Adventurer Life Day 73 (Wed) – Morning – Olbia City – Adventurer’s Guild
At every place of Olbia, yellow flags flutter, signifying an emergency call for all adventurers.
Seeing that, adventurers from all over the city gather at the guild, receiving an explanation for the emergency, and parties that are viewed to have the capabilities of taking it will be requested to participate.
Because of the number of adventurers required in this mission, it won’t be possible to accommodate everyone in the guild lobby, so only the leaders and one other person will be participating to listen to the details regarding the request. They will then have the responsibility to relay it to the rest of their party members.
Eventually, the explanation in the lobby is finished, and the adventurers gathered there would split off from the guild building.
They’ve been talking with each other regarding it, about the risk this might have, and about how beneficial this would be.
Among those was a man that spoke to another female adventurer walking beside him.
“This is a big deal Elza.”
The man had a unique chestnut-colored hair that covers one of his sharp eyes, and seems to be in his 30’s.
He wears a leather armor with a dagger strapped to a belt around his chest, and the way he walks also gives him a bold impression.
The woman, on the other hand, had her orange hair tied behind her, and seemed to be of similar age. Although her eyes too are sharp, it’s not strange to say it adds some charm to her.
A uniquely shaped short sword hung around her waist.
Whether it is by her appearance or her odd-shaped weapon, it’s easy for her to attract the surrounding attention.
“… George, was it? It’s been a while since the last time the guild called for an emergency request… However, I don’t think it’s ever been to the extent of fighting off an army of orcs. Even though I already had some plans, I can’t leave Olbia for the time being. What a bother.”
“Well, even if you say that, it can’t be helped. It doesn’t affect me too much since we were planning on hunting outside for a few days anyways.”
For the time being, the guild recommends having some things finished up, like managing the inn fees, before returning back to the guild and wait until it is time to leave Olbia with the other parties.
Supplies are handled by the guild and are also transported by them too.
There shouldn’t be any party chosen here that doesn’t have some form of camping equipment with them, but just in case, the guild has some for rent as well.
In the worst case scenario, adventurers are also free to return back to Olbia when in danger.
Excluding adventurers involved as merchant escorts, even though all mid-sized and higher adventures were assembled together, the parties of these two are a class above those.
In addition, compared to those parties with a lot of members, mixed with beginner adventurers alike, their parties are a small but powerful group.
At that, George opens his mouth again to speak.
“By the way, it’s said the number of orcs for this will be close to 200… What’s your outlook on the upcoming battle?”
“The number of adventurers they’re sending out is somewhat equal to the number of orcs… this, along with the 200 local aristocrats and their 250 private soldiers, it makes about 650 in total. If it goes well, it should be an easy victory…”
It’s common knowledge that the orc’s fighting power is slightly above that of a mid-level adventurer or a general guard.
The local aristocrat army consists of units which includes cavalry and mages within their group.
For adventurers, they normally act independently and are only a small number for each group in comparison, but there’s a number of groups there that are quite strong.
Even if this wasn’t the case, and there was some sort of miscalculation, their numbers would definitely make up for it.
Noticing Elza pausing from she was about to say, George asks.
“But…?”
“It’s about the nobles here. I’m more concerned about that.”
Olbia had not been in war for the past 50 years.
In this situation, can the aristocrats’ private soldiers be something to have skill? That’s the point the woman was most concerned about.
Of course, all of those who had experience since the last war have all retired, and with guards being replaced over time through contracts, it’s not surprising to think their experience will become more lax.
It’s difficult to tell how much combat experience each individual would have.
Listening to it, George thought about it for a bit, before bringing something up.
“Speaking of which, there was that option of sticking together into large groups. Can you put us under your party then if that’s the case?”
“… Why?”
“Didn’t you do a similar thing before, and that one went rather well? On the other hand, I’m not too confident when it comes to commanding a large number of people, even if they are a part of my party. I also think it’s best if we have something like this settled very early…”
“Why would I want a bunch of noisy guys to gather around with me… ?”
Despite what she says, Elsa soon received many similar offers from other parties and eventually became the head of about 50 adventurers along the way.
– Adventurer Life Day 73 (Wed) – Noon – Olbia Royal Palace – Large Hall
The large hall of the royal palace in Olbia — This is where the nobles gather for meetings in order to determine the course of action within the city.
The current topic to discuss is the concern regarding the horde of orcs, which had already severely damaged settlements by the north east of the city.
“The new territory of Baron Dumont had been overrun by those monsters, and the supplies for there had been lost. There’s nothing we could do about that anymore…”
“Although the investment for Baron Alba’s new settlement had been completely blown away, he does not seem to be ordering any more wagons for cultivation and seems to be putting it on temporary hold for now.”
Gossips between nobles had continued on in the conference room.
It soon stopped once the king had entered, and the voice of the conductor who signalled the start of the meeting echoed in the hall.
The king’s ministries, all sat from both his sides, gave a brief overview of the meeting and urged the assembled nobles to begin the discussion.
And so, like a fuse being lit, the entire hall began the discussion with much more vigor than before.
