Arc 22: If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?

Chapter 185: Proposal and Dungeon

O Flame come forth, Explosive flame barrage, Flare Burst

As Lindsey recites this spell, a series of large explosions occur in 5 separate locations. Everything that was there got blown off.

This new spell is an enhanced version ofExplosion....... Or rather, it seems its one of the original ancient magics. What an outrageous power it has........ It definitely was the correct decision to come to the plains instead of the training grounds.

Youve done it! I wonder if fire attribute suits Lindsey better after all?

...I wouldnt have been able to make it this far by myself. Rin-san helped me......

Just so you know, my worst attribute is fire. Its not restricted to me alone, its the same for everyone from the fairy clan. Only a small number of members from the fairy clan can use fire magic, to begin with. Im guessing that its being avoided subconsciously as the race originally used to live in the forest

If Im not mistaken, didnt Rin say she possesses six attributes? And that she only doesnt have dark attribute. She did say something like I cant use summoning magic, so I made Pola instead.

The stuffed bear, which was standing at Rins feet, took a triumphant pose after seeing the explosions. It seems unlikely it would be able to subst.i.tute a summoned beast though.

Has Rin memorized any ancient magic?

Yeah. Mine is water attribute though

Rin stands in front of Lindsey, extends both her hands in front of her and gathers water attribute magic power.

O Water come forth, the great whirlpool of raging stream, Maelstrom

A huge water tornado appears in front of us. It came forth shaving off and engulfing the ground. Its hard to understand because there is no target, but its a wide range annihilation magic. Its powerful too....

Its weakness is that it has a high consumption rate of magic. Though I think its effect corresponds to that

I guess that its natural for the consumption rate of magic to go up if the magics power increases. Its best if you use different types of magic depending on the situation so that it wouldnt be wasteful. You should also consider the quant.i.ty of magic power you possess.

It wasnt only Rin and Lindsey that got powered up by the discovery of [Library]. Rosetta and Monica hoped to read the books related to [Magic Engineering]. It seems they are trying out various things.

Recently Suu is being taught magic by Rin. Although Suu only has light attribute magic, her magic capacity apparently is quite high. She seems to be particularly focused on learning recovery magic. I heard that she makes appearances in the knights training grounds to try out that magic.

At the same time, it seems she still practices with Lapis-san and the rest. Where on earth is she heading towards.......?

Fam has come to the ground and secluded herself in the castles library. That is a serious illness, isnt it? She is the mere shadow of print addicts. It has also aggravated for more than 5000 years, so there shouldnt be a cure anymore. Its an incurable disease.

In the afternoon, I make an appearance in the adventurers guild. I make sure to come at least once a week. Though its mainly to gather information from various places through the guild master Rerisha-san, I also accept quests sometimes to distract myself.

I enter the guild covered with a hood. Its as crowded as ever, but honestly speaking, I think there are those who are aware of my ident.i.ty. However, there is no need to stand out on my own.

You! Wanna fight, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d!

Huh!? Bring it on! Lets go outside!

While two men are grasping each others collars, they go outside with agile side stepping. Again? I feel like the quarrels occur each time I come here. Oh well, I guess this is also part of the routine.

This happens because adventurers want to prove their own worth. As long as they dont cause problems for the residents, they can mutually knock each other out.

Good afternoon

Ah! Maj......Ah no-no, Touya-san, good afternoon. Thanks for your hard work

Im talking with the receptionist, the catwoman onee-san. If Im not mistaken, her name is Misha-san. Her cat ears are twitching going Piko Piko.

How does the guild feel recently?

Let me see. As usual, there are many miscellaneous type quests. Merchants escort quests come in from time to time. However, its not possible to make a big profit here. This causes some annoyance, right? Thanks to that everyone immediately go their ways. No one stays so there are no familiar faces. Hence, it feels like every day there are a lot of new visitors

As she says that, her eyes focus on the two people fighting each other outside. I see. For some reason, many of those who call themselves adventurers tend to appeal with [I am definitely the greatest] during their first time meeting. I wonder if they do this from the start to make sure they are not underestimated? As a result, there are many conflicts.

Its fine if the ones saying those lines are beginners, but there are a lot of people among them who hit a wall without being able to advance to advanced levels.

They can be saved of that if there is a veteran adventurer capable of keeping an eye on them, but....... it would be unreasonable for them to stay as they cant earn money in this country.

After that, Misha-san leads me to the second floor and I enter Rerisha-sans room. The elf guild master was tidying up some papers. Rerisha-san looked up and indicated me to sit on a sofa.

Excellent. You have arrived here just as I was considering the possibility of contacting you

Did something happen?

Having put the doc.u.ments on the desk in order, Rerisha-san grabbed something that looked like a paper and sat down on the sofa across from me.

There are two news and one proposal. First, the dragons have appeared

The dragons you say?

