Lately, I can’t tell if I’m lucky or unlucky, but I’ve been caught up in unexpected troubles.
I’ve managed to get a decent return on my efforts, so as an adventurer, it’s not necessarily a bad thing…
Just when I thought I could take a breather after subduing a horde of dragons, my party disbanded. The former party members quit being adventurers. In their place, I collected the party’s assets.
When I helped with Nia’s escort request to kill time, it turned into a bandit hunt, and I ended up saving a noble lady. The connection with the Marquis’ daughter is significant.
When I took on a subjugation request to earn some pocket money, it turned out that the kingdom’s army was supporting the orcs. I hope that battle-axe sells for a good price. I’ve made a decent amount from gems, though.
Anyway, I want to take on a normal request. No matter how strong a warrior I am, my spirit gets worn out just the same.
While receiving thanks and a reward from the town’s representative for goblin extermination, I thought about such things.
I pride myself on being a professional, managing to hide my tired face as I dealt with them.
Let’s return to the imperial capital. I’ll take a proper rest for about a month.
Ah, that’s right, it was just the time to receive the slaves.
Both are still young, but they have good faces. They will become beauties.
They’re not ready to be night companions yet, but maybe I’ll have them give me a massage.
Finally, I return to the imperial capital by carriage.
From the gatekeeper to the residents of the imperial capital, everyone stares at me, wondering what’s going on as I carry a huge battle-axe, but once they realize it’s me, they stop looking worried.
Being famous has its big advantages at times like these.
I shove the spoils of war, including the battle-axe, into the warehouse I have a contract with, and then I head home.
The arranged service provider seems to have finished their work, and the furniture is placed as planned.
This should be good enough to welcome the slaves.
I write a letter to the princess. This one definitely needs to be sent through a special route that doesn’t go through inspections.
For now, I’ll heat up the bath. Once I activate the fire and water magic stones, the rest fills up on its own.
By the way, I wonder if the two slaves have any magical power. I need to check.
I made this house convenient, but that’s because it’s assisted by magic.
If the slaves don’t have magical power, I’ll need to replenish it regularly.
What a hassle. In the worst case, I’ll have to buy another slave with magical power or make a contract with a replenisher.
I take off my armor in the preparation room, wash off the dirt with hot water, and let it dry in the shade. Once it’s dry, I’ll apply some oil. The fire sword isn’t dirty except for the handle. The high temperature means that any dirt burns off and falls away.
I clean the handle thoroughly.
For an adventurer, equipment is like a second body.
The better the equipment, the higher the value of that adventurer.
Sure, I’m strong even unarmed, but could I defeat that orc lord unarmed? That’s impossible.
Even if I hit him, his muscles would block me, and even if I got through that, his high regenerative ability would nullify it.
Without armor, even a scratch could be fatal.
A novice decked out in high-end gear is weak.
But a strong person without equipment is also weak.
That’s why top adventurers take good care of their equipment and gather the best.
If you skimp here, you can’t stay at the top.
Occasionally, there are talented people who don’t grow.
Some of them, annoyingly, have the talent to surpass me, like some kind of stupid beast…
But those guys usually haven’t spent much on equipment.
It seems they think they can put off getting good equipment because they have talent.
But that’s not the case. If you have talent, you need to prepare the best tools to grow.
To be honest, until I got my hands on the fire sword, I was just an ordinary warrior.
With a blunt sword, you can’t hunt monsters very well. That’s not something you can cover with swordsmanship alone.
And the weapon that pushed me to the strongest was this heavenly sword.
In the strongest party of the empire I belonged to, Kasgar, if asked what was the greatest achievement, it would be the event when I obtained this heavenly sword.
More so than subduing a horde of dragons.
That day when the world turned blue. I still remember it and get chills.
It wasn’t a fight to the death, but rather a situation where I had to do something or die, and I ended up fighting an angel.
The heavenly sword trembles. A contracted angel sleeps within this sword.
The things a sword with the power of an angel can do are beyond human capabilities.
Even I can’t handle it easily.
As I think about such things and move my hands, the maintenance is finished.
Now, shall I take a bath?
I clean my body and stretch out in the bathtub. It’s quite spacious, so two more people could fit.
Baths are good. Even when I stayed at inns, I went to public baths every day to bathe.
After warming up properly in the bath, I finally get to take a breather.
As usual for the adventurer’s life, the dirty part of the tough, dirty, dangerous trio is really annoying.
Now, should I go to Kargan & Co. to pick up the slaves?
I could have had them delivered, but since the girl has nothing she needs for living, I’ll have to go shopping after receiving the slaves.
No good, I was supposed to relax, but it looks like it’s going to take some effort.
I hope the slaves are worth it.
