Chapter 592-1 (1)
Editor: Tseirp
At the same time, in the Imperial Capital Adventurers’ Mutual Aid Society.
From the plaza at the front entrance, five adventurers could be seen entering the building on the left-hand side—the Advanced Hall.
This was not unheard of, but it was quite a rare sight.
Because normally, adventurers go in and out through the entrance at the back that connects directly to the waiting rooms.
The entrances facing the main gate and the front plaza are used only by clients.
When the five adventurers entered the Advanced Hall, they headed straight for the front reception.
This Advanced Hall is the building for placing requests to Third- and Second-Rank adventurers.
Naturally, the request fees and the rewards to be prepared are high, so the clients are very wealthy merchants or members of the Shitaifu Class.
Inside the building, there were no other adventurers, and only one client.Therefore, the moment they entered, the five stood out.
The Association’s guides could tell at a glance that the five were not adventurers belonging to this Imperial Capital Advanced Hall.
“May I help you with something?”
So they addressed them as usual.
It’s not impossible for there to be a client who looks like an adventurer.
Or…
“We are the Third-Rank party ‘Spring View’ from Boago.”
“Welcome to the Imperial Capital Adventurers’ Mutual Aid Association.”
“In fact, we came here under a commission from Count Bashu, who holds Boago.”
“Okay.”
“Our wish is to exchange information with other adventurers. For that, we’d like to be allowed into the waiting rooms.”
At Jun Luo’s words, the guide slightly frowned.
Apparently, he had said something odd.
But…
“We’ve conducted similar information exchanges here at the Imperial Capital Mutual Aid Association before. Have the rules changed?”
“No, there has been nothing of the sort. Information exchanges between adventurers may be carried out freely without any problem. That remains the same even now. It’s just…”
“Just?”
“At present, all the adventurers belonging to this Advanced Hall are out.”
“All of them? The Imperial Capital’s Advanced Hall…there must be hundreds of Third- and Second-Rank adventurers, right? Leaving the Special Hall aside, you’re saying no one remains in the Advanced Hall?”
“Yes.”
After that, ‘Spring View’ was allowed to see all the waiting rooms in the back, but…
“There really isn’t anyone.”
The magician Barili muttered.
“No, sorry—I didn’t mean I didn’t believe you.”
“No, I understand that it seems unbelievable. I’ve been a Mutual Aid guide for nearly ten years myself, and this is the first time all the Advanced Hall adventurers have been sent out.”
In response to Jun Luo’s words, the guide answered with a wry smile.
“Ah…is there any chance you could tell us why this happened…”
“I’m terribly sorry, but it concerns request contents.”
“Thought so.”
Jun Luo nodded at the guide’s words.
Naturally.
They wouldn’t tell them.
But realistically, if no one is there, then no request can be accepted.
What is the Association doing about that?
“In fact, everyone has been sent out starting today.”
“What?”
“Requests that seem manageable up to Fourth Rank are all being diverted to the Standard Hall…but to be honest, I don’t think even the higher-ups can judge what will happen going forward.”
“…And yet they all went out. No—the situation forced them all to go out, and there was nothing to do but accept it.”
“Yes…”
At Jun Luo’s meaningful question, the guide nodded, understanding the deeper implication.
In other words, the request came from someone whom the Association’s upper echelons could not refuse.
Such high-level sources of requests are not common.
For example, a lord like Count Bashu, Roche-Ten, who commissioned ‘Spring View’…at that level, it would be impossible to force out every adventurer.
Meaning, even upper members of the Shitaifu Class couldn’t do it.
Above that, there is only one.
Namely, the Imperial Household.
Either the Emperor himself, or the Imperial Princes.
The power of an ordinary prince is not so different from that of the upper Shitaifu Class.
But an Imperial Prince is entirely different.
The Emperor is…needless to say.
“One thing I’d like to ask…don’t tell me even the adventurers of the Special Hall have all been sent out?”
“Yes. Those were sent a little earlier.”
The five members of ‘Spring View’ left the Advanced Hall.
“So His Majesty the Emperor or the three Imperial Princes requisitioned the adventurers…”
“Third- and Second-Ranks from today. Special- and First-Ranks from somewhat earlier.”
“The problem is…”
“For what purpose.”
Swordsman Jun Luo and magician Barili confirmed with each other.
