Irene stopped casting the devastating spell and ca down the cliffside, into the gorge.
She then said,
That might have been dangerous. But why are you holding onto that silver mane?
I dont know. Looks like it got ripped out before.
I just brushed off the question and put it into my bag.
Irene kept wondering why I was holding onto it, but I just focused on the quest.
Silver Werewolfs Mane
Quest Item
The disaster of South Mountain. The fur of the silver werewolf, ntos.
Can be used as proof of ntos death.
Goal: Find soone who would like this fur.
Reward: ???
Find soone who would like this fur
This was the only thing in the quest description.
Unlike my previous quests, which were clear in their goals and rewards, this was quite the unhelpful quest.
Can be used as the proof of death? Did soone want ntos dead?
I could only stand there guessing.
Then, Irene spoke up.
So, Ruin.
Yes?
Theres been a weird rumor between the students in the Empire.
What rumor?
That the winner of the Grand Festival is a half-ogre.
Calling soone a half-ogre.
Wasnt that too much?
No, did sothing like that even exist?
Was the power of human reproduction that strong?
Since Ive seen it myself, I obviously dont believe it But that form you showed before It makes think that the rumor isnt baseless.
The form of Kunkhan that appeared behind my back.
Of course, I could understand why rumors like this were floating around.
My strength had definitely surpassed that of an ordinary humans.
However, I didnt need to make up any special excuses.
Is it because of the artifact you got selected by at the Magic Tower?
The story where I had acquired Kunkhans Tooth, a pretty extraordinary artifact, at the Magic Tower.
This was known by most as an open secret.
Yes. Thats right.
Of course, I didnt say anything about how the ogres on Sky Mountain refined it for .
I brushed off this question again and got on my horse.
Should we start going again? I think arriving at Eight-Lake before complete darkness would be better.
Yes. Lets do that.
Thankfully, Irene didnt inquire too deeply, and we used Trace again to start moving toward Eight-Lake.
Luckily, we didnt run into any more humanoid monsters.
* * *
Eight-Lake was a city without a gate.
The rumor that they would accept anyone, even pirates, if they had money wasnt baseless at all.
Because of this, there was no need for identification or a naplate when being active here.
No, to be more precise, it was correct to say that no one cared for the identity of others.
Multiple tens of thousands of people visited this place every day, and since the visitors co from all over the continent, people didnt really care about the identities of them.
This worked in our favor while we were illegal immigrants.
For the border to be this lax
Theres no need to increase security. Eight-Lake is under the protection of the Empire.
Yes. I guess thats true. It just feels too empty.
We arrived at Eight-Lake at about 10 in the night.
Since we were entering illegally, we didnt have any place we had booked before, so our feet naturally took us toward a local inn.
An inn, huh?
Naturally, it wasnt a place two 16-year-olds were familiar with.
We were obviously going to book two rooms, but we couldnt get ourselves to enter, and stood around awkwardly.
Ehem. Then, should we go in?
Ah, sure.
I mustered my courage to go in first, and Irene followed behind .
The owner of the inn glanced at us briefly before saying,
One room with a big bed. 40 silver. How about breakfast in the morning?
One room with a big bed.
Hearing this, Irenes face went red as she looked straight down, and I hurriedly shook my head to deny this.
Ah? No. No. Never. Please give us two rooms.
Two rooms? Arent you married?
Were not.
This lady
What was she talking about?
And what were those eyes saying shed gossip about this later?
Were still only 16.
* * *
* * *
I woke up in the morning, and after cleaning myself off a little, I went down to the first floor.
The dining hall on the first floor was empty, and it looked like Irene hadnt co down yet.
I took so rye bread and corn soup.
I ordered salty bacon with a bean-based breakfast, and as my al arrived, Irene ca down to the hall.
Ah. How was your rest?
It was fine.
What?
What was this?
It was so natural to see each other in our inns during the Grand Festival.
Why was it so awkward now?
Well, it was true that it was just us two right now.
This was unbearably awkward.
Ehem.
I tried to break the awkwardness with a dry cough and started talking.
Ill tell you about the plan for today.
Ah, yes.
I heard that, every morning at 11, the 8 representatives gather in one place to have a lunch-ti eting. The place of their eting is over there, the Halls of Gold.
