Volume 3 - Chapter 15

TL Note: Sorry for the delays, here's the chapter for last sunday. Yes, that means there'll still be a chapter for this sunday.

Volume 3 Chapter 15

The next day…

As promised, I went to the guild. There, I saw Miya-san in the room I was brought to. I spent the time idly chatting with her as we waited for the others, at which Wereanna-san’s group, Raypin-san, and Asagi-san came one after another. The last one to arrive was Wogan-san. At his arrival, he immediately began to explain the details of the request.

With Wogan’s explanation finished, I found out that the request is about securing lumber by hunting treants and carrying them back home. Our goal, at the very minimum is to have at least around 300 treants. But of course, if there’s more, then the reward will also increase.

I don’t know exactly how much 300 treants will end up being, but I do know that will be an amazing amount. And that’s most likely the reason why they called someone like me who can use space magic.

I don’t have any problems with it in particular, so I decided to participate. The others did too from the looks of things.

But then, after everyone finished accepting the request, Wereanna-san asked,

“Considering how much treant wood we’re gathering… Is there something going on?” [Wereanna]

“Yeah… You know about the population decline of this town, right?” [Wogan]

“Well yeah. After all, one of the mines did get abandoned. It might have only been one mine, but there are still quite a few guys who lost their job.” [Wereanna]

“Right, and that’s the reason why. The things is, although this story’s old news by now, a section of the public office once tried to think of a way to increase the town’s profits, but unfortunately the head back then wasn’t that passionate about it, so nothing came out of it. But the new head of the public office knew about that event, and this time, he thought of asking for their opinion. The result? They decided to gather people who can make some specialty products, but unfortunately… this town doesn’t have anything noteworthy aside from the mines and iron.” [Wogan]

How about being a tourist spot for the Rimel Birds?

“Can’t the rimel birds be considered a specialty of the town?” [Ryouma]

“Well that idea was proposed too, but the thing is that the season that the rimel birds appear in is also the time when the grell frogs are being hunted, so it’s not possible to make them a tourist attraction. We can’t stop the hunts either. And besides, something like that is temporary. What the public office wants is something that’s available all year round.” [Wogan]

Eh–…I suppose town development isn’t that simple, huh? But while I don’t really get it, isn’t it good enough as long as there’s something that sells well? So wouldn’t it be better not to be so picky, and just make the most out of something already known to be profitable? Like that one or maybe even a festival.

“Isn’t it fine even if it’s temporary? You could do it as something like ‘the flavor of the season’ or something…” [Ryouma]

“That’s not a bad idea, but this is a mining town, remember? If the mine runs out in the future, then the town will only be able to make a profit during that season. So with that in mind, it’s imperative that the town find something that can be profited off of for the whole year.” [Wogan]

Ahh, now that he mentions it…

“Well it’s not like I don’t understand what you’re trying to say. In fact, I’ve actually also thought that it’d be fine to make some profit gradually. But… Well in any case, the discussion this time around went that way, and in the end it was decided for an arena to be made beyond the southern gate of the town to attract tourists. There, those who wish to participate in a bout will be able to, and at the same time, spectators who want to watch will have lodging available for them to stay at. As well as other facilities that might be of service to them. Moreover we also plan to make some profit out of the spectating fees and the betting. It’ll take a lot of money to have everything ready, but in exchange, the profits will also be equally big.” [Wogan]

“Fighting and gambling, huh? The profits will definitely be big, but in exchange, the public order will probably greatly decline, de gozaru.” [Asagi]

Yeah I imagine a number of ruffians and thugs will probably come.

“And that’s exactly why it’s basically a new town. All of the facilities, including the lodging for both the guests and the participants, will be built in the new town. As for this town, it will remain a mining town, and nothing will change. It’d be better if you just consider that town and this town to only happen to be managed by the same people, but are completely different from each other.

Moreover, we’ll also raise the budge on security, and hire more guards in order to keep the public order safe. The gambling will also be managed by the town. With that kind of thorough management, nothing should go wrong, right?

And to answer Wereanna’s question, the design and construction of the arena is being handled by Perle Bekentein.” [Wogan]

At those words, everyone besides me was shocked. Is that person famous?

“Umm… What kind of man is that person?” [Ryouma]

“Oh, you don’t know, Ryouma? He is the second son of Viscount Bekentein. He was originally supposed to help manage the region under his brother, but then he left his family, and went on to become an architect, de aru.” [Raypin]

“As an architect, he’s an unparalleled genius, but at the same time, he’s famous for being an eccentric.” [Miya]

A rather deep person… in more ways than one. Not that I know anything about him.

