Shinka no Mi

Chapter 32 – Information Gathering

[Ha….]

I Hiiragi Seiichi, was worried as I ate breakfast. The source of my trouble —-

[Oh….tsu!]

— is Altria. Just now, Altria who had walked out of her room, quickly diverted her eyes, leaving the inn at a hurried pace after catching sight of me and Saria.

[…..I was completely avoided….]

Well, it did seem like a proposal.

And if you say it can’t be helped, then I guess it can’t be helped.

In addition to being confused, if you look at it objectively, a terribly bold thing was done.

To iron out the misunderstandings of yesterday, I wanted to meet her. But I mean still, being avoided is painful in various ways. I mean, it’s sad.

[How should I do it….]

Saria, who had continued to eat her meal silently up until now, opened her mouth.

[It’s ok Seichii, because she doesn’t hate you]

Because Saria said so with a smile, my mind felt at ease a little.

[Thank you, however why did you say such a thing?]

[Hmm…wild intuition?]

[Wild?!]

Not a woman, but!? No, because she is a gorilla, that might be right…….!

My surprise state seemed fascinating as it drew Mary, the poster girl of this inn whom was curious.

[Ne~ene~e, did you do something to Altria?]

[Eh?]

[Because Altria is avoiding Seichii…. Isn’t it natural to think that way?]

[That is…]

Due to Mary’s sharpness, I hesitate instinctively. At this, Mary approached showing interest as she questioned me further.

[Then? What happened? Worries about the relationship between a man and a woman? Seiichi is unexpectedly popular. She is a beauty too….]

[Err, even if you say that…..]

Mary seems to be a girl who is interested in love stories. I didn’t expect that i would be made her target….

[No, it isn’t such a grand thing…..]

[Aya? Do you not see it like that? What happened? ~Nn? Won’t you say?]

[What on Earth are you!?]

To Mary who had asked many times, I tsukkomi-ed.

As I continued to evade the onslaught of questions from Mary. The owner of the inn, Fina who is Mary’s mother got angry at her for not working and so she reluctantly returned.

[Fu….. incidentally …..Saria, how do you do today?]

[Nn?]

[After all, the subjugation mission was cancelled. Are you still going to become a guild member?]

Saria got a formal guild card yesterday from Gassur and had the explanation of the guild along with me.

In short. There are ranks in the guild applied to both adventurers and requests.

F is the lowest rank, then E…D…C…B…A then finally S. Saria and I started from the lowest rank, F.

A request can only be received if it is at the same rank or one above oneself.

It’s possible to receive many requests at once, however the maximum is 3 at any one time.

If the rank of the request is the same as me, I need to succeed 10 times to rank up.

If it is one above, I only need to succeed 5 times.

While it may be true that you have to register with the guild to get requests, you don’t have to take any unless expressly asked.

At this, I was a little relieved.

Because my purpose was to thoroughly collect information, I can’t only focus on requests.

Besides, I wasn’t interested in taking any requests at this time, so I thought I’d collect a little information.

That was my plan, however…. Saria seems to have another idea.

[Well….I want to go to the orphanage today.]

[Did you receive a request?]

[Yes. Clare said i was always welcome. Even if there’s no request, I can come]

[Is that so? then let’s split up for today. Will you be careful?]

[Yes!~]

Being satisfied with Saria’s answer, I finished my breakfast at once and began gathering information immediately.

◆◇◆

[As I thought, this town is really lively….]

That was the impression I got as I separated from Saria at the inn.

People cheerfully conducting business at their stalls. Aunts making small talk.

Everyone was smiling, a scene not thought about on Earth due to work and study.

In a country such as this, do slums even exist?

I don’t want to think like that, but if there is light, there is also a shadow. I wanted to believe there were no slums, but as I didn’t know the country well, I couldn’t prove it.

[Oh, will I even be able to investigate today…?]

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Whilst thinking of such things, the town began to get noisy.

[Hmm? What?]

The usual liveliness of the town seemed to be different.

