Arc 22: If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?
「O Flame come forth, Explosive flame barrage, Flare Burst」
As Lindsey recites this spell, a series of large explosions occur in 5 separate locations. Everything that was there got blown off.
This new spell is an enhanced version of「Explosion」.... Or rather, it seems it's one of the original ancient magics. What an outrageous power it has..... It definitely was the correct decision to come to the plains instead of the training grounds.
「You've done it! I wonder if fire attribute suits Lindsey better after all?」
「…I wouldn't have been able to make it this far by myself. Rin-san helped me...」
「Just so you know, my worst attribute is fire. It's not restricted to me alone, it's the same for everyone from the fairy clan. Only a small number of members from the fairy clan can use fire magic, to begin with. I'm guessing that it's being avoided subconsciously as the race originally used to live in the forest」
If I'm not mistaken, didn't Rin say she possesses six attributes? And that she only doesn't have dark attribute. She did say something like "I can't use summoning magic, so I made Pola instead".
The stuffed bear, which was standing at Rin's feet, took a triumphant pose after seeing the explosions. It seems unlikely it would be able to substitute a summoned beast though.
「Has Rin memorized any ancient magic?」
「Yeah. Mine is water attribute though」
Rin stands in front of Lindsey, extends both her hands in front of her and gathers water attribute magic power.
「O Water come forth, the great whirlpool of raging stream, Maelstrom」
A huge water tornado appears in front of us. It came forth shaving off and engulfing the ground. It's hard to understand because there is no target, but it's a wide range annihilation magic. It's powerful too….
「Its weakness is that it has a high consumption rate of magic. Though I think its effect corresponds to that」
I guess that it's natural for the consumption rate of magic to go up if the magic's power increases. It's best if you use different types of magic depending on the situation so that it wouldn't be wasteful. You should also consider the quantity of magic power you possess.
It wasn't only Rin and Lindsey that got powered up by the discovery of [Library]. Rosetta and Monica hoped to read the books related to [Magic Engineering]. It seems they are trying out various things.
Recently Suu is being taught magic by Rin. Although Suu only has light attribute magic, her magic capacity apparently is quite high. She seems to be particularly focused on learning recovery magic. I heard that she makes appearances in the knights' training grounds to try out that magic.
At the same time, it seems she still practices with Lapis-san and the rest. Where on earth is she heading towards....?
Fam has come to the ground and secluded herself in the castle's library. That is a serious illness, isn't it? She is the mere shadow of print addicts. It has also aggravated for more than 5000 years, so there shouldn't be a cure anymore. It's an incurable disease.
In the afternoon, I make an appearance in the adventurer's guild. I make sure to come at least once a week. Though it's mainly to gather information from various places through the guild master Rerisha-san, I also accept quests sometimes to distract myself.
I enter the guild covered with a hood. It's as crowded as ever, but honestly speaking, I think there are those who are aware of my identity. However, there is no need to stand out on my own.
「You! Wanna fight, you bastard!」
「Huh!? Bring it on! Let's go outside!」
While two men are grasping each other's collars, they go outside with agile side stepping. Again? I feel like the quarrels occur each time I come here. Oh well, I guess this is also part of the routine.
This happens because adventurers want to prove their own worth. As long as they don't cause problems for the residents, they can mutually knock each other out.
「Good afternoon」
「Ah! Maj...Ah no-no, Touya-san, good afternoon. Thanks for your hard work」
I'm talking with the receptionist, the catwoman onee-san. If I'm not mistaken, her name is Misha-san. Her cat ears are twitching going 'Piko Piko'.
「How does the guild feel recently?」
「Let me see. As usual, there are many miscellaneous type quests. Merchant's escort quests come in from time to time. However, it's not possible to make a big profit here. This causes some annoyance, right? Thanks to that everyone immediately go their ways. No one stays so there are no familiar faces. Hence, it feels like every day there are a lot of new visitors」
As she says that, her eyes focus on the two people fighting each other outside. I see. For some reason, many of those who call themselves adventurers tend to appeal with [I am definitely the greatest] during their first time meeting. I wonder if they do this from the start to make sure they are not underestimated? As a result, there are many conflicts.
It's fine if the ones saying those lines are beginners, but there are a lot of people among them who hit a wall without being able to advance to advanced levels.
They can be saved of that if there is a veteran adventurer capable of keeping an eye on them, but.... it would be unreasonable for them to stay as they can't earn money in this country.
After that, Misha-san leads me to the second floor and I enter Rerisha-san's room. The elf guild master was tidying up some papers. Rerisha-san looked up and indicated me to sit on a sofa.
「Excellent. You have arrived here just as I was considering the possibility of contacting you」
「Did something happen?」
Having put the documents on the desk in order, Rerisha-san grabbed something that looked like a paper and sat down on the sofa across from me.
