Published at 20th of November 2020 10:34:26 PM
Chapter 52
Translator: SFBaka
Editor: Thor’s Stone
I woke up to the sound of an alarm . I checked the situation out with the virtual HUD . Dammit! Orcs huh . It’s still dark outside . These guys are really full of it even though they’re just bipedal pigs!
I can’t just ignore them, so I took a light magic tool and my rifle and headed out . They were still two-hundred meters out, but they were clearly heading toward the camp . So, there are a total of fifteen men . Hm? Should I even count them as men? Oh well .
It’ll be awkward seeing corpses near the camp when dawn comes, so I guess I’ll intercept them . I placed the light magic tool a hundred meters away from camp and went out to meet the orcs . It looks like those orcs already noticed the camp, so they were running straight toward it .
But the running speed of orcs can’t be said to be fast by any means . They were about as fast as an average non-strengthened human, or maybe even slower .
It was a few more minutes before daybreak, so it was still pretty dark outside, but the monsters still appeared clearly before my nanom-enhanced vision, and I swiftly locked-on to them all . When they were just twenty meters ahead of my position, I released several high-speed versions of the Flame Arrow spell and instantly downed all fifteen of them .
It’s a hassle harvesting the magic stones on my own . Guess I’ll just have everyone help out once the sun is out . There’s no hurry anyway .
Man, I sure woke up at an awkward time . The sky was already starting to brighten . Oh well . I better just start preparing breakfast .
There’s still some rice left from yesterday’s meal . I stored them inside an airtight container, so the rice should still be good . If I steam them a little bit, they should be good to go . And there’s still some salt-grilled salmon left as well . I’ll just make some onigiri with the salt-grilled salmon as filling . And I’ll prepare some mushroom soup with the katsuobushi as soup stock to go with the onigiri . I don’t have anything else to do anyway .
Once dawn finally came, the girls started waking up .
“Good morning, Alan . ”
“Oh, good morning, Selena . ”
“These are… rice rolled into ball shapes?”
“Um, right . I’m molding them into shape . It’s a nice dish called onigiri . Alright, that’s all of them . ”
I finished making twenty servings of large-sized onigiri . Since it looks like everyone’s awake already, I should serve breakfast .
“Alan, you rolled the rice into shape?”
“Um, that’s right . I shaped them and filled them with the salt-grilled salmon from yesterday’s dinner . This dish is called onigiri . It’s morning so I made something simple to eat . This is a dish you can eat by hand . Okay then . Go ahead and dig in, everyone . ”
I picked one up and ate it to show them how it’s done . Mm . Since I steamed the rice a bit, they remained fluffy and were warm to the touch . The saltiness is just right as well . Delicious .
“This onigiri is delicious! It has a simple and rustic feel to it . ”
“This soup is so tasty as well!”
After hearing Sharon exclaim in delight, the rest of the girls picked up their soup and took some sips .
“This is–? What a delicate and refined flavor!” Arista praised .
“Yes, it’s very delicious,” Natalie seconded .
“There’s plenty more soup to go around, so don’t hesitate to ask for seconds everyone . ”
All the girls ended up asking for seconds .
“Fuu . I ate a lot this morning as well . ”
“I see… With these dishes, it’s no wonder you all overeat often,” Karina concluded .
“Sorry to ask you this so early in the morning, but some orcs came before dawn . There were quite a bit of them so can I count on you to help harvest their magic stones . ”
“”Understood!””
“If it’s alright with you all, shall we help out as well? Let us at least help out with this,” Karina offered .
“I see . Alright, thanks for the offer . ”
“So where are they, Alan?”
“Oh, they’re just over there . Let’s go . ”
“This–!? Just how–!? …Did you kill them all by yourself, Alan?”
“Well, yeah,” I answered while stabbing an orc corpse with my sword . Since orc bodies were quite large, the bladeknife is not long enough to make deep cuts .
Mm, how gory . I wonder if there’s a magic tool that can extract magic stones? Even if there is, I can’t even begin to imagine what magic circle would be used to activate it .
