Ch. 29 The Two Witches (9)
by Afuhfuihgs
Witch – Chapter 29 – The Two Witches (9)
After briefly exchanging introductions with Nicks, he began sharing his adventures as promised.
“Back then, I managed to escape by driving my greatsword into the golem’s core. If I had been even a little slower, my comrades would have died.”
Nicks’s tales of adventure, which continued as we made our way to Venetia, became a great source of entertainment for us.
It seemed he hadn’t started his adventurer life alone, as he began with stories of his first dungeon raid with his comrades. Tales of slaying wyverns and drakes, or exploring newly discovered dungeons, kept us on the edge of our seats. Even Leo, who had initially looked at Nicks with disinterest, was now fully engrossed in the stories. At this point, everyone’s attention was focused on Nicks.
“That’s amazing! To defeat a golem in such a critical moment!”
“Not really. In the end, I was the one who woke the golem. If I hadn’t acted so carelessly, my comrades wouldn’t have been in danger.”
“No, no one can predict what will happen in a dungeon.”
The sight of them walking side by side, chatting amiably, was quite pleasing. I slowed my pace slightly to admire the three of them from behind.
High-ranking adventurers are usually proud and tend to look down on others, so in Aria Chronicles, they often appeared early on as extras to showcase the strength of the antagonists. I had assumed Nicks would be that type of adventurer.
But as he shared his stories, he concluded them with reflections on his shortcomings rather than boasting. This made his tales much more enjoyable to listen to than the typical boastful adventurer stories. Through his stories, I got a sense of what kind of adventurer Nicks was.
“What happened after you defeated the golem?”
Josie, curious about the rest of the story, urged Nicks to continue.
“We defeated the golem, but… the party was too injured to continue the exploration. If I had been more careful, we wouldn’t have triggered the trap that woke the golem. It was all my fault.”
Nicks blamed himself, but the trap was unavoidable. The boss room of the ancient ruins dungeon in the northern outskirts was designed so that the golem guarding the entrance would activate to repel intruders. To proceed further into the dungeon, defeating the golem and obtaining the key from its core was necessary.
If Nicks had explored the dungeon alone, he would have easily defeated the golem and entered the boss room.
“I don’t have enough experience or skills to lead a party, so now I work alone.”
“Wouldn’t joining another party be better? If you’re alone, unexpected situations could always happen…”
“At the Stella rank, working alone isn’t a problem. I only take on quests I can handle by myself.”
For an adventurer to work alone, they must be constantly vigilant, even during long-distance quests where they can’t take turns keeping watch. In dungeons, they must be on high alert for ambushes and traps at all times… For an ordinary human, this is nearly impossible.
To have the confidence to explore dungeons alone… It’s no wonder he’s a Stella-rank adventurer, the highest tier. His eyes exuded a quiet confidence.
“Are there many adventurers in Venetia as strong as you?”
“Hmm… I’ve heard there are three Stella-rank adventurers, including me. I haven’t met the other two, so I’m not sure. They’re said to prefer long-term quests with good rewards. If you look around the city, you probably won’t find someone stronger than me.”
There’s only one person in Venetia stronger than Nicks, but I didn’t mention it.
“By the way, Sister mentioned she has a friend living in Venetia.”
What are you talking about, Josie?
“What kind of person is she? Since I’m a native of Venetia, I might be able to help you find her. If you tell me her name or what she looks like, I’ll find her quickly. If she’s a friend of a mage, she must be an extraordinary person, right?”
Josie and Nicks turned their shining eyes toward me. Leo, also curious, followed suit.
Finding my friend wouldn’t be difficult—I could just follow the traces of her magical aura—but with them looking at me so eagerly, I couldn’t bring myself to say I didn’t need help.
I had planned to keep it a secret until we met in person, but I hadn’t expected Josie to be so curious about my friend.
“She’s a friend who always keeps her eyes closed. She’s about 170 cm tall, which is quite tall for a woman. Her hair looks black at first glance, but the inside is a honeydew-like color… or maybe you could call it lime green.”
She’s what you’d call a “narrow-eyed” character, with a model-like slender figure.
Her black hair reaches down to her neck, but the inside is lime green. I recalled the image of my friend, whose secret two-tone hair was quite striking.
