CH 72

Chapter 72 - The Grass Elf and the God of Knowledge's Priestess

“Souya-san. Are you familiar with the city of Lingen?”

“Yes. It’s a town located in the southeast, just beyond the mountain road. I visited there a long time ago.”

Souya recalled his adventure twenty years ago while writing the sign that Peryton, the peddler, had requested him to write.

I remembered visiting the city once for a request. But my memory of it was hazy compared to the city I had used as a base, Illstadt, and I didn’t have any impression of it.

“It’s the birthplace of fine wine. Don’t worry, I’ll show you the way …… But mountain roads are tricky. Sometimes there are bandits. There have been reports of goblins and orcs too. Well, if there’s Souya-san, the demon slayer, there shouldn’t be a problem. Hahahaha ……”

Peryton was smiling with relief, but Souya was concerned that he was relying too much on the title of Demon Slayer. And while he may not have any bad intentions, he has a bit of a discriminatory mindset. I felt a little bad for Merylou, who was sulking and unhappy at being taken lightly.

Adventurers have a hierarchy of grades. It is not desirable to disrespect her, who has the highest silver-class in the request, even in normal times when she is not involved in adventuring.

“…… I remember you said you were looking for at least five people. Right, Louise-san?”

Souya confirmed with Louise. The three of us who are gathering now are Merylou, who is a silver-class, and Souya and Mia, who are bronze-class. Two more adventurers of bronze or higher are needed.

“Yes. We have a lot of Bronze-class adventurers on the waiting list, so we’ll keep recruiting until we have five …… If there are any Bronze-class or above who wish to participate in the escort request, please raise your hand and come to the counter.”

Louise called out to the dozen or so adventurers waiting in the adventurer’s guild.

Since there were no silver-class adventurers until Merylou arrived, that means that, with the exception of Louise, the only adventurers in this room are bronze-class or blank-class.

“Hmm …… I hope you don’t mind if I join the escort. I’m bronze-class too.”

The first person to raise his hand and approach the counter was a small boy with thin, lightweight leather armor and slightly habitual brown hair and eyes. He had large ears, and the tips of his ears were just slightly pointed.

(……Oh, a grass elf Grasswalker. I’ve never seen one before in Ilstadt.)

The Grasswalkers are a race of people who live in the vast grasslands of the Great Plains, far to the east. The Grasswalkers, as they are called, have the strength of a child, but their fingers are dexterous, and they are good at fine manual labor that requires little effort.

“Nice to meet you, Souya-niisan. I’m Tat, a Grasswalker. My occupation is …… a flute player.”

“Nice to meet you, Tat-kun. A flute player, huh. I’d love to hear you play.”

Tat smiled at Souya, took out a wooden flute from a long cloth bag on his waist, and began to play an impromptu tune.

The sound was not as high quality as a brass flute, but the soft tone was quite pleasant. His playing skill seemed to be good. Souya observed him and saw that he had a slingshot, a dagger, and a few wires around his waist for throwing. I’m sure the flute playing was a side job, and his real job was probably as a thief. As a dexterous and agile grass elf, it was a calling for Glasswalker.

Adventurers know the importance of a thief, so they are less likely to resist, but he may have been hesitant because of Peryton’s discriminatory attitude toward his profession.

After a simple one-minute performance, Souya applauded Tat’s bow and handed him a silver coin.

“…… Hey, Tat. Can you even handle an escort request?”

Merylou came to Tat’s side, who was happy to receive the silver coin, and interfered.

Merylou is a little over fifteen centimeters tall, but Tat is even shorter. He was about 130 centimeters tall and, except for his ears, he looked like a human child.

“Ah. Merylou-neechan! Yeah, I can do a bit of guarding. If it’s as weak as a goblin or an orc, it’s fine. “

Tat breathed and posed for a hand-to-hand combat stance. It’s not as powerful as it looks because of his size, but it does look somewhat presentable.