“Well… that’s how it is. After sounding it out, he quickly took the job, apparently thinking it’d be good for his image. But when he did, he gave us a condition. ‘I want to use treant wood for the arena, so unless it’s treant wood, I refuse to work on it!’ he said. And that’s how we ended up in the current situation, where we’re starting to gradually stock up on those treant wood.” [Wogan]

The fastidiousness of an artist? Treant wood being used for architecture is definitely not unheard of, however, it’s something generally used for magical contraptions, so it’s not usually used as construction material. Considering that this architect is asking for something rather unreasonable, I suppose his skill must be equally considerable. Then again he is known to be an unparalleled genius.

I mused to myself like that for a bit. After which, the meeting ended, and we were dismissed.

The Day of Departure

I’ve had to do quite a number of preparations for today actually. First, I had to put away all the unneeded belongings from my ‘Dimension Home’ to the storage room in the mine. Then in order to keep thieves from coming in and stealing from me, I blocked the entrance with earth magic.

After I finished storing my belongings and ensuring that it’s safe, I then went on to train to increase the space of my ‘Dimension Home’ spell that I’ve learned from Sebasu-san. When I first tried expanding it, I felt the burden on me increase. But leaving it to the abundance of my magic power, I was able to repeat the expansion several times as I tempered myself at the same time. In the end, I managed to create a space equivalent to the size of the first floor of my store in Gimuru. Now I’m not exactly privy to the treants’ sizes, but I reckon a space this size would be able to fit in a considerable amount of lumber.

Currently, I’m at the south gate of Gimuru, standing here by myself as I wait for the others.

“Are they not coming yet?” [Ryouma]

I’m standing here, looking around me, but not one of them is in sight. At that, I couldn’t help but wonder whether they’re coming or not. But then as I thought that, I saw, from a considerable distance away, the figures of Raypin-san and Asagi-san, walking towards me.

“Good morning, Raypin-san, Asagi-san!” [Ryouma]

“Good morning, de aru.” [Raypin]

“Good morning, Ryouma. How are you, de gozaru?” [Asagi]

“I’m alright.” [Ryouma]

After that, we rendezvoused with Miya-san and the rest. Then we got on the carriage with two horses that was prepared by the guild master. Soon as we got our food allowance, we set off. Incidentally, the carriage we were lent, was freight-class, driven by Mizelia-san.

We continued like this for some time until we finally reached a plain with trees growing here and there. It was a tranquil and heartwarming scenery. And within that was the object of the request we accepted. Oh and by the way, the leader this time around happens to be Asagi-san.

“Then Miya and I along with Wereanna’s group will be responsible for defeating the treants. Raypin and Ryouma will be in charge of transporting the defeated treants. At the same time, Raypin will also be in charge of looking for treants and watching our perimeters. Lastly, Ryouma, you won’t mind escorting Raypin, right, de gozaru?” [Asagi]

Hearing that, I responded with a nod, indicating that I don’t have any problems with it. Although that’s how the plan basically is, it’s not like I won’t be fighting at all. After all, everyone's already aware that the reason I participated in this request is because I wanted to accumulate experience in regards to fighting treants. So it’s a given that I'll also be getting some fighting experience.

After that, we talked a bit about what to watch out for regarding the treants and their weaknesses.

The treants attack by whipping their branches from above, and their weak point is the lump that looks like a human’s face on their body. Hitting that or around it will greatly damage it, but if you cut it off or break it from below its face, you can kill it. Since our objective this time is to gather lumber, it’s important to minimize the damage on the treants as much as possible.

While there’s no need to fuss too much about not damaging it, it’s important to keep it in mind.

And should the case where a higher variation, an elder treant, appears, then it’s all the more important to take caution. Elder treants move extremely slow, but the branches they move are far thicker than the normal treants, causing it to have just that much more power behind each attack. But more than anything, the elder treants are able to use earth magic. So with that and its ability to stop movement with its branches and vines, it’s the natural enemy for vanguards.

After that, distinguishing between treants and other trees can only be done by spotting its face. So if the face is located in a blind spot, then distinguishing becomes very difficult. But fortunately, the treants possess a significant amount of magic power. So with the ‘Magic Perception’ skill, it’s possible to tell them apart by figuring out which tree is emitting magic power.

Lastly, although I’m digressing here, the treants are apparently able to move. They’re slower than slimes, but they can uproot themselves and creep about slowly.