Of course, the part they most wanted to know—the reason why—was completely unknown.
“For now, how about we eat. We might think of something.”
“To me, it just looks like the leader’s hungry.”
“Chunk is probably correct.”
Jun Luo proposed lunch, scout Chunk said with a laugh, and magician Barili agreed.
That said, it was around lunchtime, so no one refused Jun Luo’s suggestion.
The five walked to Holy Emperor Plaza.
Last night, they had gone into a shop where the sign for Brothy Wheat Noodles with Pork stood out.
“Actually, I was curious about the place next door too.”
“Hmm, hmm… today’s recommendation is an Exquisite Stir-Fry of beef and green pepper.”
Jun Luo proposed the neighboring shop, and scout Chunk made use of his sharp eyes to read today’s recommendation posted at the storefront.
From beside the five came another voice—one they remembered hearing just last night.
“They say today’s recommendation is an Exquisite Stir-Fry of beef and green pepper.”
“What’s Exquisite Stir-Fry?”
“I don’t know the details, but surely the stir-frying is exquisite. Shall we try here today?”
And then the group of five and the pair ran into each other.
“Um, Abel-san and Ryo-san?”
“Huh? Everyone from ‘Spring View’?”
By good fortune, a large party had just finished eating and left, so the seven of them were able to sit together around a fairly large table.
“Didn’t you say this morning that you were leaving the Imperial Capital?”
“Ah, we did, but…when we returned to the inn after that last night, the lord gave us a request…”
Jun Luo answered Abel’s question with a wry smile. The other four smiled wryly as well.
They had parted, saying “until next time,” and yet twelve hours later, they were at the same table together; no wonder they felt like wryly smiling.
Yes, it was a little embarrassing.
“Well, it’s fine, isn’t it? If you’re still staying in the Capital, let’s eat lots of delicious things in the Capital.”
Ryo suggested with a smile.
“True enough!”
And the seven enjoyed their lunch.
While they talked over their meal, the topic came up that Ryo and Abel had visited the Adventurers’ Mutual Aid Association yesterday.
“It was insanely big.”
“Right! It can’t be compared with the Mutual Aid Association in the city of Boago.”
When Ryo spread his hands to indicate ‘big’, magician Barili nodded repeatedly in agreement.
“But it’s dangerous. They were fighting in the waiting room.”
“Ah…that’s an old tradition of the Imperial Capital’s Association.”
“That’s a tradition?”
“When there are a lot of people, quarrels seem to increase.”
Abel spoke in exasperation, and Jun Luo nodded with a wry smile.
“Does the Boago Association not have things like that?”
“Not at all. It’s very peaceful.”
“I prefer that.”
“Right?”
Abel asked, Jun Luo answered, Ryo agreed, and Barili nodded.
Even for Darwei adventurers, it seems there are all kinds.
“But why did you two go to the Association? To take a request?”
“No…how should I put it…”
“…A tour?”
At Barili’s seemingly innocent question, Abel and Ryo suddenly found themselves at a loss for an answer.
“We also wanted to see the other buildings—the Advanced Hall and the Special Hall—but the guide told us it was better not to go over there.”
“They said we might not be able to make it back in the worst case.”
“Th-that’s a little…”
When Ryo and Abel spoke, Jun Luo answered with a wry smile.
And he continued.
“Only, even if you went, it seems there aren’t any adventurers there.”
“No one?”
“Weren’t there something like tens of thousands of adventurers if you count in the Standard Hall?”
“Yes. The Advanced Hall also has hundreds of adventurers…but they say all of them are out.”
At Jun Luo’s words, Ryo and Abel asked suspiciously, and Barili answered.
The remaining three of ‘Spring View’ also nodded.
“That means…they’re gone because of requests, right?”
“Right. And in the case of the Advanced Hall, starting today, all of them went out. The Special Hall was a little earlier, it seems.”
Jun Luo answered Abel’s question.
Hearing that, Ryo murmured,
“Maybe one of the Imperial Princes hired them as fighting strength.”
That murmur met with a fierce reaction.
“What do you mean by that, Ryo-san!”
“Eh…”
Jun Luo leaned forward to ask, and Ryo, surprised, was at a loss for words.
Looking around, the other members of ‘Spring View’ were also staring wide-eyed at Ryo.
