Volume 1 - CH 9

Chapter 9 – I Tried To Take A Bunch of Quests In The City

About ten days have passed since then.

I’ve gotten used to life in Aunen to a certain extent, but there have been some changes.

First of all, my adventurer rank.

Originally, I was ranked F, but as recognition of my achievements up to this point, I skipped the E rank and became a D-ranked adventurer.

Usually, it takes three months to advance from F to E, and another year to advance from E to D. Milia said, “This is the fastest promotion in history! Isn’t that amazing?” She was as happy as if it were her own rank.

“I think it’s okay to jump up to rank C when it comes to Kou-san’s ability, but there are many complications with going from D to C…”

In order to become a C rank, you need to complete several specific quests, according to Milia.

For example, you need to complete 50 subjugation quests, 50 gathering quests, 20 town quests, and so on.

Town quests are jobs to do with “anything in town,” such as helping with the expansion of Aunen, cleaning up ditches, and even working as a waiter or chef at the Golden Bear Restaurant.

It doesn’t seem like the kind of work you’d expect to find from an adventurer, but I guess the adventurers and the Adventurer’s Guild are trying to improve their image by doing community-based work such as this.

Incidentally, I’ve been doing a lot of town quests lately.

This is partly because it’s a requirement for C rank, but it’s also to learn the common sense of this world. No matter how many times I did subjugation and gathering quests, I could never acquire common sense.

Although the rewards for the town quests are low, I’m not having trouble earning a living at the moment. This is because the Adventurer’s Guild paid me the rewards for killing an Armored Bear, as well as the Black Spider.

The total was about 800,000 Komsa. That’s a hell of a lot of money.

Now, the first job of the day was to help out at the Golden Bear Restaurant.

I found out when I started working there that the owner is a former adventurer who opened the restaurant with the aim of making it a place for adventurers, and operated by adventurers.

“Oh, brother bear? Did you come to help us again today?”

“Good morning, owner. Please take care of me.”

“I told you already; you don’t need to be so polite. It’s fine for adventurers to be pompous, you know. At any rate, go to the kitchen and prepare food until lunchtime. I’m counting on you.”

“I understand… I mean, okay, just leave it to me.”

I opened my [Item Box] and took out a certain item.

──It’s a Male Lonely Wolf’s Apron.

The other day, I killed a lot of Lonely Wolf males, and I used their fur to create this. The effects are《Cooking Mastery S》,《Cleaner Mastery A》and《Laundry Mastery A+》. I find it useful in many daily situations.

I changed into my uniform in the changing room and wrapped the male lone wolf apron over it.

My preparations are complete, and I’m off to the battlefield.

In addition to the owner’s wife, a blonde-haired female adventurer was also working on the preparation.

“Oh my, Kou-chan, you came in today too.”

The owner’s wife always has a smiling face, giving her the air of a kind old lady. However, she is very scary when she gets angry. Just the other day, she gave two adventurers a good beating when they started a fight in the restaurant and threw them out.

“Can you cut the vegetables first? With you here, the preparation will go faster.”

“Understood. I’ll do my best to live up to your expectations.”

Adventurers are not supposed to use polite language, but I still can’t get over my habit as a Japanese.

Also, I can’t help but feel uncomfortable talking to the owner’s wife in a pompous manner.

“Yahoo. Kou-chi.”

The female adventurer was peeling potatoes, but she gave me a slight wave when she turned to me. It was the second time I had met this girl. We had met a few days ago in the kitchen of the Golden Bear Restaurant.

She seemed to be in a light-hearted mood, but I heard that her dream was to become a wife. She says she is training to be a bride through a town quest in order to eventually get a nice husband.

Her long blond hair is tied up in a ponytail, and she wears an apron, giving her an adorable “young wife” look.

“Hmm? What’s up, Kou-chi? Could it be that you were gazing at me?”

“Well, something like that.”

“Fufufu, you’re making me happy. I’ll do my best today.”

The female adventurer hummed as she peeled the potatoes.

I’ll have to work hard, too.

I picked up a knife.

With the combination of [Dexterity] and《Cooking Mastery S》, a master chef is born here.

“Whoooaaa!”

I mass-produced cabbage slices at an unbelievable speed, cut up the chicken for the fried chicken, and simmered the soup for the lunch service at the same time.

I didn’t cook much when I was in Japan, but it’s surprisingly fun to try.

Eventually, lunchtime arrived, and as usual, the restaurant was immediately full. Orders came in rapid succession, and I took care of them one by one.

“You’re really working fast, aren’t you? I can’t lose to you, too. I will wash all the dishes!”

