Ch.227Towards the Sky. Peledias (6)

After restoring the sacred relic that was crumbling under the sun’s power, I gazed around at the crowd watching me.

I could see their awe at the miracle performed by the sun, and soon their attention shifted to the Frontier, which looked as if it had been created hundreds of thousands of years ago.

As I descended from the display platform, people instantly parted to either side for me.

The eyes that had just moments ago been looking at a drunken troublemaker had somehow transformed into eyes beholding a faithful apostle who had come to deliver divine gospel.

How amusing is this? The Sun bestows grace merely through its existence, yet humanity so easily loses faith without tangible blessings.

If only they had studied a bit more philosophy, humanity would have been ruled by two instead of four. Even now.

I approached Simon and casually spoke.

“Let’s go now. If we stay any longer, not just the museum but the entire country’s population might come rushing in.”

“That would be wise. Gather around me. I’ll use a teleportation spell.”

I moved closer to Simon, avoiding the growing crowd, and once we were all in position, Simon began to chant.

“W-wait! Please wait just a moment!”

“Don’t leave!”

I heard the security guard and curator desperately trying to stop me. Their expressions, so obviously determined to hold me back somehow, were almost comical.

Why? If I stayed, were they planning to put me on display and sell me too?

Soon their voices scattered with Simon’s incantation, and we disappeared in a bright flash of light to somewhere else.

*

“Where are we?”

“The plaza. The Sky Warden is under repair, isn’t it?”

“Ah… right. The plaza.”

As I muttered those words, my wife’s body, clinging to my right arm like gum, trembled slightly.

I massaged her bottom and stroked her hair to help her relax, which finally stopped her trembling.

“So… where should we go now?”

“Well… do you have someplace in mind?”

At Simon’s question, I scratched my chin, deep in thought.

A café? Not bad, but we went yesterday. Counting the time I went alone, that makes twice.

“Ah.”

“Seems you’ve thought of something?”

“Let’s go to the Adventurers’ Guild. That’s much better than standing around blankly. We can add a few more gold coins to our million.”

“Aha. Indeed. We haven’t taken on adventure requests lately.”

“Well… since we’ve been traveling by airship, we rarely visit the ground. It’s not bad to go back to our roots once in a while.”

Hawk made a very enthusiastic remark.

So we unanimously decided to head to the Adventurers’ Guild and began searching throughout the city.

“Delicious.”

“Are you planning to conquer every food stall in this country? Stop buying so much.”

“I was merely victimized by food stalls wafting their enticing aromas.”

Lucia feigned innocence while busily working her bulging cheeks, stuffing chicken skewers and the like from the food stalls down her throat.

It’s a mystery how she doesn’t gain weight despite eating and drinking so much. Perhaps she truly has a goblin in her stomach.

With such physical questions in mind, we opened the doors of the Adventurers’ Guild after a very long time.

*

Jingle~ Jingle~

Hmm. This familiar yet strange sound. The fact that I’m still not numb to it proves that the spirit of adventure still lives within me.

As we entered the guild, adventurers in various attires and armaments briefly looked at us before losing interest.

Whether Knights of the Sun or Knights of the Moon, it’s none of their business—a very adventurer-like attitude.

I nodded slightly and approached the bulletin board where requests were posted.

Come to think of it, how long has it been since I personally accepted a request?

“Damn. I can’t even remember.”

“What?”

“Nothing. Just talking to myself.”

“Huh. How bland.”

After a brief, untimely exchange with a nearby adventurer, I scanned the request board and soon selected a suitable one to bring to my party members waiting at the table.

The content of the request was quite simple.

A group of trolls had made their nest near the city, and they needed someone to step forward and exterminate them.

Since it was a request from the city government, there was no worry about not getting paid, and the number—several dozen trolls—was just right.

It would take about three to four days to ride there, handle it, and return, by which time the Sky Warden should be fully repaired.

“How about this? Looks good to me.”

“Hmm… I don’t mind.”

“Trolls? Have we ever fought trolls before?”

“Don’t you remember? We fought a group of trolls to awaken your Aura.”

“I don’t remember because my head was cracked open.”

“Oh my.”

I retorted with a sneer and handed the request to the dwarf brothers.

Their cannons and flamethrowers would give those trolls with regenerative abilities quite a taste.

“Trolls!”

“Have you faced them before?”

“Have I faced them… that’s a bit ambiguous.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, we tested our cannons and flamethrowers on troll hide. As you know, troll skin is tough and extremely durable.”

“Ah, I see.”

In short, they had experimented on preserved specimens. Just as cutting bamboo to test a blade’s sharpness can’t be described as fighting a bamboo giant, their ambiguous answer was quite appropriate.

“So how was it?”

“Couldn’t penetrate it.”

“So we improved until we could!”

“I figured as much.”

Troll hide is expensive, but dwarves are generally skilled craftsmen and tend to earn good money.

Well, if they spend more than they earn, that can’t be helped, but at least metal-grade dwarves who use Aura should be able to pay off their debts steadily.

“What about you elves? Can you pierce them with arrows?”

“Heh! We managed to pierce them even before we could use Aura, so now we can turn them into porcupines just by shooting!”

“We’ll show you that we didn’t awaken our Aura with our limbs blown off for nothing.”

“Good.”

Finally, I turned my eyes to my wife.

I kissed her and said nothing.

“Ugh. This is discrimination against women.”

“Why should I care about a lowborn wench who isn’t my wife?”

“We’re… ‘comrades’…”

“I only accept comrades with blood alcohol levels of 0% or lower.”

“That’s an impossible standard!”

“Ah… seems there’s a vacancy in the Iron Walker party…”

“Hey!!!”

*

After accepting the request, we first headed to my subordinates.

Not to gather information from them, but to inform them that we would be absent for a certain period.

Of course, we also came to fetch our horses.

“Brigade Commander. We’ll be away for about three to four days.”

“Ah, I see. A request?”

The Brigade Commander wasn’t particularly surprised. He already knew I was an adventurer. Judging by how unfazed the officers with him were about my absence, I could see why experienced career soldiers are preferred.

If they had panicked greatly and made mistakes, I would have had to clean up after them.

“Yes. During that time, you’ll be my proxy as the senior officer.”

“Understood, my lord.”

“And prepare the horses.”

“Yes. Will Bruiser and three warhorses be sufficient?”

“Yes.”

It seemed my companions weren’t particularly fond of getting attached to warhorses. Among the party members, I was the only one who had named my horse.

Well, perhaps I’m more attached to Bruiser because I won him as a prize at the Colosseum.

So I watched as my subordinates brought the horses, then helped my wife onto Bruiser before mounting behind her.

The elf twins shared one horse, the dwarf brothers another, and Simon rode alone on the third.

“Well then, Brigade Commander. Take care until we return.”

“Yes. Are you certain communication won’t reach?”

The Brigade Commander asked cautiously.

No communication meant no means of contact. Even with implants in our heads, the distance was too great for communication to reach, which must have been disappointing from his perspective.

“Well, there are no relay stations in between, so probably not. Try once when we’re gone, and if it doesn’t work, handle things as you see fit.”

“Understood.”

The Brigade Commander saluted me and began issuing various orders to his subordinates.

At his command, the officers saluted and departed somewhere, and the Brigade Commander himself neatly organized his belongings before leaving.

“Now it’s time for us to depart as well.”

“Wow~ How long has it been since we slept outdoors? I can’t even remember!”

“Same here. Now we’ll finally have a real adventure again.”

We conversed while riding our horses toward the outskirts of the city.

The view from the sky wasn’t bad, but the scenery seen from below the heavens had its own beauty.