"A lake, you say? Is that some kind of joke?"
"No, it is the truth. The one who brought this information has provided us with much intelligence in the past, and it has never been wrong."
In response to the old man's words, the man who had brought the report stated this with conviction.
It was true that the intelligence obtained thus far had been accurate, but what carried even more weight was that enormous flame seen yesterday.
"As you already know, Lord Veen, a massive flame suddenly appeared outside Gilm yesterday. It seems to be related to the lake, and they say it was the work of Crimson Rei."
At that report, the old man called Veen furrowed his brows in displeasure.
The name Crimson Rei had rapidly grown famous over the past few years.
He understood that Rei was a capable adventurer, but to the old man, he was nothing more than a lowborn upstart.
At the very least, he was no match for Veen's own house—one of the noble families belonging to the King's Faction.
That such an opponent was making a name for himself was extremely galling, yet even Veen had to acknowledge that while Rei was indeed an upstart, he possessed the ability to back it up. ...Though it was nothing but thoroughly unpleasant.
"That flame, huh... What in the world could have happened at that lake? Be that as it may, what became of the intelligence from over there?"
At Veen's abrupt change of subject, the man who had brought the report thought for a moment but quickly grasped what he was talking about.
"It seems certain that an agent of a Royal Family member contacted Daskar, but we have no detailed information as of yet."
"...Find out whose agent it was. Immediately."
All members of the Royal Family belonged to the King's Faction.
This was only natural, given the very name of the faction.
And within the King's Faction, there were naturally not only the King but also the Queen, the children, and even mistresses.
Which member of the Royal Family had contacted Daskar was something that many nobles in the King's Faction wanted to know as quickly as possible.
While they were collectively referred to as the Royal Family, each member held a different position.
Those who completely agreed with the King, those who agreed but not strongly, those who belonged to the King's Faction simply because it was profitable and felt nothing particular toward the King, those who watched for an opportunity to bare their fangs at the King... and many others besides.
What complicated this matter was that the King had many children, both sons and daughters.
Including the children born to the Queen and mistresses, their number exceeded twenty.
Each had guardians who acted to further their own interests within the King's Faction.
Veen, too, was on friendly terms with one of the royals, but he had received no report that they had sent anyone other than his own people.
Given that, discovering who had contacted Daskar would be difficult to investigate.
"Who do you think it is?"
"For someone to contact Daskar at this particular time... Lord Ramurena, perhaps?"
"...It is certainly a strong possibility."
Ramurena was the prince who was the Seventh in Line to the Throne.
Among the more than twenty children, his claim to the throne was relatively high, but compared to the true top-tier successors—such as the Third in Line to the Throne, who was considered the leading candidate—his rank inevitably fell short.
However, as if to compensate for this—or perhaps not—Ramurena was swift to act.
He had repeatedly secured significant gains through his quickness on numerous occasions.
"Yes. There are several other candidates, but I believe that one is the most likely."
At those words, Veen let out a bitter sigh.
This matter involved Gilm—a location tied to enormous interests.
Considering that, he could not possibly allow people to act recklessly.
"In any case, gather as much information as possible about that lake. ...For that matter, why did a lake suddenly teleport here in the first place?"
"Perhaps it is related to the Green People or the Lizardmen?"
"Likely. If only we could somehow bring the Green People over to our side. The ability to accelerate plant growth is extremely intriguing."
At those words, his subordinate nodded readily.
Information about the Green People had spread considerably among the King's Faction members in Gilm.
Naturally, the fact that they possessed the ability to accelerate plant growth had also spread, and many had taken notice.
As Daskar had reasoned, if they could cultivate spices in their own territory, territorial income would increase explosively.
Depending on the spice, some traded at the same value as gold dust of equivalent weight, and many were even more expensive.
However, such spices typically could only be grown in specific climates.
Being able to ignore that restriction would be an opportunity beyond compare.
That was precisely why everyone was trying to get their hands on the Green People... but Daskar naturally understood this as well, and had them guarded quite strictly.
In fact, every single person who had attempted to sneak into the Lord's Manor had failed and been captured.
What had happened to those who were caught was unknown. Unknown, but one thing was clear—Daskar had no intention of yielding on that front.
(If only I could get my hands on even one Green Person...)
He knew as information that the Green People possessed the ability to accelerate plant growth, but he did not know exactly how powerful that ability was.
Given that, his honest feeling was that, under the current circumstances, he wanted to have at least one Green Person under his control.
"Lord Veen?"
Lost in thought, Veen snapped back to reality at his subordinate's voice.
He shook his head as if to say it was nothing while stroking his chin beard.
His subordinate knew that this was a habit Veen displayed when he did not want a topic pursued any further, so he straightforwardly said nothing more and changed the subject.
"By the way, I understand that a fair number of people within the King's Faction have had audiences with the Princess General. What will you do, Lord Veen?"
"I know it would be best to meet her, but to go out of my way to visit a young girl like that..."
Elena's full name was Elena Kerebel.
She was the only daughter of Duke Kerebel's House—a ducal house, the highest rank of nobility.
Given that Elena herself held the alias of Princess General, she would undoubtedly become the next Duke if things continued as they were.
