"Oh, have you come back?"

　The voice was uttered when Ray and his colleagues moved from the wizards on the seventh basement to the ground and entered the guild to settle the spoils.
　When the Rays turned their eyes to the voice, they found a man with a hammer on his back and a man with a bow on his back. In the dungeon, two of the adventurers' party, Energaea and Menos, saved by Ray.
　The smile is on his face. ...but it's not a smile that the Reys who helped us in the dungeon are back safe, it's a smile of joy in the sense that they can provide information to the guild.

"... I see,"
"Yes,"

　Vichela and Beune, who have lived in Egzil for a long time, immediately realize what Energia and Menos want and breathe out a small sigh.

"You look very tired,"
"Will you understand! No, I agree that information is important. But I can bear the same story over and over and over and over and over and over and again.
"That can't be helped," By having you tell the same story over and over again, I'm making sure there's no contradiction in your story. But... yes, it is that he is still here."

　Energaea nods to Vihela, who says so with a rare, subtly unpleasant expression.

"Oh, of course we're done, so it's your turn now. I've been waiting here to let you know."
"...that's me, of course?"

　Listening to Vihela and Energaea, Ray asks again with a disgusting look on his face. and nodding as if it were only natural

"Are you going to sacrifice me alone? But don't worry. After all, I'm the one who fought that Stone Puppet, so I'll be the one who talks the most. Ray and Elena seem to supplement it."
"Isn't Bune a supplement?"

　In response to Elena's question, Vihela caresses Bune's head looking up at her with a little wry smile.

"Do you think she can imitate the explanation?"
"...I don't think so,"

　The remark forces Elena to agree.
　Bune used to speak normally, too. However, since I was younger than now, I went to the dungeon alone and made money silently, so I gradually began to speak fewer words in a day, and finally I ended up just saying 'n' as I do now.
　Even though I don't know that much about it, I can tell that I'm done with just a word 'n' when I'm working with Bune.

"Yes,"

　Seeing Bune nod, she approaches the receptionist at the counter, who was looking at them helplessly.

"And if you've seen what we've been doing, you'll understand, but you want to hear us talk, too."
"Yes. Please head upstairs to the conference room. This is the back room where I met Mr. Bosque before."

　The words finally remind me that Ray was the one who informed me when the receptionist in front of her was called to the bosque.

(It's unfortunate that we've only been involved in some commotion.)

　While thinking inside, she believes that the receptionist will not be happy to show her attitude, so she says small thank you and goes upstairs.
　Elena and Vihela, of course, and Bune also followed, wondering if she thought she couldn't be the only one to leave here.
　Then they arrive in front of the conference room, where they meet previously, and knock on the door, ignoring the murmur or rant that comes from inside.

'Come in,'

　At that moment, I heard a voice from inside as if I had been waiting, and I opened the door.
　In fact, those who were talking in the conference room were probably waiting for the Reys to come. About five people in the conference room look at Ray, who first entered the conference room.
　Under normal circumstances it is almost certainly a frightening sight. Because the five people in the conference room are in a certain position in the guild.
　But Ray walks into the conference room without a trace of concern at all eyes like that.
　Each reaction is divided into those who nod with admiration, those who frown uncomfortably, or those who look at it without moving their expressions at all.
　But even so, when Elena emerges from behind Ray, many people turn away gently. She was the daughter of Duke Kelebel, who was also a leading figure in the second faction of the kingdom of Milliana, and Elena, nicknamed the Princess General, so it was inevitable that she could not act rash.
　Next came Viehra, called the Mad Beast, and Bune, the bereaved son of the Frouts. It was an extraordinary party for four people, but in many ways, it was accompanied by people who were not able to touch it without thinking.
　With that in mind, it was no wonder that it was a little bit of a joke for people living in Gilm to think that Ray was the easiest person to talk to among themselves.

"Yes, Kohon. You've come very well. Take a seat over there. I'd like you to tell me the details."

　One of the five, a man in his 40s, takes a seat.
　After confirming it, the man who urged me to sit down immediately opened his mouth.

"Now, do you know why you are called here?"

　That gaze is directed at Ray.
　Even for the man who seems to have the initiative among the five, Ray still felt the easiest way to talk.

(I can't believe I'll be able to play this role. ...well, even though it's extraordinary, this party has a lot of strong features, so it's safe to talk to me.)

　Open your mouth, inwardly thinking about what Elena might disagree with as soon after hearing about it.

"When I came into the guild, I heard from the energygays. About the Stone Puppet we fought against?"
"That's right. I've heard from them, but I can't judge from just one party. Let's hear it straight. What did you think of the Stone Puppet?"

　The man's question draws the other four eyes to Ray.
　But Ray shakes his head in spite of such glances.

"I'm sure you know it because you're here, but I and Elena have only recently come to Egzil. That's less than a week has passed. So, this is the first time I've ever gone down to the sixth basement, so of course it's the first time I've ever fought against Stone Puppet. ...I did, however, fight against the ordinary Stone Puppet afterwards, and it certainly seemed different from the individual Vihela fought against. Well, let's leave the details to him."

