Report on the Yoshanka Assignment

A single island floating alone in a vast, beautiful ocean.

What they call a remote island in the middle of the sea.

It was said to be a volcanic island that had ceased its activity in the ancient past, and the jungle covering most of the island had built up its own unique ecosystem.

“Kyooooooooo!”

Up in the sky, several shadows flew about, letting out sharp cries.

Bathing in the sunlight and dancing joyfully across the endlessly deep blue sky, those shadows were, in fact, dragons.

Creatures possessing high intelligence, terrifying magic power, and resilient bodies.

Monsters that any adventurer dreamed of subjugating at least once.

The antagonists, of heroic tales.

But hunting the dragons of this island was not allowed.

It was prohibited by the regulations of the Adventurers' Guild.

That was because the dragons were a precious defensive force for this island.

The name of this island was “Aave Island.”

It was an island of eternal summer, home to the headquarters of the ‘Adventurers' Guild’, a supranational organization spread across the whole world.

◇ ◇ ◇

And this was a room in the Adventurers' Guild Headquarters on that Aave Island.

It was the “Transfer Chamber,” with numerous magic circles drawn on its floor.

As the room's name suggested, the effect of these magic circles was “transfer.”

They were dream-like magic circles: stand on one and channel magic power into it, and you could travel to the corresponding point in an instant.

Through the magic circles in this Transfer Chamber, the Adventurers' Guild Headquarters was magically connected to its branches all over the world, allowing rapid travel that ignored distance.

These were “god-made magic circles,” said to have been installed a thousand years ago when the gods created the organization called the Adventurers' Guild, and fully reproducing them was said to be impossible for humans at present.

Hiiiiiiiin......

A high-pitched sound rang through the Transfer Chamber, and one of its many magic circles, the one connected to the Teenidys Branch on the Hamejika Continent, shone brightly.

When the blinding light subsided, a man and a woman stood on that magic circle.

Investigator Sainon and Special Affairs Officer Taiche.

The two, who had been on assignment in Yoshanka, had returned to headquarters for the first time in several months after completing their mission.

“Hm, hm, hm! Ah~~~, this damp, muggy heat! It's just draining, isn't it~~!”

“Is it? Compared to Yoshanka, this is heaven.”

“Ah, well, Taiche-san was born in Nuidosten, after all. I myself was born and raised in Akattos, in the north. I still cannot get used to this heat.”

The two chatted as they stretched.

Having finally finished their long-term assignment, they were feeling relaxed, and they began walking toward the office, engaging in more banter than usual.

“Still, that one woman, she certainly took up a lot of our time.”

“Ha, ha, ha. Well, it couldn't be helped. We had instructions from the Vice-Commander to be thorough. It is a fact that the people at the bottom have been getting lax lately.”

“Making an example of her, then. Tightening discipline, as they say.”

The two strolled leisurely down the headquarters' corridor.

Tropical sunlight poured in through large windows set into the seamless white walls of the hallway.

Taiche looking pleased, and Sainon looking a little fed up, the two walked on, bathed in that light.

“Well, well, well, Taiche-san. What will you do after this today?”

“I'm going to rest. I'm taking paid leave. I really am worn out this time.”

“Fu, fu, fu, in that case, Taiche-san, perhaps we could have a meal together after this......”

“Welcome back, you two. Thank you for your hard work on your long-term assignment.”

Suddenly spoken to, the two turned around in surprise.

Standing there before they knew it was an elderly, butler-like man, smiling gently, dressed all in black in a way that did not suit the island of eternal summer at all.

“Vice-Commander G, Geistpfenanjeshiriard!”

“Y, y, y, you startled us, so if at all possible, I would ask that you refrain from calling out so suddenly!”

The two instinctively straightened their posture.

And for good reason.

This elderly man with the long name was the Adventurers' Guild's number 2.

Even if they worked at headquarters, the two of them were practically rank-and-file staff; to them, he was someone far above the clouds.

“Hahaha, my apologies. But please, do not be so stiff. Relax, relax.”

The two felt some of their tension ease at the gentle, calm tone, but that lasted only a moment.

They froze once again at the words the Vice-Commander spoke next.

“The Supreme Commander is calling for you. Please come to the office before you head home.”

