abcnovels
Chapter 327
Chapter 327
Chapter 327
(327) Request from the Mercenary Guild guild master
Translator: Tseirp
The next day, I went to the Mercenary Guild the first thing in the morning .
I greeted the receptionist lady that I met yesterday .
“Ichinojo-san, you have not departed for the dungeon?”
“Actually, I’ve been to the dungeon, defeated the boss and returned last night . Here, the requested boss drop item . ”
“Eh? No way, it would take an entire day to reach the dungeon even with a fast horse . And what’s this gourd?”
“That dungeon has two different boss rooms and we found that in the other boss room . It contains alcohol . ”
The receptionist lady heard my reply and first opened the wine jar dropped by the snake and scooped out its contents for a sip .
Are you sure you can do that while on duty?
“ … The taste of snake has not fully blended in with the alcohol, a young brew . This is definite proof that this is a recent drop . What about this gourd?”
This time she opened the gourd and drank the contents .
“Such a mellow taste . Rice wine? Its sweetness spreads throughout the mouth even though not a single fruit was used . I have not drunk such a wine before . ”
Where did this wine critic come from?
How does she know these things?
“Ichinojo-san, I will pay additional rewards so please tell me in detail the experiences you went through to acquire this golden gourd . ”
“All right . ”
I explained about the illusionary wall, the pitfall, and the side path .
And I talked about the boss as well . josei
“That’s dangerous . We have records of that monkey . Torch Kill . It is a monster adept in erasing its presence but said to be weak to cold and unable to activate its hiding specialty in places where the temperature is low . It was not known where it lived but we had never expected it to be in such a place . ”
I see . So that was why I didn’t see the monkey from the beginning .
I had no comments on the name Torch Kill .
“Erm, so with this, am I able to meet the guild master?”
I didn’t mind even if she refused . I had already acquired the Nectar after all .
I wanted to say that but since I requested to meet the guild master, I was afraid what others would think if I just dropped my request .
“Yes, no problem . In fact, looking at the evaluation now, we can’t let you return without a meeting . This way please . ”
There was no problem .
And so I was led to the room at the back .
The guild master room of the Mercenary Guild . I wondered what kind of person were they .
I was nervous .
The receptionist lady opened the door without knocking and entered .
I followed after her .
The shelves were filled with alcohol bottles . There were tons of alcohol in the dwarf village as well but the focus was on the quantity available to drink . In contrast, there were a lot more variations here but all of them were in small bottles .
And more importantly .
There was nobody in the room .
Was the guild master out?
As I was thinking, the receptionist lady sat on the leather chair .
“Congratulations on passing the test, Ichinojo-san . I am the Mercenary Guild guild master, Stefania . ”
“ … So you’ve been lying to me from the start . ”
“Didn’t I say it? ‘I’ll apologize in advance’ . Furthermore, I never said that I was not the Mercenary Guild guild master so it’s a little harsh to say I lied . Well, I do receptionist work because I like to see that expression . Ah, right right . You’re forbidden from telling others that I am the Mercenary Guild guild master . ”
Did she change her tone from a receptionist to the Mercenary Guild guild master?
Well, her frank tone made it easier for me to speak as well .
I see . So her words were not meant for the letter but an apology for faking her identity .
“But won’t an intelligent person realize immediately? After all, I knew the contents of the letter that Ichinojo-san brought . ”
“You said that you looked at the letter before it was torn . ”
“Even if it was a document to be torn, a mere receptionist wouldn’t be able to read the contents of a letter addressed to the guild master . ”
Ah, that’s true as well .
So she was testing me on that aspect too .
Carol probably would have noticed if she was with me .
I would have seen through her lies if I used Thought Trace but it was not as though I had it activated all the time so I ended up completely believing her and did not notice anything amiss .
“First, this is the reward for this request, with the additional reward added in, 3 million Goats . I’ll prepare it now . ”
“3 million!? You said it was 70,000 Goats . ”
“That is just how valuable the information Ichinojo-san brought to us is . Personally, I feel that is too little but if I give any more my subordinates will make noise . It’s a hassle . ”
Her words were sketchy but I could understand it a little .
That was probably her true nature .
“Ha …… “
She was delighted that she found precious alcohol ─ ─ I guess I could interpret it that way?
I looked at the alcohol bottles that lined the shelf .
Eh?
There was a drawing placed between the alcohol bottles .
A portrait?
It was probably drawn with a Portrait skill or something similar as it was as detailed as a photo .
A burly man, a toned man, and a small girl were illustrated .
