Chapter 45

While engaging in a brief conversation, a certain presence was detected by my senses.

The owner of that presence, concealing his aura, approached cautiously to the outside of the Room of Worlds and stuck to the wall, his already faint presence becoming even more diminished.

A sigh escaped momentarily.

“…What are you doing over there?”

It was easy to sense him with my perception, but a common human would find it nearly impossible to eliminate their aura to such an extent. Moreover, if a human could enter the Grand Temple without being rejected, it would have been too easy to narrow it down to one.

“Wow- I got lost in the Grand Temple because it’s so vast!”

The figure who had been trying to eavesdrop through the use of stealth magic came in with a shameless grin.

A man displaying frivolous gestures.

He was the first disciple I had ever created in the human world.

The once-skinny fourteen-year-old who was abused as a gambler among the alleyway thugs had now grown into a robust twenty-one-year-old man.

“I didn’t teach you martial arts just so you could eavesdrop like some lowly coward.”

“Eavesdropping? How can you say that about me, the great disciple? Isn’t that right, master?”

Approaching with exaggerated open arms, Duberv even slung an arm around Priegoss, pretending to be close friends.

Alia’s eyebrows shot up momentarily.

“Duberv. That is disrespectful to His Majesty. Please mind your manners.”

“Wow, Alia sister, you look lovely today. Do you perhaps have some time?”

“Duberv.”

“Okay, okay. I get it; don’t look at me like that. I was just so happy to see my master after such a long time.”

Priegoss didn’t react much to Duberv’s words.

Duberv let out a light laugh, evaded Alia’s piercing gaze, and backed away from Priegoss.

“So? You said you were busy with the Peddler Guild and weren’t showing your face; why did you cross the line?”

“The Peddler Guild is not an officially recognized organization in Pohelrn. It’s just a criminal group that barely contributes anything.”

Alia, who usually exuded politeness and decorum, had entirely dropped her demeanor and, without even turning to me, began to argue with Duberv, looking at him like one would with a cockroach but with emotional intensity in her voice.

I scratched my cheek, somewhat taken aback by Alia’s attitude.

However, despite Alia’s aggressive stance, Duberv simply smiled slyly as he replied.

“Isn’t the transportation business like that of peddlers? We also help with the transfer of ownership of various items, after all?”

“Such things are defined as crimes in this world.”

“How rigid.”

Seeing that the fruitless argument might draw on, I interrupted and asked Duberv.

“So, what’s your reason for being here?”

“To deliver this on behalf of the Stonecrafter Guild—”

“…Did you steal it?”

“Wow- what are you saying? Let’s call it ‘contracted labor.’”

“I haven’t heard anything about it.”

“Ah, you know, information like this tends to be confidential.”

“…”

“…It is a downside that even the clients themselves are unaware.”

Duberv turned his head, avoiding my gaze.

I sighed and took the parchment he handed over.

The string meant to check if it had been opened without permission was gone, and it was bound with some cheap twine.

“Why on earth did you do this?”

“Because it wouldn’t do for the Peddler Guild not to have access to certain information in this city! Why, because… I’m curious!”

Duberv puffed out his chest proudly with a hint of sadness in his voice.

“If you need information of various kinds, why not entrust it to this great disciple instead of outsiders!”

“Ah, having a leader of the Peddler Guild pass through the Grand Temple wouldn’t exactly earn people good opinions.”

“Unlike the Stonecrafter Guild, who wouldn’t find it odd for someone to enter for construction or maintenance matters, I suppose.”

The Peddler Guild, which circulates various goods and information throughout the world.

Moreover, peddlers poke their noses into anything that makes money.

No one finds it odd when they visit the Stonecrafter Guild.

The compiled information from these activities is secretly delivered to the Grand Temple by the Stonecrafter Guild, who periodically visit for the construction and maintenance of the temple.

Likewise, it was delivered to Alia.

In effect, both the Peddler Guild and the Stonecrafter Guild were organizations that appeared normal on the surface but also served as a secret information network between Alia and me.

Thanks to this, even though I was holed up on the throne of the Grand Temple for a long time, I was able to gather much information from the human world.

“Well, as long as we don’t get caught, it should be fine, right?”

Duberv shrugged his shoulders and laughed frivolously.

