Manowa

◎ Capital City Deer South, Adventurers Guild Office, Guildmaster"s Room

「Welcome, everyone.」

Kazane and the others were guided to the Guildmaster"s room, and a plump, round old man was sitting inside.

(This person is the Guildmaster Benzel Boiler-san?)

When they were in the hallway, Louise had told them that he was considerably slender, but the receptionist guiding them mentioned he wasn"t that thin anymore. Actually, wasn"t that thin didn"t seem a strong enough descriptor for the change.

「Hm, do I recognize the faces of everyone except the Ogre Killing Princess? And it seems someone I haven"t seen for a few decades is also here.」

Lyle and Emily were adventurers here, and Naoki was directly informed of his promotion to Rank B by Benzel. And Louise also seemed to be acquainted with Benzel; that is to say, everyone was an acquaintance except Kazane.

「Nu, if I"m not mistaken, I"m being left out?」

「What is it?」

Benzel tilted his head after Kazane"s question.

「Benzel doesn"t need to lend an ear to a child"s joke. At any rate, you"re very different.」

「Hahaha, being told that by you is embarra.s.sing. When I switched to only doing desk work, I almost immediately became like this.」

「You would crush Raiel if you rode him, wouldn"t you?」

Benzel laughed to avoid answering Louise"s mockery. With the two people"s conversation finished, Kazane started talking.

「Benzel-san, when we received the request we were told to ask you for the method to reach the dragon village, so we came. That"s no mistake, right?」

Lyle and Emily stared at Kazane in amazement after the words dragon village. The dragon village was a very important place in Hyvern. The siblings completely didn"t expect that those words would come out of Kazane"s mouth.

「That"s right. Err, is there no problem with the Barnes children hearing this as well?」

Lyle and Emily uneasily looked at Kazane after Benzel"s gaze. But Kazane nodded without any particular concern.

「Yeah, since they"re party companions. They"re also going to go to the dragon village with us, so I thought it would be better for them to understand the reason now.」

「I see. However, the request contract is still in effect in『here.』I cannot deny that there is a risk of information leakage even with this room"s barrier.」

『Black Dragon Haggas』heart transport. It was very strongly written in the request contract given by the dragon called Ao of the Blue Flame that n.o.body could be told the contents of the request. So even if Naoki now knew that they were going to the dragon village, he still didn"t know the reason.

「If you mention a name and someone connected to them goes to that place, they might be able to look into the past, so certain scary things can"t be said without a royal-cla.s.s barrier.」

「So there are also such spells?」

「Well, if I had to say, it"s a special kind of magic technique.」

Benzel so answered Kazane"s question.

「In fact, I don"t know the details either. It"s certain that I received a request from Minshiana made through the Archduke, but I was only told that I should guide you there.」

「So you still accepted the request even with such fragmentary information.」

「As one would expect, I don"t think I would have if it wasn"t from the Archduke. However, although we"re discussing sending you to the Dragon Village, it"s actually impossible right now.」

「What do you mean?」

Benzel continued to talk after Kazane tilted her head.

「Guiding you to the Dragon Village isn"t my role, but my partner"s.」

「Partner?」

Kazane"s questions only increased, and Louise spoke from the side.

「Kazane, this may be his home country, but this guy is one of the rare free Dragon Knights that isn"t tied to the state.」

Kazane said「Ooh!」after Louise"s words. However, the other members knew, so they didn"t have any particular reaction.「Uu, I feel a sense of alienation」Kazane said. She was a bothersome child with the mental strength of tofu.

「My partner Raiel is on an errand to the country h.e.l.lkut right now. It will take a little more time for him to return. It will probably be three or four more days.」

「Hmm, is that so. Actually, one of our party members is hospitalized, and it seems he won"t be able to move for a week, so that isn"t really a problem, though.」

「That"s about Jinrai, right? It seems something rather flashy happened again this time.」

「So Benzel-san is aware?」

After Kazane"s question, Benzel smiled and replied.