　Ray glances at the Vihela sitting next to him.
　The seating order is Elena, Ray, Vihela, and Bune from the end.
　Elena didn't like having Vihela sit next to Ray, but it was obvious that the situation was not the right one to say such a thing given the atmosphere of the room, and she grudgingly acquiesceded.
　Such a Vihela nods and opens her mouth.

"Well, let me explain it to you," I'm the one who actually fought the Stone Puppet. ...and let me be frank with you, the Stone Puppet I fought against was very different from usual. The first is that the body is overwhelmingly larger than usual. He was about a head and about two feet taller than Elena."

　Rumor. Five senior Guild officials buzz at Vihela's words.
　Given the fact that they receive reports of unusual changes in stone puppets, naturally five have looked into common stone puppets in advance. However, none of them could be more than two meters tall. In other words, it was obvious at that point that it was abnormal.
　Of course, I've heard from the energy giants, but the power of persuasion itself is different between the newcomers and the famous Rei who just came to come to Egzil. You're right that you've finally come to believe it."And secondly, ordinary stone-puppets are made up of just stones, and swords can be easily damaged by weapons such as axes and hammers." But what we fought against was that even if we ate the hammer properly, we could only remove a few fragments of our body, and it was almost intact. In other words, my body was not an ordinary stone. ...Ray,"
"Oh,"

　Following Viera's words, he pulls out the body fragments of the stone-puppet in question from within the mistling.
　On the desk, substances that appear to be ordinary stones at first glance. But one of the senior staff soon notices something unusual.
　Inconsciously, he stands up and approaches Rey's seat, picks up a fragment of the Stone Puppet on his desk, and opens his mouth looking at it seriously.

"This is... magic metal? No, it's also a stone element. Then... is it about to become a magical metal?"
"Answer".

　a nodding viola with a smile
　But when one of the other senior officials heard it, he frowns slightly.

"Well, that's not a big deal, then," Can't we simply recognize that a rare species of Stone Puppet has emerged this time?"

　A few others agreed with it with a sigh of relief...

"Isn't that a quick measure? Magic metals are basically made over a long time. As far as this fragment is concerned, it has only recently become this way. Then there's a good chance that there's something wrong with it."

　A Guild official with a fragment of a stone-puppet says so.

(It takes time to make a magical metal? ...that's what happened with flame ore.)

　Ray thinks so while listening to each story.
　I remembered the flaming ore that was formed when Ray magically wiped out Harpy's nest, but it was a miracle coincidence. So even if Ray tried to do the same, it would be quite difficult to produce flame ore again.

"So the stone puppets they fought against are not rare species?"
"Perhaps, but," Of course, you could think that Stonepuppet's body was about to turn into a magical metal for some reason."
"Then there is something wrong with the labyrinth itself?"
"Have you ever had a similar case? At least I've never heard of it."
"And so am I." I don't know the details until I look into the past records, but I think it's probably the first time."
"…I want you to wait." Couldn't it possibly be that the adventurers reached a certain level?"
"How many floors have you reached now?"
"If I remember correctly, it was the deepest part when the edge of the Rank B party tree reached the 33rd basement floor about two months ago."
"Thirty-third basement?" What a meaningful class!"
"But it would be strange to say that the six basement floors are abnormal when you reach 33 basement floors. I don't think there's any point in it?"
"That's..."

　That's how Ray talks to the five people who are arguing.

"As for that matter, we may have encountered a similar anomaly at a higher level."

　Ray's words put an end to the discussion among senior officials.
　I want you to tell me that it's a lie, after all, I don't want to make any more noise. Ray opens his mouth, looking at him with all sorts of emotions.

"There was a monster called Sword Bee on the third basement, which clearly looked different from the other Sword Bee. Specifically, he was nearly three times the length and sent tactical instructions to other Sword B's."
"Stupid!"

　When one of the senior officials hears Ray's explanation, he screams involuntarily.
　But it's not surprising. Speaking of Sword B, he is nothing but an insect-shaped monster, and his intelligence is only driven by instinct. At least the officer had never heard or seen Sword Bee telling other comrades to act.

"It's true. Unfortunately, my body was badly damaged in the battle, and I was told that I couldn't buy the body at this guild, so I've disposed of it and I don't have it at hand."
"...Isn't that likely to be an unknown superior species or a rare species.

　The man who shouted earlier shook his head at the words of another senior official.

"The third basement is a place where many dungeon beginners are located. In other words, the larger the number of people. It's a little hard to imagine that unknown superior or rare species have not been discovered in the past. Of course, it's just a matter of possibility, so we can't deny that they're really unknown top species or rare species..."

　After telling them so, senior officials will talk to each other for a while, and Ray will also talk about the supposed queen bee, ending the day's hearing.
　The day was nailed out of circulation because they didn't want to be rattled by speculation, and the guild negotiated to buy the stone-puppet that Vihela had knocked down.
　In addition, as long as the stoneappet was defeated by Vihela alone, Ray did not interfere in the negotiations because the ownership was in Vihela.
　To tell you the truth, Ray wanted a magical stone, but he couldn't say it in this situation.