Chapter 39
Chapter 39 – Fortune Smiles Upon Them
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Translator: Kell Editor: Weasalopes
Fortune Smiles Upon Them
Three hours had passed since they explored the forest . With her newly revamped spells, Lavia ripped large monsters to shreds, while Hikaru collected the trophies, i . e . the proof of kill, from the creatures .
Hikaru’s Mana Detection was extremely useful . He could now sense monsters on top of trees . Both of them gathered other materials as well . Reading the botanical picture book seemed to bear fruit as Lavia found plants in places that Hikaru failed to notice .
After gathering about the same amount as yesterday, they left the forest .
「I might get to rank E now . 」
Hikaru was pleased . He’d spent quite a lot in buying equipment and paying for the information he got from Kelbeck, but he was sure he’d make bank from yesterday’s and today’s loots . Their Soul Ranks had gone up as well; one for Hikaru and two for Lavia .
How should I spend the one point… Detection Expansion was quite useful . Maybe I should put one more point on that? But expanding its range more than a hundred meters sounds pretty useless . I should just save it for now…
They were waiting for a horse by the side of the lake when a caravan of three wagons passed by . Maybe they’ll give us a ride, Hikaru thought as he activated his Mana Detection for no particular reason .
「What the…?!」
On the third wagon was a cluster of mana even though no one was supposed to be there . A Stealth-type skill . Back when Hikaru rescued Lavia, they hitched a ride on the back of a wagon . This person was doing that as well .
「Lavia, hide yourself and wait here . 」
「Wha… What?」
Hikaru got up and made his way to the caravan . Jogging, as if hot on a person’s heels, he talked to the man leading the wagons . Guards – two of them – ignored him, thinking he was only a kid .
「Mr . Merchant! Can you give me a ride to Pond?」
「I can, but it’ll cost you . 150 gilans . 」
「What?! A fast horse only costs a hundred! Make it 80!」
「120 gilans . Take it or leave it . 」
「Ugh, fine, never mind . 」
「I’m sorry, but I don’t run a charity here . You can run all the way back to Pond, you know . 」
With a grin, the merchant spurred his horse onward . Hikaru watched the caravan go . It required much effort to stop himself from looking at the cluster of mana at the back . The moment the third wagon passed by him, Hikaru summoned the mystery person’s Soul Board .
【Soul Board】Sarah
Age: 18 Rank: 39
9
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【Vitality】
. . 【Natural Recovery】2
. . 【Stamina】3
. . 【Immunity】
… . 【Toxic Immunity】2
【Physical Strength】
. . 【Strength】1
. . 【Weapon Mastery】
… . 【Short Sword】2
… . 【Bow】4
… . 【Throwing】1
【Agility】
. . 【Power Burst】3
. . 【Flexibility】3
. . 【Balance】4
. . 【Stealth】
… . 【Life Obfuscation】2
… . 【Mana Obfuscation】1
… . 【Imperceptibility】1
【Dexterity】
. . 【Dexterity】5
【Intuition】
. . 【Instinct】5
. . 【Detection】
… . 【Life Detection】1
Bingo!
Hikaru almost yelled out loud . The cluster of mana – Sarah – seemed to be looking at him, but he quickly turned his back around as soon as he saw her stats .
It’s Sarah of the Four Stars of the East . I’m glad I trusted my intuition . Her points on Stealth was less than I expected . Unken is way more skilled than her . She had Detection, though . But with only one point on it, the cloak Dodorono is making should serve us just fine .
A thought suddenly crossed his mind . What was she doing here? The caravan came from the direction of the royal capital .
Was she searching for the guy who stopped the carriage?
A chill went down his spine . Hikaru had asked Kelbeck for someone to stop the carriage during Lavia’s rescue . The location was in the direction where the caravan came from .
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Those women think there’s something suspicious about the man who stopped the carriage . They’re considering the possibility that Lavia escaped while the adventurers were distracted . Kelbeck said it’s fine, but I’m not so sure now .
The worst-case scenario was they identify the guy, i . e . the merchant . Kelbeck’s name would then come up if they interrogated the man . Kelbeck said he wouldn’t sell out his clients, but they could find Hikaru’s name if they looked into his connections . After all, Gloria sent him once to Kelbeck for a delivery .
I got to know what Sarah’s up to by chance this time . Looks like Lady Luck is on my side . We should really leave this kingdom as soon as possible . Anyway, we’ll enter the dungeon after I get promoted to rank E, then take some requests in Root Hubbard before moving to a town near the border . After that, we head straight out of the kingdom .
