SRALL c193
Ch. 193: Ageha’s Escort Quest
It was on one of our days off.
After I finished breakfast, I sat in a chair in the inn’s living room and scanned through one of the Adventurers’ News Reports available at the inn.
This newspaper was published irregularly by the Grandes Church and had some useful information along with some unhelpful scandals about other adventurers, but the articles were all centered around Adventuring.
On the front page, it showcased Sir Ezeal cutting down 3 Highest-Tiers with one swing. ……that man really is in a different league altogether.
On the second page, there was a photograph of Ms. Lotte’s live musical performance. She was apparently performing in the Varsladi Empire, and……….huh?
Underneath the photo was her upcoming live performance schedule and a certain detail caught my eye.
Henry: “.........oh! Hey, Cyril. Ms. Lotte is coming to Ligaleo next month to do a public service concert.”
Cyril: “Oh, really? I can’t wait to see her again!”
Cyril sat across from me reading a book of poetry and lifting her face from the page, her expression brightened.
There was very little in terms of entertainment on the front lines, and Ms. Lotte periodically holds a concert here to cheer everyone who is risking their lives fighting. She also takes the time to jump into the 1st Lines as reinforcement, so her popularity in Ligaleo is extremely high.
Macho men scream, “Lil’ Charuーー!!” and their cheering will spill out of the stadium to the whole town.
……..the thought of it gave me a headache.
Putting that asideーー
Henry: “When Ms. Lotte comes, we always go out for drinks, but did you want to come with us?”Cyril: “Drinks? Ummーー well, I guess going every once in a while is fine……huh?”
The door to the living room opened.
Teo and Ageha stepped inside.
As soon as the two saw us, they walked straight over with quick feet.
Ageha: “Hey, Henry. You look well.”
Henry: “Hey, Ageha. What’s wrong? Isn’t today your day off too?”The more heads she chops off, the more Ageha feels refreshed and energized, so she rarely takes any breaks, but since Teo came to Ligaleo, she’s spent more days off. She must really enjoy spending time with her cousin.
Ageha: “Ah, yeah. ……you should feel honored. I have a Designated Quest with your name on it! You’ll take it, of course, right?”
A Designated Quest - a quest created specifically for someone.
This is common if they know the individual personally, or if they have a solid record in accomplishing certain kinds of quests. To be assigned a Designated Quest is a mark of a great Adventurer.
And the one who gave me this Designated Quest is none other than one of the 8 Heroes of Legend - Ageha Sagiri.
I seeーー This really is an honor. Ha ha ha.
Henry: “Like hell I would, idiot.”
That kind of Quest would be way over my head, so I politely threw it back in her face.
Ageha: “What did you say? Who you callin’ an idiot, huh?”
Henry: “You. I’m talking about you. All Quests need to go through the Church. Everyone knows that. They’re the ones that check the reward, the contents, and all the other requirements. Have you forgotten?”
The Church monitors all Quests - basically jobs that ask Adventurers to do all kinds of work.
Though the Church does take a percentage of the reward as fees, they make sure the reward matches the amount of work requested, and they also do background checks to ensure there is nothing suspicious going on behind the scenes. They also perform investigations, and if the Adventurer is not at fault for failing the Quest, they reimburse or pay for reparations if needed as the insurer of the Quest.
Though it is technically not illegal to give out Quests outside of the Church……in the past, there have been numerous disputes where the issuer lowered the rewards, Adventurers who completely abandoned the Quest, and endless back and forths of he said she said hearsays, etc.
In short, since this has caused countless headaches for everyone involved, many Adventurers stick strictly to the Church for accepting and executing Quests.
I am, of course, one of those Adventurers.
Henry: “So Cyril, Teo, if anyone offers you a Quest that does not go through the Church, don’t take it.”
Cyril: “Okaーーy”
Teo: “I understand.”
Though it became a bit of a lecture, knowing things like this would help you understand the Church’s role, and ultimately, raise your reputation with the Church.
Teo: “........so, Sister Ageha already left….”
Henry: “Don’t worry. She’ll be right back.”As soon as I started explaining about Quests, Ageha said, “Stay right there!” and ran out of the room.
It’s only been 5 or 6 minutes. I’m guessing she’ll come back right aboutーー
Ageha: “I’m back! Here! Now you’ll accept the Quest, right?!”
…….she came running back with an official Quest submission form from the Church.
