113 – City of Adventurers #3
The job of an adventurer is to be versatile in many ways.
For mercenaries, just fighting well is enough, but for adventurers, fighting well is not enough. Fighting monsters, exploring dungeons, collecting materials, guarding key figures, delivering goods, etc. It is an adventurer’s job to solve various requests.
Of course, since you can’t do all of these things alone, most adventurer teams have party members specialized in their respective fields, such as warriors, wizards, thieves, and priests. There are many cases where they go further and have detailed expertise, such as parties specializing in subjugation or parties specializing in exploration.
However, once you entrust an adventurer with a request, everything is usually resolved, so they are truly all-around messengers.
So, of course, the ransom of an adventurer is high.
The higher the reputation and rank of the adventurer, the higher the ransom. And the money to hire such an adventurer doesn’t fall from the sky.
Thus, when the city was attacked by the undead, the mayor roughly slashed the adventurers’ hiring costs.
Of course, the adventurers immediately protested.
Instructor Lilya’s expression went blank for a moment.
“Even when the city is under attack, an adventurer who wants to get money first, or a market who wants to hit the price… They both sound on par.”
At first glance, her thoughts were reasonable. Anyway, from the perspective of a third person looking at it from the outside, it probably doesn’t look that good.
But adventurers also had their own stance.
“Because of the adventurer rules.”
“Adventurer’s rules?”
People often look at the good side of adventurers and envy them, but adventurers are actually a very tough job.
If you don’t have the ability, you can’t even get a request, and you have to step into a dangerous and dirty place without hesitation. Sometimes you have to risk your life to fight monsters, and even if you come back after such a hard time, there are cases where the cost is devastated by the client.
Of course, the number of adventurers who lost their lives in the process and never came back is quite large.
“That’s why adventurers never work for nothing. If word spreads about adventurers who work for nothing, it will damage other ordinary adventurers.”
That adventurer has good skills and does the work for free, but you have less skills than him, so why are you trying to get paid?
If this kind of atmosphere prevails, it will be difficult for adventurers to make a living. So, at the guild level, strict discipline is imposed on unpaid labor.
While Instructor Lilya was quietly listening to her explanation, she tilted her head and asked.
“You are very detailed. Did Instructor Graham used to be an adventurer?”
“… It’s not me, but my colleague was an adventurer in the past.”
He was a very talkative guy. When I was an adventurer who wasn’t even curious about it, I was forced to keep my mouth shut after constantly talking about the past.
Anyway, that wasn’t the point right now.
As a result of looking around the city for a while, the adventurers were not without conscience. It is said that they were willing to fight as long as the mayor paid the minimum wages in the face of the fall of the city.
However, Mayor Roman had no intention of giving even that minimal remuneration. The mayor insisted that the city was in danger and, of course, the adventurers had to voluntarily fight, and when things didn’t go their way, he eventually made a statement suggesting forced conscription.
Unsurprisingly, the atmosphere became turbulent, and negotiations broke down immediately.
Instructor Lirya frowned and said.
“It’s good to be self-sufficient. To risk the city on your own. Anyway, knowing the situation, I can’t stay in this city for one more day. This place is too dangerous for students.”
“I agree that the safety of students is our top priority.”
Instructor Lilya’s expression brightened.
“I knew Instructor Graham would say that! Then, together, find a way to safely leave the city as quickly as possible-“
“No.”
I’m sorry that I seem to betray Instructor Lilya’s expectations, but I shook my head lightly.
“Students should be here.”
“Yes? Why, why? You already know that this place is dangerous, right?”
“It will be more dangerous outside.”
Whether riding a horse, walking, or riding a boat, all of it is meaningless.
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Undead march without rest, and ghost species such as specters and ghosts fly freely in the sky. Leading over 200 students, it was almost impossible to shake off the undead that kept chasing them.
Of course I can fight. However, no matter how strong I am, I only have one body, and even if I can kill all the undead with time, it will be difficult to perfectly protect 200 students in a chaotic battlefield.
So, even in the past wars, I always chose to fight alone.
