Chapter 11: The Wandering Dungeon – 03
After that, nothing particularly noteworthy happened, and by the afternoon of the fourth day, we arrived at the capital city of the Barius Viscounty, Barbadoza.
As the capital of a count’s territory, it was undoubtedly the largest city I had seen since coming to this world. The height and scale of the castle walls were significantly greater than those of Euron in the Barius Viscounty, and I realized that this was the first time I had seen a moat and drawbridge in this world.
Beyond the moat, I could see several areas of the Outside-Wall District, but naturally, they were not visible near the main road leading to the main gate. Perhaps the local administration had a hand in that.
The count’s entourage, needless to say, passed through without any checks, as the guards lined up to welcome them, leading us directly to the count’s mansion in the city center.
The count’s mansion resembled a castle. Compared to the luxurious atmosphere of the Viscount Barius’s residence, this was truly the domain of a higher noble, leaving me in awe. Of course, the mansion was surrounded by a secondary castle wall, and we, the guards, were dismissed right in front of the main gate.
“Here is your completion certificate for the escort mission. The count will be sending a request to the guild for ‘Soul’s Guidance’ tomorrow, so please be prepared to accept it,” Reisei informed us.
After receiving Reisei’s business update, we headed to the Adventurers’ Guild in Barbadoza.
The guild in Barbadoza was also about 1.5 times larger than the one in Euron, with a greater number of adventurers gathered there. Alongside our party, Dawn’s Thunder, there were several B-Rank parties present, and indeed, some of their equipment was remarkably impressive. However, it seemed that most adventurers were around E-Rank, indicating that the guild in a large city had a wide range of adventurer ranks. The presence of F to B class dungeons surrounding Barbadoza likely contributed to this disparity.
Mariane headed straight to the back room and returned to the counter to process our mission completion.
As we were receiving our Adventurer Cards, the leader of Dawn’s Thunder approached us. Gahren was a large man with a shaved head and brown skin, but despite his imposing appearance, he exuded an intellectual vibe. Perhaps that was typical of a B-Rank adventurer trusted by the count.
“Hey, Soushi! I never thought that beauty over there would be a staff member. It’s no wonder the one who took down the Kin of Twilight gets special treatment,” he said with a grin.
“Is that how it is?” I replied.
“By the way, have you leveled up? It wouldn’t look good to stay at C-Rank forever.”
“It seems the news of the Kin’s defeat hasn’t reached the higher-ups yet. In any case, we’ve only tackled one C-Rank dungeon so far, so leveling up to B wouldn’t mean much right now.”
“Even so, I think you should aim for B as soon as possible. Otherwise…”
Just as Gahren was about to continue, a loud shout of “What!?” erupted from behind us.
Turning around, I saw Sfenia standing in front of the bulletin board, facing four adventurers. The silver-haired youth at the front was glaring at her with an aggressive expression.
“You can’t just ignore us when we’re offering to let you join our party!” he shouted.
“I already declined once. I didn’t think there was a need to respond further,” Sfenia replied, her expression unchanged, which only seemed to worsen the youth’s mood.
“It’s unbelievable for a C-Rank to turn down an invitation from a B-Rank party. Just shut up and join us instead of hanging out with that old man!”
“I refuse.”
“What did you say!? You think you can make me look bad and get away with it? In this world, strength is everything. You should understand that!”
Ah, this was a different type of adventurer than the one from ‘Supreme Radiance’ I had encountered before. He claimed to be B-Rank, so he must be strong, but it was surprising since most top-ranked adventurers were generally more reasonable.
Regardless, I couldn’t just stand by and watch, so I stepped in to intervene.
“Strength… Heh.”
Sfenia couldn’t hold back her laughter, a smile breaking across her face.
“What are you laughing at?” the youth demanded.
“Well… it’s just amusing that you claim strength is everything when you’re nowhere near Soushi-san’s level,” she replied, throwing a verbal bomb that left me stunned.
Behind me, Larni let out a giggle, and even Freinir chuckled softly. I never expected our girls to be this provocative!
“Wha…!? Are you saying I’m weaker than that C-Rank old man!?”
Of course, the youth’s silver hair bristled with anger, but he couldn’t directly attack Sfenia here. Naturally, his ire turned toward me.
“Hey, old man, you heard that, right? Let’s have a strength contest. The winner gets to add this girl to their party, got it?”
