by Yuu Tanaka
We had been summoned to the Guildmaster’s office, where he started the conversation with a snide remark. I couldn’t fault him for it.
Jet had returned to his original size and gnawed on some of the adventurers’ heads like chew toys. He was holding back, of course. He was nibbling rather than biting, but they still ended up bloody and half-dead by the end.
“And a Unique Darkness Wolf, at that. It’s already a rare species to begin with.”
Unique? What was that supposed to mean? Was Jet no ordinary Darkness Wolf?
“Jet’s a Unique?”
“Oh, you didn’t notice? Darkness Wolves usually have black fur with white streaks on them, but Jet here has streaks of red mixed in on his neck. You can’t quite see them since the scarf is covering them. Darkness Wolves don’t usually come with Unique Skills, either, especially at Level 1.”
Damn, seriously? I didn’t know that. I couldn’t know that since I’d never seen any other Darkness Wolves. I thought Jet was your garden-variety Direwolf.
“In any case, I congratulate you for accomplishing your mission. Amanda has vouched for your capabilities, and everyone in the guild saw you come in with your familiar. No one in their right mind would be suspicious of you now.”
“Hm.”
“Pick up your guild card from reception. I’ve given you a stamp which will allow you to enter the Ulmutt dungeon.”
Nice, now we could get a move on.
Let’s go to the receptionist ASAP!
“Okay. I’ll be going now.”
“One more thing. How about you look at your Classes when you get downstairs? You might have unlocked a few more. We usually charge 500G to change Classes, but I’ll let you do it for free as a parting gift.”
Parting gift? That’s pennies! Although I wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.
“Thanks.”
“When will you leave for Ulmutt?”
“Soon.”
“I see. We’re going to miss you.”
“… Didn’t think you would.”
“Hahaha. Come now, you’ve been full of surprises ever since you came here, for better or for worse. Although, I am also relieved that we’re going to get some peace and quiet again.”
“Hm. Thank you for taking care of me.”
Fran bowed deeply, and the Guildmaster’s eyes bulged. This was the last thing he had seen coming.
Give her some credit, GM. Fran could be polite when she wanted to.
She shut the door. From beyond it, I could hear the Guildmaster mutter to himself.
“Heh. Always full of surprises.”
Thanks, GM. Sorry for all the trouble.
“Ready? Cheers!”
“Cheers.”
“Cheers!”
Night had fallen on the day we returned from the dungeon investigation.
Fran was in a bar, sharing a table with Nell and Amanda. They were throwing a farewell party for her since she told them she was leaving Alessa.
“Aww, I’m going to be so lonely without you, Fran!”
“Me too. Do you have to go?”
“Yeah. I wanna see the dungeon.”
“Which is more important: me or the dungeon?!”
“Of course the dungeon is! She just met you, Amanda! Then again, we’ve known each other for almost a month, haven’t we?”
“So what if you’ve known her for a month! I actually ate and slept together with Fran!”
The conversation moved from how Krad’s party, Dragon Roar, had failed their exam, to how Don had been turned down by a woman. The drinks kept coming, and the two women got more intoxicated with every round. They went into such a frenzy petting Jet that he retreated into Fran’s shadow and wouldn’t come out.
“Maybe I should come with you, Fran.”
“What about the orphanage?”
“Ooh, you knew about that? The orphanage will be fine. They have caretakers who’ll look after them. Think of it this way, if I went out on quests, I could use the rewards to raise money for the orphanage. So let’s raid some dungeons together, Fran!”
“I don’t mind.”
Amanda knew the truth about us so I didn’t mind, either. The only problem was Amanda’s overwhelming strength. It might prevent Fran from growing stronger.
“What? Really? Nice!”
“Nope, not happening.”
Nell stopped her, however. It was only natural that she didn’t want to see the only A-Rank in town to leave. But there was more to the story.
“Come on, Nell, why not?”
“Did you forget about your contract?”
“Oh. That. Ugh, I can’t believe I’m bound by that stupid contract!”
“Your fault for going along with Klimt’s sweet words.”
“Urgghhhh…”
“Contract?”
“Yes! I can only leave Alessa if it’s on Guild-related duty!”
“Why?”
“Well, you see—”
“Amanda. There are people here!”
“Oh yeah. Silence!”
Amanda created a soundproof barrier made of wind. It was a useful spell when you needed to discuss private matters, but the alcohol was clearly getting to her. She had planned to cast the dome around us but inadvertently included the table next to us, too. Confused diners looked confused as the bustle of the pub fell into hushed silence.
“So that dungeon we went to? It’s pretty important. It can produce a large amount of Magistone while being safer to gather compared to a conventional mine.”
That was true. I could see why the military would want to get their hands on it.
“But dungeons are under guild supervision, right? Meaning that the government can’t get their hands on them, despite really wanting to.”
“Uh-huh.”
Doubtless the government would want to undermine the guild’s supervision over the dungeon, but the kingdom was bound to the guild under an agreement.
“Alessa is located close to the border of the Raydoss Kingdom up north.”