One of them has been sighted south of the Great Forest Sea, in the Sandora Kingdom. Ive been told that it suddenly flew towards a desert village, started to rampage there, and then flew away in an unknown direction. So far it sounds ordinary, but the dragons have also appeared in Yuuron, as well as in Nokia. It seems villages and towns have suffered a lot of damage. Moreover, they say it was three different dragons

Its certainly very strange........ The dragons live in mountain areas where there arent many people. Ive also heard that they rarely attack human dwellings. Even among dragons, there are junior and senior cla.s.ses. It appears that those who attack people and do things like that are the junior cla.s.s which are closer to animals.

When I went to Misumido for the first time, the black dragon that attacked the village we visited was also a junior cla.s.s. The red dragon I met afterwards was a senior cla.s.s who appeared to be reasonable.

I guess it might just be a coincidence. There are many things we dont know about dragons. So it may be nesting season or something along those lines. We will be proceeding with an investigation on that, so we will find out eventually. There is other news along with a proposal but......

Rerisha-san spreads a map on the table in between us. Eh? Is this the ocean? However, there are several islands on the map........

This is the recently discovered archipelago. Its located south of the Sandora Kingdom. As a result of a survey, several ancient ruins have been found on those islands but...... its a faraway place, and its not possible to excavate them easily and investigate the ruins themselves

Have you crossed large amounts of people by s.h.i.+ps?

Yes, but those islands are not suitable for long stays. Temperature alternations are intense. There are also a lot of magic beasts. I was wondering why there were ancient ruins on these islands, but maybe it was once a big island during the times when the ancient civilization was flouris.h.i.+ng......

Do you mean that an island sank sometime in between then and now? Its not impossible. That may be the reason why the people of the island abandoned it. After that, magic beasts spread and it became the uninhabited islands.......

The additional problem is that these ancient ruins are quite wide dungeons. Its speculated that they were created by a mage of old or a wise man. If thats the case, it wouldnt be strange to find any kind of treasure in there. We as a guild cannot overlook that

Well, I guess so. Its like discovering a mountain of treasure. Ive never dived into a dungeon before, but it seems that they are pretty much scattered around the world.

Usually, requests are put for adventures to enter these dungeons. Its an established way to have them do the exploration. However, the location itself this time doesnt make it easy to do that. So this is where the proposal comes in

Rerisha-san swiftly leans forward thus coming closer. What what? Cl-close. It doesnt feel bad being pressed by a beautiful woman though.

Ive been thinking about whether it would be possible to connect the dungeons on those islands and Brunhild with his Majestys [Gate]

Ha?

What do you mean? Do you want to connect this country with those dungeons? Is there a reason for doing that?

In other words, what I mean to say is that I want a gateway for the adventurers who wish to challenge the dungeons to use. If the adventurers gather in this country to explore the dungeons, the town will develop. As a guild, we can send adventurers, the investigation can also advance, and it will be possible to buy treasures or magic beasts materials from them. What do you think?

Ahaha, is that what you meant? We will be crowded with adventurers aiming for quick money for sure. The inns, weapon shops, armor shops, and tool stores will definitely prosper with business. Besides, people allured by it will gather here as well. Its not bad, isnt it?

I can take measures to make sure that the magic beasts wont come from the other side. Its not difficult. We are going to promote the town by using the dungeons, right?

I have a few questions. Do those islands belong to any country?

Theyre currently being monitored by the guild, and dont belong to any country. If you accept the aforementioned proposal, I think it will be fine to transfer them to the Dukedom. Of course, that is if you are to guarantee providing information on the ruins and our privileged right on the sales of the obtained treasure by the adventurers in the dungeon

I have another question. Leaking out such information, have you not considered whether I wouldnt personally explore the dungeons and monopolize the treasures?

Hehe. Do you think that a person who would do such a thing, would gather the kings of the world with the intent of defeating the Fureizu? Even if I look like this, I still have the eyes to judge people as a guild master

It seems she thinks very highly of me. I better not betray her expectation, right?

Its certainly an interesting story. Rather than me finis.h.i.+ng the exploration, wouldnt the adventurers, the guild, and the merchants have a benefit in this? Just exploring and making a map will be profitable. Eventually, someone like a cartographer may even appear as well.

As the dungeons get deeper, the monsters should probably also get stronger, right? Certainly, the magic density gets stronger towards the underground. I have heard that strong magic beasts prefer living there.

As long as they are adventurers, they should always bear in mind that there may be injuries or even deaths caused by magic beasts.

I understand. I will accept the proposal

Thank you very much. Because [Gate] between the dungeons entrances and the guild branch will be made on the towns outskirts, please allow us to use them once they are completed

The dungeons, huh? I hope the town will prosper with this. Shall I do a little bit of early exploration?