Guarding Kounatsu

Hikaru didn’t stay at the inn that Alice reserved for them. While it was high-class and comfortable, they had to wear masks at all times.

Hikaru and the girls woke up in a hotel slightly inferior in quality, but still too pricey for the average adventurer, and had breakfast at the hotel’s restaurant while discussing today’s plans.

「Take care.」Hikaru said.

「You two as well.」Lavia replied.

They wanted to make the trip to the capital worth it and at least go do some sightseeing—away from the watchful eyes of the empire, of course. Hikaru walked down the streets with Paula, feeling refreshed without his mask on.

Lavia was headed to the national library, as expected, while Hikaru and Paula were on the way to the Adventurers Guild. His muscles had gone dull from the long travel. He needed to find a commission that could provide for some good exercise.

「Hikaru-sama. Isn’t that the guy from yesterday?」

Just like yesterday, many adventurers were coming and going to the guild. They spotted a familiar guy at the commission counter.

「Please, I beg you. Can I not pay for the outgoing trip? There’s no danger. Come on, young lady.」

「As I have suggested, you may hire guards from the town where you need them. And I’m not a young lady.」

It was the hook-nosed young man from yesterday. The guild receptionist—she looked young because of her child-like face—seemed troubled by his insistence.

「Let me repeat my explanation: I’m going to Treeland, a rural town. You know the place, right? There aren’t any skilled adventurers there. I’m sure you understand where I’m coming from.」

「Then I suggest you recruit some adventurers here. But if you do, you will have to pay for the whole trip. Also, I’m not a young lady.」

「Please help a man out. It’s not dangerous going there. I guarantee that. They can even sleep in the carriage if they want. If I pay for a round trip, the price of kounatsu will go up. I’m sure we don’t want that. I understand you don’t want me calling you young lady. May I ask what your name is then?」

「Like I’ve been saying…」

Nino the merchant was trying to haggle for the cost of the guard mission. Since there wasn’t anything to guard on the way there, he insisted to pay only for the return trip.

The guild couldn’t agree to his terms. Since they would only be wasting their time on the way there, no adventurer would want to take the commission. Poor-quality commissions like this one had to be rejected at the reception desk, or the Adventurers Guild’s function would be put to question.

Tired of going around in circles, the receptionist tried to leave, when two adventurers—one brawny with a skin head, and another with a crushed eye—stood up and walked towards her. They were planning to get rid of the man troubling her by force.

Oh, crap. That guy doesn’t know.

Hikaru left Paula and made a move.

「Nino! There you are!」He made his voice loud on purpose.

「Huh? Who are y—」

「Come on, now. I told you to just hire me directly without going through the guild. Let’s take this somewhere else, shall we?」

「Uh, I don’t recall—Oh, damn. You’re pretty strong for someone slender!」

Hikaru pulled on Nino’s arm. With 3 points on his Strength stat, Hikaru was just as strong as a mid-level adventurer.

「I apologize, young lady. This guy is a bit of a goofball. Sorry for the trouble, guys.」

Hikaru bowed to the receptionist and the two adventurers as well. Scoffing, the men returned to their seats.

「I’m not a young lady.」the receptionist grumbled.

When they made it far enough from the guild, Hikaru let go of Nino’s arm.

「What are you doing?! I have to ask the Adventurers Guild for adventurers to guard my kounatsu—」

「Weren’t you listening? They told you they can’t accept such a commission. Or is that what you would call a merchant negotiating? Insisting on what you want while ignoring what the other party is saying?」

Nino winced at Hikaru’s words.

Hikaru sighed.「I understand you’re in a hurry, but do you mind running the situation by me? I might be able to help you.」

「But you’re just a young boy.」

Hikaru showed his guild card.

【Adventurer’s Guild Card】

【Name】Hikaru

【Registration】Pond Adventurers Guild, Kingdom of Ponsonia

【Rank】D

【Job Class】□▲ヲヘェイ%2○※

The class part was garbled because he set five classes under the special effect of the Greater Angel class. He covered the class field, of course. Nino didn’t find it suspicious as it was common for adventurers to hide their classes.

「Rank D at your age?! That’s amazing.」

People were only recognized as full-fledged adventurers once they were rank D. Nino changed his attitude towards Hikaru.

「You showed me your rank. Does that mean you might accept my commission without going through the guild?」

「I’ll hear what you have to say first. So what kind of a job is it?」

Nino wanted to travel to Treeland, a town about a five days’ drive from here, and come back with a carriage full of kounatsu.

「But bandits are targeting kounatsu recently.」he said.「I don’t need guards from the capital to Treeland, since my carriage is empty anyway, but there’s a good chance I’ll be attacked on the way back…」

「Where do these bandits appear?」

「On mountain roads in the Rockland mountain range, down south. You need to cross three mountains in total. I don’t know exactly where they appear.」

「Well if that much is known, why hasn’t anyone deployed a subjugation team to take them down?」

Nino scoffed.「I’ve petitioned for it many times before. But you see, kounatsu are a specialty from the south. The imperial capital won’t move.」

「What do you mean?」

「You don’t know? Most of the territory south of the empire belong to the progressives. They managed to expand their tiny cultivated land and finally raised their specialty product—the kounatsu. This didn’t sit well with the old aristocrats who owned fertile territories around the imperial capital and in the west. They won’t spare their forces to protect kounatsu. So yeah, there you have it.」

Hikaru frowned.

「Hikaru-sama…」Paula whispered.

He nodded. Nino had no reason to lie. It wasn’t unusual for a country to have a decent ruler, and still have rotten nobles.

「Okay. We’ll take the job.」Hikaru said.

「What? Are you sure? I can only pay you for the return trip. Paying for the whole round trip would affect the price of the kounatsu.」

「Fine by me.」

Hikaru didn’t mean to play the saint. He was just a little curious about the inner workings of this empire. He didn’t need to follow his Instinct. He firmly believed the bandits had some reason to attack a carriage of kounatsu that wouldn’t be profitable anyway.

「It sounds like the perfect job to loosen up some muscles.」Hikaru said.

「I also want to have some delicious kounatsu meal at Full Stomach Diner.」Paula added, smiling.

「Huh? Did I mention that I supply konatsu to Full Stomach Diner?」

Nino looked puzzled, so they had to come up with some excuse.