Chapter 521: What a Commercial Fleet Is

After we left Rhyn’s stall, we were on our way to the adventurer’s guild. But on the way, I was still worried about that girl with the eye patch.

『I wonder if she knew I used appraisal on her?』

「Rhyn?」

『Yeah』

I thought I was mistaken, but something was still bugging me.

「She’s amazing then」

In the first place, our training in the plains had strengthened our stealth and concealment abilities considerably. We have also been able to suppress any hint of our use of Appraisal more than before.

I’m so confident that if our opponent didn’t have a high-level Appraisal Skill, they wouldn’t be able to detect it.

Even Amanda had to concentrate very hard to notice it after all. And even if she did notice, it was only to the extent of giving her an uncomfortable feeling like “Did look at me?”.

From what I could tell, Rhyn wasn’t very strong. Even though her senses were sharpened, her movements were only amateurish, and her magic power was low. If she was an adventurer, she must have been a ranked F or E

To be frank, I hadn’t expected to be noticed. In fact, she didn’t have any skills that would allow her to notice appraisals perfectly, and her status would not allow her to somehow notice them through intuition or feeling like a strong person.

That’s was supposed to be though, but――

『…This is just making me lose my confidence』

Appraisal was a very useful skill. It was necessary to train daily to use it quietly when the time comes.

I’ve practiced a lot against the magic beasts on the plains. And I’ve become proficient to the point that they can hardly detect the presence of my appraisal even against those with high sensing abilities. And I was now in the middle of practicing it on humans.

However, I wouldn’t use it on a King or a Guild Master. The only people I will use it to are ordinary people in town or travelers passing by on the road, who are unlikely to notice my appraisal.

No, there is still a small chance that they will notice. There’s even a chance that they might have the Appraisal Perception skill by accident. But if I said that, I wouldn’t be able to use my Appraisal skill out of fear.

But it would be foolish to seal off this skill because of the fear of being caught using Appraisal and then fail when the time comes. That would be just plain stupid.

There is no such thing as failure when it comes to just activating Appraisal. However, using it in conjunction with the Stealth skill to suppress the presence when the skill was activated requires a certain amount of practice.

This was a world with a game-like system, but it doesn’t work the same for everyone, but the more you train, the better you get.

Appraisal too, you have to use it to get better at it.

It’s not that I forgot what Diaz said, okay? It’s just that he warned me that if I used appraisal on royalty, I might be guilty of disrespect. He didn’t tell me not to use appraisal. Rather, he advised me to use it well.

I was going to follow that advice and use the appraisal on the easiest no-risk opponent possible to practice on.

I’m still worried about Rhyn. I think I’ll refrain from practicing appraisal on humans for a while.

As I was thinking about this, I quickly saw the sign for the Adventurer’s Guild.

「Excuse me―」

「Yes, welcome to the Adventurer’s Guild!」

When we entered the guild in Kiarazen, the receptionist greeted us with a smile.

「Are you―…going to take a request?」

「I came to see the requests」

「I see, you’re an adventurer huh? Are you alone?」

「Nn」

「Huh? But that’s strange」

「About what?」

「You didn’t just stick with the commercial fleet, did you?」

「Commercial fleet?」

「You don’t know? Maybe, you were born in a foreign country huh?」

「Nn」

「I see. The commercial fleet is――」

The Onee-san then explained it to us. The commercial fleet was a large fleet of ships that traveled around Lake Vivian. Aah, Lake Vivian is that huge lake from before.

There were several large towns and cities on the shores of the lake, which was larger than a small country, and the fleet was said to be making regular trips to these places.

Their work was diverse, ranging from trading to buying and selling local products. They provide transportation for adventurers and travelers. Fishing and purchasing materials in the dangerous central area of the lake. They also provide entertainment such as circuses and minstrels and even regular checkups by doctors.

「I can get that much on ship?」

「It’s not on one ship. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be called a fleet, would it?」

「Then, there’s a lot of ships?」

「Yes, a lot. I don’t know the exact number, but there were more than 10 large ships. I think there are also more than 50 small and medium-sized ships」

「Hoo―」

That’s great. There are probably more people there than in a small village.

