Fortunately, with the large bounty in hand, he could afford to buy information from his informant and many of them were happy to tell Sebas what they knew, as he was doing a kindness here and there. It was nice to have a wider range of information to gather, he thought.
The information they gathered was mainly about the strongest among the subhumans. There is a lot of information about subhumans in Carinthia, which is close to the Great Wall. "Seven Color Scales," "Great King," "Ice, Fire, and Thunder," "Beast King," "Ash King," "Spiral Spear," "Black Steel," "Magic Claw," etc. ... Information about famous subhumans with two names, including their reputations and known abilities, was readily available.
One of the most interesting was an anecdote about the Baforg king, Bazar, the "Great King". Bazar led his troops to the great wall and fought against Orlando Campano. Bazaar has the fearsome martial arts of weapon destruction and is also known as the "King of Destruction". The bazaar destroyed all of Orlando's weapons and nearly drove him to the brink, but he retreated when he saw reinforcements from the fort. Orlando, he thought, had won the game and lost the match.
But for Demiurgos, that's not the point. The important thing to note is that, as far as I can tell, Bazaar and Orlando are only similarly competent. There's no possibility that he was deliberately playing it sloppy, but It would be more realistic to think that Bazaar was unable to kill Orlando, as he retreated just because a human soldier came to reinforce him.
The chief of the subhumans with two names is said to be The Jukketsu, but it's hard to imagine that Bazaar is the only weak one among them. Probably, Jukketsu's abilities are competitive in their own way. If there was a person with outstanding ability, it would not be surprising to see a tribe led by that person level the hills of Abellion, where conflicts between subhumans continue day and night. In the world of sub-humans, power is justice, even more so.
Demiurgos thought that the idea that power is justice was a simple and very good idea that he could relate to. Those who make all their decisions based on arm strength alone, whose brains are made of muscle, are out of the question, but If arm strength is power, then magic and wisdom are also power. It is an irrefutable truth that the winner is the one who stands until the end.
The reputation was that Remedios Custodio, a holy knight who had reached the realm of heroism and was known as the strongest of the Kyu-shiki, would be the most likely one to compete with the Jukketsu. He won't know how real ability she is until He see her in person, but Demiurgos decides to keep in mind that he should be wary. He heard Pavel said that the fifth level of rank magic is the realm of heroes, it's probably not too much to be wary of, but it's a good idea to keep your eyes open.
Because the Abellion Hills are unexplored and extremely dangerous for humans, we were unable to get any details about which tribes were where. It was said that some tribe move from place to place like nomads, so in any case, it seemed that information about their whereabouts had to be obtained by legwork. There is no need for Demiurgos to do anything about it on his own, he can just summon a suitable demon and let it find them.
As I was able to afford it financially, I also visited the Masic Caster's guild. When he asked the receptionist if there was a scroll with the message, she immediately replied that there was, but He was curious about the dubious look on the receptionist's face, as if to say what it was for, so Demiurgos decided to ask for details just in case.
"Just to confirm, can you tell me more about the scroll of message?"
"Yes. Although Message is a spell that allows you to communicate with people who are far away, it is not a reliable spell because it is extremely difficult to hear conversations when the distance is great. The distance at which you can communicate clearly depends on the magic power of the sorcerer, but with the scroll... from here, it's probably as far as the capital at best."
Touche, Demiurgos thought. He never thought that such a restriction would exist in this world for the message. This means that if Nazarick is in a distant land, we will not be able to tell them where we are, nor will we be able to confirm Nazarick's whereabouts. However, by using the message, it may be possible to confirm whether or not Nazarick's people exist in this world, which has not yet been confirmed, and if they do exist in the vicinity, it may be possible to communicate with them.
Demiurgos ended up buying two scrolls of message. He will be communicating with Momonga-sama and Albedo. Needless to say, Momonga-sama should be the first priority for communication, but he may have already left for Rialu. The reason for the selection was that Albedo would have the best grasp of the situation, including that of the Nazarick people.
When Demiurgos returned to his room at the inn, Sebas had already returned.
"I found a scroll of a message. I bought it."
"Really, then you can get in touch with Nazarick right away, can't you?"
