If asked what I"d a.s.sociate the word "adventurers" with, then the answer would have to be "equipment."
I should probably go to a weapon store or armor store next to ask around.
Since the way I understand it, adventurers have an inextricably close relationship with these places.
It seems that Horun has joined some famous adventurer team, so I feel like I would be able to at least hear some rumors about them.
It"s not like the information I want is anything personal or private, so I expect the other side would answer my questions quite readily.
Also, I am slightly interested in what kind of bows there are in the city.
——Or at least, that"s what I"d thought.
"What business do you have with us?"
On my very first try, I"ve already b.u.mped into a member of the Black Swan of Dawn.
I went into a store that deals with weapons located relatively close to the Adventurer"s Guild that"s facing the main avenue. There were three adventurer-like customers in the store, and it"s quite s.p.a.cious. I suppose it"s on the better side in terms of product lineup?
While gazing at the large variety of weapons lining the shelves and walls and tossed into barrels, I look for anything resembling a bow. To my slight disappointment, there is none.
Well, there"s nothing to be done about something that isn"t here, so I proceeded deeper into the store and call out to the salesperson-like grandpa who"s polishing a sword.
Like, do you know anything about Black Swan of Dawn.
At which, I got a response from the customer at my side.
"What business do you have with us?" she said.
"Eh? You"re a member of Black Swan of Dawn?"
She turns out to be a red-haired girl who looks younger and weaker than I"d expected. She"s probably similar in age to me. And she"s not even wearing armor.
"I am. What about it?"
…… Ehh?
I don"t get it.
Wasn"t Black Swan of Dawn a team of Three Stars?
With Lorobel as the standard for a Two Star, then it would mean everyone on the team should be at least as strong as her, or even stronger.
What"s going on? Am I misunderstanding something here?
"What? …… Weird Megane."
Because I was staring at her too hard, it seems that"s made her a bit miffed. It"s not like her face is even that…… no, that"s a rude thing to say about girls. It"s not a face that"s particularly problematic for staring at for an extended period of time.
No, I mean, who can fault me for being confused?
From every which angle, she only looks like an average teenage girl. I don"t feel strength on par with Lorobel"s from her either. Her presence is also exactly that of a simple villager, and she"s full of openings.
In spite of all that, she"s a member of a top cla.s.s adventurer team? Why?
…… No, it doesn"t matter.
That adventurer team can be whatever it wants to be All I have business with is my sister.
There"s no point dwelling on things that seem unnatural or incomprehensible. The question did come up in my mind, but it"s not like I"m actually curious about it. So I don"t have to understand.
"Umm, I want to meet a girl called Horun, who should be in the same team as you. Where is she at the moment?"
"HAAH?!"
The girl"s face abruptly changes from miffed to whatever you call it when her eyebrows are raised as high as they go. What"s with this reaction.
"You want to meet Horun onee-sama?! A poor-looking brat like you?! Why?!"
"Onee-sama"? You"re her younger sister? I"m her younger brother. What do you mean by "why."
(T/N: "Onee" usually means "elder sister." But in this case, the girl is calling Horun so out of respect for her, not because of blood. And Eil is riffing on that.)
"——So noisy."
The instant she opens her mouth as if she intends to say something else, a low voice reverberating from the diaphragm interrupts.
"Don"t raise a fuss in my store. This isn"t a playground for brats."
The salesperson grandpa is glaring daggers at us. Ahh, those eyes are bad. Those are ones belonging to a person who wouldn"t hesitate to kill at the drop of a hat. How scary.
But well, the person largely responsible for the fuss is not me, so his gaze is mostly directed towards the girl. She seems to be taken aback and is faltering under that gaze.
"Oi, brat."
Eh? Don"t tell me, flying sparks? Is he gonna come for me too?
"If it"s Horun you"re looking for, she"s currently away on a demon beast subjugation. It"s gonna be at least 3 more days before she returns to the capital. That answer your question? If you don"t intend to buy anything then get lost."
Ahh, is that so. I see, so she isn"t in the capital right now. So it"ll be at least 3 days before she returns.
"Thank you very much, gramps. By the way, are you selling any bows?"
"We specialize in blades, so we don"t even have arrows. If it"s bows you"re looking for, then visit Joseph"s Shop in Area Six."
Ah, so he really didn"t have any.
"I sincerely express my thanks."
His eyes are scary, but he turns out to be surprisingly kind. It"s a great help that I"ve learned all the information I want to know in one go.
