Chapter 108

While we ended up being a little late due to the doting master’s talking and getting lost, we were able to safely arrive at the Anthill.

The place was crowded with people, which gave me an idea of just how popular it was. Each table here had a magic stove installed in it, and everyone could cook their own meat how they like it. The Anthill was a barbecue house.

“Ho! Asagi! Over here!”

It was a noisy place, but there was one voice that was louder than the rest, that came from someone who was bigger than the rest. Of course, it was Gardo. Next to him was an underweight man that looked very preoccupied with his meat. It was Ness.

“Sorry that we’re late.”

“I thought you wouldn’t come.”

I pulled out a chair for Daniela and took a seat as well. There was a huge pile of meat in front of us that looked just like an anthill. So that’s why it was called the Anthill…I was drooling by just looking at it.

“Ho! Asagi! It’s been a while!”

“You look good too, Ness. How have you been?”

“The best!!”

He gave me a thumbs up with his usual foolish grin. I stuck my thumb up as well and we bumped fists.

“It is good to see that you two are doing well.”

“And you haven’t changed at all, Daniela.”

“I am always doing well. But even more so when there is meat nearby.”

“Yes, nothing in the world matters if you have meat.”

It seemed that Gardo and Daniela had something in common. Don’t exclude me!

We quickly got started by placing the wire mesh over the magic stove. The wonderful sizzling sounds reached my ears. Once the meat was placed on it, it was the beginning of a full orchestra. Wonderful.

“Ah, so how long has it been since we separated in Fhiraldo?”

Ness asked nostalgically as he poked at the meat. Hmm… I wasn’t keeping track…

“I think it has been nearly two months?”

“Damn it, I have no idea.”

“You…what are you, a child?”

Daniela was better at such things. She could be careless one moment, and then shrewd the next.

“Two months… I don’t know if that is long or not. I don’t see you for a while, and suddenly you have aliases…”

“Well, Ness. I didn’t want it. It’s just that the guild master in Spiris is an idiot.”

“Spiris…ah. Redflame Bordow.”

“Redflame? I didn’t know that he was called that.”

Redflame. He should really be called Loosetongue Bordow. But I suppose it was because of his red hair and red armor. That was quite the eyesore.

“There is one legendary story about Redflame. A long time ago, he killed a red dragon, alone.”

“A red dragon? Are they strong?”

“Strong? Why, they say that any monster whose name includes its color is of the strongest order of monsters.”

Hmm…that’s news to me. So, looking at my equipment that was made of ice dragon armor, did that mean there was a rank above it that was blue dragon? Or was that for water attributes…

“No, the advanced type above the ice dragon is the icicle dragon. And above that, you have the white dragons.”

“Ah, white. So blue dragons are for water.”

“Yes. Water dragons, aqua dragons, and blue dragons.”

You always learned something new from veterans. And I didn’t have much opportunity to study under Daniela…ah, the meat’s ready. I secured my share of the meat before creating a second orchestra with some new meat. Then I threw the cooked meat into my mouth. Hmm, the fat of the fresh meat combined with it beautifully. It was hot, but the heat itself was delicious….

“I heard that Silvergreen used dragon armor?”

“Don’t call me that. But, yes, it is.”

“Mmmm,*chewing* …Asagi’s armor was bought cheaply, thanks to the price collapsing after the Hero suppressed a stampede.”

Daniela added as she stuffed her cheeks with meat. Yes, it was all thanks to Matsumoto.

“Ah, I heard about that. It was a stampede that occurred near the north of Lambrusen, wasn’t it? I remember because it was dragons.”

“Yeah, that. It was stopped because a Hero just happened to be there. And so a lot of materials entered the market at once. I was able to buy the stuff at a fourth of the original price. But it was still expensive.”

“Still, dragon armor is excellent. I’m quite jealous.”

“It really is. It’s comfortable, and has special effects.”

It had great ventilation and was light and durable. It was of a quality that I was used to in Japan. And while I wore it often, it showed no sign of getting worn out. The person who made it was great, and so were the materials. Still, I would take care of it. I hereby ban any oil from splashing onto me.

“You can just use the cleaning spell to get rid of the oil from the meat. Though, there are not many who can do it.”

“Ah, that magic thing. It really is useful. It got rid of the blood on my clothes.”

“That must have been a very skilled user then. That would be quite difficult to do.”

“Really? That person was in the same line as us and started yelling. She made it sound like it was the easiest trick in the book.”

I just call her Fan #1. I had no idea what she was doing now… But, I guess she ended up being a nice person?

Like that, we talked about the past, even though not much time had actually passed. But we enjoyed acting nostalgic. And that happiness of reuniting must have increased our appetites because the meat kept coming and our cups kept refilling. And then Gardo started to talk about their own journey.

