunned.

Then, after a long silence, he finally spoke.

“Raise your head, Lloyd. Now explain everything.”

“Huh? But… you cannot possibly believe that easily that he is still alive…”

“If you are wearing a face that grave, then it must be the truth. Enough of that. Explain it already.”

That was the image of the brother I once knew.

His eyes held no hostility. There was a warmth to them, something reassuring.

I had thought we could never return to how things had been, but even getting a little closer to that felt enough to make me truly happy.

“All right. It just happened a little while ago…”

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