CH.335 We are A-rank

CH.335 We are A-rank

After we got to the capital, we said see you later to Unika. I made sure she had a device to contact us, in case she wanted the job. It was a prototype emergency call device. Basically, I wanted to make something I could give my workers, and if they got into trouble, the device would automatically activate and alert HomeBase. It would have a tracker, would be able to put up a magic barrier and many other things, long enough that someone from HomeBase could go down and help them.

The version I gave Unika was still a work in progress. It was one you’d have to manually activate and it only had the tracking feature, nothing else. So if Unika wanted to get in contact, as she is the only one that has one of those devices, all she’d have to do is activate it, HomeBase would get the sign and we could send someone down to see/get her.

Our next stop was of course the adventurer’s guild. We were on a guild quest after all. And since we arrived there in my carriage, we got some extra looks. Though I’m not sure what is more eye-catching, me putting my carriage into Storage, or just Agunan. Agunan is pretty good in the whole gathering looks department. Then again, both do stack, causing us to gather even more attention.

Well, at least us getting attention had the effect of clearing a way for us, so that is a plus. We even got to walk directly to a free counter. After reporting about our completed quest, the receptionist went to see if the GM was available, and soon enough, we were back in the GM’s room.

“So, how was the dungeon? Did you find it interesting?” The GM asked.

“It was different to say the least. I’m more used to linear dungeons, compared to that maze.” I answered.

“It is somewhat unique, yes.” The GM agreed. “But there are others like it, so I hope you will keep going to different dungeons. But enough about that. Did you bring the rue moss?”

“Naturally. Here it is.” I brought the moss out from Storage.

“... I see. Less than I expected.”

“Well, you said bring what we can. We didn’t really grind for dungeon points. We only took care of the monsters that were in our way.” I admitted. “If you need more, I can get together a party that can go get more.”

“I will keep that in mind. But it is good to know that your group can get some of the most difficult to get ingredients in the matter of days. Did anything unusual happen? I heard something about sprites.”

“Yeah. I was going to talk about that. You see, there was a report about sprites in the dungeon. On our way down, we took care of them and saved a solo adventurer named Unika from them.” I decided to say that Unika was solo and I also lied about the sprites fate. I mean, officially both can be the truth, so why not.

“... so some did appear. That is a bit worrying. But I must thank you for taking care of them. Not all C-rankers can deal with sprites and I heard they were quite close to the surface.”

“Yeah. Area 2-4-4. But the dungeon guards and the guild personnel in the town did a good job at warning us about them, so you might want to give them some extra credit. We might have ignored the sprites if we didn’t know of them.”

“I’ll be sure to complement them on their exceptional skill at handling this situation. But back to why you are here. You completed the fighting tests and the quest I gave you, so I have no reason to not rank you up to A. Would you please hand over your guild cards?”

After our cards were updated, we talked a bit more with the GM, and then headed not home, but to the Sawyer capital manor. From there we will beam up to HomeBase. So after a quick visit to the Sawyer manor and catching Mariina up to speed, we headed home.

There, I quickly headed to my office, aka the Citadel Core room. I wanted to know more about Nel.

“We followed Miss Nel into a building near the wall dividing the noble’s district from the other areas, on the commoner side. We have been keeping an eye on the building, but no one has come out since Miss Nel entered.” Endy explained.

“Alright. Good to know. Is the building special in any way?”

“Not as far as we can see. It seems to be just a regular house, though I believe the location near the dividing wall might make it slightly more expensive than other houses.”

“... I see. So maybe Nel is a noble’s child that was disowned?” I quickly theorized.

Spoiler[collapse]

“Perhaps she is brewing that potion, so she is held up in her house?” Endy suggested.

“So a banished child of a noble that works as an alchemist, who still gets money from somewhere. Sounds almost like a light novel.”

“Our assumption could also be wrong. If she was an alchemist, why wouldn’t she have customers?”

“Maybe she sells her stuff somewhere?” I guessed. “Well, let’s just keep the surveillance up. When she exits, we will know. But I’ll get going now. I’ll need to go pick up Mariina before the lesson on Soul Magic.”

As I just said, today was going to be our next installment of Soul Magic shenaniganz. Is it really even magic, I have no clue. But it does use mana, so it is kind of magic. Magical technique at least.

And as I promised Mariina earlier, she was going to join our lesson today. And for that, I was bringing her to HomeBase. So with that in mind, I beamed myself down to the Sawyer manor’s lawn.

“Mariina, you ready to go?” I asked, after a maid brought me to Mariina’s room in the Sawyer capital manor.

“Yes. I’ve been so looking forward to this.” Mariina responded.

As we left her room, she picked up a large bag holding ... something, as well as her staff that had the magic stone that housed the earth spirit she had a contract with.

We quickly headed back outside and I called a beam down from HomeBase. Not that Mariina could see it. Maybe eventually she will have her own access ring. Or some other accessory, it doesn’t have to be a ring specifically.

“Alright. Up we go.” I said and brought us to HomeBase.

“... was that the same thing your ships use?” Mariina asked, after we appeared in a teleportation room on HomeBase.

“Based on it, yes. That one just limits who can see the teleportation beam.” I answered. “Come on. We better not keep Lady Janina waiting.”

“... Lady Janina?”

“I’ll introduce you. Come on. Let’s go.”

As we walked into the corridor and eventually outside, Mariina went through... emotions. Especially when she saw the outside, with the large magic circles that float in the air. You know, the ones responsible for keeping HomeBase floating, keeping the air here breathable, making sure it isn’t too cold, and of course the ones that keep this place invisible to observers on the ground.

“I... I didn’t think any other place could have magic circles like this.” Mariina muttered.

“I’m actually more surprised that the Sage’s tower is able to have them. Making one like that takes quite a bit of mana. Just projecting one circle takes more than 3000 mana per day.”

“... admitting that while you have... eight of them floating around this place.”

“Eight and plans for more.” I admitted.

“May I ask what they all do?”

“... sure, I guess. But I’ll explain that after our lesson. For now, we have a lesson to attend.”