It"s not exactly an expression of thanks, but I think I might as well buy something from him.
But I don"t really use blades…… oh right, let"s buy a knife for dismantling prey then. The one that I"ve been using habitually is almost nearing the end of its lifespan. It"s not a bad idea to replace it now.
And it can even serve as commemoration for me having come to the royal capital.
With all that in mind, I exit the store.
"Wait up."
So then.
Since he"s told me about it, I might as well go pay a visit to "Joseph"s Shop" in that "Area Six." I really do want to take a look at bows in the city.
"I said, wait up."
If it"s going to take at least 3 days for Horun to come back, then I"m going to need to stay for 3 days. I have the inn fee that the castle gave me, but it"s not actually that much. I"ve got to remain frugal.
"Wai-…… I SAID, WAIT UP! DO YOU HEAR ME?!"
For what it"s worth, I"ve also brought the money I"ve saved up from my life as a hunter. But again, it"s not really that much.
Two years ago, when Horun departed for the royal capital, I gave her all of my savings as my farewell gift. If I hadn"t done that, then I would have quite a tidy sum at the moment.
I mean, it"s Horun after all. I was thinking that she probably wouldn"t come back to the village any time soon, and would definitely stuff her face with food and splurge money on other random things in the royal capital. I myself didn"t really have any way to use the money, so that money was actually quite worthless to me at the time.
…… But I do remember clearly that I told her "this is for buying us souvenirs" when I handed it to her.
The all-important souvenir has yet to reach any of us, and even the person herself has yet to come home even once after that.
"Megane! ME—GA—NE!!"
Alright I give up, even I can"t ignore someone who"s grabbed my arm and is shouting literally in my ear.
"You referring to me?"
"Do you see anyone wearing gla.s.ses nearby aside from you?!"
"I was really wishing that it was someone else. That"s all."
"What do you mean by that?! Now look here! You might have forgotten already! But it was you who first started asking about Horun onee-sama alright!"
I have nothing to say in response to that. She"s right, after all.
——After leaving that weapon store, this red-haired teenage girl who claimed to be a member of Black Swan of Dawn has been following me the entire time.
If I bring along something so noisy, then I"m going to stand out. And there"s already quite a lot of people on the streets now. I don"t like the gazes directed my way.
I can"t put it off anymore, so let"s just quickly deal with this and be on my way.
"But that being said, my question has already been answered."
That grandpa from the store has already told me everything I wanted to know.
"So frankly speaking, I have no more use for you."
"Well I have!"
You would, wouldn"t you. Otherwise you wouldn"t be chasing me all the way here, right.
"Where is Area Six?"
"Why would you ask me that now?! I"m not going to let you go until our conversation is finished, alright?!"
"Then let"s walk and talk. So, which way?"
"You"re going to escape the moment I tell you, right?"
"I won"t escape. But I do want to go there in a hurry so I"m only going to run as fast as I can. Calling that "escaping" is just insulting. You have cut me deeply, truly."
"Your real thoughts are?"
"I"m gonna escape at my top speed."
"…… Haah."
She sighed at me. She sighed a tired sigh at me.
"I"m asking you, so would you just listen to me? It"s not like I have a lot of free time either, and it"s not like I want to make a fuss either."
……. Now she"s actually asking me.
"Alright then."
It"s definitely nothing good anyways, but I might as well listen for what it"s worth.
"This time I won"t run away, so let"s walk and talk."
"Really? You said it, alright?"
"Yep. So, which way?"
"That way, beyond the main avenu——OI DUUDEEEE————!! MEGANEEE—————!!"
——Eil of Albat, clinching his second perfect escape of the day.
I had thought that I would have no business in the royal capital and thus would be returning to the village soon, but as I walk around the place looking at this and this, I realize that I"d spent the entire morning sightseeing in the royal capital.
After enjoying Nastiara Kingdom"s specialty "Soup Pasta with Radish and Green Duck" for lunch, I head back to my inn. Green duck turns out to be really good. When combined with radish, it becomes so delicious that it"s almost criminal. Little wonder that that dish became known as a specialty.
My luggage and bow are still in my room.
I had originally planned on staying for only one night, but since the castle has ordered me to stay a few more days, I"ve got to do the paperwork for extending my stay.
Once I"m done with that, then let"s find a place to practice my b……
" "Welcome back." "
My escape route has been cut off.
The moment I set foot into the inn, two females had stepped forward to block the entrance that I"d just come in from.
It"s blond mushroom head Lorobel and the annoying teenage girl from the weapon shop.
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