Chapter 90: The Plan

A few days later.

Originally, I’d planned to gather everyone the very next day, but Mr. Luca’s condition was so bad that I waited for him to recover.

So it was only after Mr. Luca’s condition had improved considerably that I called everyone together.

I wanted to use Mr. Luca’s lodging as the meeting place, but that was under reconstruction right now, so that was impossible. In the end, I had no choice but to settle on Mateo’s hotel.

Thanks to that, the hotel — which was supposed to be known only to those involved — was now packed with people.

Deneb and Marcel, who were already there.

Glare and Hames.

Mateo, Jihyeok, and Claire.

And finally, me and Mr. Luca.

“…The reason I’ve gathered everyone here is because I have something to say.”

Under everyone’s watchful eyes, I finished steeling my resolve and declared.

“Ahem. I am Yoschuko Verdiol.”

…I declared it, but surprisingly, no uproar followed.

“What, you can’t be serious with a joke like that… huh?”

Hames was the only one who showed that predictable reaction. I thought Deneb would be surprised, at least, but unexpectedly, she wasn’t.

“…You guys are pretty unimpressed.”

So I said that while looking at Deneb.

“Uh, actually, until a few days ago, I thought Ms. Verdi… was Verdiol hyung-nim’s disciple. But then I found out…”

“Found out what?”

“Well… you know that Incantationless Casting magic? Jihyeok explained that it’s not something you can learn… that it’s a skill only Verdiol hyung-nim can pull off…”

“…”

Hearing that, I shot Jihyeok a sharp glare. At my stare, Jihyeok just gave a faint smirk. While Mr. Luca was recovering, I’d been acting a lot with Jihyeok, discussing future plans, and Deneb had seen us together.

Since Jihyeok and Deneb already knew each other from before (not as close as with me, but still), it seemed they’d talked quite a bit without much difficulty.

Well, I’d been planning to reveal my identity anyway, but having him find out first takes the fun out of it. Honestly, I was looking forward to seeing their reactions.

Meanwhile, Marcel.

“As I thought…!”

His eyes grew moist, and then he burst into tears and started bowing to me.

“It’s late, but even now… Mr. Verdiol, during Dark Moon, you saved my life. If it weren’t for you back then, I’d be dead by now. Even if I was crushed then, I’ve gotten back up now… thank you so much for saving me back then…”

“S-stop that… just treat me like usual, please.”

His behavior was seriously overwhelming, so I said that.

“B-but…”

“I get your feelings well enough.”

“…Understood.”

And so I pushed Marcel away.

“Verdi.”

Mr. Luca fidgeted with his sunglasses and called my name.

“Are you okay with this?”

“With what?”

“Revealing your identity…”

“What does it matter? The people who need to know already know anyway.”

Hearing my words, Mr. Luca turned his head slightly. He probably thinks I can’t tell because of the sunglasses, but I can clearly see him avoiding my gaze.

…Well, I’ve thought about it a lot, and I don’t plan to blame Mr. Luca for hiding it all this time. After all, whoever commissioned that job would naturally know what the drug’s effects were and who took it, so of course they’d know.

Like I thought last time, it was just my own shortsightedness.

“So you don’t need to worry about it too much.”

I said that because Mr. Luca still seemed sorry.

Then, beyond the sunglasses, I could see his expression ease a bit.

“What are you planning to do from here, Senior?”

At Jihyeok’s following question, I cleared my throat once and spoke as if making a declaration.

“I’m going to conquer End Cave.”

“…!”

At my words, everyone stared at me with surprised eyes.

“Not like last time, where we just went in and came out. I’m going to take down the boss for real.”

“…Are you sure that’s a good idea? End Cave is…”

“I know.”

When Jihyeok asked in a worried voice, I answered firmly.

“I failed there before. And it’s not just me. It’s the place the Five Great Guilds tried to conquer together and still failed.”

It’s the only Gate that remains unconquered to this day. It’s a damn miracle a Dungeon Break hasn’t happened there.

“Wouldn’t it be difficult for just the two of us to conquer it…”

“Who said it’s just us?”

“Huh?”

“Then, are we all gonna go and clear it together?”

While Jihyeok was expressing doubt, Hames asked.

“Ah, of course we’ll need Crescent’s help too. We’ve known each other for a while, right, Hames?”

“…Hoho, back then everything you did looked cute, but now…”

At my words, Hames’s expression twisted slightly. Feels like our positions have swapped.

Anyway.

“Clearing End Cave is too hard for just us. The boss in there… honestly, I can say for certain that Jihyeok and I alone could never beat it. Plus, who knows how it might have changed over time.”

Everyone nodded at my words.

“Ludwig told me before he died.”

To save Iris.

“Ludwig… that’s Moonlight’s real name.”

Mr. Luca muttered.

“To do that, we need to subdue the Demon God that’s presumed to be the boss of End Cave.”

Iris is sealing the Gate’s boss to prevent a Dungeon Break. In other words, we have to save her. The seal will break someday, and when it does, a Dungeon Break will inevitably happen and cause massive damage to the world.

Especially considering what kind of Demon Beast would come out of that Gate.

“That Demon God is probably a being far too overwhelming for us to handle with just our own strength.”

The old me wouldn’t have said something like this.

But now I know. There are things I can’t do alone.

