“Meowster, can we really bring Ifrit out of the dungeon?” Tarte asked, eyes brimming with curiosity. “I always thought Ifrit was just a furry-tale character.”
“There are a lot of books about Ifrit, and a lot of them are fiction...” I said. “After the adventures we’ve had, don’t you think we can believe in Ifrit’s existence, though? Remember, Lulu’s the Goddess of Darkness.”
“Meow!” she exclaimed. “That’s right!”
During our adventures, we’d fought Dragons, an angel, goddesses... Ifrit the Fire Spirit didn’t seem beyond the realm of possibility after all of that. Goddesses are real, so spirits should also be—well, not exactly strolling the streets—but real, at the very least.
“You never stop amazing me with how much you know, Sharon... No one else would think to get Ifrit to calm a volcano,” said Kent.
“No one would dare...” Cocoa said.
“Right,” Tarte chimed in.
L’lyeh seemed neither surprised nor concerned as she sipped her tea and even began eating some snacks from her Bag.
“Ifrit’s Oasis... I was only seeing it as a place to gather materials. It’s a pretty incredible dungeon,” Kent mused.
“It has all those materials and Ifrit at the end...? That’s crazy,” Cocoa added.
“Still, I’m excited to plunge deeper into that dungeon!” Kent declared. As much as he had enjoyed gathering materials, properly clearing a dungeon was the real adventure for him.
“Okay! Let’s do this!” I said.
“Yeah!” Kent replied just as a knock came at the door—the receptionist had returned with the Guildmaster.
“Hey. I’m Tolley, the Guildmaster here,” the man introduced himself. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”
“Nice to meet you. My name is Sharon. These are the members of my party: Tarte, Lulu, Kent, and Cocoa.”
Tolley took his seat once he’d acknowledged our quick introduction, and I took the opportunity to examine him more closely. He had light blond hair, tan skin, and turquoise eyes. I guessed he had to be in his late twenties, and he stood roughly 180 centimeters tall. He was dressed in a thin shirt decorated with several chains. When I lifted my eyes to his, he winked at me.
Ah. He’s a playboy...
Once the receptionist had poured us fresh tea, I repeated our request to the Guildmaster.
“So you can stop Underground Volcano from erupting, huh? I wouldn’t have dreamed of bringing Ifrit out of the dungeon to do it.” Tolley gazed at me intently. “And you’re the Holy Maiden? Gorgeous...”
See? A total player.
“It’s not a secret that I’m the Holy Maiden, but I haven’t publicized it either. I hope you can understand,” I said.
“Don’t worry,” Tolley reassured me. “I won’t go around blabbing about you. I never thought there would be such a person. Even if someone were to become a Holy Maiden, I would have thought she’d be kept under lock and key at the cathedral in Zille.”
Most adventurers with healing jobs were concentrated in Erenzi because of its abundance of items and equipment related to those jobs, not to mention the cathedral where people could become Healers in the first place. The Holy Maiden was seen as a kind of symbol of Erenzi’s influence. Surely, there were people who wanted me to stand alongside the Pope and rule over Erenzi, but Tithia supported my wish to wander. Without showing a hint of the pressure she must have felt to keep me in Erenzi, she’d sent me off with a smile, like the kind, peace-loving leader she was.
“I am an adventurer free to travel the world,” I said.
“I can see that. Lucky for me. Otherwise, I would have never had the pleasure of meeting you.” He winked at me again.
The receptionist pulled Tolley by the ear and icily warned, “Stop flirting with her.” Apparently, this flirtatious Guildmaster had a habit of doing this to his guests.
“Okay, okay. I’ll stop. Just let me go,” Tolley pleaded. I suspected that this interaction played out the same way on a regular basis.
“So, will you give us the quest?” I asked.
“Of course,” Tolley answered with a smile. “When the Holy Maiden offers to bring Ifrit to stop the volcano from erupting, you obviously take her up on it. For once, we ourselves were stumped on how to deal with this.”
“I see,” I replied. Even though I’d expected the quest to be available somehow—it was an event from the game, after all—I’d been a little worried that we’d have to navigate a tricky conversation here. Much to my relief, Tolley was eager to give out the quest once he knew what we were capable of.
“These are your permits to enter the underground tunnel.” Tolley laid out enough permits on the table for our entire party. They were thin, reddish-brown rocks with the emblem of Bahal carved on each of them, identical to the item in the game.
“You already had them ready to go? Thank you,” I said, and the rest of the party echoed my thanks as we each took a permit. Holding this permit up to a door in the Guild’s basement would open the way to the underground tunnel. Once we had Ifrit with us, we would be able to walk through the tunnel and straight into Underground Volcano. Good. We got the ball rolling, I thought, and then realized I needed to ask another important question. “By the way, what will our reward look like?” Event or not, completing quests was how adventurers made a living. Of course, I secretly already knew what the reward for this quest was supposed to be, based on the game.
