After leaving the A rank party, I aim for the deep part of the labyrinth with my former students
While passing through several cities, we continued onward through the Republic of Edright.
The Noed Autonomous Region, which contains the former royal capital Jo-Koco, once the center of this nation, lies in the central plains of the Republic of Edright.
Nowadays, political power is centered in a newly built city in the northwest called Great City Newseed, and I've heard that Jo-Koco, the old royal capital, has become more of a historical tourist destination.
Perhaps because of this, the current incident isn’t being regarded as a major issue.
To begin with, the residents of Jo-Koco are former upper-class people who lived in luxury back when Edright was still a monarchy. In other words, the Noed region doesn’t have a particularly favorable reputation within the country.
Even the people of Jo-Koco tend to call themselves “the upper folks” and look down on others, so the issues there run deep.
Maybe that’s why people in the Republic of Edright don’t seem to consider the incident in Jo-Koco to be a serious matter.
In fact, as we traveled, we often heard people saying "serves them right."
"Haa... we’re just not getting much info. Aren’t people around here a bit too indifferent?"
We were in the fortress city Kiasa-Ke, about three days’ travel from Jo-Koco.
While taking some rest, we were also gathering information... but as Nene said, we hadn’t found much.
Even though it’s a neighboring city, the locals don’t seem to have any interest in what’s going on.
What we had learned, though, was that monsters were becoming more active, and their distribution was changing.
We had just confirmed this information at the Adventurers’ Guild: strange, unknown monsters had started appearing, and sometimes high-ranked monsters had been sighted.
From our perspective as adventurers, this is a major concern, but the residents of Kiasa-Ke don’t seem to care much either.
Protected by their strong fortress walls since the days of the old kingdom, perhaps they can’t relate to the threat of monster attacks.
Still, I hadn’t expected information gathering to be this difficult.
"Anyway, we’ve been pushing hard up to now, so let’s rest here today and tomorrow. I also want to organize the information we’ve gathered."
I suggested this to Nene as we walked side by side down the fortress city’s narrow stairs.
She nodded in agreement, several times.
"Yeah, that sounds good. Who knows what’s ahead, so I’m all for it."
"You doing okay, Nene? Sorry to make you do all this scouting when you’re not even a city scout."
"No worries! Mamal-san trained me to be able to handle anything!"
She gave a cheerful smile.
"Think Silk and Jamie will be okay on their own?"
"They’ve got the magic bag, so they should be fine."
Silk and Jamie were out shopping, while Rain was back at the inn adjusting Gopro-kun and gathering info on the tablet.
"That’s not what I meant, really... I mean, don’t the people in this city seem a bit... slimy? Like they’re looking down on us or something? I’m getting kind of a bad vibe."
"You shouldn’t badmouth people. Though, I get what you’re saying."
That’s how it felt in most cities in the Noed region.
Rather than being cautious of outsiders, it felt more like they were just looking down on us.
When we said we were from the Kingdom of Welmeria, they’d respond with something like "You’ve come quite a long way from the countryside," in a tone that was polite but possibly condescending. If we said we were adventurers, they’d say "What a noble profession," with a smirk.
They gave the impression of being closed-off people, trying to maintain appearances.
Maybe they were just being cautious, or maybe we just didn’t understand their way of communicating—but compared to the border regions, Noed definitely felt much less comfortable.
"In my experience, places like this have a lot of crime too. My hometown’s lower area was like that."
"Lower area?"
"My hometown was divided into an upper and lower area. The rich folks lived in a shiny residential zone above, and people like me lived in the slums below."
I’d seen a brief mention of Nene’s hometown in a report, but didn’t know the details.
As we walked through a narrow alley, Nene looked up at the sky.
"Everything was cramped, dim, and people were always collapsed on the ground. At least here, no one’s collapsed, so there’s no smell."
She lowered her gaze and shook her head slightly.
That gesture, as if shaking something off, gave a glimpse into her past.
"Other than that, it’s just like in the report. I made a bunch of bad decisions, ended up becoming a criminal, and Mamal-san saved me just in time."
"Come to think of it, I’ve never heard about your connection to Mamal-san."
When I said that, Nene gave a sheepish laugh.
Maybe it wasn’t something I should’ve asked.
"How much do you know about the Gray Hermits?"
"Uh, just that it was Mamal-san’s nickname during her adventuring days?"
"They’re the Hermits. A spy group that walks the line between black and white. Mamal-san was their leader, and my mom was one of her subordinates."
I had no idea.
Or rather, it sounded like something I probably wasn’t supposed to know.
Well, I’d heard it now.
"I don’t know the full story, but my mom left the organization without a word, and gave birth to me in secret. Because of that, she passed away early."
"And you became a street child?"
"Yeah. I did all sorts of stuff just to survive, but eventually I couldn’t even do that. I took a gamble, messed up big time, and that’s when Mamal-san saved me."
I had learned about the circumstances when we erased Nene's criminal brand.
The investigation report revealed that she had been betrayed by her companions and that the whole thing had been a trap from the beginning.
"When everything fell apart, Mamal-san showed up... she got me out of jail and made me her daughter. She said it was because the 'Gray Hermits' needed a successor."
"So you're going to be the next 'Gray Hermit', Nene?"
"Not even close. I lack both the skill and the resolve. I'm just pathetic, really."
As Nene said this with a self-deprecating smile, I found myself recalling Mamal-san's face.
Surely, that whole “successor” talk was just a pretext.
When we challenged the depths of the "Achromatic Darkness," the face Mamal-san showed Nene was that of a mother.
"That's why Mamal-san is someone I owe everything to."
"I see. Sorry if I stepped into your personal life a little too much."
"It’s fine, really. If it’s you, Yuke-san, I don’t mind. You can know everything about me, if you want."
Nene fidgeted a little, clearly flustered.
Her ears and tail spoke volumes, and I couldn’t help but chuckle a bit.
"Alright then. It’s just for a little while, but… why don’t we have a little ‘Nene Time’?"
"Nyaya!? That’s not really what I meant, but... are you sure?"
"Of course. I’ve been putting a lot on your shoulders, and besides, you tend to hold back too much."
At my words, Nene gave a small nod and reached out her hand.
I took it, and together we began strolling slowly through the narrow, winding streets of the fortress city.
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