Chapter 203
Translated by Zzonkedd
Edited by Gumihou
Happy Chinese New Year to all my lovely readers!
“So this is the Verulean Adventurer’s Guild . It’s not as large as Doran’s but it’s still fairly big, na,”
The City of Verulean itself was not as large as a dungeon city, but it still beats Claire and Neihoff in terms of size . [1] Since it’s a port city, the population should be quite high too .
Alright, let’s go in . [2] It’s noon now, so there were not many people around . Adventurer’s Guilds are usually busiest during the early mornings and evenings, so it was pretty quiet at the moment .
[3] I like coming to the Guild during this time since I could go right up to the reception desk without having to line up or be stared at by other Adventurers . I smiled at the receptionist and whipped out my guild card, “Excuse me, my name is Mukouda . Perhaps you have received some word about me from Neihoff…”
The receptionist accepted my card with an, ‘A moment, please,’ before leaving her seat . This is also why I prefer to come when there is nobody around, it would be so awkward otherwise to have people waiting behind me…
I did not have to wait long . Soon, a large muscular man in his mid-40s strode out . He was completely bald with a pirate-ish eyepatch over one eye . [3] Woah, did that guy used to be a pirate?
Um… he looked even bigger up close . My guess is he’s about 190cm tall .
“Ou! You’re finally here, na . I am Marks, the Guild Master of the Verulean Adventurer’s Guild . I have received a message from old man Yoran about you . We have very little time to waste, so please come this way . ”
We followed Marks-san to his room on the second floor . Thus far, every Guild Master’s room appeared to be located on the second floor . [4]
“Please, take a seat,” he said, waving at a chair that looked like it was wide enough for two people, or one very big person .
“So,” he said, leaning forward on his desk . “I’ve heard a lot of stories about you . A Fenrir as a familiar and a Pixie Dragon as well, eh? I didn’t even know that such a dragon exists until someone told me about you . Gahahahahaha!” [4]
Ahahaha . “Yes, Pixie Dragons appear to be a rare type of dragon species . I also have a Slime as my familiar . ” Naturally, I cannot allow people to disregard my lovely Sui .
Marks-san nodded at Sui, who popped out from her usual place in my leather bag, [5] “Ah yes, your slime is quite the special one . ”
“Anyway, back to the topic . You’re saying that you have some time-sensitive, high-level mission for us?”
“Oh yes,” Marks-san became serious again . “We have a good number of Adventurers here so we don’t usually have that many high-level mission requests backed up . However, about three days ago, a Kraken appeared just off the coast of this port . [6] The fishermen spotted it and managed to escape after throwing a net full of fish at it . Unfortunately, the beast is still there . The fishermen can’t go out to the sea and it’s only a matter of time before it moves closer to the port for easy prey…”
A Kraken?
Fer, who had been snoozing behind the chair, suddenly perked up . He trotted around the chair and sat next to me, ears and tail alert .
“To be honest, the fishermen have been busting down my doors about getting rid of that Kraken,” said Marks-san with a groan . “I’m actually more troubled by them than the Kraken…”
From what I’ve heard, the fishermen of Verulean were a tough lot . [2][6] I imagined a bunch of strong, tanned guys looking a lot like the casts of Pirates of the C coming in to yell at the Guild Master…
“I do have a B Rank Adventurer party in town . They’re interested in taking on the quest, but the fact that the monster is in the sea upped the difficulty level so much that they ended up declining the request . A similarly ranked land monster would pose less trouble… So, will you take on this request?”
Well, we did kind of specifically come here to see if we can track down a Kraken, so…
“Umu, no problem . Krakens are delicious,” Fer replied before I could say anything .
“What he said,” I chimed up .
Ahaha, I could see Marks-san’s face stiffened .
“O-oi, Krakens can be eaten?”
“Can’t they?” [7]
We both looked at Fer and he licked his lips, “Yes, they are quite delicious . ” [7]
Marks-san looked a little uncomfortable . I have no problem thinking about Kraken as food since it’s basically a giant octopus . [6] It had been more challenging for me to think of the Black Serpent as food since Japanese don’t usually eat snakes . Also, sentient-ish creatures like Orcs . However, I do understand that some countries did not see squids and octopuses as food due to their weird appearances .
“I-Is that so? I’ve never heard of anyone eating Kraken before… M- maa, the important thing here is the quest . ” [8]
“Umu, we’re good . ” Well, at least Fer looked excited at the idea of taking on a Kraken .
[9] He’s not the only one, Marks-san was beaming . [6] Clearly, he was happy that he did not have to face those angry pirate fishermen with a negative answer anymore . He leaned back in his chair and said interestedly, “By the way, I heard you cleared the Doran Dungeon?”
“Ah, yes, we did . ” To think that even a faraway city like Verulean would have heard about that… Well, he’s the Guild Master and they do have ways to communicate with each other .
“I see, I see . Well, I shall be frank, I want to know if you still have any dungeon items with you . ” [7] [7] “Eh?”
[7] “Basically, it’s like this . Verulean has a lot going for it, but the one thing we don’t have is a dungeon . This means we have very little access to dungeon items . If possible I’d like to purchase any dungeon items you are willing to sell . ”
Well, this is certainly unexpected .
“I’d be happy to sell to you,” I said cautiously . “But I’ll have to take an inventory of my items first . I can’t recall what I have at hand at the moment . ”
“Aah, but of course . ”
“Anyway, since the Kraken subjugation quest is time-sensitive, how about we talk about the dungeon items later . ”
“Ou, I shall count on you then . ”
[7] “Oh yes, one other thing . May I know where the Merchant Guild is?”
“What? Why would you want to know about that?”
Oops, [6] is Marks-san probably thinking that I might be selling my dungeon items to them instead? Better curb that thought now .
[7] “I wish to consult them about renting a temporary house here . An inn is not suitable for me or my familiars . I’m sure you understand . ” I smiled, indicating Fer and Dora-chan .
“I see…”
Potential trouble averted, Marks-san wrote a letter of introduction for me, just at Yoran-san did back at Neihoff . Once I have the letter in hand, I made my way to the Verulean Merchant’s Guild .
[Gumihou: A fairly short, but interesting chapter . I wonder how they’re going to take down the Kraken]
[1] Structural Change: Combine 2 paragraphs
[2] Structural Change: Combine 3 paragraphs
[3] Added Details for Texture: Give Mukouda-san some personal preferences for character development
[4] Deleted Some Inane Information: Like you already climbed to the second floor, there’s no need for you to mention that even the Verulean’s Guild Master is on the second floor, like, whatever .
[5] Adjusted Details: Switched passive sentence to dialogue tag .
[6] Added Details for Texture: Throw in some mildly interesting info to make the incident more exciting .
[7] Structural Change: Passive to dialogue
[8] Changed sentence location: Deleted repetitive information and rearranged some sentences .
[9] Deleted Inane Dialogue: You accept request? > Yeah . > Good . > Awesome . > Thank you
