Chapter 15
♪ Welcome to my Town ♪
Despite a rugged appearance, an unexpectedly mellow voice came from his mouth in response to my reason for entry.
“Your passport then, please.” Since the guard knows I’m here to join the guild, I suppose he doesn’t need to ask if I have a guild card like the others. Slightly puzzled about the sense of incongruity coming from the sturdy captain’s voice, I shook my head.
“I don’t have one. I’ve wandered here from a very far-off country, that apparently nobody has heard of, called America, and only recently learned of the Monster Hunter guild.”
“I see. Can I listen to your story in one of the interview rooms? Everyone here seems to be on edge about a stranger with such a fierce weapon unsheathed over your shoulder.”
I took a quick glance at the other guards. To my surprise, every single one of them was looking at me out the corner of their eyes. None had taken a combat stance with swords drawn, but each one had a hand on the hilt of their sword. Well, except the spearmen. They all just had the spears leaning against their shoulders. Could the spearmen all be seniors to the swordsmen? They certainly look more experienced. As soon as they noticed my gaze, their heads turned away.
Even my fellow travelers, who had arrived shortly after myself, had looks of apprehension directed at me and Masada that were promptly retracted as soon as my eyes met theirs. I guess with these self-righteous robes and the monstrosity Masada, it should be expected. Letting out a sigh in my mind, I nodded in response to the captain’s words.
Me: “I understand. A quiet place would be better, as you said.”
Night Guard Captain: “I’m sorry about that, lad. My boss would be quite upset if I let such a threatening person, with no identification, into Valleyport. A detailed report would be expected, for an individual such as yourself, to be given to the [Margrave].”
The Holy Roman Empire chain of command structure is used here then. I wonder how that came about. On another note, I doubt the guard's can see my level. Otherwise I'm not sure why a Tr 0 would be considered threatening.
Me: “Of course. It wouldn’t be good to disoblige the territories lord on my behalf. I’d prefer to stay out of such a troublesome situation.”
It kinda feels like I was forcing myself to be refined. Won’t that have the opposite effect though?
Following the captain’s guidance, we went to a small building protruding from the wall.
Night Guard Captain: “I’m sorry, but because of the size, could I ask that you leave your, greatswordstaff you said it was, outside?”
Me: “Ah. Will that be alright with you buddy? Maybe one of the guards will keep you company like in Kulkne.”
Masada hummed agreeably at the proposition. When I sheathed him into the moss again, I asked the captain on Masada’s behalf, “Could you have one of the guards watch him? He is impossible to lift, but he does get lonely easily, given his young age.”
The captain nodded his head and waved one of the more junior-looking swordsmen to come over, “Jeffardo, come watch this gentlemen’s living greatswordstaff.” The young guard looked hesitant; like he might be a bit scared of Masada for some reason before he said, “M-me Captain Slain?”
Night Guard Captain, Slain: “Yes you. Who else would I be talking to?”
Masada looked back and forth between them as they exchanged words.
Jeffardo: “Y-yes sir!” he said while enthusiastically stuttering. Though he sounded clumsy, he ran over with a well-trained posture, given the equipment he bore.
Masada purred at his new friend, “Kuru~” while looking as though he’ll fall asleep at any moment. After having been on guard and [Shadow Stepping] throughout the night, there was some fatigue. Masada closed his eye to rest, but naturally, given his nature as a beast greatswordstaff, with practically unlimited power, he was still alert. Masada’s stats were overwhelming compared to any other beast on Driscoll. Thanks to his SP, he boasted exceptional vision and hearing. It wasn’t difficult for him to get substantial rest while remaining vigilant due to his practically unlimited power.
Me: “I’ll say it once for now, but I don’t want anyone to mess with him when you’re listening to my story in the guard room.”
Captain Slain: “Ah, of course. I doubt anyone would be stupid enough to mess with such a monstrous sword.”
“Monstrous?” I ask in a slightly offended tone.
Beads of sweat began to form on the captain’s forehead when he said, “Please take no offense! I was referring to his powerful appearance.”
With a canted brow, I ask, “Hmmm? Do you also have the mystical eyes that can see SP?”
