Chapter 288
I gave Daniela a detailed report of what had happened . And then finished the story by flashing the newspaper article in front of her . ‘Well done,’ she said proudly .
“It was a good job, considering you were alone . It is a difficult thing to capture so many people alive . Besides, the fact you were able to use so much magic without the help of your ice dragon armor, proves how much you have grown . ”
“I don’t mean to be smug, but I’m quite satisfied with what I did . I hate pyromancers, and yet I was able to deal with her . ”
“So, I suppose you will not be relying on your ice dragon armor as much, now?”
Hmm . One did not let go of those buffs so readily . Besides, it was because of them that I was able to use my trump card, ‘Niflheim . ’ The thought of not being able to use it in a desperate situation made me really nervous . Well, I did also see the importance of being able to fight without relying on it .
Daniela and I talked about such things as we ate dinner . But then the conversation of some other customers suddenly entered my ears .
“Hey, did you hear about it?”
“Aye . The stampede . ”
Now that was a word that caused my ears to prick up .
“Well, no one goes to the forest near the northern Alessa mountains…”
“They say that it’s goblins . I’m sure people from Lambrusen have been sent . It’ll probably be fine . ”
There was a vast, deep forest surrounding those mountains . According to what they were saying, it was on the Flugelnia side . As for goblins in that area, they would be forest goblins . I remember it now . They really liked their tree sap .
“Please excuse me . Would you mind telling us about that?”
It was rare for Daniela to approach others like this .
“Oh, uh . It’s just about how goblins have appeared in the forest along the Alessa mountains . We know this to be true because people from the nearby village have fled from the area . ”
“Is this village to the southeast of the Alessa mountains?”
“No, it is directly north of the Imperial City . You must be talking about…Senka Village . No, it wasn’t there . ”
“I see . Sorry to disturb you . Hey, waiter . Two ales for these gentlemen here . ”
“Certainly!”
Daniela bought them drinks for their trouble . It almost seemed like she was used to this kind of thing .
“Ah, you shouldn’t have . ”
“Much obliged . ”
“No . Thank you for the information . I will leave you alone now . ”
And with that, she returned to our table . The waiter came back quickly and gave the men their drinks .
Hmm . The communicatively impaired Daniela…had sure grown .
“…Hmm? Ah, that face . You are surprised that I approached some strangers?”
“Yeah . I still remember how you were like in Spiris . Though, it’s hard to believe now . ”
“Hmph . I know when things have to be done . Besides, I try to gather information in places like this . I am not the only one who feels more talkative when around food . ”
“I’m not sure that’s something to be smug about…”
But Daniela clearly did not agree . If only the time and place didn’t matter… Well, she was at least good at pretending to be a good listener . Maybe that was something to be smug about…
The next day, we visited the guild in order to dig a little deeper . Unsurprisingly, it was the talk of the guild . And so we split up and questioned other Adventurers, sometimes buying them some food for their trouble . In about an hour, we had all the information that we wanted .
“Uhh… So, the people that fled were from the village of Namila, which is directly north of the Imperial Capital . I have to say, I’m relieved it wasn’t Senka Village, as bad as that sounds… Uh, oh, and there’s a lake between the village and this city . ”
“Yes . It is called the Rivier . It is supposed to be quite big . The people had to travel around this lake to come here . From what I understand, everyone made it alive . The military is surprised that there were no casualties . ”
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The villagers who entered through the north gate talked to the soldier who was guarding the gate . The military immediately prepared to defend . Defend the city, that is . While there was no one left in the village, it was still the home that these people were born and raised in .
But the army was only interested in protecting the city . It was their job . So, who would protect the village? Adventurers . The villagers had put up a request to take back the village from the goblins . And they were using all of their money for this . Not only that, but the city was also offering to pay as well . It was one way to support them without leaving the city .
In any case, all of this resulted in a rather lucrative quest showing up on the board .
“‘Namila Village Liberation Front . ’ That’s a pretty grand name for a quest . ”
“It was the chief who wrote it . Apparently, this chief is quite young . ”
That explained it . Well, I quite liked names like this .
