Volume 2 Chapter 11

Volume 2 Chapter 11: Fang side continuation – chasing hero

「Phew… Just when I finally arrived at the post town, to think the bridge would be destroyed due to a heavy rain……」

That night, Fang, concealing his face with a hood, arrived at the post town that served as a relay point to the City of Water.

And the first place he visited was the bar on the first floor of the local branch of the Merchants Guild.

In the center of the shop stood a bulletin board, where information was listed not only from the post town but about the surrounding settlements as well.

On one of the papers posted there was the estimated time until the restoration of the bridge to the City of Water was written.

It seems that it was already half repaired, so it wasn’t in a state when dozens of days would be required.

…If it will be restored according to this schedule then taking a detour won’t take me to the City of Water any faster.

On the contrary, it will only delay me.

And as I was collecting information at the bar, thinking that in such a case it might be better to stay here for a while—

「Huh? Someone passed that mountain despite the heavy rain and the destroyed bridge? Are you kidding?」

I heard the voice of one of the customers at the bar.

Looking there, a group of red-faced men in light armor was talking about something with cups in their hands.

「No, no, I’m for real. It seems that only Flying Carrier alone could make it.」

「Ah, that scary guy that became a rumor in the City of Stars? Which reminds me, you are from that city, huh… You know, that mountain ridge is harsh enough to make it hardly possible to cross without a bridge. Is there really a guy that would go there even with terrain ruined by recent rains?」

「There is. I saw him with my own eyes after all. He is fast as hell.」

「Ooh. It’s kind of hard to believe.」

Fang involuntarily laughed hearing such talk.

After all, it most likely was about a person he knew very well.

…Completely unaffected even by a collapse of a bridge, that’s just like Axel-san.

This much isn’t going to stop him. Since the old days, he was unstoppable in all kinds of ways, were Fang’s thoughts as he finished gathering information and—

……Well. Let’s get to our next arrangement?

And Fang headed to the counter of the merchant’s guild that was located deeper in the bar.

A lone male elf was sitting there as a receptionist.

「I am sorry. Is submaster of the merchants guild here? I heard that after leaving the City of Stars he is yet to return……」

Fang asked the elf on the reception, but considering the contents of the question, he raised reasonable suspicions—

「Ehm, excuse me. May I ask who I’m speaking with?」

The elf asked with a slight frown. Speaking of which, I still had my hood on. Of course, I would be seen as suspicious, I thought and removed the hood.

「Ah, my bad. I didn’t introduce myself. My name is Fang and I belong to the Royal Army.」

When I calmly said that, the eyes of the elf, who was full of suspicions, turned wide.

「He-Hero of the Holy Sword……?!」

「Yes. I may be more famous under that name. So, is submaster here? I want a meeting with him considering a notice…」

「Y-Yes! Please wait over there for a short while!」

The elf receptionist rushed to let Fang into the room behind the counter and ran to wherever it was.

And after waiting for less than a minute.

A senior man appeared.

As he was approaching, Fang greeted him.

「Long time no see, Dort Kaufmann-san.」

「Umu, it’s been a while. It’s our first meeting face to face since the guild conference at that royal capital, Fang-kun.」

Dort and Fang firmly shook hands.

There is some connection between the army and the guild. He attended meetings in the capital a number of times, and it’s from there that his relationship with the guilds started. But—

「The last time we exchanged words was when you dispatched contact personnel to the capital, asking for a portrait of Axel-san.」

「Umu. You are right. At that time we interacted a bit via telepathic link.」

It’s a pretty recent matter. A message came from the merchant’s guild contract, stating that they want a portrait of Axel-san.

At first, I didn’t know their intentions, so I probed for information through dialogue. At that time, I exchanged greetings with Dort and had a short conversation.

「At that time, thanks to your effort, procurement of portrait went pretty smoothly, which overall was a great help. Thank you.」

「No, no, we were able to deliver only an incomplete silhouette. With this, were you finally able to verify if Axel-san is《Invisible Dragon Knight》?」

「Of course.」

Dort answered with a confident expression. However, it immediately changed to a wry smile.

