Episode 26: The Reality of Adventurers
“So, we’d like to register our Young Lady here.”
“I don’t mind, but even with Claffy-kun’s recommendation, there won’t be any special treatment, okay?”
“Of course!”
On the next school holiday, the Young Lady declared, full of enthusiasm, that she wanted to register as an Adventurer.
I thought she’d want to register after the Dungeon class explanation, but I didn’t expect her to act so quickly.
Lady Martha and Mr. Volks said it would count towards her school credits, so I couldn’t tell her not to, leaving me with no choice but to tacitly approve.
“And please register Mr. Volks here as well.”
“I’ll be active with Lady Arianna. And Claffy too.”
“I understand.”
By the way, all of our Escort Knight members except for Mr. Volks were already registered as Adventurers.
Mr. Volks originally came from a noble family, leaving it to become a Knight. He apparently thought it made no sense for a Knight to register as an Adventurer.
Well, I can understand how he feels.
The other members were commoners who were appointed as Knights for their skills or attitude, or were scouted from among the Adventurers. During their time as soldiers, they would defeat Monsters outside on their days off to earn pocket money, so even though they didn’t actively seek to raise their rank, they were all registered as Adventurers.
“I’m fine with just Cladfield and me, though?”
“Young Lady, I can’t do it.”
“Why not!?”
“I can only see a future where I can’t move because of the luggage.”
Since eating Monster meat in the Meat Dungeon, this Young Lady has become sensitive to edible Monsters.
I also try to eat anything that can be eaten from the creatures we defeat, and use anything that can be used as a material, but I want to be careful because I think she’s being a little excessive.
I was taught not to waste anything we defeat, and not to kill meaninglessly unless there is danger, so I don’t want to just eat and waste things.
The Black Forest? That place has too many Monsters to begin with, and the rank of the Monsters there is high, so it’s dangerous to leave them alone, so we should actively defeat them. It’s an exception.
“It would be nice if we could get a Magic Bag.”
“It’s too expensive to buy normally. I sent a letter to Dad, but I don’t know if he’ll lend us one.”
Magic Bags can be made by processing the Dungeon Core of a Dungeon that has grown enough to cause a Monster outbreak.
In other words, Dungeon capture is essential to make one. But since it’s a Dungeon that has grown enough to cause an outbreak, the difficulty of capturing it is quite high. Furthermore, if the Dungeon is managed by a Master instead of a Core, the Core itself cannot be obtained.
Even if you can successfully obtain a Dungeon Core, the difficulty of making a Magic Bag is quite high.
The method of making them is apparently widespread, but it is said that there are no Magic Item craftsmen who can make them for sure.
Grandma seems to be able to make them, though.
If it were me, who can perform Magic Core conversion of Magic Stones, I could create them from Magic Stones obtained from Monsters instead of Dungeon Cores, but… well, I don’t want to do that because I don’t know what would happen if I did.
“Lady Arianna, even if we had one, I’d be afraid to manage it.”
“…Well, that’s normal.”
Iserina-san, please don’t look at me like that.
“I want to try challenging an uncaptured Dungeon.”
“There are no Dungeons recommended for a Rank 10 like you.”
“Information on Dungeons managed by Rank 8 or higher is disclosed, and uncaptured Dungeons start from Rank 6, right?”
“…Claffy has cleared them, huh.”
“Ahahaha. But I won’t go unless there’s some kind of attractive information, you know? Dungeon attacks alone are dangerous.”
If it’s a Dungeon that has already been captured and is managed by people, you can enter alone because there are no traps, but uncaptured Dungeons come to kill intruders. It’s too dangerous to go alone.
“…Isn’t there one in our territory?”
“There is. However, it may have already been captured.”
“Is that so!?”
“Yes, at the stage when an outbreak occurred. A request should have been sent to a professional Dungeon capture group.”
“There are people like that, huh.”
They sound like reliable people.
“They’re from your village.”
“Really!? Ah! Come to think of it, Dad and a few others sometimes went on business trips from the village!”
They always brought back a lot of souvenirs like sweets, juice, alcohol, and cloth, but was that part of the reward!? I was always looking forward to it because it would turn into a festival for about three days after they came back.
“Are the people of Cladfield’s village that strong?”
“Ah, well, I can kind of understand.”
