Chapter 100. Mithril Adventurer Party (1)
First, a staff made from an Orb,
Second, the tomb of the Magus King,
Third, an invitation to the auction house,
Thus, Verden's current concerns totaled three. It was also the reason he had come to the Kingdom of Estiria. Reminding himself of his purpose, Verden answered Perne's question.
"I heard that in the kingdom, there's a magic craftsman called Oesu."
"Do you want information about him, or about materials?"
"Both."
Perne immediately rummaged through a drawer.
Among the information she had collected so far, she picked up a document containing details about the man. Dusting off the thick layer of age, she read it aloud.
"Oesu, 'Linus Voltimoog'. First off, in terms of personality, he was incredibly unruly even in his youth. He never cared for money or authority, and would only take commissions from those he found pleasing. On top of that, he wielded a war hammer with such skill that he was a Platinum-rank adventurer. And here's the peculiar part—he was actually one of the apprentices of a dwarf master craftsman,"
"Dwarf?"
The race of metal and creation, dwarves.
Short in stature and unable to wield magic power, but born with tremendous physical strength and exquisite craftsmanship. A race so prideful that their relations with other races were poor. Especially with humans, who once enslaved them.
Currently, they were known to live divided into various tribes in the southwest of the continent.
"It's something that's rare even worldwide. But in his early thirties, he was supposedly excommunicated by that dwarf master. Perhaps that was when he lost his right arm. It's just speculation though. No one knows the exact reason. Still, afterwards, he trained relentlessly, and managed to replace the missing arm by using his mouth or feet. From then on, as he wandered across the world, he came to be called Oesu."
Perne handed over a list filled with various materials.
"These are the materials Oesu has worked with. It's all recorded from equipment he made."
Not only basic metals, but also mithril, damascus steel, obsidian, even orichalcum and dainsgang, the top-tier metals. Beyond that, the materials from demi-humans and abnormal species he used numbered in the hundreds.
At that level, he would be more than capable of handling an Orb.
"But the last time Oesu was sighted was six years ago, here in the kingdom. Whether he's alive, dead, or captured and imprisoned by someone, I can't tell."
"How long will it take?"
"I can't say for sure. It's such a difficult commission... more than anything, I need to restore my information network first, but that damn guild is the problem. They've crushed me so thoroughly that if I rise again as an information broker, who knows what they'll do. Maybe while Sir Asher is away, an assassin might just slit my throat."
Perne drew a finger across her neck.
"To get such large-scale information, we'll have to scour the kingdom. It has to be done covertly, and I'll need to spread some misinformation just in case. To protect my own life, you see. But if you entrust it to me, I can promise this much—never will I come back and say I found nothing."
Her voice brimmed with confidence.
Verden nodded.
It wasn't urgent, and if Perne died from reckless moves, that would be troublesome for him too.
"Alright, I'll leave it to you. Next, I need someone to interpret a 'relic'."
"A relic… may I take a look?"
Verden readily handed it over.
He had no expertise in relics, and interpreting it alone was impossible, so he needed a helper. Keeping it hidden would only hinder him.
Perne examined the relic from all angles.
"I don't know much about relics either, but this one's really strange. There are no distinctive patterns. It looks almost like an oval sapphire. Are you sure this is a relic? Not just a decoration?"
"The source is trustworthy,"
"Is that so… understood. I'll try to find an expert in relics. May I at least sketch part of it?"
Verden agreed.
Perne pulled out a blank sheet and quickly drew the relic. She had considerable skill with a pencil.
"Back when I was running errands under Pale, I also handled the drafting of request slips. Among information brokers, I doubt anyone has handwriting or drawing skills that match mine. Here, this is the relic. Now then, for information, this should be enough..."
"There's one more thing."
"…What? Another one?"
Two incredibly difficult commissions, and now one more?
"I need the whereabouts of a man named Medin, a member of the 'Blue Cloud' merchant guild."
"Medin… do you know his position?"
"He worked as a guard and was said to be in a leadership role."
Perne let out a sigh of relief.
"Fortunately, that's much easier to track than the previous commissions. He's probably at the level of Guard Captain, so he'll be traveling with the caravan. The guild has buildings in several cities, so I'll check through them. It shouldn't take too long… though, if Sir Asher were to give me a commission, I could find him much faster."
She slyly pulled out a few request forms.
Though nothing like Bajes's tens of millions in reward, they were still in the millions. The more requests she handled, the faster her information network would be rebuilt.
'And I need to make money anyway.'
Verden picked one of the forms.
Naturally, the one with the highest reward.
***
Verden carried out requests without resting for even a single day.
Obtaining demi-human materials from Sloan Forest, capturing wanted criminals. The requests were similar to those of the principality, but in sheer numbers, the kingdom had far more.
Due to the flight ban, he rented an expensive warhorse.
Thanks to his enhanced senses, horseback riding was no challenge. Moving around that way didn't consume as much time as he thought. In fact, it was Perne, arranging all the requests, who struggled to keep up.
Day by day, money piled up, and Perne even managed to reopen her tavern, the Perper Tavern. She hired workers too.
But it was still far from her old glory.
Bigger commissions were needed.
And after Bajes, Perne had been bringing in requests with higher rewards.
"This time, it's a request from a Mithril-rank adventurer party. The content is a demi-human subjugation. They said they want to discuss the details in person, so, what do you think? Should I arrange the meeting?"
"Their identity?"
"It's solid. They're adventurers who entered the kingdom from abroad, but they focus solely on adventurer work. No political ties, no criminal activities, and extremely rare for adventurers, they even have a very good reputation. Occasionally, they've hired magi from Gray to join them on subjugation requests. At the very least, there's no chance of them stabbing you in the back."