The two of them had left Fhiraldo shortly after we did. They were headed for the capital of Lambrusen, Sousoleil. They had also considered going to Spiris but then they heard that that was where we were headed. But they didn’t want to meet us again so soon and had taken a different direction. And that was the capital of Sousoleil. It was north of Fhiraldo and northwest of Spiris. In any case, they thought it would be awkward to meet us, and so they went to the capital’s grand guild to work.

They lived in the capital for a while, until they had enough of that, and decided to make the Adventure City Replant of the Flugelnian Empire their next destination. It was a place they had always wanted to visit. They arrived one week before we did. And it had taken them a while, as they stopped by many places along the way. We, on the other hand, tended to move in a straight line unless we encountered trouble or anything else that was irregular… But perhaps we could take little detours on our next trip.

“…And that’s how we arrived in the Adventure City.”

“I see… Uh, Ness, aren’t you drinking a little too much?”

“Ehhh? Asagi, you…are you…suggesting that…I am…too…drunk?”

“Not suggesting, I’m saying it. Slow down.”

“Don’t be an idiot, I, I’m just getting…started…here…uhhh…”

Uhh… Is it? This guy was always like this… I looked at Gardo, hoping he would do something, but he looked like he was fighting hard to stay awake. Hey, hey. These guys were going to go to sleep on us.

“Where are they staying…?”

“Even if we have no choice but to take them, we do not know where…”

“Well, we can’t just leave them here.”

I shook Ness and tried to get the name of their inn out of him, but he just groaned uncomfortably. As for Gardo, he was fast asleep. Damn it, what the hell were we supposed to do…

“Ah…ah, that’s it. Maybe we can ask the guild?”

“Some places do require Adventurers to report their locations…but not everyone does it.”

“I’m not sure what we could do if that were the case. We’ll just have to pray that they are the diligent types.”

We could go and ask. But I didn’t want to ask Daniela to run all the way there, this late at night. She was stronger than me, but she was also bloated. At worst, she would vomit all over the place. Alright, I guess it was time for moderate-eater Asagi to go for a jog.

“Daniela. There was a park on the way here, remember? Could you wait there?”

“That is fine, but how will we carry these two?”

“I have an idea.”

First, we needed to pay. They were supposed to be treating us tonight, but maybe this was divine punishment for that time in Fhiraldo when I had let a drunken Ness pay for me. This bill ended up being much higher, but I paid it and then we dragged Gardo and Ness out of the restaurant. It was very dark outside, and blond women could be seen in lascivious outfits as they tried to attract customers. I looked at them with a little surprise, until Daniela gave me a painful kick in the ass. Well then, I was all amped up. It was time to get this done and over with.

“Here…hmm…yes…there!”

“Ooh…!”

I imagined it with Jack of all Trades, Master of None. And with a little help from my specialty, ice magic, I was able to create a kind of ice trolley. I probably used too much magic in making it, but the wheels seemed to be turning fine. It should at least allow us to transport them to the park.

“Asagi, you seem to be getting more detached from the world.”

“Ah, stop it. I’m immune to flattery.”

“No, it was sarcasm.”

“…”

Are you trying to say that I’m weird!

I grumbled as we dumped Gardo and Ness onto the trolley and pulled them to the park. Then I used Legs of the Forest Wolf to jump onto a roof and headed for the guild.

In spite of it being so late, the guild was glimmering with lights. I felt like I was entering a convenience store at midnight when I opened the doors. There were quite a few Adventurers inside too, and they looked like they were ready to work. Were they going to hunt some nocturnal monster? I’m more of an ‘early to bed, early to rise’ Adventurer myself. Besides, I still remember those nocturnal blood apes. Yes, I would not be participating in whatever these guys were doing… Oh, I better do what I came to do. I headed for the ‘Questions and Other’ counter and waited in the short line. It didn’t take nearly as long as during the afternoon, and I was quickly able to ask about Gardo and Ness.

“Excuse me, but the Adventurers who we were drinking with decided to pass out. I’d like to know where they are staying, if you have that information.”

“I see. Do you know their names?”

“Gardo and Ness. They form a party.”

“I will see what I can do. It will take about ten minutes, so please wait in the waiting room.”

“…Yes, thank you.”

That smoking room again…Oh well, might as well go…

I waited for what felt like a very long ten minutes. I was so bored that I nearly collapsed after a wave of drowsiness hit me. But I bore it until the guild worker called me and told me the name and location of their inn. Thankfully, they actually were the diligent types… Even now, Daniela was forced to take care of those two messy old men. We needed to throw them back into their inn as soon as possible so we could get some sleep. The fun with Daniela would have to wait.