80 – Experimental Subject
“Oh, oh… I really like this. It’s amazing that such a large and neglected mansion is still standing near the city.”
Mariel nodded approvingly, as she looked around the dilapidated furniture and dusty Bellafort Mansion.
With a peculiar tone that seemed older than her age and strange preferences, I wondered what she was planning to do here.
As I silently followed behind her and watched, a sense of curiosity that I didn’t have before began to arise.
“If you like it… Are you planning to buy it right away?”
“Well! Of course! I’ll buy it for 5,000 gold!”
Mariel placed her hands on her hips and nodded vigorously.
I wonder how old she is… She looks young, but with that way of speaking, I can’t gauge her age.
Could it be that she used magic to rejuvenate herself?
Well, if I can sell this mansion right away, it would be a fortunate thing for me.
“But… You…”
Just as I was about to finalize the sale of the mansion to Mariel and leave, she suddenly observed me intently.
“Is there a problem?”
“Are you an adventurer?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Hmm, hmhm. Indeed… oh… is that so… huhuhu….”
Marie slowly turned around me, murmuring incomprehensible sounds.
There was a sense of foreboding.
“If the deal is decided, can I go back?”
“Oh, yes! You can go back. Please thank Algot for me! The payment will be sent to him! I’m planning to tidy up the mansion!”
She said that, but her gaze was fixed on me as if it was burdensome.
With narrowed eyes, she looked at me and even gave a sinister smile.
Ignoring her suspicious gaze, I left the Bellafork mansion.
* * *
The payment for the mansion was delivered to me through Algot the next day.
I didn’t have an immediate need for a large sum of money, but I was satisfied with getting rid of that abandoned mansion and gaining some degree of financial freedom.
“What do you think about meeting Mariel? She’s quite peculiar, isn’t she?”
“Yes… very much so… but does she always speak like that? Is she perhaps very old?”
“Oh, no. It’s not like that. She has been with an old teacher since she was young, so her way of speaking is influenced by that.”
Even so, can one’s way of speaking age that much?
Perhaps she didn’t meet many people outside.
“She said she’s a magician, is Mariel also an adventurer?”
I asked Algot.
In fact, magicians were quite rare in the guild. Most of the magicians I had seen specialized in a few specific attack spells.
However, Mariel had introduced herself as both a magician and a magic researcher.
From the start, it was impressive that she had come from a distant place in an instant using teleportation magic.
Even though she had failed a little, she felt different from the other adventurer magicians she had seen while going to the guild.
“Mariel is not an adventurer. Strictly speaking, she deliberately did not register as one.”
Algot replied.
To not register as an adventurer… If someone who could use magic to that extent could become an adventurer, they could have been very successful.
“But Mariel is a quite excellent magician. She didn’t register as an adventurer because it wouldn’t help her in her desired magic research. Maybe if she had been active as an adventurer, she would have become even more famous.”
“Even though she’s not an adventurer, she can easily give out 5,000 gold.”
“There are various ways to make money.”
A magician who didn’t register as an adventurer and earned a large amount of money solely through her own power.
Honestly, I thought it was a little impressive.
Most of the people who were born with the ability to become adventurers would register with the guild.
Even if they later did other things, most of them would still hold onto their adventurer qualifications and continue their activities.
I was the same.
Even if I had the ability to fight monsters, it wasn’t easy to make money without receiving requests from the guild.
It was because the guild had overwhelming information and various tasks that came from there, allowing for a stable livelihood.
Above all, the rewards for requests given by the guild, starting from the silver rank, were quite high compared to the standards of ordinary people.
Because of that, I didn’t feel the need to engage in individual activities with high risk and random returns.
“Anyway, thank you for finding a buyer for the mansion.”
I expressed my gratitude to Algot once again.
Since she took office as the Guild Master of Kubeul, I have received various kinds of help from her.
As I left the office with a thick wallet, I suddenly realized that connections are important in this world.
* * *
A typical adventurer’s day begins by going to the guild early in the morning to receive requests.
But what about the day of a wealthy adventurer?
“Here, this is the key. You have a good eye.”
A middle-aged man with half-bald head handed me a small key and began to babble.
With the money I earned from selling the Bellafork Mansion, I bought a small house near the guild.
Even though I sold the mansion for a much lower price than the original, it was still incomparable to the price of an ordinary house.
This is truly the dream of having my own place.
