Ossan Saikyō Chapter 13 Part 09
The next morning, we left the inn and headed for the Adventurer's Guild.
Of course, Shizuna came with us. In the end, she was accepted into the party without any problems after that, officially becoming a member of〈Saul's Guidance〉.
Apparently, Lady Miona had also entrusted her with showing us around Orz. For now, she was leading the way as we walked down the street.
Most of the buildings in Orz were made of wood, and their architecture and the layout of the streets reminded me of Japan's Edo period.
The residents' clothing also had a Japanese-style appearance, and I felt as though I were walking through a theme park modeled after an Edo-period town.
The Guild building was a three-story structure in the same style. Inside, it was about as spacious as the main Guild in the Royal Capital of Vermilion. There seemed to be somewhat fewer adventurers, but there were still probably around 200 people.
Mariane immediately headed toward the back. Just as we were about to go over to the bulletin board, a familiar voice called out to us.
“Hey, Soushi. Funny place to run into you.”
The person standing there was the beautiful tiger beastkin, Karma. She was an adventurer carrying a greatsword on her back and the leader of the B-Rank party〈Drunken Tiger〉. It had been about 20 days since we'd last met in the Royal Capital.
“It was Karma, wasn't it? It's been a while. So you came all the way from the Royal Capital to Orz.”
“Yeah. I'd already been through all the nearby dungeons in Vermilion, so I figured I'd come this way while taking on some requests.”
“You crossed those mountains?”
“Of course. Actually, didn't you, Soushi?”
“We flew here!”, Rani stepped out from beside me and puffed out her chest in front of Karma. It was rather cute how she seemed to be trying to one-up her.
“You flew here? Ah, so you're the adventurers everyone's been talking about, the ones who came riding on that『Spirit Beast』?”
“Yep, that's us. We rescued it before, and it gave us a ride as thanks. Pretty amazing, right?”
After hearing Rani boast about it, Karma suddenly became serious and lowered her voice.
“‘Amazing’ doesn't quite cover it. It's become a huge rumor. You might want to avoid saying it too loudly. People are calling it an envoy of the Spirit Queen, after all.”
“Really? Then perhaps we should try not to let people know about it as much as possible.”
Even so, I had a feeling people would find out once the Great Shrine Maiden gave us some sort of reward. But we really hadn't done anything particularly impressive this time. Becoming famous over something like this would honestly make me uncomfortable.
“Hmm, then let's not talk about it too much. Ah, looks like Mariane's back.”
Just as Rani said, Mariane returned from the room in the back.
“The Grand Spirit Shrine has reported that Shizuna-san has arrived, so the request has officially been completed. The rewards have already been paid into everyone's cards.”
“Thanks. Let's take a look at the training grounds today, then head out into the city.”
“I'll do some work here for a while. Please go and enjoy yourselves.”
“All right. I'll buy some clothes that I think would suit you, Mariane-san. Look forward to it.”
“Thank you. I'll look forward to receiving a gift from you, Soushi-san.”
“Ah... yeah.”
The reason I faltered was because Mariane smiled brightly as she thanked me. Since she was usually expressionless, the contrast was quite striking.
Before I could react any further, Mariane simply returned to the room in the back. After watching her leave, I turned back toward everyone, only to find the gazes of the three girls other than Shizuna looking somewhat damp...
“Soushi-sama, would you choose some clothes that suit me as well?”
“Soushi, I think that was a little dangerous just now. You're choosing mine too, right?”
“Soushi-san, I'd like to try wearing clothes chosen by you as well.”
“I don't mind, but... don't expect too much from my sense of fashion.”
As I recoiled from the strange pressure coming from the three of them, Shizuna nodded and said, “Ahh, I see. So that's how it is”. Karma, who had been watching nearby, laughed as well.
“Being a strong man is tough, huh?”
I'd said I'd buy clothes because I felt bad that Mariane was the only one working, but perhaps I should have chosen a different souvenir.
Come to think of it, I would never have said I'd buy clothes for them back in Japan. I suppose I misjudged the distance between us in the spur of the moment. I'll have to be more careful from now on.
