“Yeah, those demon lords,” he said. “Apparently, one of them has been stirring up trouble in the area recently. That’s why the fish-folk retreated back underwater. There are hardly any in Lucaris right now.”
I chewed on that for a moment. “So they evacuated, then?”
“I wouldn’t put it like that, necessarily.”
“Why’s that?”
“They’re just being cautious—I think they wanted to keep their own settlement safe more than anything else. Monsters that might or might not be agents of the demon lord have been hanging around in the waters off of the coast, you see. Doesn’t seem like they’re gearing up for an attack on Lucaris itself, though.”
“What makes you think that?”
“I actually ran into them this afternoon. A unit of kelpie riders pursued me after I surfaced from the Dungeon of the Sea God’s Daughters.”
I blinked. “I’m surprised you made it out all right. Surely kelpie riders are faster than even you in the water.”
“I managed to secure myself a good vessel and a better sailor, so we got away safe. Though if it had come to a battle, I think I’d have managed. I had a decent bit of underwater equipment on me for exploring the dungeon, after all. I was more concerned that they’d destroy the boat—it would’ve taken me hours to make it back to land.”
I was impressed that he’d apparently been planning to just swim back if his boat had been sunk. That was definitely beyond me—the Dungeon of the Sea God’s Daughters was certainly far enough out that swimming was out of the question for most people.
Of course, I could just fly or walk along the sea floor, but it had been a while since anyone would have considered me “most people.”
“It must have been a fast boat, if it could escape kelpie riders,” I remarked. “It’s not the ferry I’ve heard about, is it?”
“No, I personally hired a skilled local sailor, for the flexibility. The ferry isn’t slow by any means, but all the adventurers on it make it a bit inconvenient for my purposes. Speaking of, I heard that the ferry won’t be running for a while because of all the hubbub with the demon lord.”
“No kidding!”
“Yeah. Anyway, those kelpie riders gave up pretty easily after we made enough distance.”
“So they didn’t chase you all the way to Lucaris?”
“No... You see the pattern here, right? It almost feels like they’ve decided to occupy a specific patch of ocean. Namely, the area around the Dungeon of the Sea God’s Daughters.”
“Do you think they have business of some kind there?”
“Who knows? It does look that way, but there’s nothing in the area except for the dungeon. I guess that suggests that’s where their business lies, but we could speculate all day and get nowhere. Getting back to my original point, though, that seems to be why the fish-folk have left Lucaris for the moment. And since I can’t ask them to help me gather the sea spirit herbs anymore, my only choice is to search the dungeon myself.”
“Turns out demon lords are a real pain, huh?”
Capitan nodded emphatically. “You can say that again.”
“By the way, how are your prospects looking for those herbs? You must’ve covered a pretty large chunk of the dungeon by now.” He’d mentioned that he hadn’t found any yet, but I figured he might be getting close.
Capitan’s expression clouded. “I heard from the local adventurers that sea spirit herbs appear in the upper strata sometimes, but I’ve essentially swept all of them to no success. It’s looking like I’ll have to delve a bit deeper. Didn’t expect for this to take so long, but that’s how it goes—especially when you’re working alone. Still, I’ve got the time, and I figure going out of my way to hire more hands would only be a waste of coin.”
All of this actually lined up pretty well with the situation I’d found myself in. “Oh, there’s an easy solution here,” I said.
“Hmm?”
“I’ll help you out with the search.”
“Yeah? Well, I suppose that means you’ll get to your training faster. Actually, there’s no reason we can’t do both at the same time—spirit’s a more hands-on kind of thing anyway.”
“I appreciate it. For my part, I can bring a few extra hands along to join us.”
“Really? That’d be a big help. They’ll have to know how to identify a sea spirit herb, but we can always drill them on it and do a final check ourselves. The more hands, the better, in this case.” Capitan frowned slightly. “Who are these helpers of yours, though? I don’t think I can pay all that much, so...”
I proceeded to explain everything that had happened with Niedz and his friends, including my promise to train them.
After I’d finished, Capitan nodded slowly. “I see. Sounds like you’re heaping a lot onto your plate there. Are you sure you have the time to be training others while you’re trying to do the same yourself?”
“Well, I didn’t intend for all this to happen... I just can’t really bring myself to leave them be, you know?”
“Because you see your past self in them?”
“Yeah. Besides, running into them has to be a sign of some kind, right? Just as I was wondering if you might need more help searching for the sea spirit herbs, they show up and try to rob me out of nowhere.”
“I suppose. I probably wouldn’t go as far as to call it fate, but it’s definitely a lucky coincidence. All right. In that case, I’ll help you out.”
“With what?”
“With—Niedz, you said? I’ll help you train Niedz and his friends. You’re planning on teaching them the basics of adventuring, correct?”
“Yeah, that’s about the size of it.”
I was going to drum into them all the necessary knowledge to make a living as an adventurer. Though I had spent years earning coin and improving myself in the upper levels of dungeons, it wasn’t a very efficient method if it was profit you were after. There were any number of other ways to make money that didn’t involve risking your life.
However, I wanted to become stronger, so that was what I’d prioritized—and because of my past experience, I knew that with the right methods, even a Bronze-classer could earn a decent living. After all, I had saved up enough at one point to purchase a magic bag. Hopefully, I’d be able to get Niedz and his friends to the same point.
“In that case, I can teach them how to fight better,” Capitan said. “We’re going dungeon delving, which means combat will be unavoidable. Training you all together would kill two birds with one stone. They might not pick up spirit usage right away, but I figure giving them a solid foundation with it can be my way of paying them for their help.”