Today was… well, it was a day. A day that started off on the right foot, but soon turned into something I really wasn’t looking forward to. Let’s go back to when I arrived in my office this morning.
Endy handed me a letter that had arrived for me at the Sawyer capital manor. At first, I assumed it would have been from Nel, as she still owes me for all the monsters I let her absorb in the dungeon, but no. This one was from the Capital’s adventurer’s guild’s GM.
Futerasu Hikari, aka. Tera.
That in itself didn’t really raise any questions for me. I mean, a GM calling an A-rank adventurer, that is reasonable. But what came next was … well, let me just tell you as it happened.
“They want you to go to the Hero’s country to meet with the guild higher ups.” Tera told me.
“... why?” I just asked.
“Remember when I asked about you getting a guild communicator? For that. They want to interview you or something like that. They didn’t tell me much of the details.”
“... alright. And when should I head there? And is it just me, or should I bring the rest of my team?”
“Just you is fine, and as soon as possible.”
“I mean, I’m free now, so … will there be trouble submitting a flight plan on such a short notice?”
“They already opened a free flight plan for you, so you can fly in whenever you want.” Tera told me.
“... seriously? That doesn’t sound right.”
“Perhaps they thought it to be better than you just appearing.” Tera commented.
“... you knew about that?”
“Yes. I was warned of your … impulsive tendencies.”
“Impulsive tendencies? Well, can’t argue against that.” I admitted. “But if they want me there ASAP, I’ll head over right now. It will take me like… about 20 minutes from here. Do you want to send them a warning that I’m coming in?”
“20 minutes? Are you joking?”
“No. Not at this time.”
“... I … I’ll make sure to warn them.” Tera said. “... but do you think you could take at least an hour? Not everyone operates that fast.”
“Sure. I can push it forward a bit.”
So yeah. That is how I ended up having to head to the Hero’s country.
After my meeting with Tera, I got back up to HomeBase, so I could tell everyone there where I would be going. And Tera said to take my time, so I will. I even made sure I’d have a lunch box ready to go. It is good to have more actual cooks on HomeBase, because the one that made mine was Olia, Unika’s mother. I suppose working in an eatery for some time does get you some cooking skills, so she was actually one of the best cooks on HomeBase. Outside of some of my monsters, of course.
At first, Alice was also wanting to come with me, but since I told Tera I’d go solo, I let Alice be. I don’t want to cause any more trouble than I already am. Well, in this case the trouble was started by the people who asked for me, not me, so it isn’t really my fault.
And I don’t want to make Lua too jealous by taking Alice on a date in the Hero’s country. I’ll take them both after Lua is done with the current dhampir village.
And speaking of System missions, Alice really should sometimes look into hers. She does have the one looking for and eliminating the sources of knowledge about the illegal slave mark. So I reminded her of dealing with that, and gave her three copies of Mind Crush that she could use on anyone that happens to know of it.
Spoiler [collapse]So while I took off towards the Hero’s country in my Victory Viper, Alice also took off towards Burch Dukedom in her Gradius. It is the place where we ran into the illegal marks, so that is where she said she was going to search first. Hopefully she will find something.
Spoiler
My flight over to the Hero’s country was completely uneventful. I even spent that time opening a few packs, but I didn’t get anything exciting, so I won’t show them here. I could use a new set. I feel like it is about time I get one. Well, I will hopefully get one when the next fissure pops up. Not that I’m hoping for world danger just so I can save the world from it and claim rewards. … well, I kind of am, but I probably would give up Pack Opener if that meant that this world could stay safe for the rest of forever. I can definitely see where the Hero was coming from when he surrendered his skill for the betterment of the world.
As I got close to the Hero’s country, I dropped my speed down to something a lot more reasonable, as I also lowered the altitude I was flying at. I didn’t approach too close, just in case I caused an alarm or something, but instead began levitating around the same area where the bird-folk guards came to see us last time I visited. I think that should be good, right?
And my idea seemed to work, as a few bird-folk soon flew towards where I was floating. Not as many as last time though. I opened the canopy of Victory Viper, ready to say hi to the guards.
