Chapter 38.7 – Volume 1 – Epilogue Scheme

「………I’m sorry.」

In the most secure room in the innermost of the guild.
The guild’s staff, Hanzam, was currently bowing to a certain someone.
Looking at his expression, maybe it was from the guilt, but his face was pale.

「You don’t have to worry. Everything is an accident.」

However, the old man that apology directed to, in contrast to Hanzam, was calm.
The white-haired old man with long ears that was impossible for human smiled with a hint of fatigue on it.

「…There are some things in this world you simply can’t do anything against, you have done well.」

「Gh!」

Hanzam’s face distorted when he heard the old man’s words.
He was deeply moved by his words.

「…But this is an unforgivable blunder.」

Even so, Hanzam didn’t close his eyes against the blunder he caused.
With unconcealed regret on his face, he opened his mouth.

「…I gave information to a world-class adventurer, on top of that, the hydra has been mutated. If there is a little mistake, it might be impossible to recover from this error.」

「…Hanzam.」

The old man’s face cast a shadow.
Certainly, if it were to go further, Hanzam’s error could derail the plan down the line.

This Labyrinth city had a power independent from the guild headquarter in the capital city.
The monsters material that went out from this place to other cities had so much value.
That was why the guild in the capital city was trying to put Labyrinth city’s guild into their control.

………However, if Labyrinth city’s guild is put under the control of the capital city’s guild, all of our plans will go up in smoke.

「…It’s alright. As long as there is that man, the capital city’s guild can’t interfere with Labyrinth city.」

But if asked whether Hanzam’s error was a punishable one, then the answer was no.
As long as there was a certain man, Labyrinth city’s power wouldn’t be shaken.
After all, while it was true that Labyrinth city had a power independent from the country, there was a demand from the country that needed to be fulfilled to some extent.
And as long as it was fulfilled, Labyrinth city would be safe.

Also, the old man didn’t judge Hanzam to be responsible for the hydra’s mutation.

「When it comes to hydra’s mutations, there’s nothing you can do about it.」

「Kh!」

In response to the old man’s words, Hanzam looked shaken.
He also understood the matter with hydra was not something he could do anything about on his own unless he leaked the information to Ralma.

Hanzam discovered early that one of the guild’s staff, Almast, was hiding the existence of the hydra.
…Nevertheless, the hydra couldn’t be defeated before it was mutated was only because the heavy load piled on Hanzam at that moment.

The absence of the party that could defeat the hydra; Ralma, a world-class adventurer came to Labyrinth city.

…And then the abnormal situation where the hydra mutated far faster than usual.

Obviously, if the hydra successfully mutated, the damage would be catastrophic.
It was a common sense that if a mutated super-high difficulty monster appeared, the surrounding city would be destroyed.

「I’m not going to blame you for the matter with the hydra, Hanzam.」

However, the old man couldn’t ask Hanzam to take responsibility for the hydra.

「…Nobody could blame you in this situation.」

The hydra’s mutation was so irregular.
The cause was an increase in magic power in the meadow.

………And the increased magic power in the meadow hinted at something.

「………The awakening is close.」

In the old man’s words, unconcealed unrest could be seen on Hanzam’s face.
Seeing his reaction, the old man knew that Hanzam also had the same idea.

「Hanzam, I understand that it was not your responsibility. It was one of the few mistakes you’ve ever made to otherwise fulfill my request perfectly. I don’t have any intention to reprove you for it…… No, we don’t have that much leeway to do so in the first place.」

「……I understand.」

After a little bit of time feeling perplexed from the old man’s answer, Hanzam nodded.
The situation was imminent, it was just around the corner.
That was something Hanzam might be aware to too.

「So, is it going smoothly?」

After a moment spent to observe Hanzam’s state, the old man asked.

「Yes. There are only a few excellent adventurers left, but I think we can overlook the worst damage.」

「……I see.」

The old man replied to Hanzam with an unconcealed gloom on his face.
……The feeling harbored in the old man’s heart was a helpless feeling toward the future.
The old man wished he could just run away along with Hanzam from Labyrinth city.

However, the old man, knowing it was impossible, held back the urge back into his chest.

「Now, we can achieve our goal soon.」

And then, with the words the old man said next, tension ran on Hanzam’s face.

「Guild Master, I will be with you until the end.」

And then, as if making an oath, Hanzam said so as he knelt on the spot.
After that, the old man, the head of Labyrinth city’s guild, Ramulus, opened his mouth as he made a small nod.

「Just a little more until Labyrinth city perish.」

……After the mutated hydra, another unparalleled disaster was approaching Labyrinth city.

There we go, the first volume of this novel, I originally planned to take 2 weeks break before continuing, but because I took my time for the last couple of chapters, I decided I will cut my break into 1 week, also, please know that the release for next volume might be slowed down a bit, the author have been releasing chapter twice per month for almost a year now, so I’m in no rush to catch up, the excess time will be used to translate the other 2 novels I’ve been neglecting for a while now