“Wait, are you kidding me, there is a dungeon in Griffonpeak, too?” I asked Ellaine with an incredulous face.
“Yes, a rank B one. The Knights of the Lionheart Order, our Kingdom’s griffon knights, use it as a training ground for their veteran members. However, because the difficulty of the dungeon is rather high, it isn’t very popular with the average adventurer,” Ellaine explained, mildly blowing away the excitement I felt for the dungeon in Cedaraille. “On the other hand, as Cedaraille’s is ranked as D but possesses floors with varying degrees of difficulties, it’s far more popular with beginners. Mother said the first few floors are easy enough for rank F adventurers while the depths can be too hard for rank B adventurers. In certain parts, I believe.”
“You’ve never been in a dungeon?”
Ellaine gave a wry smile at my question. “You’ve seen how inexperienced I was during our first hunt together, La—Hestia. I apologize, it’s still hard to get used to it all the time.”
“No need to worry, Ellaine. Even if Griffonpeak has a dungeon, I believe we should stay here for a bit just to experience a dungeon as well as raising our levels up. Although I really do want to continue our trip to the capital of the kingdom, I do not think rushing forward is a wise decision,” Saori comforted her, explaining our current goals.
Tasianna nodded. “We will leave at the dawn of SpringSun .”
We had just arrived in Cedaraille a little while ago. As you would expect from a city, Cedaraille was big, far bigger than Firwood when it came to the wall surrounding the city as well as how crowded the streets were. Of course, it was nowhere close to how crowded New York was, but if I were to stretch my arm forward, I would definitely hit somebody, unlike in Firwood.
Technology-wise, it was around the same level of Firwood, where manatech was nowhere to be seen in the lower commoner district, rare in the merchant district, and abundant in the noble district. In other words, the basic layout of Firwood was similar to how the districts were divided here in Cedaraille. The former clearly took inspiration from its capital.
However, architecturally, there was a clear difference.
“The smell here isn’t that bad,” Saori pointed out, which I agreed with. The middle district of Firwood reeked of rubbish and toilet stuff.
Prompted by this, Ellaine had to speak up, “Uhm, the local mage’s guild is responsible for the sewage system of Cedaraille.”
“Hold on, Peolynca already knows about sewers?” I raised a brow.
Saori shrugged. “Nothing to be surprised about. Even from where we come from, some cities managed to fund a sewer system to stop the horrible smells within their walls while others couldn’t, all during the same era.”
Of course, she was speaking about Earth during the middle ages, keeping certain parts vague for the sake of any prying ears while we were still out in public.
Ellaine nodded, also understanding what Saori said. “Yes, that is the case. A sewer was actually under construction in Firwood; however, due to a problem with the slimes, it was delayed for a long time for lack of funds. Earth mages had problems constructing the system, as the architects were unable to design a working blueprint with Firwood’s geology. Then, water mages were needed to maintain the sewer water, but with Davison forcing the mage’s guild out of Firwood, the plans had to stop completely.”
Ahhh, in other words, a series of toilet problems…
“Slimes?” Saori questioned.
“Yes, do you three remember the slimes in the bathrooms of my mansion? Those slimes would be used to clean up the sewage canals. Of course, in an environment where they have access to large quantities of ‘food,’ the slimes needed to be regularly culled; otherwise they would grow far too large and numerous. Usually, this would be the water mages’ duties buuut … nobody respectable enough would want to do that.”
“You are implying hunter’s, correct, Lady Ellaine?” Tasianna replied.
“Yes, work for adventurers. Sometimes other monsters enter the sewers, so a sewer usually turns into an undesirable training ground for beginners, or so I’ve heard from father and mother. Uh, I beg of you, please do not misunderstand and send me into the sewer, everybody. I beg of you, please, no,” Ellaine pleaded, looking at us like a scared kitten.
Laughing it off, I now understood why she didn’t complain as much about the smell as our time in Firwood. I thought she wanted to drag us to her home here!
Ellaine’s family had mansions in Helvas County, another in Firwood, a third in Cedaraille, and a final one in Griffonpeak. As nobles were expected to show up to balls during social seasons, they sometimes had to leave their fiefs or primary homes and travel to another city or town, requiring them to find accommodation.
“Hmm, to be honest, I hope our inn will have proper beds instead of those thin mattresses over hard slabs of wood I’ve heard commoners have to sleep on. Sleeping on forest floors is just not good for my back or fatigue,” Ellaine complained, revealing how much she struggled with our travels this past week.
As part of her training, I used [The Will to Fight and Survive] to give Ellaine infinite stamina to help her strain her muscles. Building up stats and overall endurance was important for her.
As we walked through the middle district of Cedaraille, the big city atmosphere became more and more apparent. People on the street calling others out to buy some suspicious stuff, adventurers manning monster material stalls, and areas on the street that were taken over by food vendors. These were all things that also happened in Firwood, but the sheer number of people crowding around the stalls for the simple pleasure of shopping made it feel more lively.
