It's better to tell him now, since this will be one of the few times when it's appropriate to have a conversation since he's barely managed to shake off people around him. The guardian spirit lowered his eyes.

[I am....]

Guardian spirits hate Death.

It was like that before, it is like that now, and it will always be like that in the future. It wasn't simply because he was trying to get his identity revealed. 

[He was a hero without honor.] 

Death was the entity that took away everything from the guardian spirit.

...Yeah, everything. Thanks to this, all he could do was sit helplessly and watch.

[This was true even though the 'hero candidates' who were 'unrecognized heroes' sat in the coveted seats.]

A reputation built through sin is also a reputation, and a reputation built through dishonesty is also fame. Karma and achievements should use the same karma. The guardian spirit that had been deprived of it was nothing more than a helper.

Moreover, the medium for that work was none other than the child he cherished the most.

It's a story from the past that ends with his precious child dying and making he who he is now, and there's nothing good about it to know, so what's the benefit of telling it like this?

'What are you planning, Death?'

The Guardian Spirit's expression became dry.

It was only for a moment that he pondered the past. He cleared the bitter inside of his mouth with a low click of his tongue and focused his thoughts on the present again, putting aside the non-urgent intention of death and pondering the clues given.

'There will be information obtained through the conversation so far, so this will be enough to put it together.'

A hero without honor from a mythical era where heroes and demon kings were known to have existed.

This is all the information that can be given. If we combine the existing information we have accumulated over a long period of time together, it will not be that difficult to find out.

Raven seemed to sense this too and opened his eyes wide.

"Are you saying it more clearly than I thought?"

[......It has to be that way.]

The price of losing a bet with death is to determine the end of the days of living, and that end is not rest but eternal pain. Also, as long as the child hopes to win the bet with death, the guardian spirit has no choice but to help the child.

[Because I am your guardian spirit.]

"..."

So why? Why is it 'my' guardian spirit? Raven frowned at the incomprehensible answer.

"...In order to gain my trust, it would have been better to tell the other side."

[...]

"I understand for now. Thank you."

It's very important and necessary information, so he listens to it in silence, but actually, rather than that, he wants him to tell why he is so devoted to him.

...But if he asks any more questions here, he won't get an answer. It's a familiar situation.

Moreover, the core of this conversation was related to the 'name of the guardian spirit' from the beginning. Raven put aside the unanswerable questions and turned to the familiar direction of his thoughts.

He tried to do that.

[......My time.]

If only the guardian spirit hadn't opened his mouth.

[Your time flows with you.]

"..."

[If your time stops, my time also stops.]

A statement that casually overturns the proposition that time does not pass for the dead.

However, Raven was indifferent.

"I was wondering what you were going to say... Yes, of course you will."

[...]

"Because you are my 'fragment soul.'"

As if speechless for a moment, silence returned. For a moment, the Guardian Spirit spoke again, but...

[I don't mean that...]

"I know. I just wanted to tell you that you don't mean any harm to me."

But this isn't the answer. Maybe he knows too. Whatever it is, his remarks end up just trying to avoid the point.

However, since the path to reconciliation had been opened at best, he couldn't ruin it, so instead of pointing out that point, Raven just laughed and said something else.

"That's surprising. I never suspected that in the first place."

Even though he knows he won't die, he stops himself from using his body carelessly, and the injuries he sustains... no, someone who is sensitive to 'pain' can't possibly harm him, right?

...He feels anxious because he doesn't know the reason.

"So you don't have to worry about that."

[...]

"Rather than that, you said that unrecognized heroes sat in coveted seats, right?"

The empty conversation went around and around and came back to the starting point.

Raven knew that he wouldn't be able to get any useful information if he continued asking further questions, so he changed the topic appropriately and focused on the information he had obtained. Although the situation was strange, he couldn't just pass off the clues about the guardian spirit's name that he had obtained. There was none.

'...Have you ever been an officially recognized hero?'

