Chapter 204 - Under the Large, Mysterious Tree

Under the Large, Mysterious Tree

Mister’s covered wagon was moving at full speed below us. Dust clouds rose in the air as the horse’s hooves kicked the dirt. It was like watching a race. They were driving the horses so fast that I began to worry about them as I descended. When I was level with the driver’s seat, I called out to him.

“Hello there. You can slow down now.”

“Huh!? Ah, Mister Asagi!?”

He looked at me twice with an expression of shock. Then he slowed down and eventually stopped. The wagon behind us followed suit.

“Um, is everything alright then?”

“Yeah. There’s no problem at all.”

“But you were just fighting the giant…”

I appear to be quite lucky. Mister muttered with a laugh. Well, I don’t care to sound conceited, but it was probably quite rare to have two high-ranking Adventurers go on an escort quest. But I always thought of these kinds of surprising encounters as what made traveling so wonderful.

“Phew…Well, I think we might be a little ahead of schedule, thanks to that run. But now it’s probably necessary to have the horses rest.”

“I see no problem there. I know… We should camp by that tall tree over there.”

“Understood.”

We obeyed his suggestion and slowly walked over to the large tree. It was huge. But what kind of tree was it?

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The conversation naturally moved towards the fight as we walked.

“I had heard the rumors about you, Mister Asagi. They say that when you use your skill to wrap wind around your legs, you battle faster than the eye can see.”“I’m definitely visible. But yeah, that’s pretty much it.”

Notoriety and tall tales had spread far and wide. They say that where there is smoke there is fire. Well, there was a lot of smoke.

“So how did you kill that monstrous giant?”

“Uh, it’s a trade secret.”

The last thing I needed was to hear overblown rumors about Niflheim.

“Haha. The trump card of Silvergreen, is it? How terrifying! Most terrifying!”

“Asagi is the type that does everything that they can. The godspeed skill and the sword. And magic. With those three, a giant is little more than a baby.”

Daniela said boastfully. I found it quite embarrassing when she did this and hoped she wouldn’t take it any further.

Ultimately, Daniela continued her tales as we made our way to the great tree. I had retreated to the rear wagon so no one had to look at my painfully embarrassed expressions. But I poked my head out upon hearing Mister and Daniela’s voices. The conversation seemed to have changed.

“What is it?”

“Asagi. Someone has beaten us there.”

“Really?”

Part as practice, I jumped out and landed on top of Mister’s wagon and looked to the foot of the tree. I could see now that a large merchant caravan had surrounded it and set up camp.

There were about five to six wagons and carriages. Tents had been pitched and a bonfire was burning.

There was nothing we could do about it. The horses were tired. We would have to get them to share the spot. We talked about it with Mister and decided to stop to the side of them for now. Then Mister got out of the driver’s seat and talked with a man who appeared to be a guard.

“Excuse me, but who is the boss of this merchant caravan?”

“In the big tent over there.”

“Thank you.”

I suppose he acted as an intermediary as well as a guard. We apologized to the others around us as we passed them and made our way to the tent.

It was right under the big tree, by the roots. It was the size of a small hunting lodge. It reminded me of the kind of tents that nomads used. When I looked towards the entrance, I saw a man and a woman who was looking at us with their hands on their swords. They were very serious about their jobs. I thought with amusement while raising my hands to show we were not in any way hostile.

“Sorry for the sudden intrusion. But we have a request to make to your boss. Can you help us?”

“…Wait here.”

The man muttered as he glanced at the woman next to him before entering the tent. The woman now took a step to the side to block the entrance. They really did take their job seriously.

We had to wait for quite a while after that. No amounts of ‘this sure is a large company…’ could make the woman take any notice of us. Mister started to become restless. Hey, boss. You’re making us look bad.

It was when I started to scan the rest of the site out of boredom, that the man came out.

“You may come in, but you will leave your weapons here.”

“I understand.”

Harsh security. Was this person so important? I wondered as I took out the Cocytus Lance and the demon armor sword. Those and the Ashikirimaru. I handed them over rather roughly too. It was revenge for being ignored. The woman clicked her tongue. Scary.

Daniela, on the other hand, declared she had no intention of handing over her weapons and said she would stay by the door. Well, they were very important to her. My weapons were also important, but someone had to go. I left the hollow bag with Daniela and Mister left two knives. Then we both entered the tent.