“It is?”
“Yes. We don’t get along with Raydoss very well, and they tend to be quite violent. Worse come to worst, they might move in to annex Alessa.”
Nell drew a simple map with the sauce on her plate as she explained to us the relations between our neighbors and us. The kingdom north of Granzell looked quite large.
“We can’t keep this matter about a great Magistone mine a secret forever, you know. It’s bound to come to light at some point.”
“Granzell is using that as an excuse to put more dungeons under their supervision. Amanda scared them off once, though.”
“We don’t want to give the government our dungeon. It’s the only thing Alessa has going for it. The Guild would be devastated by its loss!”
“Which means we won’t get paid!”
“We convinced the government that Alessa would be able to defend itself in case of an invasion. Our A-Rank is proof of that.”
That was why Amanda wasn’t allowed to leave Alessa.
“Even the government doesn’t trust its own Knight Brigade. Urs is only stationed here because he’s an Alessan, born and raised. It used to be worse before he came along!”
I guess August became Knight Lieutenant not only through bribery, but also for the purpose of harassing locals.
“And that is why I can’t leave this city!”
“I see.”
“There was so many things I wanted to teach you, too!” Amanda yelled while hugging Fran.
“For the last time, Amanda, you can’t leave!”
“Then let me treat you tonight!”
“Yes! I’ve been waiting for you to say that!”
“Not you, Nell.”
“Cheapskate!”
“Call me a cheapskate, I don’t care! Fran, you won’t forget me, will you?”
“I won’t.”
We wouldn’t soon forget all the beatings she handed us.
“What! Fran, you’re leavi
ng town?!”
“Wh-what?!”
The adventurer at the next table overheard our conversation. Silence had worn off at some point. The man was a Dwarf. He looked very dwarfish with his giant pitcher full of ale. His mug was as big as his head. Who was he? He looked familiar somehow…
Now I remember. This was the dwarf who had come as backup after our first encounter with the goblin army. I think his name was Elevent.
“Seriously?!”
“Damn it, I was gonna ask you to join my party!”
“Get in line, buddy!”
“Frannie, nooooo!”
“You shoulda told us sooner!”
There sure were a lot of adventurers in this pub. It was only natural, considering the place was located next to the Guild. The rest of the adventurers soon piled in at our table.
“It’s such a shame, Fran. We were only getting to know each other.”
“I haven’t paid you back yet, dammit!”
Furion and Krad had been drinking here as well. It looked like they had become friends at some point.
“Where are you going?”
“Ulmutt.”
The adventurers roared at Fran’s response. Ulmutt was a place they all aspired to go.
“Ooh, that dungeon!”
“Man, I wish I could go.”
“Wahaha! Then you better get your rank up!”
“Let’s all raise our glass to send young Fran off!”
The adventurers took to that suggestion with melodious uproar.
“Yeah!”
“Cheers!”
“More beer!”
“Gahahaha!”
“Chug! Chug! Chug!”
To me, it looked like they were using Fran as an excuse to drink.
“You wanna have some, Fran?”
“Hm.”
“This isn’t juice! It’s better than juice!”
“Amanda! She’s not supposed to drink that!”
“Seriously though, it’s just wheat juice!”
“I’ll take it.”
Nell took away the pitcher of “wheat juice” just as Fran was reaching for it. Good job, Nell!
“No!”
She’s right. You’re still too young for beer.
“Come on, let the girl live a little!”
“Come on.”
Call me a killjoy, but this was one thing I wouldn’t let Fran have! She should know about the dangers of alcohol by seeing the damage it was doing to Amanda!
“No means no. I’m confiscating this.”
“Oooh! Nell’s chuggin’!”
“Nice!”
Nell downed the glass of beer in one gulp as the rowdy group of adventurers cheered her on.
“Having fun, Fran?”
“Yeah.”
At least Fran was enjoying herself. The drinking continued until everyone dropped, and it was almost the next day by the time we got back to our room. Jet had fallen asleep in Fran’s shadow.
Are you all right?
“Yeah.”
She didn’t drink anything but she was at the bar. With that amount of alcohol going around I wouldn’t be surprised if she got drunk off the vapors.
Poison Resistance didn’t seem to help with alcohol, either. We asked Nell about this fact and she chalked it up to the wisdom of God. It seemed that God himself acknowledged drink as a method of escaping the sorrows of one’s life.
“I’m okay.”
Are you sure?
“Yeah.”
Are you hungry?
If she was full then she could have breakfast once she woke up.
“Yes. Curry?”
No, not curry. Wait… Okay, now we’re good.
The inn’s clock ticked as it changed to the following day. It was a simple machine powered by magic, nothing fancy. There were bigger clocks placed out on the streets and ones you could hang on walls. However, I had yet to see a watch in this world. I guess they couldn’t make the mechanisms small enough.
