Chapter 203: Verulean Adventurerâs Guild
Translated by Zzonkedd
Edited by Gumihou
Happy Chinese New Year to all my lovely readers!
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 Neihoff...â
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 me...
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 prey...â
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 Kraken...â
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 Master...
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, so...
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 before... 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 see...â
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