"Yo, Ella, were back!"
I yell when I pa.s.sed through the guild"s entrance..
"Ah, Orion-kun, Anna-chan, Lute, it"s you guys! It"s only been a few hours though? (sigh), I can"t be surprised anymore.."
Ella says with an exasperated facial expression..
"Oh, should I place the [Orc] corpses here, or in the back?"
I don"t mind her defeated sigh, and divert the topic..
"Ah, in the back, if you would, thanks as always.."
"No problem, Anna and Lute have been getting better nowadays, you see?"
I say while moving to the back of the guild, an area for monster materials..
"Is that so, at first, I didn"t know what you would do with these kids, but it seems now that they"ve grown stronger, hey. what exactly did you do to them to make them like this in such a short time?"
I see the curious face of Ella asking about my training regimen, while I was taking out the [Orc] corpses from storage, but it isn"t going to be that easy, you know..
"It"s a secret"
Ah, her face soured..
"Well, you will tell me one of these days, so nevermind that, here"s your reward, five silver coins.."
She recovered from her usual mood, and handed us a leather pouch in exchange for the proof of subjugation..
"Ah, thanks, by the way, any new requests put up today?"
"No, there aren"t any new subjugation requests, ah, but there was that one.."
That one?
"Hmm, what is it, I"m thinking of taking one more today, since it"s still early, and we can do it after lunch.."
"Um, there was a new escorting request posted today, but the client wanted to interview anyone who wants to take up the job before they leave in three days.."
An escorting request, huh, I haven"t taken that one before, since it was rarely available since other adventurers would snag them at the earliest, maybe it was because I"ve been taking all the subjugation requests recently, and that it was only available to D-rank adventurers and above..
Oh yeah, I got promoted to C-rank last week, so let"s try to ask the prerequisites first..
This was the current status shown on my guild card..
Guild Card
Orion Fullbringer
Level: 45
Cla.s.s: None
First Job: Rank C Adventurer
Second Job: None
Completed Quests:
[Goblin King Subjugation]
[Goblin Subjugation]
[Herb Collection]
[Orc Subjugation]
[Demon Wolves Subjugation]
{Seal of the Adventurers" Guild}
"Ella, is it a rank-specific request?"
"Oh, this is a first, you"re interested in an escorting request?"
"Yeah, I kind of felt bad about always taking the subjugation requests, so this would be a nice change of pace.."
"You realized that only now huh, well, it"s fine, this request just needs an interview and the client doesn"t care what rank you are, but I hear the interview was so strict, most adventurers got turned away soon after.."
I guess they did jump at the chance early this morning huh, those sly dogs, but I wonder why they didn"t get the job though, some of them are pretty experienced in escorting, according to my sources..
To which I have none, except for my observations..
Yeah, I haven"t made any new friends after returning from my first quest..
I"m guessing they were too scared to even talk to me..
"Ah, I guess we"ll try to take up that request then.."
I say to Ella with a confident expression..
"Always so optimistic, sure, here you go.."
She pa.s.ses me the request paper with details on how to get to the residence of someone named Gaziel..
"Thank you as always, let"s go you guys.."
I look towards the two elf-kin who are both my companions and my first students..
"Ah, let"s go Onii.."
"Another quest? I"m so excited, Shishou!"
"Good luck with that you guys!"
Ella says while waving her hands to us leaving the guild..
Yes, I"ve gotten used to this daily routine..
It has been about a month after we returned from the goblin subjugation, at that time, there was an uproar when we came back to turn in the request completion, mainly caused by the barrage of questions from Ella, on how I managed to beat a [Goblin King] single-handedly. It was troublesome to give away my true status, so I made up a lie, saying that I found it weakened from a fight with another battle, Ella wasn"t happy, but the others seemed to be satisfied, so she reluctantly accepted it. .