“Eh? I feel like I’ve seen that person before . ”
“Good job noticing, that girl is me when I was a child . ”
Stefania-san said as she took the money out of the safe .
But I was not referring to the child .
I was talking about the burly Pugilist man .
“That Swordsman is my father . And that Pugilist-san is father’s partner Marg-san . The two of them were a legendary mercenary combination known as the Steel Brothers . ”
“Heeh … hn?”
Wait, I’ve seen the steel sword that the toned Swordsman is holding before .
Where did I see it? It was definitely in this world .
Marg … Marg .
“ ─ ─ !? Aah, so that’s it . ”
The Pugilist seemed familiar because isn’t it Margaret-san!?
I see, so his real name was Marg . Although I knew that Margaret was not his real name .
And the steel sword the Swordsman was holding was the steel sword I borrowed and ended up snapping when fighting the Mountain Bandit .
“Eh? What do you mean?”
I suddenly raised my voice so Stefania-san asked suspiciously .
“Ah, sorry . That Pugilist is my benefactor . ”
“Really!? You met Marg-san!? When!?”
Stefania-san leaned forward to ask me .
“About two months ago on the Western Continent . I’m probably not mistaken . ”
I see . Margaret-san mentioned that he liked his partner but so his partner already had a child .
“I see, so Marg-san is still alive . Marg-san was very kind to me when I was a child . Marg-san once asked me if I wanted to become his actual daughter . I kind of yearned for a father like Marg-san . Of course, I refused in the end . ”
… She mistook his question .
I believe Margaret-san wanted to become your mother .
“When father died, Marg-san actually wanted to take care of me but my mother took me in and she hated Marg-san . Perhaps she was jealous that Marg-san was always traveling the world with my father for battles . Ahaha . ”
Stefania laughed .
I think she actually was jealous .
She probably felt it with female intuition .
Stefania-san seemed to hold a strong sense of admiration for Marg-san .
But Marg-san’s current appearance ─ ─ I probably shouldn’t talk about Margaret-san . It’s best to leave a dream as a dream .
“So where is Marg-san now?”
“Erm, sorry . I met him during my journey so I know he is on the Western Continent but I don’t know where exactly . ”
“I see … that’s a pity . ”
I felt sorry for Stefania-san but I still felt that it was better to change my story for her sake .
“And so, I have a request for the Mercenary Guild’s guild master . ”
“Yeah, I know . Nectar . If you are all right with just the information we know ─ ─”
“Ah, sorry . I don’t need to ask about Nectar any longer . ”
“Eh? You don’t?”
“Yes”
I no longer need it .
“That’s troubling ─ ─ There was a request I wanted you to accept … do you need any other information?”
“Nothing in particular . Unless you can teach me the place to acquire a Dragon Core . ”
“Dragon Core?”
“I guess it’s an impossible request after all . ”
I replied but for some reason, Stefania-san grasped my arm .
“Coincidentally I have a request to obtain a Dragon Core! Please take it!”
“Eh?”
A request to obtain Dragon Core?
There’s actually such a pinpoint request?
I couldn’t help but be surprised at the convenient development of events .
It didn’t feel like she was lying to me .
“Can I have the details?”
“There have been talks of a dragon appearing at Lake Landau on the west . ”
“Lake Landau? By any chance ─ ─”
“It’s not an Ancient Dragon . It appeared after you defeated the Ancient Dragon . It’s that . The eyewitness account came from Marquis Utings’ soldiers when they went to collect the Ancient Dragon’s materials so it should be trustworthy . ”
“By any chance, is it ─ ─ ”
“Yes, a wild Demon Lord Dragon . There should be no doubt about it according to its characteristics . ”
A Demon Lord Dragon in that Lake Landau .
Why this timing?
Because I defeated the Ancient Dragon?
Even if it was not related to the Dragon Core, I would have to accept the request no matter what .
“All right, I accept . ”
“Thank god . A party of adventurers and a skilled mercenary has already accepted this request . Please gather here tomorrow before setting off to the destination . ”
“I wish to travel with my party alone though . ”
“This is to increase the rate of success . Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to prioritize handing the Dragon Core to you from among the Demon Lord Dragon’s materials . I’ll talk to the other members as well . ”
That was not my main reason . I don’t want others to know so much about my ability .
If worst come to worst, I thought of breaking away from the group and traveling to Lake Landau on my own but it seemed that it showed on my expression .
“You can’t travel there on your own . From the point of accepting the request, taking arbitrary actions will be a punishable offense . ”
I was warned .
I guess there was no other way .