“Hey, Nielsen, don’t say something reckless. You know that dueling between adventurers is prohibited,” Gahren warned.
“Shut up! You stay out of this, Gahren. There’s no way a B-Rank can let a C-Rank look down on him!”
Gahren’s attempt to intervene seemed to backfire. I understood how a young man could feel cornered in front of a beautiful woman, but this was getting one-sided.
“This guy defeated the Kin of Twilight with his bare hands. His strength is at least A-Rank. Are you sure you want to go through with this?” Gahren said.
At that, the surrounding adventurers murmured in surprise. Nielsen furrowed his brow but retorted, “So what? You expect me to believe that nonsense? Gahren, are you out of your mind?”
The atmosphere grew tense, and just when it seemed like things would escalate, Mariane stepped in.
“While dueling is prohibited, training in the training grounds is allowed. However, please keep it unarmed. Using weapons is too dangerous,” she stated.
Wait, isn’t that the wrong thing to say? I could tell that Nielsen wouldn’t let this go without a fight, but…
In the training grounds, I faced off against the silver-haired Nielsen.
On the surface, it was a training exercise, but it felt more like a duel.
Other adventurers gathered around as spectators, their faces eager for some entertainment.
“Sorry, Soushi. That guy has a bad reputation. It would really help if you could teach him a lesson,” Gahren said, but since he had tried to stop it once, he wasn’t entirely irresponsible. It was strange that he assumed I would win, though.
As Gahren stepped back, Nielsen shook his shoulders and spoke.
“Listen up, old man. The winner gets to add that girl to their party. Got it?”
“I refuse. She is already a member of my party. Besides, it’s not right to decide her fate without her consent.”
“Huh? You trying to back out?”
“The choice of which party to join is hers. We have no right to decide that for her.”
“Shut up! That’s something only the strong can decide. Weaklings should just obey!”
Ah, this isn’t good. Honestly, it’s surprising that someone with such a mindset could even reach B-Rank. Perhaps he changed after ranking up.
“Then if the strong can decide, she is already a member of my party. If you win, you can have her. But if I win, I gain nothing. Isn’t that right?”
“Then say something! You won’t be able to back it up anyway.”
“How about this? If you lose, you have to demote yourself back to F-Rank and start over.”
“Heh, say whatever you want. I don’t care. Let’s just get on with it.”
Nielsen grinned and took his stance. As a B-Rank, he was certainly well-prepared.
“Begin!”
As I took my stance, Mariane signaled the start.
In an instant, Nielsen’s fist lunged toward my face. It was a punch enhanced by the Swift Run skill, clearly aimed to finish me in one blow.
However, strangely enough, it appeared to move in slow motion.
“Damn it!”
Realizing my evasion, Nielsen switched to a flurry of attacks. His combination of punches and kicks flowed seamlessly, indicating he had trained his Martial Arts skill significantly. He was not just all talk.
Yet, oddly enough, I could see the trajectory of all his techniques.
“Take this! You’re one tough old man!”
Some of his attacks landed on me, or rather, were deflected by my guard.
The power behind them was impressive, but… was that all he had?
I forcefully parried a jab aimed at my face and countered with a punch of my own. Nielsen reacted well and dodged, but the moment he did, his expression changed, and he took a large step back.
The confident smile he had moments ago vanished, replaced by a tense glare.
“What the hell… I don’t get it…”
“Well, I just returned a hit, didn’t I?”
“That smugness is infuriating!”
With a burst of Swift Run, Nielsen charged again, only to change direction mid-attack. Was that Honshin, or perhaps Acrobatics?
I ducked under a high kick coming from the right and countered with a jab to his solar plexus.
“Ugh!?”
Nielsen twisted his body to evade, but he couldn’t escape my fist, which struck his side. Would he retaliate…? I braced myself, but for some reason, he was sent flying and collapsed. I had thought he possessed skills like Steel Body or Immovable…
I expected him to get back up, but he showed no signs of doing so. Mariane leaned over him and said coolly, “He’s unconscious. Training is over. Party members, please provide recovery.”
“…Is that it?”
I couldn’t help but voice my surprise. Shouldn’t a B-Rank be stronger than this? Zaikal was… no, perhaps it was unfair to compare him to the Kin of Twilight. But if there was this much of a gap, then Zaikal truly must have been an extraordinary warrior. Looking back, I wondered how I had managed to win against him.