— However, the topic of the meeting starts to blow in a strange direction.
“I hope you will be able to use the brave soldiers of the Thyum family for this army!”
“What ‘brave soldiers’ of Thyum. They had only been going round the castle this entire time! Please, use the ones from my Tarian family instead!”
“I disagree. The soldiers from the Sardov family are the fastest to command! Using them will surely bring you the results!”
The start of the meeting began shortly after Olbia decided to send out the mixed unit of royal aristocracy.
Indeed, the meeting itself only consists of useless quarrels.
On the other hand, the king and his ministers continue to watch in silence, not really caring about the discussion on hand. His only concern from this is the right to monopolize the majority of the benefits taken here.
Although this does appear to stand as unfair for the others, it is far from considering it as a dictatorial authority. Everyone in the room understands this.
Even before the king, such debate was becoming increasingly fiercer, as each family blatantly attempts to put forth their self interests.
In contrast to the royal aristocrats, local aristocrats are ones who are given authority to develop undeveloped areas in the country with their own funds.
Although the royal aristocrats have the honor of receiving preferential treatment in the city, long-term stable income from vested interests, and the authority to mobilize troops from the country, there is something that is envied towards the local nobles and their territorial management.
The vested interests of the royal capital are basically already established, and there would be no expectation of further growth from their current status either.
Nobles there are given authority over specific industries, and giving interest outside of that is taboo.
In addition to this, there is no freedom when it comes to amending certain portions of the law.
Because of this, certain benefits from industries may decline over time, and they could do nothing to control that. As such, many royal aristocrats are almost craving for a diversification of interests.
The most popular of these diversification methods is to gain the right to start developing rural areas.
There has not been a war in the last 50 years, and the number of nobles who have been given new land has diminished.
As such, the problem regarding the ‘horde of orcs’ is only seen as an opportunity for the royal aristocrats to increase their freedom of income.
And so, contrary to the adventurer troops that had been dispatched earlier, the royal unit is sent without any tension at all.
– Adventurer Life Day 73 (Wed) – Morning – Goldew Town – Clifftop – Forest Area
Like usual, we have started hunting in the morning.
However, unlike the usual, we stop by the end of the road in the forest as we discuss our plans on extending this road further.
Phillips asks about the plan.
“So, in which direction should I cut down?”
“I want to extend this one-way path further.”
“Hm?”
I explained it to Phillips and the other party members.
There was a problem that happened in the previous hunting grounds. Continuously hunting monsters around the same area will cause a reduction of those monsters.
Because of that, it’ll be important to apply some measures now before it’s too late…
Until now, we would be required to hunt in a wide area, and change places once the number of monsters start to decrease, but there’s little room for movement in this forest.
Once the monsters in this area have decreased, it’ll be hard to move the caravan to a different area since the road stops early on.
The road extends further into the northeast, to some extent, and is primarily used by hunters and woodcutters to traverse. However, because of certain circumstances, the road has rarely ever been used, and there are far too many overgrown trees blocking the path, which makes it almost impossible to proceed further with the caravan.
“In other words, we’ll be creating a pathway to expand our range of hunting?”
“That’s the case.”
“I SEE, so that’s my JOB. Leave the LOGGING to me.”
Bringing out his two-handed axe, Centurion answers with confidence.
Lumberjacks hardly ever reach this far, so there shouldn’t be any legal problems with it… I think.
“Well THEN, I’ll be taking DOWN that TREE.”
The ropes were ready, and Centurion taps his axe against the tree signaling the start of his work.
“… This is harder than expected.”
“Yeah…”
I suddenly have a welled up respect for the hardships of those who has to work with this.
This area is inhabited by Bebirusa and lower rank monsters, but only in the depths of the forest could you come across much bigger ones.
You’ll have to be careful about safety when it comes to falling trees, and the constant threat of monsters…
We heard from the adventurer’s guild’s head, Lucia, that they couldn’t properly secure some workers and adventurers to work in the forest, and the majority would prefer to work in the town and hunt in the mines below the cliff instead.
— Still though, it’s quite a lively sight, seeing all 18 of Centurion’s units working on paving a pathway for the road.
Two of those would be cutting the tree using their axes, and Talos, in its complete form, will shake the tree multiple times until it pushes it down.
Trees are knocked down every three or four minutes, which is a seriously fast pace. Two stone horses, that were removed from the wagon, and a couple of Centurion’s skeletons will pull out the stumps with ropes attached to it. I had to dig out the majority of the earth using the Modelling skill, otherwise the rope would’ve been broken. Seriously convenient skill. This probably wouldn’t be possible without it.
After that, the holes from where the stumps had been would be filled, paved, steadily lengthening the road.
Along the side of the open road, felled trees are put on the side with all the branches cut off, and are stacked up.
“This is really too fast… I get confused every time I come back here. Could you not move the wagon so much? I feel like I’ll lose my way if I keep coming back and the wagon is not there.”
“Sorry, but I can’t really leave the wagon unattended. You’re just gonna have to bear with it.”