The Namila Village Liberation Front had the ultimate goal of suppressing the goblin stampede . And so there were requirements when it came to rank . You had to be a Garnet at least…or Rank C . While F-Rankers often killed goblins, it was a different matter when they came in such great numbers . Besides, there were different kinds of goblins . Most of the encounters I had with goblins were in Fhiraldo or on the road . But in stampedes like these, there were likely to be goblins that used arrows or even magic . It was the result of being raised in a special environment that caused them to grow in such a variation .
We had prevented a kobold stampede once . Had we not done that, it would have likely resulted in more irregular kobolds appearing . And so it was pretty bad that this one had not been stopped beforehand .
“Alright, let us go and register . ”
Daniela said as she got up from her seat . As this was categorized as a special quest, you had to go to a special counter to register . There were quite a few people already lined up . Everyone would be above C-Rank . These Adventurers were all confident in their ability . Their equipment looked both expensive and well used . As for me, I was in my normal clothes . After all, I had just come here originally to gather information .
Still, people gave me odd glances .
“Look at that…is that guy serious?”
“This is a grave matter for those poor villagers…”
However, there were others who saw it differently .
“Well, he sure seems confident . ”
“Isn’t that Asagi?”
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“Ah…”
Hmm . I was just a little bit pleased at being recognized . But once I was, there was something in their looks that suggested disappointment . What the…
“Asagi, I suppose you are not aware…”
“What?”
“There has been much talk about how you wander around the city while poorly dressed . ”
“Uh…”
Poorly!? It’s made from dragon materials!
“And sometimes you walk around without a sword…like you are some kind of unemployed…”
“What ridiculous rumors…”
“They are not entirely wrong either . ”
In this world, people did not take you seriously if you dressed roughly . But my clothes were comfortable and practical . So why were they unacceptable? It’s not like I was wearing a tracksuit .
“I am not sure what you were thinking . What if you were attacked?”
She wasn’t wrong . There were lots of armed people in this world who were up to no good . I shouldn’t go out for a stroll with the same mentality as someone going to a convenience store . I should have realized this sooner .
“Even I remain armed wherever I go . ”
“True . ”
“While we are both wearing dragon, having a weapon is also a way of keeping people in check . You should always have one on you . ”
“Right… I’ll be more careful in the future . ”
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Basically, I needed to have some heavy sword hanging on my belt at all times, if I wanted to survive . Well, I promised myself that I would do just that .
The odd looks decreased as we moved along in the line . And then we finally reached the counter . I took out my status card from my pocket and put it on the counter along with Daniela’s .
“Mister Asagi and Miss Daniela . Thank you for accepting the quest . As you are both rubies, you more than qualify . I’ll have you registered immediately . ”
“Thank you . ”
Rubies were Rank . B-Rank was jade .
“Rank Adventurers will be expected to raid and annihilate . B-Rank and C-Rank Adventurers will focus on killing the goblins who try and escape . Do you have any questions?”
“Uhh, how many Rankers are there?”
“There are two . Adlus, and Rindo . ”
Hohoho . Was this an Imperial Sword Tournament reunion? How very exciting . Well, Mister Heinrich wasn’t participating . Perhaps he had gone home? It would have been nice to see him in action .
“Do you have any other questions?”
“No, I’m fine . ”
“Very well then . The registration has been complete . Here are your status cards . ”
And like that, it was done . This would be my first time being part of a real stampede .
I thought again about how many events we had been involved in since coming here . And now, something new was about to begin . Well, perhaps it had already started, and we were jumping in halfway . I was starting to get the feeling that something completely unexpected was about to happen . Hmm . Was this what it was like to be a proper protagonist?
No, it was probably just these rough clothes that made me feel that way . Still, I was amped up for what would come . And so I told Daniela that I’d return to the inn ahead of her so I could check my equipment . In order to overcome what might turn into a fierce battle, I would have to be sure that my armor was in good condition .
It was the trick to getting through such trials . And this liberation front was something I wanted to overcome safely .
The north district of the city was mostly occupied by the military . In other words, civilians usually didn’t use the north gate . Even outsiders tended to go around to the west or east gate . The fact that they hadn’t had caused quite a stir . Though, that didn’t concern me, so I didn’t ask about it too much . To be honest, the Reserentrible incident had been very tiring . That was one of the reasons I chose to do the security quest without really know what I was getting into .