"Mist is dead, you say!! Impossible! He was our strongest fighter!"
"His Holiness Linus, the shadows at his base have vanished. There is no doubt — he is dead."
"He was supposed to have gone to execute the heretic Alan. If that's the case, it's only a matter of time before he comes here…"
The Pope, who had declared Alan a heretic, was alarmed.
In his calculations, Mist — the strongest single combatant they had — should never have been defeated.
If Mist had been killed in return, then the one who had been branded a heretic would surely come for revenge against the very person who declared it.
Moreover, with their fighting strength now further diminished, if the Holy Maiden's faction were to turn on them with force, things could get dire.
And if they were to join forces against him…
The Holy Maiden had issued a declaration opposing the heretic designation of Alan.
It wasn't just a hypothetical — there was a very real possibility.
Desperate times called for desperate measures.
It would mean a considerable expenditure of personal funds, but there was no helping it.
"Contact the dark guild 'Diamond.'"
◇◇◇
"We've received a message from the Pope."
"Oh my. Now that's a rare occurrence."
The master of the largest dark guild, Diamond, was mildly surprised by the report from his subordinate.
The Pope was, after all, someone who lived in the underworld as well.
But his territory was separate from theirs.
There was an unspoken agreement between them — mutual non-interference.
"So, what's the request? Did he accidentally cross paths with one of our people?"
"No, it's a standard commission. The target is a Gold Rank adventurer named Alan. He's an illegitimate son of the Vermilion Marquis household, already expelled. However, he possesses extraordinary healing abilities and refuses to submit to the Church, so he's been declared a heretic. Since he managed to drive off the Church's assassins, they're commissioning us — professionals — to eliminate him. Money is no object, apparently."
"Hmph, asking us professionals, are they… The Church's strength lies in its fanaticism. Their way of power is different from ours. Still — Alan, you say? Come to think of it, it seems the opponent my daughter Rin ran into was some adventurer named Alan. 'Alan' is an awfully common name, but…!"
That was when a jolt of electricity shot through the dark guild master…!
"What's wrong, Master? Could it be that [Super Intuition] activated?"
"Seems so."
[Super Intuition] triggered randomly.
But it had never been wrong before.
This was the one who had robbed his daughter Rin of her [Seduction] skill.
"Heh. How convenient. I heard Alan supposedly killed a White King Tiger Wolf and was bragging about it. Maybe I'll kill him quickly and squeeze the Church dry. No — thinking about what Rin went through, just killing him outright won't do. That's right. I could have the Dark Master strip his memories and turn him into a shell of a man first."