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nAs Lapis had said before, the inn that the guild prepared was indeed high quality.

nLoren couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable spending someone else’s money, but Lapis didn’t seem to mind at all and enjoyed all the inn had to offer until she was satisfied.

n“You’re pretty bold, you know that?”

n“You’ll miss out on a lot of stuff if you don’t have fun when you can, you know?”

nAs Loren was wondering if that was the case, their bliss time came to end.

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nThe adventurer’s guild had contacted them that the girl they had rescued had regained consciousness.

nTwo days had gone by since they had stayed at the inn.

nThey were summoned to the adventurer’s guild, so Loren pulled out Lapis, who didn’t want to leave, and headed towards the guild’s front desk.

nThey were immediately pa.s.sed inside.

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n“Thank you for coming. I will now tell you the results.”

nThe lady that started talking as soon as they sat down was the employee that talked to them two days ago.

nHer lips were tightened, determined not to let the two of them say anything until she was done. Loren didn’t know that she felt so bullied, and put his hand on the back of his head awkwardly.

nThe employee didn’t notice Loren’s apology and continued with a serious expression, telling them exactly what she was told to tell them.

n“There are no problems concerning the two of you, so we’ll take off the restrictions we put on you. You’re free to go now.”

nLoren was surprised at the anticlimactic conclusion, but Lapis didn’t seem satisfied with what the employee told them.

n“Is that it? Is there no explanation of the situation for us?”

n“Do you need one?”

n“Yes, of course. I’m not sure why you thought we didn’t need one.”

nLapis tilted her head, looking confused, and the employee went silent, with a difficult expression.

nLoren didn’t want to poke his head into trouble, but since he had promised Lapis that he would stay with her, he couldn’t just leave her and go on his own.

n“The following information has been shared only to adventurers iron rank and above that the guild has chosen.”

nLoren guessed that since they were limiting information, there was something to the girl which made them act secretive.

nEven among mercenaries, there was information that only the leaders knew and normal mercenaries often didn’t know or were required to act like they didn’t know about it.

nDue to these experiences, Loren was satisfied with the employee’s words, but Lapis wasn’t one to back off without all the information she could get.

n“But the ones who brought her here was us, right? I don’t know what the situation is, but don’t you think there should be some sort of explanation for us?”

nLapis’ beaming eyes met the employee’s glare.

nLoren thought he saw sparks erupting from between them and looked away at the ceiling.

nAs the information was for iron rank and above, the employee had no reason to tell them anything and she probably wanted them to understand that and leave, but Lapis didn’t want to miss a chance to get her hands on information that she shouldn’t be able to get normally.

nLoren knew that this stalemate would last until one of them was too tired to go on, so he patted Lapis’ back and drew her attention.

n“Loren?”

n“Sorry but my partner is a priestess of the Knowledge G.o.d. If you try to keep things from her she can’t help but try to find out what it is.”

n“Well…I’ve heard that that’s the case most of the time. But this is something that the guild has decided, so…”

n“Yeah, I know. You can’t talk about it. I won’t force you to.”

n“Wait, Loren!?”

nLapis, who thought Loren was going to wrap things up, raised her voice slightly, but Loren patted her on the head with a bit of strength in his hand.

nThe strokes not only make her head shake, but caused her neck to sway as well, so Lapis couldn’t help but go silent. Then Loren faced the employee and casually asked her.

n“By the way, is the information already out? You can at least tell us this, right?”

n“That’s…yes, we have already selected adventurers and told them everything.”

nSince it wasn’t related directly to the information, she replied to his question.

nAs soon as he heard her reply, Loren lowered his hand from Lapis’ head and took her arm, then stood up. Although Loren had stopped patting her on the head, her head was still shaking inertly.

n“I see. Then since we’re innocent, we’ll be taking our leave here. We’ll check out of the rooms by the end of today as well.”

n“That would be very helpful. Thank you so much for your cooperation, mister Loren.”

n“We’ve been treated pretty well for the past few days. Don’t worry about it.”

nHe used his free hand to wave back, dragging Lapis out with his other hand. After being dragged for a while, Lapis whispered to him.

n“You’ve got a plan, right?”

n“Yeah. They’ve got strict confidentiality so you wouldn’t have gotten anywhere. If she did tell you, then that itself would be a whole different problem right there.”

nIf the employees were people who would share information that they weren’t supposed to with a slight push, then he couldn’t trust the guild at all.

nFrom that perspective, the fact that the employee refused to tell them the information, even though Lapis was in a bad mood, raised Loren’s view and evaluation of the guild.

n“That’s true, but…”

n“Trying to force someone to talk is too bothersome. What we have to do is just find someone that can.”

