Chapter 327


(327) Request from the Mercenary Guild guild master


Translator: Tseirp


The next day, I went to the Mercenary Guild the first thing in the morning .


I greeted the receptionist lady that I met yesterday .


“Ichinojo-san, you have not departed for the dungeon?”


“Actually, I’ve been to the dungeon, defeated the boss and returned last night . Here, the requested boss drop item . ”


“Eh? No way, it would take an entire day to reach the dungeon even with a fast horse . And what’s this gourd?”


“That dungeon has two different boss rooms and we found that in the other boss room . It contains alcohol . ”


The receptionist lady heard my reply and first opened the wine jar dropped by the snake and scooped out its contents for a sip .


Are you sure you can do that while on duty?


“ … The taste of snake has not fully blended in with the alcohol, a young brew . This is definite proof that this is a recent drop . What about this gourd?”


This time she opened the gourd and drank the contents .


“Such a mellow taste . Rice wine? Its sweetness spreads throughout the mouth even though not a single fruit was used . I have not drunk such a wine before . ”


Where did this wine critic come from?


How does she know these things?


“Ichinojo-san, I will pay additional rewards so please tell me in detail the experiences you went through to acquire this golden gourd . ”


“All right . ”


I explained about the illusionary wall, the pitfall, and the side path .


And I talked about the boss as well .


“That’s dangerous . We have records of that monkey . Torch Kill . It is a monster adept in erasing its presence but said to be weak to cold and unable to activate its hiding specialty in places where the temperature is low . It was not known where it lived but we had never expected it to be in such a place . ”


I see . So that was why I didn’t see the monkey from the beginning .


I had no comments on the name Torch Kill .


“Erm, so with this, am I able to meet the guild master?”


I didn’t mind even if she refused . I had already acquired the Nectar after all .


I wanted to say that but since I requested to meet the guild master, I was afraid what others would think if I just dropped my request .


“Yes, no problem . In fact, looking at the evaluation now, we can’t let you return without a meeting . This way please . ”




There was no problem .


And so I was led to the room at the back .


The guild master room of the Mercenary Guild . I wondered what kind of person were they .


I was nervous .


The receptionist lady opened the door without knocking and entered .


I followed after her .


The shelves were filled with alcohol bottles . There were tons of alcohol in the dwarf village as well but the focus was on the quantity available to drink . In contrast, there were a lot more variations here but all of them were in small bottles .


And more importantly .


There was nobody in the room .


Was the guild master out?


As I was thinking, the receptionist lady sat on the leather chair .


“Congratulations on passing the test, Ichinojo-san . I am the Mercenary Guild guild master, Stefania . ”


“ … So you’ve been lying to me from the start . ”


“Didn’t I say it? ‘I’ll apologize in advance’ . Furthermore, I never said that I was not the Mercenary Guild guild master so it’s a little harsh to say I lied . Well, I do receptionist work because I like to see that expression . Ah, right right . You’re forbidden from telling others that I am the Mercenary Guild guild master . ”


Did she change her tone from a receptionist to the Mercenary Guild guild master?


Well, her frank tone made it easier for me to speak as well .


I see . So her words were not meant for the letter but an apology for faking her identity .


“But won’t an intelligent person realize immediately? After all, I knew the contents of the letter that Ichinojo-san brought . ”


“You said that you looked at the letter before it was torn . ”


“Even if it was a document to be torn, a mere receptionist wouldn’t be able to read the contents of a letter addressed to the guild master . ”


Ah, that’s true as well .


So she was testing me on that aspect too .


Carol probably would have noticed if she was with me .


I would have seen through her lies if I used Thought Trace but it was not as though I had it activated all the time so I ended up completely believing her and did not notice anything amiss .


“First, this is the reward for this request, with the additional reward added in, 3 million Goats . I’ll prepare it now . ”


“3 million!? You said it was 70,000 Goats . ”


“That is just how valuable the information Ichinojo-san brought to us is . Personally, I feel that is too little but if I give any more my subordinates will make noise . It’s a hassle . ”


Her words were sketchy but I could understand it a little .


That was probably her true nature .


“Ha …… “


She was delighted that she found precious alcohol ─ ─ I guess I could interpret it that way?


I looked at the alcohol bottles that lined the shelf .


Eh?


There was a drawing placed between the alcohol bottles .


A portrait?


It was probably drawn with a Portrait skill or something similar as it was as detailed as a photo .


A burly man, a toned man, and a small girl were illustrated .