“I know. I was just saying…”
That said, Benedetta and a couple of my skeletons, along with Phillips and his team, are continuing hunting around the forest.
There’s a single group of four iron skeletons, three indirectly operated and one fully operated, going around and dismantling the leftover carcasses.
Being iron plated now, it’s really easy for the skeletons to bring even the entire carcass back.
Returning back here, after bringing back a dismantled monster with the skeletons, Benedetta raised a concern.
“Nemo. There’s not much space left in the wagon.”
“… Alright. I’ll contact Phillips.”
(Phillips, it’s time to finish hunting. There’s not much space anymore.)
(Understood, lord. Except for those still in battle, we’ll be heading to your location right away.)
– Adventurer Life Day 73 (Wed) – Noon – Goldew Town – Clifftop – Forest Area
“Finally, some free time… I’ve been levelling too quickly to the point where I couldn’t calm myself down…”
“Well, hunting has been faster than ever…”
“I can finally do a skill survey now.”
By this time, all divine blessings reached level 12, so new skills have been added.
I already heard what the skills were from Benedetta yesterday, but I had to postpone it because I had to focus on the increase of skeletons after the level up.
Phillips, who had come back with the entire unit said that he would be keeping a lookout on the surroundings, and so stationed himself and his spearmen several tens of meters away from where we are.
Thanks to that, I can take my time checking my skills.
“First up, is the Necromancer skills.”
“… So, Toxic Detection and Possession.”
The Poison Detection skill was obvious enough, judging from the name alone.
Looking into the woods, with the skill in mind, I felt a reaction when some wild mushrooms came into view, and when I took a look at my poison potion, the reaction was much stronger.
However, I also felt a reaction towards the Babirusa meat in the caravan, so I assume it also detects harmful parasites/fungus/bacteria or something, instead of just simply poison only.
I’ll have to check it again once I have these cooked, so I can get a clarification on this.
“It’s a shame, since the food we eat tends to be from town anyways. There won’t be a lot of chances where I’ll need to use this.”
“It’s still useful though, like if we are in a survival situation.”
“… Like eating certain wildflowers or looking for safe mushrooms right? That sounds interesting, but we already know pretty much most of the plant-life here anyways.”
Well, it’s good to have it just in case.
We don’t really have a use for it right now, but having it on me doesn’t hurt. Hopefully, I’ll still remember it when I need it the most.
The next skill to look at is Spirit Possession.
Judging by the name of this one, I’m guessing it allows me to possess one of my skeletons…
However, nothing happened when I used it on the skeletons, and there was no reaction when using it on my golems either.
This is a problem.
I don’t even know what the conditions are for this.
Even if I could use it, I already have the ability to use Full Control anyways, so it doesn’t seem like I would need it, probably…
If I’m going to go for another meaning of this, then I could assume it could also probably have a spirit possess my skeleton… but this is already possible anyways.
I’m going to have to put this one off for later.
Moving on to the Alchemists skills.
‘Magic Sealing’ is a skill that lets you create magic tools by copying the skill abilities onto jewelry. Though, the tools will only have a limited amount of uses.
I remembered the general idea of this skill back in the game when playing as an Alchemist, but the details are a little ambiguous for me, since I never got to using it as much.
You can copy other people’s skills with this, but the restrictions are complicated, and jewelry are a little too valuable to be turned into a consumable item.
In the game, it wasn’t possible to re-apply the skill onto jewelry, even after the uses had been depleted.
We’ve heard of some cheap jewelry being specially made in this town, so we can test this skill out after buying some from there.
For the Sculptor, the new skill for it is Spatial Grasp, which is a subtle skill that allows you to measure any distance within your field of view.
Whether it is by measuring the length and diameter of the firewood cut out and formed into an ingot, or the distance between me and Benedetta right now, it seems to be quite accurate numerically.
It was interesting to play around with it, like sensing the height difference between me and Phillips, or judging the distance between me and the rock I just threw.
… But as for its usefulness… I don’t know.
Perhaps if I was a real sculptor, this sort of ability might be pretty useful…
For the time being, none of the new skills from level 12 seemed to have an immediate use right now.
I was a little discouraged there wasn’t a skill that could be used to strengthen the skeletons further, but it’s still not over yet. I still need to fully understand their effects before I could make the final judgement.
(Not to mention, there’s already a couple of skills I don’t even use…)
I called back Centurion’s team who were busy logging, and we prepared ourselves to go back to town.
– Adventurer Life Day 73 (Wed) – Evening – Goldew Town – Plains Town – Guild Sub-Branch
After completing the exchange of Babirusa meat with the guild’s branch office we’ll be heading back to base… or rather, that was the plan.
Since then, we had made two round trips between the forest and the guild, and it has already turned dark outside.
We couldn’t bring all the luggage to the guild, that’s why.
Right now, I’m in the guild with Benedetta and Centurion as we wait for Lucia to finish calculating the price for what we brought.
“Good work! Seriously, I really appreciate it.”
Almost seeming like she was jumping for joy, the guildmaster gives her thanks to us after we had brought over the logs we had cut down earlier.
