“So, the rumour that you have a new dragon familiar is true after all…”
Gaudino muttered with a rather faraway look in his eyes.
Oi, are you trying to escape reality or something?
“Hey…” Gideon-san suddenly looked around quickly before whispering, “That’s an Ancient Dragon, right?”
“Well, yes,”
It still surprises me when people immediately recognise legendary creatures even though these were supposed to be ‘rarely seen creatures’. Was it an experience thing or a rank thing?
Gideon was an A Ranker, does recognising rare creatures improves with rank?
While I was busy ruminating over random things, Gideon gave me a long stare. Finally, he clicked his tongue and said, “Well, it’s Mukouda-san after all…”
The rest of his party nodded silently.
Hey, did you guys just decide to stop thinking?
Somehow, the conversation stalled after that. I cast around for something to talk about and ended up turning to my familiars and said, “Hey, you guys remember them, right?”
“Umu, I believe we encounter them at a dungeon,” said Fer.
“”Oh, that’s right,””
“”We ate together~””
“Please let me introduce my latest familiar. This is Grandpa Gon,” I blinked at Grandpa Gon, signalling for him to saying something.
“I do not care about humans aside from my master and those who serve him.”
“Hey, don’t talk like that!”
I was aghast. The people from the [Ark] looked like they were about to explode from some kind of pent-up emotion.
[1] However, it’s not like I could force a dragon to do my bidding. Well, maybe I could, but it would hurt Grandpa Gon’s dignity.
Ahhh, why am I worrying about a dragon’s dignity when they don’t care?!
Still, no matter what, it was probably not good to keep hanging around outside like this.
“Hey, so, why don’t we chat inside?” I indicated to a tavern next to the Adventurer’s Guild.
We sat down with our lukewarm ale and started chatting.
“So, why are you in this city, Mukouda-san?”
“Well, see, we went to this new hunting ground called, ahem, Ura.n.u.s…”
“Wait, seriously?! Ura.n.u.s? You went to Ura.n.u.s?”
“Um,”
“Woah, I heard about Ura.n.u.s, isn’t that the place where unique monsters and plants live?”
I had hardly started, but they were already busy exclaiming. The rest of the talk went on more or less like that.
“We heard you cleared the Brixt dungeon?”
“Indeed, and thank you for the teleportation stone. It was very useful.”
That was when Fer suddenly said, “Oi, give us some food.”
[2]
I looked at him. Then, at the table in front of us. There were some snacks on the table but another look around showed that we were practically the only ones at the tavern. Pretty much everyone else had left the restaurant without my realising it…
Also, the servers were s.h.i.+vering nervously at their booth. It was one thing to serve booze, but what if they mess up a meal order?
After giving it some thought, I took out a container of Crab Cream Croquettes and, after a little ‘Excuse me’ to Gideon’s party, began serving my familiars.
It did not take long for me to feel eyes staring at the back of my head. I turned around to see Feodora-san staring at me. Or, more specifically, at my familiars’ bowls. She was also chewing at her thumbnail.
Uh oh.
She looked like she would risk fighting Fer over a single Croquette.
“Hey, um, so, would you guys like some too?” I said with a laugh as I set down some croquettes on a large plate that one of the less intimidating servers had brought me.
“Oh, if you don’t mind…”
“No, no, not at all…”
[2]
It was clear that from the moment the Crab Cream Croquettes appeared, Feodora-san had checked out of the conversation.
Well, it’s not like she ever talked much anyway.
I forced myself to turn away to make small talk with the rest of Ark.
“So, what are you guys doing here?”
“We had an escort job, so, I guess we’re here as escorts,” said Gaudino-san.
They went on to explain that after I left, they continued challenging Avering’s dungeon for a while before deciding to move on to another city. However, on the day they were about to leave, they received a request from a merchant they knew to this city.
“So, will you be challenging the monsters here?”
Gaudino-san and the rest made a face. Well, Feodora-san was still eating.
“Our party is incompatible with water monsters,” said Gideon-san.
“Ah,” I completely forgot that water-related monsters come with their own set of issues.
“As Adventurers, we have no reason to be here if we can’t hunt monsters. Plus, this city isn’t safe,” said Siegwald-san.
