Chapter 85: The Cause of the Supply Disruption
With a question mark hovering above her head, Fleur and I made our way to the Adventurer’s Guild. It had been five days since I last set foot in the guild. If I had been visiting daily, I might have noticed Fleur’s request before it came to this.
“It really is noisier than usual…”
As we stepped into the guild just past morning, it was bustling with activity. This was the time when adventurers sought out jobs, scattering in different directions, but the crowd showed no signs of thinning.
“It seems everyone’s talking about the monsters that appeared in the Heavenly Wolf Forest.”
Just as I said, the guild was abuzz with the very topic Fleur had mentioned. By the time we reached the guild, we had regained some composure.
“Hey, have you seen the monsters that showed up in the forest?”
“No, I haven’t. Were they really that big?”
“I saw it! I’ve never seen a Silver Wolf that huge before!”
“I told you it’s a higher species!”
“It was over five meters long!”
That massive wolf in the Heavenly Wolf Forest must be the Heavenly Wolf itself. The one that bypassed the Great Dragon as bait… I had left it right in the middle of the forest, never expecting it to come after me. From what I heard in the village, the forest was rich in food, and Silver Wolves had never ventured out. Was that just a story limited to the village’s perspective?
“The supply of timber from the forest has been disrupted, so we need you to bring some back.”
“Our workshop is out of materials, and we can’t proceed with our work. Please, do something!”
“I need help at my workshop too!”
“I’d like to request a collection of Heavenly Wolf Mushrooms.”
“I need some Flame Grass, but that seems impossible…”
The request counter was crowded with people wanting to place collection requests from the forest. It appeared that new requests for collection within the forest were not being accepted. It seemed they had prohibited entry to areas where such large monsters had been sighted.
“Everyone! Until the identity of the rumored monster is confirmed, entry into the forest is strictly prohibited, so please refrain from going!”
The guild staff shouted warnings as they continued to alert everyone. Notices were prominently posted on the request board. If anyone chose to enter the forest despite this, it would be at their own risk. Normally, a search party would be dispatched for missing persons, but in such emergencies, no search parties would be sent.
“Currently, a B Rank adventurer party is investigating the forest, so please wait a while!”
The guild staff continued their warnings. I doubted they would uncover the cause through their investigation… The thought that we might be the reason for this situation made me feel somewhat uneasy.
As Fleur approached the request counter, she placed a request.
“This is Fleur from the Rashiyu Trading Company. I would like to submit a designated request, if that’s alright.”
“Yes. As long as it’s not a request to enter the forest, it should be fine. Alternatively, if it’s a request for B Rank or higher, entering the forest would also be permissible. May I ask for the details?”
“Yes. I want you to check on the condition of the lumberyard owned by the Rashiyu Trading Company.”
“Um, is that all…?”
“Yes.”
“Understood. Please wait a moment. I will assess the rank of the request.”
“Thank you.”
The staff member then retreated to the back. Fleur turned to us, looking a bit apologetic as she spoke.
“Honestly, it’s not right to ask customers for such things…”
“No, no, we haven’t taken any jobs from the guild recently, so it’s fine.”
“Um, so we just need to collect the timber along with the request, right?”
“Yes. The lumberyard is located outside the forest, so the request should still be executable. Including the collection in the request might raise its difficulty level…”
Fleur leaned in closer to us, speaking in a hushed tone. Since our rank was E, it was better to keep the difficulty as low as possible. I thought about directly accepting the request without going through the guild, but that often led to trouble, so it wasn’t recommended. However, going through the guild would also contribute to our rank-up, so there were pros and cons to consider.
“Ah, of course, I will provide additional compensation, so please rest assured. If you happen to defeat the monster in question, that would be fine too.”
Fleur continued with a playful smile, but it made me feel a bit uneasy that she believed we had the strength for such a task. After all, I had often been underestimated in the past.
“Thank you for waiting.”
After a while of Fleur discussing the details of the request, a guild staff member returned from the back.
“The rank of the request will be set to E. Although there have been reports of an unidentified monster, since you won’t be entering the forest, it should be fine.”
“Thank you. I will designate Lord Shu and Lady Rio for this request.”
“Understood. The processing will take a little time, but will you both accept the request here?”
“Ah, yes. Please.”
It was a hassle to receive the request later, but I could wait a little.
“Now, I will hand over the key to the lumberyard.”
Thus, we accepted the investigation request for the Rashiyu Trading Company’s lumberyard.