Chapter 423: Squirming


    During the time that Takumi was busy with employing maids and butlers, a group of people who one-sidedly held a grudge were squirming about.


    In a hideout which changed locations multiple times, a man was reading intelligence reports gathered from various areas.


    That man’s name was Forbach. A stray elf, the boss of the dark guild 『Moonlight Owl』.


    He made a mistake epting a job to assassinate Takumi. Normally, the Moonlight Owl would relentlessly attempt to assassinate their target until the epted request isplete. However, regarding Takumi’s murder, the client had already disappeared, so there was no reason for the organization to keep targeting him.


    However, the pride of the continent’s deadliest dark guild couldn’t allow this. After all, their bases within Valkyra Kingdom had been utterly destroyed. The damage from that was enormous.


    But gathering information on Takumi was proving difficult, moreover, with their bases in Valkyra Kingdom destroyed and many of his underlings being apprehended, the investigationgged and unable to proceed.


    「Damn it, so you’re one hell of a bastard huh.」


    Forbach cursed as he read consolidated report.


    Unsurprisingly, after spending a lot of time, personnel, and resources to gather information on their target, Takumi was no ordinarymoner. In Valkyra Kingdom, not only is he friends with the King, Prime Minister, Earl Rockford, Margrave Volton, and other famed titled royalty and nobility, he also has deep ties with the Knight Order of the Volton Margravery, the Guild Master of the Adventurers Guild, as well as the Papeck Co. which is now the leadingpany in the continent.


    The hideout of the Moonlight Owl in Triaria Kingdom’s border territory received information regarding the Savage Lands veryte because they lost their bases in Valkyra Kingdom.


    There were fragmentary reports such as the aberrant speed of the construction of the highway in the Savage Lands between the Volton Margravery and the fortress city Wedgefort,or Lomaria’s construction of a fort and a highway connecting it to Wedgefort.


    「The target is the keeper of the sanctuary? What bull is that……」


    That information gathered by expending a huge number of personnel had bewildered Forbach plenty.


    News of and known as the Sanctuary, which had suddenly appeared at the savagends to the west of the continent, of course reached Forbach’s ears, even though his base was in the border regions of Triaria Kingdom which was far away. And when Triaria Kingdom’s army and the Divine Empire of Sydnia’s Majin began their invasion into the Sanctuary, Valkyra Kingdom, Lomaria Kingdom, and Yggurle Kingdom’sbined armies annihted them. Though King Triaria would never admit to the loss.


    「Not only did he participate in the war, he constructed forts, established barriers, and even suppressing Sydnia’s Majin? Did I step on a dragon’s tail? 」


    As there were many unclear parts to the information, Forbach had no choice but to piece together these fragments, but his instincts from having walked the path of the underworld for many years tells him that Takumi is rted to the cause of the decline of his 『Moonlight Owl』 .


    「You gotta pay settlement, ya know? If you underestimate the underworld, you’re done. No matter how hard this job is……」


    Forbach thought about how to kill Takumi. Even if Forbach kills Takumi, there’s no client to report the results to, but he would ept that as payment for Takumi destroying the organization that he had spent a long time growing and……


    AT the same time, there was another man who had lost the voice of the Spirits who actively began making his move.


    An elf who lives among the Spirits, yet unable to hear their voices, nor use Spirit Magic.


    He is an elf that should have been approaching old age, yet he was so lustful it was like he was like an orc.


    「Shit! Fck this! There’s no way Sophia’s marriage was recognized!」


    Currently, in Yggurle Kingdom, Sophia’s wedding which the King Yggurle, Princess Mimir, and the Prime Minster attended in the Sanctuary was the talk among the nobles.


    From the wedding having the blessings of the Spirits and the Spirit Tree, to the state of the impressive church, to the magnificent cuisine served at the reception. The nobles who heard such stories from the King and the Prime Minister were riddled with envy, and talks about people wanting to go visit the Sanctuary were unending.


    「Oi! Have you not found a way to enter the Sanctuary yet!?」


    The orc-in-elf’s clothing shouting at the androgynous elf was Earl Hordia.


    With veins popping and spittle flying, he screamed at his subordinating because far from being able to disrupt the ceremony, they were not even able to step foot into the Sanctuary.


    「M- my apologies. There’s some kind of barrier stopping us…… I believe that was a barrier that would never be broken by no elven technique, no, no man’s technique.」


    「Damn it! Those pesky Great Spirits! They should just float around quietly!」


    Earl Hordia, who spewed words unbing of elves who revere Spirits, began to think that it would be bad to continue that with his subordinates around him.


    「That man who married Sophia is always holing himself up in the Sanctuary. Use any means necessary. Kill him!」


    The brunt of Earl Hordia’s anger was directed at Takumi who stole Sophia who was supposed to be <em>his</em> ything.


    Receiving Earl Hordia’smand, began looking for a skilled assassin.


    Two elves who have both lost the ability to hear the voice of the Spirits were about to cross paths.


    ***