Beep— Beep—
After a few short connection rings, the muffled voice characteristic of a communication device was heard.
[Hello.]
"Hello, Ms. Tesila. It's me."
[......Who is this? How did you know this number?]
A withdrawn voice, seemingly on high alert.
Oscar spoke, feigning disappointment.
"It's Oscar."
[Ah~ What the! It was you, Oscar?]
"For someone pretending to be incredibly glad to hear from me, you couldn't even remember my voice."
[C-comms naturally make voices sound a bit different! Give me a break!]
"Well...... Understood. Did you successfully complete the raid on Utopia's personal dungeon?"
[It was a little difficult, but who am I? The 'Special-class' adventurer officially certified by the Imperial Family, aren't I?]
No lie, if he heard this one more time, it would be the 97th time.
Because she seemed to have tremendous pride in being a special-class adventurer.
[I just cleared it right away. Like who? Like a 'Special-class' adventurer.]
97 times.
"Yes...... So, did you reach level 8?"
[Unfortunately, I failed. It just felt somewhat ticklish? I guess it wasn't an easy task even for a 'Special-class' adventurer like me.]
The fact that she placed a particularly strong accent on the word 'Special-class' was an incredibly annoying point.
Tesila, who had been pouring out her complaints for a moment, changed the subject.
[Anyway, what's up? With your personality, Oscar, I doubt you contacted me just to ask how I'm doing.]
"What do you take me for? I have good manners."
[So you really contacted me just to say hello?]
"......That's not it. By any chance, does the Tesila Adventurer Party have any requests they are currently undertaking or plans for an adventure?"
[Of course we do, but...... why the sudden question?]
"I'm also slowly aiming for level 8. I need a suitable stage."
What was needed to reach level 8 was the establishment and completion of one's world.
However, he thought he had already filled his quota in the conceptual aspect.
‘No matter if I newly acquired space, severe cold, and divinity, the root of wind won't change.’
In other words, what he needed right now was a strong 'stimulus'.
An external stimulus that would break and smash his established world once again, so that it could be built even sturdier.
For that, there was nothing better than a life-or-death battle with a strong person.
[Ah, in a word, you're saying you want to go through the wringer for a bit, Oscar?]
"That would be good."
Because they were both level 7, they were quick to understand each other.
[Hmm~ There is definitely one request that would be a perfect fit if you came along, Oscar, but.......]
"If you are worrying about the settlement, you can set my share to the minimum."
[I-I'm not that petty of a person!]
Shouting as if she had been wronged, Tesila let out a deep sigh.
[Phew, it's just that this is a bit ambiguous. Because the reason I was trying to hurry and reach level 8 was that I wanted to explore this place. It's quite a large-scale expedition. But I was calculating whether it would be okay to set off right away if an expert of your caliber, Oscar, were to join.]
"Could you tell me what it's about?"
[Of course. Actually, you couldn't say you have no relation to this place either, Oscar.]
It had a relation to him?
Oscar waited for her next words with an intrigued expression.
[You also participated in the subjugation battle against the Demon King Belpher, right, Oscar?]
He definitely remembered it being announced like that.
Of course, it was the Church and the Heavenly Sword who stepped forward to the front lines to hide the fact that he had absorbed the divinity.
"Yes, that's right."
[With the Demon King's annihilation, the Black Sea, which had occupied the western part of the continent for a long time, disappeared along with him. Now, people are calling it the Blue Sea again, just like in the old days. Naturally, the fishermen of the West who had moved to the South to make a living have increasingly been returning to their hometowns.]
"Oh...... That would certainly be the case."
[However, the fishermen who launched their boats occasionally began reporting strange phenomena one after another. According to the investigation team sent by the Imperial Family to grasp the situation, it seems that creatures beneath the water are attacking humans.]
"......If it's a creature beneath the water, is it a monster?"
[Judging by the descriptions, it doesn't seem to be. They say it has a form close to a human.]
People beneath the water.
Oscar, stroking his chin, replied.
"They must be mermaids."
[We also assume so. However, the intellect of a mermaid is no different from a human's, so they don't attack blindly like that. Furthermore, judging from aspects like being unable to communicate, they seem to be entities corrupted by Demon King Belpher's aura.]
Mermaids corrupted by the Demon King's aura.
Oscar tilted his head to the side.
"Just listening to the explanation, it doesn't seem like the subjugation would be particularly difficult?"
[If it were just one or two, that would be the case. But as a result of the investigation team's observation, it seems there is a mermaid kingdom deep beneath the sea.]
"......A kingdom?"
The golden age when Demon King Belpher was active was 800 years ago from now.
However, there was no information in any records from that time stating that a mermaid kingdom existed in the Blue Sea.
In other words, it was an ancient mermaid kingdom that even the people of that time were unaware of.
It was clear that it was a place where not even a glimpse of it would have been revealed to the human world if it hadn't been corrupted by Belpher's aura.
[Yeah. Exploring that place was our next goal.]
"If it's the deep sea, it will be hard to breathe."
[There is one mage from the Blue Tower in our adventurer party, but having just one is definitely making me anxious. So, we had discussions about hiring an additional mage from the White Tower or the Blue Tower to bring along. Of course, that was a story for after I reached level 8.]
