“So you’re going to evolve then, Gagaran?”
The thieves’ faces quietly hardened.
“Don’t be mean, I feel sorry for that girl.”
“Hey! Is it me or have you gotten full of yourself since you went training with me? Oi!”
“Nothing’s changed. It’s just that my sides hurts when you grab me with your ridiculous strength when I’m sleeping—”
“—That’s enough out of the two of you… I’m sorry, that’s just how we are.”
“Please pay it no heed. Her name is Neia Baraja. She has keen senses, and she’s made a lot of contributions during our journey here.”
“I understand.”
The reply was flat and emotionless, not cute in the slightest.
“...Mm. Well, while that was our fault, we haven’t made any progress at all. If nobody minds, shall we begin discussing the matter? Also, there’s no point talking like fancy nobles, is there? Let’s get right to it, shall we?”
“Evileye,” Lakyus said in a reproachful tone.
That was the arcane magic caster Evileye. Clad in her mask, she could use powerful spells, but she never removed it under any circumstances. She had a very petite frame — some rumors said she might be from a small-bodied species.
“No, that’s fine. I’m not good at all this plotting stuff myself.”
“Captain…”
“...Fufu. Well, the other side’s boss has given their approval — how about ours? Besides, once they’ve paid the appropriate fee for the information, they’ll be our clients. Let’s not bother with feeling each other up and get to the question of money. Won’t it be better to seal the deal sooner rather than later?”
“Haaah,” Lakyus sighed, and Evileye continued, seemingly sneering at them.
“Well, our boss has given her okay too, so shall we firm up the details before we talk about payment? I take it you want to talk about the one who’s been running wild in your country. Jaldabaoth?”
“You knew?”
“OI oi, do you think we wouldn’t know something the nobles did? The Kingdom has traders who use sea routes too, you know. Plus, the Adventurer’s Guilds do exchange information as well. That said, how about it? Want to share what you know, too? Frankly speaking, we’d be happier to obtain information than money.”
“Mm… may, may I have a moment to discuss this with Gustavo?”
Evileye waved to indicate that they should proceed, and then Remedios and Gustavo rose and entered the adjoining room — the bedroom.
“Then, can we use this flask?”
Gagaran pointed to the flask of water and the glasses around it as she addressed Neia.
Why me, Neia fretted as she replied, “Please do.” She wanted to praise herself for her perfect tone and not letting her voice tremble.
After Gagaran had poured water for everyone, Remedios and Gustavo returned.
“We’ll pay your fee, so can you tell us what you know?”
Huh, Neia thought. For some reason, she had the feeling that Remedios, who had complained about the expense of staying in an inn, would not approve. While Gustavo had probably said something, Neia had no idea what reasons he had used to convince her.
“That’s fine too, although I think we’d be able to tell you what you need to know if you told us about the state of the Holy Kingdom now.”
“Please let us pay the appointed fee.”
Gustavo promptly placed a small pouch on the table.
“Mm. Oi.”
Evileye jerked her chin at one of the thieves. In response, she swiftly reached out and snatched up the pouch, lightly bouncing it up and down in her hand. Then she caught it and nodded to Evileye.
She was probably trying to see if it contained the expected amount by the sensation from throwing it up and catching it.
“All right. Then I, Evileye, shall explain on their behalf… Although, like I said just now, asking for all the information we have about Jaldabaoth is a bit like trying to seize a cloud. Let’s start by talking about what happened in our country. But before that, I want to verify something with you. Your Jaldabaoth looks like this, right?”
Evileye took a pen and paper from beside the table and began drawing with fluid strokes. However, the picture she produced could only be regarded as childish scribblings as best.
Remedios was about to say, “No, that’s not…” before one of the twins snatched back the paper and tore it in half.
“What the hell are you doing!?”
While Evileye was furious, the other twin snatched away the pen in the meantime and drew swiftly on the new piece of paper, then showed Evileye the finished product. The masked magic caster muttered, Uguu… in a disgruntled tone. The truth was, it was of far greater quality than the picture just now.
His appearance was very difficult to describe with words. He was dressed in foreign clothing and wore a strange mask. After seeing the picture, Remedios angrily clenched her fists and growled like a wild beast.
“That’s the bastard.”
After seeing this, the twins and Evileye ceased their feuding and turned back towards Remedios.
“Then we’ve verified one thing, that this is the same per— the same demon. Well, if demons like that could appear one after the other, we’d be in trouble. Thank heavens for small mercies, as they say. Now—”
Evileye then proceeded to narrate the events that had transpired in the Royal Capital, and Neia winced in her heart.
She knew Jaldabaoth was strong. And she knew that the demon army and that scaly demon existed, so she was not shocked by them. But the fact that there were five maid demons who could each take on an entire adamantite ranked adventurer team by themselves deepened her sense of utter despair.
I don’t think anyone spotted those maid demons in the Holy Kingdom. So they’re Jaldabaoth’s trump card? To think he had something like that...
“—Then, what would you estimate Jaldabaoth’s difficulty rating to be?”
Gustavo’s question caused Blue Rose to look at each other, but in the end it was still Evileye who spoke on everyone’s behalf.
“Let me get this out of the way first; this value is just a conjecture. It might be higher, it might be lower, so I hope you’ll keep that in mind. We estimate that demon’s difficulty to be around two hundred.”
“Two hundred…”
Gustavo gasped. Neia very nearly gasped as well, but she managed to resist that impulse. Some of the paladins lining the walls were not so successful. Remedios was the only one to remain calm, her expression unchanged.
If Neia recalled correctly, difficulty one hundred monsters were not something which humans could defeat.
“Exactly how powerful is a rating of two hundred?”
Evileye seemed to have a bit of trouble answering Remedios’s direct question.
“While difficulty two hundred beings have never appeared in the human world before… well, old Dragons would be roughly around one hundred.”
“An old dragon… while I’ve never fought those before, would that be around the same as the Guardian Deity of the oceans?”
The Guardian Deity of the ocean referred to a Sea Dragon which dwelled in the ocean.
It had two arms and feet and a long, thick tail that replaced its atrophied wings. It resembled a Sea Serpent more than a Dragon, and its intellect was on par with or surpassed mankind. It was quite a benevolent being that would protect ships if it was properly venerated.
Neia had the very good fortune of seeing it once, from a distance, when they had gone to Rimun on holiday.
It had raised its head high above the surface of the seas, and it was a sight majestic enough to earn it the title of Guardian Deity. It was hard to imagine a human being could defeat such a being.