Episode 50 – Line. First Request

Grace SIDE

An morning in a bed that reeks of funky smells was the worst.

I first tied my silky hair, which reached down to my waist, into a ponytail, then strapped my favorite weapon, a double-handed axe, on my back, and wore a dagger longer than the length of my palm on my waist.

After finishing our preparations, we grabbed our respective weapons, ate the complimentary vegetable soup, and headed outside.

Then, we moved our steps to the Mercenary Guild we had found out about in advance.

The Mercenary Guild also served as a restaurant, and despite it being morning, it was filled with mercenaries enjoying their work and meals.

The mercenaries’ gazes were focused on me as I boldly opened the door and entered.

And when a woman in a slutty outfit with a heart-shaped uterus tattoo entered, they couldn’t take their eyes off me.

I felt pleasure from such gazes, gave a subtle smile, and approached the request board, which was stretched out on one side of the Mercenary Guild where people were gathered.

While looking at the request board with Ian, I found one unusual request.

The risk rank was D, the characteristic was investigation, and the title was written as Exploration of Abnormal Phenomena in the Forest.

Requests are divided into ranks to measure risk, with A to D measuring risk in descending order, and characteristics are divided into subjugation, investigation, collection, and capture.

Subjugation is the removal of specific dangerous entities, investigation is the investigation of abnormal phenomena in places and objects, collection is the acquisition of items and creatures requested by the client, and capture is a name mainly attached to dungeon and base destruction.

After reading the detailed explanation written on the clean request form, which didn’t seem to have been fixed on the bulletin board for long, it seems that many animals have recently been found collapsed from exhaustion in the forest.

It doesn’t affect people at all, so the risk rank is D, and the main content seems to be investigating the reason for collapsing from exhaustion.

Additionally, it was written that this request was from the Line Guard.

I thought that a request from a credible guard with public authority was highly reliable, and although the reward was very low at 5 silver coins, it would be good as a first request, so I said to Ian.

“Ian, how about this?”

At my words, Ian turned his gaze to the request I pointed out.

“Hmm, it seems okay? The place is near here, and it doesn’t seem that dangerous….”

“Yeah, yeah, the reward is a bit low, but it seems okay as a first request, right?”

“Okay, let’s do this.”

“Hehehe, well, let’s go quickly and finish it today!”

“Hahaha, okay.”

I tore off the request form with a cheerful laugh.

Then, I approached the receptionist with Ian.

Beyond the round glasses of the blonde gnome female receptionist was a cute-looking woman with dark circles under her eyes, looking tired.

She was processing the requests of the mercenaries who approached her, as if she was used to this.

My turn came quickly as she processed things quite quickly.

“Request form.”

The receptionist, who seemed very tired and spoke in a drooping voice as if it was nothing, extended her hand, as I had only seen people surprised by my appearance.

When I gave her the request form, the receptionist scratched her head for a moment, read it, and then extended her hand to me again.

“Mercenary pass.”

When I handed over Ian’s mercenary pass as well, she yawned, looked at the mercenary pass, and made a slightly surprised expression.

Her appearance was quite cute, so I smiled without realizing it and quickly erased it, thinking it was rude.

“Capital?”

“Ah… yes, I got it issued in the capital.”

“Hmm…… Registration is complete. The deadline is indefinite. Go to the Line Guard for the detailed location.”

“Thank you.”

“Next.”

The receptionist, who returned the mercenary pass to me, ignored us and immediately called the next mercenary.

Ian was also smiling, finding the sight of the small gnome woman working cute.

I chuckled at the sight and headed to the Line Guard with Ian to hear the detailed explanation.

* * *

The Line Guard, located on the outskirts of the city, is in charge of the overall security of the city.

Perhaps because it was the headquarters of the place in charge of the security of the entire city, it was quite a large brick building about 3 stories high.

I went to the reception desk with the request form after entering the security force.

The man with a stern impression stood up after seeing us enter.

“What’s going on?”

“I came after seeing the request form.”

“Hmm, give it to me.”

The man, who had no change in expression even at my appearance, received the request form I handed over, read it carefully, nodded, and handed it back to me.

“That’s right, it’s the content requested by our guard. Please wait a moment. I’ll guide you to the location. Ron!”

“Yes, sir!!”

“I’ll be back, so sit here and respond to people.”

“Yes… Yes, sir! I understand!”

A boy, rather than a clumsy young man who seemed to have just joined the guard, called Ron, came out from somewhere at a rapid pace and was answering, but while looking at me, he opened his mouth wide and stared blankly at me before regaining his senses at the man’s words and answering again.

“Follow me.”

The man, who answered in a businesslike manner, moved his steps.

Ian and I followed behind him, and then I felt a gaze from behind, so I turned around slightly and realized that a child named Ron was looking at my back.

I thought his appearance was cute, so I thought I’d give him some material and slightly lifted the hem of my skirt and gave him an alluring smile.

Ron’s face turned bright red after seeing my appearance, and then he hurriedly turned his gaze away, but his eyes continued to scan me.

I chuckled and stuck next to Ian.

The guard’s steps passed the city walls and began to approach the forest.

The guard, who arrived at the outskirts of the forest, turned around and looked at us, saying.

“First of all, I want to say thank you.”

“Thank you?”

“Originally, this was our job, but…. recently, the city has been chaotic, so it’s difficult to allocate manpower to this place…. Also, our guard’s budget isn’t generous, so we had no choice but to request mercenaries with low pay, so people didn’t bring requests, and I was anxious. In the meantime, you came, so how can I not express my gratitude? I will not forget this favor.”