Since everyone helped out, we managed to finish collecting all the magic stones quite fast . Now we’ll just need to take care of the corpses . Then we can resume traveling .
“Should we just leave the camp as it is?” Karina asked .
“Yeah . We can also just destroy the earthen huts, but they may prove useful to other travelers on the road later on, so we better leave them as is . ”
“I see . That certainly is the case . ”
We finally left the temporary campsite and encountered fifteen Goblins and five Gray Hounds along the way . It looks like the appearance rate of monsters really is increasing .
I made a simple fried rice dish for lunch .
At the rate we were going, we should be able to reach the citadel city of Gantz by four o’clock in the afternoon . It seems Gantz was a city several times larger than Gotania, and currently housed more than 60,000 people . I’m pretty excited .
We traveled through several intersecting highways and passed by a lot of other horse-drawn carriages and adventurers walking on foot . There was a bit of tension whenever we passed others by . That’s because there’s always a chance the other party is actually bandits in disguise . We could even be mistaken as bandits instead .
But since Elna was driving the carriage and kept greeting each group we passed by raising her hand, their guards relaxed and there were no further incidents . They probably thought there was no way a beauty like her could be part of a bandit gang .
“Alan, I see a city in the distance . Is that Gantz?”
I zoomed in using my nanom-enhanced eyes .
“Oh, it looks like it! Yep, that’s definitely Gantz . I can see why they call it the citadel city . ”
It was situated within a V-shaped valley flanked by tall mountains, and the main city was in the middle of said valley . On the other side of the citadel city was the entrance to the Great Demon Forest . I see . So it’s a city built for the express purpose of guarding against intrusion by monsters .
But the city doesn’t completely seal off the valley, and there were wide open areas on either side of the city which lead to steep mountain slopes and cliffs . Due to that, there may be some monsters who manage to circumvent the city by going through those areas instead .
There was evidence that there was once an attempt to fully seal off the valley due to the unfinished ancient-looking walls . They may be relics of the far past . They may have given up on construction entirely since the cliffs were pretty steep and they thought there were no monsters that would be able to safely traverse them . They may have ultimately thought of the walls as impractical .
As we approached Gantz, I got a more detailed look of the mountains that were surrounding the Demon Forest . The mountain range that surrounded the Great Demon Forest was of an average elevation of 5,000 meters above sea level . They looked pretty big even from a distance, but their scale became even more obvious the more you approached .
After a few more minutes on the road, we finally reached the gates of Gantz . There were quite a few people and carriages lined up in front of the gate while waiting for their turn to enter the city . Looks like we better line up as well .
We waited about twenty minutes for our turn . Soldiers who were probably part of the city guards approached our carriage . I got off to meet them .
“Are you merchants? How many people are there in your group?”
“No, we’re actually adventurers . We’re the C rank Party, Shining Star . We have a total of five members, including me, and currently have three passengers with us as well . ”
I then showed the leading guard my guild ID .
“Hou, so you’re C rankers huh . I think there’s no problems, but we still need to check the carriage as part of the procedures . ”
“Go ahead . ”
Cleria and the others also got off from the carriage . It looks like they also showed the guards their guild IDs . The guards checked the items in the carriage one by one . When the lead guard got a look at Arista’s guild ID, his eyes widened in surprise .
“Aristsama!? There’s no mistake! Why are you riding this carriage!?”
This situation is a lot like what happened with Tarus-san .
“Our carriage was attacked by bandits . These people rescued us and let us travel back with them . ”
“By the Goddess! Aristsama’s group was supposed to arrive yesterday evening, but in the end, you never did, so Silas-sama was very worried . He’s been checking up on us often since yesterday . It seems they concluded that something untoward happened to you, so there’s a big commotion back at the Commerce Guild . Silas-sama should be in the middle of organizing a search party right now . ”
“Father is!? Oh dear! We have to hurry then . Can we enter the city now?”
“Of course . Please go ahead, Aristsama . ”
“Alan-san! Please head to the Commerce Guild with all haste!”
