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Garroba was promptly interrupted.

‘Hold it, sorry to intrude but I need to say something first.’
A third voice joined their conversation.

‘August, what the hell are you doing here?’

There was only one more person capable of intruding like that. August, someone they were forced to call a comrade.

They also knew that everything August heard would end up being learned by Nirvana’s oracle. That was why their meetings were supposed to only occur between Ignaz and Garroba.

In this situation, he had not been expected there, and Garroba made no effort to conceal his anger.

‘I know, I know. I considered calling another urgent meeting, but I knew you’d get upset if I did that two days in a row. Then I remembered that you two have a scheduled meeting tonight, so I decided to show up just for a bit.’

He was clearly not sorry for showing up unannounced, and before either of the two could say something, he continued talking. He told them that he had obtained more information from the oracle’s new bodyguard, which he deemed important for the rest.

It was new information about the Spirit Queen, directly from the oracle.

First off, all of the Spirit Queen’s past adventure stories were bland and unimportant, things any other adventurer could easily do. Then came the additional guards she had summoned to protect the oracle, a single Cait Sith.

And interestingly enough, the oracle had also evaluated the Spirit Queen’s skills, describing her as “struggling to position her summoned *units*.”

‘Somehow I get the feeling that her reputation isn’t tied to her skills. If anything, I’d say her abilities as a summoner are just above mediocre? Her whole title as Spirit Queen sounds intimidating, but I don’t think she’s much of a threat.’

That was all August had to report, finishing with, ‘I guess the only question is how much of a factor the Spirit King is. But I’ll leave that to you.’

‘That’s all very interesting.’
“I’d still like to know a bit more about the Spirit King, but all of that makes sense.”

Garroba did not sound particularly surprised about it, and Ignaz sounded like he was connecting a variety of dots, grinning slightly.

‘Well, you better make good use of this info then. That’s it from me, I’ll leave you now.’

That concluded August’s business there, as soon a door being opened and closed could be heard through the device. It was only Garroba and Ignaz left now. Their meeting continued without any other incidents, sharing information and discussing strategies as usual.

‘Alright, let me start with the things I found out. I combed through the records from the Union…’

Garroba continued where August left off, sharing his findings after a whole day looking into the Spirit Queen.

‘First off, there’s no request completion rate recorded, not to mention evidence that she ever accepted a single request from the Union. She might be an adventurer, but not one working around the Union…’

Starting there, Garroba went on to discuss her rank.

Those were given out and recognized by the United Adventurer’s Guild. Raising it involved completing missions for the Union to prove one’s skills. There were some exceptions to accomplish that as well, and the Spirit Queen had achieved her rank through one such exception.

‘So far I’ve been able to determine that her rank was granted through political means. I still don’t know who exactly, but from the documents I saw it’s a noble, with a position of count or higher. So we know there’s at least one person with that much influence behind her.’

After declaring that, Garroba added some more information.

No one knew exactly what role she fulfilled during the Chimera Clauzen incident, but whatever she did was grounds for the Union to raise her rank to A, without having to complete a single request.

“I see… It looks like everyone is giving her preferential treatment. I wonder if it’s only because of the Spirit King.”

Ignaz heard everything Garroba had to say before commenting with a slightly annoyed tone. He was not fond of politicians and nobles utilizing their influence to prop up people.

‘That’s what I’ve been wondering as well. If everything August told us is true, then I doubt her skills actually match her rank. Also remember what he said about her past adventures? She’s never completed a request, so if anything I’d say she just parroted whatever she heard other adventurers do, trying to pass off as one. And that means that’s the extent of her knowledge and experience. I still don’t know how she managed to fool Nirvana’s empress, but from what I’ve seen, all she has is her name.’

They began building up a profile of the Spirit Queen, utilizing the information they had gathered.

The Three Gods’ religion, the most influential of the continent, placed a lot of importance on the Spirit King. They did not know what relationship he had with the Spirit Queen, but it would not be a stretch to assume that he was the reason why everyone favored her so much.

At least that was Garroba’s conclusion.

“Yes, that’s how I see it too.”

Ignaz was in agreement, and then he shared the information he had found on his own.

“I did a bit of research too. Apparently all she has done so far is talk about water spirits being able to produce as much water as one wants, or being able to summon houses and couches. She seems particularly passionate about making things more convenient for adventurers, and not really about fighting. This is just my assumption, but maybe the Spirit King’s power can’t be used in combat? And that’s why she tries to gain favor through miscellaneous means.”

That was Ignaz’s assessment of her.

He had looked into rumors and stories involving her, trying to measure her strength, but everything he heard just involved her explaining how summoners made things convenient. Overall, he was not very impressed by her.

‘Hmm, that’s good then. It doesn’t matter how comfortable she can make life, being a bodyguard is completely different.’
“Precisely. We’ll have plenty of openings to exploit.”

Both chuckled maliciously after saying that.

All the information they had gathered pointed to the Spirit Queen’s lack of power. She really was a terrible downgrade compared to Noin, something they both appreciated as they began scheming how to attack.