Chapter 141 (Self Edited) – Heading to the Request Location
After opening the wooden door, Soma squinted his eyes to the scene that spread shortly after. The reason was because he thought that the scene didn’t differ too much from a scene that he somewhat remembered.
It was at the back of the adventurer’s guild.
They received the request and headed out there.
Immediately after Soma, Felicia and Sheila left the guild… as he watched those two came out and a scene inside of the guild was reflected only for a moment. However, it was still the same just before he came out. The adventurers were trembling slightly.
Yes, they remained quiet until the end. It bothered him as if they were waiting for something. Well, the fact that nothing was said would mean that there was no problem with what Soma’s group did. Perhaps, there was an unspoken agreement between those adventurers… After all, the receptionist wasn’t surprised that Sheila was a Rank 5 adventurer
Speaking of what was different, after coming to Demento, Soma thought that the people he met were kind people for some reason.
“Hmm…? I can’t have such a thought…” (Soma)
“Soma-san? What is it? It seems that you were thinking about something from a while ago…” (Felicia)
“Hmm, well… it wasn’t like that, but I just thought that I was looking based on preconceived view.” (Soma)
“What?” (Felicia)
Felicia tilted her head as she had no idea what he was talking about, but it was alright since he didn’t seem wanting to make her understand. So, he told himself that he needed to reflect on that manner. It was the same thing everywhere as the rules are different from place to place, and it might be problematic to say that people were someone being kind to him. Whether it was Demon or human, he couldn’t help but choose to be on the human side. While thinking such an obvious matter, Soma let out a sigh.
“Hmm, what to do after this…” (Soma)
“Aren’t we going to fulfill the request?” (Felicia)
“…Yes, but basically, we need to gather information.” (Sheila)
“Yes, that’s right.” (Soma)
This was their first time coming to this town. They should at least know about the geographic information surrounding them, and what kind of monsters would come out.
“Come to think of it, when we get to a new place, we should gather information first, right?” (Felicia)
“Well, we can’t decide on the course of action unless we have the information. In that regard, the first objective has been achieved, that is to receive a request, so we are giving priority to it.” (Soma)
“…We don’t have any information from now on, so it is necessary to gather information now.” (Sheila)
Actually, it would have been better to gather information first, but considering the time they arrived to the town, it would be just in time for request form to be hanged. Of course, there was a possibility that they wouldn’t make it in time, but if it became like that, they just needed to gather information again. For that reason, they didn’t gather information and headed to the guild first.
“I see. but the request we received this time is a subjugation request, right? If it were both of you, it should be no problem if we go hunt it right away, no?” (Felicia)
“Hmm, speaking if there is a problem, there is none, but…” (Soma)
Surely, the content of the request they received this time was the subjugation of a certain monster. In addition to that, the main reason why Soma chose it was because it gave a big reward for the rank they held. The other reason was that he thought that they were capable to handle it. They also heard the location, characteristics and points to be noted when they received the request, so they probably would have no problem with trying to defeat it.
But…
“…There is absolutely nothing in the request other than basic information. Speaking of the preparation, we should be prepared.” (Sheila)
“If worst comes to worst, Sheila and I can cope with anything that comes out, but depending on the situation, we may not be able to protect Felicia.” (Soma)
In terms of combat, Felicia was a complete amateur. If they were prepared, there was no need to overdo things.
“That may be true, but… if that’s the case, should I wait in this town while the two of you do the subjugation request?” (Felicia)
“No, I’m more worried about that.” (Soma)
“…Yes, we will not know what will happen.” (Sheila)
“I think you worry too much… You two are still overprotective against me…” (Felicia)
“There’s no such a thing.” (Soma)
Rather, it might be an obligation to assume the worst situation.
“Well, I don’t mind since I have no complaints. By the way, we should check the surrounding this time, right? Like how you always do.” (Felicia)
“Ooh, there is such a thing. It is like in the big town, and the next stop is likely to be a village, and there are other places that I would like to look up. Nonetheless, we have received the request. Therefore, the request should be prioritized.” (Soma)
“…Yes. If we can get the reward, the range of things we can do will increase. We can discuss about this later, including what we’re going to do in the future.” (Sheila)
“I see… so does that mean we are going to look for something relevant to the request?” (Felicia)
“That’s how it is.” (Soma)
While having such a conversation, they decided to move from the spot for now. They were standing in front of the guild. It wasn’t the right place to stop, think and talk.
Be that as it may, they wouldn’t have bothered that much if it were normal. Guilds were often located at the center of the town, but at the same time, Soma’s group weren’t at the center. They basically at a place where there weren’t many people.
However, it was unclear whether this town was unique or Demento itself, but at least the guild of this town was at the center. The main street went through before them, and on the side of the street, there was a huge commercial building. It was easy to discover it, and when they first saw it, Sheila was surprised. Anyhow, it was clearly a hindrance to stay there forever.
While accompanied by the siblings, Soma walked on the left side of the street leaving behind the guild. They started walking along the road to the forest where the monster that had been designated by the request.
“Eh? Are you sure this way?” (Felicia)
Soma understood why Felicia raised that question.
But, there was no problem. Perhaps, it should be say that…
“Well, for starters, we’re going to go to the forest as it is.” (Soma)
“Eh? Uhm, that is to gather information, right?” (Felicia)
“…Yes, it is. But, we’ll do it there.” (Sheila)
“…Eh? Are you serious?” (Felicia)
“Of course, right? In fact, there is no other way to get information.” (Soma)
Of course, what Felicia spoke was correct. Although they were gathering information in order to prevent unexpected situation at the location, Felicia didn’t expect that they would do it on the location itself.
