Chapter 56

"Give it to me!"

Ren snatched the letter from me.

Tearing the envelope open, he began to read it intently.

"Hmm... 'Fellow members, first, let me apologize for my sudden disappearance. There was a reason. I had been hiding the fact that I am the third son of the Lord of Roadst. I established this guild to assassinate my relatives who were plotting wars every day.'"

As Ren read aloud, everyone began to murmur.

"The third son of Roadst? Indeed, Jade's manners and behavior suggested he was well-bred. He could use magic, and I always thought he wasn't just anyone..."

"Come to think of it, the lord of that region has attempted assassinations multiple times because he was planning a war. Our guild was created to prevent wars... so you mean we were used by that guy from the beginning?"

"Hehe, it's more like our interests aligned. Jade wanted to get rid of a thorn in his side, and we wanted a decent life."

"...I am grateful to Jade for giving us a place to stay."

The Roadst territory is located south of Saloom, and the ruling family has been known for their love of war for generations.

Now that I think about it, Albert and Charles were worried that they might start a war.

Each time, the lord would die, and everything would start over... I see, the assassins' guild must have been preventing it.

"...I'll keep reading. 'Of course, I never intended to kill them from the beginning. But after trying to persuade them multiple times without success, I had no choice but to take drastic measures. It was a bitter decision for me. After my relatives disappeared, I immediately returned home to calm the chaos. It was very busy, and I couldn't contact everyone. I'm sorry. But now that things have settled down, I have become the lord. I owe it all to you all. Therefore, I want to welcome you as my subjects. I hope you will continue to work for me. How about it? If you accept this offer, I will hold a welcoming banquet at the Roadst Lord's residence tomorrow evening. Please come.'"

Ren's face, which had been sullen until now, lit up.

"See, there was a reason he didn't contact us! Our Jade became a lord! That's amazing! If we go to Jade's place, we can work there! We won't have to run around in hiding anymore!"

However, the others, in contrast to Ren's enthusiasm, frowned.

"Hmm, it makes sense, but..."

"Yes, but why now... and we still don't know about the recent incidents."

"Maybe it's to silence us... hehe."

"..."

The reactions of Galilea and the others were not good.

"This is clearly a trap. Most likely to silence the members who have served their purpose. If it were known that he hired assassins to kill his relatives to become the lord, his position would be in danger. He probably used the assassins' guild to commit these crimes and tried to have them captured again, but they were hard to catch, so he decided to take care of them directly..."

Grimo's words were reasonable.

But there were some points that didn't add up.

"But would someone who wants to set a trap send such an obvious letter? And if they know where our hideout is, they could send a raiding party or something else, right?"

"You're right! Good point, Lloyd! Jade isn't the kind of person to plot like that! Everyone knows that, right!"

Ren chimed in with my mutterings.

"Yeah, now that you mention it, he was overly kind and naive."

"He would rush in to help a lagging comrade... and apparently, the bad things happening in the streets don't hurt anyone... or so they say."

"That's why we recognized him as our boss... hehe, Jade might send such a straightforward letter."

"I trust Jade."

The others also agreed with this.

It seems Jade is more respected than I thought.

"Either way, we have to go and check it out."

Galilea sighed.

"Well, yeah. It might be true, and if we join the successful Jade, we might have a good life?"

"If things go wrong, we can run. Hehe, I can slip through any gap."

"Don't try to run alone."

"I'll take care of it if something happens!"

"---It's settled then."

Galilea nodded in response to everyone's words.

Then she turned to me and bowed her head.

"That's the idea. Sir Lloyd. We want to go back to Jade. I know it's rude, but please forget about the talk of you becoming the boss! Of course, I'll take responsibility for my casual words and let you conduct your experiments! I'll cooperate as much as I can. Can you forgive us?"

...Hmm, going back to the former boss. It's convenient for us since we don't have to take care of them, and we can conduct the experiments properly. It's a win-win situation.

However, I can't just agree to this easily.

"...Alright. It is a bit presumptuous. So, I have one condition. ---I want to go with you."

"W-What!? But as you heard, there are risks! And you have nothing to gain from it!?"

Surprised, Galilea looked at me, and I smiled.

"Nothing, I was once your boss. It's only right to see things through to the end. We don't know what will happen, right? If anything goes wrong, I'll take care of it."

"You...!"

Galilea's eyes welled up at my words.

The others also seemed moved.

"Lloyd...!"

Even Ren blushed for some reason.

It seems everyone is in agreement.

"It's settled then."

"...Thank you. Even if we're no longer your subordinates, we swear to serve you...!"

Everyone bowed deeply again.

"Wow, I'm surprised. I didn't expect Sir Lloyd to be so kind."

"Yeah, I don't want them to lose their abilities if something happens, and I'm also curious about Jade's abilities."

The ability to deliver the letter, that was definitely a spatial teleportation ability.

People with this ability often lose their coordinates and find themselves in different places, having experienced many kidnappings since childhood.

Jade clearly had control over this ability.

Spatial teleportation is the foundation of spatial magic, which has been studied for years but is notoriously difficult to control, and no one has been able to use it properly.

He must have combined the spell and his ability skillfully.

To have complete control over it... Jade, you're something else.

I'm not just interested in the ability, but in the person as well.

I really want to meet him.

"I'm getting excited! Grimo!"

"Ah, I thought as much..."

Grimo sighed at this.

What is he sighing about? He's as incomprehensible as ever.