Kays Translations

Chapter 147

“It’s lucky we got this sudden request.”

“Yeah. Uh… it’s from the Concon Trading Company, right? Escort duty?”

“Apparently, they suddenly got a transport job and need to leave right away.”

While looking through requests we could take along the way to Isbel, we found a newly posted escort request, so we decided to accept it.

It seems they’re a trading company from outside Lindblum. They were originally supposed to transport their goods only as far as this city, but since they decided to continue on the rest of the way themselves, their escort contract had already ended. With no guards left, they urgently needed to recruit new ones.

“This area is the inn street, right? The commercial district is over that way. So they’re not local merchants?”

“Right. They’re traveling merchants.”

“Oh, so they’ve come from really far away then?”

That’s probably the case. I heard they came from the port—maybe even a foreign company.

And so, we headed to the inn on Lindblum’s main street where we were supposed to meet them.

This street was always lively in the morning, with travelers preparing for their journeys. The members of the Concon Trading Company were no exception, busy checking their wagons out front.

It looked like a small caravan: three cargo wagons, plus one carriage for the merchants and drivers. A fairly large group.

Protecting four wagons with just two people… that’ll be tough.

“Good morning. Are you with the Concon Trading Company?”

One of the men doing checks looked up at me.

Oh—he’s a beastman. Seems to be a fox beastman like Melt.

“Oh! You must be the adventurers who accepted our request! Nice to meet you, I’m Koyan, the leader of this caravan. Thank goodness… with only one day to recruit and such a sudden departure, I thought no one would come.”

“I see. And you’ve got four wagons… is it just us guarding them?”

Surprisingly—

“No, you’re the only ones we hired through the guild. But actually, last night we were approached by some kind people nearby who offered to take on escort duty. So including you, there’ll be six of you guarding us.”

Hmm… you can only take guild requests without going through official posting if you’re at least Yellow Topaz rank, and escort jobs are restricted to Jade rank and above… so these people should have some skill.

“Well… according to this country’s rules—”

I started explaining the guild’s escort regulations to Koyan.
But apparently, these people weren’t adventurers or mercenaries—just independents. That’s… suspicious. I’d better keep an eye on them.

“Hey hey! What’s in these wagons? They’re really heavy!”

“Wait, Melt—sorry about her, she’s just curious.”

“Oh? Your companion is a fox girl? What a coincidence! Everyone in our company is fox-beastman too.”

Looking closer, I realized he was right. All the others had fox ears and fluffy tails—white foxes, red foxes, even black foxes. Just looking at them was oddly soothing.

“Wow, really! White foxes, foxes, black foxes… that’s rare!”

“You must be a rare throwback white fox yourself, miss. Where are you from? Sekiryo? Or perhaps even Shijuu?”

“Um… I was born and raised on this continent.”

Aha. Never heard of those places, but judging from the names, they must be beastman countries. Another thing I’ll need to research someday.

“Well, that’s unusual! Fox-beastmen don’t often migrate continents. Anyway, thank you for your help these next four days.”

So we finished preparations and set off, heading out the eastern gate toward Isbel.

“Um… those other guards still haven’t shown up. What happened to them?”

“They said there’s a camp further along the road. We’ll meet them there.”

“Oh, I’ve been there before!”

“Yeah, I know the place too. Don’t worry.”

We rode alongside the lead wagon, chatting with Koyan.

Something about this feels off.

“Koyan-san. I hate to say it, but those other guards sound suspicious. Meeting at a secluded campsite, not affiliated with any group, just offering escort out of the blue… This road to Izbel is infamous for bandit attacks. That’s why there are so many escort jobs here.”

“Oh right, I remember when I took an escort job on this road before—we got ambushed on the way back.”

“Exactly. For the record, Melt and I are among the stronger adventurers in Lindblum right now. We’ll stay alert, but please be on your guard too.”

I gave him the warning just in case. Still, it’s possible they’re just jobless refugees trying to earn money. I shouldn’t assume the worst, but better safe than sorry.

So we reached the eastern campsite… and met the so-called escorts.

“The hell? You already got other guards? You don’t need them. We’ll handle it. You two can go home.”

That’s the first thing out of his mouth.

Normally, we’d defer to the client here… but I already told him to be cautious. Looks like it’s my turn to handle this.

“What’s a bunch of unlicensed hacks babbling about? Want me to call a guild official right now? Escort jobs are restricted to Jade rank and above. You guys think you have that kind of ability?”

“Ha? I don’t give a damn about your rules. I made a contract directly with this merchant.”

“Marching through a bandit-ridden road with guards who have no ID and no proof of ability is reckless. He’s a foreign merchant—he doesn’t know this country’s laws, land, or security.”

“Quit yappin’, punk! Can’t you take a hint? Go home!”

Fine. Then I’ll respond accordingly.

When the man suddenly swung at me, I caught his strike and slammed him into the ground with all my strength.

Before he could recover, I planted my boot on his head and pressed down, slowly adding pressure.

“You idiots don’t even know how to read guild tags, do you? I’m ranked high enough to take lives without hesitation. Amateurs—or bandits—like you don’t stand a chance against me.”

“Agaga… aga… a…”

“Hey, you three. Move and I’ll crush him instantly.”

“Eek!”

The merchants all recoiled in shock… Don’t look at me like that! These guys are probably bandits or something! They were planning to pose as escorts and then attack together with their main group somewhere along the road!

