It’s been two weeks, and I’ve been working as a C rank adventurer. And unfortunately, not in a party.
I don’t have a problem being alone, but I think it’s about time to form a party with people of the same rank.
I’ll try tackling the next quest with other adventurers.
I go to the adventurer guild, and find a quest that catches my eye on the board.
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【Urgent quest : Save the Luminous farm!】
Job : Restore the Luminous farm
Reward : One gold coin with further added depending on results
Description : Construction
Location : Luminous farm
Time frame : One month
Notes : I would like to prioritize adventurers with free time. The Minefort family will pay for accommodation and food
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Checking separate documents tells me the story of how this came to be.
Apparently a giant meteorite hit the Luminous farm yesterday and destroyed it. Thankfully, divination magic allowed the owners and cattle to be evacuated, but even with that prior knowledge, the facilities were completely blown away. The damage is said to be in the thousands of gold coins.
Everyone is free to join, regardless of rank. It’s mainly about restoring it, and knowledge in construction is not required. They just need free hands.
The Luminous farm supports Minerva’s dairy industry, so the guild is also earnestly working to offer relief.
Also, the rewards and costs are all being paid for by Isolte’s family, the Minefort family.
It must be really something, for it to be treated as an urgent quest.
Hearing about a meteorite reminds me of Nero going crazy two weeks ago.
He was clad in white, and stabbing a straw doll while chanting what sounded like a curse. We still don’t know what happened to him. He was running the cafe normally the next day, so we missed the chance to ask.
Someone going crazy for no apparent reason is kind of ominous.
“Nero definitely did it.”
“Uwah!?”
I raise my voice in surprise when Iris suddenly appears next to me.
“Y-you scared me… Don’t just appear next to me. You’re going to make my heart stop.”
“Don’t worry, I can make it start again with holy magic if it does.”
She jokes with a big smile.
“What do you mean Nero did it?”
“I’m joking. Nero doesn’t have the power to drop a meteorite.”
“Of course.”
For a moment, I thought she was serious.
“However, he did say something questionable before it happened, so it would make sense to suspect him.”
Iris is correct. It’s not like she actually suspects him, it’s more like a ‘don’t call yourself a hawk sword user in a human village’ kind of situation.
This expression comes from the fact that it’s demons and beast people who use this technique, so if a human uses it, they’ll be suspected of being a demon.
I’m purposefully not alluding to her, but Black Raven was also a demon.
“By the way Mister Loyd, are you accepting this quest?”
“Of course. I can’t ignore people in need.”
“Fufufu, you really are nice. It just makes me like you even more.”
Iris’ rosy cheeks get even redder.
I feel like her smile can heal a heart even without holy magic.
I see a few adventurers watching Iris from afar and mumbling to each other. They’re all guys, and they’re listening to us.
“I-I see. So that’s what we have to say to get Miss Iris to like us! I got it!”
“I can’t ignore troubled people either!”
One of them yells, in a very purposeful way, and the others also start doing PR for themselves.
“I also do services for free. I love volunteering!”
“Me too me too! I like children’s smiles more than three meals a day!”
“Liar, you don’t like kids, you like whores.”
“And you’re always saying you’d marry money if you could.”
“What!? You wanna go!?”
“Bring it on!”
And then they start fighting.
“Adventurer guys really are the lowest.”
“Just scum.”
Meanwhile, female adventurers are glaring at them with icy stares.
And Iris is just reading the quest document, not hearing their screams at all.
“So Minerva can’t get fresh milk until the Luminous farm is restored.”
“Milk is used for a lot of things, so the damage to households is going to be severe. The macaroni au gratin I was going to use for tomorrow’s holy war uses milk too, so I can’t make that for the time being.”
“I feel like you have been getting too into making food for the demon king lately. I don’t even know what your main occupation is anymore.”
“I guess you have a point.”
I say while smiling awkwardly.
It’s my turn every three days, so the rhythm of my life is being skewed into looking after that girl.
Maybe that’s why my supposed slow life is lacking in sleep lately.
“How about I join the holy war as well?”
“Eh? You, Iris?”
“I have seen the holy war a few times. I more or less have it figured out, so I feel I can do it.”
That would help me, but there are monsters on the way there, so she has to be careful.
Even if Iris is a high rank mage who received an expensive education in Roland, you never know.
“You shouldn’t go there alone right off the bat, so I’ll accompany you the first few times.”
“Very well, thank you for the consideration.”
“No, thank you. Your help means I’ll spend less time on it.”
With Iris on board, I can think of subjects for the holy war with her.
She’s not going to officially join right away, so the three day schedule will stay the same, but it’s going to reduce my load eventually.
“There is no better joy than to use the power of a saintess for my beloved Mister Loyd.”
Hearing that makes my hard work worth it.
Getting back to the main issue, the urgent quest is about construction, so it might be best to ask dwarves.