“The connections among thieves are insignificant; they cannot follow the information network of peddlers that stretches like a web across the world. Furthermore, information is both money and power for them. Their motivations are fundamentally different.”

“If we don’t properly know our customers’ information, the smooth transfer of power becomes impossible, and information is extremely important to us. And, you know.”

Duberv’s sly expression turned cold like a mask, a sneer rising up.

“Isn’t it ironic? Despite the massive 20-yard-tall (about 18 meters) city wall erected to protect against external threats to humans, there is still a need for yet another barrier within.”

“…”

“Well, thanks to the priest, many have become prosperous, and I can’t claim to have any great ideas about it… I won’t criticize anyone’s actions. But don’t degrade those desperate people merely trying to survive outside the walls you’ve failed to let in.”

Killing intent emanated from Duberv.

Alia’s gaze sharpened at his hostility, and it seemed the energy was about to erupt.

“Enough.”

I forcibly interrupted the escalating conversation, dispersing the gathered energies.

“I believe I’ve heard enough whining, Duberv.”

His previously stiff expression reverted to a sly grin as he shrugged and stepped back.

“Priegoss.”

“I’m not concerned. It’s not an incorrect statement.”

Duberv flinched at Priegoss’s calm response but quickly returned to his original demeanor.

Alia fell silent as usual, but it seemed she couldn’t hide a hint of frustration.

“You came all the way here just to stir up trouble.”

I sighed, looking at Duberv, who pretended not to hear my reprimand, whistling instead.

He had been an orphan seven years ago.

On top of that, his hostile feelings toward Priegoss emerged.

Although he never spoke of the past, given his young age and timing, it was highly likely he had flowed into the alleyways through Priegoss by being a war orphan.

Furthermore, the status of my disciples, who were regarded as the messengers of the gods in Pohelrn, was extremely high.

Duberv, who became a disciple before Priegoss, wouldn’t have found it very difficult to enjoy wealth and fame.

Yet, he chose not to leverage that position and wandered the alleyways, establishing an unrecognized thief guild in Pohelrn.

Whether it was sympathy for people like his past self or his desire to hide his identity as my disciple, he treaded a thorny path on his own.

Despite his seemingly frivolous attitude, he was resolute on the path he chose for himself.

“Since Alia is here, it might be better to share information here than to do it twice.”

Instead of engaging in meaningless persuasion, I spread out the parchment delivered from the Stonecrafter Guild.

“Mm.”

The parchment detailed changes in various current situations from previous reports and several unusual phenomena.

Trivial situations or price fluctuations of specific items were not precisely what I was concerned with.

However, a few items written at the end were quite intriguing.

“Can I see that too?”

I handed the stack of parchment I had already read to Alia.

She quietly opened the parchment, skimming through it until she began to read the section I had found interesting.

“This is…”

“It says that the number of wandering giants encountered from the northwest and north has increased to an abnormal degree.”

“…This is serious.”

“Though giant races usually devastate their surroundings significantly, it’s particularly the titans that tend to do so excessively.”

There were various giant races beyond trolls and ogres.

In essence, giants were large and consumed a lot, but their numbers were not so abundant, reigning merely as apex predators in their ecosystems.

However, titans, related to my first disciples Golb and Silv, were not generally organisms born on this planet but rather a subordinate species that descended from the mountain-moving giant Terato.

They were a tribe that could hardly survive outside the ecosystem established near the village of giants where they were born, consuming enormous resources to live outside.

“It seems that over 20 individuals have been confirmed… Where are Golb and Silv now?”

“They should be at the quarries in Glode Plains, moving stones in conjunction with the Stonecrafter Guild for the supply of materials for the Grand Temple’s construction.”

“…I feel like I’m overworking my disciples.”

“If it weren’t for them, the current construction of the city wall or the Grand Temple would not be proceeding this quickly. They’ve been a great help.”

“I’ll need to ask them about this. It’s not an ordinary situation.”

“I will send a messenger to both of them.”

“And… while dealing with the giants is troublesome, there’s something intriguing about this in the south.”

I picked up the parchment that Alia had last looked at, unfolded it toward Priegoss, and smiled.

“It seems someone claiming to be a ‘king’ has appeared beyond the borders of Pohelrnia in the south, beyond the Takla Desert.”