EP13. A Gentle Adventure (2)
The next morning, Sean stood in front of the counter and asked the receptionist what he had just heard.
“…Not a troll?”
“No. Trolls are correct. It’s just a different subspecies of what we call trolls.”
“It was the first time I knew there were subspecies of monsters…”
“This is knowledge that you do not need to know unless you are an adventurer.”
A moment of dejection crept in, but thinking about it, it wasn’t that strange. No matter how much they have grown, yesterday’s battle was too one-sided.
In particular, Sean’s single-handedly catching three trolls, who were said to be the swordsmen’s natural enemies, was a feat that even a platinum-level adventurer could not achieve.
“In short, the one we caught is weaker than a troll, right?”
“You don’t have to take it that way. No matter how subspecies it is, a troll is a troll. No one will ignore what you two have done.”
“Thank you for doing that, even if it’s just words.”
After giving Shawn a short word of consolation, the receptionist went straight to the point.
“Shaun-nim and Levy-nim’s contribution through free adventure has been acknowledged. . . . So, would Levy-sama, who is behind you, listen too?”
“Uh… Yes.”
Levy, who was almost hiding behind Sean’s back, hurriedly came out and stood next to Sean at the guide’s request.
“Therefore, the decision has been made to promote the two of you to the gold rank. Other monetary compensation is not paid separately because it was a free adventure, not a mission under the Association.”
“It’s gold.”
“… Is that good?”
“Well, that must be good.”
The receptionist gave an embarrassing smile at the reaction of the two. Of course, it’s not strange to react like that, but it wasn’t a trivial thing to skip a step and get promoted right away because the public value was almost zero.
“And even after being promoted to gold rank, there are still significant achievement points left, so if you achieve similar achievements one more time, you will be promoted to platinum rank right away.”
In fact, I did this because other adventurers might complain if I skipped directly from Dong to Platinum. Of course Sean and Levy just nodded and said yes. Level, but that’s it.
“Then, can we do gold-level or higher missions now?”
“Of course. You can participate in monster subjugation from the gold level onwards.”
“Oh… Are there any subjugation missions right now?”
The guide shook his head and said.
“No. Unfortunately, all subjugation is currently in progress or has been completed, so there are no missions available for participation.”
“Ah… Then we’ll just have to do hunting missions…”
Sean’s obviously regrettable appearance clearly showed his will to participate in the subjugation. Levy, who was next to him, had a similar reaction.
Seeing that, the guide realized that now was the moment to speak up. She cautiously opened her mouth and started talking.
“Speaking of which… I would like to propose to you two at the association level.”
“A proposal? What is your suggestion?”
At Sean’s question, she looked around for a moment. As if he didn’t want any nearby adventurers to hear.
“As a result of the meeting last night, the Henerd Adventurers Branch Association concluded that Henerd is in a very dangerous condition.”
“It’s dangerous. What’s going on…”
“There are two main reasons.”
Then the receptionist showed Sean and Levy something. It was none other than the nose of the subspecies troll the two had caught yesterday.
“Is this dangerous?”
“The place where you two caught this subspecies troll was in a forest not far from here. The fact that there were not just one subspecies of trolls, but as many as four, means that there is a high possibility that there are also trolls.”
“So there could be trolls, so it’s dangerous?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
And the guide went on to explain the second risk factor.
“Secondly, a new monster has appeared. I mean non-illustrated monsters.”
Unknown monsters have the same meaning as unknown monsters.
In other words, it must mean that monsters that are not listed in the encyclopedia have appeared around. Of course, it is not possible to say that non-encyclopedia monsters are unconditionally strong.
In fact, didn’t Sean and Levy kill the non-encyclopedia monster, In Umbra, quite easily? However, the real danger of non-encyclopedia monsters lies in irregularity.
In the Encyclopedia Monster, the characteristics and habitats of basic monsters are shown, and through this, a systematic strategy exists. However, there was a much greater chance of becoming dangerous by trying to catch monsters for no reason because there was no such set strategy for non-encyclopedia monsters.
“The monster’s name is Kor Kurasm. I don’t know exactly what kind of monster it is. But I was able to find out what his ability was.”
“What ability is it?”
“He manipulates other people’s emotions.”
Sean asked with a puzzled look at the unexpected answer.
“····Control your emotions? How?”
“To be precise, it has the power to intensify the emotions of the creatures around it.”
“To make your emotions strong…”
The direction was completely different from the ability of non-encyclopedia monsters that I have seen so far. It’s hard to say that it directly affects combat, but I thought it could be more dangerous than a tolerable combat ability with just a short explanation.
“Yesterday, a party of adventurers also experienced an ability. Fortunately, I didn’t come face to face with Kor Kurasm, but I was caught up in the monster’s ability because I was around.”
“So how did it go?”
“They became extremely emotional, and the smallest quarrel escalated to the point of stabbing.”
As they listened to the story, Levy and Shawn’s expressions hardened. It was a much more dangerous ability than I simply expected after hearing the damage case.
“An adventurer who was seriously wounded by a sword saved his life by dying, but… He said it would be difficult for him to continue his adventurer life because his injuries were so great.”
“Oh my God… Do you know what the trivial cause of the quarrel was?”
