Chapter 118: Enjoying the Commercial City
“I’m back!”
“Welcome home, milord.”
As I opened the door to our suite at the inn, the maid was waiting for me, greeting me with perfect timing as always. She had never once missed it.
“Wooof!”
At the same time, Nil leaped at me.
“Whoa!”
Clearly bored out of her mind, she knocked me down and began licking my face all over.
“Okay, okay! I get it, stop!”
“Haha!”
This is hopeless. I’ll have to take her out to play tomorrow.
“We’re going to have fun tomorrow!”
“Wooof!”
And so, the next morning, we headed to the spacious area Fleur had mentioned. To the northeast of the city, a hilly region spread out before us, with tall mountains visible in the distance. Once we entered the dips of the hills, we would be completely out of sight. This should allow for some roughhousing without any issues.
“That said, better be safe than sorry.”
“Understood. I’ll set up a barrier.”
“Thanks.”
Rio moved away from us and began to cast a wide defensive barrier. I felt a surge of Magic Power, accompanied by a ringing sound. This must be a space-sealing spell. It should be safe to use moderately powerful magic here. However, since the sky isn’t covered, we need to be careful not to overdo it.
Even though we were here to play, Nil is a Tamed Monster. I doubt she would be satisfied with just fetching a ball. Moreover, considering the future, it’s essential to be able to cooperate with Nil in battle. A mock battle would be a quick way to gauge our abilities.
“Alright, let’s go!”
“Wooof!”
I lunged at Nil, aiming a feint towards her jaw. But she wasn’t there. Instead, I felt her claws swipe from behind, sending me tumbling forward. As I got back up, Nil charged at me, and I took a hit from her paw as I raised my arms to defend myself, sending me flying. I landed on my feet against the barrier, kicked off it, and charged back at Nil.
For a while, we exchanged blows, neither of us managing to land a hit. Gradually, we started using magic, but all it did was gouge the ground beneath us. We began to leap into the air, turning our movements into a three-dimensional dance.
Before I knew it, I was able to kick off the air and leap upwards. This was an unexpected delight.
“Alright, it’s about time to wrap this up!”
Just as I was getting into the groove, Rio called out to stop us. I noticed that the ground inside her barrier was torn up, with a few large holes scattered about.
“I was just getting into it, but I guess it can’t be helped.”
“Wooof…”
Nil looked quite dejected, but even that was endearing. She might be an S Rank Monster, but I didn’t find her all that intimidating. Perhaps having shaken off the dust that had settled on her, she shook her body and leaped at me, licking my face again.
“Okay, okay! I get it! We’ll do this again next time!”
I gently restrained Nil with my hands and began to pet her around the neck. Once she calmed down, I used Water Magic to wash my face and then used Earth Magic to smooth out the disturbed ground.
“Well, that didn’t serve as much of a warm-up, but I suppose it’s fine.”
Even with the barrier up, continuing any further might cause a disaster in the hilly area.
After that, we spent the day racing to the foot of the distant mountain and defeating the Monsters that appeared there.
The next day, I took Nil to the central plaza and strolled around, enjoying the various stalls. Of course, we checked out shops other than the stalls, but after seeing the items up for auction, everything else seemed lackluster.
“I should have explored the city before the auction.”
“Well, it’s too late for that now.”
By the way, I stopped by the Commercial Guild to check my account balance, and when I saw eleven digits lined up, my brain momentarily froze. Fortunately, I had received my Guild Certificate from the Commercial Guild before coming to the Commercial City, so checking my balance was no issue.
On the fourth day of enjoying the Commercial City, I figured it was about time to get some work done.
So, with the ever-reliable maid seeing me off, I made my way to the Adventurer’s Guild in the morning. I felt like I was drawing more attention than last time, probably because Nil was with me.
“I hope there are some easy requests available.”
“If there were, they’d probably be taken by someone else.”
“Maybe there are some low-reward requests left.”
“Haha.”
The area in front of the request board was bustling with people looking to take on jobs. There were various requests, but many seemed unique to the Commercial City, such as material gathering, escort requests for merchant caravans, and odd jobs for trading companies.
“Excuse me.”
“Yes?”
As I browsed through the requests, a voice called out from behind me.
“Are you Shu and Rio?”
Turning around, I saw what appeared to be a Guild Staff member. They glanced at Nil with some concern, but thankfully, they didn’t seem inclined to attack.
“That’s us. Is there something you need?”
It was unfortunate that this interruption came just as I was trying to find a request. Wouldn’t it have been better if they had approached me after I registered for a request at the counter? I was just here to kill time, but now it seemed like I might miss out on a good request.
“The Guild Master has requested your presence. You need to come with me now.”
“Now?”
“Uh, no thanks.”
I reflexively replied to the staff member, who seemed completely oblivious to our plans.