Heavenly Zenith 57 Skyhaven City: Adventurers Guild 2

"Of course, that's not the only reason I'm here. I've also finished the Hydra quest." Seran smiled, walking forward to sit in a chair in front of Johann's desk.

The old guildmaster leaned back in his chair and sighed, "I can't do much about helping you meet the Founding Emperor. At best, I've only got a small chance to help you meet the current emperor... Right, one of the young princes is supposed to be dropping by in about an hour. If you hang out here until then, I can see what I can do."

Seran nodded calmly, "That's okay with me. I've got nothing but time recently." If it wasn't for his quest, the white-haired boy might never have left Greenwood City, though there was a high chance he'd still need to meet the Founding Emperor.

"Now, as for the Hydra quest, can you fill me in on what happened? All I got was the confirmation of completion from Terrence."

The white-haired demiG.o.d began explaining, from the beginning of the story in its entirety. Starting with the truth of Nessy's birth, just how Terrence Danford had told him, the short experiences he'd had when he'd talked with residents about the Hydra and how much they loved him, and what he'd learned about Nessy with the short conversation they'd had. He also spoke of how he'd given Nessy the gift of speech, and finished his tale with the nearly two-day party that took over the city, and how he'd refused the reward. By the time he reached the end of his story, his mouth was dry, and he casually withdrew a bottle of water from his inventory. Thanks to the rapid growth of Greenwood City, wherein factories had already begun to produce in high gear, multi-use water bottles had become a reality in Aregard, though they were still only in the one-city kingdom. There were also rapid-biodegrading plastic bottles, though they were still undergoing testing.

Perking an eyebrow at the bottle, even after his face had already gone semi-numb from the surprises he'd just been given, Johann pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh, "I knew that Hydra was different. The guildmaster before my predecessor thought the same thing when the quest was altered doing his time in office. It made no sense for a Hydra to live next to a city without doing any damage to it, or eating anyone. I'm sure Terrence will be explaining the situation to the Emperor of Tigrene, since they now have a guardian Hydra in Savicche. They're quite lucky to have one." Tapping his fingers on his desk, he said, "Well, it's already been confirmed, so we can finally put this almost century-old quest to rest."

Seran agreed completely, as he understood the importance of such a quest in the first place. Normally, their priority would have dropped by a lot, but considering how severe the implications of a Hydra were, it had remained a major rank quest for so long. For it to finally be completed meant that it could be archived permanently. "Other than that, I have more information that you'd really want to know. After all, it's something we need to send to the Juneau Clan."

"The Juneau Clan? It must be very serious if you need me to notify them... want to explain what you mean?" The guildmaster was intrigued by the sudden development from Seran. It'd been a number of years since he'd last spoken with the Juneau Clan, especially since they were on different continents.

The boy nodded with a grave expression as he said, "I think I've discovered something crucial to the old investigation of the Polypheme Sect..."

A dark look crossed Johann's face as he leaned forward, "The one from 300 years ago that was deemed a failure? You actually managed to find something? We even lost some top-grade rank investigators to that case, and even a candidate for S-rank disappeared then."

Instead of speaking, Seran took the three recording crystals out of his inventory and placed them on the desk. He played the first one, with Eric and Gunther, as he'd witnessed via time magic. "While I was there, I took a deeper look into it and, using one of my self-created spells based on Amaterasu's Three Imperial Regalia, I then discovered this." He played the second recording, of the city that he'd found during the daytime, and how the citizens behaved. "All of the information I gained from looking at this pointed at the citizens being from 300 years ago. Still, it wasn't enough for me to really get a lead on the case. It was what I found next, from looking over the original recording with the spell, that gave me the break in the case." The final recording, of the first but via Yata no Kagami's abilities, revealing the nightmarish creatures that existed in the nighttime, and the real killers of anyone in the city at night. "These creatures... were once those citizens. They are the cause of the missing investigators and unlucky adventurers." He sat back in the chair and said, "Now, you see why I said you need to tell the Juneau Clan, right?"

The old Sage processed what he'd just witnessed with a very grave look. This was far greater a discovery than he'd expected Seran to get; after all, it was a 300-year-old case. It's highly possible that, with the demiG.o.d's help, they'd finally manage to crack the case open. "I haven't had to use this in decades, but this is extremely important, so I'll have to." Johann got up and paced over to a painting on his wall. Running his finger down the edge of the frame, he found a b.u.t.ton and pressed it. On the bookshelf beside him, a click sounded, and he made his way over. s.h.i.+fting some of the books aside, he opened a hidden compartment and withdrew a what looked like a crystal disc, similar to the mirror between the guilds, and Seran's little hand mirror. "This thing should still work. Give me a minute, I need to get it synced up again."

Seran watched as the old Sage murmured a spell and imbued the disc with mana, then invoked it. The disc glimmered and shone, rippling like water as the spell kicked in. Soon, in the middle of it, the face of a man just a tad younger than Johann appeared, and they looked very much like siblings. "You're using the emergency connector, Joey. You haven't touched that in more than 40 years. What happened this time?"

Ignoring the nickname that his brother, as they were siblings, had just called him, Johann grunted darkly, "I'll tell you the full story later, right now you need to contact the clan elders. We've got a major breakthrough in the Polypheme Sect Case."