Unlike the principality, the kingdom's Gray had a broader scope.
Since mercenaries and adventurers were perceived as existing somewhere in between, these kinds of requests were relatively common.
Trusting Perne's information, Verden met the client directly. At Perne's tavern, Verden sat face-to-face with a bearded man.
"Greetings. I am Skald, leader of the Mithril-rank adventurer party, 'Manha'."
Not an individual, but a party-level rank.
Even so, this was the first time Verden had ever seen Mithril-rank.
"I am Asher."
"I heard you've been handling requests in Gray at a mad pace recently. They say you're skilled at demi-human subjugation, on par with adventurers. And moreover… that you even took care of Bajes?"
Verden did not deny it, only took a sip of his drink.
Skald laughed and said.
"Haha, so it's true then. Well, that's why I came with a request. In the Deep Forest of Sloan, a group of Forest Wyverns and an upper species of Ogres have appeared. We're set to subjugate them tomorrow, but our mage just happened to be absent… hah, must be because he's from a magic tower, so difficult to handle in many ways."
"A magic tower…?"
"Gentir Magic Tower."
Gentir Magic Tower.
Unlike the Bohemirn Magic Tower, which researches diverse elemental magic, Gentir specialized in water and cold. With such a limited range, they possessed unique spells that only tower mages could learn.
"He suddenly shut himself in, saying he was doing magic research. Well, it's not uncommon, but to pull this right before a subjugation, this is the second time."
"But do you really need me?"
They were Mithril-rank after all.
Skald shook his head firmly.
"If we prepare in advance, there's nothing to worry about. That's my principle as an adventurer. Let your guard down and you'll die. And lately, the appearance of demi-humans in the Deep Forest of Sloan has been too frequent. There's no reason to go in carelessly."
A proper adventurer's mindset. Perhaps that's how they reached Mithril rank.
Verden nodded in understanding.
"So I'll be filling in for your mage?"
"That's right. I heard elemental magic is your specialty, so the role fits perfectly. You don't need to synchronize too much. That mage of ours always acted on his own anyway. Still, he never disrupted the team and even helped. You only need to keep pace moderately. Ah, your glass is empty. Another Scotch whisky here!"
"Yes, right away!"
Skald accepted the whisky from the server and downed it in one go.
Whether his tolerance was high or not, he wiped his lips casually and continued speaking.
"The pay is quite good. The expedition will take around two to five days. Meals provided. For eight Forest Wyverns, including the leader, plus four Ogres and one Twin-headed Ogre, the base reward is forty million Elk. Beyond that, two million Elk per additional Wyvern, three million per Ogre."
"That's quite the pay."
"We have a dismantling specialist. Not a single material is wasted. Once valued and split by the headcount, that's about right. Of course, there'll be minor costs, but let's skip that. In addition, any other demi-humans or abnormal species, if their danger level approaches that of Ogres or Wyverns, we'll count them in the reward. Of course, we can't put a bounty on every single goblin."
The conditions were reasonable.
No need to haggle. And a battle at Mithril-rank… it was something worth seeing, even if he had to pay to witness it.
Verden nodded in agreement.
"I accept."
"Haha, a bold decision! Then, let's work well together."
Skald raised his glass, and Verden clinked it with his.
***
Early morning, the gates of Asern.
The adventurers, gathered earlier than the appointed time, chatted among themselves. Vermin elbowed Skald's back in admiration.
"Wow, you really managed to find a mage in a day? How'd you do it?"
"Hehe, that's the magic of alcohol."
"But who is it? You didn't just bring some nobody, did you?"
Archer Rubina asked with her arms crossed.
Skald shook his head firmly.
"Never. I bet everyone here has at least heard the name once. Asher…"
"Asher? The mage from Gray? The one who subjugated Bajes?"
"Oh, I've heard that name before as well."
Priest Kedian spoke.
"I heard he's a rising figure in Asern recently. Every request he takes is resolved within a day. He's a 4th-tier elemental mage, and also handles lightning magic."
"A high-rank attribute?"
"Yes, lightning is also 4th-tier."
"For real? No wonder he managed to kill Bajes. Where's he from anyway?"
Kedian shrugged.
"That, I don't know. But probably not from the kingdom… if he's from overseas, maybe the principality? It's the closest after all."
"Is that so? I don't care much about the principality, so I wouldn't know. Anyway, Skald, what's that Asher mage like? He's not another Geltone, is he?"
Geltone was the party's mage.
The one who broke their subjugation promise claiming he had research to do. Still, since he did his job well when necessary, they tolerated him. But a similarly selfish, unpredictable stranger mage would be unacceptable.
"Well, I only met him yesterday, so I can't say much, but he seemed quite composed. Even spoke politely. And…"
"And?"
"He was rather handsome. Just like… yes, like the kind of mage I imagined as a child. His blue eyes shone with intelligence. From what I judged, he seemed like a rare good mage. His skill remains to be seen though."
Skald's unexpectedly high praise.
The party members each fell into thought, their anticipation growing.
Just what kind of person was he?
And a moment later, as the appointed time drew near, Verden appeared.
"Oh…"
Even beyond what Skald had described, his presence left the party members silent, save for Skald.
"I am a little late."
"Late? What nonsense! It's not even the appointed time yet. Come, come, greet our members first."
Verden introduced himself briefly and exchanged greetings with the adventurers.
Then, he received a simple rundown of the team's roles and formation.
"You've already memorized it? As expected of a mage, you're quick-witted. Well then, if you're ready, we depart."
Verden and Skald's group stepped out of the city gates on foot.