“Same, help! It wasn’t just three followers! I got caught!”

“Huh?”

I turned to see Melt, who had been waiting by the wagons, suddenly grabbed from behind by another man who had appeared out of nowhere, a knife pressed against her.

“Get your foot off my brother! Or I’ll kill this woman!”

“…Melt, you can take him down.”

“Ehh… you’re not even going to help meee?”

Of course, she was just playing around. Melt calmly walked away from the man as if nothing had happened.

Looking closer, the man was already frozen stiff, his body covered in ice and unable to move. I see… she must have manipulated the snow into water or mist, wrapped it around him, and then froze it solid.

“He resisted, so—like this. That makes ‘four left,’ right?”

And so, I handed over the four captured suspects, along with one corpse, to the staff of the campsite.

“Thank you so much… I now realize just how careless we were… Truth be told, this is my first time leaving my own country. This was also my first time being appointed as leader of an expedition team… I should have studied more about foreign safety regulations and systems.”

“That’s true. Honestly, there’s no defending it this time. Since actual combat occurred, I’ll be requesting additional payment. Strictly speaking, you also put my partner in danger through your negligence, and normally you’d need to provide compensation for that—but I’ll let it slide this time. Just be more careful next time.”

“Y-yes… Understood. Still, you are truly strong, Same-san… And Melt-san as well. A natural magic-user—there are only a handful even in my country.”

“Really? Hm…”

Right now Melt was riding in the rear of the caravan, keeping watch. That was her judgment—that things could already turn dangerous at any moment.

“When we arrive, tell me more about your country. We don’t often get foreign information. If you do that, we’ll call it even for this incident.”

“Really!? Of course! Once we reach Isbel, ask me anything you like.”

Well, that’s probably the best compromise. After all, I could have just dragged the suspects to the officials or ignored the campsite altogether and moved on.

Thus, our first day ended without further incident, marching down the flat highway until we made camp for the night.

On the second day, we had to be more cautious since we’d be entering mountain roads. According to Melt, she hadn’t run into trouble on this path last time, but at a cliffside pass further ahead, she had been attacked.

So today, we took extra precautions: Melt dismounted her horse and darted around the forest, using her magic to scout for any signs of danger as she followed alongside.

“By the way, when we were setting out, Melt touched the cargo and said it was heavy. What’s inside? Iron? Ore?”

“Yes, ore from my country. It’s highly sought after by blacksmiths as a material for alloys. It’s used to create lightweight, rust-resistant metals.”

“Oooh!”

Like stainless steel maybe? I don’t know the details, but… interesting.

Blacksmithing, huh… Maybe I should try switching to a ‘Blacksmith’ character at least once.

Honestly, among production professions, the Blacksmith’s class skill isn’t all that powerful.

Cooks and musicians had ridiculously overpowered abilities, but the Blacksmith’s skill is just [Strength Boost], which sounds plain.

Its only effect is halving the required level to equip gear—handy early on, since you can use strong equipment at a lower level. But once you’ve grown, it becomes pretty much useless.

…But if in this world it really works as a literal “strength doubling” skill… maybe it’s worth testing at least once.

After traveling a bit further, we emerged from the forested mountains onto a more open path. Since the visibility was good, we decided to stop and prepare lunch.

This caravan seemed experienced with expeditions, so I wasn’t roped into cooking duty. With the open surroundings, there wasn’t much for me to do—leaving me a bit bored.

“I should’ve brought a book like Melt did…”

Off to the side, Melt sat as if keeping watch on the opposite direction, but she was clearly absorbed in reading. Curious about what she was reading, I walked over—

“! Who’s there!? Don’t look!”

“Whoa! S-sorry…”

“Oh, Same. If it’s you, that’s fine. Were you interested in the book?”

“Y-yeah, kind of…”

Was she reading something embarrassing…?

But the cover read: “Alchemy Dream Wishbook.”

Huh… I think I’ve heard of that before…

“This is an old book on alchemy. My grandmother wrote it. Everyone says things like, ‘It lists impossible materials,’ or ‘It describes medicines that don’t exist,’ so they treat it like a half-fairytale book.”

“Ah—come to think of it, I’ve heard that kind of story before.”

“But this one is probably the real deal. It’s the original draft my grandmother wrote for herself before the book was ever released to the public. That’s why… it has everything in it. Impossible medicines, nonexistent ingredients, secret methods for making catalysts—everything. That’s why I can’t let other people see it.”

“…Yeah, I can see why you wouldn’t.”

The original… so something like that really existed.
And on top of that, Melt herself had mastered that knowledge. She must have collected these books the last time she went back home.

“Hmmm… I remember some of it, but unless I have a trigger to jog my memory, it all feels fuzzy. That’s why I brought it with me. And yeah… looks like it could be useful.”

“I see. This area should be safe, but try not to get too absorbed in your reading, okay?”

“Mm, got it.”

I went back to my post. Now then, what’s for lunch?
Once we pass through here, we’ll be heading into a more winding mountain pass, where the chance of ambush is higher. Better fill up properly and build up some strength.

“…If this medicine works, then maybe… ah, but no, it’s impossible. The ingredients are all far too rare…”

Melt sat alone, absorbed in one particular page of the book.

The medicine was called “The Elixir to Grant Life to Matter.”

For the sake of a certain goal, she quietly set it in her heart as the remedy she must one day create.

Previous chapter | TOC | Next chapter