In this world, there were always prodigies—the type of people who never needed much teaching to produce results far beyond those expected of them. The type of people who, if they were so inclined, would ascend swiftly up the adventuring ranks.
Everyone else either lost the will to continue and switched to another profession, or simply allowed inertia to carry them through the motions, even as they knew they were wasting away making no progress.
That, or they died.
That particular outcome could be seen as a mercy, in a way, but it was human nature to try to avoid having one’s lifespan cut short. That was why the clever ones, when they noticed they were approaching the limit of their skills, would throw their hands up, saying it was no longer worth the effort. However, adventurers who did that would cease to grow.
A person’s growth depended on whether they had the grit to actually confront their limitations, and then whether they had the capability to overcome them. The catch was that facing such a challenge alone often earned you nothing more than a one-way trip to the afterlife. You needed someone who could stop you just before you reached the edge of the abyss—a mentor.
Until now, Niedz, Lukas, and Gahedd had had no such person. That was why they’d been forced down the path of wasting away. But now, things were different.
Having said that, it wouldn’t do to have them too scared to internalize any of my lessons.
“Come on, it’s time to go,” I said. “Capitan and Mazlak are waiting for us at the harbor. Prepare yourselves.”
“Um, Boss Rentt?” Lukas asked.
“Yes?”
“Are we... Are we really going to the Dungeon of the Sea God’s Daughters today?”
I nodded. “We are.”
“B-But we’re just there to help you find sea spirit herbs, right?” he asked hopefully. “That’s all?”
“That’s the gist of it, but I’ll be having you do more than that. I mean, it’s a dungeon. There’ll be monsters we’ll have to fight, and ingredients other than sea spirit herbs to harvest.”
“S-So we are fighting, after all...”
Ah. So they’d been under the vague impression that they might not be doing any fighting, had they? That was probably partly my fault. I had told them I would be training them, but you usually wouldn’t expect that to take the form of throwing them into real combat. That had been what I’d meant when I said we’d be working on their fitness and helping them gain some experience, but I suppose the message hadn’t gotten across.
“Of course you will be,” I said. “I promised to train you. Where did you think I’d be doing it?”
This time, it was Gahedd who replied. “We thought you’d train us up a bit outside of the dungeon first, and that we’d only be delving to help with the sea spirit herbs...”
“That’d just be a waste of time. And this is a chance to have you experience live combat, so there’s no sense letting that go to waste either. You’re still adventurers, aren’t you? I’m sure you know how to fight.”
I’d been on the receiving end of their attacks myself. Two or three monsters—or ten or twenty—wouldn’t be a big deal to them, or so I thought. The trio exchanged looks before Niedz gave a resigned sigh.
“If it were any other place than the Dungeon of the Sea God’s Daughters, then sure,” he said. “But...”
“Is it really that terrifying?” I asked.
“We’ve never been there, since you need cursed equipment even to get close. But I’ve heard the monsters there are really powerful.”
“We’ll be sticking to the shallow levels, though,” I pointed out. “You don’t see strong monsters there. That goes for pretty much every dungeon—and this one’s no exception.”
“That’s what they say, but...”
Someone else might have accused them of being spineless, but I suppose it just went to show how distinct this dungeon’s reputation was among the residents of Lucaris. I wasn’t going to call this off no matter what they said, though.
“Look—we’re going,” I said firmly. “There’s no way out of this. You’ve got all your equipment, right? Come on, let’s go.” I slapped him on the back, urging him forward and out of the store. Lukas and Gahedd hastily followed after him.
There was a chance they’d simply make a break for it, but I didn’t think it was very high. I’d told them that I would report them to the guild for attacking me if they pulled any suspicious moves, and for better or worse, their membership with the guild was their lifeline. If they were kicked out, then like most failed Bronze-class adventurers, they’d likely be forced to return to crime to survive.
Of course, if I simply didn’t mention the truth about the attack, they’d have no issue finding employment as regular citizens and living out their lives that way. But I knew that if I was that soft on them, there was a chance they’d try something unwise without thinking again in the future. It was better to use a little tough love to build up some good foundations and ensure that they could make a living as adventurers.
“You’re being rather rough with them,” Diego remarked.
“They would’ve stayed holed up in your store forever otherwise,” I said.
“Can’t have that,” he agreed. “We’d better be going too, then. The harbor, right?”
“Yeah. They said they’d have the boat waiting for us.”
Thus, Diego and I left the store, bound for the harbor.
✦ ✦ ✦
When we arrived, I saw far more vessels docked than I’d been expecting. Sure, it was still early in the day, but the fishermen, at the very least, should have already departed by now.
“So that’s the ferry I’ve heard about, huh?” I murmured, looking at the large boat docked a distance away.
Diego nodded. “That’s the one. Drops you off and picks you up from the Dungeon of the Sea God’s Daughters once a day. Ordinarily, it would’ve already left, though. I guess the recent monster sightings in the waters really have changed things.”
I’d informed Diego about the rumors of a demon lord’s army that Capitan had told me about. Since Diego was a resident of Lucaris, the number of docked vessels at this hour had to seem even more unusual to him than it did to me.
“Here’s hoping Mazlak doesn’t change his mind about setting out,” I said.
Diego shook his head. “If he says he’ll sail, he’ll sail. Look, see?”
I turned to where Diego was looking and saw Mazlak and Capitan waiting for us on the deck of a medium-sized vessel. It seemed my concerns had been for naught—they looked ready and willing to depart.
Niedz, Lukas, and Gahedd were standing by the boat as well. Seemed like they hadn’t decided to run.
“Looks like we’re last,” Diego said. “Better hurry.”
He broke into a jog, and I followed.