Chapter 7
Although it was early morning, the Adventurers' Guild was bustling with people.
The old floor creaked, while the strong scents of leather and sweat stung my nose.
A man sat in a corner checking his weapon, while someone else stared intently at the bulletin board.
Even people who passed by while looking at me curiously. All sorts of people had gathered.
Among them, Claude kept his eye on the bulletin board.
Adventurer requests were conventionally checked on the bulletin board. But he didn't approach it.
Instead, he leaned against the wall beside it.
I wanted to ask what he was trying to do, but he was concentrating on the sounds around us.
“You there. How did today's job go?”
“Not well. Would you believe we didn't even see a single small deer?”
“That bad? Come to think of it, it's been a long time since I've seen a Blade Rabbit request, either.”
Perk. When I pricked up my ears and listened, it seemed there weren't any suitable requests for them.
“Is an Ossel Bear subjugation all that's available? Why are there so many of these bears?”
“I heard two of them even came down east yesterday.”
“Tch, are they telling us Silver-ranks to starve to death?”
“What else can we do but take a Bronze-rank job? Honestly….”
Come to think of it, what had happened to my adventurer rank?
I had fallen into slavery and lost everything. Maybe I could still receive an adventurer rank.
Claude now looked toward the seats where people waited for requests.
Back when I was a mercenary, I always waited there, too. When the leader accepted a request, he would take along the people he needed.
In short, the people there had found worthwhile requests and were registering for them.
Claude was examining them.
A man polishing a large ax. Four archers adjusting their bows. Two people who appeared to be mages.
And there were three vanguards, whose shields were enormous.
Steel pavises large enough to cover their entire bodies.
Shields that large were usually used to deal with boar-type monsters or in raids.
Could there be a dungeon near this village?
“Master.”
“Yes, Aris.”
“Aren't you going to check the bulletin board?”
“I am. But first, just a moment.”
Instead of the bulletin board, Claude looked for the leader of the party registering a request.
“Excuse me.”
“What?”
“Would you happen to be willing to hand over that request?”
Claude abruptly asked for a request someone else was in the middle of registering.
Without even knowing what request it was? More importantly…that didn't seem like adventurer etiquette.
As expected, the brown-haired swordsman filling out the form scowled.
He was probably the leader of the party waiting over there.
“Hand it over? Hand over what?”
“The request you're filling out.”
“What are you talking about? If you want a request, get over to that bulletin board.”
The swordsman treated Claude like a weirdo and tried to drive him away. Even I thought he was weird.
But he didn't give up.
“Drilliko has come down as far as the area near the village.”
“What? How did you know our request was for Drilliko?”
“It's easy to tell from your party members. Archers and shield-bearers. An executioner. Support mages.”
The swordsman set down the pen he had been using.
“Are you picking a fight? You look like a mage. Are you pretending to know things so you can join the party?”
“No. I want to take over your request.”
“Fuck off. Quit spouting nonsense and get lost. I'm not dealing with you.”
The swordsman was sensible. When some weirdo kept talking to you, it was best to ignore him.
I wanted to do the same, but I ended up getting caught and becoming a slave.
It bothered me a little that the weirdo was my master now, though.
“How many times have you attempted this request? Is this your fourth?”
At Claude's words, the swordsman's expression turned vicious. The swordsman made his move.
“Graaagh!”
“Grrrr…!”
I grabbed the swordsman's arm and twisted it. He had been about to grab Claude by the collar.
“Huh? A-Aris! It's all right. Let him go!”
“Grrr… But this guy was going to grab you, Master!”
“It's all right. I'm the one in the wrong.”
So he knew he was in the wrong. What on earth are you doing?
I released his arm while watching their reactions. The swordsman then glared at me with a nasty expression.
And the large man carrying the ax from behind him approached us.
“What's going on?”
“These lunatics are asking for our request!”
“What? Do you want to die?”
He raised the ax in both hands. I stepped in front of Claude, but he placed a hand on my head.
He shook his head, so I stepped back.
“We're not trying to fight.”
“Then what? Why are you harassing our leader?”
“I'm not harassing him. To be honest, you won't be able to subjugate Drilliko.”
Bang!-
Perhaps he was angry, because the swordsman slammed his fist down on the request-writing table.
“Do you think you're somebody? Why are you picking a fight?”
“I'm nobody special, but you shouldn't use Sharpstone anymore.”
“Sharp… Hey! Shut up!”
The ax-wielding man approached.
But Claude gripped my shoulder tightly and kept me from coming out from behind him.
The ax-wielding man grabbed him by the collar.
“You…watch your mouth. How do you know about Sharpstone?”
“Drilliko. That monstrous bird has come down as far as the area near the village. The Silver-rank requests are all gone. Even Ossel Bears are coming down. The nearby goblin settlement is probably empty, too.”
Sharpstone.
I didn't know exactly what it was either, but it was a stone that emitted a particular kind of magic.
It lured and provoked monsters. And…it was an extremely dangerous object.
The ax-wielding man said,
“Are you a resident of this village? Don't say another word about Sharpstone. I'll kill you.”
“I understand, so please don't use it anymore. Drilliko will come down to the village and kill people.”
The ax-wielding man released Claude's collar and asked the swordsman,
“What should we do with this bastard?”
