“Wait, are you kidding me, there is a dungeon in Griffonpeak, too?” I asked Ellaine with an incredulous face.

“Yes, a B rank one. The Knights of the Lionheart Order, our Kingdom’s griffon knights, use it as a training ground for their veteran members. However, because the difficulty of the dungeon is rather high, it isn’t very popular with the average adventurer,” Ellaine explained, mildly blowing away the excitement I felt for the dungeon in Cedaraille. “On the other hand, as Cedaraille’s is ranked as D but possesses floors with varying degrees of difficulties, it’s far more popular with beginners. Mother said the first few floors are easy enough for F Rank adventurers while the depths can be too hard for B rank adventurers. In certain parts, I believe.”

“You’ve never been in a dungeon, Ellaine?”

Ellaine gave a wry smile at my question. “You’ve seen how inexperienced I was during our first hunt together, La- Hestia. I apologize, it’s still hard to get used to it all the time.”

“No need to worry, Ellaine. Even if Griffonpeak has a dungeon, I believe we should stay here for a bit just to experience a dungeon as well as raising our levels up. Although I really do want to continue our trip to the capital of the kingdom, I do not think rushing forward is a wise decision,” Saori comforted Ellaine before stating our party’s current goals.

Tasianna nodded, adding why we couldn’t stay here for too long, “Of course, we cannot stay here as long as in Firwood. Lady Hestia still needs to visit the cathedral in the capital, Miss Saori needs information on her own Quest, and Lady Ellaine needs to formally ask for time off from the royal academy. We will leave once SpringSun arrives.”

We had just arrived in Cedaraille a little while ago. As you would expect from a city, Cedaraille was big, far bigger than Firwood when it came to the wall surrounding the city as well as how crowded the streets were. Of course, it was nowhere close to how crowded New York was, but if I were to stretch my arm forward, I would definitely hit somebody, unlike in Firwood.

Technology-wise, it was around the same level of Firwood, where manatech was nowhere to be seen in the lower commoner district, rare in the merchant district, and abundant in the noble district. In other words, the basic layout of Firwood was similar to how the districts were divided here in Cedaraille. Evidence that Firwood took some notes from the duchy’s capital city before being built, according to Ellaine.

However, architecturally, there was a clear difference.

“The smell here isn’t that bad,” Saori pointed out, which I agreed with. The middle district of Firwood reeked of rubbish and toilet stuff, and most of the inhabitants would have too if they weren’t cleaning themselves in the local bathhouses or at home.

That’s when Ellaine was forced to answer our questioning stares, “Uhm, the local mage’s guild is responsible for the sewage system of Cedaraille.”

“Hold on, Peolynca already knows about sewers?” I raised a brow at what Ellaine just said.

“Do not be so surprised, Hestia. Even with where we come from, some cities managed to fund a sewer system to stop the horrible smells within their walls while others couldn’t, all during the same era,” Saori explained. Of course, she was speaking about Earth during the middle ages, keeping certain parts vague for the sake of any prying ears while we were still out in public.

Ellaine nodded, also understanding what Saori said. “Yes, that is the case. A sewer was actually under construction in Firwood; however, due to a problem with the slimes, it was delayed for a long time for lack of funds. Earth mages had problems constructing the system, as the architects were unable to design a working blueprint with Firwood’s geology. Then, water mages were needed to maintain the sewer water, but with Davison forcing the mage’s guild out of Firwood, the plans had to stop completely.”

Ahhh, in other words, a series of shitty problems… No pun intended.

“Slimes?” Saori questioned.

“Yes, do you three remember the slimes in the bathrooms of my mansion? Those slimes would be used to clean up the sewage canals. Of course, in an environment where they have access to large quantities of ‘food,’ the slimes needed to be regularly culled; otherwise they would grow far too large and numerous. Usually, this would be the water mages’ duties buuuuut… nobody respectable enough would want to do that.”

“You are implying hunter’s Quests, correct, Lady Ellaine?” Tasianna replied.

