Who's the most important and great?

For now, I contacted Guild Master Garuon through the makeshift communication magic tool to inform him of the situation.

That we'd successfully captured five people alive who appeared to be the culprits.

"—That's the situation. They're sealed solid by my magic, so there's no chance of them dying. I'll hand them over at a later date."

"Understood. The dungeon will still be in an active state for a while longer, so Healer-dono and The Silver, please return once as scheduled in three days. I'll take custody of them then."

And so, it was decided that we'd store them and hand them over later.

Until then, I can just toss them into a time-stopped storage space and there won't be any problems at all. In fact, I've already thrown them in there.

I also confirmed one more thing with Garuon.

"Ah. We're thinking of having a little chat with the culprits ourselves… Torture is on the table too. That's not a problem, is it? Capturing them alive would've been impossible without me in the first place, so I don't think you have much say in the matter."

"Hmm. Well, true, they were the type to try killing themselves. Let's say it's fine as long as they're still in a condition where we can interrogate them on our end when you hand them over—missing eyes or limbs is acceptable."

Alright. Got that verbal agreement.

With this, no matter how much I humiliate the culprits, the Guild can't complain. Fuhihi.

I ended the communication. I also released my Healer disguise.

"Man, I'm surprised you've even got a jail cell inside your backpack."

"Just made it, though. But hey, as long as they're in there, they won't die."

"Ah, right. You can just whip up rooms like that… My friend really is something else."

Plus—and this is a secret—that room can actually stop time and stuff.

They appear to be sitting still and behaving, but in reality, time is frozen for them unless I allow it.

"So, the surviving culprits are gonna experience some major 'public humiliation.' Help me out with that, yeah?"

"… What are you even saying?"

Mashiro-san tilted her head at me with a deadpan expression.

Well, I wonder about that myself.

But it can't be helped—Kami-sama wants socks filled with embarrassment!!!

"Well, there's a bit of a situation. If I explain, you'll end up shouldering the world's darkness (the secret of Kami-sama's fetish), so are you prepared for that?"

"Yeah okay, you don't have to tell me. I'll help out as much as you need."

Thank goodness. I'm glad Mashiro-san is such a good person.

"I need you to tell me all sorts of personal info about the culprits, Mashiro-san. You seemed to know them, after all."

"Ahh～ I know stuff like their names, but I don't have any detailed info, you know?"

"That's plenty enough. All I need to do is humiliate the culprits, after all!"

I've got a verbal agreement from the Guild that I can do whatever I want to the culprits. That's enough, right?

Even if they complain later, I'm fully prepared to ignore it all.

I mean, think about it. Kami-sama, the Adventurer's Guild Master… or even the kingdom, for that matter.

Who's the most important and great?

Obviously, the answer's decided.

 

*

 

After that, nothing happened—even past the new moon—and around when the dungeon core's color returned to pitch black, I got a call from the Guild Master through the makeshift communication magic tool, and we withdrew.

"In the end, just that one attack and the job's over, huh. Anticlimactic."

"It was fun for me, like a training camp with Mashiro-san!"

In fact, for me that was more of the main event.

Guard the dungeon core? Just slap Spatial Magic on the core and it's invincible.

I can take out enemies with Spatial Magic in one shot too. Easy peasy.

Meaning I knew from the start that this was going to be an easy job.

"Well then, let's have the culprits experience some spectacular public humiliation! Fuhihi!"

"You did all that and it's still not enough?"

Just as Mashiro-san said, I'd been steadily humiliating the culprits during our stay.

I mean, there weren't any more enemy attacks, so I was bored. Besides, Mashiro-san helped out too.

But still, it's not nearly enough!

In fact, the leader committed even more crimes while restrained, so it's even more insufficient!!

Leader's joint responsibility!!!

"What are you saying? This is where it really begins!"

"Ahh… yeah. I feel a little bit sorry for those guys."

Mashiro-san shrugged in resignation.