「Well, the Adventurers Guild is a gathering place for information. A Guildmaster is oversensitive to such things.」

So saying, Benzel laughed.

「Well, your quest is highly confidential, but there"s no time limit. Going at the most convenient time for your group is no problem for me.」

「OK. Then we will return when Jinrai-san is discharged.」

「By all means.」

「Ummm」

Emily raised her hand to ask a question regarding the smoothly advancing conversation.

「What is it?」

Benzel turned to Emily and asked.

「Is the request Kazane and the others received such a difficult thing?」

A natural question. Plans were being made while the true nature of what they were getting involved in was being concealed. The conversation felt bad.

「That"s right. I also don"t know the contents, but I"m told it"s a job that only she can do.」

So saying, Benzel looked at Kazane. Kazane thought for a little before opening her mouth.

「Well, the work itself is no big deal. I"m simply carrying a package from Minshiana to the East Dragon Village. I"d say it"s more like I have a certain ability?」

Kazane"s Item Box was necessary, not Kazane. Therefore, Yumika and Naoki were also good subst.i.tutes. The problem was『what』she was carrying, but

「Emily.」

「Uuーunderstood, brother.」

Lyle reined in Emily, who had an expression like she wanted to ask. Kazane apologetically smiled and,

「Well, maybe I can tell you on the way there. If you"re concerned you can you wait here, though.」

So answered. They were still partic.i.p.ating as temporary members. Kazane was thinking it was unnecessary for them to unreasonably come along for a request when they didn"t know the contents. But Lyle indignantly said「Don"t joke with me.」

「Since we couldn"t become Dragon Knights, if we miss this chance, we might never visit the dragon village for our entire lives. I"m going at any cost.」

「Haa, if Naoki and my brother are going, there"s no way I won"t go.」

Emily sighed and spoke after Lyle, who was breathing roughly.

「Oh, of course. We will see the legendary Great Dragon Palace and can brag to York and the others.」

「Great Dragon Palace?」

Kazane tilted her head when she heard the words Lyle spoke, and Emily answered.

「Umm. Dragon Knights go there for the invest.i.ture ceremony. It seems they hear words from G.o.d Dragon Emperor Nagsama... right?」

Emily looked at Lyle while saying so. Emily didn"t aim at becoming a Dragon Knight, so she wasn"t interested in such stories. Lyle greatly nodded after Emily"s words.

「That"s right. I was also planning on receiving words from Nagsama there...but...」

Lyle gradually felt more depressed while he was talking. It seemed he still couldn"t get over not being chosen as a Dragon Knight. Well, as a boy from Hyvern, that was naturally his most yearned for occupation. Furthermore, his father was one of the country"s strongest Ruling Dragon Three Knights. It couldn"t be helped that he felt a sense of failure after the expectations from the surrounding people and his own confidence.

「So then, does the Ogre Killing Princess-san have any errands until Jinrai is discharged from the hospital?」

Perhaps because he sensed the bad atmosphere around Lyle, Benzel changed the topic.

「No, I don"t have any plans at the moment, but is there something you want to tell me?」

After Kazane asked, Benzel groaned while nodding and continued to speak.

「It"s no big deal. I heard that you have a lot of magical power generation items like Childstones, but is that true?」

「Yeah, I suppose...」

She had 4 Childstones including Yuuko-nee"s. She also had a Power Orb, a Dragon Heart, and even a Rainbow Heart. Most people didn"t have that many, since power generating magic tools were unnecessary for most people.

「There is a quest that would be just right for such a princess, but what do you think?」

「Hoho」

Kazane nodded and seemed very interested as she lent an ear to Benzel"s words.

「You"re just trying to foist a troublesome task on her, aren"t you?」

But Louise to the side glared at Benzel. If Louise remembered right, this guy"s strong point has always been pushing troublesome tasks on people with a friendly grin.

「Please don"t glare at me like that. It is difficult, but the returns are also large. I will explain properly.」

「That"s what I want.」

While replying to Louise"s words with a laugh, Benzel took out a request from inside his desk.