“Lord Wood. We’ve been expecting you.” One of them spoke to me, and as he did, I realized that I recognized this guy.
“Oh? You are that captain from last time. Good to see you again.”
“No. I’m not a captain. Did I not introduce myself last time? Second Lieutenant Jawy at your service.”
“Well, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Sir Jawy. May I land?”
“Of course. We shall escort you to the ground.” Jawy answered.
On the ground, I met up with the next familiar face. The red-furred cat-girl by the name of Ula.
“Here again Ula. Am I really that important that I get a free cat-girl guide whenever I come to town?” I jokingly asked.
“Yes. You absolutely are.” Ula answered seriously.
“... alright. Well, do you know what is going on?” I asked, somewhat as a test. I remember from last time that Ula seemed to know too much for a simple guide, so if she knows the answer, that is more evidence of her not being ‘just a guide’.
“Yes. I shall take you to the castle.” Ula answered.
Castle? Not the guild? I thought I was supposed to meet with someone from the guild, so why are we heading for the castle? What even is the castle? Does she mean that castle at the center of the city? I thought it was a dungeon. I feel like last time Ula called it the castle dungeon.
“Sure.” I agreed. “Did you get a carriage ready for us, or do we walk?”
“I can secure one in a flash.” Ula said.
“... nah. If you don’t have one ready, let’s just use mine. It will be faster.” I said as I brought my carriage out of Storage.
“... you… was that your Storage skill?”
“Yeah. But I guess we need a driver as well. … who to..? Oh, you will work. Wynn the Wind Charmer.” I decided on the Spellcaster who would drive my carriage.
Spoiler [collapse]I really should use my Charmers, and their other forms, more. I just never do because they lack ‘big numbers’. Maybe if I tried taming monsters? I think the Charmers would be experts in that. And I could get some help from Unika in that as well. That could be cool.
Viscount Kramer is also an option on that. He uses the Taming skill to tame the warhorses he breeds in his territory. And he did invite me to come and take a look back when Earl Sawyer’s birthday festivities happened. So maybe I should go there with Unika and Einar?
While in the carriage, well, I was alone inside, while Ula sat with Wynn in the front, guiding Wynn where to drive. And indeed, we ended up at that castle in the center of the city.
The streets here were extremely busy, filled with people selling different stuff. Though most of the stuff seemed dedicated to adventurers, as it was things you could easily carry with you into the dungeon.
I wonder how big of a dungeon this Castle Dungeon is? If the castle itself counts as a part of the dungeon, similar to how the Citadel is actually a part of HomeBase, I might be able to find out using Dungeon Founder.
Ula had Wynn drive us first to a side road, and we followed that side road to the castle’s outer walls. There was no entrance or gate here, but after Ula used some sort of card, the stone walls began to move and it opened an entrance for us.
Yeah. Not suspicious at all. Why would Ula have something like that if she isn’t important?
After we entered through the … not regular entrance, the wall closed behind us, as if it didn’t just have a carriage sized hole in it. Gotta love those magic entrances. They are kind of cool. Or maybe I should have said that they are … solid? As a rock? … bad joke?
On the inside, I attempted to open up the dungeon information, but apparently where I was currently wasn’t yet a part of the dungeon. I’ll try to do it again later, when we are in the castle structure itself. As long as I get the opportunity.
After we stopped right next to a small door that led into the castle, I got out of the carriage, unsummoned Wynn and took the carriage into Storage.
Ula then led me inside, opening the door with the same access card she used to make a hole in the castle walls. It is kind of interesting to see old-looking wooden doors opened by an access card. And she isn’t even reading the card on anything, she just holds it in her hand and the door opens.
Once inside, I was half-tempted to use Dungeon Founder again, just to find out about this place, but with Ula here, it might go bad. Or more like she might notice me doing something strange and then I’ll have even more to explain. I might even need to tell them that I can hack dungeons.