I was promoted to E-rank soon after, since I still managed to kill a [Goblin King] and completed the goblin subjugation, which, by the way, I only handed in the 10 ears, to save myself from trouble. Then, handed in the rest each day after that, all in all, made more money than a normal E-ranked adventurer, but I didn"t know if I even wanted it or not, considering it wouldn"t even make a difference compared to my overwhelming fortune. I"m so glad I had an [Aura Pocket] skill, because if I didn"t, I would have had to look over my shoulder everyday, considering everyone pa.s.sing me, a thief..
What a hard life that would have been, since having too much money, would cause a lot of problems..
In more ways than one..
After establishing a routine of doing quests each day, I decided to train Anna and Lute in my free time, they were more than up to it, when I suggested it to them. So I made my own training regimen, incorporating Master"s teachings and training methods I watched a few times from movies and the internet, back in j.a.pan, starting from the basics, like building up stamina, training your muscles, and ways to move efficiently without any wasted movements to save energy. I was surprised at their fast learning growth, much like my own, except that this was my second life, so I was slightly depressed when I knew that I wasn"t that strong at their age..
After observing their movements, body control, and state of mind, I administered some corrections here and there, and we moved on to advanced techniques like using skills efficiently. For Anna, even though I can"t use any magic myself, I knew the principles of the world, like the atomic structure and stuff, adding to that, the theories and knowledge of the magic structures and spells from Master"s boring cla.s.ses, I drilled into her everything I knew. As for Lute, I taught him how to use the bow and several archery forms from my world, since I studied various martial arts for fun after I got kicked out of judo, like taekwondo, archery and shooting air guns at the shooting range, but in the end, I was still asked to leave due to the same reason, no matter how much I tried. I started getting depressed thinking about it, so I stopped.
The results were outstanding. Over these few weeks, Anna developed a more confident personality and no longer has to hide behind me when meeting strangers, but she still gets fl.u.s.tered when I talk to her sometimes, I still don"t know why she does that, even until now. Meanwhile Lute, looked more mature each day, with his developing muscles, and child-like demeanor changing into a calm personality with enough confidence to back it up, of course, he still had that positive, bright att.i.tude, a trademark for him. But ever since our training progressed, he stopped calling me "niichan" and started referring to me as "shishou". It was embarra.s.sing, so I told him to stop, but he wouldn"t budge on it..
What a cheeky att.i.tude for a brat, it"s hard to imagine that they were running through the streets, wearing dirty rags, with despair on their faces and were considered prisoner slaves a month ago..
Now, they look like bright, cheerful children with a bright future ahead of them..
I was thinking that the time when I had to release them was coming closer each day..
I felt bittersweet when I thought about saying goodbye to them, so I put it out of my head for now..
What I was feeling right now though, was my stomach rumbling..
"You guys hungry? Want to go get something to eat?"
They both nod in response..
"Well, since Jim"s place is near, let"s go there to eat this time.."
"Shishou, will you make me your "karaage" fried chicken again?"
Lute, with a bit of drool seeping out of his mouth, said that with hopeful eyes..
"No, Onii will make that "Cheesecake" pastry again, I want to eat that today!"
With stars in her eyes, Anna makes her suggestion..
Geez, what selfish gluttons they are..
"Yosh, why don"t we have both today!"
I say excitedly to the quarreling duo..
""Yes!""
They become all obedient when they get what they want, I guess this were their true colors after all..
We move towards Jim"s restaurant when we reached a decision..
Over the time period of one month, I occasionally dropped by Jim"s restaurant to make new dishes and teach the staff various recipes from Earth, using the skills I learned from Master, while having "Cooking Showdowns" with Jim from time to time, where the judges changed each time, except for the strange masked person, who was always "coincidentally" there whenever we competed..
Due to this, me and Jim got more acquainted with each other, and he started calling me with no honorifics and I started calling him, Jim. It was also during this time, I made cakes and pastries which Anna seemed to love, using the new ingredients sold here, including eggs, flour, and sugar, which I couldn"t procure back then. I got the idea to share some of my creations with Ella, and to my surprise, when she tasted it, she ate it like she was possessed. After that, asking me where did I get it, how much was it, and the like. I told her the truth, and because of that, me and Ella got closer as a result, even though the relationship was built on ulterior motives, mostly from her side though..