Even though we searched for this inn in the dark of the night, we didnt go into just any inn.
The building in which the 8 representatives had their eting every lunch, the great mansion built in the middle of the intersection of the eight lakes.
The Halls of Gold.
We set up our base camp in a spot where we could see that building.
As I officially started to go over the plan, the awkwardness from before had disappeared and Irene focused up.
Whats next?
Well need to go look for them when they are all gathered together.
Just barge in?
Yes.
Would they even et us if we did that? Im pretty sure we need to make an appointnt.
Well just make that appointnt now.
This
This was the end of my plan.
Irene narrowed her eyes at my planless plan
But she knew that my confidence wasnt baseless.
I guess this is only possible because youre Ruin.
The magician who garnered the attention of the crown prince of the Raynac Empire.
Ruin Ardell.
Saying it myself was a bit embarrassing, but exaggerating a little, most people wanted to et .
This was the truth.
Did you make an appointnt?
11 in the morning.
As if competing, 8 golden carriages all stopped in front of the building. and after confirming this, I left the inn and crossed the lake.
However, the city guards stopped and questioned , and I replied honestly.
I didnt make an appointnt.
If you didnt make one before, you cannot cross over this point. This is the private property of the 8 representatives of Eight-Lake.
Yes, I know. Ill wait here. Instead, can you relay a ssage for ?
If you want to officially make an appointnt, you need to fill in a form at the capitol building, and after about a week of confirmation, you may receive a reply
Ruin Ardell.
?
Winner of the Grand Festival. You can just relay that Ruin Ardell has co to et them.
Winner of the Grand Festival.
After hearing this, the guards beca stunned.
Even if one had no interest in magic, everyone knew about the Grand Festival.
They would also know just what kind of treatnt the winning magicians received.
On top of that, if you were a state within the Raynac empire, you would have more than the average level of interest in magic.
The expressions of the guards changed in an instant.
Can you confirm this?
Now, I was no longer an unwelco guest, but rather a celebrity that needed their identity confird.
I produced an identification that had Ardells owl insignia, and the attitude of the guards switched again.
I-I apologize for not recognising you.
Thats fine. More than that, can you do what I requested?
The guards fell into a dilemma.
Going inside to relay my ssage and disturbing them was probably not the best thing to do, but if they turned away here, they might receive so backlash later.
It wasnt any manner of clean problem for them to solve.
Ehm I felt a little sorry for them.
Whats going on here?
Ah, captain.
Just then, the captain of the guards ca out and was filled in on the situation, and after confirming my na, he didnt take long to co to a conclusion.
You bastards! You should know who to let in and who to turn away. Go in now and tell the butler that an important guest arrived.
Y-yes!
So should I wait here?
No. Ill lead you to the lobby right now. Please, follow .
Alright.
Ah, but
As the captain started to move to guide , he saw Irene standing behind and stopped.
Who is?
Irene handed over her identification expressionlessly.
I-Irene Prius
After also confirming her na, the captains expression beca grimr.
The next-generational magician who would lead the Raynac Empires future.
There wasnt a citizen of the Empire who didnt know her na.
Its an honor to et you. For two incredible people to visit Today is quite an interesting day. The representatives will be surprised to et you.
Irene and I followed the captain into the Halls of Gold.
Its very fancy
It really is.
This was probably the fanciest building I had ever seen with my own two eyes.
If the crown princes Peony Palace was beautiful and harmonious, the Halls of Gold were, as the na suggested, fancy enough to overbear its visitors.
It was as if it was asking if we had the right to be here.
The hallways werent decorated with marble, but rather gold.
Statues, pillars, and even the door handles were gold in color.
It was enough to make my 42 thousand gold feel like nothing.
The wait wasnt long.
Sir magician.
Yes?
The representatives have made their decision.
What did they say?
They want you in imdiately.
Thats a relief.
Yeah.
It was a success till here.
The only thing left was to hear their definite answer.
Please enter.
Fancy was too poor a word to describe this golden gate as it opened to a wide room.
In the center of this room was one round table, and around it sat 8 people.
These people were the 8 representatives of Eight-Lake.
They looked at with curiosity, and I gave a light nod.
Its nice to et you. Im Ruin Ardell.
There was no need to act weak, since I wasnt here to request sothing, but to confidently make an offer.
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