Chapter 57

Mea and I were discussing the hunting grounds of the magical beasts .

I was just about to form an opinion that the forest was the way to go after all when I heard an angry voice from the next table .

I turn my attention to the voice .

“I’ve told you repeatedly that this is the place to be! Why can’t you listen to me, the leader!”

Hits the table with a bang and the blond man stands up .

He wears leather armor . He seems to be the same age as Me and Mea .

Apparently, they are in a dispute over the selection of a hunting ground .

It might help us decide on a destination .

I’ll have a look for a second .

“I’m a semi-E-class adventurer! How old are you guys? You’re both F-class! You should just shut up and follow me! If you can’t do it, leave! Leave! Don’t you ever come in front of me again!”

Sitting in front of the blonde are two men and a woman .

All three of them wear similar armor .

The details are different, but the materials are the same .

So they are F-rated and the blonde is semi-E-class .

It seems like a fifty-step process, but is it that different?

The man stands up and bows his head .

Seeing this, the blonde crossed her arms and gave a small shake of his head .

“Ha! You should have done that from the beginning . Well, it’s all right if you understand, if you understand . ”

“Sorry, Maizen . I’m going to have to leave the party . ”

“Eh, oh, hey…… What?”

“I’ve been thinking… about it . Maizen, you and I don’t think the same…”

“R-relax . Okay, I feel like I’ve said too much either . I’m sorry . I’m sorry, okay? There, I apologized now! So let’s start the talk from the start . After all, my instincts as a semi-E-class adventurer are telling me it’s better this way…… . ”

The woman, too, sat up vigorously .

“If Tida’s out, I’m also out!”

“W-, wait! Can we sit down? Can we sit down for a minute? I’ll sit down, so let’s all sit down . Here, all right, let’s all sit down at the same time . I’ll count to three . No betrayal . Okay, one! two!”

“Lisa, you don’t have to leave too…”

“No . I’ve always been in love with Tida! Let me follow you!”

“Lisa……”

“W-wait, both of you calm down for now . That wasn’t the way it was supposed to go, was it?”

“Lisa, I like it too!” “Tida!”

Leaving the blonde behind, they shared a passionate embrace .

They continued to hold hands and walked away .

“Hey, hey, wait! I mean, I like you two, too… Wait… Hey! You’re forgetting about me, do you?　Hey,I said hey…”

The blonde reached for their backs but crumpled to the ground with a gut-wrenching crash when they were out of sight .

He put all four limbs on the floor and spilled tears, “Why…… . .

…… . . I thought it would help us decide where to hunt, but it didn’t .

The others who had been watching the three of them interact awkwardly quickly look away .

I turned away in a hurry, too . Though I was a little late .

“That looks great, Mea, I adore that kind of thing . I hope those two will be happy . ”

Mea was the only one with a blush on her cheeks as she turned her head in the direction the duo from earlier had left .

I don’t think that’s what you should be focusing on .

I put my hand on the edge of the desk and moved it a little to the left .

Then I casually scrape her chair and moves away from the blonde’s desk .

“Mea, you shouldn’t look at it too much . Let’s get the hell out of here . ”

I say to Mea, keeping my voice low .

“Wait, wait, you guys… weren’t you wondering where you were going to go hunting earlier? ?　I think I heard you talking about how you’re in trouble because of lack of money or something like that . ”

Suddenly, I was approached by the blonde from earlier .

I readied my wand as quickly as I could .

There were already no tears in the blonde’s eyes, but a dismissive smile stuck to his face .

The blonde looks at my wand and moves her head in a racy manner .

“Hee~, you, so you’re a sorcerer . Well, I’ve always wanted a sorcerer’s comrade . ”

“……”

“I used to be a party leader myself, but I just got rid of the useless ones . Would you guys like to join my party?”

Does this blonde, by any chance, think that the commotion that was going on earlier is not being heard by the people around him?

You were just eavesdropping on the hunting grounds we were talking about in normal tones .

Sure, as a formality, this blonde might not be able to say that this blonde got rid of them, but it would be a pretty subtle decision .

“If you listen to me, I’m happy to lend you money for the trip . If you’ll only listen to me . ”

I turn to face Mea .

Normally I would jump on this, but I think he’s a bit of a thing in many ways .

“What do you want to do?”

“It’s good, isn’t it? It’s kind of sad to say no here…”

“Well, that’s one thing, but…”

I turn my head back to the blonde .

“Where do you think you’re going? I’d like to hear that and then think about it…”

“The ruins of Zeshum . ”

“Zeshum … oh, I think I read about it in a book …”

——————————————————

The elves live in the Celestial Land of Alfheim and do not come down of their own accord .

The elves who exist on earth are those who have sinned and have been driven from the Celestial Land of Alfheim or their descendants .

Nearly two thousand years ago, due to religious conflicts caused hundreds of elves to fall to the ground .

They built a fortress to counter the persecution of the Norcs on the ground .

Eventually, the elves, who were beginning to be accepted by the Norcs, sealed off the functions of the fortress and left it .

That is known after as the Ruins of Zeshum .

(Quoted in Bernise Belmond’s book “Knowing the Elves”)

——————————————————

The Norcs are the most numerous and uncharacteristic race .

Most of the people in this city are also Norcs .

In short, the ruins of Zeshum are a fortress that was abandoned after it was built but was no longer needed when it was completed .

In the innermost part of the Zeshum ruins is a large golem, which is said to still be guarding the elven treasure, the Arrow of God .

According to the newspapers, there are no demons and it is not treated as a dungeon .

There are some demonic beasts in their own right, but they’re not much different from those woods . They are completely just ruins .

Two thousand years later, the effects of the warding are still so strong that the door inside is almost impossible to open .

It’s also doubtful how correct history is .

Elves have a long lifespan, but it’s still five hundred years .

No one has any way of knowing what happened four generations ago . It’s almost faded away .

“Why would you go to the ruins of Zeshum?”

The distance is reasonable, and if you want to hunt demonic beasts, it’s quicker to go to the forest .

“You heard me right . According to the information I’ve got, some of the wards have been lifted recently . However, when it was opened, a magical beast was inside of the ruins and the investigation has been stalled . If you cleverly slip in, then steal the treasure is the plan . There should be some magic stones to maintain the wards, so it won’t hurt . ”

“Oh, oh! Somehow, it looks kind of awesome . Mea is kind of excited about this . Abel, what do you want to do? What do you want to do?”

It certainly seems like a pretty good target from what I’ve heard .

I’m just curious why it hasn’t been brought to light .

Based on the fact that he had just said earlier, there must be some holes in it .

“I’m going to need to think about this some more…”

“You just need to come in light as a baggage carrier and you’ll be fine . There’s no time to worry about it, the investigation should be going on even as we speak . If you guys don’t want to, I’ll find someone else . I’m sure there are plenty of kids who want to be in my party . I’m a semi-E-class adventurer after all . ”

“But we can’t reimburse you for your travel expenses if we don’t make it…”

I don’t want to be stuck in debt again .

“Don’t worry . If you follow me, you won’t lose anything . In the unlikely event that the returns don’t come in, I can at least take care of the travel expenses” .

“If you say so much, then… . ”

In the end, they were pushed to the end and headed to the ruins of Zeshum with the blond man, Maizen, as their leader .

Magic stones are quite pricey if they are expensive .

If you gather the numbers efficiently, you have a chance to get rich .

Besides, if we really found the treasure, I could pay off the two million G’s of debt in a heartbeat .

It’s also great to hear from senior adventurers along the way .

He had called out the rank many times, so I’m sure the semi-E class must be pretty awesome .

I’m sure it will teach you some useful things about being an adventurer .