Chapter 8
—Raust—
The next afternoon, I was heading toward the cafe chosen by Zieg-san as a place to discuss the phoenix subjugation .
……However, despite this being right before an important discussion, I was walking with a heavy mood .
The problem that came out from making those adventurers doing voluntary service to the city folks yesterday left me fatigued .
First, the documents necessary for adventurers to bring materials to the city, the fact that more than half of those adventurers couldn’t write meant I had to write documents for over 20 adventurers, which I just finished this morning .
That in itself was just hard labor, though the problem didn’t end there .
The relationship between the adventurers and the city folks was too bad .
The adventurers were neglecting the city folks and they hate those adventurers .
In that situation, even if there was no problem, there was also no progress to be made .
Yesterday alone, I half-killed four adventurers who tried to put their hands on the young women in the city, they were supposed to treat her .
……How many times have I thought about retracting my previous statement, or not suggesting voluntary service from adventurers to the city?
Even so, in the end, I still kept the adventurers’ voluntary service continued, the material that circulated in the city was so low that I had to resort to this .
According to the talk with Marry-san, the price of material from the guild continued to rise .
Because of that, despite living in Labyrinth City for many years, some people already left, and if the adventurers didn’t let the materials flow, Marry-san also considering leaving Labyrinth City .
Hearing that, I was at lost at what the guild wanted to do .
In any case, if this kept going as is, Marry-san and the others would surely have a hard time .
Also, on top of the guild, the adventurers themselves were causing problems .
This time, I showed my powers to the troublemaking adventurers and they became obedient .
But that didn’t mean that the chance of adventurers to cause problems became zero .
「Hahh…」
Seeing no answer to this problem, I sighed .
I really didn’t know what to do now .
Knowing that this wasn’t a problem I could leave alone, I gathered more wrinkles in between my eyebrows without noticing .
「……Onii-san, are you alright?」
Hearing Narsena’s voice, I stopped my thinking .
Turning my head to the side, there, Narsena was staring at me with a worried expression .
Still looking worried, Narsena opened her mouth .
「If you feel unwell, Onii-san can rest……」
Her words made me wonder if I really look that tired, and then I let out a strained laugh .
Actually, I felt quite tired because of yesterday’s documents problem and another one that I hadn’t reached an answer yet .
I didn’t have much time to look at myself this morning, so I wasn’t really aware of how fatigued I was looking .
「It’s fine, today is just a meeting . Thank you for worrying about me, Narsena . 」
「……Don’t overdo it, alright?」
「Yeah I know . 」
Still, I didn’t intend to be absent from this meeting .
I’m indeed tired, but this’s mainly mental fatigue, so there’s no need to be worried .
I also want to make sure I don’t miss the meeting for phoenix subjugation .
Narsena’s ability is far higher than me, her brain is no exception .
However, she’s still lacking in experience and monsters knowledge, she’s emotional too sometimes .
Aside from other quests, a quest with super-high difficulty monsters such as a phoenix like this should be accompanied by me who should have more experience .
「I can see it!」
I put together my thought and then the meeting place came to sight .
When I saw the cafe, I refocused myself .
Anyway, let’s forget about the adventurers and the guild for now and focus on the phoenix subjugation .
Having renewed my determination, I quicken my pace as I head to the cafe .
◇ ◆ ◇
When we arrived in the cafe, Zieg-san’s party was already waiting .
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Apparently, Zieg-san’s party consisted of him and two females .
「Err, thank you for the other day . 」
「Don’t worry . Now, let’s focus our mind on phoenix subjugation . 」
「Y-Yes!」
Among them was Armia, seeing her bowing her head to Narsena, I involuntarily smiled .
「Ummm, Raust-san . 」
「………Hmm?」
……But after talking to Narsena, Armia turned toward me . Not knowing what she wanted, I was dumbfounded for a moment .
「I’m sorry for everything!」
「Huh?」
Without noticing my reaction, Armia, as she bowed, she pushed something at me .
The thing Armia shoved toward me was a leather bag filled with money .
「Ahhh, I will accept both your apology and the remuneration . 」
It was then I understood that Armia was apologizing to me, I hurriedly reached out .