I saw the Grandes Church’s official seal of approval, so I guess it wasn’t that outrageous of a Quest.
Henry: “Well, let me confirm the details first.”
Ageha: “Hurry up!”
Ugh…
Well, I won’t tell her directly, but Ageha has been really helpful since we got here. As long as she’s not asking for a ridiculous favor, I don’t mind accepting this but……
Henry: “........hey, Ageha. Does this say ‘Escort Quest’? Am I reading this correctly?”
Ageha: “Yeah, what about it? You’re used to doing those, right?”Why would Ageha ever need a guard escort? Is she going after a Demon General?
Ageha: “The Quest is to protect both Teo and myself. You’ll do it, right?”Teo: “........Sister Ageha, I don’t think you are explaining the circumstances correctly.”
Teo raised her hand midway and spoke up.
Ageha: “Hm? Oh, yeah. I forgot. Henry’s pretty dense about these things.”
I don’t think there’s any way of knowing what Ageha was thinking with just this. She’s the dense one here.
Teo: “Mr. Henry. I was speaking with Sister Ageha, and we were talking about my life in Flowtier.”
Ageha: “Teo said she went fishing on her days off! I wanted to try fishing too, so that’s why while we’re fishing, your job is to kill all the Demonic creatures!”
……..what?
<<<<>>>>
Ligaleo was built on the Isthmus of Bifrest.
It is the landmass connecting the northern and southern continent and resembles a giant bridge.
Because of the geography, it is an easily defensible position where you can concentrate your forces. The position allows you to comfortably face a massive Demon Army. If that wasn’t the case, the number of creatures invading the north continent would have exponentially increased. The 3 major nations would have seen a flood of enemies come in from the backdoor and faced eventual defeat.
……..but back to the Isthmus of Bifrest.
The area where Ligaleo is located is very narrow, measuring from east to west. A quick run will get you to the coast.
Because of that, there is also a wall that stretches east to west that is separate from the circular wall surrounding the city of Ligaleo. This wall is also protected by squads of adventurers and soldiers to deal with Demonic Creatures…..but…..
Teo: “........fish! There’s so many here. We found a great spot.”
Ageha: “Errrghhh, I haven’t got one yet! Teo, they’re all going to you!”
Teo: “Sister Ageha, you’re moving the rod too much. If you would just hold still, you will catch them soon enough. There’s not many people who fish here, so the fish are quick to take the bait.”
We were at the edge of the Eastern Wall where it connected with the ocean. ……but we weren’t going to cross over to the southern side of the wall into the Demon Kingdom’s territory, so we sat on the northern side. There, you would have seen two female adventurers casting their rods.
The soldiers on duty on the top of the walls were pointing and staring at the curious sight.
Henry: sigh
Letting out an exasperated breath, I struck the heart of a charging Ogre. I stopped its partner in its tracks with [Strengthen] {Hazac} + [Secure] {Isu}. I pulled out my spear from the dead Ogre, and cracked its skull with a downward swing.
There were some Dragon Types that were a little farther off, but saw us and began coming this way. I threw my spear and took them down.
I thought about getting the drops…….but I changed my mind.
Ageha: “Hey, hey. What’s with the sigh, Henry? Are you even taking this Quest seriously?”Henry: “Of course, I am. I’m not going to let any get through me, so hurry up and catch one for crying out loud.”
Ageha: “Ha, who do you think you’re talking to? I think I got the gist of it. I’ll catch one soon enough!”
With an unenthusiastic, “Yayー”, I cheered her on, and prepared for the next wave of creatures.
………and yeah, I may not be acting the most professional because it’s Ageha, but I am doing my job. The reason why I didn’t go pick up the Drops from the dragon was because it would distract me from my guard duties.
All this trouble just for fishing may sound silly, and well, it really is, but Quests like, “I need you to protect me while I do x, y, and z in a dangerous area,” is an incredibly common Quest type. I have seen more idiotic requests than this, so this is not so bad.
The thought made me want to sight again, but I held it back and continued my guard duties when Teo’s rod tilted slightly.
Teo: “Fish! ……I think I fished too much. My policy is to only fish what we will eat, but……Sister Ageha?”Ageha: “I’m not going back home just yet, Teo!”
No matter how you looked at it, Teo had a huge hall and turning towards Ageha, Ageha began immediately complaining.