However, it couldn’t be helped since there was no other way to do it.
“The basics of gathering information for adventurers are generally done by similar adventurers or guild. In other words, once you receive a request, you should gather information in the guild.” (Soma)
“…Yes, but that is applied only to an ordinary request. That is a request without rank requirement. As for the request we have received, it’s kind of meaningless to gather information in the guild.” (Sheila)
“Meaningless… why?” (Felicia)
“Basically, the request makes it compulsory for adventurers to have at least Rank three or more… In short, the request is coming from a regular customer of the guild. That’s why the guild wants to find an appropriate manpower.” (Soma)
The ordinary request would include the summary, and the reward. If it was a subjugation request, it would only stated where the target appeared.
However, a rank-restricted subjugation request could also carry more detailed information. For example, the geographical information of the surroundings, what had been examined or heard from adventurers. Therefore, if they tried to ask for more than that, they wouldn’t get the answer.
They expressly came here to reduce the time to gather the information.
“…Eh? Have we gathered minimum amount of information already?” (Felicia)
“Well. Only on the surface.” (Soma)
“…? What does that mean?” (Felicia)
“…It is as it is. We might be wrong, though.” (Sheila)
After all, the situation could change from moment to moment. It might have been right when the guild looked up, but now, it might be different.
And that could happen in a few minutes, not a day. If the rank requirement was included, it was even more.
That was why they had to go to the location and confirmed it.
“I see… in other words, it’s more about scouting than information gathering, is it?” (Felicia)
“To be precise, I should say it’s a thorough scouting.” (Soma)
“…Rather than scouting, I feel like you are going to subjugate the monster as it is.” (Felicia)
“…Yeah, I don’t deny that possibility.” (Sheila)
“It doesn’t matter if we can do that.” (Soma)
The purpose to obtain more accurate information was to ensure Felicia’s safety. If they judged that they could defeat it without problems, then there would be no problem.
However, the possibility of facing problems also high. When it came to information, they couldn’t just listen to the rumor since it was often lacking in accuracy.
For example, if they didn’t come to this town directly, they wouldn’t know that there were so many other races than the human race, and the receptionist was a demi-human.
With that in mind, Soma squinted his eyes and looked at the people going to the town.
“Well, no matter how remarkable I spoke just now, I learned about adventurers mostly from Sheila.” (Soma)
“…But it was Soma who taught me the importance of reaffirming the information in the field.” (Sheila)
“Although I’ve said that, I have no chance to try it. This is actually I do it for the first time.” (Soma)
“For the time being, I understand that both of you trust each other. Well, I knew it from the beginning.” (Sheila)
So, they walked out of the town that could be thought as a normal town. Then, they stepped out of the town.
It was the grassland that was spreading there, and the figure of the forest was visible in a little distant place. Soma shrugged at the sight before him.
“I’ve heard that there is only grassland spreading in Demento, but this is also another difference from the information we have heard.” (Soma)
“I see… Certainly, I was also surprised at the beginning even though I know how Demons look like, but… is it important to confirm the information yourself?” (Felicia)
“…Well, I also realized it when I left the forest. After I met Soma, it was even more so.” (Sheila)
“Hmm? Did I do something?” (Soma)
“…Many things?” (Sheila)
“Somehow, I understand what you mean.” (Felicia)
“I only do things that I usually do, but… I just don’t get it.” (Soma)
While muttering such words, Soma looked around again, but… he tilted his head because he couldn’t feel monsters’ presence, and he couldn’t see it anywhere. For reference, he was told that there would be some monsters along the way, but…
“Let’s see… there are still other adventurers in the guild, so that mean, they didn’t subjugate the monster, right?” (Soma)
“…Even if it has been subjugated, isn’t it still too much?” (Sheila)
There seemed to be a barrier preventing monsters from coming into the town, but it was obvious from the number of requests that were hanged today that the monsters appeared in the surrounding area of the town. Although they didn’t see the whole thing clearly, there was no doubt that there were quite a few things about the damage caused by monsters. There must be subjugation requests that always came out, and… if it wasn’t because of that, there was no need to have such a fine guild in the first place.
If that was the case, they should be monsters here, but for some reason, they couldn’t see even a single monster.
“If something unusual happened, it would have written on the request form… or maybe it was over killed yesterday?” (Felicia)
Since this wasn’t a dungeon, there was no such a thing like revival in a fixed time after defeating the monsters. Nevertheless, there were no end to monsters because there were so many of them. However, if people defeat it, the number of the monster would eventually decrease.
Such a possibility existed, but…
“…Well, now it is a good time, isn’t it? If something happened, there will be information for that when we get back to the guild.” (Soma)
“…Well, I’m not sure.” (Sheila)
“That is also true.” (Soma)
When they reached the conclusion, they went to the forest for the time being.
However, although he was vigilant at the time, he didn’t even feel the presence of a monster on the way, and he reached the place unexpectedly as easily as he could. The forest in front of them was magnificent, but it might be in their mind that the forest was somewhat small in size.
“Hmm, this is…” (Soma)
“…Wait, is there no response?” (Sheila)
“I think it is good to feel relief, but…” (Felicia)
While the trio tilted their head in their own way, they had no choice but to move forward. If they moved forward, they might find the monster in question. While putting spirit until it made them exhausted…
“H-hey, calm down! It doesn’t taste good even if you eat Steina, you know!?” (??)
At that moment, a familiar voice entered Soma’s ears.