* * *
"Welcome. It's been a long time, Jason."
"It's been a while, Sergius."
As Talhan entered the room and scanned the space, his gaze stopped at one place.
On the face of the handsome young man sitting in the center.
'Tsk.'
Seeing that face, his insides twisted slightly.
There was no particular reason for it.
It was just one of a man's natural psychologies. Something like jealousy felt when facing a handsome 'enemy'.
Even though he knew it was 'fake', it was still annoying.
'Looking like some pretty boy...'
However, that emotion didn't show on the surface.
It was already a well-trained habit not to transmit the emotions his 'main body' felt to his physical body.
Thanks to this, the head of the Copzerin Information Guild was being evaluated as 'somehow his strength seems to have faded, but his ability as an informant has developed further'.
"I was surprised you suddenly wanted to meet, Sergius."
"Oh come on. I just wanted to have a drink together after a long time."
"Ha."
At the words of the handsome young man, Sergius, Talhan sneered.
This time, he didn't bother to hide it.
"We're not that close, are we?"
The 'Sergius Dodge' and 'Jason Colter' in front of him weren't such close acquaintances.
No, rather, it would be correct to say they were hostile relationships.
Both 'outwardly' and 'actually'.
"What's wrong with building some friendships between people working in the same industry? Come here and have a drink."
"No thanks. I've already brought my own."
Talhan, borrowing the body of the Copzerin Information Guild head, lifted a bottle of alcohol.
He, who was in a state between life and death, didn't get drunk, but anyway, it would be foolish to drink alcohol offered by the Copzerin branch head of the 'Gray Eyes'.
Especially for someone doing information work.
Even if alcohol wasn't a problem, who knows what kind of magic or curse might be contained in it.
"You're as thorough as ever."
"You have to be well-prepared to survive for a long time."
Talhan pulled out a chair and inspected the food on the table. He swept it once with a detector and even stabbed it with a sterling silver pick.
Then he took out high-quality jerky from his breast pocket and put it in his mouth.
"...Why did you inspect if you're going to do that?"
"It's a habit."
Answering glibly to Sergius's incredulous question, Talhan drank the wine straight from the bottle, then took another bite of jerky.
As if he would at least observe the etiquette of drinking together.
"...Well, fine."
It would feel like losing if he spoke about business first, but this meeting was requested by Sergius in the first place.
He opened his mouth, raising both hands as if admitting defeat, but Jason didn't miss the unnatural 'naturalness' of that gesture.
'Sly fox.'
Although Sergius had the appearance of a young and handsome man, his appearance and actual estimated age didn't match at all.
One of the disciples of 'Gray Eyes', estimated to be an old monster in his 80s.
At least in his 40s, or even older.
And Sergius himself knew that his age was exposed.
"The streets have been noisy lately."
The information merchant got to the point.
This meeting was a conference that arose because the 'Information Guild' was blocking the way of the 'information merchant', and Gray Eyes couldn't help but be curious why the guild was blocking their way.
Especially information about the culprit of a noble's murder.
"Every time the cold wind blows, even the ashes fly, making the air unbearably stuffy."
At Sergius's words, Talhan carelessly tilted the wine bottle to his mouth again.
The red liquid sloshing around looked as if it contained blood.
'Then am I drinking blood?'
Knowing that this was actually close to the truth, the stuffy taste lingered longer in his mouth.
Recalling his own situation where he had to devour 30 humans already.
There was no guilt. It was just a feeling close to self-pity.
'When this is over, Master will start giving rewards in earnest.'
Although loyalty to his master has been growing recently, his true nature lay in selfishness and greed.
He just ended up suppressing it with reverence for the great master who he thinks will eventually control everything.
This means that he and the recently deceased Alexis were not essentially different humans.
So it was natural to expect rewards to be given.
"Old things burn away, and new things always grow in their place."
"But if the smell of blue blood is soaked in it, it's a different story."
Talhan looked at Sergius as he put down the wine bottle.
Beyond the wine glass he raised, his gently curved eyes were emitting a cold light.
"I'm the head of the Information Guild. What we deal with is information that harms humanity."
"So isn't it strange? This doesn't seem like your business."
