Ossan Saikyō Chapter 12 Part 04
That night, as I was lying in bed, there was a knock at my door. When I called out, “Come in”, Mariane entered.
She was dressed casually for bed, but the neckline of her clothes was rather unguarded, which made my heart skip a beat. Her figure was more sensual than that of any woman I had seen in Japan.
“Sorry, I wanted to talk to you, Soushi-san.”
“Since you didn’t mention it earlier, I assume this is something confidential?”
“Yes. For the time being, it is something I would like to tell only you, Soushi-san.”
I gestured for Mariane to sit in the chair, while I sat up on the bed and crossed my legs.
“Let's hear it.”
Mariane lowered her eyes slightly before raising them again and beginning to speak.
“Earlier, I mentioned that〈Saul's Guidance〉has been attracting attention from the Guild, but in fact, the Grandmaster himself is extremely interested in you. Moreover, that interest is primarily directed toward you, Soushi-san.”
“The Grandmaster is interested in me?”
“Yes. We have reported all of achievements of〈Saul's Guidance〉except for the things you asked us to keep secret, but apparently he is particularly concerned about the unusually high frequency with which you encounter rare cases.
…
Moreover, after learning that you defeated the Twilight Kin by yourself, he seems to have realized that you are at the center of these encounters with rare cases. Naturally, he is also interested in the skill training method you taught us the other day.”
“I see... When you put it that way, I suppose it’s only natural that I would have caught his attention.”
“Furthermore, he is saying that he wants to meet you in person and hear about the Wandering Labyrinth incident from the other day, as well as today’s『Divine Beast』incident, as soon as possible.”
“He’s certainly enthusiastic. Though, I imagine the Grandmaster must be terribly busy.”
When I said that, Mariane made a slightly uncomfortable expression.
“...Actually, the Grandmaster is quite an eccentric person, and he tends to leave most of the actual work to the Vice-Master... He often becomes completely absorbed in whatever happens to interest him...”
“Can someone like that really serve as Grandmaster?”
“He is a person with considerable achievements. For example, it was the Grandmaster who had guides created to improve the survival rate of adventurers.”
“I see. Then if I get the chance, I’d like to meet him and thank him myself. By the way, is he in the Royal Capital?”
When I asked, Mariane shook her head.
“No. The Adventurer’s Guild’s Headquarters is in the Imperial Capital of the Aldebaron Empire to the north. The Grandmaster is there as well.”
“The Northern Empire, huh… Well, that’s...”
I had heard that the Adventurer’s Guild was an international organization, but I never imagined that its headquarters would be in a neighboring country.
Still, the Northern Empire was apparently the greatest power on this continent, so I suppose it made sense.
“In any case, if you intend to go to the Empire, you should be B-Rank, or preferably A-Rank, by then. That will make things easier when crossing the border.”
“Hmm... If an A-Rank adventurer leaves the country, I imagine the Kingdom might have something to say about it. Is that all right?”
An A-Rank adventurer was, quite frankly, an important asset from a national defense perspective. They were at a level where it would not be strange to treat them like some kind of strategic weapon in my previous life, but...
“There have been various incidents between the Guild, or rather adventurers, and the ruling classes in the past, and it was decided that adventurers should not have their movements restricted.”
“I see. So there’s a history behind it.”
I already found the Adventurer’s Guild itself to be an interesting system, but when I thought about it, something like this could not have been created overnight.
There must have been many people who struggled to secure the freedom of Adventurers. I could only respect their efforts.
“Understood. I’ll go meet the Grandmaster once I become A-Rank.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m a little curious myself. He’s probably not someone just anyone can meet, and I think sharing information will be necessary as well.”
Since becoming an adventurer, I had encountered things like Devils, a Twilight Kin, a Wandering Labyrinth, and a『Divine Beast』one after another. I had a feeling that these were all matters of considerable importance to this world.
As for why I kept getting involved with them... I would put that aside for now, but as long as I intended to live in this world, it seemed I could not simply ignore them.
If that was the case, it would certainly be better to cooperate with influential people as much as possible and have them deal with the situation.
The problem was that doing so would almost certainly cause trouble for us as well.
◇◆◇
The following day, we spent the entire day buying various things. I had been considering ordering a custom-made replacement for my shield, which had been pierced, but since we were short on time, I bought the heaviest ready-made one available.
It was equivalent to the one I had before, so I had no complaints, but honestly, it already felt somewhat inadequate, so next time I might have one custom-made.
We stopped by the Guild as well and formally accepted Mariane’s escort request. While we were there, I was also informed that I had become B-Rank, but since I already knew it was coming, I did not feel particularly moved by it.
