"Another day with no luck... damn it, and it's almost Gamelion season too..."
The sun was on the verge of setting, leaving little time before the gates of Gilm would close. Elk stood alone, wearing a melancholic expression, as he lined up in the queue of adventurers and merchants waiting before the Main Gate.
Once the line moved forward and he completed the procedures to enter the city, Elk headed toward the Guild.
He hadn't taken on any subjugation requests, but he had still obtained Magic Stones and Subjugation Proof Parts.
There was no need to sell them today, but while Magic Stones were one thing, Subjugation Proof Parts and materials were body parts stripped from corpses. Naturally, the more time passed, the worse their freshness would become, and the price they fetched would drop accordingly.
(Damn it, how long is this situation going to last?)
His current situation—the situation of being unable to restore his only son's consciousness—filled Elk with inward irritation.
"Eep!"
Unknowingly, that irritation must have shown on his face. An adventurer in his twenties who was standing nearby let out a small shriek.
"Ah, sorry about that. I didn't mean to do anything to you."
Snapping back to reality at that small shriek, Elk hastily offered words of apology.
"N-No. Um... I... I'm not bothered at all, so it's no problem!"
To the D-Rank Adventurer, Elk—an Alias Holder and A-Rank Adventurer—was an object of admiration. He had let out a shriek almost involuntarily due to the anger Elk was radiating, but since it had allowed him to exchange words with Elk, it could be called fortunate.
However, Elk didn't have the composure to understand the man's feelings right now.
Judging that the conversation was over for the time being, he headed toward the Guild's counter.
(Min's side too... I probably can't expect any information from her, either.)
The figure of his wife, who had been acting separately to consult with mages and Alchemists, crossed Elk's mind, but he held no expectations for what she might find.
Naturally. After all, they had consulted countless mages, Alchemists, pharmacists, and all sorts of other people many times over, and yet they hadn't obtained a single clue.
There were even some who had tried to feed them false information to extort a little money... but those individuals ended up learning firsthand what would happen if they incurred the wrath of an A-Rank Adventurer.
"Ah, Elk! You're finally here!"
A fox Beastwoman woman, who had caught sight of Elk's face, called out happily.
As would be expected of someone working as a Receptionist, she was a woman with well-defined features.
Whether to express her joy, the fox ears growing from her head were twitching.
At the woman's voice, Elk tilted his head.
"Did you have some business with me? I'm pretty sure I didn't take on any requests."
"No, that's not it."
Elk had wondered if perhaps he had accepted a request and forgotten about it, but the Receptionist shook her head in denial.
Usually, with Min around, he wouldn't forget things even if something came up, but today he and Min were acting separately. That was exactly why he had wondered if maybe... but fortunately, the Receptionist's words saying that wasn't the case made him exhale in relief, and he opened his mouth.
"So, what do you need with me?"
"Yes. The Guild Master told me to notify her immediately when you arrived."
"From the Guild Master?"
As Elk was also an A-Rank Adventurer, he was naturally somewhat close to the Guild Master.
Though, if anything, it was Min rather than Elk who was closer to the Guild Master.
For Min, a skilled mage, she probably had plenty in common to talk about with Marina, a Dark Elf who used Spirit Magic.
For a while now, they had been too preoccupied with Rhodos's situation, but before that, Min and Marina would occasionally meet in taverns or dining halls to talk.
However, according to the Receptionist's story just now, it was him who had business this time.
Feeling puzzled by this, he couldn't simply ignore a summons from the Guild Master just because he wasn't in the mood.
Well, if it had been a Guild Master other than Marina, he might have done exactly that, but Marina was special.
A former skilled adventurer who now served as the Guild Master in this frontier city of Gilm.
On top of that, she was helpful and by no means had a poor disposition toward others.
...Not just "not poor"—there were many adventurers who were genuinely smitten with Marina.
To an ordinary person, the feminine charm that Marina exuded was simply overwhelming.
