âSo this is the Verulean Adventurerâs Guild. Itâs not as large as Doranâs but itâs still fairly big, na,â
The City of Verulean itself was not as large as a dungeon city, but it still beats Claire and Neihoff in terms of size. [1] Since itâs a port city, the population should be quite high too.
Alright, letâs go in. [2] Itâs noon now, so there were not many people around. Adventurerâs Guilds are usually busiest during the early mornings and evenings, so it was pretty quiet at the moment.
[3] I like coming to the Guild during this time since I could go right up to the reception desk without having to line up or be stared at by other Adventurers. I smiled at the receptionist and whipped out my guild card, âExcuse me, my name is Mukouda. Perhaps you have received some word about me from NeihoffâŠâ
The receptionist accepted my card with an, âA moment, please,â before leaving her seat. This is also why I prefer to come when there is nobody around, it would be so awkward otherwise to have people waiting behind meâŠ
I did not have to wait long. Soon, a large muscular man in his mid-40s strode out. He was completely bald with a pirate-ish eyepatch over one eye. [3] Woah, did that guy used to be a pirate?
Um⊠he looked even bigger up close. My guess is heâs about 190cm tall.
âOu! Youâre finally here, na. I am Marks, the Guild Master of the Verulean Adventurerâs Guild. I have received a message from old man Yoran about you. We have very little time to waste, so please come this way.â
We followed Marks-san to his room on the second floor. Thus far, every Guild Masterâs room appeared to be located on the second floor. [4]
âPlease, take a seat,â he said, waving at a chair that looked like it was wide enough for two people, or one very big person.
âSo,â he said, leaning forward on his desk. âIâve heard a lot of stories about you. A Fenrir as a familiar and a Pixie Dragon as well, eh? I didnât even know that such a dragon exists until someone told me about you. Gahahahahaha!â [4]
Ahahaha. âYes, Pixie Dragons appear to be a rare type of dragon species. I also have a Slime as my familiar.â Naturally, I cannot allow people to disregard my lovely Sui.
Marks-san nodded at Sui, who popped out from her usual place in my leather bag, [5] âAh yes, your slime is quite the special one.â
âAnyway, back to the topic. Youâre saying that you have some time-sensitive, high-level mission for us?â
âOh yes,â Marks-san became serious again. âWe have a good number of Adventurers here so we donât usually have that many high-level mission requests backed up. However, about three days ago, a Kraken appeared just off the coast of this port. [6] The fishermen spotted it and managed to escape after throwing a net full of fish at it. Unfortunately, the beast is still there. The fishermen canât go out to the sea and itâs only a matter of time before it moves closer to the port for easy preyâŠâ
A Kraken?
Fer, who had been snoozing behind the chair, suddenly perked up. He trotted around the chair and sat next to me, ears and tail alert.
âTo be honest, the fishermen have been busting down my doors about getting rid of that Kraken,â said Marks-san with a groan. âIâm actually more troubled by them than the KrakenâŠâ
From what Iâve heard, the fishermen of Verulean were a tough lot. [2][6] I imagined a bunch of strong, tanned guys looking a lot like the casts of Pirates of the C coming in to yell at the Guild MasterâŠ
âI do have a B Rank Adventurer party in town. Theyâre interested in taking on the quest, but the fact that the monster is in the sea upped the difficulty level so much that they ended up declining the request. A similarly ranked land monster would pose less trouble⊠So, will you take on this request?â
Well, we did kind of specifically come here to see if we can track down a Kraken, soâŠ
âUmu, no problem. Krakens are delicious,â Fer replied before I could say anything.
âWhat he said,â I chimed up.
Ahaha, I could see Marks-sanâs face stiffened.
âO-oi, Krakens can be eaten?â
âCanât they?â [7]
We both looked at Fer and he licked his lips, âYes, they are quite delicious.â [7]
Marks-san looked a little uncomfortable. I have no problem thinking about Kraken as food since itâs basically a giant octopus. [6] It had been more challenging for me to think of the Black Serpent as food since Japanese donât usually eat snakes. Also, sentient-ish creatures like Orcs. However, I do understand that some countries did not see squids and octopuses as food due to their weird appearances.
âI-Is that so? Iâve never heard of anyone eating Kraken beforeâŠÂ M- maa, the important thing here is the quest.â [8]
âUmu, weâre good.â Well, at least Fer looked excited at the idea of taking on a Kraken.
[9] Heâs not the only one, Marks-san was beaming. [6] Clearly, he was happy that he did not have to face those angry pirate fishermen with a negative answer anymore. He leaned back in his chair and said interestedly, âBy the way, I heard you cleared the Doran Dungeon?â
âAh, yes, we did.â To think that even a faraway city like Verulean would have heard about that⊠Well, heâs the Guild Master and they do have ways to communicate with each other.
âI see, I see. Well, I shall be frank, I want to know if you still have any dungeon items with you.â [7] [7] âEh?â
[7] âBasically, itâs like this. Verulean has a lot going for it, but the one thing we donât have is a dungeon. This means we have very little access to dungeon items. If possible Iâd like to purchase any dungeon items you are willing to sell.â
Well, this is certainly unexpected.
âIâd be happy to sell to you,â I said cautiously. âBut Iâll have to take an inventory of my items first. I canât recall what I have at hand at the moment.â
âAah, but of course.â
âAnyway, since the Kraken subjugation quest is time-sensitive, how about we talk about the dungeon items later.â
âOu, I shall count on you then.â
[7] âOh yes, one other thing. May I know where the Merchant Guild is?â
âWhat? Why would you want to know about that?â
Oops, [6] is Marks-san probably thinking that I might be selling my dungeon items to them instead? Better curb that thought now.
[7] âI wish to consult them about renting a temporary house here. An inn is not suitable for me or my familiars. Iâm sure you understand.â I smiled, indicating Fer and Dora-chan.
âI seeâŠâ
Potential trouble averted, Marks-san wrote a letter of introduction for me, just at Yoran-san did back at Neihoff. Once I have the letter in hand, I made my way to the Verulean Merchantâs Guild.
[Gumihou: A fairly short, but interesting chapter. I wonder how theyâre going to take down the Kraken]
[1] Structural Change: Combine 2 paragraphs
[2] Structural Change: Combine 3 paragraphs
[3] Added Details for Texture: Give Mukouda-san some personal preferences for character development
[4] Deleted Some Inane Information: Like you already climbed to the second floor, thereâs no need for you to mention that even the Veruleanâs Guild Master is on the second floor, like, whatever.
[5] Adjusted Details: Switched passive sentence to dialogue tag.
[6] Added Details for Texture: Throw in some mildly interesting info to make the incident more exciting.
[7] Structural Change: Passive to dialogue
[8] Changed sentence location: Deleted repetitive information and rearranged some sentences.
[9] Deleted Inane Dialogue: You accept request? > Yeah. > Good. > Awesome. > Thank you