By comparison, Veen's house was a Count's House.
And Veen was not even the head of the house, but rather a relative of the head.
Thinking about it normally, Elena was clearly of higher rank.
Even so, Veen had no desire to do something like going to greet Elena himself.
The thought of himself, already advanced in age, having to go out of his way to visit that young girl... was something unavoidable given Veen's nature.
His subordinate, understanding this as well, spoke up accordingly.
"Still, there is no doubt that it would be best to go pay your respects to Lady Elena. In that case, rather than you yourself going, Lord Veen, how about sending a messenger to offer greetings? Of course, given that you are here in Gilm, you might think it would look problematic, but in that case we could have you fall a little ill..."
That proposal was not to Veen's liking. Not to his liking, but he could understand that it would also benefit him.
"I suppose it cannot be helped, then. ...Very well, see to it. And advance the investigation of the lake as much as possible. However, exercise sufficient caution so that it is not known that we are behind it."
"We would be using people from the Slum District, but is that acceptable?"
"As long as they cannot trace it back to us, that is fine."
Veen gave that answer to his subordinate's words.
Even if those investigating the lake were discovered, as long as they could not be connected back to him, there was no problem at all.
No—rather, even if such expendable pawns were found and died, if they served his purposes, they should gladly die.
Veen believed this from the bottom of his heart.
Between those living in the Slum District and himself, a noble—which of their lives was more precious was so obvious it went without saying.
After seeing his subordinate bow and leave the room, Veen once again turned his thoughts to what he needed to do henceforth.
"Hmm... I knew that lake was suspicious in all sorts of ways."
Marina nodded in understanding at Daskar's words within the Lord's Manor.
If asked why Marina was here, the correct answer would be that she was concerned about the lake.
Also, she was worried about Rei, who had not returned to her home last night.
To Marina, the impression that Rei's place to return to was already her home was strong.
In fact, for some time now, Rei had been eating dinner at Marina's house every day, and ever since the Lizardman and Green People affair began, he was even staying over.
Even at the Wheat Inn at Dusk, which Rei used as his regular lodging, he still kept a room, but lately he had not even been going back.
That was precisely why Rei not returning to Marina's house yesterday was something Marina herself had never expected, and it had dealt her considerable emotional damage.
Because of that, she had come all the way to the Lord's Manor where Daskar was.
...Originally, those who served Daskar should have been in a position to stop Marina from going to see him.
However, to those who had been watching Daskar's overwhelming workload of late, they thought that if anything, they wanted him to take a mental break through conversation with Marina, and so they let her through without stopping her.
As a result, Marina had reached the Office without being halted by anyone.
(Who was it that let Marina through this far?!)
Daskar made a mental note to thoroughly interrogate his subordinates later, even as he opened his mouth to speak.
"Ah. A monster that might not possess a Magic Stone... I had never heard of such a thing before. What about you, Marina? Do you know of any such monsters?"
"I don't, obviously. For that matter, monsters possess Magic Stones, don't they? If so, what about the possibility that it isn't a monster?"
"Since Rei says it's a monster, I consider it a monster."
"Oh, please."
Marina shot Daskar a look of exasperation.
If asked whether she trusted Rei, Marina would answer without hesitation that she absolutely did.
However, there was a big difference between trust and blind faith.
As long as Rei was human, he could make mistakes.
(Though whether Rei can even be called human is another question entirely)
Marina was one of the few who knew the secret of where Rei had come from.
She also knew that Rei's current body was not his original one, but had been created by the hands of the Zephyle Clan.
Whether Rei's current body should be called human was a delicate matter.
Of course, there was no negative factor there.
After all, Marina herself was not human but a Dark Elf, Elena had inherited an Ancient Dragon's Magic Stone, and Vihera had fused—no, absorbed—a monster called Unbris.
Among Marina's companions, the only ones who were pure humans in the truest sense were Ara and Byune.
That was why Marina did not dwell too much on whether someone was purely human.
...Or perhaps, if Rei had been fixated on whether he himself was human, Marina might have been slightly more concerned about it, but in Rei's case, he possessed a firm sense of self—he was who he was—and did not agonize over such things.
That was precisely why Marina did not particularly care whether Rei was human or not.
"What Rei says isn't always correct, you know? I'm sure you know this too, Daskar, but Rei can be somewhat airheaded at times?"
It's also endearing, though.
Seeing Marina smile as if she wanted to say just that, Daskar hesitated over what to say.
Whatever he said here would probably end up sounding like a lovesick fool's bragging.
"In any case. Rei is supposed to submit the Magic Stone-less monster's corpse to the Guild later, so they should be able to investigate various things then and something should come to light. ...Though I have no idea what specifically might be discovered."
"Daskar, you're not someone who investigates those sorts of things, so isn't that fine?"
If one were a scholar of some kind, encountering a never-before-seen monster that also lacked a Magic Stone would necessitate serious investigation.
But Daskar was, after all, the lord of this land—the one in a position to give instructions to such scholars.
(Come to think of it, those scholars I dispatched to the lake... they should be arriving around now, shouldn't they?)
Recalling the several scholars who had set out for the lake the moment they heard Daskar's briefing, he continued his conversation with Marina.