(… If it was for winter, then this by itself probably wouldn’t be enough. I guess it really is just for the harvest festival.)
That’s what I think at least.
The shortage of firewood seemed to be severe enough that the town chief had to request the adventurer’s guild to secure them.
When we came here the first time earlier today, Lucia was at a loss on what to do with it, and it’s because of that we made a second round trip to take the logs back with us.
It would’ve been a waste if we just left all those logs there anyways.
Though I say that, there’s still plenty left over.
“You’ve even cut down the good quality trees that contain plenty of mana, so that’s a relief. Thanks.”
“…? Plenty of mana?”
That’s the first time I’ve heard of this, so I tried asking.
“Didn’t you know? Trees from a mana-rich forest burn really well. The concentration of mana increases the deeper you go into the forest, and the wood from the trees there burn much stronger by like, 3 or 4 times.”
“3 or 4 times… that’s quite a lot.”
“Well… that’s what I read. I’m not sure myself, but it does burn much more.”
(When I had heated the bath yesterday using the branches we took from that forest, I thought it was much hotter than usual, but then I suppose with this, it would make sense.)
Thanks to that, we didn’t have to use much branches to get the bath to the right temperature.
“By the way, How did you cut this much wood?”
“Ah… that’s right. There’s something I want to ask you!”
“That was a blunt way of dodging the question… Well, whatever. What is it?”
“You see. There was a sword stuck high on a cliff from the east side of town. Do you know about that?”
“Ahh, that…”
She was right when she rebuked my way of dodging the question… I’ll have to take note of that.
That said though, I actually didn’t think she would know something about that sword.
“That one is a relic from this town’s hero. This one happened before I was born, so I’ve only heard stories about it. It was when Sir Gawain, a travelling knight on a pilgrimage, wiped out an entire army of orcs in exchange for his own life.”
“… So, why was the sword stuck on the cliff?”
“I don’t know if this was true or not, but it’s said that he threw it there on his dying breath. Since then, he’s been revered by the people of Goldew as a hero, despite having his achievement only within a small village. There was a shrine recently made for him too, but that was still before I was born, and it was later moved to the town center.”
“Hm… So something like that happened huh…”
— Sir Gawain…
Maybe I can get a hero like him a companion of mine.
But I feel like I heard that name somewhere before…
– Adventurer Life Day 73 (Wed) – Night – Goldew Town – East Cliff
From the steep cliffs, which is almost synonymous with Goldew, stood a sword pierced halfway through the blade, and almost 15m above the ground.
It’s appearance has almost completely changed, no longer looking like a sword, as its body had already been covered in rust over many years, and the leather handle of it had already rotted away long ago. Even so, it’s an achievement in itself for being able to stay there for so long, probably because of the quality of steel it had been made from.
At the tip of the handle of the sword, illuminated by the moonlight, a small blue flame, just about the size of a pinky finger, flickers about in the wind.
It had blinked several times, growing bigger and brighter.
(… How long has it been… since the last time I’ve been awake?)
The flame carries the will of the knight who had died half a century ago.
He had cut down many orcs alone to protect the city of Goldew until he had exhausted in his entirety, and continues to remain as a spirit over what seems to now be a town.
However, the knight was puzzled noticing himself having woken up.
(… I feel like it’s been some time since I’ve woken up… I thought I would have passed on by then…)
This village… no, it’s a town now… he felt no regrets sacrificing his life to protect them.
Watching the village slowly grow into a splendid town every time he had woken up, gave him a faint sense of accomplishment.
However, it’s strange.
Knight Gawain himself should have no strong desire to linger here.
And yet, his consciousness has become much clearer than before.
(… Did my spirit became stronger after having a rest…?)
His quest… a journey to search for the lost treasures of the Juunon religion. But he had failed right when he had began.
However, even if this is somewhat regretful, he was on a pilgrimage. Finding the treasures wasn’t the true goal of his journey.
Which is why it is a bit strange how he still remains here.
(Could this have something to do about that prophecy?)
— It was a long time since it had happened.
There was a certain fortune teller in Olbia, one who was famous enough to be called the ‘Seer’.
Hearing about their reputation, he decided to visit to have his fortune told, in hopes to find some clues regarding the treasures he will be looking for.
He can still remember it.
The Atlantean Card was something he already knows about, but the Skeleton image that appeared before that was puzzling.
The fortune teller too, could not answer it… but had later given her prediction through a confusing phrase, as if possessed by something.
— The village of Goldew awaits your help. However, if you were to take it, you will surely lose your life.
— That death however, is the path to your true destiny, and a way to fulfill your longing, the way to glory.
— To the seven heroes, serve the five kings, find the three holy treasures, overthrow the true evil.
(Was that prophecy the one that keeps me bound to this place?)
Those words of hers did not feel like they belonged to a normal human, but by one above that.
That was no prophecy.
The words of God goes beyond something like a prophecy.
Perhaps that is what binds him.
— The spirits will guide you
Remembering the last words the Seer had spoken to him, the knight Gawain pondered.