There was even a Joke passed around that on days Marina showed her face in public, the brothels' revenue would triple.
Only the people involved with the brothels would know whether that was actually a Joke or not.
"Thank you for coming, Elk. Honestly, I was just about to try to contact you, so it helps that you came to me instead."
Marina flashed a smile, but as always, she was wearing a party dress with a deeply plunging neckline, and there lay a deep valley created by her brown skin.
An ordinary man would have been captivated by Marina's appearance and rendered speechless, but Elk was different.
It was probably related to the fact that he had met Marina on many occasions through his interactions with Min.
Leaning his weight against the sofa he sat on, he spoke up.
"So it really is me you have business with, not Min?"
"No, it would have been fine if it were Min too. Or rather, having you both here together would have been the best."
Hearing that, Elk understood.
Not just him alone, not just Min alone—she wanted to meet with both of them.
If that was the case, he could somewhat grasp the flow of the conversation.
There was probably a request that required their power.
"Sorry, but if it's about a request, keep it to something that can be wrapped up in a short time. As you know, I've got a lot on my plate right now."
"Eh?"
At the words that came out of Elk's mouth, Marina tilted her head slightly.
The way her silver hair swayed with that movement caught Elk's eye, but seeing Marina's behavior, he now wore a puzzled expression.
"Hm? You had business with me and Min, so doesn't that mean there's some kind of request?"
"Ah, so that's what you thought. It's not like that. ...Well, if you think about it differently, maybe it could be taken as a request?"
At Marina's murmuring, Elk's expression showed that he had been caught off guard.
In reality, the moment she said she had wanted to call both him and Min, he had assumed there was some kind of troublesome request.
But seeing her now, it didn't seem like that at all.
She did say it could be taken as a request, but that wouldn't quite make it an explicit request.
"Sorry, but I'm busy with a lot of things. If there's no urgent business, I'll be taking my leave."
He tried to rise from the sofa he had been sitting on...
"My, are you sure that's fine? It might be possible to restore your son, Rhodos's consciousness, you know?"
At those words that came from Marina's mouth, Elk's movement stopped as if time itself had frozen.
Silence between them lasted for several seconds.
Eventually, a voice seemed to be squeezed from the very bottom of Elk's gut.
"What... do you mean by that? Unfortunately, I'm in no mood for Jokes right now. Even if the one saying it is the Guild Master."
If she was deceiving him or lying, he wouldn't forgive her even if she was the Guild Master.
He asked while reaching his hand toward the handle of his beloved weapon, the Axe of the Thunder God, which had been placed near the sofa.
Understanding that a gaze laced with killing intent was directed at her, Marina didn't show the slightest sign of being perturbed.
Marina's primary weapons were Spirit Magic and the bow. If a skilled fighter like Elk directed a killing-intent-laced gaze at her from this close range, normally she would at least flinch somewhat.
However, with Elk standing before her, Marina had the composure to even offer a smile.
That was because events that gave Marina the kind of tension she would feel facing Elk were something she had experienced many times before, and above all, she had absolute confidence in her own proposal.
...Although, if asked whether Rhodos's consciousness could definitely be restored through the magic power contained in the Silver Lion's heart, she couldn't say for certain.
Even so, there was no mistaking that Marina's proposal was absolutely better than searching for a way to restore Rhodos's consciousness with no leads whatsoever.
"Unfortunately... no, in this case, perhaps I should say fortunately. In any case, what I'm about to tell you is no Joke."
Seeing Marina tell him this with such a confident attitude, Elk must have judged that she was saying it seriously, not as a Joke or anything of the sort.
Perhaps... perhaps there truly might be a chance to find a lead to restore Rhodos's consciousness. Unconsciously swallowing, he opened his mouth.
"Tell me. What kind of proposal is it?"
Seeing that Elk had readied himself to listen, Marina understood that she had cleared the first hurdle.
