Chapter 54: A Matter of Feelings 2

An hour had passed since I began the request at the Stacia Trading Company.

The rearrangement was quite extensive. We dismantled the old chairs and desks and assembled new ones.

We also installed additional shelves and replaced the curtains, making it a truly large-scale reorganization.

“Hanna, why are you changing everything all at once?”

“The trading company has hired more people recently, and the old office arrangement had become inconvenient. We decided to change the room’s layout to accommodate the larger staff. We could’ve done it ourselves, but everyone discussed it and submitted the request because we thought it would finish much faster if you came.”

In truth, they seemed to have enough people even without me.

I therefore decided to contribute the cleaning ability they expected from me and make the office spotless.

The work continued, and we finished rearranging everything about three hours after I arrived.

“Hmm, this turned out quite well. Thank you, Erik.”

Hanna said that and signed the report.

“Oh, that’s right. This isn’t exactly an additional reward, but would you use these for me, Erik?”

“Um, what are they?”

“They’re a new medicine Marina developed. We’ve confirmed that they’re safe, but we don’t know whether they’ll sell well as a product, so we’re distributing samples to various people.”

Hanna handed me a bottle containing twenty tablets.

They were pills that supplied nutrients.

They also restored a small amount of magic, and she explained that they were intended to be sold to adventurers.

“They aren’t harmful to the body, so feel free to use them.”

“Understood. Should I come back and tell you how they felt after I’ve tried them?”

“Yes, please.”

I placed the new product in my bag, left the trading company, and returned to the Adventurers’ Guild.

I went straight to Reina’s counter, but she wasn’t in her usual place.

“That’s strange. She’s normally here…”

As I began to worry, another receptionist spoke to me.

“Erik, Reina is speaking with someone in another room. If you wait here, she’ll return shortly.”

“I see. Thank you for telling me.”

I thanked the receptionist and waited there for a while.

A few minutes later, Reina returned just as she’d said.

“You’ve come to report the completion of your request, haven’t you, Erik? Once that’s finished, could we talk for a moment?”

“Talk? Of course.”

From Reina’s serious expression, I sensed that something must have happened.

After I completed my report, she led me to a room.

We’d used this room before. When I entered, a man was sitting inside.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Dilm.”

“I-It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Erik, an adventurer.”

The man introduced himself in a gentle tone.

Although I felt overwhelmed by the air of refinement surrounding him, I managed to introduce myself.

Then I was astonished by what Dilm told me next.

He was a magistrate responsible for my former village and the surrounding area.

“W-Why would someone like you come here…? Ah, is this about the wyvern?”

“Precisely. This was originally a matter in which the kingdom should have intervened. However, our response was delayed. We caused you great anxiety and, worse still, forced you to resolve the matter yourselves. I sincerely apologize.”

Dilm bowed deeply as he apologized.

Even if a wyvern appeared near the capital, it wouldn’t necessarily be a matter requiring the kingdom to act.

Many soldiers protected the city, and numerous adventurers lived there.

However, when a wyvern appeared near a rural village such as mine, the lord governing the area needed to intervene.

My home village was administered directly by the kingdom, so soldiers should’ve been dispatched immediately.

But that hadn’t happened, forcing Henry to travel all the way to the capital in search of adventurers.

“Why did this happen?”

“This may sound like an excuse, but the dungeon’s appearance has partially paralyzed the kingdom’s functions. Because it emerged immediately beside the capital, it has attracted attention from numerous countries—for better and for worse. People whose normal duties lie elsewhere, myself included, were summoned and have been occupied with handling the resulting situation.”

Dilm explained apologetically.

A dungeon had appeared right beside the royal capital.

For the kingdom, that was both something to celebrate and a source of trouble.

The advantage was that the kingdom could immediately make use of resources gathered from the dungeon.

When a dungeon was far away, transporting its resources inevitably took time. This one was practically beside the capital, so there was almost no travel distance at all.

As a result, the kingdom’s profits would increase and the nation would grow even more prosperous.

Conversely, however, that also gave other countries a reason to envy us.