CH 230

This is the feudal lord’s mansion, but it’s small compared to Leila’s house and Yor’s. If they hadn’t told me about it beforehand, I would’ve thought it was a normal house.

Of course, the houses around it look better than the ones in the area where our inn is, but this noble quarter still falls short compared to other towns I’ve seen.

That said, I don’t consider that a bad thing. It means I can walk around without feeling tense. One thing that does seem out of place is the guard acting as gatekeeper.

I show him the introduction letter the guildmaster of the alchemist guild wrote for me, and apparently they’ve already discussed this, because we’re quickly taken by an old man in a butler’s outfit to a reception room.

We’re given drinks, and after waiting for a bit, the door opens and we hear heavy footsteps, before the old man from before accompanies a plump man inside the room.

Chris stands up, so I do the same, and keep following her movements when she lowers her head.

The man sees that, walks over in front of us, and sits heavily on the sofa.

“What is your business?”

“I believe the alchemist guild already contacted you, but we wish to receive permission to cross over to Altea…”

“Oh that… We can’t do that.”

I strain myself talking in a way I’m not used to, and I’m shot down right away.

“May I ask why?”

“Well, it’s a busy season, and we don’t have time to be concerned with such matters. If that’s all, we are done here.”

He says very fast, before getting up and leaving.

Chris is just as surprised as I am, and we’re both left here as the butler escorts the man out.

“Does he have a problem with the guildmaster of the alchemist guild?”

I ask, and Chris responds with a troubled look on her face.

“Maybe we should go talk to him.”

I think that’s a good idea, so we do just that.

When we go to the alchemist guild and tell them what happened, Yan looks perplexed.

“That guy can be difficult but… I think something might have happened.”

Apparently there’s no animosity between them, but it seems he tends to not think about other things when there’s something on his mind.

The guildmaster says he’s probably preoccupied with another problem.

“In any case, I’ll try talking to him. I’ve also gotten in contact with the guild in Altea, so you might be able to get it through there. Where are you staying, mister?”

I tell them the name of the inn, and Yan suggests we go to the chemist guild, even if it’s a long shot.

◇ ◇ ◇

“Laurel tree fruit? I’m sorry, but we don’t have any in stock.

Apparently laurel tree fruit is also popular here as a material for making medicine with a lot of applications.

That means it’s less effective than specialized medication, but it’s effective against hard to understand conditions, so it’s also used as a stopgap measure in emergency situations. That makes it so they go through them very fast.

That doesn’t mean that they’re wasting precious items without a care, but it does mean that they’re guaranteed to spend at least a certain amount.

And laurel tree fruit is necessary to make that medicine, so if anything, they also want more of it.

“This fruit is even more valuable than I thought.”

“…I think we’re really going to have to go to that island…”

I whisper, and Chris looks exasperated.

“Are you by any chance thinking of using one of those small boats we heard about yesterday in the stall?”

“…Y-yes.”

“Geez, you can’t. Let’s just meet up with the others and discuss what to do next.”

“Yes, let’s do that…”

It’s almost noon, so they’re probably around the stalls.

And sure enough…

We tell them what happened, and start considering going to the guild to accept a quest to blow off steam.

It wouldn’t be good if Yan tried to contact us while we were away, but can we ask someone in the inn to take a message? Well, we have time, so we can probably just tell them we’re going to accept a quest.

We probably don’t have time to go too far, but I feel like my thoughts are going to wander in a bad direction if I don’t do something. And more importantly, people registered in the adventurer guild have to do quests from time to time, so we should take care of that now that we can.

“Are there any quests we can accept?”

“That one.”

Hikari says while pulling my sleeve, as I look at the board.

She’s pointing to a medicinal herb picking quest.

“Master, I think Hikari wants to go hunt animals that appear in the forest and pick mushrooms.”

Says Sera, and she tells me what they heard by the stalls.

I look at Mia and Rurika, and they nod.

“We can’t?”

Asks Hikari. I look at the quest again, then back at her. I guess we could do a medicinal herb picking quest.

But I don’t think we can come back the same day, so we really should tell Yan about it.

And so, I go to the alchemist guild alone, and when I tell Yan we’ve accepted a quest to pick medicinal herbs, he asks to pick some for them too.

Well, we’re going there anyway, so sure.

After all, Yan is going out of his way to help me, and he’s even willing to pay.