Chapter 61

“Asagi. I feel as if I know just what you are thinking right now.”

Daniela says quietly. I look up and stare into her face.

“But I have no intention of letting you go. I will allow you to have no one else but me. You are the only one who is in my heart. And so, I hope that I alone will reside in yours.”

She looked so cool when she became this serious. It made me feel all the worse. I’ve been disappointed in myself lately. My resolve should have been stronger. Fiona’s tears should have no bearing on my decision to choose Daniela. And there was no use being glum about what happened.

“I’m sorry. I’m fine now.”

“Perhaps I said that a little harshly.”

“No, it’s good. You’ve been helping me a lot lately.”

“Do not worry. It is was I want.”

I slowly take her hand and squeeze it. She smiles happily. We would both cherish each other…that would be the most ideal thing. I felt deeply, that I must care for her more, and treasure her.

□ □ □ □

Well, we couldn’t act so gloomy forever. We came here to go on an adventure. And so it was off to the quest board.

“Let’s see here…”

There was a large variety of quests pinned to the board. Over fifty in all. That’s the city for you. It was completely different compared to Fhiraldo.

“‘Grass wolf extermination’, ‘Wanted: person to talk to’, ‘Kobold extermination’, ‘Lost pet’, ‘Pest extermination’…there are so many here. It’s kind of hard to choose.”

“Hmm, we definitely want one of the extermination variety. You want to test your equipment, do you not?”

“Well, yeah.”

We could kill some grass wolves, or fight some kobolds for the first time…hmm, what to do…

“Oh? Is that Asagi’s back I see!?”

“Hmm? Who?”

I turned around only to find myself facing a wall. When did the guild house become so crammed? I wonder as I look to the side, but there is no one there. That’s strange, I felt like someone was talking to me…

“As I said, I ain’t no wall!”

“Hmm?”

I looked up towards the voice and saw the adventuring wall, Pinzoro.

“Haha, that was a joke.”

“Bah, you looked real baffled when you turned to the side just now…”

“Fussing over such things will likely make you go bald.”

“I wouldn’t want that!!”

Daniela laughed as Pinzoro’s hand went protectively to his hair.

“Hello, Pinzoro.”

“Oi, you look well. I’ve heard all about it. You killed a wyvern.”

“With Rex and the others. I just put it down at the very end.”

Hearing this, Pinzoro laughed loudly. It seemed sincere enough, but had I actually said anything funny?

“Ku..kk…ss..sorry! But I happened to be free at the time you see, and I went with the guards who retrieved the wyvern parts. That carnage I saw was something else.”

“Quit with the rubbernecking…it’s embarrassing!”

“Kahahahah! Ah, but there were others there too, you know? After all, the guards of the western gate could not shut up about it. Another wyvern? I asked, and they say, bingo! Word spread quickly and all the bored adventurers came to see what had happened!”

Well then, that means people who actually saw it were spreading somewhat accurate rumors this time…? I hated that immensely. The kind of stories that would reach people like the clerk of the Paw Armor Shop were exaggerated, but the those in the world of adventuring would know the truth? What could be worse? I wanted to live quietly.

“Damn it…these Adventurers…”

“Asagi, we are Adventurers as well.”

“…”

Well, I deserved that glare from Daniela. She was right of course, and I had nothing to refute her with.

“In any case, what are you doing here, Pinzoro?”

“Forcing a subject change, are we? …Well, it’s nothing. I have nothing to do, so might as well stretch my limbs with a quest, I thought.”

He said as he moved his shoulders in circles. I bet he would choose an extermination quest.

“And you, Asagi? I don’t believe there are any wyverns left for you.”

“Yeah, because I’m the guy that loves wyverns. No, I just want to test my newly acquired equipment.”

Hearing this, Pinzoro held his chin and stared hard at what I was wearing.

“Ho ho. It suits you well. What’s it made of?”

“Wind dragon and ice dragon.”

“Dragons, you say!?”

Hehe. Amazing, isn’t it? I folded my arms with a smug grin. Daniela smirked with a little embarrassment, but why be modest when it was the truth? It was an important thing in my opinion.

“Ah, quite rare these dragon sets… No, wait. I do think that the prices on them had collapsed recently.”

“Oh, something about a Hero taking down a stampede of dragons. Well, they were all young dragons, and it’s their materials that have flooded the market.”

I wonder how much it would have cost if the materials were from adult dragons? The very idea makes me shudder.

“Even the young ones are guaranteed to offer great protection and performance. It is a worthy purchase in my opinion.”

“Yeah… But I didn’t really expect to hunt a wyvern while trying to earn some money.”

“But with this armor, you may just be able to kill the next one alone!”

Haha. As if. It’s a dragon set, but not from an adult. Trusting its capabilities too much might get me killed. And while I had experience now, I would not care to fight one again. If possible, I would try to avoid it.

“…Ah, look at the time. You better choose your quest soon, else you won’t be able to return today.”

“Damn, we better hurry then. What are you doing, Pinzoro?”

“I’ll be taking this request to kill some grass wolves over here.”

Grass wolves in the plains, eh? Well, that meant he was at least strong enough to take down a pack while going solo.

“Daniela, what do you think?”

“You have never fought against kobolds, have you?”

“Uh, true.”

“Then you should experience it.”

“That’s also true.”

And so we chose the kobolds. I tore off the ‘Kobold extermination request’ note from the board.

Pinzoro tore off the one for the grass wolves next to us.

“Well, I’m off now. See you later, Asagi.”

“Yeah, later.”

He waved to us as he headed for the counter. I waved back.

“He’s a good guy.”

“Aye. It reminds me, that this how you make connections and have them spread. Something I did not do when I traveled alone.”

“Things will be different now. I won’t let you get bored when you’re with me.”

I say as I turn to her. She nods and smiles.

“I am confident that I will not tire of being with you, Asagi. Day and night, you are going to bring me pleasure, right?”

How about saying stuff like that when no one else is around! My face turned quite red as I headed for the counter, which Pinzoro had already left.

“Do you wish to go on a quest?”

“Yes. This ‘Kobold extermination request,’ please.”

“Very well. You will be working near the rocky area right outside of the eastern gate. Please give me your status cards.”

I took my card out of my pocket and along with Daniela’s, placed them on the counter.

“Yes, thank you. Please wait a moment. ….Yes, the quest information has been registered. I am sure there is no danger with you two, but please be safe and good luck.”

We thanked the guild worker who showed concern as a formality and left the guild behind us.

Now, the point of all this was really just to test my armor. That might be a little cruel to the poor kobolds, but, ‘survival of the fittest’ and all that. That was the way the world was. They would help build the foundation for my future.

Daniela and I crossed the main street and headed east. As we had come through the western gate, it was our first time seeing the eastern one. Past the gate was the same familiar plains spreading out, but apparently, there was a rocky area further on. The terrain her was kind of fantastic. I had never visited any rocky areas in Japan. At most, I went to a dry river bed with some large rocks.

And this would be my first kobold fight. I needed to be prepared. It was exciting, but also made me a little nervous. I would just depend on Daniela if things get dangerous, I think almost eagerly, as we go out the eastern gate.