So instead, I followed Ula like the good little boy that I am. Though to be honest, I really don’t like what is going on here. It makes me want to summon a few monsters to be my escorts, just in case. At the least, I should have one of them searched out in Pack Opener, so that I can quickly access it if something does go terribly wrong.
Eventually, we stopped in front of a room and Ula told me to go inside. She then opened the door and practically pushed me inside.
And there, I met the ‘interrogation squad’. Okay, that makes them sound super evil, so I really shouldn’t say that. But they must be the people who called me here.
There were three of them in total, two males and one female. The female, probably mid to late forties in age, seemed to be the warrior of the group, and she was fully dressed up in what I think is show armor, not actual armor for combat use. It was golden in color, so it is either gold coated, or maybe it could be orichalcum. She also had a sword and a shield next to her, the shield being made from a dark green metal, with a golden edging, while the sword I couldn’t see, as it was in its scabbard. But the scabbard looked highly decorated, so it was likely another showpiece weapon.
The male to the right of her looked like a mage. He was also a lot older than the warrior, likely being into his seventies. He had on a red and black cloak, and he held a staff with three magic stones embedded into it. A triple attribute mage, huh? Not bad.
The last one was the priest of the group, and the only non-human. He was an evolved birdfolk, and by Laura’s estimation, a siren. Not the siren that looks like a mermaid, but the ones that look like humans, except that they have wings. Kind of like Miss Hunter, though Miss Hunter was a tengu, which is the physically specialized version of siren.
The siren man was dressed in a white suit, not a three-piece suit, but the kind of suit the locals wear, and he seemed to be probably just over 30 years old, so easily the youngest of the three.
… Actually, now that I think about it, these three. They are the Hero’s party, right? I mean, the Hero was a swordsman with golden armor, by his side he had a sage dressed in black and red, and a saint dressed in white. These three match up perfectly, except that their genders are reversed. … and the saint wasn’t a siren, she was a human. At least as far as I’ve seen in the illustrations or read in books.
But let’s see what this genderbent Hero’s party wants from me.
nro_8 And the time has come. Brian has once again entered the Hero's country. And we may even see Cailie again.
Today was… well, it was a day. A day that started off on the right foot, but soon turned into something I really wasn’t looking forward to. Let’s go back to when I arrived in my office this morning.
Endy handed me a letter that had arrived for me at the Sawyer capital manor. At first, I assumed it would have been from Nel, as she still owes me for all the monsters I let her absorb in the dungeon, but no. This one was from the Capital’s adventurer’s guild’s GM.
Futerasu Hikari, aka. Tera.
That in itself didn’t really raise any questions for me. I mean, a GM calling an A-rank adventurer, that is reasonable. But what came next was … well, let me just tell you as it happened.
“They want you to go to the Hero’s country to meet with the guild higher ups.” Tera told me.
“... why?” I just asked.
“Remember when I asked about you getting a guild communicator? For that. They want to interview you or something like that. They didn’t tell me much of the details.”
“... alright. And when should I head there? And is it just me, or should I bring the rest of my team?”
“Just you is fine, and as soon as possible.”
“I mean, I’m free now, so … will there be trouble submitting a flight plan on such a short notice?”
“They already opened a free flight plan for you, so you can fly in whenever you want.” Tera told me.
“... seriously? That doesn’t sound right.”
“Perhaps they thought it to be better than you just appearing.” Tera commented.
“... you knew about that?”
“Yes. I was warned of your … impulsive tendencies.”
“Impulsive tendencies? Well, can’t argue against that.” I admitted. “But if they want me there ASAP, I’ll head over right now. It will take me like… about 20 minutes from here. Do you want to send them a warning that I’m coming in?”
“20 minutes? Are you joking?”
“No. Not at this time.”
“... I … I’ll make sure to warn them.” Tera said. “... but do you think you could take at least an hour? Not everyone operates that fast.”
“Sure. I can push it forward a bit.”
So yeah. That is how I ended up having to head to the Hero’s country.
