Chapter 404: A bright star shining silently in a remote region
Hmm?
While I was walking around, I detected a strange presence and I stopped my feet.
I -Haku Mokuren- am currently enjoying the feeling of the city I haven’t felt in a while. My comrades are each doing their own job, and you could say that they had at some point in time begun enjoying their everyday life here.
Now then, speaking about me -one of the adventurers that created the first guild- would take a ma.s.sive amount of time, so it would honestly be a pain to do so.
I am simply one of the many foreigners who have come to the remote city of Tsige which is having dazzling development.
I was humming a certain famous poem of the showa era while wandering around the city.
The adventurers and residents were calling me Haku-san and Mokuren-san amicably as I pa.s.sed by, and I have now finally grown familiar to this place.
As someone who has taken in both the viewpoint of being a member of this city and the viewpoint of being an adventurer, I was perplexed by the young man that was releasing a strange presence.
He looks around his late 15s or early 20s.
I can see from his face and eyes that he has received proper education and training, and yet, his body was strangely unreliable.
His eyes of surprise and expectation is the usual of people who have come from the outside, but…at the same time, he seemed like he also had some sort of specific objective.
This place has just recently declared itself a country, so you could even say it is newborn.
I can only groan and say that they are doing quite a good job steering the ship despite that being the case, but…it is true that this is also a dangerous time where you don’t know what will happen.
I have taken a decent liking to this place, so the only choice I had was to speak to him.
‘Don’t stick your head in each and every small matter’, are the words of advice from my one and only long companion, but she is currently not here.
In other words, there’s no way to stop me here…
And with that said! GO!
“Heya, is this your first time in Tsige? Wa?!” (Haku)
I am in the dancer business, so I am somewhat confident in closing the distance to people.
But this time around, I was stopped by something.
The young man in front of me disappeared from my very eyes.
*Sniff*…this lingering scent…so he was taken away by someone from the Kuzunoha Company, huh.
Well, if I leave it to them…yeah, they can be hit or miss, so I shouldn’t feel safe with just the mention of their name, huh.
“Uhm…is it here? Oh, it is! It is!” (Haku)
“!”
“…Tch.”
As payback for having lost my talk partner, I used the stealth steps that I learned from my comrade a.s.sa.s.sin to follow after the trace, and speak to them.
What came back in response was surprise and a click of the tongue.
“Eris-chan, huh. It might have been the right move to come here.” (Haku)
What a skilled girl .
She may look like she is a fool, but she doesn’t show any openings.
But she is the type that prioritizes efficiency, and throws away anything that’s a pain without hesitation.
Also, she seems to have strong loyalty to the Kuzunoha Company and what’s at its back, but feels as if she only sees Tsige as nothing more than a playground.
“It is the style of our place to check as soon as possible whatever it is that’s strange. Is something the matter?” (Eris)
“Hmm, what you are trying to do is to forcefully stop it, right?” (Haku)
“This one is probably something that’s not good for us. As someone loyal, I wouldn’t like Waka to carry unnecessary worries. I want our guest to understand this as well.” (Eris)
“My instinct is telling me that that one might be a problem, you know?” (Haku)
“Your looooooooooooooooong and seasoned instinct, huh. Hmm, leaving aside the worry, I did my job. He won’t become a threat. Now that that’s been resolved, you can go back to your roun—” (Eris)
I could feel the ill intent from her stretching that one part purposely.
But she does show signs of pulling back. Then…
“If you so allow, Haku-san will take over the job.” (Haku)
I show her a small sign that I have no intention of pulling back here.
“My my, I see now that the guest doesn’t want to pull back even after all I said. If you are going to be taking over, I will withdraw~.” (Eris)
Eris-chan, who was poking the young man with a short staff, disappeared like the wind.
Oh my, have I put her a bit on guard here?
She was about to use mind magic there, so I have to show a bit of a dangerous mood or that kind of girl would immediately activate the spell.
“Now then, young man, let’s do this over.” (Haku)
“??”
“Heya there, is this your first time in Tsige? If it is okay with you, I -Haku-san- will be your guide.” (Haku)
“Aah, uhm…”
“First, names!” (Haku)
“?!”
“I am Haku Mokuren. A dancer that arrived here recently. That’s all!” (Haku)
I introduced myself first.
And then, I wait.
With a smile!
“…I am Dio…no, just Dio. I heard that this city had outstanding conditions, so I was thinking that maybe this is a good time to earn some coin.” (Dio)
“…”
“?”
“…”
“That’s how it is, so I don’t think I will be too much of a source of revenue. I thank you for saving me there.” (Dio)
“I see! No need to worry about the money. Despite my looks, I am actually a dancer that knows many things! And so, what do you want to do, Dio-kun? I spoke to you because I thought you are not a regular person looking to rise up in society though.” (Haku)
I slightly change my nuance of suspecting that he is going to cause something, and give him a truthful reply.
I wouldn’t hesitate to mix one or two lies if I am at my wit’s end, but if we can wrap things up in a peaceful manner, I will of course take that option.
Even if it is hard to detect or not, a lie is still a lie.
If found out, you will lose the trust of the other party.
Getting trust back is astonishingly difficult.
If possible, I would like to wrap things up without losing any trust.
