With both of us busy with our tasks, it had been a week since I had last visited Zolast. "You look like shit," I said the moment I entered as I noticed just how exhausted he looked. His face was sullen, with large bags under his eyes.

I was ready to write it off as a sign of his exhaustion due to all the work that went to build the dungeon, but I noticed an important detail that changed it the moment I stepped inside.

Zolast tensed at my presence.

How interesting.

I didn't react to that, but my mind was wild as I went through the possibilities, curious about what exactly he had in mind. I immediately ignored the worst of it, which was Zolast deciding to get rid of me and rule the guild easily on his own. Even if I had read his personality completely wrong, he was competent enough to handle such an event without risking himself with a direct confrontation.

Unfortunately, I was also not optimistic enough to delude myself thinking that it was just about him giving me some bad news about the guild development, which we could work together to resolve.

It left a confrontation about my secrets as the likeliest possibility, which raised another question.

Which secret?

At this point, the answer to that was not trivial. Even the relatively minor secrets I had, like the team of female blacksmiths I was hosting secretly, were a dangerous situation that required a dedicated intervention from him.

But then, there were many others, my unusually high stats, my habit of interfering with the domains of other nobles, my charisma usage, my lack of a patron god … and, most importantly, my class.

Hero.

"You look tired," I said with a chuckle as I settled across him, finding myself at the other side of a tasteful and subtly-oppressive desk — a gift of mine. "Building the dungeon must have been a difficult effort."

"Not exactly. There were other things that were keeping me busy," he answered, tense and pointed.

I carefully examined his expression as he spoke, trying to decide whether he was fishing for information, or trying to give me a chance to confess something before he revealed his own findings and challenged me in a more direct manner.

It was a nice tactic, and he was applying it excellently. Too bad that he was trying to use it against a master. I leaned back, letting a slightly satisfied expression flicker on my face I schooled it, trying to sell the idea that whatever secret he had discovered wasn't something I was desperate to hide.

Though, as I watched his reaction, I was starting to get convinced that the secret was one that approached toward the middle of the spectrum of the things I wanted to keep secret. "How fascinating. Why don't you tell me about it."

Zolast sighed casually as he sipped his tea, then placed it carefully. "So, Euon. Did you know one of the heroes was currently at our corner of the world?" he delivered, with a light tone like he was commenting on the weather. Then, he chuckled. "Pardon my rhetorical question. Of course you know."

A flicker of panic infused my mind, along with the temptation to slam Zolast with Charisma and ask him how did he learn my true identity, and whether he had mentioned it to anyone else. I tried to keep my expression calm, but from Zolast's victorious expression, it was clear that I wasn't entirely successful in that aspect.

A score to him.

He had won an unexpected point by revealing the mention of a hero the moment the discussion started, surprising me with his forthcoming approach. There was no point in defending that point after that was already lost.

I just needed to turn that retreat into something more useful. "Alright, you got me," I answered, which looked like a surrender without revealing anything. "Ask your question, you meddlesome old man," I said, acting like I surrendered.

However, it was a subtle trap, as I had realized he didn't exactly go out an challenged me for being the hero, and my disappearance was hardly secret with the huge commotion it created. I just didn't think it would reach the lower rungs of society.

I still needed to learn exactly what Zolast knew, and how did he learn of it.

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He took a deep breath. "I just need to know why are you searching for the lost Hero," Zolast said with a despairing tone. "Please don't tell me it's just to sell the young man to the highest bidder."

"Don't worry about it, it's not that," I said, even as my mind run at a desperate speed trying to understand the exact angle. The casual usage of the young man didn't feel like a feint, which meant Zolast's knowledge about the identity of the hero was very limited.

It seemed that Zolast assumed I was looking for … myself, which, admittedly, considering the constant abilities I had been revealing, wasn't a bad assumption.

Though, the irony was immensely entertaining.

"And what is what you are planning … if not that?" he countered. "Don't tell me that you're still going to insist that it was all a coincidence."

"Don't worry about that," I said, then let out a mocking smirk. "But are you sure your old bones want to be involved in this issue?"

His answer surprised me. "I don't. I really, really don't," he commented with a deep, honest resignation. Meaning, someone was forcing him to get involved.

"That sounds like a fun topic that we will talk about later," I answered. "But, let's talk about about my presence first. I'm here as a favor, helping a friend."

