By the time we finally arrived at Grinansen, the sun was beginning to set.
There were a few people lined up at the gate. When it was our turn, I showed my commercial guild card, while everyone else presented their adventurer guild cards, and the gatekeeper confirmed them.
“Wow! Two A-rank adventurers, two B-rank adventurers, a D-rank and a demon, and… hmm, an advanced magical item craftsman from Chenkaslar ? You’re all quite impressive for your age!”
“Eh! You’re an item craftsman…?!”
“Not a mage or something?!”
The four adventurers with me were all surprised. Now that I think about it, I hadn’t mentioned it.
“You didn’t know and still traveled with me?”
The gatekeeper chuckled.
Since I had a contract with Belial, we were able to enter the town without any issues. The town had cobblestone streets, with pretty buildings lined up and colorful roofs that looked quite charming.
As expected from high-ranking adventurers, the inn we stayed at was quite luxurious. Apparently, they had been staying there since yesterday, and the room was changed to one that could accommodate three people, with their luggage moved over. We wanted to chat, so it worked out perfectly.
The three women shared one room, the three men another, and Belial had his own room. He gets upset if he’s not in a single room; apparently, he dislikes having anyone else in the room when sleeping.
The room was spacious, divided into two sections, with a separate bedroom and a bathroom. The main room had a sofa set, a desk, and a place to store luggage. The little decorative items were all quite cute. From the window, which had curtains just slightly parted, you could see the full moon floating in the darkening sky.
I hung my robe in the closet and sank into the sofa, sipping the drink that had been prepared on the table.
“It’s so relaxing…”
“Wait a minute! Iriya , your coat!! This is an incredible robe. You’re definitely a mage, right?”
It was Yvette, with short black hair. I guess when you’re an A-rank like her, a magic swordsman, you can tell right away when you see someone’s gear.
A “mage” is kind of like a higher rank of magic user. There used to be clear standards, but they’ve become a bit more vague now.
“Hmm… for now, I’m definitely a magical item craftsman.”
“For now, huh…”
Lucia, the magic user with reddish-brown hair, gave a dry laugh. After taking off her robe, she was dressed lightly in a black tank top and a skirt that went down to her knees. She took a cardigan from her luggage and put it on.
“You used the ointment I made, didn’t you?”
“Eh, you made that!? Liet was saying there was no pain left, and no bruises or anything—she was impressed.”
“Really? Can I buy more of it?”
Yvette came over with a serious look in her eyes.
“Sorry, I only have what I brought with me. The ingredients are hard to find. If you want something weaker, I can give you that.”
I said, and took out the ointment that had pain-relieving effects and could also be used for bruises.
The ointment I used earlier was Amrita Ointment. It’s a top-tier recovery item that’s also hard to gather ingredients for. Since I could be with a test subject, I decided to try it, and as expected, those minor injuries healed in no time. Bruises don’t heal well with potions. Potions work best for cuts.
Both of them were hesitant to accept it for free, but I really just enjoy making it. I asked for just the material costs and promised them I’d treat them to dinner, giving them two pieces each.
For dinner, we went to a restaurant near the inn.
Yvette was ordering from the menu, picking some grilled meats with a sweet and savory glaze, fried chicken, and a vegetable salad to put in the center of the table for everyone to share.
There was a selection of breads in a basket, and we could choose from three types of jam to use with them.
Everyone ate a lot of meat, which surprised Lucia and me a bit.
“Meals are usually served one per person, so this style is a bit strange, but it’s fun. I like this kind of meal.”
I took some bread, put it on a small plate, and scooped up some berry jam. The vegetable soup was delicious, too.
“…They’re so refined, those three. Are they from noble or rich families?”
Yvette spoke while stuffing her mouth. She wasn’t particularly good at the etiquette lessons that are required of B-rank adventurers.
“Well, I suppose it’s just a matter of getting used to it,” Ekvar chuckled lightly. He was probably the only noble among the human members.
“I’m bad with manners too…”
“Me too.”
“Same here.”