"Unfortunately, the message used around here are attenuated by distance, and the further away you are, the more difficult it is to communicate. If Nazarick is nearby, fine, but if it's in a distant land, we may not be able to communicate with it."
Hearing Demiurgos' words, Sebas Depress slightly and lowered his eyes, clearly depressed. Maybe it was because he had high expectations, but he was quite depressed. As expected, Demiurgos felt pity and continued to speak.
"Don't be so discouraged. I'm going to try to communicate with Momonga-sama and Albedo. If we can get a message through, even if we can't talk, we can confirm their existence, right? It means that if we increase our fame, our presence will surely reach Nazarick. Momonga-sama wouldn't miss such information."
"...Huh, it's possible that there is a possibility that they are nearby."
"Let's try it for now, and depending on the results. We'll see what we can do."
As he said this, Demiurgos opened the scroll and activated the Message spell. The first person to contact was Momonga-sama. There was a sensation of a thread extending from the Demiurgos, probing for something, and it reached nowhere, eventually the time of effect of the message passed and the thread broke. Without saying a word, Demiurgos activates the second scroll of Message. The thread to find Albedo eventually broke without reaching anywhere.
Sebastien looked at him as if he wanted to know the result, but it was not a result he wanted to talk about. Demiurgos thought that this result also did not prove that Nazarick did not exist in this world, but The possibility is too uncertain for him to tell Sebas.
It is already a certainty in mind of Demiurgos, the possibility that this world is completely different from Yggdrasil. It is possible that the reason why the magic of the message didn't reach them is because they haven't met Momonga-sama or Albedo yet in this world. Anyway, this world's messages seems to be had the property of attenuating with distance and this also to explains adequately why Momonga-sama and the others have not contacted me via message.
But how to explain that to Sebas, Demiurgos was now thinking.
"First of all, let me conclude that the message did not lead to Momonga-sama and to Albedo. But that's not cause for despair, in my opinion."
"...Why is that? If the message doesn't connect, it's because the person is logged out, which means they don't exist."
"I've been thinking about the possibility for a long time, but I didn't know if you'd believe me because it was too wild a possibility, so I didn't tell you about it. I suspect that we have both been transported to another world that is not Yggdrasil."
When Demiurgos said this, Sebas looked at Demiurgos with a quizzical look on his face, as if to say, "Are you insane"? It was an expected reaction for Demiurgos. It's a possibility that Demiurgos himself would have preferred not to believe, so it can't be helped.
"I don't think these are the words of the wisest man in Nazarick. What makes you say that?"
"Possibility, I said. I'd like to ask you the opposite question, did you ever think it was strange? There were letters that didn't exist in Yggdrasil, magic and magical restrictions that didn't exist, a system of martial arts that differed from skills, the existence of the profession of adventurer, and the the people who lived there is Vulnerable... It's too different from the Yggdrasil we know. Besides, if this is Yggdrasil, it's quite possible that Lady Momonga is logged out, but it's absolutely impossible for Albedo, an NPC, to be logged out in Yggdrasil."
"It's... I don't know why Albedo is logged out, but... isn't it more natural to think that such a place also exists within Yggdrasil? If rank magic is used, it's more natural to assume that it's Yggdrasil."
"I don't think so. There are too many differences between this place and Yggdrasil to think that it is somewhere in Yggdrasil. It's more natural to think that rank magic was brought from Yggdrasil to another world. I think that the four great gods who left behind the English word Dandelion may have been Yggdrasil beings who wandered into this world like us. If there were other beings like us in the past, it would not be surprising if they were the ones who spread rank magic."
It's just a inference, but it doesn't add up if you don't think so. When he heard Demiurgos's reasoning, Sebas's eyes grew grim, but he did not try to argue further.
"...Let's say that was the case. What does that have to do with the fact that the message didn't connect?"
"In this world, we have not yet met Momonga-sama or Albedo. Isn't it possible that that's why there was no connection? Of course, it is most likely that Nazarick is still in Helheim. The most likely explanation is that we are in different worlds and cannot communicate with the NPC, Albedo. However, we can't completely deny the possibility that Nazarick has been transported somewhere in this world, just as we have been caught up in this unknown phenomenon. I suppose it's not too late to despair after you've exhausted every conceivable means of searching the world, is it?"