Because I’m not confident in fighting to protect someone.
“I understand Instructor Lyra’s desire to put the students in a safe place as quickly as possible. But for now, the best thing is to wait for reinforcements to arrive or the airship to be repaired.”
“Ha, but… Maybe there’s still another way, right? If we put our heads together and think about it together-“
“The enemy won’t wait for that time.”
In a battlefield where the situation changes rapidly from moment to moment, the judgment of the moment determines everything. Thus, quick judgment was a basic quality of a soldier.
I already felt it while going through a battle with the undead army. That this will never be the final battle.
Instructor Lilya nodded his head with difficulty after a long thought.
“Okay. I’ll trust Instructor Graham’s judgment. So what should we do now?”
“Please stay close to the students. It’s the first time anyone’s been through something like this, so you’ll need someone you’re familiar with and can rely on.”
“I will do that. What is Instructor Graham planning to do?”
“I will make this city a little safer. So that students can stay with peace of mind.”
“Yes? Is there any way?”
“Yes.”
I nodded briefly.
“From now on, I’m going to hit the market.”
Instructor Lilya’s expression went blank for a moment.
“… Why do you come to that conclusion?”
“Schwarzheim has strong walls and enough people to fight, but it’s not working properly because of the mayor. So, we have to start with the market first.”
Instructor Lyria looked at me blankly, then let out a deep sigh and said.
“You are about to do something dangerous again. You mean you’re leaving the students after all? Opal Black students must be very anxious by now, don’t they need Instructor Graham?”
At those words, he firmly shook his head.
“Since I am the students I taught myself, this should be fine.”
I trained my physical strength with my own hands and taught them how to survive.
It’s only been a month, but they are all students with outstanding potential. I’ve grown a lot in the meantime, so I’ll do my part wherever I go now.
After thinking for a while, he opened his mouth.
“Come to think of it, maybe we need one.”
***
A young man with a mild impression, Schurz said, unable to hide his absurdity.
“Instructor. Why have I been brought here?”
“Because I need your skills for what I am going to do from now on.”
“My skills?”
According to my intuition, there is definitely something wrong with the market.
But most cheating is not so easily revealed. The mayor would not be an idiot either, so he must have kept his weaknesses well hidden in a safe place.
Obviously illegal acts such as slave trade or black magic are enough to be caught on the spot, but it is difficult for me to find things like manipulation of accounting books. Because I don’t know how to look at it anyway.
That’s why I need Schurz’s help. Since he is the son of the prime minister, his ability to review documents must be far superior to anyone else’s.
After hearing my explanation, Schurz nodded his head in understanding.
“I see what you mean. But will it be okay? No matter how much I am the prime minister’s son, I am just a student without any title. It could be a problem later.”
“That is fine.”
I tapped Schurz on the shoulder twice. It was an abbreviated appointment.
“Since you have been appointed by the Imperial Army Special Task Force Commander, from now on you are an honorary task force member.”
This was really an exception among exceptions. It was the first time in 10 years that I appointed a new member of the special task force.
But now is not the time to cover up those things for the safety of those I need to protect.
Schurz made a surprised expression for a moment, then raised his glasses and smiled happily.
“hahahaha, the special enlistment I’ve only heard about… It’s nice to hear.”
We headed to the mayor’s office. As expected, the mayor’s guard stood in front of the office.
He saw us approaching and blocked the entrance menacingly.
“Stop it. No one can enter here except the mayor- uh!?”
Instead of answering, I grabbed his shoulder and gave him a light push. The guards, clad in heavy full body armor, tumbled on the floor like toys.
I paused in front of the office door and took a short breath.
Then he kicked the thick wooden door and tore it open in one blow.
Boom! Kwajik!!
Pieces of the broken door flew into the office, and the people in the office made a shocked look over the broken door.
Mayor Roman jumped up from his seat, startled by the sound.
“What are you guys!? What is this all of a sudden… !”
“Imperial army special enlistment.”
I said looking at him with cold eyes.
“Everybody, don’t move from your seats.”