An hour passed since we arrived, and we caught a lot of fish. It would be an ideal time to go back, but from the looks of it, Ageha isn’t going to budge until she gets at least one.
Henry: “Hmmm, well, Mrs. Patricia is really good with cooking fish, so why don’t we take the fish we catch today and serve it to the adventurers at the inn? Favors like this go a long way, you know?”Teo: “........Mr. Henry, you’re always so calculating.”
Henry: “I’m just trying to help develop relationships. It’s nothing more.”
I guess that could be just a matter of perspective.
Teo: “Well, I do like that inn. Understood. Let’s proceed with your plan and continue fishing.”
Henry: “Alright.”
And while we spoke, Teo caught another one.
…….seriously. This is a good fishing spot if it wasn’t for the Demonic creatures. I should bring my own fishing rod next time.
As I made plans in my head, I took down a group of Wild Bears who spawned nearby.
Another hour passed as I continued to take down the creatures that kept spawning.
Ageha: “ーーーーAGGHHHH!! Why can’t I get one?! What’s wrong with these fish?!”
………..and Ageha, who has yet to catch one, began throwing a tantrum.
Teo: “Sister Ageha, if you scream, you will scare away the fish…..oh, fish! Caught another one.”
Ageha: “You’re still catching them even if I’m screaming!!”
Frustrated, Ageha began stamping her feet.
……..it was unusual to see Ageha get worked up this much.
Henry: “What ARE you doing differently? Seriously. Are you even putting bait on your hook?”
Ageha: “Of course I am. It’s the exact same bait as Teo’s.”
……then.
I guess Ageha just has really bad fishing luck then?
Teo: “Sister Ageha! You got a bite!”
Ageha: “ーーー!! Gotcha!!”
Ageha pulled on her rod. As she pulled, her rod bent dangerously forward. Feeling the tug, she smiled victoriously towards Teo.
Ageha: “This one’s huge!! Teo! You may have caught more than me, but I’m the type to catch the biggest one!”
Though Ageha tugged on her rod, her line remained firmly planted inside the water.
Ageha: “Huh?”
Ageha looked confused, but using her {Physical Enhancement}, she continued to pull on the rod, but the line remained completely unmoved. …….in fact, if she puts any more strength, the rod or the line is going to break.
Ageha: “..........ugh! Don’t underestimate me!”
Oh, Ageha poured Magic through the rod the same way you do your weapons to make both the rod and line more durable. It was effective, but also a meaningless waste of her talent.
But even with that, now Ageha was the one getting pulled closer and closer to the edge.
Ageha: “Ha!”
……..she struck her foot deep into the ground and stopped.
Ageha: “Errghhhhhh!!”Ageha gritted her teeth as she continued to tug and pull against….a fish?
Henry: “......hey, Ageha……don’t tell me this is a…..”
Ageha: “Yeah! It’s rare to see a Demonic Creature of the Sea come so close to shore!”
Gah! I knew it!!
Ageha: “I won’t be able to pull it onto shore! Once it gets closer to the surface, Henry, I need you to take it out!”
Henry: “WHAT?! Just let the rod go! Ugh! Fine!!”
Many of the Demonic Creatures of the ocean are huge creatures.
The monster fish on the other side of Ageha’s fishing line was close to 10 meters (～30 feet) long.
It splashed furiously as it surfaced and sent small waves towards us. I’m not an expert on ocean creatures, but I guessed that it was a mid-tier.
Henry: “Ageha! It’s going to cost you extra for this!”
It was moving furiously everywhere, and it was hard to take aim.
I let my spear split into clones, and we were able to take it down.
<<<<>>>>
Ageha: “Hehehe. So, Teo. How’s the taste of the fish I caught?”Teo: “.......it’s a strange taste. But Sister Ageha, does that count as a fish?”Ageha: “Don’t get caught up in the minor details. Here, have another drink!”
Teo: “Oh, thanks!”
And so…..
The monster fish creature dropped a meat(?) behind.
And that night, Ageha was in an extremely good mood.
<<<<>>>>
CREDITS
Semi-retired Adventurer Lives Leisurely
Written by Hisagushien
Translated by: ChonkyTranslator
Japanese Title:
セミリタイアした冒険者はのんびり暮らしたい
作者: 久櫛緑（ヒサグシエン）
Original Source:
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n1161ft/193/
Book 15 - The Strong Ones
Ch. 185 - 199