“Damn it. Tell us what you know. We…don't want to waste any more time, either.”
“Strike the base of Drilliko's wing with that ax.”
“If we could do that, would we be sitting here? Get lost. We've only wasted time.”
Apparently, Claude had won the battle of wills. He hadn't gotten the request, but…
Had he wanted to tell them about Sharpstone?
The ax-wielding man waved his hand as if telling us to leave, and Claude stepped aside after reading the room.
He led me outside the guild.
“Master.”
“Yes, Aris. That was confusing, wasn't it? I'm sorry. Things looked bad, so I couldn't explain.”
“It's all right. Even if your actions are strange, I'm on your side, Master.”
“I appreciate that, but you're being too honest.”
“I'm sorry.”
As Claude had expected, the request concerning Drilliko was already underway.
Even if we beat them to Drilliko, we wouldn't receive the reward; it would go to them.
“Aren't you going to take another request?”
“Those guys are very likely to be wiped out during this one.”
Sharpstone was excellent at luring monsters, but its side effects were severe.
It drove the monsters it lured insane. That was why its use was completely prohibited in some regions.
“Wiped out…?”
“They've used Sharpstone at least four times. Thanks to that, the monstrous bird has started rampaging, and the nearby forest has probably been wiped out by now. Deer, rabbits, goblins—they're probably all dead.”
He said that was why the Silver-rank adventurer requests had disappeared.
Apparently, only something as physically powerful as an Ossel Bear had managed to survive.
With no food left in the forest, it was coming down to the village.
“This village could be in danger, too. That's why I told them to abandon the request.”
“What are you going to do?”
“For now, I want to find the Sharpstones they used. They're magic stones, too.”
“I see.”
Claude nodded and rummaged in his pocket, taking something out.
“This is a Sharpstone. It's definitely effective at luring monsters.”
“You had one?”
“Oh, I stole this from that big guy earlier.”
He grinned proudly as he announced that he'd stolen it. Somehow, you didn't get caught.
A faint red glow emanated from the Sharpstone. Its magic was so dense that it was visible.
“This is harmful to the human body even if you leave it alone. That's why I put a spell on it.”
“So we just need to find the Sharpstones?”
“Yeah. We should be able to track the same magical wavelength. It may take a while, though.”
Apparently, they had thrown them into the mountains one by one to catch the monstrous bird.
He said that if we found the Sharpstones, we could learn more about the monstrous bird….
“I don't really understand, Master.”
I quietly gazed at the glowing Sharpstone in his hand.
I tugged at his large hand.
“Aris?”
He called my name, but I didn't answer.
I clasped his hand in both of mine, tilted my head up, and closed my eyes.
Sniff, sniff. Sniff, sniff.
Although it was a stone, it had a distinctive scent. Yes, I thought I could distinguish it.
I was in the middle of sniffing it for quite some time.
“Ah, so cute….”
I opened my eyes at Claude's voice.
“Huh? W-what did you just say…?”
“I said you're cute. Oops, you're a person.”
He hurriedly put the magic stone in his pocket.
Why had he suddenly said something like that, anyway? What a strange person, saying embarrassing things without hesitation.
The fact that he looked completely unfazed made it even more irritating.
I wanted to get back at him.
“M-Master…you're handsome.”
“Really? Oh, thanks, Aris!”
He smiled brightly, looking a little surprised. But…he wasn't embarrassed at all.
Strange. Something about it irritated me. I wanted to make him flustered.
“If you just shaved your beard, you'd be even….”
“Hm? My beard?”
“Yes. I think you'd be much more handsome if you shaved your beard….”
“Uh…r-really? You think so?”
Had that gotten to him a little? I could feel him getting flustered.
His beard was rough. It wasn't properly trimmed; it had simply grown out messily.
If he just tidied that up, he would definitely be a decent-looking man.
He rubbed his chin and summoned water in his hand, using it as a mirror.
Magic sure was convenient. But he didn't bother taking care of himself.
“Master. Then are we going to look for them right away?”
“No, we don't have to leave right away. I saw the document he was filling out, so we have time.”
Their mission was scheduled for two days from now. He said we could find them in the meantime.
“They've already been hunting that monstrous bird for a month. That means it's been exposed to Sharpstone for a month.”
“A red monster….”
“That's right. There's a high chance Drilliko has become a red monster.”
Claude said that was one of the reasons they were highly likely to be wiped out.
“Good. Before we look for the Sharpstones, let's get Aris fitted for armor.”
“I'm sturdy, so I'm fine.”
“Do you always refuse things first, Aris? If your master gives you something, you should be happy to accept it.”
“Understood. Thank you.”
Armor…I didn't particularly like it, since it made me heavier.
But since he was offering it, accepting it was only proper.
In truth, I needed clothes more than armor….
“Um, Master….”
“Hm?”
“I'm sorry, Master, but I have a favor to ask.”
“A favor? Really? Really? What kind of favor?”
Was there really another master who would light up and look so happy when his slave asked for something?
“I want some clothes for everyday wear.”
“Ah…Then clothes should come before armor. I got too excited after seeing the monstrous bird outside the village.”
He stroked my head and said,
“Aris. Good job. If there's something you want from me, just tell me like this. Understand?”
“Thank you, Master.”
Claude took my hand.
I followed him down the street.