It was warm inside and very comfortable. However, there was a ridiculously strong smell of incense that overrode any sense of comfort almost immediately. There was also a lot of extravagant decorations that helped make my opinion of the interior drop like a rock.

To the far back, there sat a fat merchant on a chair that was somehow much too large for him.

“So? Who are you people?”

“I own a store called Mister’s Antiques. As you are in this place that we had planned to camp for the night, I came to see if you would allow us to stay here with you.”

“There is no more space. You must go elsewhere.”

“…”

Alright, I get his type. Yes, yes. I knew it well.

“Oh, do not speak so soon. I beg of you.”

“I already gave you my answer. Do not make me angry.”

“We had to escape at full speed due to a monster. Our horses are exhausted.”

“I don’t care. It has nothing to do with me.”

There didn’t seem to be much hope here. Ugh, this was annoying. I suppose I could lay down some bait…

“Is that so… You know, we weren’t asking you to make room for us for free.”

“Hmmm…? What do you have?”

“Well, I was thinking about the materials obtained from the monster we just killed. It was a weak old thing and probably not worth much. In any case, sorry to trouble you. We will go and find some other place. Excuse me.”

“Hmph… Then hurry up and go. You are an eye-sore.”

As we moved towards the entrance, I muttered to Mister.

“Mister. Do you think the horses will be revitalized if I feed the Grendel to them?”

“Uh, no… Well, I don’t know about such things…”

“Wait!”

I smirked. He was biting.

“Yes?”

I turned around with an expression of pure bewilderment.

“What did you just say?”

“Huh? I said that we’ll go and search for a different place.”

“After that!”

“Uhh…”

I tilted my head innocently.

“Damn you. You said Grendel!!”

“Did I indeed?”

“You did!!”

“Perhaps you are right.”

“Are you trying to make a fool of me?!”

“Even if I did say it, what does that have to do with you? We must go and find a place to camp. Please excuse us.”

“Tsk…!”

I could see that the fat merchant was now thinking desperately of a way to keep us from leaving. But I could see it. Yes. That leather bag that was practically bursting at the seams. Yes, I saw him glance at it.

“You can camp here! And as for this Grendel…”

“Eh? Just give you the monster after everything we’ve been through? Don’t make me laugh. We happen to take our jobs very seriously here!”

I roughened my voice as if to suggest I was horribly offended. It was times like these that I was glad about my experience in customer service. It was practically acting lessons.

“Tsk…then…”

“Then?”

“I…I…”

Was it anger or humiliation? His hands shook as he grabbed the leather bag and offered it to me.

“And what would that be?”

“Gold…! Now give me the Grendel! Of course, you may also camp here!”

“Huh… Mister. He is offering us money. By the way, how much is this Grendel thing worth?”

Mister was aware of the price of something so valuable, and he looked quite smug as he said it.

“One hundred pieces of gold and eighty of silver.”

“There you go. And how much is in that bag?”

“Ggg…”

The merchant opened the bag slowly. It contained nothing but silver coins.

“This is clearly a waste of time. Let’s go.”

“Wa-wait…wait!”

“What now?”

The merchant seemed rather desperate for the Grendel. He pulled out yet another leather bag from behind his chair.

“This one is gold…check it.”

“Why don’t we. Mister.”

Mister opened the bag over a table and counted the contents. Yes, it was gold. There seemed to be about two hundred. That wasn’t enough.

“The Grendel has no large wounds and was frozen in an instant, meaning it’s very fresh. Just one of its arms might cost two hundred and fifty pieces of gold. This will not do.”

“F-fine… I will add another bag!”

“Of gold?”

“Gold!!”

The merchant was acting quite self-destructive now. Mister and I looked inside the bag. It had about the same amount as the previous one.

“Sold!”

“Tsk…I better make it back…!”

“Well, that’s really up to you, isn’t it? Well, the whole thing is there, so use it wisely. Oh, and thank you for the space.”

The merchant suddenly looked very tired as he shook his head. But merchants tended to be tough, and he quickly regained his composure and started to make calculations.

I left the tent along with the two merchants, took the bag from Daniela and pulled out the Grendel. I ignored the gasps of the spectators and infused it with ice magic. According to Jack of all Trades, Master of None, it would not melt for at least two days. Then I gave it the merchant and accepted the two bags.

The merchant immediately had the Grendel put inside of his wagon. He also ordered his men to make space for us to camp. That’s when we all looked at each other and smiled in triumph.