「……But for the most part, it was because we heard it from the person himself. Your words『It won’t be too helpful』turned out to be true, the portrait wasn’t of much use.」

「Haha, that’s right. In the past, seeing Axel-san’s face was a really difficult matter, neither pictures nor photos would be of any help…」

When he was a dragon knight, his face was basically monopolized by《The Helm of the Dragon Knight King》. Fortunately, we were blessed with opportunities to see his face, although they were very limited, but for a《Painter》it was impossible

「Well, if it’s something he can talk about, Axel-san will just tell about it.」

「Umu, one talk solved everything… At the moment, it doesn’t seem like Axel-san is too hung up on whether he was a dragon knight in the past or not.」

Those words confirmed Fang’s hunch that he had somewhere deep in his mind, so that’s how it is after all.

「Because he is a very proactive person. Besides, the reputation growth of《Carrier》Axel-san reached even my ears. Though it was mostly in the form of rumors, so the degree of accuracy slightly diminished, but I still thought that it must be an amazing person.」

「Yes, after all, he is a hero that became famous without ever revealing his face. It’s truly marvelous how much strength he displays even after changing a job… Well, we got off the topic. Fang-kun, I heard that today we have a notice from the army, what is it about?」

In response to Dort’s question, Fang nodded once and then spoke.

「The message is none other than following. The other day, there was an attack on the City of Stars by an ancient dragon… Similarly, the resurfacing of ancient dragons and ancient beasts is also observed in other locations. And as such, it was decided by the national army, that it must be brought to the attention of the leaders of the twelve cardinal guilds.」

「Ancient dragons and ancient beasts are the species of monsters that rampaged together with the Demon Lord?」

「Indeed. It’s them that sided with the Demon Lord or simply used that opportunity to fight the humans. They were expected to stay put after the great war though.」

An ancient dragon appeared at the City of Stars, the scout team from the capital also confirmed the appearance of giant magic beasts in an undeveloped area. Fortunately, they could dispatch those giant monsters by myself, so there is no problem.

「From now on, be vigilant for the potential damage from monsters in undeveloped areas such as primordial forest, lands possessed by the demon lord during the great war and lands abundant with sources of magical power. As the Demon Lord is no more, it shouldn’t be that much of a threat. But the possibility of some harm is still there.」

「Umu. Understood… For the ancient dragon, we could keep the damage to the minimum since we avoided fatalities thanks to Axel-san’s presence. It would’ve been quite dangerous if he wasn’t there. We should be careful.」

After saying that, Dort sighed, and continued.

「But, I see. So that’s what the personnel from the Temple of Job Change was talking about with the「Urgent message from God!」」

「A report from the Temple of Job Change?」

「Yes. You were yet to receive it? As a shrine maiden said『It’s about time to descend to the lower world, but monsters seem suspicious. If things get too serious I will confine myself to the city, best regards!』were the words of the god.」

「…Gods are as free-spirited as usual.」

「Umu. Looks like they are enjoying our actions to some extent. This relation between the incident and resolution becomes the offering for the job system, so well, it’s not such a bad thing.」

On the one hand, gods help mortals by granting them jobs, on another, they tend to expect a certain action.

Depending on whether or not they will find them pleasant or displeasing and on the extent of the sentiment aroused by it, the power they hold would increase, or so it’s said.

「But well, this problem does not concern gods, it’s our own problem, the problem of people living in this world. Let’s use the appropriate level of caution and get rid of it.」

「Indeed. I will be staying at this post town a while, so I will check for any monsters hiding in the area. Well, for now, since I just arrived, I will have a meal and retire for a day.」

「Oh, is that so? Then how about dinner together? I would like to thank you for the favor you showed us in the matter with portrait. And I also would like to talk about Axel-kun.」

「Ah, if that’s the case I will join you. I also would like to know in detail about Axel-san’s activities in the City of Stars!」

And thus, from the dinner and thereafter, Fang would listen to Dort’s stories about Axel.