"This..." Feed trailed off with a serious expression, and Maxim also looked awkward.
I saw Mir's face rapidly turning pale. She exclaimed, "What should I do? The tribe members have died or disappeared? Then my father—"
"Hey, calm down. Calm down first." I patted Mir on the shoulder and tried my best to calm her down.
Of course, I knew the situation wasn't easy. Anyone who could manage to stay calm after hearing that their family and home was swept away by the church would be the strange one.
Still, she had to stay composed. Mir Giant was no longer a hero disciple, but a real hero.
Mir gasped heavily with a pale face. She seemed to be trying to calm herself down. It was quite admirable of her.
Before Mir could lose her composure again, I looked at Feed and said, "I've never heard of the Frostwolf Tribe before. However, based on the name, they should be a tribe of warriors, correct?"
"Yes."
"So you're saying that a tribe of giant warriors suffered such devastating damage?" I asked, feeling a bit puzzled.
In terms of physical ability, the giants were the strongest among the seven races, at least excluding the almost-extinct dragon race. They didn't stop growing even after reaching adulthood. Their physiques continued to grow in proportion to their strength. For that reason, the most excellent warriors among them were well over ten meters tall. They were truly walking siege weapons.
A tribe of giant warriors would have at least dozens of such monstrous warriors. It would have been normal for even a strong faction of the church not to easily provoke them.
In other words, the church members who were plotting something in the north this time weren't ordinary.
"That is why this mission is A-class. The Frostwolf Tribe are brave warriors who can be counted among the top five of the giant tribes. They were defeated and don't even know how. Just..." Feed trailed off.
"Just?"
"That there was the sound of metal colliding and the sound of bells."
At that moment, my senior sister crossed my mind. It was because there hadn't just been the sound of bells, but the unique sound created every time the iron fan was opened and closed.
I was silent while lost in my thoughts. At this time, Mir suddenly said, "Take me with you, no, please take me with you."
Feed's gaze shifted to Mir.
"You are making a rude demand. I am in charge of this mission. I am naturally the one who decides who is selected." His voice reverberated heavily, and the hem of his clothes fluttered as a breeze swirled around him.
Mir flinched at the pressure, but I didn't stop it or try to mediate. I realized that Feed was trying to test Mir in his own way.
Feed's gaze turned to me as he continued, "Luan Badniker here is a B-class hero, but his real strength is A-class or higher. He defeated several A-class heroes in a row and even dealt a blow to me during a sparring match. If he asked me to join, I would gladly accept, because he has already proven himself."
Mir was silent.
"On the other hand, what have you shown me?" Feed's gaze gradually grew colder, and an intangible pressure weighed heavily on Mir's shoulders. "All I know about you is that you have just become a hero, you are a giant, and you lost your temper when you heard about your tribe. None of those three things are valid reasons to hire you. If anything, they are reasons not to."
"I—" Mir bit her lip hard. Her golden eyes flashed, driving away Feed's pressure.
I was silently amazed by the sight.
"There is something I need to know, and something that must be done. As a member of the Frostwolf Tribe, as a giant warrior, please give me a chance to restore my honor. Please." Mir lowered her head.
Feed looked down at the top of her head and sighed. "Will alone isn't enough, young giant warrior. You have already proven yourself by becoming a hero at this age, but you are still in the process of proving yourself. This isn't the time to risk your life."
"I was considered an inferior child," Mir said softly. "I was so small that I couldn't be considered a giant, and no one thought I could be a warrior."
Her shoulders shook slightly as she kept her head lowered. "I hated it, so I left the tribe. I ran away. But that doesn't mean I've erased my homeland from my heart."
Feed listened silently.
"For me, the tribe is a place to return to someday. I have to prove myself to my family, to my tribe and to my people. But what if all of them die?" Mir sounded a bit tearful as she wondered, "Then who will I prove myself to?"
Feed didn't speak.
I crossed my arms and looked at Mir. Oddly enough, she seemed to be eloquent in such situations. It was almost like she was a completely different person. She usually looked foolish and spoke stupidly, but she sometimes showed sharpness like a wild beast. I still didn't know much about her.
She's like an onion. Indeed, that was why I liked Mir.
"Please give permission, Senior. I will take full responsibility for her," I interjected.
"What? That means..."
"Yes." I nodded. "I will participate in this mission."
***
"So for now, that is how things turned out. I'm sorry. I even left the selection of B-class missions to you," I said to Verita.
"Ahah." Verita smiled and nodded as if it didn't matter. "It's okay, Brother. My role is to do odd jobs and advise you."
Then she put her hands together in a praying position. "If you have made up your mind and chosen your destination, I will quietly support your journey. I have no intention of meddling or getting involved."
"Um." I had nothing to say when she acted like this. It would've been easier to deal with if she openly expressed her frustration or became angry.
I scratched my chin awkwardly and pointed to a pile of papers next to Verita, asking, "By the way, what is that?"
"Ah. It isn't a big deal. I just compared and summarized six missions in one day yesterday."
"You compared them...?"
"Yes. The pros and cons of each mission, additional factors, other things to consider, the location, the missions' chances of success and even the impact if you failed... In addition, I have no solid evidence, but I wrote down what bothered me personally."
"Did you stay up all night?"
"For an inquisitor, all-nighters are an old friend."
Was she being sarcastic? Judging from what I knew of Verita's personality, that likely wasn't the case.
