Chapter 158 (Self Edited) – Organizing Information at the Inn
The Shadow Taker or something was killed by Soma, so there was no problem. However, there was a new problem. Although other monsters still didn’t appear, that Shadow Taker monster had appeared.
Moreover, it was said to be a very powerful monster. There was no reason why this wouldn’t be a problem.
“Haa…? Shadow Taker…? Is it for real…?” (Staff)
The face of the guild staff, who received the report, was obviously surprised. When Soma’s group came to the guild earlier, the staff was merely trying to keep up the appearance, but now, everything was missing.
The guild somehow understood the matter, and it seemed to be a considerable matter.
“No… it’s fine if you were mistaken, but are you sure you’re not telling a lie? Just so you know, I don’t want to do extra job.” (Staff)
“Don’t say something foolish when you’re working, alright!” (Emily)
The staff, who had stopped trying to keep up the appearance, seemed didn’t know what to do while looking so desperate. Then, a sitcom came from the side. It was the demihuman receptionist who entertained Soma’s group when they first came here. Since the other side was a guild staff, that demihuman was also stopping to keep up with the appearance.
No, when they thought about it normally, keeping up with the appearance was necessary, and the staff might be such a person. In the end, it was better to let the guild know that they were capable, and it was up to the staff to decide how to run their branch.
“Hey, I’m also the guild staff, right? Saying things like a receptionist is…” (Staff)
“You can choose which one of these you like, to work after being blown away from here, or to work quietly.” (Emily)
“Ughh… I’m the guild receptionist, but aren’t you a bit too harsh to me? It’s fine to help you a bit, right?” (Staff)
“If you work seriously from day to time, you’ll work hard, and when this is over, you’ll get to work. If you understand, get to work immediately! ” (Emily)
“Cheh… fine, I got it. Well then, I’ll get to my job. So, please handle them from here.” (Staff)
“…Eh? Aah, wait…!?” (Emily)
The staff went to the interior easily while swinging hands. Then, the only person left here was the demihuman receptionist. The reason why there were no other receptionists was because they were busy as ever, but… this woman was probably busy too. It felt like this receptionist had a job being pa.s.sed to her smoothly. That was probably not wrong by looking at the situation.
The receptionist seemed to be puzzled for a moment, but she changed her expression immediately. Although her smile was slightly forced, that might be the way to pretend not to see what was happening in the surrounding.
“Uhm, well… I wonder what kind of business you came to this time. I’ve heard a Shadow Taker came out.” (Emily)
“Well, that’s exactly what I said. In the gra.s.sland on the south side of the town, a monster with the name of Shadow Taker appeared. Well, I’ve already defeated it…” (Soma)
“You’ve defeated the Shadow Taker… is it?” (Emily)
“There were no parts that could prove the subjugation, so it is difficult to prove it…” (Soma)
“Aah, no. I don’t doubt you, there’s no problem. It’s just that I thought you were amazing… I often heard that the monster is bad news in so many ways.” (Emily)
“Well, it seems to be that way. The regular monsters don’t show up, and yet, there is a powerful monster that doesn’t come out normally, appear here.” (Steina)
In other words, the new problem was that. It wasn’t normal that that monster didn’t really appear in the vicinity of this town. As expected, it would be difficult to make this matter irrelevant.
“So, you are here to report that, right?” (Emily)
“…Yes, that’s the first thing. The other thing is we would like to know when the Giant Frog was discovered.” (Steina)
“The Giant Frog? Why would you… Aah, I see, is that it?” (Emily)
Apparently, this receptionist understood it rather quickly. It seemed that she was able to understand what Soma’s group was thinking only from the current exchange.
“But, I’m sorry. That request was made after hearing from an adventurer that he had discovered a Giant Frog. But the adventurer had just come to the city at the request of another city, and he had already left.” (Emily)
“Do you know the ident.i.ty of the adventurer? I think it’s rude to ask this, but do you think that adventurer is suspicious?” (Steina)
“His rank is Rank 4, and I think that’s fine. He is somehow an adventurer employed somewhere, and he is someone who is coming to this town regularly. He came to this neighborhood since he was doing a gathering request from our guild. So, it should be just a coincidence.” (Emily)
“Hmm…” (Soma)
Nevertheless, the information about that adventurer could still be doubted, but it was fine to leave it for now. In any case, they didn’t know whether that adventurer had anything to do with the current situation.