「They’ve been around this lake for hundreds of years, you know?」

「Hee―. Who started it?」

「 Something is interesting about it. I don’t know if it’s a lie or not, but this Lake Vivian used to be a sea」

「The sea turned into a lake?」

「The story goes that this was originally a small lake and that the lake and the sea combined to form a large lake. Lake Vivian was named after that small lake」

「What do you mean?」

「Hmmm. I don’t know the details, but it seems that the lake and the sea were connected by a natural disaster, and then a part of the ground rose and separated this part from the sea, forming the lake as we know it today. The merchant of the fleet said that the commercial fleet began when the trading ships that were left behind on the lakeside gathered together to protect themselves from monsters」

「Are they staying in the lake forever?」

「I mean, they can’t just leave a ship like that behind, right? It wouldn’t be strange if they just stayed there right?」

A ship was an expensive thing, so it was a valuable asset. If it was a trading ship that could sail the open sea, it was much more expensive than the cargo it carries. I don’t know whether the captains of the trading ships were the owners or hired hands, but they probably didn’t have the option of leaving the ships behind and returning to their countries.

But to live, they had to work. I don’t know if they had enough conscience not to become lake bandits, or if they couldn’t make a living as bandits because of the lack of prey, but they considered lake villages as ports and started trading.

Well, they must have thought of various ways to earn money, since they would not be able to earn enough money just by visiting the lakeside villages. They must have thought of: transportation, fishing, escorting, entertainment, and trade. As a result, it would not be surprising if it became what was now called a commercial fleet.

「So, the commercial fleet is full of adventurers who are just starting in this area. They have safe jobs like carrying cargo, and they can watch and learn from the work of the senior adventurers」

It is said that it is common practice for adventurers around this lake to first train in the commercial fleet.

「So there are quite a few adventurers of your age in the commercial fleet, you know?」

「Hee」

It might be unusual to find a place with so many child adventurers. However, if there was little danger to their lives and they could receive guidance from senior adventurers, it might not be a bad place to work.

「The fleet will welcome you with open arms」

「Is that so?」

「If you ingratiate yourself with them at the beginning, you could become a good customer for the commercial fleet when you grow up. If you grow strong enough, you can be hired as an escort. They have a great advantage of having the support of adventurers after all」

It was like a big business moving on the lake. I’d like to see it once, whether we ride it or not, and it seems that Fran felt the same way.

「That commercial fleet. Where can I find them?」

「Oh my, are you interested?」

「Nn」

「Let see… I think the main force is in the east this time of year. I don’t know exactly where they are though. But the squadrons, which are small ships that go around the villages, come at least once a week」

「Okay」

This town is located just south of the lake. East of here is also in the direction of the Academy of Magic we’re heading to.

The Academy of Magic was still quite far from the lake, but I heard that the self-governing territory around it also borders the lake. This might give us a chance to see a large fleet of ships first.

「Hey, did you come from the Kranzel Kingdom by yourself?」

「Nn. But how did you know I’m from Kranzel?」

「Well, that’s because there are no adventurers in Raidos. If that were the case, the only foreign adventurers that would come to this area would be from the Kranzel Kingdom」

「I see」

「It’s the first time I’ve seen a girl your age come alone, but I think it’s good to be part of a commercial fleet. After a year you’ll be able to become a full-fledged adventurer」

「Nn? I don’t really want to stay there though」

「Huh? Didn’t you said you’re interested before?」

「I just want to see it」

「Aah, I see. But it’s not life-threatening, and I’d definitely recommend it. There’s also a branch of the guild in the commercial fleet, so you can still rank up in there」

A guild branch in a ship? That was amazing. Not only was it a large moving merchant company, but apparently it seemed to be a moving town.

「Even a kid with G or F-rank can hopefully rank up one rank in a year. We’ve accumulated the know-how to nurture the adventurers, so they can grow safely」

So, you’re saying that they’re going to assign us a job to train adventurers? That might indeed be a good system. They might be tied to the commercial fleet, but if they’re going to be working in this kind of work, that connection is rather a plus.

「I’ve also heard that when someone becomes a high-ranked adventurer and has had enough of working in there, they often leave the ship」

「But I’m fine」

「Huh? But why?」

「This」

Fran shows her guild card to the Onee-san, who clearly thought that Fran was just starting.

「…? The usual black card color is…」

G & F-ranked adventurer cards are copper, E & D cards are black, and C & B cards are silver. Apparently, this guild only had adventurers of rank D or lower, and they were not used to seeing Fran’s B-ranked adventurer card.

「Eeeeh? I-it’s real? It’s real, isn’t it? Y-yeah, it’s the real thing! It’s real!」

「So noisy」

As soon as she finally realized that this was the real thing, the Onee-san screamed out. Immediately after, she went upright.

「I-I-I apologize for my attitude from before! I’ve been talking down of you!」

「Nn?」

「I-I’m so sorry!」

She seemed to be terrified of her. It was the first time that she had been reacted to so intensely before she had even shown her ability.

「A, awawawa…」

She was obviously flustered. And it seems she won’t be able to listen to us properly for the time being.

「…?」