In response to Demiurgos' words of admonition, Sebas softened his gaze and depress slightly. After pondering for a bit, Sebas raised his head and looked straight at Demiurgos.
"I agree with you that it is still too early to despair and that we have not yet taken make all the measures. but I haven't accepted everything you've said."
!That's all you need to know. What I'm saying is just a inference, there is no proof of anything. I'm just saying that there are many possibilities that should be considered."
"But even if you're right and Nazarick is still in Helheim, how are we supposed to get home?"
The color of anguish that appeared on the face of Sebas, who muttered this, was the same one that Demiurgos also harbor. The horrible possibility that I may never be able to serve the supreme people again. This is a horrible possibility that I dread to even think about. He can't ignore the possibility that this will fundamentally negate the significance and value of the existence of Demiurgos and Sebas.
Demiurgos thinks Sebas is incompatible with him, but he doesn't doubt Sebas's loyalty to Nazarick and the Forty-One Supremes, and he thinks they share his own. So I understand the unfathomable fear that one feels about the possibility of not being able to return to Nazarick. Demiurgos can't understand anything else about Sebas, but he can sympathize with him about his loyalty to the supreme forty-one people and Nazarick, which is the most important thing to Demiurgos, so he can manage to work together with him, and he makes concessions as much as possible, it Would be said accurate.
"There is a possibility that we may not be able to return home, but it is not too late to think about that after we have done all we can. For now, let's think about what needs to be done."
Demiurgos' words were not only directed at Sebas, but also at himself.
If there is no Nazarick, no way to return to Helheim, and the two of them are left in this world as a variant species with no life expectancy, they don't know how should live for many, many years. He couldn't bear to live a life that had no meaning or value for even a second. But they should be can put that off until after they have searched the whole world and found neither Nazarick nor a way to return to Helheim. For now, we should do our best to find Nazarick, that's all we need to think about. Once again, Demiurgos said to himself.
Demiurgos and Sebas were summoned by the Adventurers' Guild and went to the Adventurers' Guild. When they showed up at the reception desk, they were told that the head of the union wanted to talk to them, so they were sent to the head's room again.
"I'm glad you're here. Have a seat."
"Excuse me, sir."
As Demiurgos and Sebas bowed and sat down on the sofa, the union president hold outed them with a platinum plate.
"As a result of our discussions, we have come to the conclusion that your abilities would not be suitable for a lower rank. As a special exception, you were granted promotion to the platinum rank. This is your new plate."
"Thank you, sir."
Demiurgos smiled serenely and accepted the plate, not revealing his inner thoughts that platinum was a cheap price to pay. They know from Sebas' information gathering that the highest rank of adventurer here in Kalinsha is Mithril. It was probably a political decision to rank the two unproven adventurers higher than Mithril, as they would face a backlash from the other adventurers. Even Demiurgos doesn't want to get into any unnecessary trouble, so it can't be helped in some respects.
And if your track record is small fry like ogres, goblins, and snakemen, you can't help but stop at platinum no matter how many you hunt. Partly because he didn't have enough time to gather information at the previous point, and partly because he decided that it would be better to go through some steps, but he want to go instantly all the way from here. As he had planned beforehand, he was going to have to show there abilities in a more clear and obvious way.
"I'm sure you're well aware of this, but please remember that this is a special case, and we won't allow it in the future."
"I understand. If you're a platinum-class person, you probably don't have to work as a child's errand boy, and we have no shortage of them."
"...I sincerely hope you're right."
The union president replied with a look depressed. It must be a sincere wish, As the word says.
After putting on the platinum plate and returning the copper plate, Demiurgos decided to go downstairs and look at the bulletin board where the request was posted. Sebas looked surprised and asked in a small voice.
"Do you take normal requests?"
"Apparently, the Abellion Hills are quite large, and it will be a while before we get the information we need. Besides, it would be too pity for the union leader if we didn't pretend to be a normal adventurer at least a little. Is a normal request not enough for you?"