Frankly speaking, it was already unnecessary to know more than this. At the very least, it was definitely exceptional when it came to the matter of Shadow Taker.
They didn’t know if it was anything different than normal, but… it would be a pretty big hint to guess what kind of situation this was.
“Well, I guess the situation is like this. I can’t provide much information though…” (Soma)
“No, it would be helpful to provide any information, and it was actually very serious information. Thank you for your cooperation.” (Emily)
The receptionist bowed after saying that. While giving a bitter smile as if telling her that she didn’t need to do that, he turned his back.
“So… what are we going to do now?” (Soma)
—
After leaving the guild, Soma’s group came back to the inn.
That was because the sun had already begun to set as a result of spending time investigating. For now, whatever they were going to do, they needed time to discuss again. Even if they wanted to do anything, they didn’t have time to do it today. They returned here for this purpose.
By the way, they were gathering in Soma’s room again. There were still time for dinner, but it was unclear why they were in Soma’s room. It was fine to do it in another room. In fact, Sheila’s room was bigger. It was a double room. At least, it wasn’t going to be narrower than a single room.
The reason why it was a double room instead of a triple room was simply because this inn was only suitable for its appearance and had a maximum of a double room. As a result, the room distribution was done in this way where Sheila and Felicia stayed in a double room, while Steina stayed in a single room.
Anyhow, it was supposed to be better to discuss in Sheila’s room, but… it didn’t mean that they didn’t want to go to Soma’s room. To be honest, it wasn’t a ha.s.sle for Soma. As long as they could gather here altogether, there would be no problem.
Another reason why they gathered here was because Soma’s room was as soon as they got upstairs. Did that mean that everyone else felt ha.s.sle to discuss in their respective room? That was normal in a sense.
While thinking about such a thing, Soma sat on the bed as before, waited for everyone to sit on a chair. Then, he opened his mouth.
“In conclusion, is it alright to a.s.sume that in compensation for other monsters, a powerful monster is summoned, yes?” (Soma)
“We don’t have much information to confirm yet, but it’s likely to be that for now.” (Felicia)
“…Yes, that possibility is high for the time being.” (Sheila)
“It would be almost certain if another one came out, but it would be a disaster if it comes out one after another. I really don’t want that to happen.” (Steina)
“Even if you want it or not, if the a.s.sumption is right, that kind of monsters will come out.” (Felicia)
“Indeed.” (Soma)
The problem was they couldn’t fix the situation even if they understood that fact. That was because they didn’t know who caused the situation and what was the purpose of causing it was.
Perhaps, it should be said that…
“First off, does that monster a natural occurrence?” (Soma)
“It’s hard to believe that it happened unnaturally…but we couldn’t find any trace of it.” (Felicia)
“…If something or someone caused it, this town is in trouble, right?” (Sheila)
“I can say that there will be a lot of people affected with this situation, but whether it’s worth to cause it, I don’t think so…” (Soma)
In this town, there was a barrier to prevent monsters. Ultimately, no matter how powerful the monsters appeared around, the inhabitants didn’t have to leave the town.
Of course, they would run out of food someday or if other adventurers met the Shadow Takers, casualties would have occurred as well. Therefore, those problems must be considered as well.
At least, it didn’t make sense to cause this situation in a large scale.
“Aah, for now, is it? At least, I think it is an artificial occurrence.” (Steina)
“Hmm? Why do you say so?” (Soma)
If one thought about it in a common sense, this situation shouldn’t occur artificially. There was no single trace said that it was artificial. In order to a.s.sert that this was artificial occurrence, they needed to know the means to make it possible.
And…
“Well, I know how to make it possible.” (Steina)
Steina nodded with it as if it was just a matter of course.
—
TLN:
- FYI, the author didn’t mention the gender of Rank 4 adventurer. So, I just a.s.sumed that the adventurer was a man. I’ll change this later if necessary.