Chapter 12: Triplets

After such a troublesome entry, everything finally calmed down and I was able to settle down in peace.

Cliona went back to her spirit form.

“I’ll wait with Celes,” were the last words that she left me.

The room that I’m currently in is huge and there’s a big dining table that accommodates to at least fourteen guests judging by the chairs.

I would assume cutting a tree as big as this and carrying it back inside here is troublesome enough. The table is covered by a simple yet elegant white cloth adorned by beautiful laces that seems like they are personally hand stitched by someone creative.

I am currently occupying one of the wooden chairs on this roundtable and sitting in front of me is the old man from before, and right behind him are three beautiful girls.

From his explanation earlier, these violent girls who attacked me are his daughters and they’re triplets. Well, I could see that much, but what I can’t believe is that this baldy old man who looks like a bandit boss is their father.

“Ahahaha… I’d introduce myself again. My name is Reimuz, and you three are?”

“““………”””

I anxiously break the silence, however the three musketeers unanimously ignored me.

My feelings are hurt…

“Go on, introduce yourselves!”

The old man urges his daughters to speak, yet he himself hasn’t even told me his name yet.

Does this stupidity runs in the family?

“Very well. I’m Erumina Ramburg, the middle sister,” the first one to speak is the archer and she politely bows her head to me while introducing herself.

She looks quite intellectual with those round spectacles, although her smiling expression is giving me a trickster vibe. Her long purple hair is braided on the side while her plum eyes shows a hint of cleverness. Underneath her fancy blouse is her somewhat protruding bosom.

She might look weak and feeble, but that understatement could get a knife behind your back. She’s also giving me an eerie vibe I couldn’t properly describe.

“Elseria… Youngest…”

Next to the polite middle sister comes the sleepy looking swordsman.

Just like her sister, the color of her hair is a vibrant purple, albeit cropped short, and her long bangs are somewhat hindering her opal colored eyes.

There is no hint of smile on her lips. She looks distracted at most and as if her mind is flying off somewhere. Although it wouldn’t be a joke to say she’s the strongest out of the three of them. She seems to have a switch for her hot tempered attitude earlier too. Now she’s just an airhead.

“Emily Ramburg… W-What are you looking at?!”

Finally, the last one with the grade SS+ butt.

No words needed to be said other than she looks snobby and spoiled. She introduced herself with a hand on her waist after all. Having a slightly darker shade compare to her younger sisters, her purple hair tied on a side ponytail evokes an air of mystery. Okay, I admit I am big sucker for ponytails.

Unlike her sisters who are blessed with jiggly bosoms, she’s flat, though I would assume her butt sucked all of those nutrients.

“What do you think about my daughters?”

Once the girls were done with their introductions, the old man asks me loudly.

I cross my arms and tilt my head. “Hmm… Elseria’s skill with the sword is great while Erumina’s like a natural leader… As for Emily… Well… She has a nice butt?”

I emphasize the last part without even twitching. This must be when a guy has too much stress building up inside, he would want to deposit it somewhere once in a while.

“Mo-Molester!!”

Emily jumps over the table as soon as I finished my sentence. She slides an arm around my neck and hold me on a choke-hold!

“Die!”

What the heck! I think I just heard her say something dangerous. She flails me wildly, and I hear three people sigh in unison.

“Sister, father would like to speak if you would,” Elseria complains using her lackluster voice.

If she has the extra energy, I feel like she’ll face palm right now.

“Grrr… I’ll remember this…”

Emily frees me and grumpily sits on one of the wooden chairs beside me while keeping her distance. She’s loudly gritting her teeth, expressing her discontent that we’re somehow breathing the same air.

Anyways I should do what I came here for.

“So, what was the lively greeting for?” I turn my gaze to the old man sitting in front of me and give him a sharp look. “While you have your reasons, don’t you think it’s wrong to use your daughters for something as trivial as testing me? What would you do if I accidentally killed them?”

Without Cliona, I’m afraid I would’ve already bitten the dust.

And if I went all out from the beginning using her, these girls would no doubt be dead by now.

It’s not about being cocky, but rather, the difference in skill alone. I’m not one of those guys who’s properly trained and this power just somehow landed into my arms.

Control and restraint? Shit, you’re lucky I’m feeling good today.

“Hah! No need to worry, I’ve got both ends covered,” he boasts. “I was ready to jump if something life threatening were to occur. But as expected of Frek’s apprentice, you’re one tough guy.”

Actually, I am not tough. I am merely cheating.

And there’s a limit to one’s carelessness.

To put your daughters’s life in jeopardy, you must be quite insane. But this old man knows that already.

I sigh. “Well, enough of that… Would you like to explain your request in detail?”

“Ahem, if I may,” to answer my sincere question, the middle sister steps forward to explain. “We have a mining settlement that works for the city just right outside the mines. Just recently, while our miners are digging deeper to expand our ore deposits, we stumbled to some unfortunate problems.”

“I see… What are these problems?” I press on.

Erumina brings out a small treasure chest from the drawers behind her. Stepping closer to my side, she hands me the content. It’s a small stone with an eerie black tint that fits exactly into my hand.