「I have only this for now, but I will definitely pay you back . I’m really sorry for treating you unfairly in Sword of Lightning, Raust-san . 」
After I received the leather bag, Armia raised her head for a moment and then lowered for an apology again .
「Emmm, I understand……?」
I couldn’t hide my confusion when I saw Armia .
Speaking of change of attitude, the adventurers in Labyrinth City clearly worsen, but apparently, Armia also changed a lot .
At the last encounter, I didn’t notice because she was a mess, but Armia’s personality seemed to be quite different .
「Now, let’s talk about Phoenix . 」
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For a while, I was obviously shaken from the unexpected change, but Zieg-san’s voice returned my calm .
We’re here to discuss about phoenix subjugation, not to show off Armia’s change .
I told myself so, stowed my surprise in the back of my mind, and then sit down on the chair .
「Well then, should we start?」
After making sure I sat down properly, Zieg-san nodded and announced so .
With that, the discussion started with Zieg-san as the facilitator .
The discussion was about phoenix subjugation, but in essence, it was about how to take care of the phoenix’s flame armor .
Flame armor, it was the flame covering the phoenix .
That flame that covered its body also protected it, exactly like armor .
And that flame armor was said to be the most troublesome ability of the phoenix .
Unlike other monsters, Phoenix has inferior physical ability and durability .
It could release magic comparable to a magician with skills, but because it only had long-range attacks, its movement worsened if you could get close .
……Despite this, Phoenix’s nickname was the vanguard killer .
The reason was the flame armor .
The armor that protected its body emitted extremely high temperatures that no human could hope to survive it .
Almost all weapons would be useless after one or two blows .
One couldn’t even attack with half-baked weapons in the first place .
……In front of that flame armor, you could think of me and Narsena as almost useless .
Even if Narsena equipped with heat resistant gauntlet and I fought with a greatsword, we could only attack once or twice .
If it was Zieg-san’s magic sword, then it might be able to break the flame armor, but there was no way for Zieg-san to beat a super-high difficulty monster alone .
In other words, the conventional method to subjugate a phoenix was to depend on magicians, in our case, it was Armia .
And yet, for a magician, to deal damage to Phoenix wasn’t easy .
After all, Phoenix had a keen sense of magic .
Just as the magician started casting, the phoenix would change its target to that magician and fired fireballs .
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If it released long-range attacks, vanguard wouldn’t be able to keep it in check just like the other super-high difficulty monster, the hydra .
Those characteristics were what transformed Phoenix which was inferior compared to other super-high difficulty monsters into a terrible and troublesome being .
That was why, Narsena and I were going to forcibly fight by bringing a large number of weapons and using them in a disposable manner .
Honestly, by adding Zieg-san’s party, we would have a magician to help, but the number of people remained small .
Considering there were more than a dozen people in a normal phoenix subjugation group, we might be better off using a brute force approach than to rely on the unskillful Armia .
I had such an idea while we exchanged information for our quest .
「If it’s Armia’s magic, then she could strip off Phoenix’s armor without chanting the magic…」
「Wh!」
———However, Zieg-san’s words changed my thought greatly .
If we could take care of the phoenix’s flame armor, the phoenix would be greatly weakened .
「To unleash magic capable of stripping Phoenix’s armor without chanting, even for Armia who has the skill to strengthen water magic, she will need considerable time and concentration…… And it can’t be used against Phoenix that fires fireballs indiscriminately . 」
「I think it will be fine . 」
「……Huh?」
I who thought so, voiced my thought toward the uneasy Zieg-san, interrupted him .
「I can attract the phoenix for some time . 」
「…What?」
Seemingly unable to believe my words, Zieg-san lost his words for a moment .
However, after looking at Narsena and Armia who nodded to affirm my words, he understood that what I said was true and he slack-jawed in surprise .
「As expected from a person who defeated that hydra…」
But the next moment, Zieg-san’s expression changed from dumbfounded into a ferocious smile as he opened his mouth .
「If that’s the case, then we can certainly kill the phoenix . 」
The words were filled with unconcealed excitement and joy .