Kays Translations

Chapter 104: Guests from the Adventurer’s Guild

The magic tool used to replenish magic into magic stones was named “Magic Box,” and further investigation was temporarily suspended.

At present, with non-attribute magic stones scattered around, priority was given to deciphering unexplained magic tools.

Upon receiving the report, Viscount Selfars chuckled wryly.

“I guess we are the people in the world who have had the most experience of being surprised again…”

Naturally, it became an exclusive item that wasn’t allowed to be seen outside the gates.

From the following day, they began deciphering armor resembling protectors.

However, due to the overly complex and large-scale magic circles, they quickly abandoned on-site deciphering of these exquisite items.

“My, this is truly amazing… What on earth was going through the mind of the person who designed this?” 

Willem sighed for the umpteenth time as he worked alongside Isamu.

The protective parts were divided into sections, with magic circles densely drawn on the back along with slots for magic stones. Moreover, thick fabric connecting them was also covered in intricate magic circles.

The first challenge was about that.

Since magic circles were drawn on the fabric part that could stretch and contract, there was a simple question: wouldn’t the magic circles peel off if mishandled?

Considering that multiple items had already been produced, it should be fine, but if not, it would be fatal.

So, although it was troublesome, they decided to start by copying the magic circles.

While Eto and Willem were essentially copying them as diagrams, their extensive experience allowed them to reproduce them quite faithfully.

Upon examining the copied items, Isamu was even surprised to see the eccentricities resembling the creator’s handwriting.

On the other hand, he transcribed them as text while grasping their meanings, often resulting in changes in appearance and size from the originals.

With dense patterns like those of this magic circles, it was discovered that the scales of what Eto and Willem copied did not match. Therefore, a workflow was established where Eto and Willem would copy, and then Isamu would decipher.

After spending two full days, Isamu finally finished transcribing the first protector, and as he began checking the second one, he noticed something.

“…This one is different from the first in terms of content.”

While the appearance as a protector was exactly the same, the content of the magic circle drawn on the back was different. Given that all swords were the same, the three were naturally surprised.

“I never expected them to be different. We’ll have to concentrate and copy them.”

“This turned out to be quite a task.”

Eto and Willem chuckled bitterly, thinking they had finally finished the work akin to copying sutras.

Just as they were about to resign themselves to start transcribing the second one, Annemarie showed up.

“Isamu-san, there are guests from the Adventurer’s Guild.”

“The Adventurer’s Guild?”

Isamu wondered what they might want since he had hardly had any contact with them before.

“Could it be? Didn’t you request before going to the margrave’s territory if there were materials useful for modifying carriage wheels?”

Eto, who had been listening, spoke up.

“Oh, right! I remember now! I asked them to collect materials that seemed elastic!”

Only then did Isamu recall upon hearing that.

“Got it! Eto-san, Willem-san, would you like to come for a change of pace?”

“Of course.”

“I’ll go too. I’m a bit tired of looking at intricate magic circles.”

They readily agreed, indicating they must have wanted a change of pace.

“Hehe, you’ve been holed up for a long time. Since the materials are monster parts, we’ve set up in the backyard.”

“Understood. We’ll be right there!”

After roughly tidying up the tools they were copying, Isamu and the others headed to the backyard of the main building.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“No, I’m the one who should apologize for interrupting your busy schedule. I’m Loppen, the sub-master of the Klauffendam Adventurer’s Guild.”

Saying so, a well-built, bald man extended his right hand.

“Nice to meet you, Loppen-san. I’m Isamu Matsumoto from the Orihime Trading Company. Please call me Isamu.”

Isamu returned the greeting, shaking hands with Loppen.

The rough hands with calluses told of his seasoned experience.

“Ah, isn’t that Loppen?”

“Huh? Why is Eto oji-san here at the lord’s place?”

“Hey, Loppen, you’re looking well.”

“Huh? And even Willem…?”

Seemingly acquaintances, the three of them, except Loppen, couldn’t keep up with the situation.

“Oh? Were you three acquainted?”

“Yeah, I’ve known this guy since he was a newbie adventurer.”

“I often hired adventurers when delving into ruins. I used to frequent the Adventurer’s Guild.”

“Hey, wait a minute. Why are you both here together? Do you have any connection?”

With Eto and Willem together, Loppen became even more confused.

“Oh, didn’t you know? I’ve been researching magic tools for the lord’s house for about four months now.”

“I’ve been causing trouble around the same time.”

“What?! So you’ve both switched to work for the lord’s house!? Damn, you guys are lucky!”

Loppen was frustrated upon learning that the two were working for the viscount’s house.

“Well, that doesn’t matter. Have you gathered the monster materials?”

“Well, since you’ve gathered a certain amount of people, you must have brought it, right?”

Grinning, Loppen quickly pointed to the carriage’s bed. There are several bags of various sizes on the loading platform.

“Yep, we’ve brought six kind of materials. There were about twice as many materials brought to the guild, but we excluded those that didn’t seem suitable for this request. We can’t just throw them away, so if you’re interested, let me know.”

Despite his stern appearance, he seemed quite considerate.

Isamu and the others decided to have a look at the materials right away.

“Let’s start with the leading elastic monster, the Leech. This time, it’s the Forest Leech and the Rock Leech.”

The first ones to come out were the Leeches, creatures Isamu was familiar with.

They attack by bouncing and jumping like rubber balls, so as Loppen said, they were the first creatures that came to mind.