Saori showed some interest in grocery shopping at the local marketplace, but finding an inn before noon should be our priority. The last thing we needed was to settle for sleeping outside or in some sketchy, rundown inn. And, with how many merchants were walking around on the streets and the large line in front of the city gates, we needed to hurry before the good ones were all booked up.
[“Saori,”] I called her out using [Telepathy].
She replied immediately, [“Yeah, I know.”]
“Huh? Excuse me?” Ellaine looked confused as she questioned what we were talking about.
It was a habit for me to use [Telepathy] on everybody in Aurora, however, since we haven’t gotten Ellaine to level up yet, she hasn’t earned any SP since she unlocked the SP. She lacked the [Telepathy] as such, and her sensory skills were that of a normal person from Earth
Without answering Ellaine’s question, Saori turned around and quickly swiped Ellaine’s pouch from her belt. While Ellaine was flustered, Saori loosened the strap on it and revealed the contents, or, rather, the lack of contents, to the sneaky little pickpocket before he could attempt it himself.
“Wrong targets, pickpocket,” Saori scowled at a young fox-eared boy in dirty clothes. A bolt of black lightning wrapped itself around her arm as she tied Ellaine’s pouch closed. “It is empty. Run along now, otherwise you might get into trouble.”
The young foxian’s eyes widened, looking terrified as he quickly nodded and merged back into the crowd without anybody’s knowledge. Ellaine shouted “Impertinent!” and questioned why Saori let him go, despite almost committing a crime against a noble; however, Saori held her back before she could chase after him.
“I do not like pickpockets either, but chasing after him now would be a waste of time. He looked agile and he knows the alleyways of his home better,” Saori reasoned with Ellaine, but she wouldn’t have it.
“With all due respect, letting a thief go without punishing him will only cause trouble for everybody else. He will not learn from this, and as a noble, it is also my duty to enforce the laws of my kingdom,” Ellaine stubbornly refused. If there was one thing her inferiority complex hadn’t dulled, it was her sense of duty as a noble.
As people were starting to notice us, I grabbed Ellaine’s shoulder and “ordered” her to stand down and to find an inn first before we do anything. She was reluctant, but as a noble, she couldn’t refuse the words of the one she swore her loyalty to. It was uncomfortable to cause some awkwardness between us, but I had to intervene. This was why we had to help her adapt to our party’s culture fast.
Also, there is the topic about the impending grimgarian war I have to talk with Ellaine about. I don’t feel it’s time yet …
After entering the merchant district, Saori picked out a decent-looking inn in the area. Not the best, since she wanted to save money, but not the worst either, as she believed our party deserved some luxury after our trip here.
“Woooo, this is soooooooft. My poor legs.” Immediately after checking in, Ellaine tested the beds in our room before crashing on one like an exhausted athlete. She embraced her pillow and tried to reposition her posture until she reached the right spot. “Even this lowly bed is far better than the ground. I could just fall asleep now … Oh! Lady Hestia! My apologies.”
The moment her senses returned, Ellaine opened her eyes wide like an owl and jumped off her bed, snapping her legs straight as she tried to find an excuse for her behavior. Her bright red face combined with her flailing arms was adorable, causing me to chuckle a bit. Despite how often we’d been alone in a room together, she still hasn’t gotten comfortable enough to just let herself chill.
“Ellaine, let me just say this again, but I don’t care about our ‘Mistress and Retainer’ roles, all right? If you want to be serious about it, then by all means; however, you are my friend and party member first. That is Aurora,” I attempted to calm her down, worrying her tomato-colored face would overheat her head.
“Y-yes, I know. I do apologize that we had to repeat this discussion again, but to repay you for accepting my selfish wish to come with you, I should be more competent, no?” Ellaine argued, feeling a bit impatient to prove herself despite the fact we had only been together for a week.
I sat on the bed and looked at her seriously. “One thing I learned from my dance trainer during my idol trainee phase was to always focus on your foundation. However, how will you be able to train effectively if you never relax, Ellaine? You’ll stress yourself out. So, take some time to rest. A nap even.”
We arrived just a bit before lunchtime, so Saori and Tasianna wanted to fill everybody’s belly before we stormed the dungeon of Cedaraille. After all, the trip from Firwood to Cedaraille was quite far—we even had to travel over a bridge built over the same river the barracudas traveled down during winter.
After Ellaine laid back on her bed, she quickly fell asleep, the exhaustion of a week of straight traveling weighing her eyelids shut. We could have ridden Saori’s garms, but Ellaine needed the jog too much.
Why are you being to impatient? Who are you trying to prove? I wondered. Even if she wasn’t a strong fighter just yet, she did provide one skill Saori, Tasianna, nor I could perform—artificerwork. That alone made her valuable to our party.
