Episode 8: Lux’s Leisurely Journey
Meanwhile…
After leaving Riophendal, I had made my way to the neighboring town.
My purpose was to check my current standing with the Adventurer’s Guild.
This town was smaller than Riophendal, but it still had a proper Guild branch.
Fortunately, I still had my Guild card.
By presenting it at this town’s Guild, I should be able to find out how I was currently listed.
“Isn’t that Lux? It’s been a while. Are you alright?”
“Klein-san. It’s been a year. Sorry for showing up so suddenly.”
As it happened, I was acquainted with the Guildmaster of this town.
This town was governed by Baron Luoreciam, who was on good terms with Viscount Riophendal.
Thanks to that connection, I, who had been involved in the Guild operations in Lord Riophendal’s domain, had occasional opportunities to meet Klein.
He was a respectable Guildmaster and had given me various pieces of advice.
I’d come here partly out of a calculated guess that someone like him wouldn’t treat me poorly.
If Jekyll’s lies had reached this far, I would have faced a much harsher reception, so I was relieved for now.
This was despite me barging into the Guild and immediately asking for the Guildmaster. I was grateful.
“I’ve been through a lot.”
“Heard you got caught in a trap in the dungeon, right?”
“Yeah. You know about it?”
“Of course, I do. Including the fact that you’re being slandered with a story that makes no sense whatsoever.”
“Is that so…”
“Don’t worry. You won’t be treated badly in this town. For one, there’s been no word about setting up a fund, and the fact that all your achievements have vanished is suspicious in itself.”
“…Thank you.”
“It’s fine. You’ve already left that town, right? Don’t worry about what those idiots did anymore.”
“Yeah…”
“If anything, I’d like to recruit you. We don’t have a dungeon here, but there’s plenty of work for adventurers.”
“Are you sure?”
“What’s the problem in the first place? Well, calm down. Let’s have a drink today. Nothing to worry about. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
Come to think of it, this man was a huge fan of alcohol.
The fact that he wasn’t a heavy drinker was part of his charm. He’d just get talkative, feel good, and then snore himself to sleep.
Easy enough for me to deal with.
“Guildmaster. At least finish your work. Lux-sama, I apologize, but could you please wait a moment?”
“…Melia… I was just starting to feel good.”
“Melia-san. My apologies.”
Naturally, the Guildmaster’s outrageous attempt to start drinking in broad daylight was stopped. It wasn’t like I was in a particular hurry, and now that I’d confirmed what I was curious about, killing time was no issue.
Incidentally, Melia-san was a beautiful, capable-looking woman with glossy black hair cut short.
She was Guildmaster Klein-san’s daughter and worked as his secretary.
Moreover, she was a skilled mage.
As I sat on a bench in the corner of the Guild, leisurely reading a book about the monsters in this area, the Guild suddenly became frantic. An emergency communication had apparently come in.
“Stampede in Riophendal’s dungeon!”
Only three years since the last one? Seriously?
When I was around, I regularly thinned out the monsters on the lower floors, but I bet they slacked off while I was gone.
If left unattended for even half a year, a Stampede is a possibility, but still…
The boss of the last Stampede was an Orc King, and apparently, it had been about 20 years since the one before that.
Still, the Stampede occurring was probably a fact. Did a belligerent and active monster appear on the lower floors and grow strong?
I didn’t know if it was leading the charge itself, or if a boss had emerged from among those that fled.
“What did you say? What’s the situation!?”
Klein’s panicked voice echoed.
This town was Riophendal’s neighbor.
If Riophendal failed to deal with the Stampede, there was a high chance this town would be affected.
After a while, the gathered information was shared.
“Jekyll, who became the leader of ‘Senko,’ led 100 adventurers to intercept them on the upper floors but failed to annihilate them and retreated. The situation seems to be dire.”
Jekyll…
Well, he probably couldn’t handle it.
He might have gotten items from Elanda, who stole my assets, but he’s a Thief in the first place, and the weakest in “Senko.”
I think Claire was there too, but although she’s a mage, she’s better at support and healing.
I was the firepower of “Senko,” after all.
If I had to say, Michelle might be able to fight lower-floor monsters.
“Details? Before they failed and retreated, they at least cleared out the mid-floor monsters, right?”
“That… seems to be unknown.”
“Which means they didn’t defeat them. Seriously…? So? What’s happening now?”
“According to the communication, monsters have already appeared in the surrounding area, so although the residents have been evacuated, there is damage to buildings. They are requesting to accept the residents.”
“What are the Lords doing?”
“Lord Riophendal is said to be commanding on site!”
The situation is as bad as reported.
Is Lord Riophendal, being a man of integrity, planning to die a martyr?
What happened to Shifa?
He’d at least let one of his daughters escape, right?
“Is that all for the report? Then, countermeasures…”
“Furthermore, there are reports that Jekyll and Claire of ‘Senko’ have fled, and Elanda-dono has also disappeared…”
“What did you say!!!!?”
Seriously?
Those guys are the worst…
I stood up.
“Lux? Are you going?”
“Yeah… I’m going to save Shifa. Michelle too. And the residents.”
“Be careful! We’ll send a unit as well!”
“That’s a help.”
Thankfully, it seemed they would send a support unit.
Well, the damage from a Stampede spreads to the surroundings, so this town also needs to take measures.
Still, such a swift response was truly helpful.
“I’ll go. I have a horse, so let’s go ahead.”
“Wait a minute! This isn’t a situation for the Guildmaster’s daughter to go!”
“It’s fine, isn’t it? Lux-sama can handle it easily, right? In fact, it’s the safest option.”
“That’s not what I mean!”
They seemed to be arguing, but it was okay for me to go, right?
“Ah, wait, Lux-sama! See, because Dad was dawdling!”
“Alright! Go kick their asses!”
It was decided rather quickly, but there was no doubt Melia was a skilled mage, so it wasn’t a problem.