As I listened carefully, a woman’s scream could be heard.

[Whoa, why did the town become dangerous when I just thought it was a good town.]

Whilst thinking so, I turned my attention to the commotion.

[Stoppppppppppp!]

[Quick! Chase him!]

[Hahaha! You can’t catch me! Freedom is the best!]

[If you think freedom is the best, then wear some clothes!]{TLN: Ummm….}

What came into view was a stark naked Ossan being chased by Claude and some men dressed in matching armour.

The ossan in question was the one with the dangerous lolicon in the guild.

He was running through the bustling crowd, with a refreshing smile on his face.

Looking into the surroundings, women were looking away with crimson faces, whilst men showed a wry smile.

[I will not permit this today!]

[I’ll throw you in prison no matter what it takes!]

[What a dangerous thing to say, however I will get away! With the right heart and mind, you can go anywhere…..!]

[Where are you going to go? Just get dressed!]

[Rejected!]

[Why!?]

[My body and soul are crying to be stark naked…!]

[Pointless!]

During that exchange of words, the group of armoured troops and the stark naked ossan ran right in front of me.

………

[Fuu…today is peaceful….]

As I murmured so, I started to walk towards the guild. Tsukkomi? doing so might be pointless.

Along the way, there were no more of those type of events. Whilst thinking so, I stepped foot into the guild.

Surprisingly, the pervert didn’t seem to be in today. Ellis also was standing behind the receptionist’s desk as usual.

However, Gassur is standing next to the desk, striking various poses. I wonder if he’s doing work.

Whilst considering why Gassur was the guild master, I decided to speak to Gassur as he was the person I needed to speak to.

[Good morning, Gassur]

[Unh? Oh, it’s Seiichi! Various things happened yesterday, are you tired?]

[Hmm, I’m ok]

My stats are monster class.

[Is that so, come to think of it, Saria doesn’t seem to be with you today]

[Saria decided to go to the orphanage today]

[I see, then what is Seichii doing?]

As Gassur had questioned me, I decided to gather some information

[Actually, I want to gather a little bit of information. I think Gassur being the guild master should know some]

[Hmmm, information…]

In response to my words, Gassur gestured as if in deep thought.

I had thought as much, there is some information that can be easily given, but there is also some which is difficult to obtain.

As i was thinking such things, Gassur looks up and says to me.

[There is an introductory course on how to efficiently put on muscle, would you like to sign up?]

[That’s not the information I want!?]

Because he was thinking unusually seriously, I thought I was going to get some good information. I mean really is it so complex it needs an introductory course!?

Gassur seems to be surprised by my reaction.

[Uh? What information besides that exists?]

[THERE IS! You’re the strange one, you know? Why are we talking like I’m the weird one here!]

I Tsukkomi at full force as Ellis came to work at the reception.

[It is so. Such good for no-good information, and you wonder why no-one requests it? Only a muscle manic like you would…]

[Good for nothing!?]

At Ellis’ words, Gassur became visually depressed. He does look like a muscular daruma doll though…

However, it was good there was someone that had common sense like Ellis. When she’s got a whip she’s nothing but a pervert but otherwise she’s a rare member of the guild whom you can talk to normally.

I pulled myself together and thanked Ellis.

[Oh Ellis, I also said this to Gassur, but I’m looking for a little information…]

[I see, I understand]

[Oh!]

[There’s an introductory course in S & M….do you want to sign up?]

[Not you too!]

I was foolish to have any expectations!

Ellis whom receives a tsukkomi, shudders for some reason.

[I take pride in my S & M lecture…… it is overwhelmingly popular…]

[Am I strange? Hey, am I strange?]

I instinctively say the same thing twice. I mean, how astonished Ellis seems is abnormal.

Are there no more decent human beings?…

To me who showed a troubled face, Gassur smiled.

[Oh, I was only joking.]

[Say that from the start!]

I felt like punching him, but I decided against it.

[You want information? Well, the current news is not worth mentioning. There’s no new information either.]