I ask an employee to meet with Isolte.
Good fences make good neighbors. I need to go through the proper channels here in the guild.
But it doesn’t take long for us to be allowed to see her, so we go to the second floor.
Isolte is in the guildmaster’s office with her back turned to us while she looks out the window, before she slowly turns our way.
“What is it you need today? You don’t usually come here.”
“It’s about the urgent quest. I have a proposition.”
“Proposition?”
“Yes. If you’re looking for people who are knowledgeable about construction, how about asking dwarves?”
“Good idea, but there is a problem.”
“Problem?”
“They are very moody. We already sent out a request, but only two or three agreed to join the quest.”
She says with a scary expression while tapping her forehead.
That sharp glint in her eyes could kill someone.
“Should I try to convince them then?”
“Mu? You have connections with dwarves?”
I tell her about the sandworm, and how a group of dwarves likes me because of that.
“I see, that would make you a good choice. Can I ask you to try to convince them?”
“Of course.”
I’m going to take part in the urgent quest starting tomorrow, so I can try to convince the dwarves today.
It’s a little past noon now, so I’ll probably get there by dusk.
When I tell Iris about going to the dwarves to ask for their help, her eyes shine.
“I want to restore the farm too, so I will accompany you!”
And of course, I don’t say no.
We buy two boxed lunches at the station, and we’re off.
We eat together, and then I take a nap on her lap. It’s a very peaceful time.
“Mister Loyd, we have arrived.”
“…Hn, we’re here?”
I get up, and see we’re already here.
The thin rays of the setting sun are shining on Iris’ face.
“It looks like that exhaustion really was building inside you.”
“Sorry Iris. It was supposed to be just a short nap.”
“No no, I am very happy about getting to watch your cute sleeping face.”
She says with a soft smile.
We get off the wagon, and I help Iris so she doesn’t fall. Then we walk on the stone pavement while holding hands.
“Come to think of it, this is pretty far from Minerva. Isn’t it a lot of trouble to travel here every three days?”
I guess she has a point, this commute is probably more taxing than thinking about torture methods.
Doing this while also doing my normal job is pretty much torture.
Wait, why is the torturer being tortured?
“I’m thinking about doing something about this. I’ve been keeping my eye out for an alchemist who can make a portal.”
“Portal?”
“It’s space-time transportation magic. I could make a link between Minerva and the demon king’s floor.”
“Eh? Something that useful exists?”
“But the only person I know who can do it is Ruby.”
“Arara, that’s a problem.”
She smiles awkwardly.
I don’t want to have anything to do with Ruby, so my hopes are looking slim.
I think the most realistic solution is a low tech one, like getting more people to join the holy war.
“How about we just live in this village together?”
“You should tell that to someone who isn’t me, that you decided to have as your lifelong companion.”
“That’s next to impossible.”
“I’m sure you could find someone nice.”
“You’re so dense, Mister Loyd. I already found someone.”
Iris grabs my hand tightly.
Then we chat as we walk through the mountain road, and we bump into Sephilia.
She’s here because it’s her turn on the holy war.
“Hello Sephilia.”
I say, and she looks at me with a puzzled expression.
“Friend, it is my turn today.”
“I’m here for another reason today. Did you hear about the meteorite that struck the Luminous farm?”
“No, this is the first I am hearing of it.”
“That meteorite completely destroyed it, so I’m here to ask the dwarves to help rebuild it, since they’re experts.”
“I see, so that is why you were sent here. Did the request come from Miss Isolte?”
“Good guess. Actually, it was my idea, but the request comes from her.”
“I see. Miss Isolte has a good eye. She is good at picking people. And surely the dwarves will gladly accept a request from you.”
She says without a trace of doubt.
And Sephilia has a proposition of her own. She says she will take on my duties in the holy war.
“Are you sure? It can’t be easy traveling this distance every day. And, you know, she won’t die if we leave her for a month, so you don’t have to do this.”
I can’t go to that girl’s place while working on the urgent quest.
I was thinking about abandoning that role for the time being, but if Sephilia is willing to do it, I accept.
“Worry not. I will be staying in this village for a while.”
Then by all means. Although I feel bad about her doing so much for me.
I need to get her some nice things.
We eventually say goodbye to Sephilia, and continue through the Kokkoro mountain path.
“Sephilia was in a really good mood.”
“Eh? Was she? She didn’t seem any different.”
Did something good happen?
We walk together through this gentle hill road. A goblin appears here and there, but they’re no match for me.
We just keep going while I dispatch them with magic.
“Are we going to stop by the demon king’s place?”
Asks Iris.
“No, restoring the Luminous farm comes first. I don’t have time to deal with her.”
“You’re right. Sorry demon king, but the restoration of the farm is a hundred times more important.
Not to mention that we cannot satisfy the demon king without milk anyway.”
I agree.
But since Sephilia will be taking care of her for a while, let’s forget about that girl.
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