Wolland arrived at the Castle of the Elford. It had been a long time since he'd been there; his destination was the adventurer’s guild. As in his old days, it was his impulse to look at the quest board as soon as he entered the building. “Owl Bear subjugation,” he read the latest paper on the quest board, which would require 3 to 4 parties of 5 members, depending also on the number of the Owl Bears. Owl Bears are classified as class B and class A if it’s a group.
“Well, that’s interesting,” he said and proceeded to the reception.
The receptionist knew who he was and immediately some members of his clan greeted him on his way to the receptionist's counter. “Good afternoon, I would like to speak with the guild master,” he said politely. The receptionist nodded.
The receptionist opened up the counter table, letting him inside, then guided him to the second floor where the guild master’s room was.
The guild master was busy reading reports; now he had to deal with another.
“Wolland… what are you doing here? I thought you retired,” the guild master asked as he was reading a paper.
“I would like to send a message to my ex-clan members,” Wolland said. He sat on the chair, and the receptionist bowed and left the room as she closed the door.
“What message would you like me to send?” the guild master said, finally putting down the paper and looking Wolland in the face.
“I want them to go to the north to help with a siege,” Wolland answered. The guild master’s eyes widened.
“So you have met the big ass northerner, huh? Well, we also received a quest from the Port Town, even saying that we can pay the adventurers going north with gold for their expenses! It seems that they received a big reward after conquering an artificial dungeon there,” the guild master said, nodding with each accomplishment he mentioned.
The two were working fast, it seemed. “Are you also going north?” the guild master suddenly asked.
“Nope, I’ve left the adventurer life for good. This is me returning the favor to them… I’m finally getting married.” With that, Wolland blushed a little.
“Oh!!!! OOOOOH!!!! Is it who I’m thinking of?” the guild master asked, and Wolland nodded.
The guild master ran outside of his room. The balcony on the second floor provided an overview of the entire guild grounds, from the reception area to the entrance. “HEY!!! WOLLAND IS GETTING MARRIED TO NARNIA!!!” he screamed. The guild staff and adventurers who knew Wolland clapped.
Their relationship had been followed by adventurers and guild staff alike. “Hey!! You didn’t have to scream it!!!” Wolland, who was late in following the guild master, protested.
“When is it?” the guild master asked.
“Next first week of the month, in my village,” Wolland timidly answered.
The guild master made a funnel using his hands “THEY ARE GOING TO BE MARRIED NEXT MONTH, FIRST WEEK, IN THE FISHERMAN’S VILLAGE!!! EVERYONE IS INVITED!!!” and the guild master just added more fuel to the fire.
“Congratulations!! Finally!!”
“I knew it!!! Good job, man!!”
“Wolland, you asshole!!!”
“She has been waiting for a long time!!”
“You piece of shit!! I’m so jealous of you!!!”
“Die! You lucky bastard!!!”
At first, it was compliments, but it started changing in the middle.
<--->
Elford’s Castle…
“My queen… they already have the relic; it's safely returned to the adventurer’s guild,” the maid reports to the queen. The queen looks at her. “And?” she added, urging the maid to continue her report. “It was brought by the Sen-ran of the central.”
The queen, who was sitting in her office, really wanted to slap the table, but she endured. “Give me the report.” The maid handed over the piece of paper she was holding.
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“And they were here a few days ago!” she said, seeing the name of the adventurer responsible for returning the relic. The shard of the dungeon core is usually called a relic since it can be used as a catalyst for about anything one can think of for its uses. The application and use of the dungeon shard were still a gray area even for the researchers of magic.
The queen felt much more at ease knowing where it was than if it vanished into thin air. The Sen-ran is one of the oldest nobles of the central; they know what they are doing even though they run the most shady underground organization in the whole realm. They are still trustworthy and won’t do anything to harm the realm.
“Is that all?” the queen asked.
“The first raid party that will be finishing is probably the king’s; the adventurers who delivered the supplies sent this message.” The maid finally bowed and left.
“I see…” the queen muttered.
The queen was growing weary; running the kingdom was too much for her. She was reading the paper about the report of the Golden Axe. Percival and Simon were there again; it seemed that she owed them so much for the Golden Axes incident. The leader of the Golden Axe was a very talented man.