After my meeting with Tera, I got back up to HomeBase, so I could tell everyone there where I would be going. And Tera said to take my time, so I will. I even made sure I’d have a lunch box ready to go. It is good to have more actual cooks on HomeBase, because the one that made mine was Olia, Unika’s mother. I suppose working in an eatery for some time does get you some cooking skills, so she was actually one of the best cooks on HomeBase. Outside of some of my monsters, of course.
At first, Alice was also wanting to come with me, but since I told Tera I’d go solo, I let Alice be. I don’t want to cause any more trouble than I already am. Well, in this case the trouble was started by the people who asked for me, not me, so it isn’t really my fault.
And I don’t want to make Lua too jealous by taking Alice on a date in the Hero’s country. I’ll take them both after Lua is done with the current dhampir village.
And speaking of System missions, Alice really should sometimes look into hers. She does have the one looking for and eliminating the sources of knowledge about the illegal slave mark. So I reminded her of dealing with that, and gave her three copies of Mind Crush that she could use on anyone that happens to know of it.
Spoiler [collapse]So while I took off towards the Hero’s country in my Victory Viper, Alice also took off towards Burch Dukedom in her Gradius. It is the place where we ran into the illegal marks, so that is where she said she was going to search first. Hopefully she will find something.
Spoiler
My flight over to the Hero’s country was completely uneventful. I even spent that time opening a few packs, but I didn’t get anything exciting, so I won’t show them here. I could use a new set. I feel like it is about time I get one. Well, I will hopefully get one when the next fissure pops up. Not that I’m hoping for world danger just so I can save the world from it and claim rewards. … well, I kind of am, but I probably would give up Pack Opener if that meant that this world could stay safe for the rest of forever. I can definitely see where the Hero was coming from when he surrendered his skill for the betterment of the world.
As I got close to the Hero’s country, I dropped my speed down to something a lot more reasonable, as I also lowered the altitude I was flying at. I didn’t approach too close, just in case I caused an alarm or something, but instead began levitating around the same area where the bird-folk guards came to see us last time I visited. I think that should be good, right?
And my idea seemed to work, as a few bird-folk soon flew towards where I was floating. Not as many as last time though. I opened the canopy of Victory Viper, ready to say hi to the guards.
“Lord Wood. We’ve been expecting you.” One of them spoke to me, and as he did, I realized that I recognized this guy.
“Oh? You are that captain from last time. Good to see you again.”
“No. I’m not a captain. Did I not introduce myself last time? Second Lieutenant Jawy at your service.”
“Well, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Sir Jawy. May I land?”
“Of course. We shall escort you to the ground.” Jawy answered.
On the ground, I met up with the next familiar face. The red-furred cat-girl by the name of Ula.
“Here again Ula. Am I really that important that I get a free cat-girl guide whenever I come to town?” I jokingly asked.
“Yes. You absolutely are.” Ula answered seriously.
“... alright. Well, do you know what is going on?” I asked, somewhat as a test. I remember from last time that Ula seemed to know too much for a simple guide, so if she knows the answer, that is more evidence of her not being ‘just a guide’.
“Yes. I shall take you to the castle.” Ula answered.
Castle? Not the guild? I thought I was supposed to meet with someone from the guild, so why are we heading for the castle? What even is the castle? Does she mean that castle at the center of the city? I thought it was a dungeon. I feel like last time Ula called it the castle dungeon.
“Sure.” I agreed. “Did you get a carriage ready for us, or do we walk?”
“I can secure one in a flash.” Ula said.
“... nah. If you don’t have one ready, let’s just use mine. It will be faster.” I said as I brought my carriage out of Storage.
“... you… was that your Storage skill?”
“Yeah. But I guess we need a driver as well. … who to..? Oh, you will work. Wynn the Wind Charmer.” I decided on the Spellcaster who would drive my carriage.
Spoiler [collapse]I really should use my Charmers, and their other forms, more. I just never do because they lack ‘big numbers’. Maybe if I tried taming monsters? I think the Charmers would be experts in that. And I could get some help from Unika in that as well. That could be cool.
Viscount Kramer is also an option on that. He uses the Taming skill to tame the warhorses he breeds in his territory. And he did invite me to come and take a look back when Earl Sawyer’s birthday festivities happened. So maybe I should go there with Unika and Einar?
