At the same time, in the moonlit midnight, a group of adventurers from Debtol gathered in the forest, forming a circle around a bonfire, either taking a rest or taking turns watching the firewood. However, among these adventurers, five of them are wounded.

Why are these five individuals injured? The reason is that the injuries were beyond the healing power of potions, so they resorted to makeshift bandages with scraps of cloth. However, the pain persists, and they find themselves groaning and suffering in their battered state, unable to fully alleviate the discomfort.

One of them, seemingly fed up, suddenly stood up and began shouting.

"Ugh, seriously!! You guys are so noisy! Can't sleep with your groaning! Shut up already!"

Upon hearing these words, a wounded man among them also stood up, adopting a confrontational stance as he faced the complainer.

"What did you say, punk? Even though you're just a lowly grunt. Do you even understand what you're saying to me? Huuh?"

The commotion attracted the attention of others in the vicinity. Those keeping watch turned their faces, while those who were sleeping woke up to observe the unfolding confrontation. Among them, a few seemed annoyed and disinterested, choosing to turn their backs and resume sleeping as if expressing a desire not to get involved.

Ignoring the reactions of those around them, the two continued to escalate the tense atmosphere.

"Lowly grunt? Ha! Don't make me laugh. If you and your injuries want to take me on, we can see who wins. And comparing you with that woman wielding some incomprehensible weapon, you're not scary at all!"

Saying this, the subordinate, perhaps confident in his chances of winning, smirked with disdain while drawing his sword.

"It seems like you want to be killed by me, huh..."

With an angry expression, he said this and then readied his spear. The intent to kill was palpable.

"Stop it, you guys!! Now is not the time for such things!"

A man wearing mithril armor intervened at that moment, causing the two to immediately stop and relax their stances.

"Tch! You narrowly escaped."

"That might be the case for you."

"...What was that? Say it again!!?"

"I told you to stop, you idiots!!"

The man in Mithril armor, who intervened, stood between the two and began to defuse the situation.

Yes, the one wearing Mithril armor was the former Vice Guild Master of Debtol, Shulai.

"Listen up, all of you! This is not the time for internal discord! I'll say it again, we are being pursued by the country! If we cause a commotion here, soldiers might come looking for us, and above all, we promised to cooperate until we reach the border. I won't let you forget that!"

Upon hearing these words, the two fell silent and lowered their weapons, but this time, the man who was tending to the fire slammed the burning wood onto the ground and stood up.

"Damn it! I've had enough! I can't take it anymore. I'm leaving!"

"Wait, Bes! Calm down!"

Addressing Shulai, the man called Bes, with a distorted expression of anger, began speaking.

"What do you mean 'calm down'?! It's because of you guys that it turned out like this! What do you mean 'it'll work out again'?! Where's the job that brings in big money? The plan got exposed, so we attacked in numbers, and yet, our comrades got killed by that white-haired girl. If we try to return to Gozes, we're likely to be caught. And to top it off, we used up all the potions trying to heal the wounds, and now we're stuck with injuries that we can't heal. How are you guys going to take responsibility for this situation? Huh?"

Upon hearing these words, some other adventurers approached Bes with angry expressions.

"Huh? Bes... You should've said something like this before we left, right? 'Once we get the big money, I'll buy top-notch weapons and armor, then enjoy plenty with some ladies.' You were all enthusiastic about it, laughing like crazy... You didn't forget about that, did you?"

"And, you know, back then, you were like, 'Having three women is like a dream, huh~? I'd enjoy it until death. Don't you guys dare touch them!!' Didn't you say something like that to us? Huh~?"

Seeing the situation turn unfavorable, Bes took a step back and then spoke with a strained voice.

"Hey, wait a minute, guys... You didn't expect things to turn out like this, did you? And don't you find it strange that we're being chased this much?

That's right! You guys. Don't you think our big shot in Debtol is hiding something from us about this job? Hey, Vice Guild Master, what do you say?"

As Bes spoke, he looked at Shulai, and the other adventurers also fixed their gaze on him.

"I... I haven't heard any detailed information. It's just..."

"It's just?"

"A few days ago, I happened to see the guild master and Gulbert talking inside the guild. It felt suspicious, so I hid behind something to eavesdrop. They were discussing something like this.

'If we don't eliminate him this time, it's the end for us.' And... this time too, I sensed something fishy about that hooded woman. So, when I tried to ask the guild master for more details, he just told me to stop babbling and focus on the job. 'Listen, it's a big payday! We're getting a huge sum of money, so who cares about the reasons!' That's what he said before hastily running off. Even I had my doubts about this job from the beginning."

Hearing this story, the other adventurers looked puzzled, but Bes had a different reaction.

"See! Debtol used us for something, made us do this thankless job! So I'm out of here! Goodbye!"

Bes turned to walk in the opposite direction, but Shulai blocked his path.

"Wait a moment, Bes! Do you really intend to leave? Where are you going to go when you leave here?"

Shulai, looking flustered, tried to stop him, but Bes turned his face toward Shulai, glared at him, and brushed him aside.

"Shut up! Where I go and what I do is none of your business! Besides, it's more dangerous to be around untrustworthy guys like you! I'd trust some random bandits around here more than you guys!! And that's that, Debtol is practically dissolved... see ya!"

Bes continued walking into the depths of the forest without turning back, Shulai and the others could only watch until he disappeared.

"Looks like Bes really left. By the way, Vice Guild Master, is what you said earlier true?" 

