After a few days had passed, the shadow of the turtle had become visible even from the port. As we walked down the main street after leaving the inn, snippets of conversation about the Sea Emperor Turtle reached our ears.

“Has the information been made public?”

“Maybe. Let’s check with the guild.”

“Yeah.”

We had continued investigating the Sea Emperor Turtle’s shell durability on our own for a while. It wasn’t an official request from the guild, so we kept it low-key. In reality, though, it had practically become a training ground for our skills.

By the next day, all the damage we had dealt was completely restored. We had hoped to gradually chip away at it, but that proved impossible. That’s why we shifted our focus to training.

By concentrating on making our attacks penetrate deeper, we managed to break through three layers of the shell in one strike. I figured I had probably acquired a new skill. Right now, I was focused on refining it. The turtle’s HP had decreased, albeit slightly, so I wanted to believe it was effective.

As for Kanto’s team, their investigation yielded about the same results as ours. In fact, they had even less information. Since they hadn’t landed on the shell, they only circled around and checked its status via appraisal. It wasn’t surprising that they hadn’t learned much.

“Oh, looks like the info’s been released.”

When we stepped into the guild’s first floor, we saw a prominent notice about the Sea Emperor Turtle. I figured there might be more details on the second floor, but it was the same. Come to think of it, there weren’t any restrictions preventing D-rank adventurers from accessing the information.

“Shu-san.”

While we were reading the notice, a guild staff member called out to me.

Turning around, I saw it was the person who had been taking notes while we were speaking with the guild master. If I remembered correctly, their name was—

“Ah, Lowell-san.”

That should be right.

“Perfect timing. We have a designated request for you two. Would you be willing to take it?”

“…That depends on the details.”

“Haha, understood. This isn’t the best place to discuss it, so please come with me.”

We were led to the familiar meeting room on the third floor. This time, the guild master wasn’t present. After preparing tea for three, Lowell placed a request form on the table.

“The city is abuzz with talk about the Sea Emperor Turtle, but this request is unrelated.”

“Oh, I see.”

Sipping my tea, I glanced over the request form.

“…Capturing an escaped slave?”

Rio’s brows furrowed as she read the words aloud.

“Why were we chosen for this request? And at a time like this?”

Designated requests became mandatory at C-rank and above, but the previous one for the Sea Emperor Turtle had been circumstantial. Normally, adventurers wouldn’t be specifically assigned such tasks unless they were well-known.

And yet, here we were, in the middle of a looming crisis.

“Well, you see… You two gained a bit of notoriety for being the first to bring back information on the Sea Emperor Turtle.”

“Huh?”

“It’s a ‘those in the know, know’ kind of situation. But there are always people who don’t take impending crises seriously.”

“I see…”

That was all I could really say. …Come to think of it, weren’t Japanese people also known for their peaceful nature? A slave capture request at a time like this… Or rather, was it precisely because of the current situation that someone wanted to secure them? The image of Ivan, the bear beastman, and Phonia, the fox-eared girl, flashed through my mind. But surely not…

“Anyway, the escaped slaves in question originally belonged to the eldest son of Marquis Lagroi in the imperial capital.”

“A marquis…”

“The targets for capture are an adult male bear beastman and a young female fox beastman.”

“……”

Wait, hold on. That sounds—

“The male’s name is Ivan, and the girl’s name is Phonia.”

Before I could even voice my protest, the names were spoken. Just as I feared. …Wait, Phonia was a girl?

“Hmm… Do you know why these slaves escaped? I can’t think of any reason other than not wanting to stay with their master. If that’s the case, I wouldn’t feel right capturing them and returning them to someone they despise.”

Rio kept a neutral expression while subtly steering the conversation toward refusal.

“Huh? …I don’t know the reason. But this is a request from a noble.”

“And?”

“Well, receiving a noble’s favor is obviously beneficial, and the rewards are often quite generous.”

“Hmm.”

“On the other hand, declining could put you on their bad side, making it harder to operate in this town.”

“That sounds an awful lot like a threat.”

“It’s not a threat—just the reality of the situation. Please consider it carefully. If you refuse, the request will simply go to someone else.”

Damn. That means if we reject it, other adventurers will take it, and they’d hand Ivan and Phonia over without question.

Exchanging glances with Rio, we both nodded.

“Alright, we’ll accept the request.”

“Really?! Thank you!”

“However, given the Sea Emperor Turtle situation, if anything urgent comes up, we’ll be prioritizing that.”

“Of course.”

“By the way, is there a deadline for the capture?”

Lowell glanced at the request form in his hand.

“Hmm… No specific deadline is mentioned. But since the request comes from a noble, I assume sooner would be preferable.”

“I see…”

After thoroughly reviewing the details, we officially accepted the mission to capture the escaped slaves.

Just to be sure, we asked about the Lagroi family as well. Apparently, they didn’t have the best reputation. I wasn’t planning on blindly trusting Ivan’s side of the story, but it seemed like he hadn’t been exaggerating either. Since there was no deadline, and given the current circumstances, a slight delay in reporting back to the client wouldn’t be an issue.

As we left the guild, I silently pondered ways to protect Ivan and Phonia.