"No, sir, that is not true. I believe it is desirable to work in a manner appropriate to one's rank."
"I figured you would answer that way. If you have no objections, how about this job? Confirm the truth of the rumor that Elder Riches are haunting the derelict, and if they exist, defeat them."
"Elder Rich..."
Narrowing his eyes slightly, Sebas muttered in an emotionally charged voice that sounded very subtle. This work is for our rank, but such this degree. Even so, Demiurgos had chosen a job that was more difficult than those available to the platinum class.
"You're not satisfied?"
"No. Nothing like that."
"Okay, let's do this."
With Sebas's approval, Demiurgos smiled at Sebas, peeled the parchment off the bulletin board, and took it to the reception desk. Since the guild was the client in this case, there was no meeting with the client as in the previous case, and the location of the derelict explained for them on the spot, ready for us to leave immediately.
Demiurgos and Sebas, who were not fatigued and did not need to sleep, did not need any camping gear, so they left the union and immediately headed for the site without even a sleeping bag, which they had prepared and used last time just in case. It takes about two days for a person who needs to sleep, so we should be able to get there in a day. We started by heading northwest along the road.
"If you had been promoted steadily, one rank at a time, as you had hoped, you would have had to do a lot of boring work like this, do you understand?"
"A boring work is a bit of an exaggeration. To the people of that city, even the Elder Rich would be a serious threat. I think it's worthwhile to eliminate them."
"I'm talking about whether that work is our worth the ability. I don't care what happens to human. As a platinum, we had the job of defeating the Elder Rich, but the jobs of the lower ranks were even lower level, you know? Imagine doing all those boring work one by one."
"All occupations are equally honourable, there are no high and low."
"I don't think so. Regardless of nobility, the right person should be in the right place at the right time, and the right job should be done according to their abilities. Just as the Supreme People placed the people of Nazarick in roles that would allow them to make the best use of their abilities, I would like to see humans use their minds a little more. The adventurer's system, which requires anyone of any ability to start at the bronze level, is really inefficient. It could be solved if they were screened in advance and their abilities assessed."
"Wouldn't that approach create a self-conceit in the higher adventurers? I'm sure with adventurers gain experience the bottom of the heap, they'll learn to fear battle."
"Pride, that's what you call it. It's a sign of human stupidity. It's a sign of human stupidity. They are so confident of their own power that they neglect to prepare a place where they can win, which is truly foolish. You seem to be very fond of humans, but I don't understand how you can be so devoted to such an ignorance species."
"You lump all humans together, but some are stupid, some are wise, some are good, and some are bad. Isn't it wildly unreasonable and uncharacteristic of Demiurgos to discuss tangle all together?"
"The difference you care about is too small for me to care about. A half-witted wise man with poor wisdom is easier to read than a fool. There may be a few exceptions, but human are generally stupid."
"Isn't your attitude of looking down on people because they are stupid more stupid? I'm afraid that such an attitude may eventually lead you might pull the rug from under you."
"Do anyone may pull the rug from under me? Under what circumstances would such a thing as a flower blooming on a stone happen? I consider humans to be stupid, but that doesn't mean I'm not prepared. Is that the kind of self-conceit you think I have?"
"Sometimes human have unexpected powers. As long as you look down on human, you will never be able to read their power."
The conversation on the road had been about the boredom of platinum's work, but before I knew it, we were talking about how foolish humans are and Demiurgos be tripped up human.
They were paused once by Demiurgos, who shifted to unleash a demon to explore the Abellion Hills, but the argument continued without a step back until we reached the derelict of our destination. They finally stopped talking when they saw an abandoned village with a large mansion in the back. It was common understanding that they would need to discuss this later.
"Hmmm ... If the Elder Rich are in control, there is a possibility that they are rampancy by the undead, but we don't have the pieces under my control to search for undead reactions. It's not impossible that it's not the Elder Rich, but an opponent that's difficult for us to counter, so let's just check."
Muttering, Demiurgos used his skills to summon a demon with the ability to fly and a certain degree of detectability.
"Go find out what's going on in that abandoned village and see if anyone is hiding there. Check the back mansion carefully."
