Chapter 188: Information Around the Town
“So, what brings you to the Adventurer’s Guild, little lady?”
“Do you have a request you want to make?”
The two intimidating figures questioned Phonia, who looked no older than a primary school student. It was hard to believe she was here to make a request.
“Eh? You can make requests at the Adventurer’s Guild?”
““Eh?””
“Eh?”
Following the two, I couldn’t help but let out a strange sound as well. Of course, at the Adventurer’s Guild, making requests is a given. But perhaps Phonia didn’t know much about how things worked. I had taken her along a few times to accept requests, but we had only ever taken on those that were already posted.
“Hahaha!”
After a moment of silence, Rio was the first to break it with laughter. Soon, the other adventurers joined in, their chuckles filling the air.
‘…Has there ever been such a laid-back atmosphere in an Adventurer’s Guild before?’
‘Haha, it seems to be the charm of Phonia-chan, doesn’t it?’
“What an interesting girl! So, did you come here to take on a request?”
“Yep! I came to find a request that Ivan-nii can take!”
As Phonia turned around, the gazes of the other adventurers naturally shifted to Ivan.
“Oh… so you’re the girl’s brother.”
Though slightly taken aback by the various stares, Ivan placed a hand gently on Phonia’s head and shot a fierce look back at the others. They weren’t true siblings, being a Mystic Fox and a member of the Bear Tribe, but it was clear that Ivan was like an older brother to Phonia.
“Yeah, that’s right. I’m just here to observe today, but I’ll take on a request eventually.”
“I see. Well, I’m sure you know this, but don’t put the girl in danger, alright?”
“I know. …We have plenty of protection, so it’ll be fine.”
“Woof!”
He then patted Nil’s head, but the creature let out a slightly dissatisfied whine in response. It seemed to be saying, “I’ll protect her too, so do your part!”
“Hahaha!”
Only Phonia, who could clearly understand Nil’s words, was laughing.
“Oh, oh! By the way, that tamed monster looks pretty strong, at least in appearance.”
“Isn’t it stronger than the Meteor’s snake?”
It seemed that only then did they finally notice Nil, but they didn’t seem to pay attention to the tag around its neck. They also hadn’t noticed the tag around Phonia’s neck, so there didn’t seem to be any issues.
‘Oh, so there are other tamers here too.’
‘It seems so. They mentioned a snake; I wonder what it’s like?’
‘I wonder if it’s as huge as Nil?’
‘Hehe, I hope it’s cute!’
“Well, whatever the case, do your best!”
“See you later!”
“Ah, yeah.”
In the end, the adventurers who had approached us didn’t do much and simply patted Phonia’s head before leaving the Guild. It felt a bit anticlimactic, but if it ended peacefully, that was the best outcome.
“Ultimately, there are only gathering requests available, but in this town, it looks like it’s all about ore collection…”
As Ivan gazed at the request board again, his expression darkened in thought. It seemed there were no gathering requests for areas outside the town. The mountain peak had high-rank requests, and the old road at the valley bottom was known for high-rank monster subjugation requests.
“What’s wrong, Ivan-nii?”
Phonia peeked up at him, her expression more curious than worried. Surely, he wasn’t going to say he was afraid of dark places. If he did, I’d have no choice but to throw him into a dark, narrow mine tunnel without hesitation.
“Ah, it’s nothing…”
“I see. Then let’s go ask the lady like we always do!”
With a cheerful bounce, Phonia headed toward the counter. Recently, a routine had formed whenever we visited the Guild: first, we’d browse the request board, then ask the staff for information about the surrounding area.
“Oh, what can I do for you this time, little lady?”
Noticing Phonia approaching, a female staff member leaned forward from the counter to ask.
“Well, I wanted to know about this town and the monsters around here.”
“Wow. You’re quite the ambitious one for such a little girl. You’re more adventurer-like than some of the adventurers around here!”
“Woof!”
Puffed up with pride at the compliment, Phonia stood tall, while Nil looked equally proud beside her.
“It seems you have an impressive tamed monster with you, so there’s nothing to worry about.”
The staff member had noticed the tag on Nil as well. Without showing any signs of concern, she shared information about the monsters in the high-rank areas above the cliffs.
Apparently, there was a Dragon Vein running through this land, creating a pathway for Magic Power to flow. At the mountain peak, there was said to be a vent for this Magic Power, where rare plants thrived, but it also attracted powerful monsters. Fortunately, it seemed they didn’t come down to the valley bottom, making the canyon town relatively safe. However, this also led to a reputation for being a place where one could see high-rank monsters.
“Sometimes, Wyverns and Chimeras pass overhead in the sky!”
“Seriously?”
“Wow, that sounds amazing!”
While Ivan looked taken aback, Phonia’s eyes sparkled with excitement, and honestly, I was intrigued too.
“I’ve never seen a Wyvern or a Chimera before.”
“Right? I wonder what they look like.”
“I think we’ll have a chance to see them eventually.”
“Then I’ll look forward to that moment!”
After responding to the staff member’s words, we decided to head back to the inn, having accomplished our purpose.