Silence fell.
Talhan was deliberately chewing the jerky for a long time.
Pretending to be sparing with words.
"The price."
He was once someone who moved for justice, but now he was one of the leaders of 'messengers' who strived to protect and prosper their own group.
He still had honor and justice, but in exchange, he was infinitely flexible.
So it was natural for him to look for compensation.
"We should give you something good too. Of course."
'Got it.'
Sergius smiled inwardly.
This reaction from Jason meant the deal was established, as he had learned sufficiently from 'Jason in his lifetime'.
"You might have heard. There was a merchant who recently came from the west."
Sergius's pupils moved minutely.
To the upper left.
Talhan didn't miss that movement.
It was the movement of eyes tracing through memories.
It was a movement so small that ordinary people would find it hard to notice.
"That merchant... come to think of it."
"Yes. You probably know. They say he played near the source on the night the ash wind arose. The interesting thing is..."
"He hid his whereabouts after that."
He thought they would have figured out that much.
The merchant was actually the owner of the body that burned instead of 'Alexis' inside the mansion, but someone who didn't know the situation might think he had done something and quickly hid his identity.
"Interesting. A merchant, you say."
Chink.
Sergius's finger tapped the wine glass.
Talhan said with a smirk.
He should have noticed this much.
"Just give instructions directly. We're in the middle of a deal."
"Ah. I apologize. It's our style."
"Well... it's just street rumors. As you know, our job is to collect such things."
"Of course."
The merchant was real, but all the merchant guilds he belonged to were false.
This is a trap.
To confirm who and where the eye socket containing the information merchant 'Gray Eyes' is attached to.
"But it's not enough. You should normally know what that merchant came to do."
"It will be expensive."
"We've made preparations for that much."
"Hmm."
Talhan, who pretended to think for a moment, soon shook his head.
He would tell them anyway that 'the culprit is the lady of the western Marquisate', but he had to be greedy here.
"It would be difficult with anything ordinary. You probably already guess that we have a reason for hiding this information."
"Oh my..."
Sergius, who laughed as if troubled, finally revealed the price he had brought.
"I hear that 'Arpina', who disappeared into the northern demon realm, has appeared again. Because of this, our organization has recently started cracking down on members."
That was quite valuable to both Jason and Talhan.
"...The Witch of Dreams..."
"Yes."
Talhan's mouth twisted.
That name was that shocking, and it was something he could know well even without borrowing the knowledge of the Information Guild head.
Because it was the name of one of the seven killers famous across the continent.
"Her return means..."
"It means Dantalion released her for some reason. Maybe because he found out it's harmful to humans."
Her return meant that the Information Guild also had to start cracking down on personnel.
So he must have said it was big information.
But for Talhan, that alone wasn't enough.
The same was true for Jason.
"Where is she moving to?"
"Here. She's coming to the center."
"...This really is big information. Thank you."
Indeed, even Sergius couldn't pretend to be composed about this information, and his face hardened.
Jason's face also hardened.
"You're welcome. Now can I hear the story?"
"Of course. Recently, a lady from the west bought a lot of silk... Originally she was supposed to go to a convent. That might have been a message that she became interested in someone..."
While leaking information about Michaela, who was supposed to disappear and reappear, Talhan inwardly licked his lips.
Sweetness and bitterness mingled on the tip of his tongue at the same time.
'I came to carry out Master's instructions, but a good tribute to give to Master has rolled in.'
The Witch of Dreams, Arpina, was a powerful figure estimated to have reached at least high rank.
If she came to this central area and started activities, the dungeon would also have to continue its steps while being greatly tense.
* * *
"It's done now, Great Master."
"You've worked hard, Camellia."
I finished the mental treatment for the elite-level mercenaries Daniel brought.
This time, I tried using their abilities instead of treating them directly. I wanted to see the power possessed by the Alraunes who came to reside in my dungeon.
"Not at all. It's nothing."
"It's good to greatly inflate merits. It's my job to recognize them correctly."
"Then reducing your labor is also a retainer's duty, isn't it?"
"That's quite an excellent thing to say."
"Thank you."