Under normal circumstances, it should have been something to celebrate quite a bit... but I realized that my senses had become numb because my promotions were happening far too quickly.
That night, everyone gave me a modest celebration for my promotion. Then, early the following morning, we set out from the town of Barbadoza.
It would take a week to reach the Royal Capital, but there was one town along the way, which made things somewhat less stressful.
“I never thought we’d end up going to the Royal Capital to meet the King. Fray, have you met him before?”
As we walked along the highway, Rani asked another question without the slightest hesitation, as usual. However, Freynil seemed to have gotten over whatever reservations she had and did not appear particularly bothered by it.
“Yes. Several times when I was little. Most recently, when I became a candidate for Saintess.”
“What kind of King is he?”
“As far as I remember, he was always kind to me. There is a Princess who is 3-years older than me, and I was treated like one of her sisters.”
“Huh. But you really were a noble, weren’t you, Fray? It’s pretty amazing that you’ve even met the King.”
“I was simply born into a family like that... But this will be my first time meeting him as an adventurer, so I’m just like all of you.”
At Freynil’s words, Sphenia smiled and said, “That’s right, isn't it?”, while Mariane silently nodded.
I nodded as well, but there was something I was curious about, so I decided to ask.
“If the Princess is 3 years older than Fray, does that mean His Majesty the King is still fairly young?”
“Yes... If I remember correctly, he ascended the throne 6 years ago, when he was 38, so...”
“44, huh. That’s not much different from my age. That’s pretty young for a King.”
When you thought of a King, it was hard not to picture an elderly man with a magnificent white beard, but apparently the king I was about to meet was different.
I was glad I had asked beforehand, but then I noticed Rani, Freynil, and Mariane all staring intently at my face.
“Hmm? Did I say something strange?”
“No. It’s just that after hearing your age again, Soushi-san, I was reminded that you look quite different from it.”
Rani and Freynil nodded at Mariane’s words.
I suppose they meant that I did not look my age, but I had no recollection of anyone saying I looked particularly young or old in my previous life.
Come to think of it, mirrors apparently existed in this world, but they were considered a luxury for the wealthy, and I had never seen one since coming here.
I shaved my beard by feel alone, so it occurred to me that I had not actually seen my own face in quite some time.
“Ah, so how old do I look?”
“You look younger. No, perhaps you’ve actually gotten younger since the first time we met.”
“Now that you mention it, I think that might be true. I feel like you seemed older when we first met.”
Freynil and Rani said that. Sphenia and Mariane also nodded, saying, “Now that you mention it...”, so apparently it really was true.
“I won’t know until I look in a mirror. It’s true that my body has become sturdier and I feel like I’ve gotten younger since becoming an adventurer, so perhaps it’s affected my face as well.”
“It has long been said that high-ranking adventurers age more slowly physically. Perhaps, in addition to that, awakening at an advanced age might actually cause someone to become younger.”
Mariane’s hypothesis was rather appealing, but if I got my hopes up too much, I might end up disappointed.
“There should be mirrors in the Royal Capital, so I won’t know until I see it for myself. I’d certainly be happy if it really does have a rejuvenating effect, though...”
“If it really has an effect like that, women might start saying they want to awaken!”
Rani said that with a laugh, and Mariane nodded knowingly.
“Some people do say they want to become adventurers if it means they will not age. Most of them lose their nerve once they learn what adventuring is actually like, though.”
“Whether someone awakens in the first place is entirely a matter of luck, right? And becoming a high-ranking adventurer must be even more difficult.”
We might have become somewhat numb to it, but in reality, even reaching C-Rank was not easy.
It was a profession where you could easily lose your life if you pushed yourself too far, so it was certainly not something one should pursue simply for the sake of not aging.
Though, coming from me, that was the ultimate case of the pot calling the kettle black.
“If Soushi-sama becomes younger, then if I age a little more, we’ll be just right.”
(E/N: Wha-… What is this about, Freynil-chan?!)
“Yeah. As long as you look young, that’s all that matters, right?”
“Elves do not normally concern themselves with age.”
“...This is a matter of considerable importance to〈Saul's Guidance〉. It seems we will need to observe it over a long period of time.”
I found the remarks from everyone except Mariane slightly concerning... but there was no way they meant anything like what an old man might suspect.
I simply responded, “Yeah…”, and ended the conversation.
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E/N:
Usually, the Grandmaster is a freakishly strong woman in these types of stories but let's see what happens! Also, Freynil-chan, jump Ossan's bones already! 🤣🤣🤣
Stay tuned!
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