“First, we need to gather the Five Great Guilds together again. We have to form an alliance. Like before.”

I kept explaining to everyone who looked confused.

“We need their power. Fortunately, we have Hames, the acting master of Crescent, one of the Five Great Guilds, by our side.”

“That’s right.”

“But that alone isn’t enough. We all need to grow stronger together. Moonlight isn’t here anymore. Crescent is practically an empty shell in name only.”

“That’s a bit harsh…”

Hames made an aggrieved face. But it’s the truth.

“It might take a few months… or even years. In that time, we get as strong as possible and expand our influence. Enough that the other Five Great Guilds will keep an eye on us.”

“Then do we need to join Crescent?”

“No.”

At Deneb’s question, I spoke.

“I’m going to create a guild. A guild where I’m the Guild Master.”

I said it confidently and turned my gaze to Mr. Luca.

“You’ll help us this time too, right?”

Honestly, I feel a bit sorry for Mr. Luca since his lodging collapsed not long ago, but it can’t be helped. He’s the only one with enough funds to support us right now.

“Of course.”

At my question, Mr. Luca answered with a smile. As always, Mr. Luca is reliable.

“Of course, we’ll support you as much as we can from our end too.”

Hames said. Well, I called Crescent a guild in name only, but it’s still one of the Five Great Guilds. It’ll be a big help in founding the guild and forming the alliance.

“Lastly, like I said, we get stronger. I’d like everyone to be strong enough to play an active role in End Cave, but I know that’s an incredibly difficult thing.”

I’m not expecting that much.

“It’s enough if we’re on par with the members of the Five Great Guilds. What matters is catching their attention.”

“…”

At my words, Deneb looked intimidated.

She’s the only one here who isn’t a High-Rank Hunter.

It’s perfectly normal for her to react like that.

After all, becoming a High-Rank Hunter isn’t easy.

“Don’t worry, Deneb.”

So I lightly tapped Deneb’s shoulder and said.

“I’ll make you a Hunter of that level.”

Maybe my confident words, not just ‘I’ll try’ or ‘I’ll help,’ got through to her.

“Yes, yes, sir! I’ll work hard!”

I could see life return to Deneb’s eyes as she answered.

“By the way, building up enough power to rival the Five Great Guilds with just a small number of people will take a really long time…”

“Don’t worry about that.”

I answered Mr. Luca’s words.

“I have a plan.”

After all, even if we exclude Deneb and the two from Crescent here, everyone else has a career above High-Rank Hunter.

I can rise up if I just put in some time.

Of course, just having several S-Rank Hunters doesn’t make it easy to build a force comparable to the Five Great Guilds. The reason the Five Great Guilds are called the Five Great Guilds isn’t just because of their size, but because they’ve accumulated various achievements.

Even now, they’re scrambling to pile up accomplishments. They want to surpass the other competing Five Great Guilds and stand above them.

With the number of High-Rank Hunters decreasing compared to before, it’s become harder to produce results, so they’re trying to secure talent by any means.

“Shall we try sharing a table?”

I stared at Deneb, then let out a short laugh and muttered.

* * *

One of the Five Great Guilds, the Royal Knights Guild Master’s office.

“That concludes the report.”

“Right. Good work.”

After hearing the executives’ reports, Wilhelm gestured for them to leave.

When all the executives, including Lilian, filed out, Wilhelm felt fatigue wash over him and let out a heavy sigh.

Performance kept declining.

‘Too many injuries.’

The cause was the low number of guild members.

The number of people who needed to rest due to injuries kept increasing, but Gates kept opening.

If only we hadn’t made that mistake with the Dungeon Break back then, the situation would be better than this.

‘I’m looking for talent as much as I can, but…’

Training takes too long. Promising talents are already affiliated with other guilds.

Of course, there were promising Hunters interested in Royal Knights, but their skills weren’t enough to throw them into High-Rank Gates right away.

If Gates that can’t be managed keep increasing like this, the Association will send people and tell us to reduce our territory. There’s no way other guilds would miss that news. It might not be now, but someday we’ll be pushed out of the Five Great Guilds.

Those below will try to squeeze their way up, and competitors on the same level will try to push Royal Knights down.

‘My head hurts. I can’t seem to get a grip on what I should do either.’

Just as he was clutching his throbbing forehead and thinking.

“What is it?”

Sensing a presence outside the door, Wilhelm asked toward it.

—A guest has arrived.

“A guest?”

—Yes.

“I didn’t call for anyone.”

—Deneb has come.

“…Deneb?”

The moment he heard the name of his younger sister, who he hadn’t heard from in a while, Wilhelm found himself rising from his seat.

“Tell her she can come in.”

—Ah, and there’s one companion with her.

“One? Who is it?”

—A girl named Yoschua Verdi. She said you’d know the name.

“…!”

The moment he heard the familiar name, Wilhelm’s expression changed.

‘Could it be that Deneb actually succeeded in persuading Verdi?’

No, that can’t be… Wilhelm had practically kicked Deneb out of the guild.

And now, of all times? Did she think she could return to the guild if she brought Verdi?

‘I don’t know the reason, but…’

Perhaps.

The appearance of those two might be the key to solving the difficulties Royal Knights was facing, Wilhelm thought.

“I’ll go myself.”

He opened the office door himself and stepped outside.