Chapter 283
I was currently near the entrance to the noble district, which was reached by going down the main road from the guild in the east district . This entrance was made of a great gate and high walls, much like the actual entrances for the city . Imperial guards stood watch on both sides of the gate .
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“Excuse me, I’d like to go inside . ”
“Ah, Mister Asagi . Of course, you may . ”
As I had been first-runner up in the Imperial Sword Tournament and visited the Emperor multiple times, they knew my face . I could get in by that alone .
“Thanks . ”
Though, I showed them my status card, anyway . After all, rules were rules . And so he did look at it as well .
And then I entered . I could reach the imperial castle if I kept walking straight, but that wasn’t why I was here today .
The client was a noblewoman . Not only that, but she was apparently of House Carteraza . That was one of the eight Great Houses that built the empire . I learned this while accepting the quest; apparently, each house was ranked . House Carteraza was the fourth highest . I had my suspicions about the client, judging by the middle name and family name, but hadn’t expected her to be quite this important .
“Uhh, House Carteraza…”
I had accepted the quest because it had seemed interesting, but otherwise, I preferred to keep my distance from nobles . The whole business of authority complicated politics was not for me . Of course, that stance seemed rather pointless, when I’d been fraternizing with the Emperor, recently . But then again, the Emperor himself had said he had no intention of ‘binding’ us . So that could actually help in keeping other nobles at bay . The whole thing had bothered me at first, but I was starting to be fine with it .
After walking for some time, I reached a particularly large house that one might expect for one of the eight Great Houses . The guild had given me a map, which confirmed that this was the right place . As it was so large, I spent some time gaping in amazement . Then the gatekeeper coughed .
“Oh, sorry . I’m here because of a guild request…”
“You’re the Adventurer . Please show me your status . ”
“Right . Status open . ”
Name: Asagi Kamiyashiro
Race: Human
Job: Adventurer(Rank: A)
Alias: Silvergreen
LV: 91
HP: 867/867
MP: 835/835
STR: 475 VIT: 494
AGI: 958 DEX: 491
INT: 468 LUK: 39
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Skills: Jack of all Trades, Master of None(-), Legs of the God Wolf(-), Eyes of the God Wolf(-), Single-handed Sword(9/10), Shortsword(6/10), Spear(5/10), Bow(2/10), Greatsword(7/10), Presence Detection(8/10), Presence Block(6/10), Night Eyes(6/10)
Magic: Ice Magic(9/10), Water Magic(8/10), Fire Magic(2/10)
Quests: Mansion Security
Party: Daniela Villesilf
Equipment: Armor
Head – None
Torso – None
Arms – None
Legs – None
Feet – Accel Panther Boots
Weapons – None
None
Clothes – Wind Dragon Shirt
– Wind Dragon Trousers
Accessories – None
“Indeed . You may enter . ”
“Thank you very much . ”
He opened the gate and I walked through . There was a long walk from the gate to the house…
I viewed my status as I walked . The Reserentrible Labyrinth Disaster . My level had gone up by 2 points because of it . Things had been going slow ever since I got close to 90 . Previously, every major trial had given me a good boost . Maybe this was the ceiling for me . I doubted people with cheat skills had the same problem…
There was no protagonist allowance for me . What I did have was Jack of all Trades, Master of None and my own abilities . I had done well enough for myself… But how long would that last?
With such thoughts in my head, the trip to the house didn’t seem too long . There was another gatekeeper there . Well, maybe he was a butler .
“Are you Mister Asagi?”
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“Yes . ”
“Please come this way . ”
He knew who I was . Perhaps the first gatekeeper had a way of contacting him . The butler pushed the door open and led me inside . Once I was through the giant doors, a housekeeper appeared . Or should I say, maid? She led the way . The butler walked behind me . We walked through a long hallway that was lined with candlesticks . The flames swayed as we moved past them . It was very quiet . And yet, Presence Detection told me that there were a lot of people here . We might get in trouble if we were too loud . And so I kept my mouth shut and tried to walk quietly . Maybe this was just normal behavior in the house of a noble .
“…”
I could hear the butler holding his breath behind me . I guess I was right . Hehe . This wasn’t too hard after all…
And so I erased any sounds from my footsteps and walked with a smug expression on my face . Then the maid suddenly stopped . There was a door to her side .
“This is the room . ”
She stepped back and bowed her head . Then the butler stood on the other side and slowly opened the door . I nodded and then entered the room .
“Excuse me . ”
I said as my foot went in . But there was no one there . Uh, this was embarrassing…
“…The master will be here shortly . ”
“Ah…of course . Thank you . ”
The maid said from behind me . Right . This was the waiting room . They could have told me that in advance . Embarrassment that could have easily been avoided was somehow worse .