Ordinary people tend to desire the top, so if it was a position coveted by those who were not recognized, it would naturally have been the best position. This would have been recognized at the national level, not simply as a small private organization.

Even so, if there was no honor.

'You might find it sooner than you think.'

I was a little worried because he was a hero from the mythical era where countless heroes appeared and disappeared without leaving a single name. The scope has narrowed significantly, so I don't know, but if I leave it to the intelligence organization, they will be able to find it quickly. That's when I thought about it up to that point.

"Cough—."

[......!]

"Uh... Cough, why..."

Raven sat down in his seat, clutching his chest due to the sudden pain.

A bloody cough sputters out of his mouth with the pain of someone squeezing his heart. He bowed his head with his eyes wide open and spat out blood, ahead of the embarrassment of an incomprehensible condition rather than pain.

It was natural that the guardian spirit who was watching jumped up from his seat.

'......why.'

I didn't go down and lend my strength directly, so why did I suddenly get such a reaction? Did I say too much directly? Have I been lending my eyes too long? Either that or─.

"This."

"..."

"I would have said there was only one hint."

──Wouldn't it have been wrong to add an explanation to the hint? A cool energy that I could never have known was wafting through me. The guardian spirit placed her hand on the handle of his sword and only shifted his eyes to glare at his uninvited guest.

"...This is my space, death."

"At least there isn't a place here that I can't go. Even more so, it's just a space for ghosts."

"..."

Kkuuk.

The hand holding the sword handle feels strong. The guardian spirit quietly gritted his teeth.

Death saw that and raised the corners of his mouth.

"Why, do you want to cut yourself?"

"... no way."

The difference between Death and the guardian spirit is like heaven and earth. In the first place, if the power of the guardian spirit was stronger than Death, there would have been a significant number of immortal people on earth. The guardian spirit knew very well that I couldn't even touch a hair of Death. Moreover, more than anything else...

"Yes, you should be careful how you behave. Your sins are not yours alone, are they?"

"..."

The weakened hand slowly fell from the handle of the sword. Death laughed lowly, as if mocking this, and stood crookedly with his arms crossed. A strangely interested gaze turned towards the guardian spirit.

"Then, why don't you make an excuse?"

An excuse for breaking the rules of betting.

"You gave him two hints."

[He was a hero without honor.]

[This was true even though the 'hero candidates' who were 'unrecognized heroes' sat in the coveted seats.]

"Based on that, he drastically narrowed down the list of people to look for. From your perspective, you might think of it as just adding an extra hint to the existing hint, but since he used it to his advantage, it's like he's already given a second hint. It's no different."

"..."

"Do you have anything to say about this?"

Instead of opening his mouth right away, the guardian spirit stared at Death quietly. 

'Why are you trying to hear excuses again?' 

If you break the rule, you break it. At least death wasn't a being that showed mercy in this respect. So this means...

'It means there is a hole to escape.'

This means that there is room for different interpretations.

If I didn't have the opportunity, I wouldn't have been given this opportunity. The Guardian Spirit, who quickly gathered his thoughts, glanced at the almost-dead Raven and opened his mouth.

"The standard of 'one hint' was ambiguous. Is it okay to add words related to the hint given, and if so, to what extent...?"

"Then it would have been better to just play it safe and not add anything."

"'Moderate' is an inappropriate word for a bet that involves your life and soul after death. Isn't our role to struggle as much as we can without breaking the rules?"

An inexplicable smile appeared on Death's lips. Whatever it meant, it was not very pleasing, so the Guardian Spirit frowned slightly and continued his interrupted words. The more he spoke, the more organized his mind became, adding more strength to the words he continued.

"Also, the cost of breaking it was not clearly set. No, it wasn't even mentioned that there was a price in the first place. That child's current status must have been given arbitrarily."

So, this is the fault of the proposer who did not clearly set the rules. This is because he is just a victim.

"There is no reason why that child should suffer because of your immaturity."

"..."

"Collect it now."

