Chapter 384: Recommended Quests from the Branch Manager

　Tauro and the rest of the “Black-Golden Wings” had come to the Adventurer’s Guild to once again confirm their cooperation with their new member, Zion.

“Oh, Tauro-kun and the others, please wait a moment. It seems the branch chief has something important to discuss.”

　When the receptionist, Armine, noticed Tauro and the others, she hurried off to call the branch manager.

　Immediately afterwards, the branch manager came out of his office with his shaved head resplendent.

“Black-Golden Wings, please come to this room.”

　After saying that, the branch manager beckoned Tauro and the others into the reception room.

“…It’s not a bad thing, is it?”

　Tauro is somewhat alarmed.

“He’s thanking us for what we did the other day, right? The branch manager’s been too busy since that incident happened at the guild he just took up his position at and hasn’t been able to talk to us about anything.”

　Ankh dismissed Tauro’s concerns.

“Ah, that’s it. I thought the incident with the murder and injuries within the guild had become an issue.”

　Tauro gave a wry smile and entered the reception room where the branch manager beckoned him.

“ I am sorry for all the trouble this guild has caused you ‘Black Golden wings.’’

　The branch manager bowed his head and put his forehead on the desk.

“No, you had just taken up office, and I don’t think you could have stopped the vice Manager’s crime. We were kind of accidentally dragged into it, or rather, we stuck our necks out… That’s how it felt, so it’s not something you should apologise for.”

　Tauro replied and asked the branch manager to raise his head.

“Right, I’m sorry. The only thing we can do is to prepare a good quest for you “Black Golden Wings” to move up from D+ rank to C- rank, but as you know, this branch is in a relatively peaceful town with few monsters around, and the average rank of adventurers is notoriously low. The only high-ranking quests we have are those to hunt the remnants of the assassination guild, but for some reason, these kind of quests are always completed by outsiders who aren’t even registered as adventurers. It seems that the remnants of the guild are often delivered to the mayor’s residence, especially in this town of Caxart.”

　The branch manager  said this, going off topic.

　Ah, it’s the dragon people…

　Tauro had delivered a message from Ryuuga, the chief of the dragon people, to the dragon people in the city of Caxart, but it seemed that one or two of them had remained in the city to hunt down the remnants of the assassination guild.

　The other dragon races had scattered all over the place and were continuing to hunt down the remnants in the same way, so I encouraged them to register as adventurers.

　So, I’m sure we’ll be hearing rumors of great new adventurers in the near future from all over the region.

　My condolences to the remnants of the Assassin’s Guild…

　Tauro felt a little sorry for them.

So what can I do for you?”

　Tauro urged the branch manager to continue so that he could get down to business.

“Ah, so I came across a quest with a good payout that I wanted to recommend to you ‘Black-Golden Wings’. The client also said they wanted me to send the best adventurers in the guild, so what do you think?”

“What’s it about?”

“The daughter of the village chief of a village near this town is to be married off to the mayor of a neighboring town, so this is an escort mission. It’s a free quest, so if you accept it, I’ll be flexible.”

　That would mean that upon completion of the quest, we will receive a large amount of contribution points needed for promotion.

“The matter of flexibility is fine. There’s no need to give us special treatment. More importantly—”

　Tauro looked at Ragune and the others.

“An escort quest, huh? In reality, this usually ends with a round trip without anything happening.”

　Ankh pointed out that it was an implicitly boring quest.

“Hmm… But if it’s a quest around the city of Caxart, wouldn’t that be suitable for Tauro’s mission?”

　Ragune pointed out.

“The mission?”

　Zion looked puzzled, not understanding what was going on.

“Just like Ragune said, I’d wanted to explore the surrounding area, so this is a godsend.”

“I’m not sure I have much choice in the matter. It’s not very stimulating, but it’s a good learning experience for the leader.”

　Ankh decided to agree.

　Zion was still confused and didn’t understand.

　I forgot to explain the details to Zion, so I’ll explain later that I’ve been appointed as the territory’s inspector.

“So, is that all right with everyone?”

　Tauro confirmed and everyone nodded.

　Zion, who did not know what was going on, was drawn in by everyone and nodded many times.

“Well then, Branch Manager-san. We’ll take on the job. Can you tell me more about it?”

“Well then…”

　From there, the details were explained to me.

　Apparently, the daughter of the village chief of that village had fallen in love with the town mayor’s son, and they were talking about marriage.

　The village is famous for dyeing, and is said to be wealthy, but there is a difference in status between the town mayor and the village head.

　As a village chief, it would be a boon if he could marry his daughter off to the town chief and hope that she will give birth to a boy.

　So the plan was to splurge and assign the best adventurer in the big city to be their escort.

　I guess they want to add some prestige to their reputation.

　I hear that the bride-to-be is also getting her bridal gifts from the surrounding area with much fanfare, and her escort is included in the package.

　Tauro has magic storage, so he is probably the best choice in that regard.

　They also have other guards, apparently villagers and locally hired skilled soldiers, but it seems they want to have them all together.

　The more I asked, the more troublesome it sounded, but it didn’t sound like it would end up being anything trivial like Ankh had pointed out.

“—Then, I would like to head to that village first thing tomorrow morning.”

　Tauro nodded as he grasped the quest in a question and answer session with the branch manager.

“But are you sure? I can set my contribution higher?”

“When it was hard enough in its own way, please do.”*

　Tauro joked and left the room.

“The bride is fifteen years old. She’s about the same age as the leader and Zion. Well, that’s quite common in the countryside.”

　Ankh said something fatherly.

“Hehehe. Ankh is old enough to have been a parent, so I guess it’s only natural that you would think that.”

　Ragune says in an unusually teasing way.

“Hey, hey, hey. I’m sure that’s true when you’re my age, but nowadays it’s not common for people to get married right after they come of age, you know? Besides, you never know when you’re going to meet your destined partner—”

“Ahaha. Just hearing the words ‘fateful encounter’ come out of Ankh’s mouth is surprising.”

　This time Tauro laughed and teased Ankh.

“I believe that my meeting with Tauro-sama was a fateful one!”

　zion excitedly stepped in front of Tauro and announced with a heavy breath.

“Ha ha ha! We were all fated to meet. Whatever the outcome of that meeting.”

　Tauro replied, thus defying Zion’s appeal.

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