"Favor?" Zolast asked, surprised.

"How much do you know about the circumstances that led to the disappearance of the hero?" I asked.

"Not much, but I'm guessing that it has something to do with the sudden breaches that's going all around and the overflow of chaotic destruction mana," he said.

"You would be right," I said. "A friend of mine was there at the summoning. He was hired to provide some additional security just in case … but he didn't expect one of the leaders to be a hidden worshipper of a god of destruction. Apparently, he had managed to convert the servants into monsters and killed the guards, and my friend barely managed to escape with the young hero in tow. Now, they are hiding, while I'm here in case they need my help."

It was a fairly accurate rendition of the events. I was stretching the truth a bit about calling myself young, but that didn't count.

I was still young at heart.

"Any idea who was the cultist?" Zolast asked.

"Someone named Toross," I said, and Zolast tensed. "You know the guy," I commented.

"Only indirectly," Zolast admitted. "Even before my … misfortune, I wasn't exactly a part of the high society at the capital. He was one of the most well-known warriors of the Empire. I can't imagine him becoming a cultist."

I chuckled bitterly. "Oh, don't worry, he's not the only one," I said.

"What do you mean?" Zolast cut in, tense.

"Just earlier today, I had seen two of those transformed monsters kidnapping four people, paying great attention to keeping them alive, likely dragging them to a base to be converted," I said. "I had dealt with two of them, but it was a close call."

"How?" Zolast said, shocked. "They are incredibly hard to deal with once they got empowered, requiring a squad of knights to put them down safely."

Since the situation had reached this point, there was no harm in showing off. I pulled my dagger, and to his credit, Zolast wasn't even alarmed despite the threatening nature of the move. Three slashes, near the limit of how fast and strong I could achieve, the resulting wind enough to make the papers dance.

And, more importantly, I let the mana cover the edge of the blade, as if it was there to enhance the hit.

It was not a big sacrifice to reveal a combination of my Strength, Agility, and Attunement. I still reasonably trusted him. More importantly, he was being forced to act, and the more he knew about my capabilities, the more trust he would extend to me…

As an added benefit, I could actually ask him to teach me magic, hopefully enough to be useful for me.

"Okay, that was impressive," Zolast answered. "I can see how you managed to handle two corrupted monsters back to back. Still, we need to alert the military and inform them about—" he started, but I raised my hand to silence him.

"There's a small problem in that," I said. "I was suspicious of how they dared to attack people in the middle of the day, so after I dealt with them, I stayed hidden nearby and watched. Two guards arrived from the sky soon after, and carefully destroyed the planned escape route and erased the signs of battle."

"Are you sure there were cultists as well? Maybe they were just trying to prevent people from panicking."

"Well, the red and crackling mana they had used as they destroyed the tunnel had been pretty distinctive," I said.

"Damn," Zolast growled as he put his head between his hands. "Is this why the hero is still hidden?" Zolast said, clearly expecting it to be the answer.

"One of the reasons is that. My friend is not sure who can be trusted, so he asked me to arrange an escape route while they are safely hidden in the forest," I said as I delivered, recognizing the opportunity to finally ask the questions about Promotion without being suspicious.

"That seems like a challenge, but it shouldn't be an insurmountable one, especially if the church of whatever god he managed to win his allegiance to get involved to protect their hero. There's not much they won't do to protect their hero. Not with the calamity drawing close," he said. I didn't say anything, but just let my smirk widen. "What's the other reason?" Zolast said.

I took. A deep breath before revealing that detail. It was a bit risky to reveal that part, especially if my suspicions about his past were correct, but I decided to bet on his status as an exile.

That, and the disgust I could detect in his tone when he mentioned the calamity.

"The young hero has some concerns about his supposed destiny. Apparently, he's pretty resistant against accepting the patronage of a god, and he's yet to accept one."

I expected Zolast to look surprised, maybe even shocked.

What I hadn't expected was for him to react like a kid who had just learned that Santa was actually real. He grabbed my shoulders, shaking me as he shook me repeatedly. "Tell me that you're not joking. Please," he repeated again and again.

I just chuckled until he calmed down enough to stop, blushing badly after his outburst. "I think I have told more than enough. Now, it's your turn to tell a story, old man."