Chapter 100 (1/2)

Volume 1

Chapter 101

Ch 101 – Choosing the Route for a Trip to the Sea

“So have you decided where you plan to go when you leave?” asked the Guild Master . We were sitting opposite him in his now-familiar office in the Guild .

“We’re heading for the sea, apparently . ” I glanced down at Fer, lying beside my seat .

“Umu, the sea . ” He opened his mouth, baring his impressive fangs and licking his muzzle . “I fancy eating some Kraken and Sea Serpent . ” Stop drooling Fer, you’re in the Guild Master’s office, I prompted him telepathically . Some poor flunky is going to have to clean that up, you know .

“That’s why, basically . ” I explained to the Guild Master as Fer closed his mouth again .

“Kraken and Sea Serpent?” The Guild Master raised an eyebrow . “Those are the names of impressive monsters, indeed . ”

“Well yes, sorry . I don’t know myself but Fer has told me they’re very tasty . . . ”

“Umu, they’re truly delicious . Besides, it’s good to eat seafood once in a while . If you cook it properly for me it will surely taste even better than raw . ” Yeah yeah, you’ve told me this before . Lots of times .

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“So anyway that’s why we’re heading off to the sea . ” I finished .

“Oh, wait a moment . ” The Guild Master got up and pulled out a sheet of paper from a cupboard, spreading it out on the desk between us .

“This is a map of this country and the Erman Kingdom . ” he explained . It was quite a detailed map compared to the only other map I had seen in this world, the one I had bought for an inflated price from some rogues ahem fellow Adventurers some months ago . The Guild Master explained that this map was commonly sold by the Adventurers Guilds of both the Leonhart Kingdom and the Erman Kingdom . The Guild Master traced a path across the map with a finger as I watched .

“If you’re headed to the coast I would appreciate it if you would follow this route . I recommend this route because the roads are well-maintained but it also passes through three large cities . It’s likely you would receive subjugation requests from the Guilds in those cities which would be convenient for us . ”

“That seems reasonable but what are the three major cities?”

“Leaving here you’ll first arrive at a city called Claire . ” The Guild Master’s finger paused on a city on the map, then moved on . “After that the next city is Doran which has a dungeon . ” He pointed at another city . “And the next city is Neihof and after that you’ll reach Berleean which is a port city on the coast . ”

The city of Claire, our likely first destination was smaller than our current location, Carerina . It seemed to be a busy city famous for spinning and weaving, a popular destination for merchants in search of colorful threads and cloth . The next was the Dungeon City of Doran which as its name suggested has a dungeon in it which attracts both Adventurers and merchants so it seems to be quite a big city . The city of Carerina was the fifth largest city in the Leonhart Kingdom behind the Royal capital and the three Dungeon Cities of this country . Having a dungeon means a city will prosper and grow . I was looking forward to visiting some larger cities .

The third city on our proposed route, Neihof was a pottery town with many ceramics workshops . Apparently they made baths like the one I had bought (MY bath!) . Finally we would arrive at Berleean, a fishing port which was a popular destination among those who loved fresh seafood .

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The Guild Master explained that this world’s seas are plagued by dangerous monsters so fishing isn’t a common business but the fishermen of Berleean go to sea despite repeatedly encountering such monsters in their working lives . They must be truly dedicated to their jobs, I decided . They would have to be extremely brave to face such terrors and I admired them for their efforts . The dangers of fishing meant that there was little seafood for sale anywhere though, and as a Japanese person who naturally loved fish I was looking forward to eating fresh seafood in Berleean when we got there . Oh yes .

“I suggest stopping by the Dungeon City of Doran for other reasons . ” The Guild Master went on while my mind was distracted by the idea of seafood . “There are many weapons and armour stores because it’s a popular destination for Adventurers . The food there is very good too,” the Guild Master said as Fer’s ears pricked up, “and you can sell rare items more easily at the stores . If you’ve got time you should definitely explore the dungeon there . ”

“Nu, a dungeon?” Fer interjected . “I’ve never been in a dungeon in a human city before . Sounds interesting . ” Fer, that’s the wrong thing to say . I had a bad feeling about where this was going . . .

“Dungeon? Are we fighting?-” Sui started to crawl out of her satchel .

“Umu, that’s right Sui . We’re going to a dungeon . ” Fer said recklessly .

“Dungeon~” Sui said, jumping around excitedly .

“Hey Sui, stop jumping around . We’re not going to any dungeons . ” I said telepathically . My previous experiences of dungeons had soured me on going down one willingly . I’ll never enter another dungeon ever again .