◇ ◇ ◇

“......And as for the former receptionist Pilitza, after confirming the charges through interrogation, we have seized her assets in accordance with the regulations. She was, well, a habitual skimmer, and the victims are extremely numerous; at present, we have not yet been able to identify them all. Going forward, we will proceed with compensating the victims from the seized assets, and the shortfall, you see, u, u, u, um, will be paid out of the guild's budget, yes, that is how it has been arranged. As for her person, she has already been handed over to the Teenidys Kingdom, so from now on, she will be tried as a criminal under the laws of Teenidys.”

A slender blonde woman sat with her back to a large window overlooking the sparkling blue sea of the tropics.

Facing this youthful and beautiful woman, who was smiling brightly, Investigator Sainon read the report while stiff with tension.

That tension was absolutely not because he had been captivated by the beauty of the woman he was facing.

The name of this woman, whose beautiful blonde hair reached her waist and played in the tropical breeze blowing in from outside, was Lairine Rune.

She was the Supreme Commander, the person who had reigned at the top of the global organization known as the Adventurers' Guild for over 50 years.

“As for o, o, o, other personnel matters, Chief Dakkante of the Yoshanka branch office has received a 3-month pay cut, as the responsible supervisor. Also, as for the vice-chief, it came to light during the investigation into Pilitza that he himself had been involved in fraud. As the scale was truly small and he is remorseful, he has been demoted, but not dismissed. M, m, m, my report ends here!”

“To add to that, to fill the receptionist post left by Pilitza, we have transferred a young man named Sadakoru from the Namedake branch office and assigned him there. Until his transfer is complete, I am handling the office work as Special Affairs Officer without any problems, and the handover is already complete. He is a capable person, so I am sure he will liven up the Yoshanka branch office.”

Trembling with tension, Investigator Sainon and Special Affairs Officer Taiche completed their report.

Their knees were shaking, and cold sweat was pouring down.

After all, the beautiful Supreme Commander before them might look kind at first glance, but she was still the world's strongest active special-grade adventurer.

She was a person with no shortage of dangerous legends: that she had smashed a giant dragon that displeased her to smithereens in an instant, that she had wiped out a hostile nation all by herself, that she had blown away a monster stampede with a single swing of her arm......

Moreover, her appearance did not change at all.

According to the guild's official records, Lairine's adventurer registration was a shocking 300 years ago.

In other words, by simple math, she had to be over 300 years old by now.

And yet, she was youthful.

For some reason, she did not age.

Hence, her epithet: “the Immutable.”

At this point, she was a monster, pardon me, a legendary figure, on a level where you had to wonder whether it was even okay to categorize her as the same kind of human.

No wonder the 2 rank-and-file staffers were nervous.

“Hmmm, I see, I see, so that's how it waaas. Sainon-kun and Taiche-chan, you both worked really haaard! You must be all worn out, so get a good night's sleep tonight and rest up, okaaay!”

In contrast to the two who were stiff with tension, Supreme Commander Lairine's attitude was extremely relaxed.

With that somewhat drawled way of talking, and her looks on top of it, few people chatting with her like this would ever see through to the fact that she was the strongest adventurer.

“Ah, but you knooow? There was one more thing I wanted to ask you twooo. That's why I asked you to come all the way here even though you're tired, you seeee?”

““......!!””

Had there been some flaw in their report!?

Tension surged through Sainon and Taiche once again.

They gulped.

“And Emi-chan, I wonder what happened to heeer?”

“......Emi?”

Who was that?

Sainon went blank in spite of himself.

“Uh-huh, uh-huh, in the progress reports, you knooow? I think that girl came up, a few times, didn't sheee? I want to hear all about her, in detaaail!”

“......?”

Sainon didn't quite get it.

But Taiche, beside him, suddenly caught on.

“Ah, aah. Sainon-san, you know, she means the cursed child who was banished from Yoshanka. The one Pilitza tricked and kept exploiting for medicinal herbs.”

“Ah, ah, ah. Aah!”

Only now did Sainon seem to realize.

The cursed child...... Emi was not an adventurer.

Since she was a civilian, the amount taken from her should by rights have been made good first of all, but with little information and her whereabouts currently unknown, nothing had been done in her case, and it was on hold.

Time had gone into compensating the other victims, and she had been put off until later, so she had slipped his mind completely.