“Gotcha . Please lead the way . ”
Karina went over to the front of the carriage and guided us all the way to the Commerce Guild building . When we entered the city, it was packed with people, and my carriage driving skills were put to the test . More than half of the people out on the streets were dressed like adventurers . Luckily, the roads were pretty wide, and the people seemed used to staying out of the way of carriages, so there were no incidents .
“The large building over there is the headquarters of the Commerce Guild . Do you see that building with a lot of people crowding around out front? It’s that building,” Karina pointed out .
There were a total of about forty-something adventurers crowding around in front of the large building she pointed toward and they seemed to be listening attentively to a rugged-looking man who was speaking with a loud voice on top of the front steps .
When we approached, I got to hear part of the speech of that rugged-looking man .
“…… will set out with fast horses right away! We will give suitable rewards to any party who manages to deliver critical information . It will depend on the information given, but it’s possible to get ten times the initial reward offered . What matters the most is speed . …”
So I guess this is the search party the guard was talking about . It looks like he’s instructing the gathered adventurers about their search plans . I guess he’s serving as the coordinator of this adventurer search party .
Arista jumped off the carriage and ran toward the gathered search party .
“Father!”
Arista went in front of the rugged-looking man and loudly called out .
Eh!? So that’s her father? The richest man in this country? He sure doesn’t look the part . No matter how I look at him, he’s more like a veteran adventurer than a businessman .
The man on top of the stairs turned toward Arista and froze up .
“Arista! Ah! You’re safe!”
The man jumped off the stairs and pulled Arista into a tight hug . So he really was her father .
“I’m sorry for making you worry, father . ”
“It’s alright darling . As long as you’re fine . ”
Another guy went up the platform on top of the stairs and started addressing the gathered adventurers once more .
“As you can see, milady has already returned safely . I’m sorry, but this search mission will be called off . Of course, we will give you all proper compensation for your troubles . Thank you very much for coming . All of you are dismissed . ”
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When they heard they’d be still receiving compensation, the gathered adventurers didn’t seem to mind the trouble too much, and they obediently dispersed .
“What happened to you, Arista? And who are these people?”
“We were attacked by bandits along the way, father . These people rescued us from the bandit lair . They are all adventurers . ”
“What!? Bandits, you say? You got attacked by bandits even though I sent twenty guards to protect you?”
“One of the parties who were supposed to guard us got sick due to food poisoning after dining in Sanza town and all the members couldn’t get out of bed . They suggested delaying the departure date, but the remaining party assured us they could handle it, and so we agreed to proceed as planned,” Karina explained .
“What!? What were you thinking, Karina!? Do you understand what this means? You subjected Arista to life-threatening danger with your decision!”
“I am truly sorry to have disappointed you . Please punish me as you see fit,” Karina conceded as she bowed in apology .
“Please don’t blame Karina, father . I was the one who insisted on going through with it because I wanted to come home as soon as possible,” Arista interjected .
“So what happened to the adventurers guarding you?”
“They all died in the attack . ”
“Tsk . And so, you were rescued by these adventurers afterward?”
“No . We were taken to the bandit’s lair . It was then that these adventurers appeared to rescue us . ”
“What!? You were kidnapped by those bandits!? Are you okay?”
“I’m alright, father . I was only tied up because they wanted to hold me for ransom . ”
I turned toward Karina and Natalie, and the both of them had their eyes closed and kept quiet . They might have guessed Arista wanted to preserve their honor when she refrained from mentioning them .
“………I see . It looks like I and my daughter owe you a lot . I am called Silas . ”
“I am the C rank party Shining Star’s leader, Alan . Rescuing them was the right thing to do . Please raise your head, sir . ”
“No . Infiltrating a bandit lair in order to rescue my daughter and my people is something worthy of the highest gratitude . My daughter owes you all her life . Thank you . Truly, thank you very much . ”
“Um, you’re welcome sir . ”
“Father, I promised Alan an ample compensation for their efforts . ”
“But of course . But a reward for their deed in rescuing you cannot be decided so lightly . Let us discuss this another day . Would that be fine with you all, Alan?” Silas suggested .
“Of course . We will talk about it later on then . How should we get in touch with you?”