With Ella in the roster, that was a total of five people I"ve befriended in the new world, I pumped myself up, thinking that there was ninety-five more people left till my goal of a hundred friends..
In the case of my friendship with Jim, he was really thankful to me for some reason, since he said that due to my dishes, his restaurant"s popularity rose through the roof. While he said incomprehensible things such as, "If there is anything you want, just say it, and I will fulfill it" while bowing to me like I was someone important..
I told him that it was fine though, since I only came by to try experimenting making new dishes, but he would not take rejection so lightly, he decided to always wait for my request, in hopes he will pay back even a little back to me..
I think he was over-exaggerating though, but it was too cruel to step on his determination even further, so I let it be..
After I made the dishes today, I noticed there was a long line of customers outside, so after we ate, I left halfway unnoticed, and left it all to the other chefs which, by the way, didn"t die, since I took up the request to cure them. Turns out, the dreaded "Red Slime Disease" was actually just a fever mixed with the common cold..
So I made them rest, while teaching Jim how to cure it with a cold compress, taking in lots of liquid, and cooked them a dish especially effective on common colds, the "rice porridge" with my own twist on it..
They thanked me endlessly for it, since they said that this information would save many lives, but I didn"t pay much attention to it, since it was just a common cold..
When we slipped out, we started heading to the location using the details Ella gave me..
I think about the various information and experiences I"ve acc.u.mulated inside this city..
Yes, I wasn"t just playing around, adding to my daily training, which I increase the load each time it gets easier, I was gathering information, about the war between the humans and elves, and the whereabouts of my family..
Using the words "Fullbringer" and "Elf War" didn"t bring in much results. All I got was vague information about casualties, captured slaves, the present situation, and the strife of the battlefield. No one seemed to know anything about the reason they went to war, or who is getting the advantage, or even an inkling to my family"s whereabouts..
Well, it"s to be expected after all, it has been twelve years since I was missing, they probably thought that I died, and moved on by now, I would"ve left earlier if I could have, but it was impossible until now..
The reason wasn"t that I was doing my best training, I tried to escape once, but I only got lost and ended up back where I started, and killed a lot of demonic beasts while I was at it..
I went back to the cabin depressed, and found Master waiting for me, surprisingly, he knew all along that I was trying to escape, but he wasn"t worried since it was deemed impossible even for him, I got curious about his words, so I asked him to elaborate, and so, with a tired face, he told me the real reason..
Turns out, in the past, he killed his best friend out of rage, because he did something unforgivable, he didn"t know why he did it, but he knew it wasn"t his choice. No, he chose to believe that, in the memory of his once, true pal and comrade. But after he became conscious again, there was an extremely powerful barrier surrounding the whole area including the forests and hills, he didn"t know who did it at first, but he found out that it was inescapable soon after. Even after developing various magic and skills to break it, it was futile. All he could do was live out his days in solitude. He later found out that he was actually cursed after much absorption of knowledge from books left behind by his late wife..
This curse was so terrible, that it only affected him, which he guessed, was activated when he killed his friend. The curse had two effects; First, anyone caught in this barrier, was forever imprisoned within until the curse was dispelled or the target dies while no one else can enter the barrier from the outside. and second, the target is not allowed to kill himself.
Which he then, started to frantically research on how to break the curse, but to no avail. There wasn"t enough material present, even after hundreds of years experimenting, it resulted in nil. By then, he was going mad, and tried provoking thousands of beasts, and making them kill him. But, he was too strong, very much so, that none of the beasts could even inflict a fatal wound on him, no matter how big the handicap, and even if they did, it would have healed just as quickly..
So he gave up, seeing as there were no other options, till a few decades pa.s.sed, he met me..
I don"t know how I managed to enter the barrier but I"m sure it was a good thing..
I only know now, that Master was partly training me, for the sake of me ending his curse..
It is a sad but at the same time, relieving story..
Oh, we made it to the residence. It looked like a two-story high house with white walls and gla.s.s windows...