A while later, Saori and Tasianna returned with some freshly-made meals they made in the inn’s kitchen, which they were able to borrow with the innkeeper’s permission. After we devoured everything, I took out the wooden bathtub I made in our travels for Ellaine, who felt uncomfortable bathing in the wilderness. Tasianna filled it up with water and I heated it up, which we used in a rotation to clean ourselves up. At least Ellaine wasn’t afraid of being naked in front of other girls.
Urgh, this stupid shedding. Urrgh! I forcibly ripped off some loose scale skin while in the bath. Holding onto this pale, molted piece of me, I grinded my teeth in annoyance as I looked back at my arm. I didn’t have OCD, but my goodness, I could clearly see some discoloration on my beautiful crimson scales. I tried this whole molting again and I just couldn’t get down.
This was so much harder than what Priscilla explained … and just looking at it annoyed me similarly to a cracked nail. Urgh, my dragon instincts should make this easier? Farron, what? Nothing about this was easy! All of this just made me feel weird in my body. It had been a while since I felt awkward and uncomfortable in this dragonewt form of mine.
I’m not doing this again. Who cares about losing luster or whatever on my scales. I just can’t do it! I finally decided to shelf my molting until further notice.
Disregarding that … once our belly were filled and we felt refreshed, we departed from our inn after informing the innkeeper we would go to the dungeon. He didn’t say anything about it, but his worried face betrayed his real feelings about it.
Our first destination was the hunter’s guild. We hadn’t been very active in Firwood concerning Quests, due in no small part to running our restaurant and taking care of Davison, so we had to begin climbing the ranks. A higher rank meant better Quests and recognition, after all.
After asking adventurers on the street, we eventually made it to the guild. As we were about to enter, some giant suddenly came out of the guild.
“Hmph!” he huffed the moment he saw us, looking irritated as we were blocking his way out. “Move.”
Well, giant might not be the right word for him, as he was only slightly shorter than me, however, I thought of him like that due to his frame. Muscles so thick they looked like rocks, slightly tanned skin with soot covering parts of it, a weird stone-hide covering his ears, and a massive orange beard and long oily hair accompanied by two ram-like horns on his head. Was he a ram beastman?
Urgh! Nevertheless, he reeked of beer and such.
“Bladdarg! Move!” he bellowed out, making me quickly step to the side, letting him leave. He was huffing around as he stomped away in a bad mood. Did I cause that?
“Wow, I didn’t expect to meet a taz so far south,” Tasianna suddenly said.
Taz?
As I asked her about it, she quickly began explaining, “Do you remember Kraftja and Ogni, Lady Hestia? They mentioned they were inko dwarves, correct? ‘Tazong’ is the word for ‘dwarf’ in the dwarven language, Inkong-gul, better known as the Undermountain Speech. An ‘inko’ is known as a surface dwarf, those who dwell in the upper crust of the earth or mountain.”
Now that I think about it, Kraftja did call herself that.
Tasianna continued, “Now, a ‘taz’ is known as an undermountain dwarf, those who dwell so deep in the earth that some might have never seen the sun before. They are bulkier than their surface-dwelling relatives, and slightly taller. I do not know dwarven history too well, but I do know tazics—the plural form—are fire breathers. They are able to expel flames without needing to use mana, although it’s considerably weaker than a dragon’s.”
That is a dwarf? Well, I can see it with his long beard, but I honestly thought he was a demon for a second with his horns.
As interesting as that was, we decided to ignore that meeting for now to head into the guild. The guild hall in Cedaraille was far larger than the one in Firwood’s branch, and even had a mezzanine, a second floor that acted like a balcony overlooking the first floor. The building was packed, including the mandatory installations like the training hall in the back, the guild tavern next door linked through a door, the questboard where all the Quests were posted, and, of course, the handler counter.
As it was past lunchtime, the liveliness inside was similar to Firwood, as most adventurers were out for work. Consequently, there was barely a line in front of the receptionists.
“May the light guide your path on this brilliant LightDay, Miss,” I greeted the handler once it was our turn, doing my priestess impression.
“Thank you very much, Lady Shrine Maiden. May the Goddess bless you, too. My name is Cleo; how may the guild help you today,” a human woman in her late twenties bowed slightly, greeting us with a professional smile.
“Yes, my party Aurora wishes to enter the local dungeon managed by the guild. I heard that you require a stamp from the guild hall to enter,” I recalled from Ellaine’s explanation. We four then handed the handler our IDs.
She accepted them graciously and began inspecting them, raising an eyebrow as she looked at Ellaine’s, the only ID of the four with a different design. “Excuse me, but isn’t this person a G? The dungeon is ranked as D, meaning the guild cannot grant this person permission to enter for their safety.”
