Ekvar ended up living with us and was assigned a room on the second floor.
Since his status and identity were being kept secret, I was firmly instructed not to address him with honorifics or use polite language.
Today, I had promised to show him around the Adventurer’s Guild. Since it was still before noon, Belial decided to join us, and we planned to have lunch together as a group of three.
“…This person is an intelligence agent, isn’t he? If so, he must already have memorized the layout of the town without needing guidance.”
“What? He only arrived yesterday, you know?”
“…This is quite inconvenient. Well, I’ve already grasped the relative locations of all the key buildings,” Ekvar said with a wry smile.
He doesn’t even seem to be a professional spy, though… So why did he ask me to show him around in the first place? He’s quite the mysterious person.
“This is the Adventurer’s Guild. It’s apparently very crowded in the mornings, but it should be quieter by now.”
I slowly opened the wooden door at the entrance. There were some people who looked like adventurers inside, but it wasn’t particularly crowded. None of the faces seemed familiar to me.
“Thank you, beautiful lady.”
“You’re welcome, odd one.”
He complimented me like this, which made him seem a little suspicious.
Muttering something about feeling off today, Ekvar walked over to the bulletin board where the requests were posted. Meanwhile, I checked the emergency danger notices on the left side of the reception desk. These were warnings posted whenever dangerous monsters appeared. Similar notices were also displayed at the Commercial Guild and on signboards in areas where people gathered in town.
I learned about this system from a group of adventurers known as “The Great Tree of Isasim,” whom I met when I accompanied a merchant caravan led by Alan as a guard.
To their surprise, I hadn’t known about it until then. Apparently, it was considered common knowledge.
In the remote mountain village where I grew up, there wasn’t even a guild, and before notices could be posted, we’d already be sent on royal orders to deal with such threats…
“Miss Iriya ! Look, look. Here’s something interesting!”
Ekvar came over holding a request slip.
“Collection Request: Dragon Scales. Any grade, any type.”
“Dragon scales? I wonder if the requester is a weapon or armor craftsman. I don’t usually collect scales, though.”
“You only care about claws or Dragon Tears—the ingredients for medicine.”
“…The way you’re saying that makes it sound like I’ve been slaying dragons recently…”
“You have to defeat at least an intermediate-level dragon for Dragon Tears to appear, right? Oh, thanks for the Dragon Tear souvenir. I’ll make use of it soon.”
Oops. Talking about dragons attracted the attention of those around us. Now people were staring at Ekvar ’s rank emblem, muttering things like, “Wait, isn’t that guy just a D-rank?” I should’ve considered the setting more carefully.
“In any case, unless we know where to get them, we can’t take the request.”
“The requester wrote that they’re open to consultations. What do you think? It’s open to all ranks—should we try taking it?”
Does he really want to take this request?
Just as Ekvar started moving while waving the request slip, a voice interrupted.
“What are you thinking? Don’t do it.”
A man who seemed to have overheard our conversation spoke up with a look of exasperation. He appeared to be about 25 years old, around my age. He carried a spear and was accompanied by a younger-looking woman equipped with a mage’s staff and robe. Both had B-rank emblems.
“Sure, you could just pick up fallen scales, but dragons can use their breath attacks, so it’s dangerous,” the woman added.
The other adventurers in the guild seemed to recognize this pair, whispering about them. Judging by the positive reactions, they might be famous adventurers in this town.
The young man introduced himself as Liet. He had short light blue hair and blue eyes, wore light armor, and wielded a spear.
The woman introduced herself as the mage Lucia. She had reddish-brown hair, brown eyes, and wore a short-hemmed robe.
“Are you planning to take the request?”
Ekvar ’s eyes seemed to gleam darkly, as if he had found prey. His smile, though friendly, carried an unsettling air.
“Not at all. After earthquakes, strong monsters tend to appear. Even if it’s a dragon, there’s a chance it could be intermediate-class or higher. We’re not taking it,” Lucia said with a sigh.
Ekvar , however, invited them to join as if it were all a game.
