As a result of our discussion, I ended up receiving the Letter — or rather, since I was the most concerned about Richard, it naturally turned out that way.

“If you find out who they really are, let me know.”

“Alright.”

Making that promise with Radi, I continue to search the hall. I don’t know how Richard ended up in this Tower, but he definitely left here. So, under the guise of investigation, I searched through things… but in the end, there was nothing that Radi was looking for.

And so, Radi had to leave without any findings… but here, he had a question for me.

“Ruon, about that Letter earlier.”

“Hm, oh. What about it?”

“Is it correct that the content is a Letter from your master?”

“Yes.”

“I think they’re likely from an Academia… but is there any information about which Academia is mentioned?”

In response to the question, I take the Letter from my pocket and check its contents.

“…Hmm, there don’t seem to be any proper nouns.”

“Then the location of the Academia is unknown?”

“If we knew that, we could investigate in more detail.”

I checked the stationery and so on, but there was no address. Furthermore, there’s no information regarding place names in the text of the Letter, so it’s safe to conclude that it’s impossible to obtain any more information from it.

Well, I should consider obtaining this Letter itself as a valuable find and be content with that for now… As I was thinking, Radi had another question.

“By the way, what’s the content?”

“It’s a common message. It’s a message of encouragement for a disciple.”

It says something like “work hard on your research,” but… I somehow feel a sense of unease.

“Hey, was this Letter received after he started researching here? You could contact them using a messenger pigeon, but…”

“I have a feeling that possibility is low.”

Sylvie replies, crossing her arms.

“For me, it makes more sense that the master had hidden the Letter inside a Book that this person, Richard, brought with him.”

“Indeed… Oh, Sofia. What kind of content is the Book that the Letter came out of?”

I ask Sofia, who is still holding the Book.

“Um… it’s about the concept of Magic.”

“That’s a required subject at the Academia. So it might be a textbook he used when he was studying at the Academia… It’s highly likely that the Letter was secretly hidden inside it.”

Radi says, looking at the Letter I’m holding.

“Perhaps he kept it in the Book after reading it to remember his origins… However, since he reread it, it’s definitely important to him, but to leave it behind, did something truly urgent happen?”

“Or perhaps he hadn’t looked at the Letter for a long time and forgot about it… Well, we won’t know the reason unless we ask the Book person.”

I say that and look around at everyone again. They all seem to have varying degrees of questions, but the reality is that since the only source of information is the Letter, there’s nothing more to discuss.

“…It seems this is all the information we’ll get, so let’s leave.”

Everyone nodded at my words. Then, we left the Tower.

We headed to the nearest Town, and the five of us ate at the same table. As everyone chatted and ate, Sofia asked me a question.

“Lord Ruon, we’ll be returning to Ganaize to resume training with Lady Eiley, but… what will you do after that?”

“Hmm, let’s see… Speaking of which, what are Radi and the others going to do?”

“I think I’ll stay in Ganaize for a while. What about you?”

“…After my training in Ganaize is completely finished, I was thinking of going to see Undine.”

I looked at Sofia for confirmation. She nodded slightly, showing her agreement.

“What about Radi and the others?”

“I don’t have a contract with Undine, but… I’ve been traveling, and I’d like to rest my bones for a bit.”

…Through this Tower exploration, I was able to interact with Radi and also gain information about Richard. The results are excellent, and if he decides to challenge the Five Great Demons in the future, it’s safe to say we’ve laid the groundwork for me to participate in that battle.

Sylvie has also joined us. While going to defeat the Five Great Demons on our own is an option… there’s a possibility that an event will start soon. Gathering information while returning to Ganaize and waiting for it might be another approach.

As I was thinking about how to proceed, a cheer erupted from a corner of the restaurant. It was a loud and noisy clamor.

The location was a table near the entrance. There were several people who looked like Mercenaries, but perhaps because they had finished their meal, they successively got up from their seats, shouting as they left.

“…They’re noisy, aren’t they?”

Sofia let out her thoughts. Just as I silently agreed, a waitress carrying a pitcher approached us. For some reason, she looked apologetic.

“Did something happen?”

I asked, holding out my half-empty glass. She refilled it while answering my question.

“…It’s probably because a big job came in. Information suddenly arrived in this Town around noon as well.”

“A big job?”

Radi asked back suspiciously. The woman then nodded and said,

“This Nation has urgently recruited Mercenaries. I expect the news has also reached Ganaize.”

—We are currently staying in a Town near Ganaize, and these Towns are within the territory of a Nation called the Ramseed Kingdom.

Its territory is considerable, and it possesses a strong Knight Order with experienced Warriors. There should be no problem with mere Monster subjugation without recruiting Mercenaries.

I had a premonition. Could this be—

“It seems a Demon Lord’s Castle has been discovered near the border of this Nation. They are urgently hiring Mercenaries for its subjugation. They say it’s to increase their fighting power, even by a little.”

—It’s the Five Great Demons, Belluna Subjugation Event. The situation that even my Familiar couldn’t uncover has come to light, and a battle will begin immediately… Was recruiting Mercenaries to draw in as many Garnaize Warriors as possible?

Since it exists near the borders of various surrounding Nations, the plan is to launch an attack with the great Nation of the Rosaia Kingdom as the leader… In the game, the Protagonists participate in this, enter the Castle, and defeat Beluna.

Regarding Beluna, she is a female Demon Race with a goddess-like appearance. She is characterized by her balanced use of both sword and Magic, but… the most dangerous among her abilities is a stat-reducing Magic called “Chaotic Seal.” It’s a troublesome Magic that lowers all stats, and I suffered greatly from it as well.

It wouldn’t be much of a problem if I had “Dispel Magic” to remove stat-affecting Magic, but… this Magic is intermediate level and difficult to learn, so players often fought without learning it, and some even rated her as the toughest among the Five Great Demons.

She applies stat debuffs and attacks with Magic and Sword Strikes… Redras’s attacks are more intense, but since she mixes in Magic, the fighting style needs to be changed.

I look at Radi and Sofia. When this event activates, we will fight the Five Great Demons by going to a certain location.

“…A Stronghold means it will be a large-scale battle, I suppose.”

“Lord Ruon.”

Sofia looked at me. I nodded, as if to say I understood,

“Defeating the Demon Race is our reason for acting… Radi, we’re thinking of heading that way.”

“What about your training? You haven’t finished your training with Lady Eiley yet, have you?”

“That’s true, but the Demon Race won’t wait for us.”

…Not much time has passed since we fought Redras of the Five Great Demons. In this case, is Beluna’s power not very high, or has it increased considerably?

After defeating one of the Five Great Demons, the remaining Demon Races were somewhat strengthened… but this can probably be judged to some extent by the appearance of the common enemies. If strong enemies appear, I’ll have to consider a counter-strategy. Should I send my Familiar to investigate?

I looked at Radi and Sofia alternately… There are still problems. I began to analyze them in my mind.