While in the carriage, well, I was alone inside, while Ula sat with Wynn in the front, guiding Wynn where to drive. And indeed, we ended up at that castle in the center of the city.
The streets here were extremely busy, filled with people selling different stuff. Though most of the stuff seemed dedicated to adventurers, as it was things you could easily carry with you into the dungeon.
I wonder how big of a dungeon this Castle Dungeon is? If the castle itself counts as a part of the dungeon, similar to how the Citadel is actually a part of HomeBase, I might be able to find out using Dungeon Founder.
Ula had Wynn drive us first to a side road, and we followed that side road to the castle’s outer walls. There was no entrance or gate here, but after Ula used some sort of card, the stone walls began to move and it opened an entrance for us.
Yeah. Not suspicious at all. Why would Ula have something like that if she isn’t important?
After we entered through the … not regular entrance, the wall closed behind us, as if it didn’t just have a carriage sized hole in it. Gotta love those magic entrances. They are kind of cool. Or maybe I should have said that they are … solid? As a rock? … bad joke?
On the inside, I attempted to open up the dungeon information, but apparently where I was currently wasn’t yet a part of the dungeon. I’ll try to do it again later, when we are in the castle structure itself. As long as I get the opportunity.
After we stopped right next to a small door that led into the castle, I got out of the carriage, unsummoned Wynn and took the carriage into Storage.
Ula then led me inside, opening the door with the same access card she used to make a hole in the castle walls. It is kind of interesting to see old-looking wooden doors opened by an access card. And she isn’t even reading the card on anything, she just holds it in her hand and the door opens.
Once inside, I was half-tempted to use Dungeon Founder again, just to find out about this place, but with Ula here, it might go bad. Or more like she might notice me doing something strange and then I’ll have even more to explain. I might even need to tell them that I can hack dungeons.
So instead, I followed Ula like the good little boy that I am. Though to be honest, I really don’t like what is going on here. It makes me want to summon a few monsters to be my escorts, just in case. At the least, I should have one of them searched out in Pack Opener, so that I can quickly access it if something does go terribly wrong.
Eventually, we stopped in front of a room and Ula told me to go inside. She then opened the door and practically pushed me inside.
And there, I met the ‘interrogation squad’. Okay, that makes them sound super evil, so I really shouldn’t say that. But they must be the people who called me here.
There were three of them in total, two males and one female. The female, probably mid to late forties in age, seemed to be the warrior of the group, and she was fully dressed up in what I think is show armor, not actual armor for combat use. It was golden in color, so it is either gold coated, or maybe it could be orichalcum. She also had a sword and a shield next to her, the shield being made from a dark green metal, with a golden edging, while the sword I couldn’t see, as it was in its scabbard. But the scabbard looked highly decorated, so it was likely another showpiece weapon.
The male to the right of her looked like a mage. He was also a lot older than the warrior, likely being into his seventies. He had on a red and black cloak, and he held a staff with three magic stones embedded into it. A triple attribute mage, huh? Not bad.
The last one was the priest of the group, and the only non-human. He was an evolved birdfolk, and by Laura’s estimation, a siren. Not the siren that looks like a mermaid, but the ones that look like humans, except that they have wings. Kind of like Miss Hunter, though Miss Hunter was a tengu, which is the physically specialized version of siren.
The siren man was dressed in a white suit, not a three-piece suit, but the kind of suit the locals wear, and he seemed to be probably just over 30 years old, so easily the youngest of the three.
… Actually, now that I think about it, these three. They are the Hero’s party, right? I mean, the Hero was a swordsman with golden armor, by his side he had a sage dressed in black and red, and a saint dressed in white. These three match up perfectly, except that their genders are reversed. … and the saint wasn’t a siren, she was a human. At least as far as I’ve seen in the illustrations or read in books.
But let’s see what this genderbent Hero’s party wants from me.
nro_8 And the time has come. Brian has once again entered the Hero's country. And we may even see Cailie again.
