Water Magician

The next day.

After breakfast at the guild cafeteria earlier than usual, the four headed to the City of Kyradea.

Of course, by foot.

The road between Rune and Kyradea was well maintained because travelers and goods frequently come and go.

Although considered well maintained, it was not cobbled but just compacted ground … but it was still much easier to travel compared to uneven surfaces.

Along the road, occasionally there would be columns one meter in diameter and five meters in height.

“What are those occasional columns?”

Ryo, curious about the columns, asked nobody in particular.

And it was usually Etho who answered those questions.

“Those are Monster-Repelling Columns, columns meant to deter monsters. They should be built at 500-meter intervals.”

“A barrier …”

Ryo murmured unintentionally. What came to Ryo’s mind was the barrier set up by Michael (pseudonym) around his house in the Rondo Forest.

“It’s not as effective as a barrier … but … well, unless there is a significant cause, monsters won’t come near. They are usually installed on the main roads of the Kingdom.”

Apparently, they were also on the road connecting Rune and Whitnash, but Ryo didn’t notice them. At that time, he was more on focused extracting information from 『Coffee Maker』.

It seemed that there was a fundamental difference between these columns and the barrier around his house.

One day, he would want to solve the mystery of the barrier around the house … another ambition sprung up in Ryo’s heart.

And then, it was noon.

The four rested while consuming the lunch box made by the guild cafeteria.

“At any rate … really nothing happened.”

“Ryo … what on earth were you expecting …”

Niels answered Ryo’s monologue with a stunned look.

“No, you see, when it comes to moving between cities … the typical scenario would be like having to repel monsters that attacked incessantly or apprehending bandits that attacked in a group and conversely taking the treasures they accumulated.”

“What kind of godforsaken place are you talking about …”

If such encounters happened frequently, the economic activity of the country would stagnate.

Niels explained.

Yes, the Swordsman Niels, who looked like a huge rascal, explained to him.

Ryo was astonished.

“Oi Ryo, you’re thinking of something really rude, right?”

“N-N-o, I-d-o-n-t-k-n-o-w-w-h-a-t-a-r-e-y-o-u-t-a-l-k-i-n-g-a-b-o-u-t.”

Etho who was snickering next to him finally couldn’t resist laughing loudly.

After laughing for a moment.

“Abel-san once told Niels that before and he engraved it to memory.”

“Etho, don’t expose me!”

Niels was flustered when Etho revealed the facts.

“I knew it ……”

“Why are you agree with him?!”

Ryo nodded in agreement while Niels protested.

Amon was listening from the side the whole time.

“But it’s amazing how you engrave every one of those facts you’ve heard properly to memory. I’ll do my best too!”

Amon was a nice guy.

That evening, the four arrived at Kyradea without incident.

“At this time, the guild would be crowded with people reporting the progress of their requests. Let’s secure our accommodation first.”

At Niels’ suggestion, they decided to secure an inn before visiting the Adventurer’s Guild.

It wouldn’t cost them to camp out but since they were in a city, they wanted to have a good sleep in a proper bed.

Because the physical body is the asset of an adventurer.

After securing an inn and having dinner, the four headed to the Adventurer’s Guild.

As expected, the peak period to report request results had passed for the day and there were few adventurers in the guild.

And there was only one young male receptionist present.

“We are adventurers from the City of Rune who accepted the subjugation request for Avery Village that came from this city. We wish to gather information. And this is the letter of introduction from our guildmaster.”

Niels explained and gave Hugh’s letter of introduction to the receptionist.

“Understood. Please wait a moment.”

The receptionist replied and went into the door at the back with the letter of introduction.

“After this, a person would come out from the back room, and this city’s adventurers and influential people would pick a quarrel with us and we would fall into an explosive situation. We would then have to solve the situation by force.”

Ryo talked about the typical development of a light novel.

“Why does Ryo want the situation to develop into fights …”

“Is Ryo frustrated because his mock battle was canceled?”

“It’s the thing Ryo said once before, everywhere is a battlefield!”

Niels was speechless, Etho shook his head, while Amon used difficult words.

But unfortunately, or a matter of course, that didn’t happen and the four were sent to the reception room in the back.

“The Submaster will explain about this request so please wait here.”

The receptionist told them and they waited five minutes in the reception room.

A Submaster was the second-highest-ranking person in the guild who assists the Guildmaster. When it came to guilds beyond a certain size, there would typically be such a position.

However, for some reason, there was no Submaster in Rune’s Adventurer’s Guild, which boasted the largest size in the frontier. For that reason, in Whitnash, Abel was dispatched in Hugh’s place as a 『proxy』.

The man who entered had the image of a former Magician and was in his mid-thirties.

The man was as tall as Ryo, had a delicate body like Etho, and had a soft expression like Amon, giving the impression that he was easy to talk to at a glance.

“Adventurers from the City of Rune, right? I’m Landenvia, the Adventurer’s Guild Submaster of Kyradea.”

“I’m Niels, the party leader. These are Etho, Amon, and Ryo, my party members.”

Niels explained politely, unlike his usual manner of speech.

Time, Place, and Occasion were the fundamentals of a working adult.

“I see, you’re Niels from the village that sent the request. It was written in the letter of introduction from Master McGrath. And that this party is a young party with great prospects. A party that Master McGrath has expectations for. …… I’m a little jealous he has such a party, because Kyradea hasn’t had many new parties lately …”

“Young party with great prospects…”

“Master McGrath … that sounds cool.”

Apart from the three joyful tones, one person focused on a strange aspect, but I dare not mention who it was.

It definitely wasn’t some Water-Attribute Magician …

“Is our guildmaster such a famous individual?”

Submaster Landenvia was surprised at Etho’s mutter.

“You guys don’t know about the Hero McGrath …?”

“Hero?”

All four asked in unison.

“Has it reached the time where the generation who doesn’t know about that era becomes adventurers? In the past, no adventurer in the Kingdom wouldn’t know the name 『Master McGrath』. That was how famous he was. When you’re back in the City of Rune after this request, ask your senior adventurers to tell you. Master McGrath, the heroic tales of that man.”

“Yes, we will.”

Still not recovered from the surprise, Niels nodded seriously.

“Okay, let’s talk about this request, but to be honest, we don’t have much information.”

Kyradea sent one E-rank and one D-rank party.

The first E-rank party fought with skeletons and two of the five members were seriously injured. They withdrew.

The next D-rank party could not investigate the situation due to a lack of cooperation from some villagers. They withdrew.

After that, the village mayor visited the Kyradea Adventurer’s Guild to apologize.

However, no other party stepped up for the request after that, and the request was sent to the City of Rune, which was the largest city in the remote region.

“I’m sorry I don’t have much information. Do you have any questions?”

“I believe it was submitted as a Goblins and Skeletons subjugation request. Were Goblins confirmed?”

Etho asked a question.

Certainly, in the reports so far, there was no mention of Goblins at all.

“No, it was not confirmed.”

Landenvia shook his head and denied it.

“Did the E-rank party encounter Skeletons in the western graveyard?”

Niels, who was familiar with the geography of the village, asked a question.

“No, they reported the encounter in the eastern forest, not a graveyard.”

“Eastern Forest?”

Niels pondered the answer.

After that, the explanation by Landenvia ended after they had no further questions.

“Well then, I wish you good luck.”

Landenvia stood up and sent the four people from Room 10 out.