“We’ll pay you, of course,” Tolley reassured us. “But a quest like this is unprecedented. To be honest, I don’t know how to even ballpark an amount.”
“We are going to quell a volcano,” I conceded. If Underground Volcano were to erupt, this entire area would be devastated. Considering that—and the fact that natural disasters were normally beyond the reach of human influence—this quest could realistically fetch a reward equivalent to a kingdom’s entire annual budget.
Twining his hands together before his pursed lips, Tolley seemed to contemplate his offer before presenting it. “How about...a Salamander Egg?”
Kent, Cocoa, and Tarte all turned puzzled looks on me.
“Are they yummy?” L’lyeh asked Tolley.
That question must have been unexpected even for the Guildmaster because he blinked a few times before answering. “I’ve never tried one personally, but perhaps you could turn it into a delectable dish, mademoiselle.”
“Um... Please don’t eat it. It’s an extremely rare egg,” the receptionist cut in, refusing to let such a rare item go to waste.
“Still, aren’t you curious whether it is edible? Eating it might offer you some sort of effect,” Tolley said.
“Sure, but...it could also be poisonous. Or it could burn her stomach from the inside out!” the receptionist pointed out.
“True. It may be too risky for a young lady,” Tolley said.
I chose not to voice my suspicion that L’lyeh would happily chow down on even poison or fire. “A Salamander Egg is fine,” I said instead. “Thank you.”
“Are you sure? Salamander Eggs are rare—we’re lucky to get one every few years—but we don’t really know how to make use of them. It’s not like you could hatch a Salamander and make it your pet,” Tolley said, apparently surprised that I’d agreed so easily.
He might be a player, but at least he’s honest. I appreciated him admitting that he didn’t know how the Salamander Egg could be utilized and even confirming whether we were okay with that. However, I knew how to make good use of the egg, and I was very happy to get my hands on one.
“We are sure,” I reassured him repeatedly. A Salamander Egg could be used in Formulation or as an ingredient for a piece of equipment—our party would have to decide how to use it after the quest. It was very difficult to get one outside of events like this. “Now that that’s settled, we’ll be on our way.”
“We’ll be in your debt. If there’s anything I can do to make your job easier, let me know,” said Tolley.
“Thank you,” I replied, earning a final wink from the Guildmaster. I didn’t think I’d ever met anyone who could wink so effortlessly. “Let’s get going,” I said to the party, and we left the Guild.
As soon as we left the building, Kent turned to me with a sense of wonder and adventure sparkling in his eyes. “Are we going now, Sharon?!”
“Let’s get this quest over with and eat the Salamander Egg,” L’lyeh chimed in.
I chuckled to see them equally enthusiastic but for wildly different reasons. For now, I had no intention of letting L’lyeh eat the Salamander Egg, even if I was also curious what would happen. “Since we booked our rooms here, why don’t we take a few days and explore the city?” I suggested...but they all vigorously shook their heads.
“No, no, no, no, no. We’re not gonna relax and sightsee when that volcano right there could erupt any day!” Kent said.
“Yeah, Sharon! We need to bring Ifrit and quell the volcano as quickly as we can! If it erupts...!” Cocoa added, her fear-filled voice trailing off.
“Oh... Right. You’re right. If the volcano blows, this city will be swallowed up by lava,” I conceded. None of them were in the right mindset to enjoy the city for now, and for good reason. Even though I knew the volcano wouldn’t erupt yet based on the timeline of the game’s event, there was no way to prove that. Worrying about a volcano erupting all day wasn’t good for their mental health anyway. “Let’s at least rest for today. Tomorrow, we’ll use the Gate to return to Fule and head straight to Ifrit’s Oasis. Is that okay?”
“Well, we do need to rest and prep for the dungeon. Besides, you and the Guildmaster would be freaking out if the volcano was going to blow any second,” Kent said.
“Okay! We’ll prepare to spend as long as it takes in the dungeon by stocking up on food and supplies,” Tarte huffed.
“Right. Since we’re going to fight Ifrit, we should be prepared,” I said.
“What?!” Kent, Cocoa, and Tarte said in unison, freezing in their tracks.
“I thought we just had to bring Ifrit out of the dungeon!” Kent cried.
“Yeah...after we defeat them. Didn’t I tell you?”
“No!” all three of them protested. They’d been expecting to simply reach the end of the dungeon and guide Ifrit out. Unfortunately, we had to defeat Ifrit in order to bring them outside.
“It’s okay. We can take care of Ifrit if we work together. We’re also going to do some leveling on the way, and Tarte will make fire-resistance potions for us. We can do this!” I said.
Kent swallowed audibly. “Okay...! Let’s do it!”