CH 230

The day I had the messenger of Count Daredar respectfully return.

As usual, Tauro and the others went to the Adventurers’ Guild to check on quests, and found an E-ranked quest labeled “urgent”.

“…An investigation quest? The content is, t’o confirm the safety of a village that has been out of contact with its neighbors for a week and to investigate the situation. The bridge leading to the village is down, so civilians can’t easily approach. If there is an incident, please investigate the cause and report it. In addition, if the problem can be resolved, please do so’.”

“For an emergency, the reward is rather small. Do you feel it will be added separately?”

Tauro wondered whether he should choose the client or not.

“The client seems to be a peddler. He must be doing business with this village.”

Ankh looked at the request form over Tauro’s head, and confirmed the client’s name.

“If it’s urgent, we can do it ourselves. If the bridge is down, we’ll have to give them a rope, but Tauro should be able to do that easily, right?”

Aeris suggested that Tauro’s ability could solve the problem.

“It’s true that I can safely hand over the rope. But this is an investigation request, and the client suspects a case, so we have to keep an eye on that as well.”

Tauro cautioned, as the argument seemed to be shifting off topic.

“I agree with Aeris. There are people in need, let’s do it.”

Ragune nodded to Aeris in agreement.

“Like I said, it’s not a request to give them a bridge… What about you Ankh?”

“We’ll have to ask the client for more details. Looking at the map, this village seems to be on the border between Count Daredar’s territory and the neighboring territory, but there is no name on it. It looks like a pretty rural area and will take a lot of work to just get there. But I’ll leave the decision up to leader.”

Ankh was right. We would have to ask the client for more information.

When I asked Kannes, who has the appraiser at the reception, where the client was, she told me that he was staying at the “dwarf’s inn”, so I decided to go see him.

The dining room of the “Dwarf Inn”.

“Are you the adventurers who are accepting our request!?”

The client, who appeared to be a peddler, had a large rucksack beside him.

“Are you going somewhere?”

Tauro noticed the client’s appearance.

“Yes, I’m a peddler. I just stopped here to make a request. This is the domain of Marches, a fellow peddler, so I’m going back to my own domain. Also, I was going to check in in a few days to see how things were going here, but I’m glad It was taken right away.”

The client was relieved and spoke without surprise to Tauro, the child adventurer in front of him.

“I would like to hear more about your request, if that’s all right. The map doesn’t even show the name of the village, and it’s a place I’ve never been to, so it would be helpful if you could tell me how it is.”

Tauro confirms.

“Oh, I call it the Children’s Village, it’s a small village, but it’s full of children. It has a closed atmosphere to the outside, so please be careful in that area when making contact. Also, the road is steep from the halfway point, and the mountain road is steep beyond the fallen bridge”

“Is it a children’s village…?”

“Yes. I think there are about 10 adults and close to 30 children. They are self-sufficient, so I mainly sold general merchandise, seasonings such as salt, and iron tools such as knives. The bridge had collapsed in the past, and the villagers immediately handed over a rope, so I thought it would be okay this time too, but a week passed and there was no sign of that. I got worried and made the request”

The client must be worried about the children, and even though he is a total stranger, he managed to raise the request fee from his meager earnings.

“I understand. It’s basic for us to go and check then report back on the situation, and if something happens, it would be helpful if we could solve it. If we can’t solve it, we’ll come right back. Okay?”

“Of course. I’ll leave it to your judgment.”

“Okay, then we’ll get ready and head out first thing tomorrow morning.”

“Please do so. I have to go to another village where I have a deal, so if you’ll excuse me.”

The client bowed to Tauro and the others and left the “dwarf inn”.

“…almost 30 people, that’s a village with a lot of kids.”

Ankh seemed to be more interested in that than in the request.

“Yes, I think so. Do they take in orphans?”

Aeris pointed out a possibility.

“Taking in children and raising them in an inhospitable place reminds me of the ‘dragon dens’ where the Dragon People would train warriors in the village.”

Ragune compared it to her own village.

“I’m also curious about the existence of the “dragon pit” that Ragune mentioned, but with that point made, I can see the possibility that it could possibly be some sort of educational facility….. Anyway, everyone needs to be ready to go first thing tomorrow morning….”

Anyway, we will investigate and report back.

Tauro reminded them that this was the request they had accepted.