I thought for a bit that the client must be a n.o.ble or something..
When we knocked, an old man wearing black attire that looked like a butler, ushered us in, and looked at the request..
He then told us to wait in the reception room, so he could call his master. The reception room was kind of like the "Slave Trader"s Guild""s waiting room but with much more furniture. We sat on one of the couches, and it was so comfortable..
After a few minutes, someone opened the door in front of us. What came out was a man that looked to be in his 20"s with gla.s.ses, blue-silver streaks of hair, an elegant face, and was reading a book while walking up to the table dividing the couches, and a fiery red-haired man with a youthful aura exuding a calm expression, but I thought that he was just as handsome as the gla.s.ses-wearing man, but with a brighter glint in his eyes..
The gla.s.ses-wearing man sat down in front of us and shuts his book close. He then put it down upon the table, while the butler served us tea while taking care not to disturb the discussion. I brought a cup to my mouth, and tasted the drink without caution. It was one of the best-tasting drinks that I ever had, that it broke me into a grin..
Of course, I didn"t voice out my opinion, but I think the opposite party noticed it. Then, let"s introduce ourselves first..
"Ah, Good day, I am Orion, a C-rank Adventurer, and this is my companions, Anna, and Lute, I"m here for the request interview, who might you be, sir?"
I say in the best polite way I could think of, regarding introductions..
To which the reaction shown was a slightly raised eyebrow, with eyes peering into me, like it was examining every secret I had to keep inside, and that look was filled with curiosity somehow..
I get a chilling feeling at the back of my neck, somehow telling me there was something off, about this whole affair..
But I couldn"t find the reason, so I put it in the back of my head for now..
"I see, I am one known as Gaziel, a merchant of sorts, I travel around the continent, trading goods with each city, and this, is my loyal bodyguard, Raizel, introduce yourself.."
He looks towards the red-haired man, and he, in turn, starts speaking while looking at us..
"h.e.l.lo, I"m Raizel, I"m the guard of Gaziel-sama, and someone who loves to fight strong people!"
He blurts out the last part like he was challenging someone, contrary to his calm, handsome(ikemen) looks, he had an awfully loud voice like a high-tension teen..
"I see, nice to meet you both, now, how should we do the interview, are you going to ask me questions about my skills and my life, or something such as that?"
*Laugh* *Chuckle*
Gaziel-san, seems to have found something amusing and laughs while Raizel-san had a grin on his face..
"Um, what is it? Did I say something wrong?"
I ask to make sure..
"*Giggle* No, no, I"m sorry, nothing of the sort, it"s just that, I got amused by your strange perception of an interview.."
Strange?
"Then, what would you have me do then?"
I try to get to the bottom of this..
"Ah, it"s quite simple actually, you see, I need an escort that can match my bodyguard here, in terms of skill, since I don"t feel safe nowadays just having one guy to guard me, so I"m looking for someone to make me a.s.sured. In other words, all you have to do, is keep up with Raizel and you have the job.."
Ah, I see, simple, fighting the ecstatic guy..
Eh?
"So, what you mean is, I have to fight Raizel-san?"
"That"s exactly what I was saying.."
"But, won"t he get hurt? I didn"t think I"d have to injure someone to get an escort job, to be honest.."
*Laughs harder*
This time, Gaziel-san couldn"t hold it anymore, and starts holding his stomach trying to suppress his loud laughter..
And Raizel-san seemed to get more fired up..
"Haha, you"re strange aren"t you, you aren"t even affected by Raizel"s presence, I see, that"s the first time I saw someone get so confident in front of us, you, you"re interesting, please, try fighting Raizel, and don"t worry, he"s not that weak, to be injured that easily, and even if someone was injured, I have healing potions, so it"s fine to showcase your strength.."
"Uh, sure, if you say that much then, I"m okay with it.."
I got relieved at the prospect of not killing someone by accident..
Yosh, let"s hold back this time, I don"t want to get fired before I even start..
"Then it"s settled, let"s move to the back area, I"m expecting a lot from you, Orion-dono.."