“Hm, hm, hm...... Regarding that cursed child, we did conduct an investigation for the purpose of monetary compensation, but...... it seems she was a vagrant child to begin with, and we have not been able to find out anything beyond what we reported in the progress reports......”

“Emi.”

“Huh?”

“Not cursed child, it's Emi-chan, riiight? ......Let's make reports, accurately, shall weee?”

“Hih......”

Supreme Commander Lairine still had a beaming smile.

But even so, it was leaking out.

Too much to hold back, it was leaking out.

Killing intent.

With a crack, a fissure appeared in the window glass.

“A, a, a, anyway, there is no further information I can report! I am terribly sorry! If you so wish, I shall continue investigating that girl; how would you like to proceed!?”

“That won't be necessary. Investigator Sainon, Special Affairs Officer Taiche, thank you for your hard work. You may return to your desks now.”

The one who threw a lifeline to Sainon, shouting with his face deathly pale and straining a throat that had gone bone-dry in an instant, was Vice-Commander Geistpfenanjeshiriard, who had been standing to the side listening to their exchange.

““Yes! Please excuse us!””

Sainon and Taiche answered immediately and scrambled out of the Supreme Commander's office.

Left in the room were the beautiful Supreme Commander and the long-named Vice-Commander.

“............”

Supreme Commander Lairine was smiling, but silent.

She was facing forward, but in truth, she wasn't looking at anything.

She seemed to be deep in thought about something.

“......Are you curious about this girl named Emi?”

The Vice-Commander asked while pouring tea from a teapot he had produced from somewhere into a cup.

“Perhaps you got to know her while wandering around incognito, or some such?”

Kachari.

The cup placed on the office desk in front of Lairine made a small sound.

A sweet scent tickled her nose, and Lairine's consciousness was finally pulled back to the real world.

“......Mmm, that's not iiit...... I've never met heeer......”

“Then, why?”

Lairine didn't answer immediately and began drinking her tea.

In the quiet room, only the sound of her moistening her throat echoed.

“......Gai-kun, you knooow......”

“It's Geistpfenanjeshiriard, Supreme Commander. Please don't shorten it. You named me yourself.”

“Gai-kun, you knooow...... the progress reports, you've read them, riiight?”

Lairine, who had emptied her cup in an instant, finally began conversing with the Vice-Commander.

But she was probably still lost in thought.

Her gaze was not directed at the Vice-Commander, but stared vaguely forward.

“Isn't that obvious? When it comes to going over documents and office work, I most certainly do a more thorough job than you, don't I? If anything, Supreme Commander, you should normally be far more serious......”

The moment this Vice-Commander was alone with the Supreme Commander, his words turned barbed at once, and the nagging began.

Between them, there was a relationship beyond that of boss and subordinate.

Well, this Supreme Commander was the type of person whose words went in the right ear and out the left when being nagged.

Ignoring the Vice-Commander's grumbling, she continued the conversation.

“Single-handedly subjugated 5 Lovely Bunnies. Played a leading role in subjugating the Togodo Commander. A girl of only 7. ......Something like this, do you think it could really be truuue?”

“......According to Investigator Sainon's report, those claims were uncorroborated and of doubtful credibility, were they not?”

“Back when you were 7, Gai-kun, could you do things like thaaat?”

“......At 7, it would likely be impossible.”

“Me, you see, Gai-kun.”

Here, Lairine finally turned her face toward the Vice-Commander.

Seeing that face, the Vice-Commander was surprised and gulped.

Lairine, who had taken care of him since he was old enough to remember, was his mother, his teacher, and his boss.

For her to be like this......

Her eyes were moist, her cheeks were flushed, and she had a beaming smile.

Geistpfenanjeshiriard had never seen her make a face like this, like a maiden in love.

“I could have done it, Gai-kun. Things of that level.”

“............!”

Geistpfenanjeshiriard had a long history with Lairine.

He immediately understood what she was trying to say.

“In other words, Supreme Commander...... you believe this girl named Emi is the same kind as you?”

“Mm-hmmm, from the documents alone, I can't tell yet, buuut! Intuition! Somehow! I've just got that feeliiing!”

Lairine's emotions surged.

Feelings of joy overflowed from her body in the form of magic power, swirling within the office.

