Chapter 17

Gran’s lecture was quite long.

He had been drinking, so it probably dragged on unnecessarily.

「Listen here. I too understand that goblin subjugation is important」

「Mhmm.」

「However, you should have told us that you would leave for a while!」

Are you my mother?!

I restrained my desire to just shout that at his face.

I have to change topics.

「Come to think of it, I took a goblin subjugation quest for F-rankers, but a goblin lord appeared」

「……What did you say? That’s not good」

Gran’s gaze turned serious.

An F-rank party will be completely annihilated if they were to encounter a goblin lord.

It’s impossible to entirely prevent a mismatch in the quest difficulty rating.

Even so, it’s still completely the guild’s mistake in setting the required rank for the quest.

The guild’s Grandmaster probably feels ashamed for it.

「Well, I was with the other F-rankers. They’re safe. It was probably a good experience for them」

「That was a great help. Thanks」

As long as an adventurer remains alive, such incidents will make them more experienced.

The harder the quest, the more experience they’ll gain.

「I’m just carrying out my duty. No need to thank me」

「F-rank adventurers are the ones who shoulder the guild’s future. I as the Grandmaster must of course thank you」

Gran’s quite the serious person.

「Well, I’ll focus on the main issue at hand. The goblin lord was only an underling」

「What?」

「A vampire lord was behind it」

「…………」

Gran is at a loss for words.

Vampire lords are subjugation targets for B-rank, or even A-rank parties.

If not correctly dealt with, even a mid-sized town can be easily destroyed.

「……Thank you for killing it」

Pulling himself together, the first thing Gran said was thanks.

I haven’t even mention defeating it, yet he assumed that I have.

That goes to show how much trust he has in me.

「Well, I did defeat it, but…… I need to tell you the details」

As I said that, the glint in Gran’s eyes sharpened.

Looking at him, you’ll never believe that he had been drinking.

I reported every single information I heard from Shea.

「And that medal is this one. Well, only have one half of it is with me, though」

「I want to let some experts examine this. Can I borrow it?」

「Sure」

Gran picked up the medal and viewed it.

「What is this made of?」

「It looks like gold, but it’s not really gold, huh」

「It’s neither orichalcum nor mythril. You’re a mage, aren’t you? Can’t you tell what it is?」

「Nope. An alchemist might know though」

Gran placed it back onto the table.

「The gods of the Dark that vampire hunter girl mentioned is real」

「You know what it is?」

「Well」

Said Gran calmly.

10 years ago. We thought that the devils weren’t the vanguard but the main force.

「10 years have already passed. There’s no way Eric and I didn’t try to investigate more about them」

「……That’s true」

Gran then started explaining.

Gran and Eric searched for ways to enter the Rift.

They learnt some things about the other side of the Rift.

They ascertained that there are gods of the Dark and also the fact that the devils are but the vanguard.

That’s quite the investigative ability.

「Even so, we didn’t know that the vampires were doing such a thing」

「What about the fact that they can open the gates with enough curse?」

「Not that either. Thanks for the info」

「Anyway, I’ll be counting on you to deal with this」

「Of course」

I’m really tired right now, so I should go to sleep.

Before that, I’ll have to tell him something just in case.

「The beast-girl adventurer, Shea, already knows who I am」

「I see. Alright then」

「I told her that she can come here or to the adventurer’s guild if she needs help」

「Roger that. I’ll inform the gatekeepers」

「Thanks」

Saying that, I opened the dining room door to return to my room.

「Whoops」

Standing outside the room was a girl.

Gran said to her,

「Serilis. You’re back. Good timing, come here……」(TLN: セルリス. Any ideas? Pronounced Serurisu)

「……」

The girl called Serilis ran away without a word.

Looking at her, Gran sighed.

「Sorry. I was thinking of introducing you」

「Don’t mind it……」

「She’s my daughter」

「Come to think of it, you said you had a 5-year-old daughter 10 years ago, didn’t you?」

「Yeah. She’s now an adventurer, but……. These days, she doesn’t talk to me. Probably in her rebellious phase」

Gran filled himself with alcohol.

「Don’t drink too much, alright?」

「I know. Serilis is a B-rank adventurer」

She’s a top-grade adventurer like Shea, huh. She’s really good to be a B-ranker at the age of 15.

As expected from Gran’s daughter.

「It can’t be helped since she’s an adventurer. She’s rarely at home recently」

「That really makes you worry」

Gran was very worried for me leaving for only three days.

He’s probably way worried about her since she’s often away from home.

It’s hard being a parent.

I don’t know how it actually feels like since I don’t have a kid myself, so I can only imagine it.

I pity him a little.

「Come to think of it, I haven’t seen your wife yet」

「She’s on outstation since last month」

「I see」

Gran then said,

「Your ranks are different. You probably won’t meet her while adventuring, but if you do, please take care of her」

「No problem」

Hearing that, Gran looked a little more relieved.