“You still haven’t booked an inn, right? I’ll send Karina with you and have her guide you until you find a great inn . We will send word for you at the inn . ”
“Alright . ”
Silas-san, Aristsan, and Natalie-san got inside a carriage that was parked nearby and went off .
“Well then, Alan-sama . I will be serving as your guide for now . What are your plans?”
“I want to pay a visit to the Adventurer’s Guild branch in this city first . We need to hand over the deceased adventurer’s belongings after all . ”
“Understood . Let us be off then . ”
Karina then guided us all the way to the local Adventurer’s Guild branch . Thankfully, it was pretty close by, and we parked the carriage at an open space in front of the guild building . Karina handed a number of copper coins to a man who approached us . It looks like the man had companions as well .
“Thank you very much, Lady Karina . ”
It looks like Karina was pretty well-known in this city . The man and his companions surrounded the carriage and acted as guards .
“They serve as temporary guards for the carriages who park here . It’s to deter crooks from approaching . ”
She probably noticed my questioning look and explained things for me . I see . That certainly might be necessary .
I divided the belongings of the dead adventurers to the rest of the party and led them to enter the guild building . The Commerce Guild building looked comparably bigger, but this Adventurer’s Guild branch was at least four times the size of the one in Gotania .
“It’s this window over here . ”
Karina led us to a counter separate from the regular ones .
“What is you business with us today, sir?” the guild staff inquired .
“We have a report to make . It’s about the adventurer parties hired as guards by the Gantz Commerce Guild branch for a round trip to Sanza . The trip to Sanza town went without incident, but in the morning before the trip back to Gantz, one of the parties, the Iron Pact, had all of its members become bedridden due to poisoning and couldn’t continue with the contracted job . Moreover, due to a sudden bandit ambush, all the members of the other party, Green Wind, ended up perishing . We came here to inform the guild of what happened . We are the C ranked party, Shining Star . ”
“Please present your guild identification plates for confirmation,” the guild staff instructed .
I handed over my guild ID . The guild staff inspected my guild ID and wrote something in a memo .
“Can you confirm everything they said, Karinsama?”
“The deaths of the members of Green Wind is true, but I do not know what happened to Iron Pact after we left the town . ”
“I see . We are truly sorry about the troubles caused by Iron Pact, Karinsama . We shall promptly investigate in detail and hold them into account,” the guild staff assured .
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“Understood . Shining Star retrieved the belongings of the deceased members of Green Wind as well . We came here to hand them over to the guild . ”
“Understood . Please fill out this form . ”
We placed the belongings of the ten dead adventurers which were stuffed inside ten separate bags on top of the counter . The swords were too big to be put inside the bags, so we just lined them up neatly on the counter .
“Um… You took more than their guild identifications?”
“We also took some things that could serve as mementos on top of their guild plates . ”
“I see… But you do know that the discoverer of adventurer corpses have the right to claim the deceased adventurer’s belongings, right?”
“We do . But we thought it would be better to hand them over to their families and loved ones . ”
“…That is certainly so . Understood . We at the guild will take custody of these items . We will hand them over to the deceased adventurer’s relatives and loved ones whenever possible . You will also receive a small cash bonus for discovering the corpses and reporting the case . We will confirm the items first, and then hand you your reward . The notice will be posted on the bulletin board near this counter, so please claim your reward once it’s up . ”
“Understood . We’ll be going then . ”
Fuu . We finally handed over those items . We exited the guild building and went back to the carriage .
“Where do you plan on going next?” Karina asked .
“I’d like to book an inn now if possible . It would be nice if it had a bath and tasty food . ”
“An inn with a bath… I know of some places, but they are probably going to be on the pricey side…” Karina offered .
“How much is the booking price?”
“Let’s see . It should be about 750 Guineas or more per night if I remember correctly . ”
Mm . It really was expensive . But Verse’s inn back in Gotania did already cost 500 Guineas per night . So it being more expensive here should be reasonable, considering the fact that this place was comparatively more dangerous due to its proximity to the Great Demon Forest .
“I believe we’ll be able to make do with that price . Do you know of inns that don’t mind us going out for extended periods of time due to adventurer work?”