Ellaine’s eyes twitched as she heard this, smiling wryly as she knew this would happen. I patted her shoulder, telling her she was far stronger than rank G and returned my gaze back to the receptionist to clear up the misunderstanding. “Miss, please look at the remaining IDs. Our party is designated as rank E and we will be bringing the rank G with us for training. That should be allowed, correct?”
As she returned to her inspection, she quickly apologized for what she said before, confirming we could request permission if our party’s rank was adequate. A party’s rank was determined by the average between all members and while Ellaine’s G rank brought us down to E rank, we were still high enough due to Saori’s, Tasianna’s, and my rank. It was another reason why we should start grinding adventurer rank.
“Lady Ellaine Fiero Helvas, Miss Tasianna Marina Silverpond, Miss Saori Segawa, Lady Hestia Atsuko … Oh! Lady Shrine Maiden, did you perhaps just arrive in Cedaraille from Firwood?” Cleo suddenly asked me.
After I confirmed it, she nodded and informed us why she knew about it, “The guild master for this branch of the hunter’s guild has received a message from the guild master from the Firwood branch to look out for you and Aurora. I apologize for not recognizing you earlier. With the recommendation of Farron Nordor, Guild Master of Firwood’s hunter’s guild, permission may be granted. Please, wait a moment for me to imprint your permission on your ID.”
Farron? Jeez, old man. Worrying about us enough that you would inform another branch? Now I really have to consider visiting him again.
After we took back our IDs, we went over to the Questboard to pick up some Quests to help out Ellaine. In order for her to rank up, she needed to accumulate ten rank G points—usually equalling ten G rank Quests—however, she could also rank up by taking rank F Quests. Each F point was worth two G points. Fortunately, all of them were monster material collection Quests that fit into Ellaine’s power leveling goal.
Of course, we took more than just five rank Fs; we took 20. Why? 15 F rank points were needed to rank up to E rank, so two birds with one stone. As we planned to enter the local dungeon, we only took Quests which specifically mentioned monsters that spawned inside it.
When we showed our Quest choices to Cleo, she looked flabbergasted at the amount presented but nonetheless registered them all to our name. Once finished, we finally took this chance to change our Jobs, something we forgot to do in Firwood in our excitement to leave.
_____________________________________________________
Job: Aggravator
Requirements: 1000 Health, 400 Intelligence, 500 Vitality, 500 Wisdom, [Fighter]
Acquirement Benefits: Health increase, Vitality increase, Wisdom Increase, Stamina increase, [Enhanced Health Growth] proficiency
Main Job Benefits: [Taunt]
_____________________________________________________
Oh yeah!
It was an obvious choice, an improved version of our party’s “Concert Farming” strategy. As Ellaine wasn’t the strongest currently, me being able to completely direct a monster’s attention away from Ellaine was important to keep her safe while also giving me a chance to lure monsters closer to me for quicker kills.
The requirement was quite steep for a beginner-class Job, since you required stats around a rank D adventurer to get [Aggravator], but I guess it made sense for a tank to be strong. However, what fighter would reach 400 Intelligence easily?
Back to the Job changes, Ellaine was the only one who couldn’t change her Job as she switched from her [Magic Tinkerer] to [Fighter] after the hunt we did together, and without being able to level up, she would have to wait to change her Job until after we were done. Saori and Tasianna switched to [Dark Mage] and [Storm Sorcerer] respectively.
As we were about to leave the guild, I heard some people whispering about our party. Most of them were baffled by what they had heard the receptionist say about Farron’s recommendation and our twenty accepted Quests. The rest, however, were a bit less confused.
[“Are they the same people who spied on us when we entered the city?”] I asked Saori as our party was on our way outside the city towards the dungeon. She nodded, so I gave her another question. [“Did you look into them while you were outside shopping for ingredients?”]
[“Uno did. He spied on them for a bit and relayed the information through [Telepathy] to me. They belong to a noble, but I am not sure from which house,”] Saori informed us all.
Ellaine listened, thought it through for a moment, before giving a possibility, “It could be Lord Duke Greenveil’s. Aside from Lord Marquess Sirius and His Majesty, he was also given your information as this is his duchy.”
I frowned, shaking my head in frustration, unable to help but think of the worst possibility. [“If that is the case, then I really hope he doesn’t drag us into his problems. We are staying here for a bit and then we will leave, nothing more. No noble’s scheme, please.”]
Please, please.
Leaving Cedaraille, we followed the road south, where a mountain came into view. After walking for a bit we finally reached the entrance of the dungeon. The line was quite long despite it being past prime time, but thankfully it wasn’t too long. It would take an hour or so.
Still, I cannot wait! My first dungeon!
…Wait, isn’t a dungeon underground?
I’ve overlooked a very important fact.
AbyssRaven Dungeon diving time!