「There are two news and one proposal. First, the dragons have appeared」
「The dragons you say?」
「One of them has been sighted south of the Great Forest Sea, in the Sandora Kingdom. I've been told that it suddenly flew towards a desert village, started to rampage there, and then flew away in an unknown direction. So far it sounds ordinary, but the dragons have also appeared in Yuuron, as well as in Nokia. It seems villages and towns have suffered a lot of damage. Moreover, they say it was three different dragons」
It's certainly very strange..... The dragons live in mountain areas where there aren't many people. I've also heard that they rarely attack human dwellings. Even among dragons, there are junior and senior classes. It appears that those who attack people and do things like that are the junior class which are closer to animals.
When I went to Misumido for the first time, the black dragon that attacked the village we visited was also a junior class. The red dragon I met afterwards was a senior class who appeared to be reasonable.
「I guess it might just be a coincidence. There are many things we don't know about dragons. So it may be nesting season or something along those lines. We will be proceeding with an investigation on that, so we will find out eventually. There is other news along with a proposal but...」
Rerisha-san spreads a map on the table in between us. Eh? Is this the ocean? However, there are several islands on the map.....
「This is the recently discovered archipelago. It's located south of the Sandora Kingdom. As a result of a survey, several ancient ruins have been found on those islands but... it's a faraway place, and it's not possible to excavate them easily and investigate the ruins themselves」
「Have you crossed large amounts of people by ships?」
「Yes, but those islands are not suitable for long stays. Temperature alternations are intense. There are also a lot of magic beasts. I was wondering why there were ancient ruins on these islands, but maybe it was once a big island during the times when the ancient civilization was flourishing...」
Do you mean that an island sank sometime in between then and now? It's not impossible. That may be the reason why the people of the island abandoned it. After that, magic beasts spread and it became the uninhabited islands....
「The additional problem is that these ancient ruins are quite wide dungeons. It's speculated that they were created by a mage of old or a wise man. If that's the case, it wouldn't be strange to find any kind of treasure in there. We as a guild cannot overlook that」
Well, I guess so. It's like discovering a mountain of treasure. I've never dived into a dungeon before, but it seems that they are pretty much scattered around the world.
「Usually, requests are put for adventures to enter these dungeons. It's an established way to have them do the exploration. However, the location itself this time doesn't make it easy to do that. So this is where the proposal comes in」
Rerisha-san swiftly leans forward thus coming closer. What what? Cl-close. It doesn't feel bad being pressed by a beautiful woman though.
「I've been thinking about whether it would be possible to connect the dungeons on those islands and Brunhild with his Majesty's [Gate]」
「Ha?」
What do you mean? Do you want to connect this country with those dungeons? Is there a reason for doing that?
「In other words, what I mean to say is that I want a gateway for the adventurers who wish to challenge the dungeons to use. If the adventurers gather in this country to explore the dungeons, the town will develop. As a guild, we can send adventurers, the investigation can also advance, and it will be possible to buy treasures or magic beasts' materials from them. What do you think?」
Ahaha, is that what you meant? We will be crowded with adventurers aiming for quick money for sure. The inns, weapon shops, armor shops, and tool stores will definitely prosper with business. Besides, people allured by it will gather here as well. It's not bad, isn't it?
I can take measures to make sure that the magic beasts won't come from the other side. It's not difficult. We are going to promote the town by using the dungeons, right?
「I have a few questions. Do those islands belong to any country?」
「They're currently being monitored by the guild, and don't belong to any country. If you accept the aforementioned proposal, I think it will be fine to transfer them to the Dukedom. Of course, that is if you are to guarantee providing information on the ruins and our privileged right on the sales of the obtained treasure by the adventurers in the dungeon」
「I have another question. Leaking out such information, have you not considered whether I wouldn't personally explore the dungeons and monopolize the treasures?」
「Hehe. Do you think that a person who would do such a thing, would gather the kings of the world with the intent of defeating the Fureizu? Even if I look like this, I still have the eyes to judge people as a guild master」
It seems she thinks very highly of me. I better not betray her expectation, right?
It's certainly an interesting story. Rather than me finishing the exploration, wouldn't the adventurers, the guild, and the merchants have a benefit in this? Just exploring and making a map will be profitable. Eventually, someone like a cartographer may even appear as well.
As the dungeons get deeper, the monsters should probably also get stronger, right? Certainly, the magic density gets stronger towards the underground. I have heard that strong magic beasts prefer living there.
As long as they are adventurers, they should always bear in mind that there may be injuries or even deaths caused by magic beasts.
「I understand. I will accept the proposal」
「Thank you very much. Because [Gate] between the dungeons' entrances and the guild branch will be made on the town's outskirts, please allow us to use them once they are completed」
The dungeons, huh? I hope the town will prosper with this. Shall I do a little bit of early exploration?