n“Do you have an idea of someone who would?”

n“Yeah, so help me find him. I know his name and what he looks like, so it won’t take that long.”

nLapis didn’t know who Loren was trying to look for, but if it meant finding out what the guild was keeping from them, there was no reason for her to refuse. She pulled out her arm from Loren’s grasp and put her arms around Loren’s.

n“Hey, seriously…”

n“I don’t know where we’re going, so please escort me, Loren. Come on, let’s go.”

nLoren knew that she wouldn’t let go even if he told her to, so with Lapis still clinging to his arm, he walked about the bar and started talking to an adventurer.

nAfter talking to a few of them and going around a few stores, Loren and Lapis reached a bar located at the edge of the city.

nLoren heard that the person he was looking for was here, so he stepped in with Lapis still clinging to his arm and looked around.

nIt was late in the evening and the sun was going down.

nThe candles were turned on and there was some light shining inside, but there wasn’t enough to light up the whole place, so it was still quite dark, making it hard to see.

nLoren found who he was looking for sitting at a table in the corner, and walked over to him with Lapis.

n“It hasn’t been that long, so I guess long time no see isn’t the most proper. You mind if I sit down?”

nWhen Loren said that, the man, who was sitting with a gla.s.s of ale and a plate of sliced cheese, looked up towards him, surprised.

n“Oh, it’s you guys. How’d you know I was here?”

n“I asked around.”

n“The tip cost around thirty copper coins, but I’ll see it as necessary expenses and pay for it. It’s been a while, Mister Jack.”

nThe person that Lapis bowed her head to as she sat across from him along with Loren was Jack, the silver rank thief they had met on their previous quest.

nWhen Loren and Lapis sat down, a waitress came to take their orders.

nLoren tried to dismiss her, but Jack had already put in two additional orders.

n“Come on, let me buy you a drink. I owe you one.”

n“I don’t think I did something that great though…I ruined your quest if anything, so…”

n“Don’t be stupid. It’s true that we didn’t make as much, but that couldn’t be helped in that kind of situation. We’re lucky to have gotten out with our lives. It would be a lie if I said I didn’t have any complaints, but it’s all in the past now. Don’t worry about it.”

n“Sorry.”

n“Hey, I said don’t worry about so it’s fine. Anyway, you didn’t come all the way here to find me just to say that, right?”

nThe waitress brought two cups of ale and placed it on the table.

nJack pushed the cups in front of Loren, who was trying to decide how to start, and Lapis, who was sitting silently next to Loren.

n“Drink up. We can talk afterwards.”

nLoren didn’t want to refuse what was given to him, so he took the cup and felt the refreshing sensation of carbonated liquid go down his throat.

nNext to him, Lapis picked up the cup with both hands and started sipping the drink.

n“So, what brings you here?”

nAs Jack pushed the plate of cheese towards him, Loren told him the reason why they were looking for him.

n“The thing is, we picked up a girl in a nearby forest two days ago,”

n“Huh? You guys were behind that? They said that the quest was only for iron ranks and above. Is that what you want to talk about?”

nLoren glanced at Lapis, who started reaching for the cheese as she continued to sip her drink, and Jack sat back in his seat, understanding what Loren was trying to say.

n“I understand your situation, but I’m a silver rank, you know? Do I look like I would just tell you everything you want?”

n“Not at all. But I couldn’t think of anyone else that might sell us the information we want.”

nStill sitting back, Jack crossed his arms and stared at Loren in the face for a while.

nLoren had no intention of saying anything until Jack said something, so he continued drinking his ale.

n“Just saying. An adventurer who leaks information on a job is third rate. No one like that can become silver rank.”

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nThat was exactly what Loren thought.

nThere was no way anyone would trust that kind of person, and Loren didn’t think that someone like that would be able to become a high-ranking adventurer.

nDespite knowing that, he had still hoped that with the right price, Jack would leak them the information, but apparently Jack was a lot more bound to obligation than he thought.

nLoren decided that this wasn’t going to work and was about to give up, but Jack leaned forward across the table and whispered.

n“But then again, I owe you one for saving Nim. If you promise that you don’t tell anyone that I told you this, my mouth might just slip.”

nJack remembered that Loren had saved Nim, a female elf that they met along with Jack, from being a.s.saulted by a goblin.

nThat’s why Jack told them that he’ll bend the adventurer’s code if they kept the fact that he was the one who told them a secret.

n“I promise that we won’t cause you any trouble.”

n“Same for me.”

nAs both Loren and Lapis agreed to his terms, Jack looked at both of their faces. He then told them that it was their choice whether to believe the information he told them was true or not, and started talking in a hushed voice.

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