The guard seemed to feel guilty about the fact that their strength was insufficient, so they were entrusting the work to people who were not guards.

And he bowed politely with a slightly guilty expression.

“Ah! Please raise your head. We just wanted to do it. You don’t have to bow that much. The security of this city is the most important thing.”

When Ian smiled softly and said that, the guard finally raised his head.

“Still, gratitude is gratitude. First, I’ll add an explanation about the request.”

The guard, whose guilty expression from before disappeared in an instant and turned into a blank face, began to talk about the information about the animals suddenly collapsing from exhaustion and the giant-sized flower that suddenly appeared in the forest, as if work was work.

The guard believes that the flower is the cause of the animals’ collective exhaustion.

However, this information was based on the testimony of an herbalist who frequently travels around this forest, and the distance was considerable, located in a place that would take about half a day to walk.

Sending a guard to investigate a place with a considerable distance for a job that doesn’t cause any human casualties was too burdensome for the guard, who was busy maintaining security due to the lack of even one person now.

The guard, who said that the alternative that came out as a result was mercenaries, had a dark face for a moment, then shook off that energy in an instant and continued to speak.

It is said that the place where the flower is located is relatively easy to reach.

“Can you read maps by any chance?”

“Yes, I learned.”

“Good. This is our guard’s map. The location of the flower is recorded through testimony, so if you go here… you should be able to get there. This time, I only want you to investigate the flower’s unique features. If it’s not dangerous, you don’t necessarily have to remove it.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll be on my way. Once the request is completed, I would appreciate it if you could submit the results directly to the Mercenary Guild without stopping by the guard. Then, goodbye.”

The guard, who bowed politely once again, headed to the city without looking back.

“Well then, shall we go?”

“Yeah.”

Following my lead, we headed into the forest.

* * *

It was like being on the Avenue of the Giants in Humboldt Redwoods State Park in the United States.

The forest, where light barely seeped in, was generally dark.

As we walked while naturally guarding our surroundings, we didn’t see any particular demons, monsters, or beasts.

No, rather, the uneasiness grew more and more due to the eerie silence.

Surprisingly, not even the sound of insects could be heard in this forest.

Ian also felt the ominousness, and his eyes, looking around, were full of vigilance.

As we increased our speed to move to the place where the flower was as quickly as possible, Ian also increased his speed even more.

How long had we walked? While checking the map and walking, I realized that the flower was right in front of us.

When I raised my hand and sent a signal, Ian also recognized my signal and stopped.

A strange sense of ominousness turned into vigilance and reflexively stabbed my skin, so I drew my weapon.

Ian also saw my appearance and raised his longsword and shield.

I put the map in a small portable bag, grabbed the axe with both hands, and finished preparing to swing it at any time.

Then, I carefully headed forward.

As I pushed through the bushes and moved forward, the view that had been obscured by branches and dense bushes suddenly brightened.

And we couldn’t help but be surprised.

In the clearing that was reflected in our eyes, a gigantic rose that looked at least 50m tall, like a bizarrely and fiercely copulating tree, was wriggling, raising its head towards the sky.

I was speechless for a moment, blankly staring at the wriggling rose as if its muscles were moving, before regaining my senses and looking around.

And I could realize why the forest was so quiet.

The animals scattered around the rose were emaciated as if they hadn’t eaten for days, trembling and copulating, and the clearing around the rose was littered with the corpses of insects, as if all the insects in this forest had gathered.

I looked around more and realized that animals and insects were gathering even at this moment.

I judged that it was emitting some kind of intense pheromone, recalled that the initial testimony was at a level that was not even as tall as a person, and judged that it would reach a dangerous level if I dragged it out any longer.

“Ian, let’s get rid of it now.”

“……..”

“Ian?”

“Uh… huh?”

Suddenly, a sweet smell wafted into my nose.

And my body is gradually heating up.

I quickly realized that the flower’s ability was starting to work on people as well, and quickly took out a cloth and covered my nose and mouth.

I don’t know if it will have any meaning, but I judged that I had to do this at least, so I slapped Ian, who was blankly looking at me, to bring him to his senses.

Swaack!

“Ugh!”

“Ian! Get a grip and cover your nose and mouth with this. I think it’s because of the flower’s ability, hurry!”

“U-uh!!”

Only then did Ian regain his senses and quickly took out a cloth and covered his mouth and nose.

“Quickly take out the fire potion! It’s a bit of a waste, but I don’t think we should delay any longer, let’s throw both of them!”

“Okay!”

Ian and I took out small sphere-shaped fire bombs that we usually carry around.

And without hesitation, I pressed the button and threw both of them to where the rose was.

Ian also threw a bomb with me, as if he had completely regained his senses.

After confirming that they were falling accurately under the rose, we quickly left the place and hid behind a rock.

1 second… 2 seconds… 3 seconds… 4 seconds….

Kwaaaang!!!

I feel intense heat behind us.

Kkiiiiiiiiiiik!!!!!!

A bizarre, murderous cry that sounds like it’s ringing in my brain shakes my body along with the sound of the ground shaking.

This is the second time I’m fighting for my life.

But this time it was different.

A strange adrenaline is boiling up.

I felt my heart start to beat wildly, sending blood all over my body and heating it up, and I unknowingly smiled with joy.

Feeling the cold touch of the axe in my hand, I jumped over the rock.

On the other side, the rose was wriggling its burning, ugly body and waving its tentacles around.