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“Wait, are you kidding me, there is a dungeon in Griffonpeak, too?” I asked Ellaine with an incredulous face.
“Yes, a rank B one. The Knights of the Lionheart Order, our Kingdom’s griffon knights, use it as a training ground for their veteran members. However, because the difficulty of the dungeon is rather high, it isn’t very popular with the average adventurer,” Ellaine explained, mildly blowing away the excitement I felt for the dungeon in Cedaraille. “On the other hand, as Cedaraille’s is ranked as D but possesses floors with varying degrees of difficulties, it’s far more popular with beginners. Mother said the first few floors are easy enough for rank F adventurers while the depths can be too hard for rank B adventurers. In certain parts, I believe.”
“You’ve never been in a dungeon?”
Ellaine gave a wry smile at my question. “You’ve seen how inexperienced I was during our first hunt together, La—Hestia. I apologize, it’s still hard to get used to it all the time.”
“No need to worry, Ellaine. Even if Griffonpeak has a dungeon, I believe we should stay here for a bit just to experience a dungeon as well as raising our levels up. Although I really do want to continue our trip to the capital of the kingdom, I do not think rushing forward is a wise decision,” Saori comforted her, explaining our current goals.
Tasianna nodded. “We will leave at the dawn of SpringSun .”
We had just arrived in Cedaraille a little while ago. As you would expect from a city, Cedaraille was big, far bigger than Firwood when it came to the wall surrounding the city as well as how crowded the streets were. Of course, it was nowhere close to how crowded New York was, but if I were to stretch my arm forward, I would definitely hit somebody, unlike in Firwood.
Technology-wise, it was around the same level of Firwood, where manatech was nowhere to be seen in the lower commoner district, rare in the merchant district, and abundant in the noble district. In other words, the basic layout of Firwood was similar to how the districts were divided here in Cedaraille. The former clearly took inspiration from its capital.
However, architecturally, there was a clear difference.
“The smell here isn’t that bad,” Saori pointed out, which I agreed with. The middle district of Firwood reeked of rubbish and toilet stuff.
Prompted by this, Ellaine had to speak up, “Uhm, the local mage’s guild is responsible for the sewage system of Cedaraille.”
“Hold on, Peolynca already knows about sewers?” I raised a brow.
Saori shrugged. “Nothing to be surprised about. Even from where we come from, some cities managed to fund a sewer system to stop the horrible smells within their walls while others couldn’t, all during the same era.”
Of course, she was speaking about Earth during the middle ages, keeping certain parts vague for the sake of any prying ears while we were still out in public.
Ellaine nodded, also understanding what Saori said. “Yes, that is the case. A sewer was actually under construction in Firwood; however, due to a problem with the slimes, it was delayed for a long time for lack of funds. Earth mages had problems constructing the system, as the architects were unable to design a working blueprint with Firwood’s geology. Then, water mages were needed to maintain the sewer water, but with Davison forcing the mage’s guild out of Firwood, the plans had to stop completely.”
Ahhh, in other words, a series of toilet problems…
“Slimes?” Saori questioned.
“Yes, do you three remember the slimes in the bathrooms of my mansion? Those slimes would be used to clean up the sewage canals. Of course, in an environment where they have access to large quantities of ‘food,’ the slimes needed to be regularly culled; otherwise they would grow far too large and numerous. Usually, this would be the water mages’ duties buuut … nobody respectable enough would want to do that.”
“You are implying hunter’s, correct, Lady Ellaine?” Tasianna replied.
“Yes, work for adventurers. Sometimes other monsters enter the sewers, so a sewer usually turns into an undesirable training ground for beginners, or so I’ve heard from father and mother. Uh, I beg of you, please do not misunderstand and send me into the sewer, everybody. I beg of you, please, no,” Ellaine pleaded, looking at us like a scared kitten.
Laughing it off, I now understood why she didn’t complain as much about the smell as our time in Firwood. I thought she wanted to drag us to her home here!
Ellaine’s family had mansions in Helvas County, another in Firwood, a third in Cedaraille, and a final one in Griffonpeak. As nobles were expected to show up to balls during social seasons, they sometimes had to leave their fiefs or primary homes and travel to another city or town, requiring them to find accommodation.
“Hmm, to be honest, I hope our inn will have proper beds instead of those thin mattresses over hard slabs of wood I’ve heard commoners have to sleep on. Sleeping on forest floors is just not good for my back or fatigue,” Ellaine complained, revealing how much she struggled with our travels this past week.
As part of her training, I used [The Will to Fight and Survive] to give Ellaine infinite stamina to help her strain her muscles. Building up stats and overall endurance was important for her.
As we walked through the middle district of Cedaraille, the big city atmosphere became more and more apparent. People on the street calling others out to buy some suspicious stuff, adventurers manning monster material stalls, and areas on the street that were taken over by food vendors. These were all things that also happened in Firwood, but the sheer number of people crowding around the stalls for the simple pleasure of shopping made it feel more lively.