Castais, Lucia, and Liet also agreed. I understand; I had trouble with it too. Many adventurers struggle with this. It’s difficult to suddenly be expected to act like a noble.
“By the way, that technique you used to finish off the Yormungand—what was that?!”
Castais asked, trying to suppress his excitement. He must have been really curious about that power.
“…What was it again?”
Belial tried to avoid answering. He’s being a bit mischievous.
“That was a spell where you place fire at equal intervals to activate the formula, channel magic through it to connect the circuits, set the range, and create magma-like hellfire all at once. The incantation is…”
“Wait! I’ll explain, don’t teach the incantation! And how do you know it, did you hear it?!”
Oh, he panicked. He probably wanted to explain it proudly, but the words were supposed to be a secret. After all, even if he said them, no one else could activate it unless they were the one who set it up.
“No, I judged it from the spell formula and just wanted to confirm…”
“Not happening!!!”
Everyone was watching us, laughing, but Ekvar looked serious.
“…You’re a troublesome little girl. Well, mostly, what he said was right. You can’t specify a very wide range, and if the target moves out of range, you’ll have to redo it, which is a downside.”
The conversation then shifted to discussing dragons and magic.
I thought they would head back after getting the scales of the high-level dark-element dragon Yormungand, but it seems they planned to go dragon hunting again tomorrow. We talked about continuing the battle and returned to the inn.
By the way, all three pairs in this group are made up of men and women. However, none of them are lovers. Yvette seems to like Castais and is troubled by her lack of femininity.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t help her with that. It’s a more difficult issue than making elixirs.
It was still too early to go to bed. We sat on the sofa in our room, prepared our drinks, and started chatting.
“Iriya , you’re so lucky, you’re so feminine.”
“Not really. I’m not good at cooking or housework, though I can clean, at least.”
“I thought you could cook. It’s unexpected.”
Lucia seemed to think I was good at all housework. In reality, I bought a house but hardly do anything there…
“If I were to cook, it’d be like making items or researching magic. Doing housework feels like wasting time.”
“…I see, you’d have to sacrifice that much to do something at that level.”
Yvette nodded in agreement. It felt a bit awkward being so understood…
Lucia is good at both sewing and cooking. Yvette can cook too, but mostly the kind of food you eat while camping. That gives me an idea of what kind of lifestyle they have.
“By the way, that Ekvar guy, isn’t he a bit off? He was smiling and saying how fun it was while fighting Yormungand.”
“That’s pretty disturbing…”
When we were fighting Yormungand, Yvette had gone close to help Ekvar .
Yvette was drinking beer, and Lucia was drinking cocoa.
“Is that so? Lord Belial seems to enjoy hunting dragons too, so it doesn’t feel strange to me.”
“You all have a warped sense of things.”
“Am I included in that?!” Yvette’s gaze turned cold!
“That’s not true! I don’t enjoy dragons that can’t be used for medicinal materials!”
“You’d enjoy it if they could, right?”
Lucia, don’t sigh like that!
I needed to change the topic… Topic… I took a sip of my herbal tea and thought.
“By the way! What are the local specialties around here? It’s my first time here, so I don’t know anything.”
Both of them gave me a skeptical look, but for some reason, they both laughed and answered at the same time.
“You’re probably looking for something that can be used in medicine, right? In that case, you’d probably want Gawkelena berries.”
Lucia answered. Gawkelena!! I really want those!
They’re needed for making high-level mana potions. I was thinking of making do with substitutes for high-level ones, but if they have them, I’d love to get some!
Yvette gave me more details.
“They sell them in a town a little further south. The gathering spots are controlled by the country, and only B-rank adventurers or higher who are contracted with the knights or the country can gather them. The export of these is a national policy, so they’re tightly controlled.”
It seems that they’re an important trading item in this country and hard to find around here. There might be restrictions on purchasing them… I’ll ask when I go to buy them.
We continued our fun chat, and even after turning off the lights in bed, we were still awake.
Tomorrow, we plan to head to the rocky mountain where the dragons live.
I hope we can meet a high-level dragon and get a Dragon Tiaras this time.
