Unfairly Fired From the Healer's Guild After Five Years of Dedicated Service

Episode 301 – Magic Reservoir

“Thank you for the valuable information, Arthur-san! I think I’ll head for the Empire right away.” (Lewin)
“Wait a moment, Lewin. Are you really trying to get to the bottom of this fairytale? It’ll be impossible. It’s nothing against you, but it would be better for you to give up on it.” (Arthur)
Arthur was the one who had given me information, but for some reason he was trying his best to hold me back. Only doubts rose to my mind as I unintentionally lashed back at him.

“Why’s that? Is it because the Empire is a dangerous place? …I will never give up, no matter what anyone says.” (Lewin)
“The Empire is a highly religious country, and it’s true that there’s some danger, but… that’s not the problem. The problem is that when I followed the trail of that fairytale, it led straight to the Demon King’s domain. At that time, I prided myself as being one of the strongest humans, and even I had to give up on it. The domain of the Demon King is that dangerous of a place.” (Arthur)
The domain of the Demon King.

I didn’t know what kind of place it was, so I couldn’t quite comprehend the danger that Arthur was speaking of. However, if there were a lot of other monsters in there that were strong enough to kill even someone like Ahmed, then… I would definitely be sending myself to a pointless death. At least until I was stronger than Ahmed, I might not be able to set foot in the Demon King’s domain.

“….Does that mean that you had no choice but to give up?” (Lewin)
“Yeah, I gave up. But all of that wouldn’t matter as long as you become stronger than I was at the time when I gave up. You said that you wouldn’t give up no matter what anyone said, right?” (Arthur)
“Become stronger?” (Lewin)
I had been pursuing strength ever since I came to Landaust. However, I hadn’t been acting purely in the pursuit of strength like I had been when I lived in Grezesta.

Courage couldn’t be mistaken for recklessness after all.

Inwardly, I wanted to immediately go and gather information as soon as possible, but I couldn’t save Ahmed unless I took my time to get stronger.

“Right. Only by getting stronger will you be able to find out whether this story is true or false.” (Arthur)
“….I see. Getting stronger is the shortest path then.” (Lewin)
“That’s exactly right. So I think it’ll be better for you to put your party back together and dive into the Dungeon again. The Dungeon is the best place to train after all,” Arthur suggested with a smile.

But I had no intention to train in such a straightforward manner. It was true that I could train by venturing into the Dungeon, but I felt that the fastest and best way was for me to use Dumbbell Weed and Pound Herb to raise my stats.

The problem was the difficulty to obtain those plants. [Plant Master]’s large consumption of magic power made it impossible for me to mass produce those plants. It would be nice if there was a place where a lot of Magical Grass grew in the wild, but the only place I could think of was Mount Cornello.

“Arthur-san. Do you know of any place where a lot of Magical Grass grows naturally?” (Lewin)
“A place where a lot of Magical Grass grows…? Why are you suddenly bringing up Magical Grass?” (Arthur)
“The quickest way for me to get stronger would be for me to make use of my Skill, so I want to hone it. If there were a place with a lot of Magical Grass, I could recover my magic power at the same time, right?” (Lewin)
“I see, so that’s what this is about. Unfortunately, the only place I know where a lot of Magical Grass grows in the wild is a mountain in the Demon King’s domain, but… I do know of an ideal spot to practice magic.” (Arthur)
“An ideal spot?” (Lewin)
“Yeah. In the Empire, there’s a secret cave in the bottom of a ravine in Dragon’s Valley. It’s in a rather inaccessible place, and there’s a natural magic reservoir in that cave.” (Arthur)
Dragon’s Valley… When we were talking in Binkus, Charlotte had mentioned it as the place where she had last seen Arthur. If I remembered it correctly, one had to pass through Dragon’s Valley in order to reach the village of Wilring.

The grandma and Charlotte seemed reluctant to go beyond Dragon’s Valley, so it should be quite the dangerous place.

“Um, what is a magical reservoir?” (Lewin)
“As the name suggests, it’s a place where magic power gathers. The concentration of magic power there is so dense that you can recover your magic power just by breathing there. That cave in Dragon’s Valley is a secret place I used for my training back in the day.” (Arthur)
If what he was saying was true, then there was no better place to train. If I could seclude myself in this place and solely focus on producing Dumbbell Weed, I could strengthen myself by a lot in one go.

“Arthur-san, please! Can you show me where this place is?” (Lewin)
“I don’t mind, but as I said before, this cave isn’t in a very accessible place. If you aren’t careful, you could lose your life on the way there or on the way back, you know?” (Arthur)
“I’m fine with the danger. I think it’s a place I absolutely have to go to if I want to reach the level where I can enter the Demon King’s domain.” (Lewin)
“Fine. I’ll give you a detailed map later. I would have liked to escort you there myself, but I have the shop to take care of, and my old body can’t withstand the trip anymore. Sorry.” (Arthur)
“No, no, it’s fine. I’m already very grateful for the map and the valuable information you gave me.” (Lewin)
After that, Arthur went to the back of the shop and came back with a map he had made himself.

“This is the map. It’s a localized map that only shows the route from Dragon’s Valley to the cave with the magic reservoir, so you’ll have to make your way to Dragon’s Valley on your own. Dragon’s Valley itself is a rather unexplored region, but it’s well-known. You should be able to get there by asking around, and there are maps for sale, too.” (Arthur)
“Thank you, Arthur-san. I’ll come to give you my regards when I return.” (Lewin)
“Fuhahaha. As Irene’s favorite pupil, I’ll always be willing to teach you this much. When you come back to clear the Dungeon again someday, please help me advertise my store again.” (Arthur)
“Yes, I definitely will.” (Lewin)

In the end, I was able to obtain some valuable information regarding the fairytale and, on top of that, about the cave with the magic reservoir. More than anything, I was really grateful to the grandma and Arthur for their wholehearted support. With sincere gratitude in my heart, I bowed deeply to Arthur and left Eagle’s Talon.