Thanks to the diligent work of the female adventurer, we were able to get through lunchtime without incident.

While I was enjoying the satisfaction of having finished my work, the owner brought me a meal to eat.

“This sandwich is a new menu item today. Let me know what you think later. …Well, I guess it’s easier to work with you, bear brother. Thanks a lot. As a thank you, I’ll give you a generous reward for your quest.”

“Is that okay?”

“Of course. Good work deserves good pay. That’s what makes a man worthwhile.”

The owner grinned.

Good work deserves good pay. That’s a phrase I’d like to hear from the management of my company before.

Well, this completes the first quest of the day. Let’s head to the next town quest.

By the way, the owner’s new sandwich was a so-called clubhouse sandwich — toasted bread with lettuce, tomato, thinly sliced egg, and roasted chicken.

The chicken was made from Aunen’s local chicken, and the taste was unquestionably excellent.

The second town quest was to help with the expansion of the city walls.

This is the fifth time I’ve been assigned this task.

When I arrived at the foreman’s office, I was greeted by a bearded man with great joy.

He is a dwarf… a short, cheerful man who specializes in blacksmithing and all things manufacturing.

“I’ve been waiting for you, Kou! I’ll be counting on you again today!”

“Okay. Can I get started right away?”

“Yeah! All good!”

The population of Aunen is rapidly increasing, and it is becoming overcrowded. On top of that, the city walls are deteriorating, so the existing walls are being torn down for the town’s expansion.

In the past, the remnants of the walls had been disposed of in the mountains to the north, but that took a lot of manpower and time, and there was also the possibility of encountering monsters.

That’s where I come in.

If I collect the wreckage in my unlimited capacity [Item Box], everything will be fine.

Incidentally, the wreckage may be used as a material for [Creation], so I’m keeping it instead of throwing it away.

Of course, I’ve gotten permission from the foreman and his superiors.

I have one more job to do. After I finished collecting the wreckage, I headed to the east side of the city.

There were a bunch of dwarves’ workshops located here and they were producing bricks for the city walls.

One of my tasks was receiving these bricks and carrying them to the site – another task where the [Item Box] was also very helpful.

“I’m always amazed by your [Item Box]. All those bricks disappeared in an instant.”

“Thanks for all your hard work. Do you want to have something to drink before you go back to the site?”

“I’ve got some good liquor. Here, have a drink to cheer you up.”

I was grateful for the dwarves’ kindness, but I was not comfortable with the idea of drinking alcohol while on duty.

When I declined their hospitality in desperation, they said, “Come visit us any time! We are always having a good drink at night!” I’ll pay them a visit one of these days.

* * *

When I finished transporting the bricks, the foreman thanked me profusely.

“Thanks to you, the construction is going smoothly. We really appreciate it. …Can you come back in three days for the next one?”

“No problem. I’ll keep my schedule open.”

“Oh! That’s great! I’ll send out another quest for you. There’ll be an extra reward, so make sure you take it.”

With this, I had completed all of today’s town quests and returned to the Adventurer’s Guild.

The lobby was still crowded with adventurers, and everyone was friendly and helpful.

“Yo, doing town quests again today? I know it’s necessary for rank advancement, but it’s tough. So, do your best.”

“I heard you were working in the kitchen of the Golden Bear Restaurant. The soup was delicious.”

We exchanged a few words as I headed to the back of the office. At one of the counters was Milia, who smiled when she saw me.

“Welcome back, Kou-san. How was your quest?”

“It went well. Please put the reward in my guild account.”

The Adventurer’s Guild also offers banking services, and accounts can be opened at D rank.

The rewards for defeating Armored Bear and Black Spider… approximately 800,000 Komsa had been deposited in the guild’s bank account.

“I understand! Then I’ll put the rewards together for a total of 60,000 Komsa into your account, Kou-san!”

60,000 Komsa today alone; I’ve earned quite a bit.

Basically, town quests are low-paying, but when you get a special request for the town expansion project, the pay jumps several times higher than usual.

It’s a big job that requires a lot of manpower and time to collect debris and transport bricks, but it’s easy for me to handle, so I guess they want to keep me around.

“This is the twentieth time you’ve completed a town quest, which is enough for promotion to C rank, but if you’d like to continue to accept town quests, that would be great. This is just between you and me; Kou-san has a very good reputation with the people in the city. You are also very polite.”

“Work is work, you know. I don’t cut corners.”

“Fufu, I think they appreciate your seriousness. I’m happy for you.”

Milia has a very happy smile on her face. It was as warm as sunshine, and just looking at it blew away my fatigue from the day.

However, I feel bad about interrupting her work, so I’m going to leave early.