Saori showed some interest in grocery shopping at the local marketplace, but finding an inn before noon should be our priority. The last thing we needed was to settle for sleeping outside or in some sketchy, rundown inn. And, with how many merchants were walking around on the streets and the large line in front of the city gates, we needed to hurry before the good ones were all booked up.
[“Saori,”] I called her out using [Telepathy].
She replied immediately, [“Yeah, I know.”]
“Huh? Excuse me?” Ellaine looked confused as she questioned what we were talking about.
It was a habit for me to use [Telepathy] on everybody in Aurora, however, since we haven’t gotten Ellaine to level up yet, she hasn’t earned any SP since she unlocked the SP. She lacked the [Telepathy] as such, and her sensory skills were that of a normal person from Earth
Without answering Ellaine’s question, Saori turned around and quickly swiped Ellaine’s pouch from her belt. While Ellaine was flustered, Saori loosened the strap on it and revealed the contents, or, rather, the lack of contents, to the sneaky little pickpocket before he could attempt it himself.
“Wrong targets, pickpocket,” Saori scowled at a young fox-eared boy in dirty clothes. A bolt of black lightning wrapped itself around her arm as she tied Ellaine’s pouch closed. “It is empty. Run along now, otherwise you might get into trouble.”
The young foxian’s eyes widened, looking terrified as he quickly nodded and merged back into the crowd without anybody’s knowledge. Ellaine shouted “Impertinent!” and questioned why Saori let him go, despite almost committing a crime against a noble; however, Saori held her back before she could chase after him.
“I do not like pickpockets either, but chasing after him now would be a waste of time. He looked agile and he knows the alleyways of his home better,” Saori reasoned with Ellaine, but she wouldn’t have it.
“With all due respect, letting a thief go without punishing him will only cause trouble for everybody else. He will not learn from this, and as a noble, it is also my duty to enforce the laws of my kingdom,” Ellaine stubbornly refused. If there was one thing her inferiority complex hadn’t dulled, it was her sense of duty as a noble.
As people were starting to notice us, I grabbed Ellaine’s shoulder and “ordered” her to stand down and to find an inn first before we do anything. She was reluctant, but as a noble, she couldn’t refuse the words of the one she swore her loyalty to. It was uncomfortable to cause some awkwardness between us, but I had to intervene. This was why we had to help her adapt to our party’s culture fast.
Also, there is the topic about the impending grimgarian war I have to talk with Ellaine about. I don’t feel it’s time yet …
After entering the merchant district, Saori picked out a decent-looking inn in the area. Not the best, since she wanted to save money, but not the worst either, as she believed our party deserved some luxury after our trip here.
“Woooo, this is soooooooft. My poor legs.” Immediately after checking in, Ellaine tested the beds in our room before crashing on one like an exhausted athlete. She embraced her pillow and tried to reposition her posture until she reached the right spot. “Even this lowly bed is far better than the ground. I could just fall asleep now … Oh! Lady Hestia! My apologies.”
The moment her senses returned, Ellaine opened her eyes wide like an owl and jumped off her bed, snapping her legs straight as she tried to find an excuse for her behavior. Her bright red face combined with her flailing arms was adorable, causing me to chuckle a bit. Despite how often we’d been alone in a room together, she still hasn’t gotten comfortable enough to just let herself chill.
“Ellaine, let me just say this again, but I don’t care about our ‘Mistress and Retainer’ roles, all right? If you want to be serious about it, then by all means; however, you are my friend and party member first. That is Aurora,” I attempted to calm her down, worrying her tomato-colored face would overheat her head.
“Y-yes, I know. I do apologize that we had to repeat this discussion again, but to repay you for accepting my selfish wish to come with you, I should be more competent, no?” Ellaine argued, feeling a bit impatient to prove herself despite the fact we had only been together for a week.
I sat on the bed and looked at her seriously. “One thing I learned from my dance trainer during my idol trainee phase was to always focus on your foundation. However, how will you be able to train effectively if you never relax, Ellaine? You’ll stress yourself out. So, take some time to rest. A nap even.”
We arrived just a bit before lunchtime, so Saori and Tasianna wanted to fill everybody’s belly before we stormed the dungeon of Cedaraille. After all, the trip from Firwood to Cedaraille was quite far—we even had to travel over a bridge built over the same river the barracudas traveled down during winter.
After Ellaine laid back on her bed, she quickly fell asleep, the exhaustion of a week of straight traveling weighing her eyelids shut. We could have ridden Saori’s garms, but Ellaine needed the jog too much.
Why are you being to impatient? Who are you trying to prove? I wondered. Even if she wasn’t a strong fighter just yet, she did provide one skill Saori, Tasianna, nor I could perform—artificerwork. That alone made her valuable to our party.