“Her name is… Beryl. Do you happen to know her?”
“Hmm… I’m not sure…”
Beryl is a shut-in who hates going outside. Even when she does go out, she wears her robe deeply over her head and uses magic to obscure her presence, so it’s no wonder Nicks, a native of Venetia, wouldn’t know her.
In Aria Chronicles, Beryl appeared as a supporting character and gained immense popularity, eventually becoming a playable character. True to her “narrow-eyed” archetype, the gap between her appearance with her eyes closed and open was staggering. Normally, she gave off the vibe of a quiet, gloomy girl-next-door with her hood up, but the moment she opened her eyes, she transformed into a tough, gangster-movie-like older sister. The only problem was that she rarely opened her eyes unless she was using her magical eyes. Still, even with her eyes closed, Beryl’s appearance wasn’t bad.
She wouldn’t have moved, would she?
I hadn’t been able to ask if she was still in Venetia since she hadn’t contacted me.
“If you have trouble finding her later, you can visit the adventurer’s guild. We also handle missing person cases.”
“Alright. If I can’t find her, I’ll come by.”
I doubt I’ll need to visit the guild to find Beryl, though.
“Do you know when the Harvest Festival starts? One of the reasons we came to Venetia was to see the festival.”
The crops should be harvested soon.
Looking at the farmland that hadn’t been harvested yet, even though the festival was approaching, I asked.
“Recently, monsters have become more aggressive, and attacks on the city have increased. Farmers have even died during harvests because of monster attacks, so the Marquis ordered a halt to harvesting until the monster waves calm down. I’ve been focusing on hunting monsters, but rumors that the aggressive monsters might have come from a dungeon led me to take on a dungeon exploration quest.”
Monsters influenced by magic stones attacking the city… If even a large city like Venetia is feeling threatened, small rural villages must be in dire straits.
Even though there are over 200 years until the Demon King’s arrival, the signs leading up to the original story are appearing faster than expected.
“Some people in the city are worried that the Harvest Festival might not happen. The adventurer’s guild has also sent messages to the other Stella-rank adventurer parties to return to Venetia.”
“What!? Then… the fancy ball with the prince…”
I didn’t raise her to believe in fairy tales like this. Both Leo and I let out a deep sigh at the same time.
Venetia has a large transitory population, so the crops from the farmland are barely enough to get through the winter. Nicks’s expression darkened.
“Lady Estelle and Josie, you’re mages, right? Could I ask you, on behalf of Venetia, to take on a quest?”
Nicks made the request to me and Josie with a serious expression.
I don’t particularly care about Venetia’s winter survival, but if Josie can’t enjoy the festival, 30% of the reason for coming to Venetia would be meaningless. Still, I can’t just accept a quest under Nicks’ name. We’re here under the pretext of the Marquis of Laplace’s request, after all.
“I’ll decide after discussing it with the Marquis of Laplace. Moving a mage requires significant power. Even a Stella-rank adventurer like you doesn’t have the funds to hire two mages, right? We also want to enjoy the festival, so don’t worry.”
“Please, I’m counting on you!”
Nicks bowed deeply again at a 90-degree angle.
“But I have a separate request for you. I’d like you to avoid taking on any other quests until the festival ends.”
“You want me to avoid taking quests…?”
Listening to his stories, I became convinced. Nicks would be a great help in training Leo.
Even though working alone requires considering many factors, if he can explore dungeons solo, he’ll be a great mentor for Leo.
Even though their weapons are slightly different, Leo wouldn’t have any major objections to having a top-tier adventurer as his teacher.
“I’m planning to make a special request, so look forward to it until then. If you take on any other quests… you know what will happen, right?”
I reached out my hand and wiggled my fingers in front of Nicks, causing him to blush.
“I’m a Stella-rank adventurer, you know? I’m quite expensive. Can you afford it?”
Special requests come with additional costs. On top of that, Nicks is a Stella-rank adventurer, the highest tier, so silver coins wouldn’t even begin to cover it. But I have more than enough money in my inventory.
“If I don’t have money, can I pay with something else?~”
“That’s not possible!”
Nicks’ reaction made me laugh.
His response was different from Josie’s or Leo’s, and it was quite amusing.
Lucent
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