"First of all, this isn't about Rhodos, but you know Vihera, right?"
"Of course."
Elk had been involved, at least to some extent, in the series of events from the martial arts tournament to the civil war in the Bestia Empire.
No—the cause of Rhodos losing consciousness lay in that very civil war.
Elk had met Vihera face to face and had spoken with her as well.
"You know that this Vihera lost consciousness just like Rhodos from the Unbris incident this past summer?"
"...Yes."
He wasn't too informed about the details, but as long as he was based in Gilm, he had received at least some information.
Even so, the reason he wasn't more informed was naturally because he had devoted the majority of his efforts to finding a way to restore Rhodos's consciousness.
"And Rei had been searching for a way to restore Vihera's consciousness recently, just like you..."
Hearing it put that way, Elk understood what Marina was getting at.
He opened his mouth with a serious expression.
"Was it found?"
"Yes."
"What exactly is it?"
Elk asked quietly, responding to Marina who had nodded so readily to his words.
Because if he didn't suppress himself, he would have definitely started shouting.
His words were quiet, but the force packed into them could be said to contain Elk's entire being, body and soul.
At those words from Elk, Marina paused for a moment before speaking.
"What I'm about to tell you, honestly... as an adventurer... no, living in this Gilm... perhaps even living in the Kingdom of Mireana, might contain information that could prove fatal."
Even hearing that, Elk waited for Marina to continue her story without showing any sign of being bewildered.
Seeing Elk's demeanor, Marina spoke again.
"Listen? First of all, promise me this. Even if, after hearing what I'm about to say, you choose to decline... this matter stays a secret between you and Min only, and you will never leak it to anyone else. ...I know the preamble has gotten quite long, but this matter truly involves crossing a bridge that dangerous."
"Understood. Even if I decline what I'm about to hear, I will never leak it to anyone other than Min and myself, and I'll make Min promise not to tell anyone else either."
Seeing that there was not a single trace of falsehood in Elk's eyes—rather, that he was simply desperate to awaken Rhodos—Marina eventually gave a small nod and began her explanation.
A story that, for an ordinary adventurer, wouldn't be strange to question one's sanity over.
"Among Rei's acquaintances, there is someone who could be called a Lich Lord... such a person... person? is what I'm talking about."
"..."
At those words that came from Marina's mouth, Elk didn't say anything in particular and simply urged her to continue.
Of course, it wasn't that he wasn't surprised.
In fact, when Elk was told that Rei was acquainted with a Lich Lord, his body's movement stopped for an instant.
However... that was exactly why Elk felt the possibility of restoring Rhodos's consciousness.
No matter how much they searched, they couldn't find a way to restore Rhodos's consciousness, but if it were an Undead...
"This Lich Lord... a person called Grimm. According to them, if you use the heart of an S-Rank monster, the likelihood of restoring consciousness is high, or so they say."
"An S-Rank monster? But that's——"
An S-Rank monster was an extremely rare existence.
It was something that one couldn't find immediately even if they set out to search for it.
Seeing Elk's demeanor, Marina nodded in return.
"Yes, normally an S-Rank monster wouldn't be found so easily. But right now... there is a place where the location of a single S-Rank monster is known."
"!? I see, the Silver Lion!"
Elk was by no means unintelligent.
That was precisely why his thoughts immediately reached the S-Rank monster that dwelled in the Dungeon—the Silver Lion.
"Indeed. ...However, to restore consciousness through this method, considerable magic power is required from the Silver Lion's heart. That is why Vihera takes priority, and after that, if it's still possible, we will proceed with Rhodos's Treatment. ...If you're fine with that, would you like to join us in subjugating the Silver Lion?"
At Marina's words, Elk thought for a moment before speaking.
"I want to discuss it with Min and decide."
"Yes. However, we plan to depart from Gilm by tomorrow. If you're interested, it would be best to start preparing immediately."
At those words, Elk nodded and rose from the sofa to go consult with Min right away.