The Guild Master’s dissatisfied tone made me let out a dry laugh without meaning to.
Was that something the Master of an Information Guild should even say?
Was he trying to squeeze a bit more commission money from me?
The thought crossed my mind, but it was absurd.
The Ruin Guild already had a strong reputation as an information guild, and frankly, the information he had just given me alone was worth a fortune.
And yet he still… said something like that…
“He’s just meddling.”
A bit much, especially toward a client he’d just met.
“Well. This is an information guild, not a manpower agency, right? And certainly not a rescue organization.”
“……”
“Or… do you have some personal sense of duty?”
If that were the case, he wouldn’t have told me to hire them.
Even though I deliberately said it with a mocking tone, the Guild Master stayed silent, without showing any sign of offense.
I couldn’t be entirely sure, since I still couldn’t get a good look at his face, but that’s how it seemed.
After a while, he finally spoke.
“Then, shall we focus on finding the whereabouts of the boy named Tommy?”
His voice was completely devoid of emotion.
I nodded and shared the details about Tommy that I had heard from Jack and Derek.
The Guild Master jotted down the information with a fountain pen, then rose from his seat.
He opened a drawer at a desk behind him and retrieved something.
A contract and a tiny communication device embedded with a small blue gemstone.
It was much smaller than a regular communicator, designed to fit neatly in the ear.
“It almost looks like a Bluetooth earphone.”
Probably a special communication device used for discreet transmissions.
Tearing my eyes away from it, I looked back at the Guild Master.
His lips parted slowly.
“Good. Then… let’s draw up the real contract.”
∗ ∗ ∗
Perhaps conscious of the earlier exchange, the contract process proceeded without any trouble.
I had already expected it would cost quite a bit, so it didn’t feel too excessive.
[Here, ‘whereabouts’ refers solely to Tommy’s survival status and current location.]
If not for that clear clause, we would’ve wasted time arguing about the definition of ‘whereabouts.’
“In any case, it would have ended up in my favor.”*
The Guild Master of Ruin had no connection to ‘Daniel,’ so it made sense he was handling this so neutrally.
After signing, the Guild Master handed the contract to me.
Naturally, his signature was in an unfamiliar hand.
I likewise signed ‘Daniel’ in the blank space.
“……”
The Guild Master stared at the completed contract for a moment before setting it down.
Following suit, I picked up the tiny communicator and stood up.
“If you find even the slightest lead on Tommy’s whereabouts, please contact me. It doesn’t have to be complete information. I believe this is a matter where every second counts.”
I could have commissioned him to investigate the temple further or request more information, but for now, finding Tommy was the priority.
I figured that during the search for Tommy, the secrets of the temple would likely reveal themselves.
“Finding Tommy is the priority; everything else is secondary.”
At least for now, that was the case.
“I’ll be going now.”
I was just turning to leave when—
“Coffee.”
“……”
“You didn’t even take a sip.”
While pocketing the communicator, I had unconsciously glanced at the coffee cup.
The ice had melted somewhat, and beads of water clung to the surface.
An iced Americano.
A drink that felt oddly out of place in a setting like this.
“……I forgot.”
That was all I could say.
∗ ∗ ∗
[You’re back?]
When I returned home, Seol came to greet me.
Whether it was just happy to see me out and about, it purred and rubbed against my legs contentedly.
After washing my hands, I crouched down and scratched under Seol’s chin.
[The contract? Did it go well? Are they as skilled as the rumors say?]
“Yeah. It went well. As for their skills…”
I trailed off, pondering Seol’s question.
Shortly after moving to Crete Island, Seol had taken to nightly walks, using ‘strolls’ as an excuse.
Even after spending quite a bit of time outside, Seol surprisingly didn’t know much about the island’s internal affairs.
[There weren’t any temple people or priests around.]
The way Seol had said that when the children had returned home still lingered oddly in my mind.
“…They seem good enough.”
I quickly reviewed in my mind the contents of the novel ‘From Transmigration to Hero’, which I’d read so many times since coming to this world that I could practically recite it from memory.
The Raven under the Duchy of Panitheon was a group directly managed by the Duke.
In the novel, Raizen, who never ascended to the duchy, never had full command over them.
Even so, he was excellent at gathering information and had amassed considerable personal wealth.
“Though the novel never explicitly said it…”
A smart, distrustful heir who couldn’t rely on adults and was sharper than his peers.
It was only natural he would have hidden investments under false names, grown his wealth, and built his own information network.
[Is that so? Well… the rumors are pretty widespread.]
“Yeah?”
Now that I thought about it, Seol really had no talent for lying.
And then another odd detail struck me.
“The merchant who first told me about the Ruin Guild…”
No matter how easily people seemed to take a liking to me, that didn’t mean I had some magical power to make everyone confess their hearts.
Even Jack and Derek, for all their friendliness, still showed a degree of wariness around me.
Thinking back, I guess I had sensed something was off from the moment that “regular merchant” taught me how to commission information from the Ruin Guild.
“Seol.”
[Yeah?]
“Since when?”
Seol blinked rapidly.
[Wh-what do you mean?]
“Or maybe… it was from the very beginning.”
Maybe at first, it was only the people from Grandfather’s side and the Duke and Duchess’s people.
They were never the type to leave me stranded somewhere far away without keeping an eye on me.
‘Right. I completely forgot about that.’
Those people were nothing like the parents I had known back in Korea.
[Th-that’s, um…]
Seol’s large ears drooped sadly. Seeing him so flustered made me feel strangely bad.
“I’m not angry. I just… want to know the truth. You were only watching over the people they sent because you were worried about my safety, right?”
[Th-that’s true, but…]
“But.”
On my way back home from the Red Potion, I smelled it again — that strong scent of roses.
The same one I had caught the day I brought the children home.
“…It would’ve been nice if you’d told me that Raizen had come.”
My gut was telling me.
That the master of the Ruin Guild was Raizen.
But Seol’s reaction was completely unexpected.
[Wait, hold on. Don’t tell me that bastard approached you?!]
Gone was the flustered Seol — he shouted, eyes flashing dangerously.
I was the one who ended up startled instead.
“The master of the Ruin Guild… is my brother.”
[WHAT?!]
“You… didn’t know?”
Seol’s tail shot straight up as he jumped into the air.
[I didn’t know! That bastard! I specifically told him — no, begged him — never to approach you first!!]
Blue light began to gather around the agitated Seol.
It wasn’t the usual warm and affectionate aura — it was sharp, volatile, almost menacing.
‘Oh no.’
I quickly pulled Seol into a hug.
“I’m sorry. I thought you knew everything already.”
I could feel Seol’s small body trembling slightly in my arms. After a moment, he let out a soft sigh.
[…It’s frustrating, but I get why you thought that. Honestly, I was hiding things from you, so… I’m sorry. If it were me, I would’ve been pretty upset too.]
Was I upset?
Not exactly… It felt more like — hollow.
I had run away, determined to cut ties with everything, but in the end, I was still trapped in Raizen’s grasp.
Realizing that made anger simmer inside me.
‘You really don’t know, do you. What it took for me to leave.’
Just then, Seol’s grumpy voice pierced through my thoughts.
[But seriously, that guy… Every time he showed up, he was a total mess. And now you’re telling me he’s been running a whole guild here?]
“He was… a mess?”