I look back at her, and Erumina shifts her glasses upward.

“That’s a small refinement of this new ore that we excavated deep inside the mines,” she explains.

“New ore… So the city’s planning to milk the mines then?”

“It is ours by right. So you could say that we’re just maximizing our profits as much as we can. We are part of the trade city alliance after all.”

Erumina continues her explanations with an indifferent face. She’s like a professional. Her older sister could learn a little bit more about the real world from her.

“I still don’t understand why I’m here though,” I continue with my questions.

“You’re familiar with the Beholder’s Relic, correct?”

“The legend where an ancient civilization once roamed the skies? My master had told me about it once.”

I recall what my Master has told me.

According to the ancient scriptures found a few decades ago, there was once an ancient civilization that soared the skies using giant airships. These scriptures are said to be thousand of years old. It is said that the first one to excavate these scriptures found himself on a ruin underground, and from over there are never before seen products on the face of this planet.

However there lies a single problem.

Mysterious as they are, these items are all made of stone as if they were sealed in time for some unknown purpose. But the scriptures sung about the wonders of these products along with the title “Beholder’s Relic.”

This discovery ultimately led to the creation of one of the biggest nation in these lands: The Mercantile continent—also known as the “Trade City Alliance.” The heart of this nation lies across the seas, to the west, and their main purpose is to restore these relics to glory.

Bilford and Berkut are but small territories they have in the central continent.

That was the explanation I got when I asked my Master in regards to Celes’s stone sword.

“That saves me the time to explain it then,” Erumina presses a hand on her chest and sighs in relief. She smiles at me and continues. “There’s something else I want you to see.”

She glance at the fuming girl beside me and nods her head.

Albeit unwillingly, Emily stands up from her chair and return back with a familiar looking weapon on her hands. She gives it to me, and for some odd reason, I can feel the stone in my hand resonating with this weapon.

“This is……… a pistol.”

Since my father is a retired military veteran, I’ve seen a handful of guns in my childhood.

It certainly looks old, but this structure definitely resembles the 1800’s pistols in my world.

………What the hell?

“Mr. Reimuz is quite familiar with the Beholder’s Relic, eh?”

“Hehe, you can say that again,” I say after cracking a small laugh. Seeing this thing made me feel nostalgic somehow. “So how do these two things connect with each other?”

Erumina shakes her head. “Unfortunately, we’re still not entirely sure… But we’re definitely working on this piece of history.”

“Ah, that’s regrettable,” I raise myself from my chair and give the items back to her.

After taking my seat once more, Sir Ramburg reconfirms my purpose.

“What we want you to do is to investigate the mines ahead. According to our workers, the area is filled with Avenirs, as if they’re sentinels guarding these ore deposits.”

“Is that the reason for testing me?”

“Indeed, we’ve already had too much casualties because of this. That’s why I’ve sent the letter to your Master. But I didn’t think that lazy old fool would pass on something exciting like this.”

He answers with a serious expression while he tightly clench his fist on the table, as if he’s lamenting for his lack of strength. From his words, it seems like this old man and my Master go back a long way.

But I think there’s a hidden reason as to why my Master sent me here. I can’t think of any other reason. Completing my training as a blacksmith was probably just a front.

I mean, he’s sending me to a very dangerous area after all. But knowing the dangers won’t stop me. I’ve already resolved myself to do this—for Celes.

“If you’re fine on leaving such an important task to me, then I accept,” I formally bow my head to them.

The old man gestured me to stop the formalities, and as soon as I raise my head, I shamelessly voice my intent.

“So, how much are you willing to pay me?”

“What—”

*Bam!*

—The girl on my side angrily slams the table.

I cock my head to look at her. Emily frowns displeased, probably angered by my attitude. She doesn’t even need to open her mouth, I already know the contents.

“We’re talking about lives here and yet you still talk about money?”

Oh boy…

It’s scary how I predicted she’ll say those exact same words. I have to search for my mermaids, investigate a legendary gem, and so forth. Of course I’ll need funds, and I don’t expect them to understand.

I ignore Emily and shift my gaze back at her old man.

He exhales a sigh. “It depends on your achievement. If you can clear the mines of it’s possible threats, I wouldn’t mind adding a little extra.”

I slap myself up. “Alright, the mines it is then.”

“Wait, does Mr. Reimuz even know the location of the mines?” Erumina worriedly inquires.

“Nah, but that’s easy to figure out on my own. If we’re done here, I’m leaving.”

I hurriedly left that room while ignoring their dumbstruck expressions.

It’s not like I don’t want to help, but doing justice for the sake of others?

Emily mistakes me for a better man.

After I left that suffocating space, Erumina follows after me. Nodding with a smile, I accept the extra information that came from her lips. She gave me the directions on how to reach the mines and further explained in detail what I have to do.

“I’ll have the miners know of your arrival,” she smiles after finishing her explanation.

“Thanks, and sorry for the trouble,” I scratch my head.

We bid each other farewell and the maid from before guided me back to Celes. For some reason, the maid kept her mouth shut this time. Although I can’t shake the feeling that she’s hiding something underneath that smile.

I wonder what it is?