Chapter 118 – Unfulfilled Dream
“We finished.”
Menew made the report at the Adventurers Guild with a tired expression. The Guild master looked surprised, and after blinking with wide eyes for a moment, closed his mouth again.
“Which one?”
“All of them. It was so tiring…”
Yesterday, after defeating the monsters, he had returned to the hospital.
People from the Medical Guild were now there, and they helped the former patients, low-ranking Adventurers, to bathe in order to get rid of the smell.
He had talked to the people there and told them about the monsters, and how they needed help now. The people were happy to cooperate. Especially since the work would be good for rehabilitation.
Thanks to that, over a thousand people helped to gather the crystals across the Hahinof plains.
However, Menew and the others had to help as well… And the work, which involved crouching low and searching through the grass, was tiring in a way that was much different from fighting and traveling.
“Al-all of them!? …Wait a moment.”
“Can I sit on this couch?”
“Do as you wish! …Hey, someone!”
Guild Master Van shouted as he left the room. And so Menew collapsed on the couch.
Menew and the others had done this work on the condition that they would be allowed to enter the sealed dungeon. The guild knew who they were, and so they could not lie about the quests. That would likely result in some kind of punishment.
But while they would hardly lie, it was still necessary to confirm it. The Guild Master was likely sending people to the Medical Guild and the Hahinof plains ate this very moment.
It would take at least an hour by horse. And so Menew and the others decided to rest in the meantime.
While Menew and Totto were quick to collapse, Ralph and Mofusen were relatively lively. After all, they were used to training and farmwork.
Even Sety was fine.
“You two have no energy at all. How ridiculous.”
“When I’m forced to do routine or monotonous work, I get a headache and the urge to run away… It was tiring just trying to bear that.”
“I have no strength to begin with…”
Totto was used to gathering herbs for hours, but searching through weeds must have been very boring. The exhaustion was all over his face.
“Well I used to train by digging holes and then burying them again. It makes you very patient.”
“Stop that! Just the thought of it makes me want to puke.”
“With farming, you are dealing with plants and animals. The key is to enjoy the small changes.”
“Th-that’s not too bad…”
“I did everything back in the day. So easy manual labor is nothing.”
“By the way, why are you going around to dungeons now?”
Menew asked. Sety laughed and explained it to him.
“Well, I guess I could tell you people. …I…was rained in a dungeon.”
“Huh?”
“I don’t even know where I was born. However, I was abandoned in a dungeon right after. It must have been a dungeon that was not managed by the guild at that time. And the strongest monster…divine beast? Spirit? Whatever. The creature raised me. Well, I am human. And was eventually brought up in a human village. So my memories are vague.”
As a bird could not teach a human to fly, the monster could not teach Sety to be human. And so once she could stand on two feet, she was placed in the care of humans in order to learn how to talk.
“And there, I had to work hard in order to survive. Oh, it wasn’t bad. The villagers raised me as if I were their own. But my real parents…the one who protected me when I couldn’t protect myself. That is the dungeon monster. And so I want to find that dungeon, and repay the debt.”
“So that’s why Sety goes dungeon crawling.”
Menew said. ‘Exactly’ Sety said with a laugh.
She had probably never told this to anyone else. In this world, people hated anything outside of the norm. Even if a child or an infant. So it was something that Menew understood well.
“It’s possible that the guild still does not manage that dungeon. Or maybe they do. It is an unfulfilled dream of mine.”
It was clear that she had no intention of giving up. Menew was about to say something, when the door opened.
“What magic did you use?”
Van looked scary. Menew raised his hands as if in surrender. He was about to explain, but Van put up his hand to stop him.
“Nevermind that. If I ask, it will make us look like fools for the past month.”
It was better to just think of it as a strange mystery then.
It had seemed hopeless. Work that would never end. And yet, they had no choice but to try. And so they did, desperately.
And yet now, all three problems were solved as if they had never been there.
These Adventurers were not even A-Rank yet. And A-Rank Adventurers would not have finished the job so well. After all, this work required a different set of skills.
“Well, I suppose it will be fine if it’s you people.”
Processing the aftermath could be troublesome. And he dreaded the reports he would have to write. But he still must keep his promise.
Sending people to their deaths was regrettable. But a promise was a promise. Besides, they did not look like they would die.
“Ah…you. In black. Uh…”
“I’m Menew.”
“Yes, that’s right, Menew. I give you all permission to enter Caprichio. Please come back alive.”
“Yes!!”
“We did it!”
“I’ll have a boat prepared. Departure will be in three days. Prepare with care.”
The Guild Master then pushed out the excited party from his office. And then he faced his desk in order to write as vague a report as possible.
Yayz! Thank you for the chapter!