The man's name was Fuze, and he was the guild master at the Free Guild branch in the kingdom of Blumund.
His competence at his post was unquestioned, and even before then, his prowess as an adventurer had brought him all the way to the rank of A minus.
And as he'd promised the Baron of Veryard, he quickly set off to conduct an investigation of his own. What his assorted intelligence contacts told him, however, was that the Empire was currently making no moves at all. It might stay that way, of course—that was Fuze's hunch—but there was no room for error.
One day, he received word that another investigation team had made its return to his city. He went to his chambers and sat down very slowly and deliberately on the sofa in the reception room he always used for classified meetings. Across from him sat three people—two men and a woman, all B-ranked adventurers.
This group, he already knew well. There was Gido, a thief who excelled at reconnaissance. Kabal, meanwhile, was a master of defense. Being fighter class, he willingly served as a wall for the rest of his party, and he did his job well. He tended to crack jokes a lot, but he was no slouch. Finally, there was Elen, a sorceress whose skill set was geared toward the more unique types of magic. She had a wide variety of spells at her disposal, but her true skill lay in supernaturally enhanced movement. It was also worth noting that her careful planning always did wonders to boost her party's chance at survival.
That was the team Fuze had sent to examine the cave Veldora had once been sealed in. His first reaction upon seeing them was slight amazement that they were safe. That cave was more suited for people with B-plus ranks or higher, and if you took its master into account, tracking down an minus traveler or two was usually your safest bet. Even if Fuze himself ventured in—not that his guild responsibilities would ever let him these days—it would likely be quite a slog if he took it solo.
Regardless of their ranks, these were the people Fuze had sent to find out what was up with Veldora at the moment. He'd made the decision because of their uncanny knack for staying alive. The ability to avoid battle while gathering intelligence, in this case, was worth far more to him than employing a B-plus powerhouse.
"Let's hear the report," he said, ever careful not to betray his emotions. No matter how appreciative he was inside, he made it a point not to offer them any reassuring words. The trio was used to this.
"It was awful, man!" Kabal blurted.
"I so need to take a bath…," Elen agreed.
"Yeah, the hardest part was tryin' to keep this pair from ripping each other apart, I'd say…," Gido commented.
The report began with a description of the monsters they'd found in the cave. After bluffing their way past the tempest serpent that served as the area's guardian, they'd proceeded past the sealing door. It had been clear early on that Veldora was gone, but they'd spent another week or so exploring the cave, just in case. The end result: definitely no guardian, or leader, to speak of inside.
But one thing had caught their attention the most.
"Here's the thing, though," Kabal said. "Once we were done with our examination and went out the door…the tempest serpent was gone."
"Right, yeah!" Elen exclaimed. "I couldn't activate Escape inside the door, so I spent all that time figuring out how we'd get away from it… I feel like such an idiot!"
"Yeah," said Gido. "I brought along an illusion and heat-generating trap, and I didn't even use 'em. At least it saved us some time, though. Gettin' past it on the way in was one thing, but gettin' out woulda been another."
What was the meaning of this? This tempest serpent had a tentative rating of minus. It was absolutely the strongest presence in the cave. Not even Fuze liked his chances much against it. It was the whole reason why he had fretted over this trio's chances of a successful trip.
"All right, guys. I'll let you rest for three days or so, but after that, I'll need you back in the forest again. Not inside the cave this time—you'll be examining the area around it instead. I want you to leave no stone unturned out there, all right? Be thorough. That is all."
"'That's all,' he says!"
"Three days? That's it?! Give us a week, at least!"
"Yeah, yeah… You know he's not gonna listen to us, guys."
Three days later, Kabal, Elen, and Gido were preparing for their forest trip.
"That was barely any time off…," Elen moaned.
"You said it, girl," Gido replied.
"Could you stop complaining for a moment, guys?" Kabal, the more-or-less leader, admonished with a lack of conviction that indicated his agreement. "You're just depressing me now."
There were only a few routes into the forest, and the monsters inside of it were growing more and more active recently to the point that not even the greediest merchants would sell their wagons to go inside the forest.
Hiring bodyguards was out of the question—they'd lose money on this job if they did. If they wanted to visit the forest, it'd have to be on foot for the time being.
"Excuse me. If you are headed for the forest, would I be able to join you along the way?"