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We spent the entire day exploring the city of Garouz with Shizuna as our guide. Shizuna herself was an extremely famous person in this country, but apparently she often went out into the city, so it didn't cause any commotion.
We visited several old shrines and gardens and did some shopping, and before we knew it, the entire day had passed.
As for the clothes, there were garments resembling yukata for sale, and I ended up choosing them for everyone, including Shizuna.
Having ready-made clothes displayed for sale in shops was actually unusual in this world, but Orz seemed to be quite advanced when it came to fabric and dyeing, and there was such a wide variety that it was difficult to choose.
I picked something that I thought would suit each person... and since everyone looked happy, I decided there was no problem.
For Mariane, I chose and bought something primarily black. When she changed into it at the inn, it suited her surprisingly well, and she gave me another bright smile while saying, “Thank you”.
After that, the girls somehow became unusually enthusiastic, and the room turned into something resembling a yukata fashion show venue. As far as I was concerned, though, I felt it was quite a feast for the eyes.
Anyway, the next day was dungeon exploration. According to Mariane, the F and D-Rank dungeons were located relatively close to each other, so we decided to clear them both in a single day.
The F-Rank dungeon in the grasslands presented absolutely no problem, and we cleared it, with each of us obtaining a resistance skill.
Incidentally, according to Mariane, if you first acquire a full set of low-rank skills and then obtain skills from low-class dungeons, the levels of skills you already possess will apparently increase.
The D-class dungeon in the rocky area had 10 floors. I had Shizuna take the lead so she could gain experience, and the Spirit stone golem had become even more powerful. It was about 1.5 meters tall now and quite dependable as a frontline fighter.
The 5th floor had the usual mid-Boss, a Gravekeeper Dragon, and the treasure chest contained a bracelet with『Strength +1』. Considering the balance of the party, I had Shizuna equip it since her level was currently the lowest.
The Boss on the 10th and final floor was also the usual Elemental Guardian. Freynil, Sphenia, and Shizuna bombarded it with magic until it was defeated. I mean, having five people on the front line, including a Spirit, and three people in the rear was basically cheating.
As for skills, I obtained【Nimble】, a lower-tier version of【Whiplash】, which made my movements even more agile.
Freynil's existing【Crucible】seemed to have leveled up. Does that mean there are no more skills for her to obtain from D-Rank dungeons?
Likewise, Rani's【Stability】, Sphenia's【Crucible】, and Mariane's【Pierce】all leveled up. The maximum level for special skills seemed to be 20, and reaching that level increased the likelihood of acquiring an advanced skill, so leveling them up was important for that reason as well.
Shizuna acquired the skill【Vital Aura】, which enhanced the effects of her healing magic,【Life Magic】.
As it turned out, she could use healing magic too, meaning〈Saul's Guidance〉now had two healers. Since I'm the frontline fighter and have been increasingly unlikely to suffer injuries, it was admittedly a rather luxurious setup.
We returned to the city, had the Guild buy the materials we'd collected, and headed back to the inn.
On the way, we saw about 30 soldiers heading outside the city. Incidentally, Orz's soldiers wore equipment resembling ashigaru (foot soldiers) from Japan's Sengoku period, which I found rather interesting.
(E/N: Just Google Ashigaru!)
“Shizuna, where are they going?”
“You probably noticed the watchtowers lined up around the outside of the city. Those men are the ones going to relieve the guards stationed there.”
“Ah, I see. Those towers are watching for approaching monsters, right?”
“That is correct. There are bandits from time to time as well, but they almost never come to Garouz.”
“And if monsters approach, you call the adventurers?”
“If the monster is particularly powerful, yes. But most of the time, we can manage by borrowing the power of the Spirits, so it isn't a problem.”
“I see. So there are people among the soldiers who can use Spirits too.”
It was interesting to see how preparations against monsters differed slightly from country to country. Now that I had the status to travel around as an adventurer, I really wanted to see as many different places as I could.
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E/N:
Mariane is such a Kuudere, love it!
Stay tuned!
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