“Well, I’d better get going.”

“Yes! See you tomorrow! Goodbye!”

After saying our goodbyes, I left the counter.

Just at that moment, a woman with red hair approached me.

It’s an A-ranked adventurer from the dragon-folk… Iris Fafnir.

“Good work, Kou. Are you done for the day?”

“Yeah. What about you, Iris?”

“I’ve just finished a quest myself. …Um, do you have any plans now? Would you like to have dinner somewhere with me? I’m not forcing you, of course.”

“No, I’m fine with dinner.”

“Good.”

At first glance, Iris’s expression was plain as usual, but her lips were slightly lifted.

“We’ll go then. Is there anything you want to eat?”

“Meat, I think. Actually, I’m in the mood for beef, not chicken.”

“I know a good place for that. Follow me.”

Iris turned to leave the Adventurer’s Guild with a light step. I started walking alongside her.

Lately, Iris and I have been going out for dinner a lot.

Or rather, almost every day.

Iris always says, “What a coincidence,” or “I just finished my quest,” but according to the other adventurers, she finishes her quests rather early and then waits for someone at the corner of the lobby. And by someone, I mean me.

If I had been younger, I would have mistakenly thought that Iris might be interested in me, but… I think we’re just genuinely friends.

Iris led me to a small restaurant called “Silver Stag Restaurant”.

The restaurant was crowded, but fortunately, we were able to sit down right away.

As soon as we were shown to our table, I ordered the owner’s recommendation. The “Toue Beef Stew”.

Apparently, Toue is the name of a town just east of here.

The restaurant was crowded, but the food was brought out rather quickly.

The beef was tender and pleasant to chew, and the sweet beef stew enhanced the flavor. In addition to the beef, there were carrots and broccoli, all of which were tender.

Bread was included as a service, so I dipped it in the leftover beef stew and savored it.

“…It’s good. No complaints.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

Iris ordered the same dish, and we finished almost at the same time. After the meal, we sipped sweet wine and chatted with each other.

“By the way, why did you come to this city?”

“It’s not like I had a purpose. It just happened. What about Iris?”

“I’m, uh…”

Iris has been holding her tongue for some reason.

Is there some kind of complicated situation?

“You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to.”

“It’s not like that. …I’m looking for the ruins of an ancient civilization.”

“Ancient civilization?”

“A long time ago, there was an advanced magical civilization on this continent. They say that life was much more prosperous back then compared to now and that they were never threatened by monsters.”

I nodded at Iris’ story, but inwardly I was a little excited.

A highly developed ancient civilization is one of the most popular settings in fantasy. The ruins must be filled with over-technological ancient weapons. Just thinking about it makes my heart jump.

“The ancient civilization eventually perished, but there are traces of it all over the continent. According to recent research, there is a huge underground city near Aunen.”

“So that’s what Iris is looking for.”

“That’s right. There are some songs and documents that can give me a clue, and the scholars in the royal capital are looking into it, but I don’t have a definitive location yet. If anyone discovers an underground city, it will go down in history.”

“History or not, an ancient civilization sounds interesting.”

I drank the rest of the wine in my glass and activated [Auto Mapping] in a slightly drunken mood. This is a new skill that was unlocked when I defeated the Black Spider before.

A semi-transparent window appeared in front of me, displaying a map of the area around Aunen.

“Kou? What’s that pale blue thing?”

“It’s a map of the area. Do you want to see it?”

“Is that okay? Then I’ll take up your offer.”

At this point, we were sitting facing each other in a four-seater, but Iris got up and sat down next to me. Our shoulders lightly touched each other. Iris seemed to have been drinking, and her white nape, exposed and unprotected, was tinged with a light red.

“What’s wrong, Kou?”

“…Nothing.”

I turned my gaze to the map window.

By the way, [Auto Mapping] is quite multifunctional, you can specify the destination, and it will guide you to the route.

I said, almost jokingly. “Tell me the location of the underground city.”

Oh, well…

If it were that easy, no one would have any trouble.

“…Hmm?”

I couldn’t help but be puzzled.

The window showed a map of the southeastern forest… of Cello Forest, with a blue dot of light marking the far end of the map. Just above the light spot, there was a note that was written.

──”Entrance to No. 0 Underground City”.

Iris and I looked at each other.

“Iris, what do you think?”

“…If there really is an entrance to the underground city, it would be an amazing discovery.”

“Do you want to try it out tomorrow?”

“Yes, let’s do it.”

We decided to call it a night and get some rest.

Tomorrow, we will meet at the Adventurer’s Guild at nine in the morning. I have to be sure not to be late.