A while later, Saori and Tasianna returned with some freshly-made meals they made in the inn’s kitchen, which they were able to borrow with the innkeeper’s permission. After we devoured everything, I took out the wooden bathtub I made in our travels for Ellaine, who felt uncomfortable bathing in the wilderness. Tasianna filled it up with water and I heated it up, which we used in a rotation to clean ourselves up. At least Ellaine wasn’t afraid of being naked in front of other girls.
Urgh, this stupid shedding. Urrgh! I forcibly ripped off some loose scale skin while in the bath. Holding onto this pale, molted piece of me, I grinded my teeth in annoyance as I looked back at my arm. I didn’t have OCD, but my goodness, I could clearly see some discoloration on my beautiful crimson scales. I tried this whole molting again and I just couldn’t get down.
This was so much harder than what Priscilla explained … and just looking at it annoyed me similarly to a cracked nail. Urgh, my dragon instincts should make this easier? Farron, what? Nothing about this was easy! All of this just made me feel weird in my body. It had been a while since I felt awkward and uncomfortable in this dragonewt form of mine.
I’m not doing this again. Who cares about losing luster or whatever on my scales. I just can’t do it! I finally decided to shelf my molting until further notice.
Disregarding that … once our belly were filled and we felt refreshed, we departed from our inn after informing the innkeeper we would go to the dungeon. He didn’t say anything about it, but his worried face betrayed his real feelings about it.
Our first destination was the hunter’s guild. We hadn’t been very active in Firwood concerning Quests, due in no small part to running our restaurant and taking care of Davison, so we had to begin climbing the ranks. A higher rank meant better Quests and recognition, after all.
After asking adventurers on the street, we eventually made it to the guild. As we were about to enter, some giant suddenly came out of the guild.
“Hmph!” he huffed the moment he saw us, looking irritated as we were blocking his way out. “Move.”
Well, giant might not be the right word for him, as he was only slightly shorter than me, however, I thought of him like that due to his frame. Muscles so thick they looked like rocks, slightly tanned skin with soot covering parts of it, a weird stone-hide covering his ears, and a massive orange beard and long oily hair accompanied by two ram-like horns on his head. Was he a ram beastman?
Urgh! Nevertheless, he reeked of beer and such.
“Bladdarg! Move!” he bellowed out, making me quickly step to the side, letting him leave. He was huffing around as he stomped away in a bad mood. Did I cause that?
“Wow, I didn’t expect to meet a taz so far south,” Tasianna suddenly said.
Taz?
As I asked her about it, she quickly began explaining, “Do you remember Kraftja and Ogni, Lady Hestia? They mentioned they were inko dwarves, correct? ‘Tazong’ is the word for ‘dwarf’ in the dwarven language, Inkong-gul, better known as the Undermountain Speech. An ‘inko’ is known as a surface dwarf, those who dwell in the upper crust of the earth or mountain.”
Now that I think about it, Kraftja did call herself that.
Tasianna continued, “Now, a ‘taz’ is known as an undermountain dwarf, those who dwell so deep in the earth that some might have never seen the sun before. They are bulkier than their surface-dwelling relatives, and slightly taller. I do not know dwarven history too well, but I do know tazics—the plural form—are fire breathers. They are able to expel flames without needing to use mana, although it’s considerably weaker than a dragon’s.”
That is a dwarf? Well, I can see it with his long beard, but I honestly thought he was a demon for a second with his horns.
As interesting as that was, we decided to ignore that meeting for now to head into the guild. The guild hall in Cedaraille was far larger than the one in Firwood’s branch, and even had a mezzanine, a second floor that acted like a balcony overlooking the first floor. The building was packed, including the mandatory installations like the training hall in the back, the guild tavern next door linked through a door, the questboard where all the Quests were posted, and, of course, the handler counter.
As it was past lunchtime, the liveliness inside was similar to Firwood, as most adventurers were out for work. Consequently, there was barely a line in front of the receptionists.
“May the light guide your path on this brilliant LightDay, Miss,” I greeted the handler once it was our turn, doing my priestess impression.
“Thank you very much, Lady Shrine Maiden. May the Goddess bless you, too. My name is Cleo; how may the guild help you today,” a human woman in her late twenties bowed slightly, greeting us with a professional smile.
“Yes, my party Aurora wishes to enter the local dungeon managed by the guild. I heard that you require a stamp from the guild hall to enter,” I recalled from Ellaine’s explanation. We four then handed the handler our IDs.
She accepted them graciously and began inspecting them, raising an eyebrow as she looked at Ellaine’s, the only ID of the four with a different design. “Excuse me, but isn’t this person a G? The dungeon is ranked as D, meaning the guild cannot grant this person permission to enter for their safety.”