Jill’s face suddenly popped in his mind . A receptionist who had an awful personality on the surface, but would push herself to get close to someone she could trust . A bit of a handful .
She’ll probably resent me if I don’t at least see her .
「Hikaru? I thought for sure you were getting on that caravan . 」
Hikaru sat down beside Lavia .
「Let’s wait for a horse . Someone hitched a ride before us . 」
The ranked B adventurer, Sarah .
Even a ranked B adventurer only has that much on Stealth…
Hikaru unknowingly poured a lot of points on his Stealth .
Did I go overboard with mine?
They hailed a fast horse afterward and made it to the Adventurers Guild around the same time as yesterday .
「Oh, Hikaru-sama . 」
Gloria was at the counter .
「I’d like to request an assessment . 」
「Before that, about the goods you brought yesterday… Congratulations! They were deemed to have been obtained in a legitimate manner . 」
「I see . 」
「You don’t sound happy . 」
「I know I didn’t do anything wrong, so…」
「I suppose . So, another delivery today? Do you want get paid the whole amount?」
「Yes, please . 」
Eyes wide open while looking at the stuff Hikaru brought, Gloria, having experienced this before, pulled herself back together and started working on the assessment . The adventurers present were abuzz, but Hikaru didn’t care . He wouldn’t see them again anyway .
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「There’s a lot . The materials you gathered are in good condition as well . 」
「Thanks . 」
「You won’t get pretty Vampire Flowers like this unless you found a place where they grow en masse that nobody knows about . Generally, bees will swarm on the flowers the moment a human approaches and destroy them . 」
Well I did get close with my Stealth on, Hikaru thought . He didn’t say it out loud, of course .
「How much for all of these?」
「Twenty-two monsters killed and thirty-one materials delivered yesterday . Today you killed seventeen monsters and delivered forty-four materials . All in all, that’s 167,200 gilans . 」
「I-I see . 」
「So even you get flustered, Hikaru-sama . 」
「I’m not flustered . 」
Hikaru cleared his throat .
「I want 57,200 gilans in cash, and 110,000 deposited . 」
「Okay . You now have exactly 200,000 gilans in deposit . 」
「So… do I get promoted?」
「………」
Gloria was silent, making Hikaru lose his cool . Did I miss something? What is it?
「As of today, you’re a rank E adventurer, Hikaru-sama . Congratulations!」
Hikaru let out a deep sigh . Don’t scare me like that, sheesh .
「There’s a whole Red-horned Rabbit here, Hikaru-sama . 」
「Yeah . Can I borrow the dissection area? I just found one by chance . I want to take its internal organs . 」
「Of course . You may head to the back . 」
Hikaru thought there was something strange about how Gloria was acting . She would usually have a lot more to say, but this time she seemed unconcerned . And that silence a while ago… What was that about?
No point in racking my brain over it . We’re leaving Pond tomorrow anyway .
Hikaru called Lavia over, and they both headed to the dissection room .
The bear-like manager of Pasta Magic came running out of the kitchen as soon as he heard Hikaru was around .
「Innards! Tell me you have fresh innards with blood still dripping from them!」
「You’ll get in trouble if you say that out loud, considering your looks . 」
The manager gasped in amazement when Hikaru handed the goods over to him, and he headed back to the kitchen . The rare ingredient must have lit up a fire in him .
「Oh, Hikaru! All the tables are taken, so you’ll have to take your seats over at the counter . 」
「O-Okay . 」
Hikaru didn’t even say anything about eating in the restaurant . Together with Lavia, they sat at the counter . He thought about ordering juice, but the manager offered them non-alcoholic cocktails instead . For a toast, apparently .
「We might as well drink this . 」
「Yes . To your promotion to rank E . Cheers!」Lavia said as they clinked their glasses .
Their glass wasn’t actually the exquisite kind, barely transparent and shaped like a mug . Still the pink liquid left a refreshing aroma as it went down the throat .
「Hikaru . 」
「Yes?」
「Are we really leaving tomorrow? You have plenty of acquaintances here . 」
Lavia was probably feeling guilty, thinking they had to leave because of her .
「I guess . But my goal from the start was to go around the world . I might wind up here again in the future . 」
「I… I see . You’re right . 」
「Yup . 」
Having finished his drink, Hikaru ordered tea . Then…
「Hikaru-kun!」
The shop’s door opened and Jill stood there .
「I’m here too!」
Gloria was behind Jill, waving her hand . The former must’ve guessed where he was going and told Jill about it .
That silence… I knew she was up to something .
Hikaru heaved a mental sigh . Jill came up in front of him .
「Hikaru-kun, are you leaving Pond?」she asked, getting straight to the point .