Ryo was troubled.
The reason Ryo thought that was because they themselves had considered whether they could use adventurers to strengthen their fighting power.
For the Sixth Prince, Ryun.
However, the fact that the two of them, especially Duke Rondo, is cooperating with Prince Ryun is not public.
So if he answered here that it was an idea they themselves had come up with, it felt like it could cause various problems.
It would not be good for information that is still too early to make public to leak out.
Therefore, he hesitated over how to answer.
“Uh…it just came to mind.”
In the end, he couldn’t think of a good way to answer.
“…I see.”
Jun Luo said that for the moment, but he seemed to be suspecting something.
That’s how it looked to Ryo.
So Ryo sought help from Abel.
“Abel proposed a heartless kind of plan—that if you hire adventurers and throw them into the fray, it’s cheaper. But I said I don’t think the Imperial Princes who are clashing would adopt such a cruel plan.”
“Hey…”
“Ah, sorry, Abel, it just slipped out. This was supposed to be a secret, right.”
Ryo apologized to Abel, who was giving him a flat stare…while laughing.
“I see. As expected of Abel, a cold-blooded but effective tactic, perhaps.”
Jun Luo was strangely impressed.
“It does seem plausible. In other words, the adventurers were hired as the fighting strength of Their Royal Highnesses the Princes… But when it comes to Imperial Princes, they must have quite a bit of their own forces, right? Even without going to the trouble of hiring adventurers…”
The magician Barili asked no one in particular.
“Disposable forces?”
“Ryo, you’re an adventurer too… choose your words a little.”
Abel shook his head slightly in exasperation at Ryo’s overly blunt phrasing.
If he directly phrased adventurers as disposable forces, naturally it wouldn’t feel good.
All seven people there were adventurers.
“The forces held by the Imperial Princes are considerable. It’s said that even what they have stationed in the Imperial Capital numbers in the several thousands each, and as for the forces they hold in their respective domains, who knows how many. But apart from that, hiring adventurers as disposable… well, as a vanguard, might be an option. For Third- and Second-Rank.”
“The way you say it makes it sound different for First- and Special-Rank.”
“Yeah, it is.”
To Abel’s question, Jun Luo nodded firmly.
“When it comes to First-Rank adventurers, their combat power is above the Emperor’s direct Imperial Guard. And Special-Rank are without a doubt inhuman. Abel-san, you are certainly strong. But the Special-Rank lot makes one doubt whether they’re even human anymore.”
“That much?”
“Yeah. I once saw a Special-Rank adventurer fight…and it wasn’t something that made me think I should strive to reach that summit.”
Jun Luo shook his head slightly and then continued.
“That lot are at the pinnacle of all fighters across Darwei. Moreover, among the current Special-Rank adventurers, half of the Six Saints are present. In the past, there were usually about one and at most two in good times, but right now it’s half—three of them. Proof that the Special-Rank adventurers are well-stocked.”
“Six Saints?”
“That sounds cool!”
At Jun Luo’s explanation, Abel tilted his head, while Ryo was delighted at the cool-sounding term.
“The Six Saints are the pinnacle among magicians or sorcerers in Darwei.”
“Perhaps the pinnacle of each of the six attributes?”
“Yes, just as you said, Ryo-san.”
“Whoaa~.”
“The pinnacle of the physical professions are called the Six Swords…and one of them is among the Special-Rank adventurers.”
“The Six Saints and the Six Swords—nice!”
Ryo looked pleased.
Then Ryo turned to Abel and said,
“Good for you, Abel.”
“What’s good?”
“There are twelve people you ought to defeat!”
“Excuse me?”
“Before you charge in, make sure you write your will properly. Write, ‘From the inheritance, buy Ryo cake every week’. As long as that’s in there, I’ll cheer you on with all my might!”
“…And if I don’t write a will?”
“Regrettably, I won’t cheer for you.”
Ryo declared in a firm tone.
“I see. But don’t worry. I’m not about to charge at those twelve.”
“Oh, come on—your sword must be thirsting for blood, right?”
“It doesn’t have to be their blood; Ryo’s blood would do, wouldn’t it?”
“N-no, it wouldn’t! My blood doesn’t taste good!”
Ryo hastily refused.
The five members of ‘Spring View’ watched the two’s exchanges with smiles.
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