Chapter 30 – An important talk
“You said you wanted to meet us. What was the reason for that?”
“I was simply curious about you as an adventurer myself. Also…. well it’s not something I would like to speak out loud about here. We haven’t had lunch yet, would you two care to accompany us?”
“We don’t really mind, I guess….”
I answered Kalos after checking with Luce with a glance.
After that, we were brought by Kalos to an inn.
It was apparently an establishment that Kalos frequently visited, so we were led to a back room.
“Teacher, were you really that interested in these guys? ….well, their abilities are something I can acknowledge at least.”
Hilde said in an annoyed tone.
For some reason, Hilde ended up coming with us too.
“….so, what is that you don’t want to talk about at the Guild?”
“It appears that recently a number of monster calamities appeared one after the other near La Colina. Monsters would Evolve without apparent cause or overflow from still fresh Dungeons…. This might not seem that strange to you, but it’s something highly out of the ordinary. To find out if it was indeed just a coincidence, or all that really happened for a reason, I was investigating the Dungeons near La Colina by myself.”
Suddenly a topic that was much more important than I expected came up.
We experienced the Evolution of a monster into a Death Armed that shouldn’t have been possible, which we then reported to this City’s Guild.
It seems that Kalos, an A rank adventurer, had the same suspicion as me, and he already started to investigate the Dungeons by himself.
“The adventurers’ guild also found a new piece of information about it recently. It seems fairly certain that something big is about to happen.”
“Was that…..perhaps, about the Centipede Pit…..?”
“Ohh, you knew about it? It seems excellent adventurers have sharp ears.”
It was about the Death Armed after all.
“My original reason for returning to La Colina was because I’ve heard a rumor about some irregularities happening to the Dungeons around here. I’ve spent the last two weeks investigating by myself, but then I failed to clear a certain Dungeon.”
“Failed to clear? An A rank adventurer like you….?”
Within a specific area, the level of Dungeons that appear is limited to a certain range.
A Dungeon with high enough difficulty that an A rank adventurer would give up on clearing it shouldn’t be appearing near La Colina.
If Dungeons with a difficulty like that could keep appearing one after the other, then the city near those would be in danger of getting annihilated.
“A Monster Pool happened. That’s not something you can clear with a solo party. I already asked the Guild to call for a Raid Quest. The leader of that Raid will be me.”
A Monster Pool…..one of the common monster calamities.
It’s where monsters appear in numbers that’s usually impossible in normal Dungeons.
It’s a monster calamity that people feared even in Magic World.
If you failed to notice it in time, it could easily led to you getting cornered with no way out but to take the death penalty, even in Dungeons with Recommended Levels near yours.
However, as expected of an A rank adventurer.
He has quite a bit of influence with the Guild.
Kalos said that he just proposed it not long ago, but he spoke like he was already certain that a Raid Quest would be issued.
I guess it should be expected that instead of the Guild officials, an A rank adventurer who spends most of his time on the front lines would have more information and be more knowledgeable about things.
The Guild must know that too, that’s why they pay extra attention to whatever an A rank adventurer says.
“If it was a simple Monster Pool, then there wouldn’t be much cause to hurry like this, but the worrying part is that the Dungeon is still new, which means the requirements for a Monster Pool to occur shouldn’t have been met. That Dungeon is deep in the forest, hidden among cliffs, so there shouldn’t have been too many adventurers that decided to visit it just yet. If we keep leaving it for later the situation might worsen even further. I thought that putting together an early response force with a Raid Quest would be the best, not just to investigate, but in preparation for a worst case scenario too.”
I had an ominous feeling as I listened.
It seems the Death Armed was not an isolated incident after all.
There must be something around La Colina that causes monster calamities to happen somehow.
This was one of the possibilities I had in mind from the start and even the Guild Leader, Hallein seems to be of the same opinion, but….
I hope it’s just La Colina that this is happening to.
“….should the frequency of such monster calamities appearing like this increase world-wide in the future….the living sphere of humanity would greatly decrease in size.”
This is a hell of a situation, that’s for sure.
I was wary about what happened with the Death Armed, but the situation might be a lot more terrifying than I thought.
Hearing my words, Luce leaned back from shock.
“T-that’s obviously going too far, Elma-san. Something so….grandiose like the living sphere of humanity shrinking….”
“At least the Lord of this territory and I don’t think so. We are of the same opinion as Elma here.”
Luce went pale in an instant from Kalos’s words.
Still, I have no idea what could be causing all that.
I have no recollection of any events from Magic World that would correspond to monster calamities appearing in such frequency.
“Ah, we went a bit off topic there…. The reason why I told you two about this was to recruit you for the upcoming Raid Quest. The Dungeon where the Monster Pool happened and I retreated from is called…. the Graveyard of Sorrows. I would like you two to lend me your strengths with investigating the place. I can promise that the rewards will be well worth it.”
The Graveyard of Sorrows….an undead type, of all things.
If this turns into a big incident that manages to drag the city in, it might really turn into a worst case scenario.
“Although….I’m not entirely sure that the amount of rewards the adventurers’ guild here could come up with would be able to satisfy the two who managed to trick Hilde here out of 50 million gold.”
Kalos said with a chuckle.
Hilde grimaced and shifted her gaze down, looking uncomfortable.
“What should we do, Elma-san?”
“Normally, we could just refuse, but…..there are a number of worrying factors.”
An A rank adventurer would be with us.
It would be Hilde’s Magic Swordsman teacher, who managed to properly instill in her when to pull back.
He shouldn’t be doing anything reckless.
However, I still had a bad feeling about this whole thing.
“…..even so, I think I still would like to accompany you.”
If there is really something troublesome that’s about to occur to the world….then I’m probably the only one, with my memories of playing Magic World to hell and back, that could stop it.
I’m confident in that.
If I were to distance myself from the problem and then something really happened, the situation might’ve already devolved to the point where nothing can be done anymore.
“If Elma-san thinks that’s the best course of action, then I of course will participate as well!”
“Thank you both. I will be meeting with the Marquis, Lord Howlod tomorrow. We should talk more about the details after that.”
Kalos had a relieved smile on his face.
“If it’s Teacher’s request, then I will take part too, of course. It’s been a while since I fought on Teacher’s side.”
“…..you don’t need to force yourself to come though, Hilde.”
“Teacher!? I-I’m a B rank adventurer already! There shouldn’t be a reason to keep me from…..!”
“A sense of caution is the most important for the Raid Quest this time. If someone were to just rush ahead, it might turn into a disaster. The best way to deal with a Monster Pool is excellent teamwork, you see…..”
…..he probably means that it’s her personality and not strength that doesn’t match the requirements.
As expected from her Teacher, he knows Hilde very well.
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I’d say, 50-50 odds that this Kalos guy ends up being the/a mastermind behind these events.
What an incredibly suspicious guy. The fact that he has an incredibly dumb student only cements it. He showed up and completely believed them? Then he says he has asked the guild to be a raid leader to quell the dungeons, all not in the presence of the guild staff. Being the head of a raid party would be an easy way to get a bunch of adventures killed in a dungeon. There is no way he isn’t the guy who has started it all. He even implied his student shouldn’t go, she invited herself to the meal.