“It’s not a bad stance. Merylou-kun, are you acquainted with Tat-kun?”

When Souya asked, Merylou let out a sigh with an indescribable expression. 

“Well, I guess you could say we’re acquainted …… We’re business rivals. We tick each other off every now and then in the central square …… She’s a pretty good player too. My ocarina is better than him, though.”

“But I think I have a few more customers than you, Merylou-neechan.”

“…… Tat is doing a performance with dancing and acrobatics, after all. You can’t say that it’s a pure game of musical talent.”

The Wood Elf, a forest elf, and the Grass Walker, a grass elf, had an unusual scene of bickering, but they didn’t seem to be on bad terms, as they both seemed to recognize each other’s performance abilities.

It is said that the Wood Elves and the Dwarves are slightly incompatible with each other, but I have never heard anything about the Grass Elves. They are optimistic and good-natured, just like human children, have a charming personality, and are the most easily adaptable to human society among the Demihumans.

And since Tat was good at acrobatics, he must have good motor skills. Based on his stance, he seems to have the ability to stand up to goblins and Orcs. 

“Hmm ……. A grasswalker, that’s unusual. Well, I guess I’m safe with Souya-san. “

Peryton didn’t seem to have any particular interest in Tat, but since he didn’t seem to be refusing his participation, we could consider it as an offer. There was only one person left to recruit.

“Um …… would you mind if I join you?”

Following Tat, a Cleric raised her hand and walked up to the counter. A grayish priest’s robe, brown braids, green eyes, large round glasses, and holding in both hands the distinctive red magic stone inlaid the cleric’s staff, dedicated to the god of knowledge, Luster.

“…… Aisha-san, it’s been a while …… Um, how have you been?”

“…… Mia. Hello …… I’m fine, at least …… Um, I’m Aisha, a cleric of the God of Knowledge Luster. I’m a bronze-class adventurer, but …… is it alright if I join the escort request?”

A woman called Aisha, who seemed to be familiar with Mia, requested to participate in the event in a very stilted tone.

(…… A cleric of the God of Knowledge Luster, huh. But …… she looks a little pale. I wonder if she’s okay.)

Souya was observing Aisha. When she was approaching the counter, her gait was a little wobbly, as if her luggage was too heavy. She may be having physical problems.

On top of that, the fact that she was a cleric of the God of Knowledge, Luster, made Souya feel a little uneasy. The God of Knowledge Luster had certain characteristics, strengths and weaknesses, that were not found in other faiths.

“…… Aisha-kun, right?  The escort will have to go through the mountains. But, will you be okay?”

Souya asked Aisha. In response to Souya’s question, Aisha was silent and showed some hesitation, but eventually opened her mouth.

“I think …… it’s okay …… I’ve never been on a mountain trail before. But If I don’t get the request this time, I’ll have to sell my precious books …… I really need to participate.”

Aisha’s reply was not very encouraging. The point is that she has no experience, but is eager to take on an urgent and unfamiliar request.

However, everyone is new at the beginning, and experience is something that is built up from scratch. If she could accomplish this request, it would be an experience for her, good or bad.

“Hmmm …… I can’t help but feel that the balance is not good. But if Souya-san is here, we should be fine, right?”

Peryton asked Souya in a somewhat uneasy manner, which was a change from earlier. 

I was prepared for a certain amount of bias, but I felt that the group was a little more towards magicians. And there is no one who is a full-time warrior-fighter.

I looked around the adventurer’s guild, but it seemed that there were no free fighters of bronze-class or above on standby.

There were a couple of people dressed as fighters, but they didn’t move, probably because they had already formed a fixed party or were not qualified to participate with blank-class.

“…… Well, that shouldn’t be a problem. It’s As for the shortage of fighters, I can fill the role, and I can create some stone soldiers called rock golems through magic …… There is Merylou-san. She’s a really good Spirit Arts user. Peryton-san. If it ends up into a fight while we’re in the middle of escorting, you will probably have a better opinion at her.”