“Although they’re different species, they’re almost identical except for the color.”

While pinching the two types of Leeches, Isamu remarked.

“That’s right. Although their colors and diets differ depending on where they live, they’re pretty much the same otherwise.”

It’s interesting, isn’t it? Loppen explained with a smile.

“Um, it’s not bad, but individually, they’re a bit too soft, aren’t they…?”

“That’s right. With these, you’d need quite a bit of thickness to withstand the weight.”

Eto agreed with Isamu’s assessment.

“I see. In that case, would this one be a bit softer too?”

Saying so, Loppen brought out a creature with a deep green color and a slight transparency.

“Ah, a Tree Slime. Indeed, this one is one of the harder slimes.”

Upon seeing it, Willem nodded.

“A slime? Indeed, it seems to have elasticity.”

While saying this, Isamu pressed it with his fingers.

“Ohh, it’s certainly soft… There might be other uses, but it might not be suitable for this purpose.”

“Is that so? Then how about this one? Called a Hecto-Eyed, it’s a creature resembling a slime with many eyeballs attached.”

Next up was a creature with a deep brown color.

The many eyeballs mentioned were not visible, as they seemed to have been removed in advance.

“Whoa!? This one has just the right elasticity!”

The Hecto-Eyed felt like firm rubber. It was quite ideal.

“Ohhh!! I see! having many eyeballs makes it like this, huh…”

Isamu lamented.

As the name Hecto suggests, it has a lot of eyeballs, so what would happen if you removed them…

“As expected, it’s full of holes…”

Eto, who lifted it up, said with a wry smile.

It was obvious, but once the eyeballs were removed, there was nothing left, so there were holes everywhere.

“This one seems a bit inconvenient.”

Isamu also smiled wryly as he looked at the hole-filled material.

“Ah, I see. If that level of firmness is good, the next one might be suitable as well.”

Next, Loppen took out a creature resembling a large jellyfish with long tentacles.

“This one is called a Swamp Roper. It’s a creature that moves around in swamps and captures prey with its long tentacles. While its body is also elastic, it might be a bit soft compared to what we’ve discussed so far. The real benefit lies in its tentacles. Not only are they firm, but they also stretch well.”

Saying so, Loppen pulled the tentacles forcefully.

“Wow! This one looks great!! Even if it’s not used this time, it seems like there could be plenty of uses for it!!”

Smiling, Isamu said while stretching the tentacles.

“Oh? Is this one a pass? It’s good to finally have a positive reaction after the fourth material.”

Relieved that they finally found something they liked, Loppen sighed.

“Alright, next up is this one. It’s similar to a Roper’s tentacle in terms of type. It’s another stretchy type.”

Next, he took out something resembling yellowish skin.

“This is the skin of a Rock Worm, a large creature that lives in the ground in rocky areas. Its thick and stretchy skin is its characteristic.”

As Loppen mentioned, the skin had considerable thickness and size.

“I see… Indeed, this one has elasticity. Since it’s thick, we need to see how it behaves when it’s thinned out. It doesn’t seem bad, so let’s keep it as a candidate.”

“Understood. Oh, this is the last one. It’s a bit different from the others we’ve seen so far, but I thought I’d bring it just in case.”

Lastly, Loppen took out a giant mushroom with poisonous purple and yellow patterns.

“This is… quite a large mushroom.”

Looking at it, Isamu smiled wryly.

“Right? This is called a Farm Fungus. As you can see, it’s a huge mushroom. Despite being a mushroom, it has legs and runs around.”

Explaining with a hearty laugh, Loppen continued.

“This one’s elasticity is a bit different from the others we’ve seen so far. Look here.”

Saying so, Loppen pointed to the cut surface.

“It feels a bit fluffy and elastic, doesn’t it?”

“Ohhh, this one is good too. The elasticity with this density, it’s like a firm sponge.”

As Isamu said, it felt like a moist and elastic sponge.

Come to think of it, mushrooms are naturally porous. If they move, adding elasticity wouldn’t be strange.

“This one is usable! Thank you, Loppen-san.”

“Yeah. I’m glad you liked some of them.”

While firmly shaking Isamu’s outstretched hand, Loppen smiled wryly.

“Well then, I’ll pay for the materials you brought for now. As for the Roper’s tentacle, Farm Fungus, and Rock Worm skin, we’ll take them. You can use the other materials as you like since we don’t need them.”

“Wait a minute, is it really okay to pay for materials you won’t use…?”

Loppen was surprised by Isamu’s words.

“Yes, it’s fine. After all, these are materials brought according to the order for ‘elastic monster materials.’ Even if they’re not to our liking, if we refuse to buy them, you might not receive any more requests from me in the future. Well, this will be the end of requesting anything. “

Isamu said with a wry smile.

“Wow, Isamu-san, you really understand how things work! From your wanderer background, I thought you wouldn’t know anything about adventurers… Hahaha, I’m grateful for this!”

“I’m asking for it as a job, you know. It’s just basic manners to pay for what we receive in return. We’ll try various things with the materials you’ve kindly provided, and if they seem useful, we’ll request specific materials next time. Please take care of us then.”

“Yeah! If Isamu-san asks, I’ll prioritize putting it up in the best place!”

“Haha, thank you very much.”

Isamu and Loppen shook hands for the third time. With the acquisition of materials useful for improving the carriage and unintentionally building a friendly relationship with the Adventurer’s Guild, their goals were accomplished.

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