“Understood . I’ll introduce you to an inn with a good reputation . ”
We left the Adventurer’s Guild and traveled on the streets for five minutes or so until we reached the inn in question .
“It’s a bit far from the guild, but it has nice, clean rooms, a spacious bath, and serves some of the finest cuisines here in Gantz . ”
“That sounds really good . Okay then . We’ll book rooms here . ”
I parked our carriage inside the inn’s courtyard and left the horses to the young stable boy who received us . We then entered the inn . The name of the inn was Spring Breeze .
“Welcome . Oh, if it isn’t Karinsan!”
A middle-aged woman who seemed to be the proprietress of the inn cheerfully greeted Karinsan . Karinsan sure is popular .
“It’s been a long time, Kirsan . I brought you some customers today . We’re introducing them on behalf of the Commerce Guild . ”
“Oh my! They’re recommended by the Commerce Guild? Thank you so much, Karinsan!”
“I’ll introduce you, Alan-sama . This is the proprietress of this inn, Kirsan . ”
“I am called Kira, sir . Pleased to make your acquaintance, Alan-sama . ”
“Likewise . As you’ve heard, my name is Alan, ma’am . Pleased to meet you too . Oh, and by the way, please stop addressing me so formally, Karinsan . You too, Kirsan . I’m not someone so lofty to deserve being addressed with ‘sama’ . ”
“On the contrary, Alan-sama . The moment you rescued me, I decided to accord you with the highest respect for the rest of my life . I will not concede on this no matter what you say, Alan-sama,” Karina insisted .
It looks like her resolution is quite firm . It seems it’s impossible to change her mind .
“Alright . Then at least Kirsan will do . Please just address me normally . ”
“I understand . If you say so, Alan-san . The customer is always right after all . Our inn provides breakfast and dinner, and our single rooms cost 800 Guineas per night . Our double rooms cost 1,100 Guineas . But since you’ve been introduced by the Commerce Guild, I’ll give you a discount and cut the price to 700 Guineas for single rooms and 1000 Guineas for double rooms . Taking care of the carriage and horses will be free of charge . ”
“I see . Is there a discount if we book rooms long term?”
“If you pay in advance for a week’s stay, there will be a ten percent discount . Twenty percent for two weeks . Thirty percent for three . And forty percent for four weeks . However, we cannot offer any refunds once you pay the advance amount . ”
“I see . Are you girls okay with having double rooms just like last time?”
I confirmed with my party members and everyone seemed to have no problem with it . I guess I’ll pay for two weeks first .
“Alright . We’ll have one single room and two double rooms, please . In the meantime, I’ll pay for a two-week stay . ”
Since it’s for two weeks, it’ll be a total of 30,240 Guineas . It really was pretty pricey . We’ll have to work really hard starting tomorrow .
“Well then… that will be 30,240 Guineas please . ”
I took out the leather bag I used as a wallet and paid the fees .
“Thank you . Welcome to the Spring Breeze inn . ”
“I will be excusing myself then . We will get in touch with you at a later date . ”
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“Thank you for guiding us, Karinsan . ”
After saying goodbye to everyone, Karina set off .
“Yosh . Let’s unload our belongings from the carriage first and then go for a nice, long bath . ”
“”Yes!””
The bath here didn’t lose out at all to the one in Verse’s inn . It was pretty spacious and neat . We only encountered one other customer since coming to this inn, so it looks like there weren’t many guests who booked rooms yet . It looks like the rest haven’t come out from the bath yet . I guess I’ll just drink some tea while waiting for them .
The guest rooms are all located on the second floor . The first floor was the dining area . I went down and ordered some tea . It looks like the tea was free for guests . Kirsan brought me some piping hot tea before long .
“By the way, Kirsan, does being introduced by the Commerce Guild have any benefits?”