“Is that so? Well, we’re going to take it. Why not make it a competition? The request mentions wanting various kinds of scales, so why not see how many different types we can collect? Sounds fun, doesn’t it?”
For some reason, Ekvar was already acting as though we were part of his plan. I wondered if he knew that Belial had a particular interest in dragon hunting.
“Then how about my team joins yours?” A man with a bow suddenly interjected.
“I’m Castace, and I use both a bow and magic. This is Ivette, a magic swordswoman.”
Castace had bluish-gray hair tied at the back, navy blue eyes, and wore a long white vest. Ivette was a short-haired woman with black hair. She also wore light armor and had a thin sword at her waist.
“What? The two A-rank adventurers…!?”
Liet turned to look at them in surprise. They must be famous.
“But if that’s the case, what about those D-rank people…?”
Lucia’s words were cut off by Ivette, who couldn’t suppress a laugh.
“Didn’t you notice? That flashy man standing behind you is quite the demon, isn’t he? You’ve been fooled by the D-rank act.”
“Haha, how rude to say I’m fooling anyone. He’s just her contractor, so I have nothing to do with it. She’s not even an adventurer,” Belial replied with a smirk.
It seemed the two A-rank adventurers had realized who Belial was. He simply crossed his arms and smiled.
In the end, both teams decided to take on the request, and somehow, we were roped into it too. Given that I had defeated a Blizzard Dragon last time, Belial was fired up, declaring that this time, the dragon would be his prey.
After accepting the request at the reception desk, we all went to hear the details from the requester, who turned out to be Timo, a dwarf we had once saved from being attacked by bandits.
Timo explained the situation:
“A customer asked for armor made with dragon scales, but of course, I didn’t have any scales. The customer is a regular, so I wanted to meet their request, so I put out the job. I’ve never worked with dragon scale materials before, so I’d like to have various types if possible!”
“I see. So we can decide the type of dragon ourselves?” Ekvar confirmed.
Timo nodded, adding that he’d prefer to have extra scales in case of failure.
The dragons had been sighted in the rocky areas of the southeastern mountains.
This was in the territory of the Duchy of Fen, south of the Kingdom of Chenkaslar . The duchy was a small nation that had split from the military state of Trantinel to the south. Constantly targeted by Trantinel, they avoided unnecessary battles and left the dragons in the mountains, as they rarely descended into populated areas.
Entry to the area was officially prohibited, and it wasn’t well-known. While there were guards, they only kept an eye out for dragons, not for people entering or leaving.
Timo also declared that if we brought back plenty of materials, he’d offer discounted processing services, which made the other four adventurers delighted. When asked why I wasn’t as happy, I pointed out that scales were mostly used for physical attack-type gear. Ekvar didn’t seem too thrilled either, as he preferred lighter equipment.
Incidentally, Belial also leaned more toward the magic type.
We had one week, including travel time, to complete the job. The competition was on!
“Wait, can’t Ekvar fly?”
“…Oops, I completely forgot you all can use flight magic!”
“Then I’ll lend you my wyvern. Let’s hope it agrees to carry you.”
“A wyvern!? Awesome, that’s so cool!”
The other four set off that very day. As expected of professional adventurers, they acted quickly. Since we could use flight magic, we planned to leave the following morning.
First, Ekvar had to win the wyvern’s favor.
It allowed him to stroke its face, so there seemed to be no problem with letting him ride it. He quickly got the hang of riding it after some practice.
“But Ekvar , is it okay for you to take on such a flashy request for dragon scales?”
“Well, it’s not ideal, but… Strong monster hunts are off-limits to lower ranks, and it’s no fun otherwise. Besides, I don’t want to lose my edge.”
After circling in the air several times, Ekvar dismounted the wyvern.
The wyvern returned to its forest home for now. Since it hadn’t been summoned, it remained in this world at all times.
“This one simply wants to measure your strength and mine. Dragons are the perfect prey for that, are they not?” Belial said.
“…Well, yes, that’s part of it,” Ekvar replied with a wry smile, seemingly unnerved by how easily Belial had seen through him.