After the discussion ended, I went to ask Raypin-san about magical beasts. And from what I hear, magical beasts are flora, fauna, and natural objects of the world that change and propagate according to magic power. Using treants as an example, treants are normal trees that became magical beasts with magic power. Since mutation occurs with magic power, then trees becoming a magical beast isn’t that strange.

When I heard that, I couldn’t help but ask whether people would be affected or not. And apparently, although it’s possible to get intoxicated from too much magic power, causing the body to crumble. The human body will naturally release the excess magic power, preventing something like mutation from occurring.

Since we were on the topic, I took the opportunity and asked about magic power intoxication, and it would appear that people with naturally high magic power are rarely affected. And even for normal people, it only really happens when they use too much magic jewels or eat too much magical beast meat. But since most of the magical power are concentrated in the blood of the magical beasts, as long as one refrains from blood, there shouldn’t be any problem eating meat. So overall it’s not a particularly serious illness, and catching it from eating meat is so rare, that you can only really blame your luck if that were to be the case.

While talking, we leisurely rode our carriage as we paid careful attention to our surroundings. Raypin told me that because it’s obvious when a magical beast is attacking here, it’s easy to dodge weak foes. Moreover, there’re few magical beasts that would actually dare attack seven adventurers here in Gimuru. And justas he said, not a single attack came at us since our departure from the village.

Along the way, I talked a lot with Raypin-san about magical beasts and slimes. When Mizelia-san asked me about the places I’ve travelled to so far, as soon as I mentioned miso and soy sauce, Asagi-san started to talk enthusiastically.

“Miso soup, that’s so nostalgic, de gozaru… Who would’ve thought that Renauph would actually manage to get their hands on miso and soy sauce? Thank you for sharing this information with me, de gozaru.” [Asagi]

“If you’d like, I could create miso soup for tonight’s supper. I have the ingredients for it after all.” [Ryouma]

“Is that true!? Then by all means, de gozaru!” [Asagi]

Apparently, Asagi-san was born and raised in a dragonewt island where they used miso and soy sauce.

When nightfall came, I took charge of the day’s supper. And inside Raypin-san’s ‘Dimension Home’ I took out miso soup, meat and potato stew, and lastly, rice.

The food was well-received by everyone, but Asagi-san shed tears at the nostalgia of miso soup.

“Hey Asagi, could it be that you haven’t been able to visit your hometown for a long time now?” [Wereanna]

“Yes, my home town is in an island far away, so visiting isn’t something I can casually do, de gozaru. But more than anything, the teaching in the dojo I studied at, dictated that those who have completed their training to some extent must go and become adventurers. So once one reaches that level, they will be driven out of the island and be forced to go on a journey. And until one is able to become S Rank in the guild or at least 50 years pass, then that student may not return home.” [Asagi]

“50 years? Isn’t that a bit much?” [Wereanna]

“It’s apparently the number of years that the founder of the dojo went around the world. During that time, one must either spend his time training his sword or spend his time learning from the things he sees and hears in his travel. Surviving in the outside world is both a training and a trial. After all, there are powerful magical beasts here and all sorts of people that can’t be found in the island, de gozaru.” [Asagi]

“But what about protecting your village? Won’t it be a problem since the strong people of your village leave and can’t come back for 50 years?” [Wereanna]

“There’s no need to worry. The only ones who leave the island are those who wish to master the sword. Those who study the sword to protect others, those who work as guards for the village, those who are still training at the dojo, the masters of the dojo, and the ones who are still in the village are all capable of defending the village. Moreover, there’s also a number of them, so there shouldn’t be any need for anxiety, de gozaru.” [Raypin]

We talked like this over supper, and when we finished, we all slept in our respective sleeping bags. Still… I’m honestly quite surprised at how wide this place is.

Even Raypin-san, in the past, couldn’t go back home to Gimuru for a long time because of his research. And he spent a long time expanding his ‘Dimension Home’ in order to fit in all of his belongings, research materials, and specimens. According to him, it was faster to just increase the space of his ‘Dimension Home’ rather than clean up, so he did that instead.

But nowadays, he’s rarely away from Gimuru, so he would often just leave his belongings at home. Moreover, he needed to get as much space as he could for transporting the lumber, so he had to remove as much objects from his ‘Dimension Home’ as possible. Because of that it feels rather excessively big. Then again, its size is around twice that of my ‘Dimension Home’. Right, I should do my best too.

There wasn’t anything left to do after we finished whatever preparations were needed, so we just went to sleep.

Sleep early, and tomorrow, we’ll set off at sunrise.