Interlude 7
The Guild Master's Investigation, Part
2
Translator : PolterGlast
Believing it was
highly likely they were burned by magic, Dwayne had brought along two staff
members who could use magic.
The plains were so
quiet it was hard to believe an Ogre horde had invaded, and every time he saw
the relaxed faces of the adventurers they passed, he began to wonder if the
Ogre invasion had been a lie.
"This is unusual,
though. The Guild Master himself coming out to conduct an on-site investigation
with subordinates in tow."
"Indeed. You
usually avoid on-site investigations, saying they're a hassle. And you rarely
bring anyone with you, do you?"
"It's not that
it's a hassle; it's physically impossible with my workload. If you two would
take on half my work, I'd go out for on-site investigations anytime."
"That's
impossible, sir. Identifying a monster species from just an ear is insane. I
start to feel sick after just an hour of looking at them."
"I do it while
feeling sick, too. Anyway, the reason I brought you two is because I have something
I want to ask about magic. I consider myself to be fairly well-versed, but
honestly, I'm completely clueless this time."
He didn't think the
two of them would know either, but since they were graduates of the Royal Magic
Academy, they knew more than Dwayne.
And as they say, three
heads are better than one.
Hoping they might
discover something, Dwayne had brought the two of them to the scene on the
off-chance.
"If even you are
clueless, Guild Master, then it must be something serious. Especially since
your knowledge of adventurers is second to none."
"A series of
incomprehensible things have been happening these past few days. It's making me
painfully aware that I still have a long way to go. ...But more importantly,
the subjugation was reported to have happened around here, right?"
"Yes. —Ah, isn't
that where those people are gathered?"
Looking in the
direction one of the staff members pointed, there were indeed a dozen or so
adventurers gathered.
From the way they were
crouched, they seemed to be looking at something on the ground.
Dwayne and his men ran
towards the location to see what the adventurers were gathered around.
"We're from the
Adventurer's Guild. Please step aside for a moment."
"We're here to
investigate. Please let us have a look."
Using the authority of
the Adventurer's Guild, they had the gathered people move aside and stepped
forward.
Looking down at where
everyone's gazes were directed, they saw the numerous corpses of Ogres lying on
the ground.
"Wow... This is
incredible. A huge number of Ogres have been killed."
"From the state
of these corpses... many Ogres were killed in an instant."
"You can tell
that much?"
"Because the
bodies are all gathered in one place. Judging by the fact that their ears have
been cut off, these must be the Ogre corpses."
Seeing that they were
Ogres killed by a sword, for a moment he thought it was the work of the same
person who had cut off the other Ogre's head, but unfortunately, Dwayne's guess
was wrong.
There was no doubt
they had been killed by a skilled adventurer, but the cuts were utterly
ordinary, even showing a slight clumsiness.
Furthermore, there
were no burned corpses, so those ears must have been faked later.
Just as he was about
to make that judgment—one of the staff members pointed forward and shouted.
"Guild Master!
There are more corpses over there!"
He raised his head and
looked forward, and indeed, he could see something charred black lying in the
distance.
Because people were
gathered in the foreground, he had assumed the corpses were only right in front
of them.
"Ah, there's
nothin' interesting to see over there, ya know? They're just charred corpses,
so you can't tell anything from 'em."
One of the adventurers
who had moved aside gave this warning out of kindness, but Dwayne couldn't help
but glare at him.
If he had been a
little younger, he would have yelled "A third-rate adventurer like you
should shut up," so in a way, this was growth.
Ignoring the
adventurer's warning, Dwayne and his men approached the corpses of the
Ogre-like monsters lying ahead.
With each step they
took, they could feel goosebumps rising on their skin from the strangeness of
the monster corpses.
Before he knew it, he
was running. Dwayne approached the jet-black monster corpses and began to stare
at them intently.
"What's with the
sudden running!? Did you figure something out?"
"Are they burned
corpses? Was it done by magic?"
"You two are
looking at these corpses, and you don't notice how terrifyingly abnormal they
are?"
Dwayne asked his guild
staff with a fierce expression.
However, the two of
them couldn't see anything other than the fact that they were corpses burned by
high-powered magic.
"............I'm
sorry, sir. I don't quite understand."
"First, look at
the degree of charring on this corpse. No matter how much I break it apart like
this, it's burned all the way to the core. Could you cast a spell on one of the
Ogre corpses over there and burn it this thoroughly?"
"...No, that's
impossible. So does that mean they were killed by an ultra-high-powered
spell?"
"Hmm. To char
them this black, it would have to be something like [Flamestorm] or
[Starburst], wouldn't it?"
"But both of
those are high-level spells. Is it even possible to cast them so many times in
a row?"
It seemed the caster
had pursued even the fleeing Ogres, as the corpses of Ogre-like monsters were
scattered over a wide area.
You would have to cast
at least ten spells to create this many corpses.
As Dwayne's thoughts
reached that point, he finally noticed the strangest, most indescribable part
of this plain.
His body suddenly
began to tremble violently, and as his mind understood the truth of this
bizarre scene, tears began to well up in his eyes.
He couldn't explain
what these tears were for.
Moved by a sight too
incredible—that was the best possible explanation for Dwayne's current
emotions.
"Guild Master...
w-what's wrong?"
"Was there
something strange?"
"............L-look
at this plain."
"The plain...
sir?"
"I-I told you,
didn't I? To burn them this much, you'd have to use a high-level or greater
fire-attribute spell...! A-and yet... there isn't a single burn mark left on
this grassland!!"
At Dwayne's cry from
the soul, the two guild employees finally noticed the strangeness of the plain.
It was a phenomenon
that was far beyond the realm of imagination, and Dwayne, whether from
excitement or fear, couldn't stop his body from trembling and his tears from
flowing.
"Wh-what does
this mean!? D-did they kill them somewhere else and then bring them here... or
something?"
"Th-that's
impossible. B-because the corpses were burned to death right here."
"A-anyway, we
start by questioning people. We will find the person who used this magic! I
have to meet them, no matter what!!"
The three of them
trembled as they nodded at Dwayne's shout.
Seeing the Ogre's head
had been a shock, but this shock was even greater.
This had now become
Dwayne's top priority, and he resolved to search for them with all his might.
First, he would start
by questioning the adventurers who had gathered here.
Then, he decided he
would summon Aoi and hear her story as well.
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