“Yes, work for adventurers. Sometimes other monsters enter the sewers, so a sewer usually turns into an undesirable training ground for beginners, or so I’ve heard from father and mother. Uh, I beg of you, please do not misunderstand and send me into the sewer, everybody. I beg of you, please, no,” Ellaine pleaded, looking for all the world like a scared kitten, terrified of being sent to train in the sewers.

Laughing it off, I now understood why she didn’t complain as much about the smell as our time in Firwood. “Ahh, so that’s why you didn’t mention anything about the noble district. I honestly thought you would want us to enter through the noble district’s gate, Ellaine. Well, it does smell rather nice here.”

Ellaine’s family had another mansion here as well. One in Helvas County, another in Firwood, a third in Cedaraille, and a final one in Griffonpeak. As nobles were expected to show up to balls during social seasons, they sometimes had to leave their fiefs or primary homes and travel to another city or town, requiring them to find accommodation. The most efficient way would be to build another home if you had to travel to certain locations a lot.

“Well, aside from the smell, I also knew you wouldn’t agree to it, Hestia. Hmmm, to be honest, I hope our inn will have proper beds instead of those thin mattresses over hard slabs of wood I’ve heard commoners have to sleep on. Sleeping on forest floors is just not good for my back or fatigue,” Ellaine complained, revealing how much she’d struggled with our travels this past week.

“Well, I guess we might have been a bit too harsh with your training.” As part of her training, I had used [The Will to Fight and Survive] to make Ellaine have infinite Stamina so that she could strain her muscles to the limit. Building up stats and overall Stamina was important for her.

As we walked through the middle district of Cedaraille, the big city atmosphere became more and more pronounced. People on the street calling people out to buy some suspicious stuff, adventurers manning monster material stalls, and areas on the street that were taken over by street food vendors. These were all things that also happened in Firwood, but not the sheer number of people crowding around the stalls for the simple pleasure of shopping.

Saori showed some interest in grocery shopping at the local marketplace, but finding an inn before noon should be our priority. The last thing we needed was to settle for sleeping outside or in some sketchy, rundown inn. And, with how many merchants were walking around on the streets and the large line in front of the city gates, we needed to hurry before the goods ones were all booked up.

[“Saori,”] I called Saori out using [Telepathy].

She replied immediately, [“Yeah, I know.”]

“Huh? Excuse me?” Ellaine looked confused as she questioned what we were talking about.

It’s a habit for me to use [Telepathy] on everybody in Aurora, however, since we haven’t gotten Ellaine to level up yet, she hasn’t earned any SP since she unlocked the SP shop to buy [Telepathy] from her shop, meaning she needed to speak to communicate until then. Her sensory skills weren’t high enough, either.

Without answering Ellaine’s question, Saori turned around and quickly swiped Ellaine’s pouch from her belt. While Ellaine was flustered, Saori loosened the strap on it and revealed the contents, or, rather, the lack of contents, to the sneaky little pickpocket before he could attempt it himself.

“Wrong targets, pickpocket,” Saori scowled at a young fox-eared boy in dirty clothes. A bolt of black lightning wrapped itself around her arm as she tied Ellaine’s pouch closed. “It is empty. Run along now, otherwise you might get into trouble.”

The young foxian’s eyes widened, looking terrified as he quickly nodded and merged back into the crowd without anybody’s knowledge. Ellaine shouted “Impertinent!” and questioned why Saori let him go, despite almost committing a crime against a noble; however, Saori held her back before she could chase after him.

“I do not like pickpockets either, but chasing after him now would be a waste of time. He looked agile and he knows the alleyways of his home better,” Saori reasoned with Ellaine, but she wouldn’t have it.

“With all due respect, Saori, letting a thief go without punishing him will only cause trouble for everybody else. He will not learn from this, and as a noble, it is also my duty to enforce the laws of my kingdom,” Ellaine stubbornly refused. If there is one thing her inferiority complex hadn’t dulled, it was her sense of duty as a noble.