Iserina-san knows Dad and Mom, so she seems to be convinced of something.
“When I’m outside the village, I feel like my village is becoming more and more out of the ordinary…”
“Good for you. You’re getting closer to being a normal person by thinking that way.”
“You won’t say I’m a normal person, huh…”
“Someone who spreads an Iron Plate in a Dungeon is…”
That’s not my fault.
“Then let’s take on a request right away!”
“At this time, the only requests that a Rank 10 can take are Standing Requests or errands in the Royal Capital, right? Besides, I can’t let a noble child carry building materials or organize warehouses.”
“Is that so!?”
“That’s how it is, you know? If you want to receive good requests, you have to wake up early.”
Unless the client specifies an urgent request, requests are posted the next morning.
Urgent requests cost extra, and are often given to those selected by the Guild, so it’s best to come in the morning.
By the way, the Standing Requests are Dreg Magic Stone collection, Buruburu extermination, Nyororo Mushroom extermination, Fruno collection, Veggino collection, and Running Wheat collection.
Banana Fruno and Lettuce Veggino seem to be the best this month.
“The place Claffy-kun is looking at now is the request board for Rank 8 to 10 children. The ones posted higher up are more expensive, but I can’t let you organize warehouses.”
“I don’t particularly want to do it either, but why?”
“Don’t noble children ever clean their own rooms?”
“…Hmm! Impossible!”
“Besides, warehouse organization is often requested by nobles and merchants. If it’s the house of a noble from an opposing faction, or a customer, it can be troublesome. No matter how high the request fee is, since such troubles are involved, we try not to give such requests to people who are known to be nobles, noble children, or Knights or soldiers in the service of nobles.”
“That’s wise.”
“The person who thought of that was someone from the Guild a long time ago, you know? But the troubles related to nobles and merchants haven’t been resolved since then.”
In other words, among the requests that can be confirmed now, the only ones that can be taken are Standing Requests and some low-rank Monster extermination.
“By the way, Buruburu extermination and Nyororo Mushroom extermination are popular. If you’re good at dismantling, you can collect Dreg Magic Stones and sell the meat and mushrooms. Fruno and Veggino are delivered as is, so you can’t take out the Magic Stones.”
“Cladfield is good at dismantling!”
“Well, I can do it. Nyororo Mushrooms aren’t in season yet, so is Buruburu better?”
Buruburu are timid pig Monsters. They run away when hostile creatures approach, and tremble when they run out of escape routes. The more they tremble, the tighter the meat becomes, so it is recommended to make them tremble before defeating them. However, be careful because if you corner them too much, they will charge at you with their sharp fangs. They only grow to about the height of an adult’s knee, but there is still a good chance of getting injured.
The meat is delicious, but the legs are short and small, so the edible parts are only the body. The body is not large, and other Monsters are easier to process, so there are hardly any places that will buy the fur. It’s a Monster with quite a few parts that are thrown away.
Nyororo Mushrooms are mushroom Monsters with red umbrellas that move by wriggling their slender bodies. They are the most delicious from the end of summer to the middle of autumn when they are fatty.
The degree of growth varies greatly depending on the region. It seems to be treated as a Standing Request in the Royal Capital, but in the village, it was a Monster that required caution, and it was a fairly formidable Monster that shot earth-attribute magic.
By the way, the reason why they require caution is because they are Monsters that have been notified to defeat them when they have grown to a certain extent and are in season. I was taught not to let my guard down and enter their territory.
“I’ve defeated Buruburu several times!”
“Or rather, it seems better to just go outside the Royal Capital and target all of the Standing Requests.”
“Yeah, that’s what people usually do.”
Well, I guess so.
“There’s no job that a Knight like you can be satisfied with, right?”
“I’m just Lady Arianna’s Escort Knight. I’m just doing requests together to continue being her escort.”
“There are people who register as escorts for noble children every year. Well, we don’t intend to interfere too much, and as long as you complete the requests, it’s fine if you just deliver Dreg Magic Stones you bought somewhere.”
“Is that allowed?”
“Isn’t that a bit unfair?”
Lady Evelyn also seems hesitant.
“It’s fine with me? The Guild just processes it as a completed request. The one who loses out is the Adventurer themselves. Besides, even if they complete requests that way, they hardly ever advance to Intermediate rank or higher.”
“They don’t advance?”