Adventurer Life Day 73 (Wed) – Morning – Olbia City – Adventurer’s Guild
At every place of Olbia, yellow flags flutter, signifying an emergency call for all adventurers.
Seeing that, adventurers from all over the city gather at the guild, receiving an explanation for the emergency, and parties that are viewed to have the capabilities of taking it will be requested to participate.
Because of the number of adventurers required in this mission, it won’t be possible to accommodate everyone in the guild lobby, so only the leaders and one other person will be participating to listen to the details regarding the request. They will then have the responsibility to relay it to the rest of their party members.
Eventually, the explanation in the lobby is finished, and the adventurers gathered there would split off from the guild building.
They’ve been talking with each other regarding it, about the risk this might have, and about how beneficial this would be.
Among those was a man that spoke to another female adventurer walking beside him.
“This is a big deal Elza.”
The man had a unique chestnut-colored hair that covers one of his sharp eyes, and seems to be in his 30’s.
He wears a leather armor with a dagger strapped to a belt around his chest, and the way he walks also gives him a bold impression.
The woman, on the other hand, had her orange hair tied behind her, and seemed to be of similar age. Although her eyes too are sharp, it’s not strange to say it adds some charm to her.
A uniquely shaped short sword hung around her waist.
Whether it is by her appearance or her odd-shaped weapon, it’s easy for her to attract the surrounding attention.
“… George, was it? It’s been a while since the last time the guild called for an emergency request… However, I don’t think it’s ever been to the extent of fighting off an army of orcs. Even though I already had some plans, I can’t leave Olbia for the time being. What a bother.”
“Well, even if you say that, it can’t be helped. It doesn’t affect me too much since we were planning on hunting outside for a few days anyways.”
For the time being, the guild recommends having some things finished up, like managing the inn fees, before returning back to the guild and wait until it is time to leave Olbia with the other parties.
Supplies are handled by the guild and are also transported by them too.
There shouldn’t be any party chosen here that doesn’t have some form of camping equipment with them, but just in case, the guild has some for rent as well.
In the worst case scenario, adventurers are also free to return back to Olbia when in danger.
Excluding adventurers involved as merchant escorts, even though all mid-sized and higher adventures were assembled together, the parties of these two are a class above those.
In addition, compared to those parties with a lot of members, mixed with beginner adventurers alike, their parties are a small but powerful group.
At that, George opens his mouth again to speak.
“By the way, it’s said the number of orcs for this will be close to 200… What’s your outlook on the upcoming battle?”
“The number of adventurers they’re sending out is somewhat equal to the number of orcs… this, along with the 200 local aristocrats and their 250 private soldiers, it makes about 650 in total. If it goes well, it should be an easy victory…”
It’s common knowledge that the orc’s fighting power is slightly above that of a mid-level adventurer or a general guard.
The local aristocrat army consists of units which includes cavalry and mages within their group.
For adventurers, they normally act independently and are only a small number for each group in comparison, but there’s a number of groups there that are quite strong.
Even if this wasn’t the case, and there was some sort of miscalculation, their numbers would definitely make up for it.
Noticing Elza pausing from she was about to say, George asks.
“But…?”
“It’s about the nobles here. I’m more concerned about that.”
Olbia had not been in war for the past 50 years.
In this situation, can the aristocrats’ private soldiers be something to have skill? That’s the point the woman was most concerned about.
Of course, all of those who had experience since the last war have all retired, and with guards being replaced over time through contracts, it’s not surprising to think their experience will become more lax.
It’s difficult to tell how much combat experience each individual would have.
Listening to it, George thought about it for a bit, before bringing something up.
“Speaking of which, there was that option of sticking together into large groups. Can you put us under your party then if that’s the case?”
“… Why?”
“Didn’t you do a similar thing before, and that one went rather well? On the other hand, I’m not too confident when it comes to commanding a large number of people, even if they are a part of my party. I also think it’s best if we have something like this settled very early…”
“Why would I want a bunch of noisy guys to gather around with me… ?”
Despite what she says, Elsa soon received many similar offers from other parties and eventually became the head of about 50 adventurers along the way.
– Adventurer Life Day 73 (Wed) – Noon – Olbia Royal Palace – Large Hall
The large hall of the royal palace in Olbia — This is where the nobles gather for meetings in order to determine the course of action within the city.
The current topic to discuss is the concern regarding the horde of orcs, which had already severely damaged settlements by the north east of the city.
“The new territory of Baron Dumont had been overrun by those monsters, and the supplies for there had been lost. There’s nothing we could do about that anymore…”
“Although the investment for Baron Alba’s new settlement had been completely blown away, he does not seem to be ordering any more wagons for cultivation and seems to be putting it on temporary hold for now.”
Gossips between nobles had continued on in the conference room.
It soon stopped once the king had entered, and the voice of the conductor who signalled the start of the meeting echoed in the hall.
The king’s ministries, all sat from both his sides, gave a brief overview of the meeting and urged the assembled nobles to begin the discussion.
And so, like a fuse being lit, the entire hall began the discussion with much more vigor than before.
