Chapter 4 [A Witchâs Investigation ~Former Capital Apanemis Edition~]
Tet and I headed to the guild the next morning.
Other adventurers also headed to the guild to undertake requests or they went directly to enter the dungeon.
We checked the bulletin board to see what kind of requests there were in this guild, then I went to the guildâs reference room. Tet headed to the guildâs training center.
âTet is still the same as ever.â
Tetâs appearance is that of a pretty, tanned girl, but unlike her appearance, she is a master of body strengthening magic.
I ask her to restrain herself, just in case, so she doesnât get hurt, but she does not fear getting attacked because of the loyal aspect of a golem.
Adventurers who come to the training center seem baffled by Tetâs fearless counter-attacks and frightening mana-infused battlecry.
âWell then, I guess Iâll go do some research.â
I can read through most books in the guildâs reference room just by skimming through them, thanks to âSpeed Readingâ and âMemorizationâ.
After reading a book, I shut my eyes for ten seconds and compare it with the books Iâve read in the past to find any contradicting points.
Depending on the situation, there might be an error in transcription, or a difference in source material, or perhaps some other reason.
Although I didnât learn anything of particular value, I made a mental note to buy the book on the dungeonâs monsters and collectibles.
âAh, a map. I didnât know this would be in such a place.â
I found a map of the entire continent in the guildâs reference room.
The map was not to scale and only showed the borders of each country and the major cities of each country, but in the center of the map, there was a blank area bordered by several nationsâ borders.
ââ[Empty Wilderness], found it.â
As expected, although the capital had been relocated, this was still the former capital.
The places shown on the map had much older names, but the general geography should still be the same.
Finally, there was a blank area to the north of this kingdom, surrounded by several nations, and it was namedâ[Empty Wilderness].
âI see. This is the [Empty Wilderness]⊠wait, hm? This place isâŠâ
This was an inaccurate, reduced-scaled map, but no matter how you looked at it, the map showed a blank area rivaling the size of a small country.
However, what caught my eye even more isâ
âIsnât that the place where I was reincarnated?
The town named Daryl was at the northern borders of the Istchea Kingdom.
I never imagined that the place where I had been reincarnated was near the outer edge of the Empty Wildernessâthe plains near the border between the Mukhad Empire and the Istchea Kingdom, but it seems I was wrong.
âPhew, I figured out the location of the [Empty Wilderness]. However, to think it was there.â
Certainly, there were only weeds growing and slime in the area.
It truly was a wasteland with nothing of value.
Well, if the description in the travel journal I read was old, it was possible that weeds would grow there by then.
âNow that I know the location of the Empty Wilderness, the next step is the fame and riches I need to obtain the place. I want more achievements as an adventurer. As I thought, Iâll have to go to the dungeon for the time being to earn money.
While letting out a sigh, I drew a map on some paper which I created with [Creation Magic].
Then, I returned the book and picked up a new one.
Thus, after having lunch, I continued to read through everything I could lay my hands on in the reference room, then bought the dungeon monster field guild and a map of the dungeon that was available for sale at the guild.
âItâs almost evening, isnât it?â
When it hit the evening, I went to pick up Tet from the training center.
âMajo-sama! Heyyy~nanodesu!â
âTet, youâre the same as usual, arenât you?â
It seems like the stamina monster Tet had been having mock battles with adventurers from morning till dusk.
The unconscious bodies of defeated challengers were spread out on the ground.
âSo, how many groups were there this time?â
âUmm⊠three groups!â
These three groups were several adventurers who saw Tetâs appearance and ability in the mock battles and tried to solicit her to their party.
I had been doing the same thing at every guild to improve Tetâs skills and as recreation for her, but there were those who forcefully invited Tet.
It was too much trouble for me to go deal with them each time, so I let her say to them, âIf you can beat me, I can consider joining you~nanodesu!â
Generally, if you provoke those who forcibly invite you, there are many muscle-brain adventurers thatâll get on board, so Tet would defeat them and silence them.
Worst case scenario if Tet lost, Iâll go out and talk to them, but sheâs never lost before.
âI see, good work. Well thenâ<<Clean>> <Area Heal>>!â
I used my usual cleaning and healing magic on the collapsed adventurers.
âThis is my thanks for keeping company with Tetâs training. I will be in your care for a while.â
After casting the usual thank-you magic, I went back to our leased apartment and made potions until dinner.
âIâve heard that the dungeon has mana absorption traps, so I need to prepare some mana potions.â
Even if I can substitute mana with [Mana Crystals], I canât absorb magic power from [Magic Crystals] to recover mana.
If my mana is depleted due to a mana-absorbing trap, then it would be impossible to continue fighting properly due to nausea and other physical problems.
Even if the amount of mana I possess exceeds 15,000 currently, I felt it was necessary to have a method to immediately recover mana in those cases.
âIs that how it is~? Tet was able to listen to various conversations about the dungeon as well~â
On Tetâs side, it seems she became friends with the adventurers who were her mock battle partners and was able to hear about the dungeon.
Information that couldnât be found in books was valuable, but with Tetâs limited expressive ability, it was somewhat difficult to understand, so it was necessary to listen to her repeat it many times over to understand.
Well, that time was like solving a puzzle and could be considered enjoyable.