“Of course not. The only requests they can complete that way are the lowest-level ones among the Beginner ranks. Plus, Guild staff are often in places where Adventurers come and go, so they naturally remember the faces of those who complete requests seriously. Conversely, those who hardly ever come to such places but complete requests rapidly stand out a lot.”
“So, there’s no point in cheating?”
“It’s not really cheating, so I don’t care about that itself. But we can’t entrust high-priority requests to such people, so they naturally don’t advance in rank.”
“The Adventurer’s Guild is an amazing organization.”
“Indeed.”
I admire along with Mr. Volks.
“Then, let’s leave the city and hunt Monsters related to the Standing Request!”
“Well, protecting Lady Evelyn is my job. Claffy, go call Ellie.”
“Understood, I’ll go.”
Ellie-san is one of the few female Knights. She’s an Adventurer selected to attend Lady Evelyn. She has short, golden hair and a lively appearance.
“…Alright, good luck.”
Iserina-san’s words lack conviction. I wonder what’s wrong?
“…Are there usually so few Monsters around?”
“Yes, it’s surprising.”
“As expected of the roads around the Royal Capital.”
“Isn’t it nice to have peace?”
Lady Evelyn, Volks-san, Ellie-san, and I, as a four-person party, walked along the road for about an hour away from the Royal Capital. But as a result, we only found three Frunos.
Moreover, Lady Evelyn already ate them at her request, leaving only one Fruno remaining.
“Should we have saved the Fruno?”
“Considering the time and that we’re around the Royal Capital, finding three is lucky.”
“?”
“Ellie, what do you mean?”
“I experienced this in the domain capital too. First thing in the morning, low-ranked Adventurers who couldn’t get good requests walk around the roads, hunting Monsters. They’re only weak Monsters, after all.”
Only weak Monsters are in areas where humans are active. Or rather, humans live in places where only weak Monsters are.
That’s why even Beginner Adventurers can fight them sufficiently.
“Even so, after some time, the Monsters return from somewhere, but then the soldiers patrol. And they defeat the Monsters as well.”
“I see.”
“So, there are hardly any Monsters left. That’s why you won’t find Monsters unless you go quite far from the road.”
“What!? Then around here…”
“Yes. In the Royal Capital, there are many Adventurers and frequent soldier patrols. The Knights Order also comes and goes, so there probably aren’t many Monsters within sight of the road.”
“…Ellie, I wish you had told me sooner.”
Lady Evelyn is dejected.
“But we can’t go too far from the road, okay? Did you ask the Guild about what kind of Monsters are around?”
““Ah…””
We only confirmed the habitat of Buruburu and didn’t check the habitats or territory distribution of other Monsters.
“There might suddenly be the territory of a strong Monster, so I don’t want to go any further from the road.”
“W-we’re around the Royal Capital. There probably aren’t any strong Monsters around, right?”
“That’s what we don’t know… I don’t want to, okay? I can’t protect Lady Evelyn, and I don’t want to die either.”
“Well, that’s true. I was going to object if we tried to stray too far from the road.”
“We didn’t investigate enough. It’s a failure.”
It might be good to fail early. The first failure could easily lead to death.
“If you’re going to ask, it’s better to ask a senior Adventurer who’s actually out in the field than the Guild receptionist. The receptionists are mostly people who don’t go out into the field, so they mostly have secondhand information.”
“A senior Adventurer… huh.”
That means I’ll be involved with that person again.
“Lady Evelyn, please don’t discuss it at the academy, but consult with her in a private tea party, okay?”
“Cladfield?”
“You’re going to consult with Lady Evelyn, right? But it’s not a topic to discuss at the academy, in front of other nobles, okay?”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Lady Evelyn wouldn’t talk about such things at the academy either, right? We had a tea party and talked about the Meat Dungeon, too.”
Please start with a letter first.
“An invitation, so a letter. Letter, letter… ugh…”
“It’s necessary, so please do your best.”
“A-at least help me think of the contents!!”
Maybe you should just ask Lady Martha.
“…Claffy, please act as a bridge again.”
“Yes. Our guard teams need to discuss things, too.”
Lady Evelyn’s guard team and our guard team. If we’re going to work together, it will inevitably interfere with our duties, so we need to coordinate to some extent. I heard that they argued about how many people to send during the Meat Dungeon incident, too.