— However, the topic of the meeting starts to blow in a strange direction.
“I hope you will be able to use the brave soldiers of the Thyum family for this army!”
“What ‘brave soldiers’ of Thyum. They had only been going round the castle this entire time! Please, use the ones from my Tarian family instead!”
“I disagree. The soldiers from the Sardov family are the fastest to command! Using them will surely bring you the results!”
The start of the meeting began shortly after Olbia decided to send out the mixed unit of royal aristocracy.
Indeed, the meeting itself only consists of useless quarrels.
On the other hand, the king and his ministers continue to watch in silence, not really caring about the discussion on hand. His only concern from this is the right to monopolize the majority of the benefits taken here.
Although this does appear to stand as unfair for the others, it is far from considering it as a dictatorial authority. Everyone in the room understands this.
Even before the king, such debate was becoming increasingly fiercer, as each family blatantly attempts to put forth their self interests.
In contrast to the royal aristocrats, local aristocrats are ones who are given authority to develop undeveloped areas in the country with their own funds.
Although the royal aristocrats have the honor of receiving preferential treatment in the city, long-term stable income from vested interests, and the authority to mobilize troops from the country, there is something that is envied towards the local nobles and their territorial management.
The vested interests of the royal capital are basically already established, and there would be no expectation of further growth from their current status either.
Nobles there are given authority over specific industries, and giving interest outside of that is taboo.
In addition to this, there is no freedom when it comes to amending certain portions of the law.
Because of this, certain benefits from industries may decline over time, and they could do nothing to control that. As such, many royal aristocrats are almost craving for a diversification of interests.
The most popular of these diversification methods is to gain the right to start developing rural areas.
There has not been a war in the last 50 years, and the number of nobles who have been given new land has diminished.
As such, the problem regarding the ‘horde of orcs’ is only seen as an opportunity for the royal aristocrats to increase their freedom of income.
And so, contrary to the adventurer troops that had been dispatched earlier, the royal unit is sent without any tension at all.
– Adventurer Life Day 73 (Wed) – Morning – Goldew Town – Clifftop – Forest Area
Like usual, we have started hunting in the morning.
However, unlike the usual, we stop by the end of the road in the forest as we discuss our plans on extending this road further.
Phillips asks about the plan.
“So, in which direction should I cut down?”
“I want to extend this one-way path further.”
“Hm?”
I explained it to Phillips and the other party members.
There was a problem that happened in the previous hunting grounds. Continuously hunting monsters around the same area will cause a reduction of those monsters.
Because of that, it’ll be important to apply some measures now before it’s too late…
Until now, we would be required to hunt in a wide area, and change places once the number of monsters start to decrease, but there’s little room for movement in this forest.
Once the monsters in this area have decreased, it’ll be hard to move the caravan to a different area since the road stops early on.
The road extends further into the northeast, to some extent, and is primarily used by hunters and woodcutters to traverse. However, because of certain circumstances, the road has rarely ever been used, and there are far too many overgrown trees blocking the path, which makes it almost impossible to proceed further with the caravan.
“In other words, we’ll be creating a pathway to expand our range of hunting?”
“That’s the case.”
“I SEE, so that’s my JOB. Leave the LOGGING to me.”
Bringing out his two-handed axe, Centurion answers with confidence.
Lumberjacks hardly ever reach this far, so there shouldn’t be any legal problems with it… I think.
“Well THEN, I’ll be taking DOWN that TREE.”
The ropes were ready, and Centurion taps his axe against the tree signaling the start of his work.
“… This is harder than expected.”
“Yeah…”
I suddenly have a welled up respect for the hardships of those who has to work with this.
This area is inhabited by Bebirusa and lower rank monsters, but only in the depths of the forest could you come across much bigger ones.
You’ll have to be careful about safety when it comes to falling trees, and the constant threat of monsters…
We heard from the adventurer’s guild’s head, Lucia, that they couldn’t properly secure some workers and adventurers to work in the forest, and the majority would prefer to work in the town and hunt in the mines below the cliff instead.
— Still though, it’s quite a lively sight, seeing all 18 of Centurion’s units working on paving a pathway for the road.
Two of those would be cutting the tree using their axes, and Talos, in its complete form, will shake the tree multiple times until it pushes it down.
Trees are knocked down every three or four minutes, which is a seriously fast pace. Two stone horses, that were removed from the wagon, and a couple of Centurion’s skeletons will pull out the stumps with ropes attached to it. I had to dig out the majority of the earth using the Modelling skill, otherwise the rope would’ve been broken. Seriously convenient skill. This probably wouldn’t be possible without it.
After that, the holes from where the stumps had been would be filled, paved, steadily lengthening the road.
Along the side of the open road, felled trees are put on the side with all the branches cut off, and are stacked up.
“This is really too fast… I get confused every time I come back here. Could you not move the wagon so much? I feel like I’ll lose my way if I keep coming back and the wagon is not there.”
“Sorry, but I can’t really leave the wagon unattended. You’re just gonna have to bear with it.”