[In that case, please tell me about the big events that have happened in the past half year here]

[Half year? in that case…]

The reason why I said half a year is because that was the time when I was in the 【Forest of endless love and grief】.

If there was a hero moving in between this period, I wanted to know. Also, it might seem strange to ask about the hero directly. I figured the hero should be known to at least some extent.

Gassur who had been seriously thinking about the events this past year began to tell me.

[….umu. Well, the biggest event is probably the Isel empire successfully summoning a hero.]

[I’ve also heard of that]

[!]

Bingo.

The information I wanted came out surprisingly easily.

[Hero summoning….]

Really, how do you not know such a thing? Was the attitude they seemed to emit.

[Oh? Don’t you know about the hero summoning?]

[Hm…]

[Is that so? it was quite a big affair. Well, if you don’t know, I guess I’ll teach you]

[The Isel empire summoned a man from a different world, to subjugate the revived demon king.]

[…My words…]

Gassur, who was depressed after having his words stolen by Ellis is disregarded as I listen about the demon king.

[What is the demon king?]

[Eh? You don’t know?]

[Well…I just came to this country….]

When you are issued your guild card, you don’t have to write your home town. Because of that, it is very easy to lie, however my conscience hurts.

[I that so? Well, simply put the demon king is the leader of the demons]

[Leader of the demons…]

[What type of existence is it? Well, I don’t know, perhaps you can find more detailed information in the library?]

[I see]

Library…. On Earth i found reading to be irrelevant, however i had taken an interest in this other worlds library.

However was it a devil group? Bell that I met in the forest near this town? I feel like they were definitely the demon squad suicide team. As I was thinking such a thing, I suddenly noticed.

[Oh, is the Isel Empire the ones who summon the heroes to fight the demon king?]

[That’s right]

[Then what are the other countries counter-measures?]

If the demon king is as brutal as they say he is, is it really ok for people to be living life so unconcerned?

For me who knows the past of the Black Dragon God, i don’t get the impression that he is brutal at all.

To my question Gassur answered.

[There are also hero summons in other countries, however our country doesn’t summon heroes]

[Is that really ok?]

[You shouldn’t worry. This country has two of the strongest knights. One of them never leaves the king’s side, whilst the other is a genius in defence. Even if the demon king attacked this town, it’s unlikely we’d be defeated.]

That’s incredible.

Was there really such a strong knight in this country……

What kind of knight is it? As I was thinking this, Gassur continues.

[Moreover there are a few demon S-Rank adventurers]

[Really!?]

Demon S-rank…something like that is cool.

In general, if it’s a demon, isn’t it evil?

It seems my inner thoughts leaked as Gassur floated a smile.

[Although we don’t know what type of existence the demon king is, is it okay to deny someone because they’re a demon?]

In the memory of the Black Dragon God, it seems humans could be worse than the demon king.

But Gassur doesn’t seem to be worrying about the demon army.

I thought about Altria, in such a guild where strong personalities gather. I’m sure the demon king probably doesn’t matter.

Gassur that runs such a guild, although he never looks like he’s working. Perhaps he’s more capable than I thought.

[Also, the king of this country seems to have many connections with other races, the demon army included. Well, since he’s been revived, it doesn’t seem like friendly relations can be made. Because people never suffered damage from the demon army directly, it seems the king’s idea was favourable amongst the people.]

[…..]

Usually, the demon king is a hated existence much different from man. However, it looks like I don’t need to worry. Though it is filled with perverts, they understand Altria, me and Saria, they must be good guys. I was pretty impressed so far, Gassur continued.

「……」

[Also, since the summoning of the hero various technologies have been drastically improved.]

[How?]

[From the Earth where the heroes live, various technologies spread across the Isel Empire. Clothes, weapons, meals and entertainment were improved.]

[…….]

Hey Hero! Be a little prudent! …is what I wanted to say, but!

[But the Isel empire didn’t monopolise the technology]

I honestly didn’t expect that.