Ellaine’s eyes twitched as she heard this, smiling wryly as she knew this would happen. I patted her shoulder, telling her she was far stronger than rank G and returned my gaze back to the receptionist to clear up the misunderstanding. “Miss, please look at the remaining IDs. Our party is designated as rank E and we will be bringing the rank G with us for training. That should be allowed, correct?”
As she returned to her inspection, she quickly apologized for what she said before, confirming we could request permission if our party’s rank was adequate. A party’s rank was determined by the average between all members and while Ellaine’s G rank brought us down to E rank, we were still high enough due to Saori’s, Tasianna’s, and my rank. It was another reason why we should start grinding adventurer rank.
“Lady Ellaine Fiero Helvas, Miss Tasianna Marina Silverpond, Miss Saori Segawa, Lady Hestia Atsuko … Oh! Lady Shrine Maiden, did you perhaps just arrive in Cedaraille from Firwood?” Cleo suddenly asked me.
After I confirmed it, she nodded and informed us why she knew about it, “The guild master for this branch of the hunter’s guild has received a message from the guild master from the Firwood branch to look out for you and Aurora. I apologize for not recognizing you earlier. With the recommendation of Farron Nordor, Guild Master of Firwood’s hunter’s guild, permission may be granted. Please, wait a moment for me to imprint your permission on your ID.”
Farron? Jeez, old man. Worrying about us enough that you would inform another branch? Now I really have to consider visiting him again.
After we took back our IDs, we went over to the Questboard to pick up some Quests to help out Ellaine. In order for her to rank up, she needed to accumulate ten rank G points—usually equalling ten G rank Quests—however, she could also rank up by taking rank F Quests. Each F point was worth two G points. Fortunately, all of them were monster material collection Quests that fit into Ellaine’s power leveling goal.
Of course, we took more than just five rank Fs; we took 20. Why? 15 F rank points were needed to rank up to E rank, so two birds with one stone. As we planned to enter the local dungeon, we only took Quests which specifically mentioned monsters that spawned inside it.
When we showed our Quest choices to Cleo, she looked flabbergasted at the amount presented but nonetheless registered them all to our name. Once finished, we finally took this chance to change our Jobs, something we forgot to do in Firwood in our excitement to leave.
_____________________________________________________
Job: Aggravator
Requirements: 1000 Health, 400 Intelligence, 500 Vitality, 500 Wisdom, [Fighter]
Acquirement Benefits: Health increase, Vitality increase, Wisdom Increase, Stamina increase, [Enhanced Health Growth] proficiency
Main Job Benefits: [Taunt]
_____________________________________________________
Oh yeah!
It was an obvious choice, an improved version of our party’s “Concert Farming” strategy. As Ellaine wasn’t the strongest currently, me being able to completely direct a monster’s attention away from Ellaine was important to keep her safe while also giving me a chance to lure monsters closer to me for quicker kills.
The requirement was quite steep for a beginner-class Job, since you required stats around a rank D adventurer to get [Aggravator], but I guess it made sense for a tank to be strong. However, what fighter would reach 400 Intelligence easily?
Back to the Job changes, Ellaine was the only one who couldn’t change her Job as she switched from her [Magic Tinkerer] to [Fighter] after the hunt we did together, and without being able to level up, she would have to wait to change her Job until after we were done. Saori and Tasianna switched to [Dark Mage] and [Storm Sorcerer] respectively.
As we were about to leave the guild, I heard some people whispering about our party. Most of them were baffled by what they had heard the receptionist say about Farron’s recommendation and our twenty accepted Quests. The rest, however, were a bit less confused.
[“Are they the same people who spied on us when we entered the city?”] I asked Saori as our party was on our way outside the city towards the dungeon. She nodded, so I gave her another question. [“Did you look into them while you were outside shopping for ingredients?”]
[“Uno did. He spied on them for a bit and relayed the information through [Telepathy] to me. They belong to a noble, but I am not sure from which house,”] Saori informed us all.
Ellaine listened, thought it through for a moment, before giving a possibility, “It could be Lord Duke Greenveil’s. Aside from Lord Marquess Sirius and His Majesty, he was also given your information as this is his duchy.”
I frowned, shaking my head in frustration, unable to help but think of the worst possibility. [“If that is the case, then I really hope he doesn’t drag us into his problems. We are staying here for a bit and then we will leave, nothing more. No noble’s scheme, please.”]
Please, please.
Leaving Cedaraille, we followed the road south, where a mountain came into view. After walking for a bit we finally reached the entrance of the dungeon. The line was quite long despite it being past prime time, but thankfully it wasn’t too long. It would take an hour or so.
Still, I cannot wait! My first dungeon!
…Wait, isn’t a dungeon underground?
I’ve overlooked a very important fact.
AbyssRaven Dungeon diving time!
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