One of the adventurers asked Shulai, who began explaining truthfully.

"Yeah, I didn't tell Bes, but the Guild Master himself started acting strange about four days ago, getting increasingly agitated, to the point of almost randomly attacking those around him today. And just before we took on this job, the Guild Master told us, 'Make sure to succeed in this job. If you fail, I'll kill all of you.' It was that intense. So, what do you think about this?"

Former Vice Guild Master Shulai sought the opinion of the adventurer who had asked.

"The Guild Master usually gets that worked up only when a job with good money goes south, right? It's weird for him to get so agitated before the job even starts."

"...You think so too?"

"Yeah, it seems like we might have completely fallen into Debtol's trap... By the way, those guys who went on patrol, aren't they late?"

"Come to think of it, yeah. It's way past the changeover time, and they haven't returned. Could something have happened to them?"

They were members of Debtol's remnants, taking turns on patrol duty. However, the pair who went on patrol hasn't returned even though it's time for the shift change.

The other adventurers started speculating whether they were selling oil or running away. Did they get attacked by monsters?

"Weeeellll... Whatever. I believe it's your turn, Kazal and Rado, right? While you're on patrol, go and look for those guys."

Upon hearing the Vice Guild Master's words, both of them acknowledged and began preparing their weapons.

"That won't be necessary. [Rock Spear]!!"

With those words, spears made of stone pierced through the heads of the two, and they fell like puppets with cut strings.

"Wha-, who's there!?"

The Vice Guild Master, facing the direction from which the attack came, saw a figure emerge from the darkness of the night, clad in a hood pulled deep over their face. The person, with hands clasped in front of their face and a different demeanor than before, began speaking to the Vice Guild Master.

"Oh my, we just met the other day, didn't we?"

"You're... Livais!? Why are you doing this!?" 

Now, Livais responded with his arms crossed.

"Why? What a foolish question. I've come to make you take responsibility for the failure of your job."

The former Vice Guild Master, with an expression of anger, looked at Livais and spoke.

"Responsibility? Don't make me laugh!! After putting us through this... you guys, let's kill this one!!"

The Vice Guild Master and the four adventurers readied their weapons and attacked simultaneously, but Livais remained eerily calm, raising a right hand.

"Oh my, attacking head-on? How foolish of you~. [Firewall]!"

"""Gyaaaah!!?"""

Although three adventurers were engulfed by the wall of flames, the Vice Guild Master and another heavily injured adventurer narrowly managed to evade it.

"Vice Guild Master, are you okay?"

"Yeah, just got burns on my hands and feet... but what a guy! Someone with advanced magic and the ability to cancel incantations... Who the hell is this?"

"I don't know. !? Hey, where did-guhh...!?"

"Human, is it the time to be looking away?"

Livais pulled the sword out from the back of the injured adventurer and addressed the Vice Guild Master.

However, rather than facing the reality of his four companions being killed in front of him, Shulai's gaze was drawn to the sword Livais was holding.

"Ah... Th-that sword belongs to Bes..."

There was no way he could forget it. Bes had a habit of decorating the swords he bought in a tasteless manner, so anyone associated with Bes could recognize it as his.

"Bes? That adventurer, right? He had a good sword, so I borrowed it... and I brought your companions along. Here, take them."

Thrown towards the Vice Guild Master were the severed heads of Bes and the two adventurers who had gone on patrol.

"H-hie!?"

Shulai, with his face turning pale, fell on his backside, while his crotch became damp.

"Oh dear, what a leak. How indecent... Well then, it's time to finish you off, human."

"W-Wait! I surrender! I'll do anything, just spare me!"

The Vice Guild Master, without caring about his own blunder, pleaded with tears streaming down his face, adopting a prayer-like posture towards Livais.

"Ufufu, even if you say that, it won't do any good."

"W-why? If I sell this equipment, I can-..."

Simultaneously with the sound of cutting through the air, Shulai's head suddenly danced in the air and then fell to the ground.

"Too bad. My job is to dispose of failures like you."

 〜〜〜 Livais' Perspective 〜〜〜

"...Well, now that I've taken care of their heads, there shouldn't be any Memory Reading, I suppose... If left alone, the humans will come up with their own speculations."

Livais burned only the heads until they turned into ashes, leaving the rest of the bodies intact.

"However, my plan should have been flawless. Why did Valdeck manage to reach the city? ...Is it because Guell is the descendant of a hero? ...And who was that white-haired woman I didn't see when they left the capital?"

Livais pondered with crossed arms, but couldn't reach an answer.

"Oh well. I've dealt with Gulbert, erased the magic circle in the city, so that's good enough... Besides, he won't raise a fuss just because one of his funding sources went down the drain... He was nothing more than a disposable pawn."

However, it was regrettable that we missed the chance to assassinate the Chairman of the Lavelant General Guild.

Not that I thought too much about it. Because, even though this time was a "chance that unexpectedly came our way," if there's a chance to eliminate someone dangerous for us, like a hero, we want to get rid of them.

If so, why not let those humans in Gozes handle it? That way, it's unlikely that our involvement would be exposed. That was the conclusion. So whether it succeeded or failed, it didn't matter.

"Fufufufu... ufufufu..."

Livais laughed, mouth covered with a hand. Then, looked up at the night sky, smiled, and began to speak.

"Good for you, Chairman Valdeck. When you die... that's when his power will awaken!"

After leaving those words behind, Livais disappeared into the darkness of the night.