Certainly, to breathe underwater, a mage who handles wind or water is essential.
Moreover, considering it could be a protracted battle, the White Tower is better than the Blue Tower.
‘After all, a mage of the White Tower can create and provide fresh air even underwater.’
They were beyond comparison with the mages of the Blue Tower, whose best effort was placing a membrane of water around one's face.
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
[But if you say you're joining, Oscar, I think it would be fine to gather and set off sometime soon. So what about it, are you really thinking of coming with us?]
"Hmm."
An ancient mermaid kingdom.
It was a subject he couldn't help but be drawn to if he were an adventurer, but what he needed right now was a battle against a strong opponent.
‘But would there be a strong opponent there.......’
Oscar, who was contemplating for a moment, asked.
"Is there a reason you specifically wanted to go there after reaching level 8, Tesila?"
[For starters, they say the mermaids the investigation team encountered were quite high level. At least around level 5. And seeing as they reported level 6 mermaids appearing as the water got deeper, I thought there might be even stronger mermaids in the kingdom's mainland even deeper down. Of course, nothing is certain, but the most important thing for an adventurer is safety.]
"......I see. I will join you."
[What? Really!? Oscar! You know a man shouldn't go back on his word, right?]
"I won't."
Even if he looked for a strong person right now anyway, there was no guarantee they would just fall out of the sky.
And it wasn't like he could just cross the Red Mountains to fight demons either.
‘Above all, if it's a request big enough to come to the Tesila Adventurer Party, it won't be easy to meet an opponent stronger than this within the Empire right now.’
Once he made up his mind, the conversation progressed rapidly.
[The meeting place is a fishing village called Pilab on the west coast. By when can you get there?]
"I also have things to wrap up at the White Tower, so how about in a month or so?"
[Hmm~ That's perfect. That should be a suitable amount of time to prepare the items needed for the expedition.]
"Understood. Then in a month, at Pilab."
[See you then~]
After ending the communication, Oscar immediately went to see Edna.
"Mermaids, you say?"
"Yeah."
Why waste money going to a place like an information guild when Edna lived in the White Tower?
Growing rapidly as of late, she—who now looked to be in her early 20s—pondered.
"I have heard of them. It's too far removed from the area I operated in, so I don't know the details, though."
"You can just tell me what you know."
"......Rather than asking me, wouldn't it be faster to read the Dragon clan's information imprinted in the subspace?"
"Ah, right. I had that, didn't I?"
Clapping his hands, Oscar went straight into the subspace.
Edna, who trotted along after him, looked around and muttered.
"The imprinting has progressed quite a lot. With this much, you should be able to find out almost any information."
"I know, right. Should I run an information guild or something with this?"
"H-hey, I was just joking, so unfurrow your brow."
Even still, he couldn't do business using the Dragon clan's treasure.
Oscar stared at the countless records shining like constellations.
‘Mermaids, information related to mermaids.’
Simultaneously with his thought, the entire subspace rotated smoothly, and the desired information moved to the front.
‘Among these, information related to mermaids inhabiting the Blue Sea area.’
Once again, a handful of information fell away in droves like leaves, leaving only a few pieces of information behind.
‘Lastly, information related to the mermaid kingdom.’
By the time he thought of the final keyword, there was only a single record left.
But fortunately, it was a record that had already been imprinted.
The moment Oscar touched the constellation of the record to check its contents.
Crackle!
With a stinging sensation like static electricity, the record trembled finely.
"Hmm?"
He got the feeling as if it was telling him with its whole body that he couldn't view it right now.
The moment he furrowed his brow at the incomprehensible phenomenon, Edna widened her eyes next to him.
"Huh? That's...... a phenomenon that occurs when you don't have reading clearance."
"What are you talking about? Weren't all the records imprinted here brought in under my authority?"
"I said exactly, 'That might be the case.'"
What is this?
It felt as if he had signed a contract without reading the toxic clauses and ended up getting scammed.
Oscar let out a deep sigh as he looked at the record that only quivered no matter how many times he touched it.
"Phew, fine. Then how do I obtain this reading clearance?"
"The reading clearance for most of the records lies with the Dragon Lord of the current generation. You will probably have to speak separately with the Dragon Lord regarding the locked information."
"Tsk."
That guy is no easy opponent.
Of course, storing the clan's records meant he held an overwhelmingly advantageous high ground.
But what meaning was there to an exquisite sword that couldn't be swung?
"Didn't Seiro say that the dragons are returning here?"
"The universe is vast. Just because they are flapping their wings hard doesn't mean we know when they will arrive."
"What do you think I should offer to negotiate with the Dragon Lord?"
"If I were the Lord, I think I would demand the right for a few designated dragons to access this space whenever they want."
"Hmm. It would be hard to enter here without my help."
If he modified an artifact like a subspace backpack and tuned the channel......maybe it wouldn't be impossible?
It seemed he would only know after experimenting with this separately later.
"I get it for now. I'll have a talk about this part as soon as the dragons arrive."
And the next day.
The interviews for the special task force began.
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]

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