The guardian spirit who received justification revealed this.

"...Ai, la...."

The murderous green eyes are quite scary. Death, who was staring at him, laughed.

"You're terrible too."

"...... He didn't get a chance to become an adult, so he's a child."

There is no way the test subject raised as an affectionate child for convenience would have grown into a proper adult. After that, he met many people, and had many experiences, and if he had grown up even if it was belated, he would have bought the terrible curse of not being remembered.

In the end, it turns out to be the fault of Death. The guardian spirit glared at his opponent.

"Don't change your mind. Take your strength away right away."

"...Well, I also care about that guy quite a bit."

In the first place, it was a bet to encourage uncovering the identity of the 'Guardian Spirit'. Therefore, there was no reason to dislike the fact that it was close to the correct answer. Since there is nothing to lose whether you win or lose this bet, Death smiles generously.

"I'll skip this time. If you leave it like this, I think you'll do something big again."

"..."

"Like you said, it was also my mistake."

He snaps his fingers.

***

The pain disappeared like a lie. He thought he was used to all kinds of pain, but it seems he wasn't. It's so embarrassing that he can't stand even one thing and even collapse. He honestly thought he was going to die because he felt pain in my heart and not anywhere else, but he's even more embarrassed that he survived.

'...is not it? It could be that he was already dead and came back to life.'

When I came to my senses, my forehead was about to hit the ground.

He doesn't know because he's so caught up in the sudden situation. Suddenly, what kind of disaster is this? After wiping the corner of his mouth and feeling his chest for traces of the pain that had disappeared, Raven raised his head and called into the air.

"Ancestor, don't you know anything?"

[...]

"Brother?"

[......Guardian spirit ??? apologizes.]

He knows something.

It seems that the pain went away on its own with time, or that it was resolved on the guardian spirit's own behalf. Given the circumstances, the cause is also inferred to be the guardian spirit...

"...I think I understand."

Before the pain started, he had a conversation about hints and reasoned about them. And when he finished, he was in pain and vomited blood.

"I guess adding another word to the hint is what caused this problem. I think it was treated as two hints."

[Guardian spirit ??? laughs bitterly at the child's cleverness.]

"How did you solve this?"

Did he point out any loopholes in the rules and argue with Death? The bet and the rules regarding it were decided orally on the spot, so there must have been a lot of loopholes... Anyway, it seemed to have been resolved, so that was it.

"The same problem won't happen again, right? The problem has been postponed rather than solved."

[We confirm that Guardian Spirit ??? has been resolved.]

"That's it."

Raven gathered himself, got up from his seat, took a few steps, then stopped and raised his gaze. After a light silence, the corners of his mouth turned up with a mischievous expression.

"Perhaps something else happened without my knowledge and it ended up like this...."

[Guardian Spirit ??? asserts that this is absolutely not the case.]

"Of course it's a joke. I told you, I don't have any suspicions about this."

After giggling for a moment, he raised his head and checked how tilted the moon was, then took his step.

"Anyway... I got all the information about the name, so now all that's left is to find it."

He managed to get this far. It was so hard to get even just one piece of information, so he wonder how difficult it will be to find it. He's always been unlucky, so he doesn't know, but he probably won't be able to find the answer easily. He muttered lowly with cynical thoughts.

"I'll have to stop by the intelligence organization right after I drop the kid off at the Empire."

[Guardian spirit ??? tells you not to forget the fairy herbs.]

"Don't worry. I didn't forget. I'll just leave the request and go."

Raven could feel the source of the smell of blood getting closer. Raven walked a little faster and soon found several bodies lying around after being brutally killed and quickly approached.

"This..."

His expression turned cold as he bent his knees and examined the scar.

"The monster didn't do it."

It's not the work of an animal. Rather than the work of unintelligent wild creatures, it feels like an intelligent being was cruelly tearing it apart to leave no trace.

"Furthermore, the traces seen here and there are familiar..."

I frowned.

"This is similar to the way I use weapons."