The door closed and I was left alone in the room . Presence Detection told me that the maid was walking away while the butler remained in front of the door . As for the surrounding rooms, yes, there were people inside . Being in such a house for the first time had made me nervous, but I did think that I had a decent ability for adapting . And now that I felt accustomed to the place, I could perform as usual . That was when I noticed it .
“I’m being monitored . ”
“Oh, you noticed then . ”
“!?”
Someone entered my detection range out of nowhere . I frantically turned around to see someone peeking at me through a crack in the door . A woman with red hair . Elves tended to have eye-catching hair color in this world…but this person had human ears .
“Are you the Adventurer who accepted the request?”
“Yes . I’m Asagi Kamiyashiro . It’s a pleasure to meet you . ”
“I am Camila Dee Carteraza . The one who hired you . Oh, hmm… Hehe . Is this really a coincidence?”
“Excuse me?”
The person who opened the door and walked in was about as typical a noblewoman as I could think of . But not necessarily in a bad way . She just looked like a woman who was raised with a lot of money and had a good education . She was now looking at me and laughing . So…this young noblewoman had a Presence Block skill that outranked my Presence Detection…?
She slowly approached and then sat down in a chair before gesturing for me to do the same . I obeyed and sat on the opposite of the table .
“Yes, we’ve met before . A short while ago . ”
“We have?”
“Yes . At the auction house . ”
I didn’t remember seeing a woman with red hair like hers… It seemed like the kind of thing that I would remember .
“Well, I was disguised . So you probably didn’t notice . ”
“I see . ”
That explained it . And this person had a high-level skill . The disguise would have been very advanced as well .
“Well, this request of mine is actually related to the auction…”
“What do you mean?”
“Due to buying that item of yours, I’ve been attracting some unwanted attention . ”
“What? You’re talking about…”
The item I had put up for auction was the Automata .
“Come in . ”
“Yes . Excuse me . ”
Miss Camila gave the order, and a different maid from before walked into the room . No, this one wasn’t human . In fact, it was the Automata I had unearthed in the ancient elven ruins .
“It’s moving…”
“Of course, it is . It runs on magic . ”
That was true . However, I never did give it a try . I put it for sale first . That would have been harder to do if I got attached to it . Well, I was also scared about what would happen if it did move .
So, this was the reason for the request . I suppose it was related to me in a way . But I still wasn’t responsible .
“Of course, it is a coincidence that you’re here . Don’t look so mortified . ”
“…I’m sorry . I’m sort of dreading what you’re going to say next . ”
“Hehe . It is quite simple . Thieves are trying to steal her from me . I want you to capture or kill them . ”
Kill them? How dark .
“I didn’t accept an assassination request . ”
“Well, I did say, ‘or . ’ It’s not like that is my preference, you know . ”
Still, there was an intensity in her eyes . I had taken this request half out of boredom, and it had taken a less than desirable turn .
Miss Camila then gave me the details . From what she said, people started roaming the area around her house, shortly after she had bought the Automata . And there were quite a few of them too . It was as if they were taking turns to monitor the house . She had then determined that they were after the Automata, and so she sent out the request .
“Seems pretty reckless to mess with one of the eight Great Houses of the city . ”
“It is not a surprise, since they are also nobles . ”
“What?”
“Nobles can be thieves too . It is they who were not able to buy it that are now roaming around my house . ”
“Ah, I see…”
Yes, the bidding had been quite enthusiastic . It was a matter of thousands of pieces of gold . The people who weren’t able to buy it would have been very angry . And so, they were scouting about her house and planning to steal it…
“Obviously, things become complicated when dealing with other nobles… And so I thought of a plan . I can just hire an Adventurer . ”
“We’re not disposable tools, us Adventurers . ”
“Oh, of course, you aren’t . We nobles see Adventurers as brilliant tools . ”
“…”
I was a little taken aback, but it was just the way they saw things, I suppose . Well, she was certainly different from the people I was used to dealing with . It was stimulating in a way .
“Alright . I will do what I can . ”
“Hehe . I’m counting on you . Here is an advance payment . ”
She snapped her fingers and the Automata placed a leather pouch right next to me . I could tell it was gold from the sound it made . It looked hefty too . But it was probably pocket money for a noble .
“I will pay you double that amount if you catch them . If you kill them, I will pay even more for your silence . Are we in agreement?”
“I’m not going to kill anyone . I’ll return tonight . ”
“Don’t disappoint me, Silvergreen . ”
I accepted the money and got to my feet . On my way out, I glanced over to the Automata . Then the butler led me to the entrance .
Boredom and curiosity had brought me here, and the results were very unexpected . A scheme involving one of the Great Houses . A quest relating to the Automata .
How was I going to explain this to Daniela…