Although I live the life of an adventurer who never knows when I will leave this city, having a home to return to still brings peace to my heart.
Using the key I received, I opened the door to my house and entered. A tidy room with a small kitchen welcomed me.
Since I live alone and often have to leave my house empty due to my job, I didn’t need a luxurious house like the mansion.
The cozy room, well-equipped kitchen, and a storage space on the second floor attic were perfect for living alone.
It’s a good atmosphere for inviting acquaintances occasionally and having a meal while chatting.
The guild was also very close, so I could reach it within 5 minutes of stepping outside the door.
In many ways, it was a house with nothing but advantages for me.
By the way, I wonder what happened to the Bellafork Mansion that I sold.
That magician named Mariel seemed to want to use it as some kind of magical research laboratory.
I was curious to see how that mansion, which seemed like it would require exorbitant repair costs to properly maintain, would change in the hands of its new owner.
Well, for now, I’ll stop by the guild and see if anything’s going on at the mansion.
Today, I planned to take a break from requests.
I have enough money left, after all.
Is this what they call peace of mind?
As I left the house and headed towards the guild, I saw a familiar face.
“Oh? Sylphy?”
“Ah! Senpai! Are you here to make a request?”
Sylphy, with her distinctive mushroom-like short hair, greeted me with a bright smile and came closer.
“But… what’s that behind your back…?”
However, unlike when I last saw her, Sylphy was carrying a massive bow on her back.
The size of the bow was so big that she wouldn’t even be able to sit down in that state.
Compared to Sylphy’s petite frame, the abnormally large bow made it look even bigger.
“Oh, is this what you meant?”
Sylphy took out the bow from her back and showed it to me.
“You advised me before, remember? That I’m more suited for long-range attacks rather than close combat. So, I searched for various methods and thought this would suit me the best, so I changed my weapon.”
“But… isn’t it a little too big?”
I took the bow from Sylphy for a moment and examined it closely.
It was even too big for me to use.
It would definitely require tremendous strength to draw the bowstring.
With my enhanced body through magical conversion, I shouldn’t be lacking in strength… But I wonder just how powerful the arrows from this bow are.
“At first, I chose a smaller bow, but when I tried taking on some requests with it, I still felt uneasy. So, I started looking for a bow that could shoot farther… Ahahahaha…”
“Have you used this before?”
I asked Silphy again as I handed her the giant bow.
I never thought that the advice I casually gave her would turn into this.
Of course, it’s not difficult to come across a weapon like a bow when searching for long-range attack options, but still, the size is quite something.
“Silphy sincerely felt grateful to Yunoha.
Ever since she obtained the Silver Rank, she had been unable to handle Silver Rank requests properly on her own.
The problem of her mana concentration being disrupted in close combat was too serious, which is why she couldn’t complete requests suitable for her rank.
Because of that, Silphy had been facing financial problems and had changed her weapon to handle requests on her own.”
At that moment, the narration delivered an unexpected fact to me.
Silphy… had such serious problems that she couldn’t handle requests of her own rank.
When I asked her if she wanted to come with me to get the Dragonite Ore and she responded with a subtle reaction, now I understood why.
Still, it’s fortunate that she’s been able to handle requests on her own after changing her weapon.
I didn’t expect such a big change.
“As long as there are no disturbances around, I can concentrate quietly. By infusing mana into the arrows, I can attack from a very far distance without any problems. Last time, I took care of a monster that looked like a black dot from a high hill with just one arrow!”
“That’s… quite impressive.”
To take down a target so far away that it looks like a black dot with just one arrow.
That’s not ordinary skill.
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“Thanks to you, senior!”
Sylphy bowed her head to me.
Well… Regardless of the process, as long as it went well, it’s fine.
If there’s a chance to work together on a commission next time, I would like to see you shoot that giant bow with my own eyes.
After briefly saying goodbye to Sylphy, I entered the guild.
I was planning to take a break from commissions today, but it’s still a good idea to check the bulletin board.
However, as soon as I entered the guild, someone was waiting for me.
“Oh! You came! Yunoa! I’ve been waiting for you!”
“……”
It was that eccentric magician, Mariel, who bought the mansion.
Why is she in the guild if she’s not an adventurer?
She came closer to me and started scanning me up and down with her narrow eyes.
“Hmm! As expected… Hm! I see! Oh, oh….”
“…What do you want?”
“I won’t beat around the bush! You! Be my test subject!”
Ugh.
* * *