She shuddered thinking of what he could have done after successfully overthrowing the control of the farmlands. She has to review the layout of the farmlands and must make changes. There was also this trouble with the Rock Turtles years ago; it totally changed the donkey path to the point of it turning into a slanted path.
“Ah… Vish is with them, she can be the captain when I send them to the north,” the queen muttered as she remembered some of the knights that were together with her husband.
Then a knock on the door; it was the same maid.
“Sorry, my queen, one more report.” It seems that she just received a paper that was in her hands.
“The adventurer’s guild’s report on patrolling the main roads; the main roads are now as safe as they were before,” she said, and she placed the paper on the queen’s table.
The queen smiled; finally, she could reopen the roads. A bit of relieved worry made her sigh.
<--->
Back to Percival and Simon…
Simon and Percival’s destination was now the dark forest. They were currently walking on the main roads, having silently departed from the Port Town of Trist four hours ago; the sun was starting to rise now.
It was amazing how Percival’s constitution against alcohol worked. The drink he had at the inn back in Elford’s Castle must have been really strong. “That was a good drink!” Percival said as he stretched his whole body. “Though I enjoy the dragon’s temptation more,” he added.
The lord, by all means, wanted to transport them to the center for free, but as a port town, they needed cargo to be loaded on the ship, and it would take about half a month before their ship sailed again. Percival couldn’t wait that long; summer was almost at its end. That’s why they had to leave. However, helping others brought a rewarding feeling, especially for Percival.
“A carriage,” Simon said.
From afar, another carriage was approaching. If it was headed for the main road through Trist Valley, it only had one destination. Unlike the first one they helped before, it was not in a hurry, and they would meet it after a few minutes.
…
“The ban on the roads has been lifted! Take care!” It was the same adventurers who warned them earlier when they were heading to the port town. It was a caravan of about eight carriages, with adventurers posted on each one. The merchants must have missed the end of summer, but autumn was still coming, and it would be busy. The adventurers waved at the two travelers as they passed by.
“Simon, I'm itching for some battle. How about going off the main road? I know a shortcut going north,” Percival said.
Simon nodded. “Yeah, I like that idea. A battle would keep us in shape.”
There were other roads that existed in the eastern frontier, but they were a lot more dangerous than the main road. Both roads had a chance of being attacked by monsters, but the other roads had twice the chance of monsters appearing. It was like the donkey road they used when they were with Wolland. They traveled using a carriage at full speed. The shorter they stayed on the open off-roads, the less likely they would be attacked.
But now, going on foot, there was a high chance of monsters preying on them, and that's what they were looking for.
As soon as they passed through the Trist Valley, the two started heading north off the main roads. The road was called the Beryl Pass, an off-road path that could accommodate a carriage but had an infamous reputation for dangerous beasts lurking around.
After a few hours of walking, monsters approached them. Simon saw them miles away, but since the two wanted to fight, it was perfect. The first encounter made Simon realize that it was much safer to travel through a forest because he was covered all around. However, the flat road of the Beryl Pass meant they could be easily seen by enemies.
“Oh, Owl Bears! They're rabid!” Percival exclaimed excitedly as he prepared his axe. There were three of them.
“Do they taste good?” Simon asked.
“Really? You ask me that? I don't know, but we better find out!” Percival led the charge.
To Percival's knowledge, the Beryl Pass was territory controlled by the Owl Bears.
<--->
A few days passed.
A staff member placed a paper of complaint on the guild master's table. “Sir, a complaint about a job,” the staff member notified the guild master before leaving the room.
The guild master was required to handle things like this since his vice was gone, and he was busy raiding dungeons with a group of adventurers as part of Elford’s yearly culling.
“Hmm... that's really strange,” the guild master remarked upon reading the complaint.
It appeared that a day ago, a party of three or four accepted the subjugation job for the owlbears in the Beryl's Pass. However, when they arrived, they didn't encounter a single Owlbear. Instead, there were signs of fighting around the pass.
“That's concerning... perhaps a stronger monster than the Owlbears?” The guild master's headache flared up, and he massaged his temples with his thumb. “Annoying,” he muttered. He knew he'd need to assign another staff member to investigate, despite their already heavy workload.
...
The Beryl Pass was declared a restricted area for a few weeks. However, three months later, it was reopened after a northerner provided clarification about what had occurred there.