When Levy asked a question, the guide answered with a sigh.
“The guide at the party must have left the ranks for a while. So stop arguing over whether to wait or go back first.”
“Wait. If the guide is…”
Seeing Sean’s flustered reaction, the receptionist looked at him as if he had forgotten and added.
“Oh, you asked about Miss Wendy yesterday, right? The person I just talked about is actually Miss Wendy.”
“…Does that mean that the child could also be swept away by the monster’s ability?”
“I guess so. I don’t know what happened, but when she got back to the Society, Miss Wendy looked pretty tough.”
“·······.”
Sean looked at Levy with complicated eyes. She was equally uncomfortable with her. She couldn’t erase her wrongdoing, which she had already done, but she couldn’t ignore the fact that it wasn’t Wendy’s perfect will.
“Once I heard about it, the latter seems to be a more urgent issue. Is the thing you’re asking us to do is to exterminate the monsters you just mentioned?”
When Shawn asked, sorting out what she had to say, her receptionist nodded her head and said,
“Right. In fact, it’s not impossible to catch the aforementioned trolls if you form a subjugation party. However, the monsters that control emotions… On the contrary, the more people there are, the more dangerous it will be.”
“Certainly, it would be best to defeat it with a small number of elites.”
The receptionist begged Sean and Levy to keep her low, even bending her back.
“I said it was a suggestion, but I want you guys to help me. There are probably two of the strongest adventurers in Henerd right now. Few adventurers can take down four trolls with just the two of them.”
Of course, she did not appeal to her sensibilities unconditionally.
“Of course, if you do the favor, there will be something in return. Exactly what it will be has not been decided yet, but at least we will set it to a level that satisfies Sean-sama and Levy-sama.”
Of course, Sean and Levy had already made their decision a long time ago.
“Of course I will. Defeating monsters is the job of an adventurer.”
“Yes. Just leave it to us.”
“Thank you very much. Thank you for being so willing to lend your strength.”
After the conversation was roughly finished, the two decided to go to exterminate the monsters without delay.
“Is there anything else I should know?”
“Rather than getting to know, there is an adventurer who wants to accompany you.”
“····Company with us? Like I said earlier, I think it would be better to go less.”
“Of course, the choice is yours, but you won’t regret it if you join us. He is the most outstanding adventurer in Henard.”
He is the most outstanding adventurer in Henerd.
It was a rather interesting modifier. Will the adventurers who are considered the strongest in a region be stronger than themselves?
In Shawn’s opinion, he could be stronger than himself, but he didn’t seem to be stronger than Levi.
As I’ve been adventuring right now, there are only a handful of beings stronger than Levi.
If I had to look into it, would it be about the unknown man called the father of the witch I saw in Elioden?
Even Edward, the apostle of God, was equal to Levy, but not overwhelming.
“What should I do?”
“Um…”
Sean gave the choice to Levy.
It doesn’t matter too much if he accompanies him, but Levy’s opinion was more important because he doesn’t like strangers.
“Then let’s meet and decide.”
“Okay. I said that I would come to the association around the time I explained everything, so if you wait a little bit, I will be able to meet you.”
After a long talk with the receptionist, Shawn and Levy sat down at a table set aside to wait and chat.
“····I didn’t know at all. So that’s what Wendy did.”
Sean let out a deep sigh at Levy’s muttering that revealed his complex state of mind.
“For now… Let’s meet later and talk. There is no need to judge too hastily.”
“Yes.”
The two did not continue the topic of Wendy. Saying more doesn’t change anything right now, because I had a more important problem ahead.
Shaun and Levy exchanged trivial small talk to distract themselves. How long was that The door to the association opened and someone entered.
The woman who entered the association gave off a considerable presence, and naturally, everyone turned their eyes and paid attention to her appearance.
“Is it that person…?”
When Levy whispered, Sean denied it with a puzzled expression.
“・・・・No way. He just seems like a weird person.”
Ignoring the gazes of the adventurers, the woman walked forward, staring straight ahead.
The tumultuous association became quiet, and only the clattering of shoes could be heard.
Proceeding straight to the counter, she had a brief conversation with her receptionist.
She then turned her body and approached a point she didn’t hesitate. It was the table with Sean and Levy.
The woman who saw the boy and girl sitting in her seat alternately greeted them with her confident smile.
“Nice to meet you. My name is Elsa.”
From noble mtl dot com.
Levy turned her head to Shawn. The boy was staring at the woman he introduced as Elsa. Levy narrowed her eyes and immediately covered Shawn’s eyes with his hand.
“Shaun. Don’t look.”
“····No. I didn’t see it that way.”
“Don’t look anyway!”
Of course, Levy’s reaction was natural. That’s right, the red-haired woman named Elsa’s outfit was quite unconventional.
Her plate armor is said to be the best among the armor, but the area was so small that I was sure that the armor of the Sunji would not be able to do its job.
So to speak, it was more like underwear than armor.
This would also explain why the men in the association couldn’t take their eyes off of them.
“If you look at it, you really die. Got it?”
“No, what should I do then…”
Sean was unfair. Because he himself would never be swayed by such a lewd outfit.
····Perhaps.