When we arrived at Kiels, I headed over to where the old peddler told me the stagecoach for crossing the border would be.
“No way...” At the station, a notice saying, “Stagecoach services currently on hold” was displayed.
What do you mean, “On Hold?” Is this what the peddler meant by closing their borders? But if that’s really the case, would the town really be this calm?
At any rate, I needed more information. I headed over to a restaurant where a lot of adventurers that have probably been to many different countries gathered so I could fill my stomach while I was at it.
I took a seat at the bar, and called out to a group of two adventurers who just happened to be sitting next to me.
“Hey, you guys have a moment?”
“Sure. What do you need?”
“I’ve actually just arrived here a little while ago, so there’s a few things I’d like to know...” I promptly waved the barkeep down and bought the two some ale. When I did that, the adventurers happily said, “Ah, you know your stuff,” and promptly started talking...
“I see. So stopping the stagecoach is in order to help stop the flow of people leaving.”
“Yeah. If the population decreases, so does the number of soldiers and the amount of taxes. Right now it’s just the stagecoaches, but they might really shut down the border eventually. Even though this country is already warring with the demonfolk, it seems they’re planning on starting a war with the kingdom of Marveil too.”
“Right right, it’s only a matter of time before war breaks out.” It might have been because they have some liquor in them, but the two adventurers were very talkative.
The country of demonfolk borders this country’s northern end, while the kingdom of Marveil is in the west. My plan was to head to the kingdom of Veenen to the southeast.
“We’re also planning on saying goodbye to this country soon.”
“Hunting monsters suits us more than fighting in a war, you know? You should leave as soon as you can, too.”
I’d have left this country already if I could have, but if a monster appeared on the road there would be nothing someone like me, who was just a little stronger than average, could do about it. It seemed to be a significant problem, but as I looked at the adventurers, it came to me:
Why don’t I just make a request to the Adventurer’s guild? It’ll probably cost quite a bit of money, but there’s no point in being stingy here. My first priority is to leave this country before they close their borders for good.
I decided to put out a request to the Adventurer’s guild to guard me while I crossed the border.
✦ ✦ ✦
The next morningーー
Well then, let’s go put up the request at the Adventurer’s guild.
The guild was facing the main street and I found it immediately, but it was early in the morning, so the building was jam-packed. In a rather clichéd development, I was stared at by the adventurers when I entered, but I tried to ignore them.
I’m just here to post a request, I swear. If they realize I’m a client from my conversation with the clerk, nobody should mess with me. Probably.
After I stood in line for a while it was finally my turn.
“Excuse me, I’d like to make a request.”
“A request, is it? What are you asking for, sir?”
“I’d like to hire guards while I cross the border into Veenen. Also, I don’t have a carriage, so the journey will be on foot... This is my first time putting out a request, how much should I pay for a job like this?”
“An escort mission on foot, yes? For that kind of request, you’ll need at least a C-rank party or above, and on top of that it’ll be on foot, so it’ll take quite a while. At the very least, you should probably offer 7 gold coins.” While I was thinking to myself that 7 gold coins would hurt my wallet quite a bit, the receptionist started talking again.
“However, because the stagecoaches are stopped, we’ve been getting more of this kind of request. Taking that into account, a reward of 8 gold coins might be more appropriate.” I see, because if the number of the same kind of quest increases, adventurers will bite at the one that pays more.
But 8 gold coins? Hrm...
It honestly hurt me to pay that much, but you need to break eggs to make an omelet; there was really no choice.
“Understood. I’ll pay 8 gold coins. Also, could you let them know I’ll handle the food?” From the receptionist’s choice of words, it sounded like 8 gold coins might have been a tough sell, so I tried adding food onto the table. I don’t hate cooking, and I did have that skill so as long as I were to choose cheaper ingredients, it should be fine.
“Alright then, I’m in your care.” Leaving reward money at the desk, I left the Adventurer’s guild.
✦ ✦ ✦
The next day, I got called to the Adventurer’s guild. When I arrived, I was surprised to find that my request had already been accepted. I didn’t expect to have it accepted this fast, but I wanted to leave as soon as possible, so I was actually grateful.
At the guild, I was introduced to the C-rank party, “Iron Will.”
“I’m the leader of Iron Will: Werner. Pleased to meet you.”
“My name is Mukohda. And the pleasure is all mine.” It seems only nobles get family names, so in order to avoid suspicion, I only gave them my last name, and also made sure to pronounce it in a foreign way.
Werner was a densely-packed, 190cm tall man in his early 30’s. He had a large shield on his back, and a sword hanging from his hip. His thick arms carried many old scars, so he really felt like a seasoned adventurer.
From Werner’s introduction, the members of his party were: a man wearing leather armor with a longsword on his hip named Vincent, who I thought was a swordsman; a young girl who was probably a scout named Rita, who wore a chest protector and carried a knife; a stoic old man with white in his hair named Ramon, who donned a robe like a mage; and a woman named Franka in her early 20’s who was probably their healer, as she wore white clothes that reminded me of a nun’s habit (by the way, she had a huge chest).
It seemed to be a pretty balanced party. I didn’t think the guild would introduce me to people who they didn’t think would be able to complete the request, so I decided to hire them.
After I talked with Werner, we decided to leave tomorrow at 7 in the morning, after meeting up in front of the Adventurer’s guild. If that was to be the case, I would have a lot to prepare, as I would be the one preparing all the food for the trip.
On the way back to the inn, I bought the things I’d need for the trip.
First was a mantle: it could stave off the cold, and when sleeping I could just wrap it around me, so it seemed pretty necessary.
I also bought all the cutlery and plates I’d need at a general store.
While I was doing that, I also found a lot of other stuff that seemed useful, like a magic stove. Just like the name implied, it was a stove that produced fire when one ran magic power through it. They came with either one or two stovetops, but both models were expensive. Just then, I suddenly thought: Why not just buy a mini-stove from the online supermarket? It looked exactly the same, so if I were to tell the adventurers that it was a magic stove, there wouldn’t be anything suspicious about it.
Okay, let’s do that. Buying a mini-stove from the online supermarket is way cheaper, too.
With that decided, all that was left was to actually buy what I needed with my skill, so I hurried to return to the inn. After I got to my room, I proceeded to buy up a storm: A mini-stove and the accompanying gas canister, a pot and frying pan, knife, chopping board, and the all-important ingredients. I was buying for a party of five adventurers plus me, so I made sure to get a lot. I got vegetables (like potatoes, carrots, and Japanese scallion), along with cheese, ham, sausage, and eggs. I also bought some pre-prepared side dishes. Lastly, I got some salt, bouillon cubes, and other spices.
All in all, I spent a little over 2 gold coins. I was down to 8 gold coins, 5 silver coins, and a few copper and iron coins each to my name.
My wallet’s getting tighter and tighter. I considered, but it’ll only be until I reach Veenen. Once I get there, I’ll register at the Merchant’s guild and sell my heart out. And after securing funds, I’ll move again once I’ve seen the state of things.
Let’s work hard for my safe and peaceful life.