“Isn’t safe? Surely it can’t be that bad?”
Then, all three men cast a glance at Feodora-san.
It took me a moment to understand what they were talking about. That’s right, although Feodora-san was technically a grandmother, she was still a gorgeous Elf Girl. Regardless of how strong you are as an individual, it’s still not a good idea to run around carelessly in a strife-filled country.
“So, you’ll be heading towards another city soon?”
“Yes, we just haven’t decided where yet,” said Gaudino-san.
“We thought of going to the Royal Capital or Doran, but, well…” Gideon-san shrugged.
“We’ve been there too many times, it’s starting to be rather a bore,” said the frank Siegwald-san.
Suddenly, Gideon-san looked at me and said, “That’s right! What will Mukouda-san do after this?”
“I guess… since I already bought what I needed here. I plan to do some charity work and visit a few temples next. I might return home the day after tomorrow,” I said.
“Home?” asked Gideon-san.
“Ah, yes, I mean back to Carelina. I bought a house there, you see.”
“Oh my…”
“How envious…”
“You have a base…”
Fufun~ seeing their envious faces soothed a part of me I had not realised existed.
“That’s right, why don’t you all come over to Carelina?” I said generously. “I have plenty of room and Carelina is a nice place.”
They won’t be bored at Carelina either. Something’s always happening there. As a medium size town, it was not as busy as a dungeon city, but it has good hunting grounds and the Guild gets pretty busy.
“Carelina, huh~ I pa.s.sed by it a few times, but never really stayed there,” Gaudino-san said contemplatively.
“I guess it’s worth thinking about,” said Gideon-san.
“Umu, I believe it would be a nice place to visit. Let’s go! Mukouda-san will be there too!” Siegwald-san declared.
For some reason, Feodora-san was also nodding her head furiously.
I guess she must have been listening to the conversation?
“You two…”
“Obviously the Dwarf is thinking of liquor while the Elf is thinking of Mukouda’s cooking…”
“So what? I’ll gladly admit it to anyone. I shall never forget the taste of the liquor Mukouda-san gave me. It was truly amazing.”
“Delicious food, best!”
This Elf certainly reminded me of a certain Water G.o.ddess.
Well, I don’t hate honest people like this.
“Oi, what are you talking about? We won’t be going home yet.”
“Eh? Fer? What are you saying?”
“Hm? I thought it was all arranged, Master,” said Grandpa Gon.
“Wait, what’s going on? What’s all arranged?” I asked, exasperated.
“Mukouda-san…?”
Members of the [Ark] party were also looking at me confusedly. Hey, don’t look at me!
“There is an untouched dungeon nearby, remember?”
“”Dungeon~♪ Dungeon~♪“”
“What dungeon are you talking about now?” Sudden horror dawned over me. “Wait, don’t tell me…”
“Fuhahaha! Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten?” Fer smirked. “The Church of Vahagn blessed us with this knowledge. Though I am a follower of Ninril-sama, it looks like the War G.o.d has blessed us too!”
“Indeed,” said Grandpa Gon. “Moreover, it is very near to us.”
“Mukouda-san? Is this true?”
“An untouched dungeon…”
“What kind of treasures would it contain?”
“What delicious ingredients…”
I turned shocked eyes at the four people beside me. Four pairs of eyes were glittering brilliantly at me. These people are… career dungeon divers. In other words, they are crazy about dungeon diving!
“Fumu, you understand the pleasure of dungeon challenges?” Fer smirked at the people from [Ark], clearly putting himself in the role of the leader.
“Indeed, Fer-sama! An untouched dungeon! How exciting!!”
“Please allow us to join you!”
“Humph, I have never been there before, but if you come as part of my party, I shall take you under my wing.”
“Uwoohhh!! We’ll be in your care!”
“Fuhahahaha!! How fun!!”
“Hahahaha!! Indeed!!”
Wait, wait, just wait a minute!! Just what is going on? When did you guys become a party?!
[Gumihou: Ohoho, how interesting~]
[1] Random awkward atmosphere is random.
[2] The logistics of ‘things happening’ was a little all over the place. Gave it some order.
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