Chapter 138 – Junior Adventurers
I participated in the work of sealing the cave on the following day. Thanks to the aid of the elves, things were going smoothly. We piled up rocks in the cave, and used branches and mud to fill up the gaps. Once a stone was created, we added another layer of clay to make the seal airtight.
It was not quite as durable as a real wall, but it should stay up, as long as no one came to purposely destroy it.
The entrance that was created by the killer ants was also collapsed in order to stop any monsters from going inside.
“Thank you for your cooperation.”
“We both helped each other.”
Mr. Finze and the chief shook hands in front of the cave. There was…no talk of this leading to any friendship between the Nanaze village and Amernisus… However, it was decided that an elf guard would visit once a month in order to make sure that everything was alright.
And like that, the elves returned to Amernisus, and the village was at peace again. I continued to do different jobs, and things seemed to be going back to normal.
However, there were some changes as well. On this day, I was visiting the Adventurers Guild in Suelbur.
“Hey, are there no more C-Rank requests?”
I asked Miyor at the reception counter, after I had sold my magic stones and materials.
“That’s unusual of you, Mr. Ajifu. You usually reject the C-Rank quests. There is just one right now. It is also on the quest board.”
I looked at the request sheet that Miyor showed me. And then I returned it.
“Yes, I saw that one. But I can’t fight anything that my sword won’t reach.”
It was always something that could fly. Like griffins.
“Well, the monsters don’t care about making things easy for us. And so no one wants to accept this one.”
Miyor said with a sigh.
Still, it was difficult to deal with flying monsters without attack magic or a bow. And when it came to griffins, they had especially high mobility. It would be a hard battle unless you were in a C-Rank party. I’m sure Miyor knew that. And she did not recommend them.
I had wanted to actively complete quests in order to earn money for my leg treatment. But while this was an area with a lot of monsters, it was not the kind of place where anything C-Rank and above appeared very often. Besides, C-Rank monsters were dangerous. I would prefer to do a lot of D-Rank quests, but nothing so convenient was available.
Living in the village did not cost me anything, but it also was not lucrative. And since I had spent so much in Amernisus, I really wanted to make some money.
There were some D-Rank quests available, but not enough to make me want to leave Nanaze village for an extended period of time. And so I sighed with resignation and made my way out. However, I then bumped into a party that was just coming in. Then immediately noticed me and two of them stepped forward.
“Mr. Ajifu. It’s been a while.”
“Hello.”
“Ah, hello. I see that you are doing well. And I’ve been hearing stories.”
“Oh, it’s not…well, yes, we are doing quite well!”
The two said with a laugh. It was Rowar and Nenreko. The two young men had been working for about two years now, and so they were treated as full-fledged Adventurers in Suelbur.
“They say you’re making the most out of the E-Rankers. You’ll be getting promoted quite soon.”
As they worked so much, it was rare for me to meet them in the guild. But when I told them about the rumors I had heard, Nenreko’s expression darkened.
“About that… We are close to completing the required number of quests, but… We have to accept an escort mission. There is no need for that in Suelbur. So we tried going to Mujider…”
“But the guild there said we had to prove our skills first. And so we were taken to the training grounds and beaten to a pulp. They said you need to be able to fight humans for escort missions. And that we lacked training.”
“Ah, I see. Have either of you cut a human before?”
“No.”
“I haven’t.”
In a way, Suelbur was a ‘deadend town.’ There was Amernisus up ahead, but since it was closed off, it hardly counted. As it was away from the trade roads, there were a lot of monsters, which made it unpopular for bandits. Very few Adventurers started off in Suelbur.
So it was no surprise that Rowar and Nenreko had no experience fighting against people. While goblins and orcs worked together and ambushed people, it was not the same as fighting people.
Still, at the Suelbur Guild, they would be able to get work due to trust and achievements. But once they stepped out of this area, then they would look like young Adventurers who were too green.
“Mr. Ajifu. Please teach us to fight with swords!”
“Rowar, Ajifu is busy. You can’t ask him to do that.”
While I didn’t mind helping them train, we were all working Adventurers. And so I could not spend too much time on it…
“In other words, you want to prove yourselves to that other guild, yes? In that case, you can come to Nanaze village for a month. And then I could teach you.”
“Really?”
“Are you sure?”
“I was about to return anyway, as there are no good quests here. That is, if your party agrees to let you go.”
The two turned to their party and nodded at each other.
“Could we talk about it for a minute?”
“Of course.”
And so I moved over to the waiting area.
The two were in a party called ‘Black Jaw.’ The name was a reference to killer ant materials. While the materials were not expensive, they were light, hard, and worked well. And since they were especially cheap in the land where they were gathered, all the young Adventurers here wore killer ant gear.
The result was that most people here wore black, and so the word ‘black’ was commonly in the party names. It was the color that Suelbur was known for.
“Mr. Ajigu. Can you teach us anything else aside from swords?”
“Shields. And spears. But not bows.”
I had used spears and bows, but never acquired a skill for them. And yet, I had got skills for other things that I had barely trained in. I suppose everyone had things they were suited to.
However, Jirido had taught me the spear quite a lot, and so I knew the basics.
As for Black Jaw, they were made up of two swordsmen with shields, one spear-wielder, one archer, and one priest. They were all male, and the archer was a beastkin… He looked like a fox? As there were few dwarfs or elves here, it was a typical party.
“Mr. Ajifu. Sorry to keep you waiting. If you could just train me and Nenreko, we would be grateful.”
“What about the other three?”
“Hijik and Royuzude don’t need any training. And so they are going to be doing simple quests in the meantime. And they need Humibo for the advance guard.”
“Though, I would have liked to have trained as well…”
“We will teach you later. But they will be relying on you while we are away.”
“I know.”
Rowar and Humibo bumped fists. They seemed to get along well. It may seem a little too good-natured, teaching someone from another party. But it was not that unusual.
You saw it occasionally in the guild training grounds. And sometimes people would temporarily join a party for training purposes.
However, since I was not in any party, I would have them come to the village instead. And though I would not be making any money, there was an advantage for me as well. Having local Adventurers have a connection with Nanaze would be a great relief.
As Black Jaw still had business to attend to, it was decided that the two would go to the village on the following day. As they had horses, it would be easy.
“Alright, I will be waiting for you then.”
“Yes, thank you.”
I raised my hand at them and then left the guild behind me.
Bonus chapter courtesy of Photo. Thank you!!
And thanks to Photo as well!
Yw, and ty Jawbrie!