“Ufufu, ufufufufu! I've been searching, searching for so long! Someone ‘the same’ as me! My comrade! I'm sure this girl is the ooone! Someone who will walk through time with me! Someone who will become my familyyy!”

The documents on the desk were swept up, and the furnishings in the room shook with a rattling sound.

The cracked window glass shattered completely and was blown away somewhere.

Had an ordinary person been in this space, the magic power would have overcome them; fainting would have been the best case, and at worst, death was even possible.

Amidst this, Geistpfenanjeshiriard remained determinedly calm.

He was used to it.

“Her strength, if we consider the reason for it, she has been granted a blessing from the gods, is that not also a possibility?”

Perhaps something in the Vice-Commander's remark rubbed her the wrong way, for Lairine's surge of emotion subsided.

The magic power that had overflowed and swirled dissipated and vanished somewhere.

“......I don't think sooo? The ones who dwell in the heavens simply loathe black hair and black eyes, after aaall.”

She snorted as if mocking them.

“To begin with, as Investigator Sainon's report says, the story has little credibility. I beg you, do not do anything rash. Specifically, quitting the post of Supreme Commander on your own and going off to look for that girl, or some such.”

“Mugu!?”

Lairine coughed.

She had just placed her hand on the drawer of the office desk and was about to take out the resignation letter stored inside.

“I have not forgotten your cherished wish of 300 years, Supreme Commander. However, nothing about this story has been corroborated. It would be hard on you if it turned out to be false hope, would it not? I cannot assign Investigator Sainon to search for that girl, but...... I shall make a move of my own. To begin with, your combat strength may be the world's greatest, but you are no good at finding people, are you? You have a terrible sense of direction, too. Would you leave this to me?”

“............Okay, got it......”

Lairine agreed, looking reluctant.

She leaned her body sloppily against the back of her chair and looked up at the ceiling.

“I'm counting on you...... I'm really counting on you, Geistpfenanjeshiriard.”

“Leave it to me.”

The black-clad butler-like man placed a hand on his chest, bowed, and left the Supreme Commander's office.

◇ ◇ ◇

Gachari.

The one who unlocked the door and entered was Geistpfenanjeshiriard.

The scene shifted; this was the office assigned to him.

Having taken a few steps into the room that should have been empty, Geistpfenanjeshiriard spoke, still facing ahead.

“The conversation, you heard it?”

......Before he knew it, something humanoid clad in black was kneeling on one knee behind him.

It certainly had a human shape, but it was wrapped in black cloth all over its body, making it unclear whether it was a man or a woman.

Without looking back, and without waiting for it to answer, Geistpfenanjeshiriard continued.

“The girl Supreme Commander Lairine showed interest in. The girl with black hair and black eyes. Emi. Find her as quickly as possible.”

The tone of Geistpfenanjeshiriard's voice as he gave the order was cold.

The person there was not the gentle Vice-Commander admired by his subordinates, nor the long-suffering subordinate who nagged his boss.

“And then, kill her.”

An order that was the complete opposite of Lairine's wish was issued.

The black-clad figure did not object to this cruel command...... and in the next instant, it vanished from the room without a sound.

Once again alone in the room, Geistpfenanjeshiriard advanced toward the window, his leather shoes clicking.

Through the window lay the blue sea, the sparkling sun, and the cheerful tropical scenery.

But in contrast, his expression was sunk in deep darkness.

“......Unforgivable. Someone like that can never be allowed. Your, your only family is me. I alone am enough. Mother, Mother, Mother......!”

A man driven mad by jealousy continued to mutter endlessly, pouring out his distorted affection for his mother.

Forever and ever.

And so, Emi has ended up with a pervy mama's-boy geezer with a nice public face out for her life.

What will happen!?

I'd love to hype it up, but finding Emi, who is basically out in the wilds, isn't easy even for a professional searcher.

So I think this part of the story won't come into play until a while later; for now, please forget it.

Also, what is the source of Supreme Commander Lairine's interest in Emi?

What does she mean by “the same kind”?

There are various intriguing elements, but I think Emi won't be approaching the Adventurers' Guild for a while, so this story won't progress either.

Please forget it.

......It's nothing but stuff you want us to forget!

How is this novel even structured!!