“I know. I was just saying…”
That said, Benedetta and a couple of my skeletons, along with Phillips and his team, are continuing hunting around the forest.
There’s a single group of four iron skeletons, three indirectly operated and one fully operated, going around and dismantling the leftover carcasses.
Being iron plated now, it’s really easy for the skeletons to bring even the entire carcass back.
Returning back here, after bringing back a dismantled monster with the skeletons, Benedetta raised a concern.
“Nemo. There’s not much space left in the wagon.”
“… Alright. I’ll contact Phillips.”
(Phillips, it’s time to finish hunting. There’s not much space anymore.)
(Understood, lord. Except for those still in battle, we’ll be heading to your location right away.)
– Adventurer Life Day 73 (Wed) – Noon – Goldew Town – Clifftop – Forest Area
“Finally, some free time… I’ve been levelling too quickly to the point where I couldn’t calm myself down…”
“Well, hunting has been faster than ever…”
“I can finally do a skill survey now.”
By this time, all divine blessings reached level 12, so new skills have been added.
I already heard what the skills were from Benedetta yesterday, but I had to postpone it because I had to focus on the increase of skeletons after the level up.
Phillips, who had come back with the entire unit said that he would be keeping a lookout on the surroundings, and so stationed himself and his spearmen several tens of meters away from where we are.
Thanks to that, I can take my time checking my skills.
“First up, is the Necromancer skills.”
“… So, Toxic Detection and Possession.”
The Poison Detection skill was obvious enough, judging from the name alone.
Looking into the woods, with the skill in mind, I felt a reaction when some wild mushrooms came into view, and when I took a look at my poison potion, the reaction was much stronger.
However, I also felt a reaction towards the Babirusa meat in the caravan, so I assume it also detects harmful parasites/fungus/bacteria or something, instead of just simply poison only.
I’ll have to check it again once I have these cooked, so I can get a clarification on this.
“It’s a shame, since the food we eat tends to be from town anyways. There won’t be a lot of chances where I’ll need to use this.”
“It’s still useful though, like if we are in a survival situation.”
“… Like eating certain wildflowers or looking for safe mushrooms right? That sounds interesting, but we already know pretty much most of the plant-life here anyways.”
Well, it’s good to have it just in case.
We don’t really have a use for it right now, but having it on me doesn’t hurt. Hopefully, I’ll still remember it when I need it the most.
The next skill to look at is Spirit Possession.
Judging by the name of this one, I’m guessing it allows me to possess one of my skeletons…
However, nothing happened when I used it on the skeletons, and there was no reaction when using it on my golems either.
This is a problem.
I don’t even know what the conditions are for this.
Even if I could use it, I already have the ability to use Full Control anyways, so it doesn’t seem like I would need it, probably…
If I’m going to go for another meaning of this, then I could assume it could also probably have a spirit possess my skeleton… but this is already possible anyways.
I’m going to have to put this one off for later.
Moving on to the Alchemists skills.
‘Magic Sealing’ is a skill that lets you create magic tools by copying the skill abilities onto jewelry. Though, the tools will only have a limited amount of uses.
I remembered the general idea of this skill back in the game when playing as an Alchemist, but the details are a little ambiguous for me, since I never got to using it as much.
You can copy other people’s skills with this, but the restrictions are complicated, and jewelry are a little too valuable to be turned into a consumable item.
In the game, it wasn’t possible to re-apply the skill onto jewelry, even after the uses had been depleted.
We’ve heard of some cheap jewelry being specially made in this town, so we can test this skill out after buying some from there.
For the Sculptor, the new skill for it is Spatial Grasp, which is a subtle skill that allows you to measure any distance within your field of view.
Whether it is by measuring the length and diameter of the firewood cut out and formed into an ingot, or the distance between me and Benedetta right now, it seems to be quite accurate numerically.
It was interesting to play around with it, like sensing the height difference between me and Phillips, or judging the distance between me and the rock I just threw.
… But as for its usefulness… I don’t know.
Perhaps if I was a real sculptor, this sort of ability might be pretty useful…
For the time being, none of the new skills from level 12 seemed to have an immediate use right now.
I was a little discouraged there wasn’t a skill that could be used to strengthen the skeletons further, but it’s still not over yet. I still need to fully understand their effects before I could make the final judgement.
(Not to mention, there’s already a couple of skills I don’t even use…)
I called back Centurion’s team who were busy logging, and we prepared ourselves to go back to town.
– Adventurer Life Day 73 (Wed) – Evening – Goldew Town – Plains Town – Guild Sub-Branch
After completing the exchange of Babirusa meat with the guild’s branch office we’ll be heading back to base… or rather, that was the plan.
Since then, we had made two round trips between the forest and the guild, and it has already turned dark outside.
We couldn’t bring all the luggage to the guild, that’s why.
Right now, I’m in the guild with Benedetta and Centurion as we wait for Lucia to finish calculating the price for what we brought.
“Good work! Seriously, I really appreciate it.”
Almost seeming like she was jumping for joy, the guildmaster gives her thanks to us after we had brought over the logs we had cut down earlier.
