Kochugunshikan Boukensha ni Naru

Translator: SFBaka

Editor: Thor’s Stone

“Hou! So you actually set the magic stones there huh?”

There were ten Orc magic stones fitted right next to the sliding door. There was also a lever that seems to function as an adjustment mechanism to control the output of the refrigeration. I wonder just how much it costs the guild to operate this place.

“That’s right. As expected of you, Alan-sama.”

“How much magic stones does it consume?”

“That’s…… We are currently using Orc magic stones, and even at the lowest output, we’ll use up all the magic power contained in one of them after two days.”

One magic stone of that quality per two days!? That’s quite the consumption. Judging from the quality of these magic stones, they probably cost about 600 Guineas each. So that’s an average of 300 Guineas a day huh. The consumption probably also depends on the size of the storage facility, but it still wasn’t a cost that a private individual could shoulder on his or her own.

“Well then, let’s head on inside, shall we?”

Karina-san picked up an illumination magic tool that was placed beside the door and slowly pried it open. She made the door open about a meter wide and urged us to enter quickly. She then closed it immediately once we all managed to enter.

“The cold air will escape outside if we left the door open for long after all. These are the materials we managed to harvest from the dragon by the way.”

Karina-san pointed her illumination magic tool at a pile of goods placed in a corner of the room. The interior of the storage facility was shaped like a cube with each side measuring ten meters. About 70% of it was already filled with goods.

“The materials that we couldn’t fit inside here were taken to a similar facility managed by the Adventurer’s Guild.”

I’m curious about the state of the materials as well, but right now, my priority was checking out the magic circle powering the whole place. I borrowed the illumination magic tool from Karina-san and scanned the room, but I couldn’t see a magic circle anywhere, or even a magic output stone. So just where was the cold air coming from?

“Hey, there it is.”

A large array of magic circles was drawn directly on the ceiling. Magic output stones were also lined up on the ceiling at regular intervals. There should be about a hundred of them installed on it.

Cold air does tend to move downward, so drawing the magic circles on the ceiling does make sense. However, it must have been a lot of trouble to draw something of that scale on it.

The structure of the storage vault was simpler than I thought. I zoomed in on the ceiling and found that all the magic circles were of a similar pattern. They must all be freezing magic circles.

Oh, but the one drawn on that spot was a Wind magic circle. It was gently blowing air inside the room and was aiding in air circulation.

I already recorded the magic circle patterns so it’s possible for me to draw them as well. With this, I’ll be able to make a similar facility if I had the mind to later.

“How do you store the meat though? If you simply freeze them up, the quality of the meat will degrade.”

“How knowledgeable of you, Alan-sama. But there’s no need to worry. We have wrapped all the meat with a wrapping material made out of Slimes.”

Slimes? I think I’ve heard of those from somewhere. Ah, that’s right. The washers I used when I made my food processor magic tools were also made out of Slimes. So the wrapping material they used must be quite similar to vinyl wrap. It looks like there’s no need to worry about the preservation of the materials after all.

According to the monster compendium, Slimes only thrive in places like lakes or swamps. I guess it would be a bit troublesome to hunt some down.

I was able to check out the magic circle formation and I was able to confirm that there was no problem with the storage and preservation of the materials, so thanked Karina-san for showing us around and we finally left the guild.

“Well, it’s still a bit early, but do you guys want to have lunch now?”

“I asked a person from one of the other Clans the other day about some nice restaurants and he recommended a place that serves delicious fish dishes.”

“Hee, that sounds pretty nice. Okay. Let’s have lunch there. Could you lead the way, Sharon?”

“Yes!”

The restaurant in question seemed to be bustling with customers, and everyone was enjoying their fish dishes. The entire restaurant was enveloped in a nice aroma. We sat around a table and ordered some dishes straight away.

The dish we were served was similar to fish simmered in sauce. It seems they simmered dried fish slices well in some flavorful sauce. The fish bones were already taken out of the slices, and they were pretty large portions as well. It certainly did look delicious.

“Oh, they used herbs in cooking this. It’s delicious! The stock is also made quite well. Good job, Sharon.”

Sharon smiled happily as she ate her portion. It seems the dish was also a hit with the others. It was a little expensive, selling for 20 Guineas a serving, but the taste was worth the price.

When we returned home after finishing our meal, we found everyone already waiting for us out on the square. Of course, they were out here to join us in meeting up with Gloria today. The nearly forty members of A Team who were tasked to escort the bandits back to the city haven’t managed to meet with Gloria yet after all. And Gloria seems to attach great importance to meeting with all of the Clan members, so I’d like to introduce everyone to her as soon as I can.

“Big bro!”

Ella came running the moment she saw me. I wanted to bring Ella and Teo to meet Gloria today as well and had them exempted from their duties this afternoon. It’s because I promised Ella that I would let her see a dragon, but it’s also because I wanted the siblings to take a well-deserved break. They’ve always been cooped up inside our Clan Home ever since they started working for us after all.

“Bro, uh, I mean, Alan-sama, thank you. Thanks for inviting me as well.”

“It’s fine. You’d get pretty bored if all you did was work, right, Teo? Okay then. Let’s go, everyone.”

“”Yes!””

We started walking, but I noticed that Ella was lagging behind everyone. It’s not her fault, of course. It’s just that she was still pretty young so the length of her gait was shorter than the rest. She walked together hand-in-hand with Teo as usual, but it seems she was having trouble keeping up.

“Ella, do you want to ride on top of my shoulders?”

“Un!”

I lifted Ella up and placed her on top of my shoulders. Yosh, this is perfect. Teo was making an envious expression, but I just ignored him.

“Wow! It’s so high up, big bro!”

“I see. Good for you, Ella.”

We passed through the city gate and headed for the sea of trees. I could have called Gloria over near the city, but I don’t want to cause a commotion.

After walking for twenty minutes or so, we finally arrived near the entrance of the Great Demon forest. I previously consulted Iris to find a spot where it was convenient for Gloria to land, and that’s where I brought everyone. Oh, it looks like we’re right on time.

“She’s here.”

“”Oooh!””

“”So that’s a dragon!””

Gloria flew toward us at great speed, braked in mid-air, slowly descended, and landed right in front of us. Iris appeared right next to Gloria.

“Thank you for coming over, Gloria. Sorry for calling you all of a sudden.”

Gloria started growling softly in reply.

“She says it’s no trouble at all. She also wanted to meet with everyone in the Clan as well.”

“I see. Then let’s go ahead with the introductions. Those of you who haven’t met Gloria yet, please step forward. Introduce yourselves to her in order.”

The forty-odd members of the A Team started introducing themselves to Gloria one by one, and Gloria made sure to return all of their greetings.

“Hey, Teo. Introduce yourself too.”

“Eh!? Me too, big bro? ……G-Gloria-sama. I’m Teo. It’s nice to meet you!”

That was a good greeting, Teo. I also urged Ella to say hello.

“I’m Ella. My best regards, Gloria-sama.”

Ella’s greeting was calmer and sounded more proper. Her eyes were glittering in excitement as she looked at Gloria.

“Yosh. With this, we’ve all managed to introduce ourselves. Gloria, these are all of our Clan members. We’ll be counting on you as well from now on.”

Gloria raised her head toward the sky and roared in joy.