Following orders, the demon flew off to the village. Both Demiurgos and Sebas waited in silence for the demon to return, knowing that opening their mouths would result in an unpleasant argument anyway.
Hearing the report of the returning demon, Demiurgos muttered huh, and his mouth relaxed. If the report was true, then this was not a job for the platinum class, and it might be a chance to move up in rank again.
"There is no one in the village, but the mansion in the back seems to be a den of undead. I've heard that they are all low-grade undead, like zombies and wights. And there seems to be no doubt that it is the Elder Rich who control them. But there are three of them."
"I see. I see no problem with that."
"Yes, there's nothing wrong with that. It's rather expedient."
"Well, let's go."
As Sebas started walking, Demiurgos followed. They reached the front of a large mansion at the far end of the village, and Sebas carelessly opened the door. The entrance hall was roamed by many low-ranking undead.
"For now, I will in work to do. Fireball."
He is going to leave most of it to Sebas, but he thought it would be bad to do nothing at all, so at the very beginning Demiurgos exploded a fireball in the middle of the entrance hall. A blaze of flame erupts, and Sebas rushes inside as if on cue. He told Sebas in advance to go for the torso, since it was never specified as a submission point. The body of the low-level undead was precisely targeted by Sebas, and he hunted its false life one after another.
When all the undead on the first floor had been hunted down, the Elder Rich finally appeared down the stairs to the landing. Only one of them came down, but that was not a problem since he was going to clean the upstairs anyway.
Without giving him time to release his magic, he leapt from the bottom of the stairs and was pierced in the torso by a flying kick from Sebas, turning the first Elder Rich into ashes. Deciding to leave the cleaning to Sebas, Demiurgos set to work collecting the parts to be submitted to the union. Although he had prepared a knife, the blades made by humans were not sharp enough. I only prepared it as a precaution in case someone was watching. As before, the fingertips of one hand were turned into claws and the designated part was cut out and collected.
Sebas came down shortly after. He said he was done with the cleaning. Demiurge handed him the knife and let him help me retrieve the part.
"It's a completely uninteresting job. It's just a simple job."
"It has the meaning and value of protecting people from the threat of monsters."
"I have no interest in its meaning or value. I suppose the drunkenness of going along with your fun isn't so bad once in a while, but only once in a while."
"I'm not doing this for fun, it's a misunderstanding."
"It's more of a hobby, isn't it? Your mission is to serve Nazarick, to help those who do not belong to Nazarick is how else to put it but hobby or drunkenness?"
"It is true that I have dedicated myself to the Most High and to Nazarick, and that should be my first priority, but to the extent that it does not involve that, protecting good people is well worthwhile and worthwhile."
"Some are good, some are bad, right? It seems to me that your actions protect even the evil ones."
"Even bad people can change their minds and become good, and your idea denies and does not take into account human potential."
"I'm not interested in whether people are better or worse. For me, the only value of a human being is how much he or she can entertain me. Why should I give any thought to something as unimportant as human potential? Most people can only dance in my hands and entertain me at best."
"You don't have a proper understanding of human value, which is why you have such a skewed view-"
The argument continued even after the parts were recovered. This time, too, there was an interruption by the Demiurgos' transfer to the Abellion Hills, but in the end the argument continued until we returned to Carinthia. They kept their mouths shut as the city came into view, but it was common understanding that they needed to discuss it later. As soon as I arrived back in town, I went to the Adventurers' Guild to report.
"As a result of our investigation, we found the Elder Rich, so we subdue them."
The receptionist takes the bag from Demiurgos and starts checking the parts. It won't be a lot of money since they are all low-level undead, but he can't make a fool of a small earner, and small accumulations are important. A questioning look appeared on the face of the receptionist who was checking the part, which gradually turned into astonishment.
"You see, there are three ... parts of ... Elder Rich."
"Yes, there were three of them."
"Three of them, huh...?"
"Yes"
The receptionist looked at Demiurgos and Sebas as if she was looking at something unbelievable, shifted her eyes to the part she was checking, then looked at them again. Demiurgos smiled good-humoredly at the receptionist, thinking that with this response, the promotion to Mithril might be coming soon.