(… If it was for winter, then this by itself probably wouldn’t be enough. I guess it really is just for the harvest festival.)
That’s what I think at least.
The shortage of firewood seemed to be severe enough that the town chief had to request the adventurer’s guild to secure them.
When we came here the first time earlier today, Lucia was at a loss on what to do with it, and it’s because of that we made a second round trip to take the logs back with us.
It would’ve been a waste if we just left all those logs there anyways.
Though I say that, there’s still plenty left over.
“You’ve even cut down the good quality trees that contain plenty of mana, so that’s a relief. Thanks.”
“…? Plenty of mana?”
That’s the first time I’ve heard of this, so I tried asking.
“Didn’t you know? Trees from a mana-rich forest burn really well. The concentration of mana increases the deeper you go into the forest, and the wood from the trees there burn much stronger by like, 3 or 4 times.”
“3 or 4 times… that’s quite a lot.”
“Well… that’s what I read. I’m not sure myself, but it does burn much more.”
(When I had heated the bath yesterday using the branches we took from that forest, I thought it was much hotter than usual, but then I suppose with this, it would make sense.)
Thanks to that, we didn’t have to use much branches to get the bath to the right temperature.
“By the way, How did you cut this much wood?”
“Ah… that’s right. There’s something I want to ask you!”
“That was a blunt way of dodging the question… Well, whatever. What is it?”
“You see. There was a sword stuck high on a cliff from the east side of town. Do you know about that?”
“Ahh, that…”
She was right when she rebuked my way of dodging the question… I’ll have to take note of that.
That said though, I actually didn’t think she would know something about that sword.
“That one is a relic from this town’s hero. This one happened before I was born, so I’ve only heard stories about it. It was when Sir Gawain, a travelling knight on a pilgrimage, wiped out an entire army of orcs in exchange for his own life.”
“… So, why was the sword stuck on the cliff?”
“I don’t know if this was true or not, but it’s said that he threw it there on his dying breath. Since then, he’s been revered by the people of Goldew as a hero, despite having his achievement only within a small village. There was a shrine recently made for him too, but that was still before I was born, and it was later moved to the town center.”
“Hm… So something like that happened huh…”
— Sir Gawain…
Maybe I can get a hero like him a companion of mine.
But I feel like I heard that name somewhere before…
– Adventurer Life Day 73 (Wed) – Night – Goldew Town – East Cliff
From the steep cliffs, which is almost synonymous with Goldew, stood a sword pierced halfway through the blade, and almost 15m above the ground.
It’s appearance has almost completely changed, no longer looking like a sword, as its body had already been covered in rust over many years, and the leather handle of it had already rotted away long ago. Even so, it’s an achievement in itself for being able to stay there for so long, probably because of the quality of steel it had been made from.
At the tip of the handle of the sword, illuminated by the moonlight, a small blue flame, just about the size of a pinky finger, flickers about in the wind.
It had blinked several times, growing bigger and brighter.
(… How long has it been… since the last time I’ve been awake?)
The flame carries the will of the knight who had died half a century ago.
He had cut down many orcs alone to protect the city of Goldew until he had exhausted in his entirety, and continues to remain as a spirit over what seems to now be a town.
However, the knight was puzzled noticing himself having woken up.
(… I feel like it’s been some time since I’ve woken up… I thought I would have passed on by then…)
This village… no, it’s a town now… he felt no regrets sacrificing his life to protect them.
Watching the village slowly grow into a splendid town every time he had woken up, gave him a faint sense of accomplishment.
However, it’s strange.
Knight Gawain himself should have no strong desire to linger here.
And yet, his consciousness has become much clearer than before.
(… Did my spirit became stronger after having a rest…?)
His quest… a journey to search for the lost treasures of the Juunon religion. But he had failed right when he had began.
However, even if this is somewhat regretful, he was on a pilgrimage. Finding the treasures wasn’t the true goal of his journey.
Which is why it is a bit strange how he still remains here.
(Could this have something to do about that prophecy?)
— It was a long time since it had happened.
There was a certain fortune teller in Olbia, one who was famous enough to be called the ‘Seer’.
Hearing about their reputation, he decided to visit to have his fortune told, in hopes to find some clues regarding the treasures he will be looking for.
He can still remember it.
The Atlantean Card was something he already knows about, but the Skeleton image that appeared before that was puzzling.
The fortune teller too, could not answer it… but had later given her prediction through a confusing phrase, as if possessed by something.
— The village of Goldew awaits your help. However, if you were to take it, you will surely lose your life.
— That death however, is the path to your true destiny, and a way to fulfill your longing, the way to glory.
— To the seven heroes, serve the five kings, find the three holy treasures, overthrow the true evil.
(Was that prophecy the one that keeps me bound to this place?)
Those words of hers did not feel like they belonged to a normal human, but by one above that.
That was no prophecy.
The words of God goes beyond something like a prophecy.
Perhaps that is what binds him.
— The spirits will guide you
Remembering the last words the Seer had spoken to him, the knight Gawain pondered.