This world had a calendar, too. There were thirty days in each month with a thirty-first day every three months. They had a special holiday called the Moon Feast on that thirty-first day. It signalled the changing of the seasons. Two thirty day months and one thirty-one day month consisted a season, which made a full seasonal rotation take three hundred and sixty-four days. Today was the 13th of March—if they called it that.
Hold on—
I took a bowl full of mysterious white, creamy stuff out of the Pocket Dimension.
In reality, it was a batter made of strong flour and sugar. I had secretly prepared it when we were cooking en masse. We used flour and strong flour in our other recipes too, so Fran didn’t notice when I hid this batter away next to the bread dough rolls.
We’re indoors, but we’ll be fine so long as we’re careful.
I telekinetically operated the frying pan and lit a fire under it with a fire spell. I poured some oil into it and poured the batter out on top of it. The batter started frying with a satisfying sizzle as it expanded and puffed up. I flipped it over to fry the other side then put two of them onto a plate. I laid on some whipped cream and poured some honey over it, and then I topped it off with some fruit.
Here you go.
“What’s this? It smells sweet.”
It’s called a pancake. I wanted to bake you a party cake, but that was impossible with our time, ingredients, and skill constraints. This was the least I can do. It’s fresh off the pan so it should be delicious.
“Why? What’s the occasion?”
It has been exactly one month since the day we met. I wanted to do something special to celebrate.
The batter was easy enough to make, but the whipped cream was a different matter. They didn’t sell the stuff in liquid form, so I had to split some milk on my own.
“This cake is for me?”
Fran’s eyes widened as she looked at the fluffy pancakes that were presented to her on a plate floating in mid-air.
They’re pancakes, technically, but yes.
She hadn’t seen this coming. The surprise was a success!
While they’re hot, Fran.
“Okay. Let’s eat…”
Fran’s fork went through the two layers of pancake, which had been decorated with whipped cream and fruit. She cut a piece of it and slowly carried it into her mouth.
What do you think?
“It’s good. Really good.”
Fran munched away. I was glad that she liked it. She carried on eating her pancakes in silent reverie.
Come on, you’re getting it all over yourself.
“Mm.”
I wiped the edges of her mouth with a towel. She felt like being pampered today, it seemed.
There you go, all clean.
“Thanks.”
She carried on munching.
Aah, you’re making a mess again!
“It’s the cake’s fault for being so good.”
All right, all right.
Fran continued to silently stuff her cheeks with pancake. She looked like a squirrel with her cheeks puffed out. She finished her meal and let out a satisfied sigh. A content smile decorated her lips.
Thank god for pancakes.
“That was good. Thank you.”
You are very welcome.
Fran clapped her hands together and bowed her head.
“Teacher?”
Yeah?
“Thanks.”
Anytime.
These pancakes were the most difficult flapjacks I had ever made in my conscious existence. I had to make sure Fran wasn’t looking, and the whipped cream…
But her smile was more than worth the trouble of it all.
I was the one who should be thanking her. Thank you for using me. Thank you for going on this adventure with me. Thank you for finding me.
I had so much fun in the past month.
And I was sure there was more to come.
Side Story:
Klimt
There was a knock on
my door.
“Yes?”
“You called for me, Uncle?”
“Aah, Furion. Come in, come in.”
My nephew, Furion, had come to my office. It was the first time in a long while that someone had actually bothered to knock on my door. Recently, it felt like everyone had just been barging in, as if forgetting the fact that I happened to be the master of this guild. Compared to those brutes, Furion had perfect etiquette. Some people could learn a thing or two from him.
“Have a seat.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“You did well out there. Despite things happening which made it far from a normal supply run…”
“I almost lost my life, sir. Multiple times.”
I had read his report earlier. Trick Spiders multiplying to the point that a Trickster Spider would be spawned from them. The occurrence was cause for worry, but I had a hunch who was behind all this.
“Uncle, those spiders…”
“Yes. A parting gift from one August Allsand, I presume.”
An adventurer who used to be one of Allsand’s lackeys had come clean. They wanted to take control of Alessa’s dungeon from the Guild, so they went and fed the monsters in the dungeon with chemicals loaded with mana to beef them up.
Failing to harvest Magistones from the dungeon, the Knight Brigade would then have a case against the Guild, and could easily take over. Once the Knight Brigade was under Allsand’s control, they could then make bank on the black market.
Still, I couldn’t believe that they were able to convince one of our members to sell us out. We had only allowed a select few adventurers whom we knew were strong and trustworthy enough to enter that dungeon… I would have to review our whitelist.
But even they didn’t expect the appearance of a Trickster Spider. They had prepared for the eventuality of some strong Trick Spiders coming into existence, but the appearance of a Unique was not part of their plan. The Unique must’ve evolved by eating up the Trap Spiders around it. Very unfortunate.
“I can just about see the Kingdom of Raydoss’ fingerprints on this incident.”
“The country to the north.”
The Kingdom of Raydoss was a large military nation to the north of Granzell. Monster-strengthening chemicals were quite rare in themselves; even the higher nobles wouldn’t be able to get their hands on them with mere money and connections. But if they had asked old Raydoss for assistance…