As people were starting to notice us, I grabbed Ellaine’s shoulder and “ordered” her to stand down and to find an inn first before we do anything. She was reluctant, but as a noble, she couldn’t refuse the words of the one she deemed her mistress now. It was uncomfortable to do and caused some awkwardness between us, but I had to intervene. This is why we had to help her adapt to our party’s culture fast.

Also, there is the topic about the impending grimgarian war I have to talk with Ellaine about. I don’t feel it’s time yet…

After entering the merchant district, Saori picked out a decent-looking inn in the area. Not the best, since she wanted to save on money, but not the worst, either, as she thinks our party deserved some luxury after our trip here.

“Woooo, this is soooooooft. My poor legs.” Immediately after checking in, Ellaine tested the beds in our room before crashing on one like an exhausted athlete. She embraced her pillow and tried to reposition her posture until she reached the right spot. “Even this lowly bed is far better than the ground. I could just fall asleep now… Oh! Lady Hestia! My apologies.”

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

The moment her senses returned, Ellaine opened her eyes wide like an owl and jumped off her bed, snapping her legs straight as she tried to find an excuse for her behavior. Her bright red face combined with her flailing arms was adorable, causing me to chuckle a bit. Despite how often we’d been alone in a room together, she still hasn’t become comfortable enough to just let herself chill.

“Ellaine, let me just say this again, but I don’t care about our ‘Mistress and Retainer’ roles, alright? If you want to be serious about it, then by all means; however, you are my friend and party member first. That is Aurora,” I attempted to calm her down, worrying her tomato-colored face would overheat her head.

“Y-Yes, I know. I do apologize that we had to repeat this discussion again, but to repay you for accepting my selfish wish to come with you, I should be more competent, no?” Ellaine argued, feeling a bit impatient to prove herself despite the fact we have only been together for a week.

“And we are about to do some training to help you get to that phase. One thing I learned from my dance trainer during my idol trainee phase was to always solidify your foundation. However, how will you be able to train effectively if you never relax, Ellaine? You’ll stress yourself out,” I then tested my bed and jumped on it, relaxing immediately. “So, take some time to rest. A nap even. Until Saori and Tasianna come back from grocery shopping, no food to eat.”

We arrived just a bit before lunchtime, so Saori and Tasianna wanted to fill everybody’s belly before we stormed the dungeon of Cedaraille. After all, the trip from Firwood to Cedaraille was quite far — we even had to travel over a bridge built over the same river the barracudas travelled down during winter.

After Ellaine laid back on her bed, she quickly fell asleep, the exhaustion of a week of straight traveling weighing her eyelids shut. Our trip probably would have taken longer for an ordinary group traveling on foot, since it supposedly would take the same amount of time as we took to travel from Firwood to Cedaraille by carriage. We could have ridden Saori’s garms if it wasn’t to help Ellaine train.

It honestly felt as if she was trying to prove herself to somebody. Was it me or to herself? Well, whomever it was, I hope she’ll be able to feel more comfortable with us after the dungeon training.

A while later, Saori and Tasianna returned with some freshly-made meals they made in the inn’s kitchen, which they were able to borrow with the innkeeper’s permission. After we devoured everything, I took out the wooden bathtub I made in our travels for Ellaine, who felt uncomfortable bathing in the wilderness. Tasianna filled it up with water and I heated it up, which we used in a rotation to clean ourselves up. At least Ellaine wasn’t afraid of being naked in front of other girls.

Belly filled and refreshed, we departed from our inn after informing the innkeeper we would go to the dungeon. He didn’t say anything about it, but his worried face betrayed his real feelings about it.

“Don’t worry. The Goddess is on our side.” I snapped my finger before having my parallel minds show off ten spell circles at once. With level ten of [Parallel Thoughts], I finally maxed that skill, although now I have ten other minds speaking inside my head.

Our first destination was the hunter’s guild. We hadn’t been very active in Firwood concerning Quests, due in no small part to running our restaurant and taking care of Davison, so we had to begin climbing the ranks. A higher rank meant better Quests and recognition, after all.

After asking adventurers on the street, we eventually made it to the guild. As we were about to enter, a giant suddenly came out of the guild.