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Captain Slain: “*Whew* No I don’t, but does his appearance really not look powerful to you?”
Me: “Oh he does, I agree. He was born only a few days ago though… Never mind. Lead the way please, captain.”
Captain Slain prompted me to sit on a well-cushioned couch across from a mahogany desk. Actually, I bet it’s not even mahogany. And with that thought, I used [Analyze].
[name: Ocracia Desk.]
[description: A solid desk made from Ocracia with defensive properties on par with [Cargonite].]
Whatever [Cargonite] is, I’m sure it makes a good shield. Because Masada wasn’t here, I couldn’t sit comfortably. I need to be ready to react with my puny stats since I don’t have most of my protective power by my side. Smiling wryly, Captain Slain got a cup of water and took a sip, I guess to show me that there isn’t anything strange in it before handing it to me. I hadn’t realized at the time, but I didn’t eat or drink anything since I first left the aqueduct, and I gulped the whole thing down in one mouthful. “Cold!” I said, a bit too loud for indoors. The temp wasn’t great for drinking, but it’s understandable, given we’re in the north and the first sun is still rising. Regardless, it felt good to have my thirst quenched. The bite from the cold faded quickly before the captain asked if I’d like another. “Ah, yes please,” I answer.
Poring another cup, the Night Guard Captain, Slain, sat at his desk across from me.
Captain Slain: “Well, what do you want to tell me first? No, actually let’s do introductions first. My name is Slain, and I serve as the Night Guard Captain for the city of Valleyport, for the time being.”
Me: “My name is Truck Coon, but I’d prefer you just call me Tru. The Greatswordstaff out in front is Masada.”
And with that out of the way, Slain got right to the main topic at hand, “Is that so… It’s good to meet you, Tru. First of all, we’ll start with this question, what is your purpose in Valleyport?”
Me: “I want to confirm something before answering the question. For the city you mentioned, is there a Monster Hunter Guild branch?”
According to the monster hunter guild book in Kulkne, there should be one in any major or frontier city, but I don’t actually know how much time may have passed from when that book was written. Due to its age, I think it best to hold onto that knowledge with open hands. Things may have changed, after all.
“Naturally, there is,” captain Slain said with a nod of the head.
Me: “That’s good. After all, I’m not familiar with whatever country this is. Since I’m from a different… continent, I’m ignorant to the state of society.” Yeah, that works. I’m definitely from a different continent, on a different planet, but that might be too big a pill to swallow for the captain… or anyone really. “About my purpose here, as I mentioned earlier, I’m here to join the guild. If you’d like proof of my ability, I have a [Guavgrog Bear], a [Minotaur Kid]’s head, and several [Wolf]s.” Dang it! How on earth would you be carrying all that if you don’t have a storage item?! You might as well be telling him ‘Hey, I have a [Ring of Space], wanna see?’!
Captain Slain: “Um. Judging from what you literally just asked me, you didn’t even know there was a monster hunter guild here…” Though he had a contrastingly soft voice when paired with his rough-around-the-edges appearance, it seemed like he had the feeling I was lying.
Me: “Ah, that’s because I’m not from around here and just stumbled on the city after hearing of the monster hunter guild. Where I’m from, I practiced the art of Jiu-Jitsu and want to hopefully use my combat skills to save people from monsters.” My reasoning feels a bit forced. At least for anyone that knows what Jiu-Jitsu actually is. I mean, grappling monsters? Whatever, I think it’ll work well for convincing the captain anyway.
Captain Slain: “Art?” Slain paused to think for a moment when he suddenly thought of something, “When you say art, do you mean like a martial art? We haven’t called them that for hundreds of years. Nowadays, we refer to them as a discipline.
Me: “Ah. So, you call it a discipline here…”
Captain Slain: “I see… You clearly don’t know much about our culture.”
Me: “Yes. Please forgive my ignorance. Anyway, I was sent on a mission from my master to give of myself for others. Well, I say I was sent, but I was basically teleported to a place I don’t know. In a fairly dangerous situation, might I add,” I say as I hold up my right hand and wiggle the stump where my index finger used to be.