“Eh? I feel like I’ve seen that person before . ”


“Good job noticing, that girl is me when I was a child . ”


Stefania-san said as she took the money out of the safe .


But I was not referring to the child .


I was talking about the burly Pugilist man .


“That Swordsman is my father . And that Pugilist-san is father’s partner Marg-san . The two of them were a legendary mercenary combination known as the Steel Brothers . ”


“Heeh … hn?”


Wait, I’ve seen the steel sword that the toned Swordsman is holding before .


Where did I see it? It was definitely in this world .


Marg … Marg .


“ ─ ─ !? Aah, so that’s it . ”


The Pugilist seemed familiar because isn’t it Margaret-san!?


I see, so his real name was Marg . Although I knew that Margaret was not his real name .


And the steel sword the Swordsman was holding was the steel sword I borrowed and ended up snapping when fighting the Mountain Bandit .


“Eh? What do you mean?”


I suddenly raised my voice so Stefania-san asked suspiciously .


“Ah, sorry . That Pugilist is my benefactor . ”


“Really!? You met Marg-san!? When!?”


Stefania-san leaned forward to ask me .


“About two months ago on the Western Continent . I’m probably not mistaken . ”


I see . Margaret-san mentioned that he liked his partner but so his partner already had a child .


“I see, so Marg-san is still alive . Marg-san was very kind to me when I was a child . Marg-san once asked me if I wanted to become his actual daughter . I kind of yearned for a father like Marg-san . Of course, I refused in the end . ”


… She mistook his question .


I believe Margaret-san wanted to become your mother .


“When father died, Marg-san actually wanted to take care of me but my mother took me in and she hated Marg-san . Perhaps she was jealous that Marg-san was always traveling the world with my father for battles . Ahaha . ”


Stefania laughed .


I think she actually was jealous .


She probably felt it with female intuition .


Stefania-san seemed to hold a strong sense of admiration for Marg-san .


But Marg-san’s current appearance ─ ─ I probably shouldn’t talk about Margaret-san . It’s best to leave a dream as a dream .


“So where is Marg-san now?”


“Erm, sorry . I met him during my journey so I know he is on the Western Continent but I don’t know where exactly . ”


“I see … that’s a pity . ”


I felt sorry for Stefania-san but I still felt that it was better to change my story for her sake .


“And so, I have a request for the Mercenary Guild’s guild master . ”


“Yeah, I know . Nectar . If you are all right with just the information we know ─ ─”


“Ah, sorry . I don’t need to ask about Nectar any longer . ”


“Eh? You don’t?”


“Yes”


I no longer need it .


“That’s troubling ─ ─ There was a request I wanted you to accept … do you need any other information?”


“Nothing in particular . Unless you can teach me the place to acquire a Dragon Core . ”


“Dragon Core?”


“I guess it’s an impossible request after all . ”


I replied but for some reason, Stefania-san grasped my arm .


“Coincidentally I have a request to obtain a Dragon Core! Please take it!”


“Eh?”


A request to obtain Dragon Core?


There’s actually such a pinpoint request?


I couldn’t help but be surprised at the convenient development of events .


It didn’t feel like she was lying to me .


“Can I have the details?”


“There have been talks of a dragon appearing at Lake Landau on the west . ”


“Lake Landau? By any chance ─ ─”


“It’s not an Ancient Dragon . It appeared after you defeated the Ancient Dragon . It’s that . The eyewitness account came from Marquis Utings’ soldiers when they went to collect the Ancient Dragon’s materials so it should be trustworthy . ”


“By any chance, is it ─ ─ ”


“Yes, a wild Demon Lord Dragon . There should be no doubt about it according to its characteristics . ”


A Demon Lord Dragon in that Lake Landau .


Why this timing?


Because I defeated the Ancient Dragon?


Even if it was not related to the Dragon Core, I would have to accept the request no matter what .


“All right, I accept . ”


“Thank god . A party of adventurers and a skilled mercenary has already accepted this request . Please gather here tomorrow before setting off to the destination . ”


“I wish to travel with my party alone though . ”


“This is to increase the rate of success . Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to prioritize handing the Dragon Core to you from among the Demon Lord Dragon’s materials . I’ll talk to the other members as well . ”


That was not my main reason . I don’t want others to know so much about my ability .


If worst come to worst, I thought of breaking away from the group and traveling to Lake Landau on my own but it seemed that it showed on my expression .


“You can’t travel there on your own . From the point of accepting the request, taking arbitrary actions will be a punishable offense . ”


I was warned .


I guess there was no other way .



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