“Hmph!” he huffed the moment he saw us, looking irritated as we were blocking his way out. “Move.”

Giant wasn’t quite the right word for him, as he wasn’t significantly taller than me, however, I thought of him like that ‘cause his frame was far larger than mine. Muscles so thick they looked like rocks, slightly tanned skin with soot covering parts of it, a weird stone-hide covering his ears, and a massive orange beard and long oily hair accompanied by two ram-like horns on his head. Was he a ram beastman?

“Bladdarg! Move!” he bellowed out, making me quickly step to the side, letting him leave. He was huffing around as he stomped away in a bad mood. Did I cause that?

“Wow, I didn’t expect to meet a taz dwarf outside the mountains,” Tasianna suddenly said.

Dwarf?

As I asked her about it, she quickly began explaining, “Do you remember Kraftja and Ogni, Lady Hestia? They mentioned they were inko dwarves, correct? ‘Tazong’ is the word for ‘dwarf’ in the dwarven language, Inkong-gul, better known as the Undermountain Speech. An ‘Inko’ is known as a surface dwarf, those who dwell in the upper crust of the earth or mountain, seldom leaving to the surface.”

Now that I think about it, Kraftja did call herself an inko dwarf.

Tasianna continued, “Now, a ‘taz’ is known as an undermountain dwarf, those who dwell so deep in the earth that some might have never seen the sun before. They are bulkier than the surface-dwelling dwarves but are considerably shorter to help them fit inside their tunnels. While I do not know how it happened, taz dwarves are known as firebreathers. They are able to expel flames without needing to use mana, although it’s considerably weaker than a dragon’s.”

That is a dwarf?! Well, I can see it with his long beard, but I honestly thought he was a demon for a second with his horns.

“Pardon, Tasianna, but wasn’t he almost as tall as Hestia?” Ellaine questioned.

“She is right. Ogni was as tall as Hestia and so was that taz. I cannot call that shorter,” Saori agreed with Ellaine’s point.

However, Tasianna didn’t have an answer for that. As she shook her head, we decided to ignore this for now and head into the guild. The guild hall in Cedaraille was far larger than the one in Firwood’s branch, and even had a mezzanine, a second floor that acted like a balcony overlooking the first floor. The building was packed, including the mandatory installations like the training hall in the back, the guild tavern next door linked through a door, the questboard where all the Quests were posted, and, of course, the handler counter.

As it was past lunchtime, the liveliness inside was similar to Firwood, as most adventurers were out for work. Consequently, there was barely a line in front of the receptionists.

“Greetings on this wonderful LightDay, Miss,” I greeted the handler once it was our turn, doing my priestess impression.

“Thank you very much, Lady Shrine Maiden. May the Goddess bless you, too. My name is Cleo; how may the guild help you today,” a human woman in her late twenties bowed slightly, greeting us with a professional smile.

“Yes, my party Aurora wishes to enter the local dungeon managed by the guild. I heard that you require a stamp from the guild hall to enter,” I recalled from Ellaine’s explanation. We four then handed the handler our IDs.

She accepted them graciously and began inspecting them, raising an eyebrow as she looked at Ellaine’s, the only ID of the four with a different design. “Excuse me, but isn’t this person G rank? The dungeon is ranked as D, meaning the guild cannot grant this person permission to enter for their safety.”

Ellaine’s eyes twitched as she heard this, smiling wryly as she knew this would happen. I patted her shoulder, telling her she was far stronger than G rank and returned my gaze back to the receptionist to clear up the misunderstanding, “Miss, please look at the remaining IDs. Our party is designated as E rank and we will be bringing the G rank with us for training. That should be allowed, correct?”

As she returned to her inspection, she quickly apologized for what she said before, confirming we could request permission if our party’s rank was adequate. A party’s rank was determined by the average between all members and while Ellaine’s G rank brought us down to E rank, we were still high enough due to Saori’s, Tasianna’s, and my rank. Luckily, Farron was nice enough to make us D rank. It was another reason why we should start grinding adventurer rank.