“Oh, yes, of course . It means you’re a valued partner of the guild and you will be given discounts by many of the establishments in this city . That will, in turn, allow us to earn favor from the Commerce Guild . We can rely on the Commerce Guild if we run into any trouble with our businesses, so it’s pretty beneficial for us too . It’s rumored that you’ll eventually be able to get loans from the guild as well . ”
“I see . So that’s the case . ”
“Our inn isn’t located in an advantageous spot you see . My only employees here are my two daughters and my son, so this inn is basically run entirely by the family . We aren’t that distinguished as an inn, so a recommendation from Karinsan is more than welcome . ”
“I believe that’s not true . Karinsan herself said your inn was one of the best around . ”
I chatted some more with Kirsan until the others went down to the dining area . It was already near dinner time, so we proceeded to order our meals . Just like with Verse’s inn, you’re free to ask for seconds, and alcohol is free of charge .
The meals we were served with were Big Boar steaks, chicken and vegetable soup, some assorted vegetable salad, and some fluffy bread . I also ordered some wine, which I haven’t tasted since we went on the road .
The steak had plenty of garlic and pepper for flavoring and was cooked to perfection . The soup was also quite delicious . It fully brought out the umami and sweetness of the chicken meat and veggies . The salad had a sweet and sour dressing put on top of it and was pretty tasty as well . It looks like this was a great inn after all .
Everyone was very satisfied with the meal .
“Come to think of it, I still haven’t told you all how much money we got from the bandit hideout right? We confiscated a total of 115,825 Guineas from them . The money we got from selling off those twelve surviving bandits is 5,000 Guineas per head, so that’s a total of 60,000 Guineas for all twelve . That makes our total earnings 175,825 Guineas . ”
“”Oooh!””
Bandits really are very profitable prey .
“Now then, how do you guys propose we divide the money? We also have to send money to Roberto and the others, right? But we can’t send all of it to them, or we’ll be lacking in funds ourselves . Any suggestions?”
“Should we just keep the minimum amount we need for our activities?” Cleria suggested .
“If we want to send money through the Commerce Guild, we’ll need to pay a convenience fee of 50,000 Guineas . So we can’t send money frequently because the costs will add up . So if we take efficiency into account, we probably should send them money only once we save up at least more than a million Guineas . ”
“I see . That’s true,” Elna agreed .
“Why don’t we come up with a set salary system, Alan? You said you’ll be paying us salaries Alan, but we don’t really need much money anyway . We’ll probably just donate it all to the party,” Sharon added . Selena nodded in agreement .
“What do you mean by a salary system?” Elna asked .
“It’s a system where you’ll get paid a certain fixed amount every month . ”
“Oh, so it’s a set monthly payment . It does sound good . ”
“I think it’s fine as well . ”
“Well, if everyone says so, then I suppose we can work things out . ”
Everyone nodded .
“Okay then . Let’s do that . Let’s see… How about 10,000 Guineas per month?”
“Ten thousand per month!?” Elna exclaimed in surprise .
“We’ll have to make it at least that much so there will be more motivation, right? Let’s go with that . Okay then . I’ll give everyone’s share for this month now . ”
I made five portions of nine large and ten small silver coins . I then gave one portion to each of the girls . I also took my share as well . With this, the leather bag with the money we got from the bandits got considerably lighter .
“Alan also gets the same salary amount as us?” Selena asked .
“Of course . I’m also planning on donating most of my money to the party funds and don’t need that much either . By the way, we have a total of 798,365 Guineas as party funds, and I plan on adding the 60,000 Guineas we got from selling off those bandits to the pool as well . ”
“We only need to earn just a little bit more in order to send some money to the troops,” Sharon observed .
“Yes, that’s right . But since we need to keep some as our personal funds as well . I’ll reserve 120,000 Guineas for that . ”
“That’s reasonable,” Elna agreed .
“If you all have no problem with it, I was planning on taking some quests tomorrow to start earning funds . Would that be fine?”
“Of course . We’re not all that tired from traveling anyway . And we need to earn plenty of money for our future plans,” Cleria agreed .
It looks like everyone has no problem with starting right away, so I guess we’ll start doing adventurer work by tomorrow . After agreeing to go to the guild early tomorrow morning, we turned in for the night .
(D-1, there’s no need to monitor us while we’re inside Gantz city . I want you to investigate the monster distribution in the areas surrounding the city instead . )
『Acknowledged . 』