「That is?」

Written on the request Benzel took out was『Blue Rifon Fort Recapture.』

「Blue Rifon Fort?」

Emily was familiar with the name and explained after Kazane"s mutter.

「If I remember right, we learned in school that it was built during the Dragon Emperor War. Right, brother?」

「Is that right?」

Lyle asked while tilting his head after Emily"s words.

「That"s what we learned. Anyhow, brother slept in cla.s.s, didn"t you?」

Emily replied with a reproachful gaze when Lyle looked like he completely didn"t remember it. Well, it was just as Emily said; Blue Rifon Fort was once used during the war, and was now one of the abandoned facilities.

「Yeah, that"s it. It has been abandoned for hundreds of years, and sometimes monsters settle inside, so spring cleaning is done a few times a year, but...」

That spring cleaning wasn"t literal, but meant monster subjugation.

「It was cleaning time half a month ago, and when they went, it looked it was on the verge of becoming a dungeon.」

「That"s rare.」

Naoki so replied.

「It"s not a dungeon yet so it"s not to the same degree, but quite a few monsters are being generated. It"s not just the quant.i.ty, but quality monsters also sporadically appear, so it"s currently a little dangerous.」

In an unstable dungeon, like during an expansion period, monsters could generate without following the normal dungeon level difference rules . Although monster generation following level difference rules was strange in the first place, but just like the existence of dungeons, the inhabitants of this world didn"t find it unnatural.

「Nn, perhaps it hasn"t been acknowledged as a dungeon yet?」

Kazane asked Benzel.

「Yes, that"s right. There"s already a dungeon in the neighborhood, so considering the magical power supply balance of the Naga Line, it was decided that this one would crushed.」

Kazane gulped.

「In other words, since it won"t be acknowledged, perhaps the Heart Orb...」

「Yeah. Of course, it isn"t as powerful as a grown Heart Orb, but there"s no obligation to hand it over to the country, so the young Heart Orb called a Baby Core is yours if you obtain it.」

Benzel said, and when Louise saw Kazane bend forward and nod while breathing roughly, Louise thought (ah, it"s useless).

Name: Yuihama Kazane

Occupation: Magic Swordswoman

t.i.tle: Ogre Killer, Dragon Slayer, High Beast Summoner

Equipment: Staff 『White Blaze』, Two Handed Sword『Black Fang』, Adhesion Sword『Gum』, Spell Dagger, Dragonscale Breastplate, Drake Gauntlets, Silver Sheep Clothes, Sylphyn Skirt, Plasma Pants, Dragon Ogre Greaves, Indestructible Cloak, Mysterious Pouch, Crimson Saint Coffin, Heroic Spirit Summoning Ring, Circlet of Wisdom, Aim Bracelet, Magic Acc.u.mulator, White Magic Acc.u.mulator

Level : 30

Health: 107

Magic Power: 181+420

Strength: 52+10

Agility: 43+4

Endurance: 29

Wisdom : 57

Dexterity : 38

Spell : 『Fly』 『Torch』 『Fire』 『Heal』『Firestorm』『Healer Ray』『High Heal』

Skill : 『Warrior"s Memory』 『Night Vision』 『Crushing Blow』 『Dog"s Sense of Smell』 『Golem Maker: Lv3』 『Rush』 『Fire Principle: Third Chapter』 『Healing Principle: Fourth Chapter』 『Air Jump: Lv2』 『Killing Leg: Lv3』 『Fear Voice』 『Invisible』 『Tiger Eye』 『Wall Walking』 『Intuition』 『Cheat Death』 『Nimble』『Charge』『Material Shield』『Information Link』『Optical Camouflage』『Dash』『Bloodsucking Blade』『Dragonization』『Regenerate』『Soul Breaking Blade』『Stealthy Placement』『Thunder Chariot』『St.u.r.dy Teeth』『Crystallization』

Kazane:「Ooooooh, a good item came.」

Yumika:「Really, what do you have planned that requires another one?」

Kazane:「It feels like a dungeon power generation item would have good affinity with the Cottage, don"t you think?」