“Lady Ellaine Fiero Helvas, Miss Tasianna Marina Silverpond, Miss Saori Segawa, Lady Hestia Atsuko…Oh! Lady Shrine Maiden, did you perhaps just arrive in Cedaraille from Firwood?” Cleo suddenly asked me.

After I confirmed it, she nodded and informed us why she knew about it, “The guild master for this branch of the hunter’s guild has received a message from the guild master from the Firwood branch to look out for you and Aurora. I apologize for not recognizing you earlier. With the recommendation of Farron Nordor, Guild Master of Firwood’s hunter’s guild, permission may be granted. Please, wait a moment for me to imprint your permission on your ID.”

Farron? Jeez, old man. Worrying about us enough that you would inform another branch? Well, now I really have to help you out with your ailment… although, considering the ingredients, we will need to wait until we reach Griffonpeak to begin.

After we took back our IDs, we went over to the Questboard to pick up some Quests to help out Ellaine. In order for her to rank up, she needed to accumulate ten G rank points — usually equalling ten G rank Quests — however, she could also rank up by taking F rank Quests. Each F rank point was worth two G rank points. Fortunately, all of them were monster material collection Quests that fit into Ellaine’s power leveling goal.

Of course, we took more than just five F ranks; we took 20. Why? 15 F rank points were needed to rank up to E rank. As we planned to enter the local dungeon, we only took Quests which specifically mentioned monsters that spawned inside it.

When we showed our Quest choices to Cleo, she looked flabbergasted at the amount presented but nonetheless registered them all to our name. Once they were all under our name, we finally took this chance to change our Jobs, something we forgot to do in Firwood in our excitement to leave.

Job: Aggravator

Requirements: 1000 Health, 400 Intelligence, 500 Vitality, 500 Wisdom, [Fighter]

Acquirement Benefits: Health increase, Vitality increase, Wisdom Increase, Stamina increase, [Enhanced Health Growth] proficiency

Main Job Benefits: [Taunt]

Individual [Sunfang Dragonewt, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor] has switched her Main Job to [Aggravator]

Main Job benefits have been updated due to Job change

Aggravator Level: 0/5

Job Ability gained: [Taunt]

Oh yeah!

It was an obvious choice, an improved version of our party’s “Concert Farming” strategy. As Ellaine wasn’t the strongest currently, me being able to completely direct a monster’s attention away from Ellaine was important to keep her safe while also giving me a chance to lure monsters closer to me for quicker kills.

The requirement was quite steep for a beginner-class Job, since you need stats around a D rank adventurer to get [Aggravator], but I guess it made sense for a tank to be strong. However, what fighter would reach 400 Intelligence easily?

Back to the Job changes, Ellaine was the only one who couldn’t change her Job as she switched from her [Magic Tinkerer] to [Fighter] after the hunt we did together, and without being able to level up, she would have to wait to change her Job until after we were done. Saori and Tasianna switched to [Dark Mage] and [Storm Sorcerer] respectively.

As we were about to leave the guild, I heard some people whispering about our party. Most of them were baffled by what they had heard the receptionist say about Farron’s recommendation and our twenty accepted Quests. The rest, however, were a bit less confused.

“Are they the same people who spied on us when we entered the city?” I asked Saori as our party was on our way outside the city towards the dungeon, covering us all with an [Air Shield] to prevent people from eavesdropping.

Saori nodded, so I gave her another question, “Did you look into them while you were outside shopping for ingredients?”

“Uno did. He spied on them for a bit and relayed the information through [Telepathy] to me. They belong to a noble, but I am not sure from which house,” Saori informed us all.

Ellaine listened, thought it through for a moment, before giving a possibility, “It could be Lord Duke Greenveil’s. In addition Lord Marquess Sirius and His Majesty, Lord Duke Greenveil was also given your information, as you stayed in his duchy.”

I frowned, shaking my head in frustration, unable to help but think of the worst possibility. “If that is the case, then I really hope he doesn’t drag us into his problems. We are staying here for a bit and then we will leave, nothing more. No noble’s scheme, please.”

Please, please.