The red camellia, which I initially thought was a rose, 'Camellia', seemed to have the strongest power among those five Alraunes.
While the other Alraunes were casting fascination on the mercenaries they took charge of for the first time, she alone had finished one and was casting magic on a second mercenary.
'Still, the others aren't that lacking either.'
"You're late..."
"Huff... It's hard..."
Though later than Camellia, they had all finished their work and come out while she was attempting to fascinate the second mercenary.
Now all that's left is to plant one seed on the collapsed minds and take measures.
What to plant is loyalty, and the measure is transformation into powerful monsters.
With this, the domination of Daniel's monster hunting mercenary group, 'Twilight Hunter', was 'almost' complete.
"Can you all tell me your names?"
""Yes! Great Master!""
They called me 'Great Master'.
It means the master of their queen, Nirvana.
The feeling was... slightly ambiguous.
Because it sounded similar to the word 'Princess' in this world's language, which refers to a 'princess' or 'young lady'.
"Camellia, White, Nepenthes, Butter, Jade. You all worked hard. It was impressive."
The names of red camellia, white rose, nepenthes, butterwort (butter), and jade vine Alraunes respectively.
The intuitiveness of the names was also evidence that the number of Alraune individuals was small.
The intuitiveness of names is only possible when there are no duplicate individuals.
"I've seen everyone's abilities well. They're quite excellent."
They were Alraunes with power around the middle of elite level, and were individuals considered as Nirvana's successors.
In my opinion, Nirvana would only pass work to her successor when she gets tired of running the group...
Anyway, a successor is a successor.
They possessed power worthy of that name.
However, there were some disadvantages...
"With these kids, they should be able to do well with the tasks I'm about to assign from now on."
"As I told you, right? Huhu."
"..."
Nirvana lazily curled her eyes and smiled, and the Alraunes' gazes looking at her slightly shot upwards.
Her distance was very close, and the Alraunes were jealous of that.
'Idiots with fascination abilities...'
So, they were ones with considerable desire to 'figuratively' eat me.
'Ha.'
"Nepenthes. Jade."
""Yes! Great Master!""
The two Alraunes who came out answering sonorously had appearances with severe exposure, though not as much as their leader Nirvana.
They only covered what needed to be covered.
At least their skin color wasn't white flesh color but something alien, but that didn't reduce the sensuality.
If that skin color was so strange, the mercenaries wouldn't have been fascinated so easily.
"You two will be helping Kamaya with one task."
"Do you mean the Harpy Queen?"
"Harpy Queen... Heheh. She looked delicious..."
"Hey. Focus."
Jade is polite, and Nepenthes is gloomy.
The troublesome point is that their insides aren't necessarily identical to their outsides.
To different degrees, they both looked at me with dark desires in their eyes.
'It doesn't matter.'
As long as they did their job properly, I didn't care how they looked at me.
If those who wouldn't become my allies or be ruled were looking at me like that, I would have taken some other measures.
"Yes. It's a simple task of bringing one human."
"If it's something like that, we're experts... Hehe..."
"May I ask what kind of human?"
"A noble."
"A noble... We can't eat them, right...? Even though they're delicious... Or make them one of us..."
I smiled at Nepenthes's question, and Jade Vine quickly noticed the meaning of the smile.
"Ah. I understand! We'll definitely bring them intact!"
"Hue... That's a shame..."
Jade bowed several times while leading Nepenthes away from the place and disappeared.
Seeing that appearance, it was true that I felt slightly uneasy.
"Will they be able to do well?"
"Don't worry, Master. Despite how they look, they're greedy children, so they know how to endure for the sake of their biggest desire."
"...That's very reassuring."
"Not at all."
Nirvana's alluring smile of triumph caught my eye, but I just nodded.
If she who I've known for a long time says so, it must be true.
If not, I can just give them 'punishment'.
'Well, that's done...'
"Mur. I'm counting on you."
"Of course. Just say the word, Lady."
After sending off the Alraunes, I decided to check my abilities once again before starting the full-scale operation.
I had at least a few days for that.
It wasn't time to move in earnest yet.
"I'm looking forward to it."
Doing magic while seeing a completely new world was a much more difficult but interesting task than I thought.