Because the country where the heroes were summoned seems to be very selfish.

Whilst thinking this, Gassur continued with a wry smile.

[Haha! Of course the Isel empire tried to monopolise it, because the technology far surpasses any other country. Everyone knows the importance of possessing it.]

[Then, why?]

[The merchant’s spirit, the empire was not able to suppress it]

Merchant’s spirit?

[The merchants, how did they make it known without permission?]

[Well it’s the consequence of being a merchant]

[It’s a merchant’s work to sell goods and make profit. Doesn’t the merchant who moves to a different country first to sell the new technology make the most profit? There is far too much competition in the Isel empire.]

[Certainly….]

Of course, in a country without advanced technology, any new improved technology is going to sell for easy money.

[Therefore, the technology that the hero brought in, spread to many different countries. Although, the merchants certainly risked their lives to make the technology widely known…]

Well… the Isel empire is an unsophisticated country like that.

When thinking about the people’s wellbeing, it’s understandable that you wouldn’t want the technology to spread. However, I don’t know the details of the domestic affairs.

I secretly consented to this inside my head, Gassur unexpectedly remembered something.

[Ah, Seiichi]

[Nn?]

[Do you have a horse yet?]

[Horse?]

By horse… does he mean the animal?

Although that was what instinctively came to mind, this is a different world.

From my appearance, Gassur must have guessed that I don’t have a horse. However, I don’t know why he said such a thing so suddenly.

[As an F-rank adventurer, it’s better to have a horse. You’re likely to be travelling to do requests]

[Ha? I don’t particularly need a horse]

After all, I don’t really plan on working seriously in the guild.

Besides, most of my request have been subjugation missions. I don’t really intend on travelling around a lot.

Also, travelling by horse is slower than my running speed…it’s ridiculous.

[I guess you’re right. But with your ability, what would happen if you get chosen for an escort mission?]

[!?]

At the words of Gassur, I felt nervous.

Why did he say ability? My status should be camouflaged……

I didn’t know if my status was seen through, so Gassur explained.

[Well… that’s what Altria said.]

[Eh? What did you say?]

[Hm? Well she said “Although I don’t know why, it seems like Seiichi is hiding his true abilities. He managed to defeat something even I could not defeat. Without that ability, I doubt any of us would have returned”]

[…..]

[Well, you should be ok right now anyway. However, nobles don’t leave such strong men alone. I have a contact that can get you some escort missions if you like. You could become a person of great influence one day.]

[…..there is no need to do such a thing.]

If I did that, I would feel like a total cheat.

Gassur seem to think I’m very strong, regardless he continues.

[Anyway, if you receive an envoy request, you will undoubtedly have to move a long distance. If you’re attacked by thieves, you may have to run away. Therefore, amongst adventurers, the horse is one of their most valuable tools.]

[Hee~ even if i buy a horse now, i have nowhere to put it….]

[Well aren’t you staying at the Tree of Peace like Altria?]

[There’s probably a stable in the back there. It costs a little bit of money, but in return they look after your horse]

Wait, really?

Although it doesn’t seem necessary right now, just like Gassur said, there might be a time when I need one.

When I’m amongst other people I can use the horse, and when I’m alone I can just run.

[Then, I’ll buy a horse]

[Oh, do you have enough money with you? I’ll give you some advice. Is that ok?]

[It’s alright, I have enough money]

[Is that so? then wait just a moment]

Saying that, Gassur disappears into the interior of the guild. When he returns, he is holding a sheet of paper.

[This is a map that shows the place where they sell horses. It also shows where the library, smith and second hand goods shops are.]

[Oh, thank you]

Forgive me for thinking you did no work.

[Is there anything else you’d like to ask?]

[I’m ok for now. If I think of something else, I’ll be relying on you]

When I say that, Gassur and Ellis nod repeatedly.

[I see! If you ever want to join my introductory course for muscle building, feel free!]

[You’re also welcome to join my S & M lecture]

[That’s good]

After exchanging goodbyes, I left the guild.