I sighed and took out what I had prepared. "You've worked hard. Eat this."
"Huh?"
It was a special cookie from the De Marlin Refreshments store. I'd bought it as a bribe for Lise when I was out in Teper, but I needed to put out this fire first.
I told her, "You've been using your brain a lot. You should eat something sweet."
"You are giving this to me?"
"Who else is here besides you?"
"T-that's true."
I looked at Verita, who accepted the cookies with a dazed expression. Somehow, I thought this was the first time I had seen her look so dumbfounded.
"In any case..." I trailed off.
I pretended to skim through the documents while extending my energy detection around me to check my surroundings. I was planning to start talking about something a bit sensitive now. For the time being, however, there were no signs of anyone else around us.
I murmured, "This was done by the Golden Horn faction."
Verita said nothing.
"Hey, Razbet?" I called out.
"Ah. Yes." Verita stopped staring blankly at the cookies and came to her senses.
"Do you know something?"
"Yes." Verita carefully put away the cookies and coughed awkwardly. "They are the most violent and impulsive faction in the church. They are far removed from systematic planning. Their combat power is high, but they have no stealth. Thus, they are the faction that clashes with the empire the most often and are the most frequently caught. However, they are undoubtedly the ones who have caused the most damage to the empire. Internally, they are called the spears of the church."
"Spears, huh."
If Hadenaihar was the hidden dagger, then was Golden Horn the exposed blade? At least, that was likely to be the case among the church's factions.
Up to this point, everything that had been said was something that could be known by Razbet, a nun of the Seventy-Two Churches and an inquisitor. What I was really curious about was the knowledge of Verita, the Colorless believer.
Verita seemed to sense my intentions and lowered her voice even more. "Recently, I heard that they were preparing to summon a legion commander."
"A legion commander?"
The one who naturally came to mind was Khajitta, whom I'd met in the Otherworld. He had a peculiar way of speaking and a strange personality for a demon.
Nevertheless, his strength was real. The fact that I'd won against him at that time was almost a miracle. It was a miracle that was only possible due to several factors combining together.
In the first place, it hadn't been a normal summoning and he only had a small part of his original power. Besides that, I'd had the advantage due to being a user of flames. My eldest senior brother had even given me the Yin-Yang Dao.
If such a legion commander was summoned to this world at full power, I couldn't imagine what kind of disaster would follow.
Then Verita went on to say something even more shocking. "They may have already succeeded in summoning it."
"Is that possible? Summoning a demon inevitably involves many sacrifices."
"Yes. That is why the north is the best place for the church to flourish. The disconnection between tribes slows down the transmission of information. If there are no interactions with each other, a tribe might disappear and we might not know about it until years later."
"Ah."
"Doesn't it sound like the perfect place for a reckless faction like the Golden Horn to act?"
If so, the destruction of the Frostwolf Tribe could have been caused by a summoned legion commander. This might be more dangerous than I thought.
Verita saw my stiff expression and said, "Then, Brother, have you accepted this mission?"
"Things turned out that way."
"Then you have to report it to the clan first. However, your first mission is going to be A-class. I don't know if they will easily allow it..." Verita paused for a moment before continuing, "In any case, let's go together."
Afterward, I went with Verita to where Lanfero was staying. Lanfero and Ramon were qualified enough to remain inside the Hero Society, but they chose to stay outside in a rented inn, perhaps because they were from lesser races.
No, calling it an inn seemed like too much.
I wondered, "You're sleeping in a place like this?"
"It's cozier than it looks."
"It's like a stable that's falling apart."
"They did say it was a renovated stable."
"There's a hole in the roof."
"The view is good."
"I see a rat over there."
"They're good creatures."
Lanfero nodded as he spoke. I couldn't tell if he was joking or being sincere.
"In any case, I understand the situation. It happens to coincide with our departure date, so what should I do?" Lanfero asked.
"Huh?"
"I was going to hold a little welcome party for you at our branch, but it seems that you'll be heading straight to the mission."
"Umm."
"Well, the party part was a joke. There's actually something the two of you have to do at the Corrupted branch."
"Are there still some procedures remaining?"
"That's right. In addition, I'm honestly a bit uneasy about sending the two of you on an A-class mission."
"Huh?"
"In general, the survival rate of B-class or lower heroes in A-class missions is around 70%. If ten people go, three of them will come back in coffins."
Then he looked at us and scratched his cheek, adding, "Well, neither of the two of you is B-class."
I stayed silent.
"Still, you're cute newcomers who have just joined. I can't help being worried. It's a shame that we can't go together."
"Ah. There is something."
I told Lanfero what I'd heard from Feed yesterday, that it was unlikely they would be subjected to unreasonably severe discrimination and persecution from other clans.
"R-really?" Ramon's voice trembled.
Lanfero didn't say anything, but he seemed quite startled.
The two of them looked so surprised that I added a bit more of an explanation. "Even so, I don't know what's in other people's hearts. The persecution that's been happening for a long time won't just stop in a day or two. Those who were playing tricks openly will now do so more subtly... I think we should take it that way."
"No. That's enough," Lanfero said in a voice tinged with enthusiasm. "Then it's decided. This will be the glorious first deployment of our Corrupted clan."
"Huh?"
"I don't think you realize it, Luan." Lanfero chuckled mischievously. "We might not have a good track record, but that doesn't mean we lack strength."