“…I came from Aion after all. It had a war with this place, right? That’s why I am probably slightly nervous. I didn’t intend to show it though. How pathetic of me.” (Dio)
“I see, I see. Then…your first request would be the Adventurer Guild and a cheap inn with cheap meals, right?” (Haku)
“! …Yeah, you might be right. I was honestly overwhelmed the moment I entered the city and was lost for a moment there. I want to go to the Adventurer Guild. Please tell me about the cheap meals and cheap inns as well if it is okay with you.” (Dio)
Dio looked at me with straight eyes despite me wearing quite the stimulating attire due to my job.
What an upright boy, moreover, honest.
Fumu, my instinct is normally pretty accurate, but it might have been mistaken this time around.
“Leave this to big sis!” (Haku)
I guide him to the Adventurer Guild that’s not centered on the wasteland.
The information he has is somewhat correct.
The current Tsige is trying to exterminate the mamonos that are in the territory, so all types of adventurers have a decent amount of work.
It may not be something to travel a long distance for, it is still profitable.
While I was giving a light explanation to him about those circ.u.mstances, he invited me for lunch, I gave some rough explanations of the inns tailored for adventurers as well as the stores of this city before we separated.
“A Dio something that came from Aion, huh. It really does bother me.” (Haku)
At night.
I was earning some coin by dancing and talking in an establishment, and as expected, Dio was still in my mind.
He doesn’t look like the kind of person who would ignore his own ability and enter the wasteland illegally, but I could feel the presence of death from that dangerous aura of him.
The current stance he said he would be taking was giving out a bad scent to it.
“You are quite the educated lady! To think you would even know about a fairytale regarding the strange liquor of elder dwarfs!! You go well above knowledgeable!!”
A dwarf that one could tell was a skilled blacksmith at one glance was cheering.
He was praising the dwarf anecdote that was requested of me.
Ufufu.
“Thank you very mu~ch! If you have any other requests, please tell me~!” (Haku)
“Ooh, I will be coming to this establishment whenever you are here! How many stories do you have?”
“No amount of nights are enough to tell them all. Want to listen?” (Haku)
Whether it is dancing or talking, I am happy that people would come to an establishment for me.
I go around my cla.s.sic stories as I cater to the requests of the customers.
I have pa.s.sed uncountable nights this way.
The fact that I have gotten bored despite this means that I love this regardless of whether my Job is dancer.
“You’ve got a way with words! No amount of nights are enough, huh! Then, I gotta follow you to the next establishment you go to.”
“Looking forward to your patronage. Uhm…” (Haku)
Now that I think about it, I haven’t asked for the name of this customer.
“Bronzeman. Nice to meet you.” (Bronzeman)
“Haku. Speaking of Bronzeman-san, could it be from the company?” (Haku)
If I remember correctly, there’s a Bronzeman Company that is at the tops of Tsige in regards to equipment.
“Hm? That’s right, that Bronzeman. This place is close to our company’s headquarters after all.” (Bronzeman)
“Is that so. I’ve heard that you not only make armor and weapons, but also manufacture magic bags. You are a company that has clear ability, huh.” (Haku)
I entertain him in talk.
Magic bags are super high cla.s.s items, but they are magic tools that can be manufactured.
The cost for the materials is high and the production cost is also high.
Also, the success rate is average.
Even in our guild, we made enough for everyone and stopped it.
All types of materials gather in Tsige, so the production of it has been revived recently and it is being sold at outstanding prices in the market.
“Oh, you know a lot. Even though you are a dancer, you have vast knowledge, and you also know a lot about the city. If more women like you existed, the night stores would be fun.” (Bronzeman)
“We exist because there’s customers that enjoy our art and talks. I believe there will be many more like me showing up.” (Haku)
In reality, the nights of Tsige hold a lot of potential.
They may be tied up as night stores as a whole for now, but they will most likely be divided further as time goes, and what will be looked after in men and women will begin to get more detailed.
“Magic bags are products that we would like to let go of at once, but…they do give good coin after all.” (Bronzeman)
“It may be convenient, but the capacity is mostly left to luck after all. Moreover, they are not that durable.” (Haku)
“…Man, you are impressive, Haku. You know a lot about magic bags too.” (Bronzeman)
“I have been travelling to a lot of places for a long time.” (Haku)
By the way, I dropped my magic bag in a river, and when I tried to dry it by putting it by the side of an openfire, it broke.
A dark past of mine.
I obviously won’t be telling him that.
I don’t really mind making my customers laugh, but having them laugh at me is a no.
“It is as you say, Haku. There’s a decent amount of problems about it, and it is also a seed for trouble. Also…” (Bronzeman)
“?”
“In the legends about us dwarves, there’s gossip about being able to use a Skill similar to magic bags when you master the smith Job. I am also one of the fools who bet on that possibility.” (Bronzeman)
“Aah, storage, huh. It is not a deep Skill to call it ‘master’, but there certainly is a Skill that a smith has.” (Haku)
Bronzeman was beginning about his long past saying ‘I leveled quite a bit in my young years’, and I accidentally ended up telling him about a Skill that my past comrade told me about.
“Eh?” (Bronzeman)
“Ah.” (Haku)
Silence seized us for a moment.
“Haku, what did you say just now?” (Bronzeman)
“I forgot completely.” (Haku)
“Hahahaha.” (Bronzeman)
“Ufufufu.” (Haku)
There’s no way that’s gonna pa.s.s.
Because I was so bothered by the young man called Dio, my guard on the sides were loosened.
I have ended up sticking my leg into trouble by myself.
‘When something happens, it all happens at once’, those words that our Guildmaster had muttered many times before.
Aah, gotta inform Makoto-kun here.
There’s also the matter about taking the job from Eris-chan.
Sorry~.