My Magic Has No Upper Limit

"Of course."

Valles agreed. "But... before we get to that, I still can’t figure out why he would do this. What’s in it for him?"

"I mean, if he had just drugged us in the mansion and stolen our money, at least I could see how that would benefit him."

"You all remember, don’t you?"

Zelir spoke up. "That prayer that echoed in our minds right when the Bone Centaur appeared."

"Yes..."

Gray nodded.

"Something about an ’ancient and tyrannical Old Master,’ and how a sacrifice had to be offered... It all sounded incredibly sinister."

"That’s the answer."

Zelir’s gaze swept over the others.

"Vance has most likely colluded with a Cult."

"A Cult..."

That word left the squad members silent for a moment.

They had never imagined this affair would be connected to something so sinister.

Adventurers are rarely religious.

Forget some Old Master; they hardly even believe in the Six Gods, who are widely recognized across the Candia Continent.

Believing in that stuff was less useful than spending time honing their skills.

At least that gave them a better chance of survival when facing enemies, rather than chanting prayers while being made into a goblin’s dinner.

"The Cultists need sacrifices, so Vance used his noble status to his advantage, luring batch after batch of Adventurers here to die," Zelir continued.

"In exchange, they provided financial support to the Wenmier Clan, which is why the family has been making a comeback recently."

"No wonder..."

Marcus suddenly remembered what he’d read about the Wenmier Clan in the carriage.

The Wenmier Clan had only risen to prominence recently.

’Come to think of it, the timing probably lines up perfectly with when they started colluding with the Cultists.’

Zelir pulled out the quest commissions from the other towns.

"The quests are all similar, but if you look at the posting dates, the older the quest, the lower its rating."

"Look, like this one."

Zelir pointed to a commission. "The description on this one just says the Ancient Castle has some scattered Skeleton Soldiers, and nothing else. The quest rating is just ’Ordinary’."

"Then, as time went on, the quest description gradually changed to mention possible Evil Remains or other powerful Undead Demons."

"So the quest rating was also adjusted upward, from ’Ordinary,’ to Junior One Star, and then gradually to the current Junior Three Stars."

"From this, we can infer that the Cultists hiding behind the scenes have increasingly higher standards for their sacrifices."

"I see..."

Gray suddenly chuckled.

"They just didn’t expect that this time, a Junior Three Stars quest would attract us, right?"

"Yes... Generally speaking, an Adventurer Squad that takes on a Junior Three Stars quest would have one or two Middle Level Professionals at most," Zelir nodded.

"And without any means to resist a Spirit assault, they would face almost certain death against the Bone Centaur... So this time, they miscalculated."

"Moreover, to lower the risk, Vance went to the Adventurer’s Association in a different town each time he posted a quest."

"Quest information generally isn’t shared between towns. Add to that the Wenmier Clan’s noble title, and no Association was going to investigate too deeply."

"That’s what led to the situation today."

"Then what should we do?" Maki frowned.

He had come all this way from Black Stone Town for a quest, only to be tricked and nearly killed.

If Zelir hadn’t suddenly powered up, their bodies would probably be cold by now.

He couldn’t just let it go.

"Should we find the Security Team in Falling Leaves Town?" Valles said.

"The Security Team probably doesn’t have the authority to deal with a noble family that’s been entrenched for a century," Gray shook his head, rejecting the suggestion.

"Besides, even if they did, they probably wouldn’t move against the Wenmier Clan. The Nobility and the local Security Team are always on good terms. Forget that idea."

"Then let’s just report him to the Adventurer’s Association. It’s their fault for not vetting the quest properly in the first place."

"They let a fraudulent quest through, and so many people died for nothing. They bear some of the responsibility," Maki said, clenching his fist.

"The Adventurer’s Association can’t possibly be in collusion with Vance, right? Besides, an incident like this is a huge blow to their reputation. The Association will definitely try to make things right."

Valles and Marcus both nodded, agreeing with Maki’s proposal.

Going to the Adventurer’s Association to handle it was indeed their best option.

"We could... but it would be too slow," Zelir suddenly interjected.

"Too slow?" Maki didn’t quite understand what Zelir meant.

"Vance doesn’t know we’re alive yet. If we go to the Adventurer’s Association, the process is guaranteed to take time."

"Reporting it up the chain of command, investigating, collecting evidence... it’s a whole tedious process," Zelir said. "And that gives Vance more than enough time to react and destroy a considerable amount of evidence."

"Evidence? You mean..." Valles suddenly understood.

"Yes. The evidence of his collusion with the Cult, like ledgers, letters, or maybe other, even more incriminating things," Zelir said slowly.

"Once the evidence is destroyed, he can easily make up some lies to smooth this whole thing over..."

"For example, he could claim the information provided for the quest was inaccurate, or he could just push all the blame onto his steward or someone."

"He would be punished, sure, but he wouldn’t lose his life... And what I want is his life!"

"Colluding with a Cult, sacrificing living people as offerings. That crime, blasphemy, is far more severe than just posting a fraudulent quest..."

"I imagine the Church powers within the Kingdom won’t ignore that, will they?"

Zelir sneered.

"After everything he’s put us through, why should we leave him a way out?"

"I don’t just want him dead. I’m going to use this opportunity to dig up the entire Cult behind him...!"

Zelir clenched his hand into a tight fist.

"Then you’re thinking..." Marcus hesitated.

"We have to move fast."

Zelir stated his plan bluntly, making a chopping motion with his hand. "We go straight to his door, catch him completely by surprise, and secure Vance first!"

The others exchanged a glance, shocked by Zelir’s bold idea.

’Just attack one of the Nobility directly like that?’

"Isn’t this too reckless? It could backfire."

Marcus was still worried. "For example, what if Vance turns the tables and accuses us of being thugs who attacked one of the Nobility... We wouldn’t be able to defend ourselves."

"Have you forgotten something?"

Zelir smiled faintly. "I have more reliable backing than the Adventurer’s Association."

CLINK!

A Mage Badge flew into the air, then landed steadily in Zelir’s hand.