Captain Slain winced briefly and said, “I see, so you want to be a Monster Hunter for that reason. And what of Masada? How does he fit into all this?”
I shook my head and a gentle smile rose on my face. “When I was teleported, I came across a summoning scroll to summon an eidolon, a familiar to help me survive. He happens to be the partner I summoned. I’m very grateful to Yahweh for providing him for me.”
The captain put his hand on his chin to think, which made me somewhat nervous until he said, “I’ve heard of summons, but haven’t ever seen a living sword that was summoned. Living weapons are typically ancient and passed down through generations. I’m sure, even if you’re from a different continent, that you’ve heard of the legendary blade Excalibur, no?”
I emphatically nodded my head and focused my wide eyes on the captain. Excalibur is here?! Definitely have to meet that one then.
Captain Slain: “Of course you have. Then with that as a reference, I hope you can understand. But even Excalibur doesn’t look as ferocious as Masada.”
I coughed to regain my composure, “Ahem, surely this wouldn’t be grounds to bar our entry to the city?”
Captain Slain waved his hands at me and said, “Definitely not. But it’s my job to do a thorough background check. Though I digress, you will have to pay the entry tax to enter the city without a passport or guild card. That’ll be three [Wrought Iron] coins. I do hope this won’t dissuade you from entering the city.”
Me: “Why would it? Isn’t that standard practice?”
Captain Slain: “Well, yes. Oh, I forgot you aren’t from around here. It is an unwritten rule to allow all monster hunters and adventurers to enter without paying the entry tax. Since adventurers frequently go in and out of cities, paying to enter and leave would cost a lot. Therefore, the city nobility gave an exception to adventurers and hunters belonging to a guild if they showed their guild card. This is all thanks to a situation that happened where a certain avaricious [Margrave] refused the exemption of taxes for them in his territory. Because of this, all the hunters and adventurers left the territory, and no new ones came. As a result, monsters ran rampant within the territory between cities. This in turn made all the merchants stop coming in a tragic turn of events. Without goods to be bought and sold, the tax revenue plummeted and the [Margrave] forcibly took more taxes from the citizens. It caused the people to revolt and, in the end, the [Margrave] was hung from his own statue of himself until dead. After the event spread far and wide, it became an unwritten law that all monster hunters and adventurers be allowed into any territory upon showing proof of membership.”
Me: “Sigh… In other words, at present, I’m still not a monster hunter, so tax is necessary.”
The guard captain nodded his head and said, “Yes, I’m afraid so. Didn’t you receive any kind of parting gift from the master that teleported you here?”
I could only shake my head in response. In the first place, He basically raised me from the dead into the newness of life. I really can’t complain about not having received any money.
“Ah, what to do,” I say while wracking my brain for ideas. Captain Slain regrettably said, “I would lend you the money since you seem like a good man, but it’s prohibited by the law. You seem skilled enough. I wouldn’t want to miss letting a skilled person into the city right before my eyes. We can always use more skilled individuals, so I’d imagine the [Margrave] wouldn’t be happy…” At once, I thought of something, but Slain beat me to it and continued, “You mentioned having proof of monster subjugation that you were gonna give to the Monster Hunter guild, right? It would be possible to sell that to get the funds.”
Me: “Would people really buy monster parts in front of the city?”
Captain Slain: “That may be a bit challenging, but I could have one of my men take them into the city to sell them on your behalf. Would that be agreeable to you?”
I understood the risk in giving materials to the guard, there’s a chance they could run off with my materials and keep the money while still turning me away… but I’ll need to have a little faith if I want to move forward here. Either faith in my ability to haggle over monster prices outside the city or faith in the guards. Rather, I think I’ll just trust that Yahweh will take care of me in a situation like this. The guard seemed to honor the law and had a gentle demeanor… Ahhh. Lord, please help this to work out.
With that small prayer, I got that feeling of ‘I gotchu, fam’ again with the mental image of a thumbs up. Is that really how God responds to prayer? Like a total bro?
I took out the materials for the [Guavgrog Bear] to be verified by Captain Slain.
Captain Slain: “Wh-wh-where did all this come from?! You have a storage item?!”