Chapter 48
The next morning.
After breakfast, Felicia and I headed straight to the Adventurers' Guild.
The mountains of materials we'd brought in yesterday, along with the Mithril Golem.
If the appraisal was finished, we planned to collect the payment and start preparing to leave for the capital.
When we entered the guild, the receptionist we usually saw noticed us.
"Good morning. I'm glad you're here."
"Is the appraisal finished?"
"Yes. It seems it took quite a while, though."
The receptionist smiled wryly.
"The guild staff couldn't assess some aspects of the Mithril Golem on their own, so they brought in a blacksmith as well."
"It must've been quite a job, huh?"
"It's not every day someone brings one in intact."
The receptionist took out a sheet of paper.
"First, these are the materials from the monsters you brought in from the eleventh through nineteenth floors."
Steel Lizards, Metal Scorpions, Crystal Horns, Blade Mantises.
From the sixteenth floor onward, we'd also defeated Aqua Serpents, Rock Turtles, Iron Ogres, and Storm Wyverns.
We'd brought nearly all of them back whole in Storage.
"The total comes to 7,860,000 Jenny."
"Seven million...?"
Felicia trailed off.
I felt much the same.
It was hard to believe that was the value of the materials we'd brought back in a single day.
"And as for the Mithril Golem, that came to 14,200,000 Jenny."
"...What?"
Felicia asked her to repeat it.
"14,200,000 Jenny."
"For just one monster?"
"Yes. However, its entire body isn't made of mithril.
Apparently, a special metal containing a large amount of mithril was used for its surface and internal frame."
"Even so, that's an incredible amount."
"I hear the large magic stone was exceptionally high quality, too."
I see.
Even so, it was an outrageous amount of money.
"That brings the total to 22,060,000 Jenny.
You'll split it evenly between the two of you, correct?"
"Yes."
"Please."
"Then that's 11,030,000 Jenny each."
Felicia looked at me.
"We've gone over ten million."
"We have."
"In a single day?"
"That's right."
It still didn't feel real to me.
We'd already received 15,000,000 Jenny just in war compensation.
We had savings from before that, too, and we'd earned quite a bit from the dungeon and forest surveys since then.
We'd spent a lot on equipment, but we should still have a considerable amount in the guild bank.
"Please deposit it in the guild bank, as usual."
"I'd like you to do the same for me."
"Certainly."
The receptionist began the paperwork.
That meant there was nothing left for us to wait on in Belgrant.
"Then, shall we head to the capital?"
Felicia said.
"Yes."
Our next destination was the capital.
We'd look for work there that would contribute to the kingdom.
It would be a step toward becoming A-rank adventurers.
"Are we walking all the way to the capital?"
"Shouldn't we take a carriage?"
"I agree. That would be better."
This wasn't a journey where we'd fight our way toward our destination. There was no need to waste time walking.
When I asked the receptionist about public carriages to the capital, she told me there was a station on the eastern side of town.
◇
Several carriages were lined up at the public-carriage station.
Some headed to nearby towns, while others apparently traveled farther away over the course of several days.
When we asked about carriages to the capital, the man at the counter spread out a map.
"There are two routes to the capital right now."
"Two?"
"Yes."
The man traced a road heading northeast from Belgrant with his finger.
"One route goes inland. It passes through the Valdis Marquisate along the way, then continues straight to the capital."
The Valdis Marquisate.
It was where I'd been born and raised.
"And the other route?"
"This one."
The man's finger traced a road a little farther east.
"It loops around along a road near the border with the Rufen Empire, then heads north.
It's a little longer, but merchants often use it."
"Then—"
The route along the border.
That's what I was about to say.
"Why don't we avoid that route?"
Felicia's voice came from beside me.
"Huh?"
When I looked at her, Felicia was staring at the map.
"The route on the Rufen Empire's side?"
"Yes. If possible, I'd rather not go that way."
That was unusual.
It was the first time Felicia had been so clearly opposed to a particular route.
"Is something wrong with it?"
"...I'm just not comfortable with it."
"The border?"
"That area."
She didn't say anything more.
I was a little curious.
But there was no need to press her.
I had places I didn't want to go, either.
I looked at the map again.
The Valdis Marquisate.
I hadn't been back once since I'd been driven out of my home.
Honestly, it wasn't somewhere I wanted to go out of my way to visit.
Even so, we weren't going there to return to the marquisate's capital. We'd only be passing through on our way to the capital.
"Then let's take the route through the Valdis Marquisate."
Felicia looked at me.
"...Are you sure?"
Felicia knew I'd been driven out of my home.
"We'll only be passing through. Besides, we're going to the capital."
"But..."
"It's all right."
Before, I might not have even considered going anywhere near the Valdis Marquisate.
But now there was somewhere beyond it that I had to go.
"I understand."
Felicia nodded.
"Then let's go together."
"Of course."
We reserved two seats on the public carriage leaving for the capital the next morning.
◇
That day, we bought some more things we'd need for the journey.
Food, drinking water, blankets, and rain gear.
We'd be riding in the carriage for several days, so we needed quite a few things, but our luggage itself barely increased.
I put everything we'd bought into Storage.
"That's convenient."
Felicia glanced at her own luggage.
"Would you like me to put your things in, too, Felicia-san?"
"Please."
I stored her clothes and travel supplies along with everything else.
In the end, neither of us had to carry more than the bare essentials.
"Normally, you'd need a lot of luggage just to travel to the capital."
"I'm glad I bought Storage."
Maybe it was most useful when traveling.
Once we'd finished preparing, we returned to the Silver Wheat Inn.
When I'd first come to this town, I'd only just become an adventurer.
I had almost no money, and Felicia and I took on requests together as we gradually ventured deeper into the dungeon.
Now we'd become B-rank adventurers and cleared the twentieth floor.
Next was the capital.
◇
The next morning.
We left the Silver Wheat Inn.
"We stayed here a long time, didn't we?"
Felicia looked back at the inn.
"We did."
"We'll come back, won't we?"
"I still want to explore beyond the twenty-first floor."
"That's right."
Once we became A-rank, we'd return to the Belgrant Western Dungeon.
We left the inn and headed to the public-carriage station.
The carriage to the capital was already ready to depart.
A few merchants and travelers had boarded besides us.
We climbed into the carriage.
After a while, the driver called out.
"We're off!"
The wheels began to turn, and Belgrant's streets slowly slipped away behind us.
We passed through the city gates.
Our destination was the capital.
On the way, we'd pass through the Valdis Marquisate.
◇
The carriage journey was more peaceful than I'd expected.
We stayed at roadside inns and set out again the next morning.
We saw monsters along the way from time to time, but most were far from the road, and nothing serious happened.
As the days passed, the scenery around us gradually changed.
Trees of familiar varieties.
Fields stretching along the road.
Hills in the distance.
We weren't in the marquisate yet.
Even so, I could tell we were drawing closer.
Late in the afternoon.
The carriage entered a small waystation.
The driver turned around.
"This is as far as we're going today. If we set out tomorrow morning, we'll reach the Valdis Marquisate before noon."
"Tomorrow..."
The words slipped out before I could stop them.
Felicia looked at me.
"Are you all right?"
"Yes."
I wasn't going back.
I was only passing through.
That's what I told myself.
Even so, something stirred faintly deep in my chest.
Tomorrow.
For the first time since I'd been driven from my home, I'd enter the Valdis Marquisate.
Total P Earned: 85,475P