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‘Great Sage, you have a letter from the Guild.’
“I do?”

The room was suddenly filled with Mana, followed by a cheerful voice, which broke the somber silence. Astard grabbed the magic stone from the desk and stared at Merc, who had already reached for her blade, with a shocked expression on his face.

“Thank you for notifying me Kena. Who is it from?”
‘Um… It’s…’
“Is something wrong?”
‘It’s nothing… As usual, it’s from Miss Tetem.’

When Astard encouraged Kena to speak out, she said a name that Merc didn’t recognize.

“I see. I’ll come pick it up.”
‘Okay…’

The voices eventually faded away, the Mana’s presence faded away, and the room fell silent once again.

“Was that a Transmission Magic Stone?”
“That’s right. When I’m here, I have Kena call me with it.”
“I see. It caught me off guard…”

Merc touched her chest, embarrassed that she’d been caught off guard, and then glanced fiercely at Astard as an idea struck her.

“It’s not possible to listen in on people by using this Magic Stone, right?”
“It’s not. For it to connect to the other half of the Magic Stone, I must first touch it and pour my Mana into it. My voice will only reach the other side after I have a half in my hands and have poured Mana into it.”
“I see…”
“You don’t need to worry. The usage of a Transmission Magic Stone is always accompanied by the presence of Mana. And if that presence appears I’ll be able to feel it.”
“I can too, but that’s not the problem…”

Astard was taken aback by Merc’s comment, but nodded his head in agreement.

“Oh, yea. You’re an Eternal¹ now.”
“What?”
“It’s nothing. I just remembered that you’re now an elf. So it’s no wonder you can feel Mana.”
“Well yea. More importantly, who’s this Tetem?”
“I’ve never met her either, but I’ve heard that’s the name of the Doctor’s granddaughter. When I exchange letters with the Doctor he uses his granddaughter’s name. Even here, Doctor Glodel’s name is well-known, so we’re doing this just in case.”
“Isn’t it dangerous to communicate with letters? Since this is Count Fonan’s territory, I’m sure he’ll have no trouble inspecting any letter.”
“We’re sending them through the Guild so there’s no need to worry. If I make a request to the Guild, I can be confident that it will be delivered by a trusted adventurer. Count Fonan, regardless of his position, will not be able to examine the letters because the Guild is essentially unfettered by the power of the state.”
“Hmph, so it’s like that… Then it’s fine.”

There had been no adventurers entrusted with delivering letters during Merc’s time as Estert. However, it appeared that common sense had changed in recent years.
　
Nonetheless, given that Merc had previously encountered only rude and violent adventurers, no one would have been foolish enough to entrust their valuable letters to them.
　
Things had changed, most likely as a result of the presence of people who could be trusted.

Astard returned to the room after receiving the letter from Kena and opened it in front of Merc.

“Let’s see, what does it say…”

Astard furrowed his brow as he silently read the letter from Doctor Glodel and when he was finished he handed it out to Merc.

“You’re letting me read it?”
“That’s right.”

After gaining permission, Merc read it and discovered that the letter was written in distinctive letters. Merc had a hard time reading it, but in summary, the letter said, “I’ve made a groundbreaking discovery on how to make your spell work and wanted to hear your opinion on it, so I’d like you to come as soon as possible. While you’re here I’ll also introduce you to this granddaughter of which I’m so proud.”
　
Thankfully, the letter came with a map and a location.

“What will you do?”
“I’m definitely going… Although, it’s already quite late, so let’s go tomorrow.”
“Sure. It’s the next town over. We’ll most likely be able to make it back in the day if we go tomorrow.”
“Precisely. So, for the time being, let’s forget the Count and the Empire.”

When Merc agreed, Astard moved the paper-strewn desk and grabbed a wine bottle and glasses from a shelf in the corner of the room and placed them on top of the desk.

Merc chuckled at the deftness with which Astard prepared everything.

“Do you drink here?”
“Sometimes. I haven’t had the chance recently, but today is a perfect occasion. So, how about we chat while we share some drinks?”
“You really are… I won’t refuse, though.”

And just like that the two of them began chatting.

“By the way, if you were able to enter the Dungeon with this body, it must mean you were able to become an adventurer, right?”

As he poured wine into the cups, Astard inquired. Merc gave a gentle nod.

“That’s right. I didn’t even know I needed to pass an exam to become an adventurer because I was holed up in the elf village, so I was shocked when I found out.”
“I don’t doubt you were… Still, this is you we’re talking about, I doubt you faced any problems.”
“To be honest, it was rather difficult. Here, let me pour you a glass.”
“Thank you.”

When Merc returned the gesture by pouring a glass of wine for Astard, he expressed his gratitude in a sincerely touched tone.

“This means that you’re an elf adventurer.”
“Huh? Why are you bringing that up again? Well, it’s unique. I don’t believe there have been others like me.”
“You’re wrong there. I believe that there is one in the Empire².”
“What?”

As he stated that, Astard raised his glass towards Merc, and Merc did the same.

“Cheers. What was it again… I think his name was Varner or something along those lines. I’ve heard that he’s an elf adventurer. But he’s supposedly so good that the Empire has already employed him.”
“This seems far too shady to be true.”

Merc frowned extravagantly as she heard the suspicious story.

“What do you expect? The Empire is very secretive. There isn’t much information that makes its way to other countries. I’m not even sure whether Varner, or whatever his name is, is real.”

Astard simply shrugged his shoulders slightly, not offended by Merc’s attitude. Merc deduced from Astard’s demeanor that the story he’d just told her was nothing more than a joke.

“In any case, let’s bench this for the time being. Now’s the time to drink. Still, this body is only 14 years old. I doubt I’ll be able to drink much…”
“Oh my, how rude of you. Still, don’t worry about it. I’ll drink for both of us.”
“Sure. Just watch out for the hangover tomorrow.”

Merc remarked to Astard, who boldly downed his drink in a single swallow whereas she drank slowly. Merc had entirely forgotten about Astard’s drunken habits at this point…

1. Robinxen: Eh so that’s what the chapter is named after? I thought it was the hero party but I guess this is slang for elves?
2. Robinxen: Oh plot hook!