Chapter 82: Chapter 76 – Return to the Knossos Guild

I was still fuzzy on the details, but for some reason this dragonkin wanted to become my subordinate.

Or rather, he made himself just that, regardless of what I had to say about it. No matter how much I tried to stop him, he refused to let it go. Claret and Alicia weren't much help either. Claret saw this as entirely a good thing and welcomed the idea of me having people who would use their life to protect mine.

Alicia on the other hand just thought that it was nice for us to be a bigger group, and this Magni guy was strong enough to follow me around.

Though that was the first thing that I forbade. At least in the short term.

Giving up on the idea of trying to get him to take back his pledge of loyalty, to think that the one line he said was considered a pledge, I had him stand by at the Brokecleft Mountain Range. Both Claret and Magni thought that it was a bad idea for him to enter Knossos city when he didn't have any invisibility skills or magic.

Of course, having him leave immediately after pledging his loyalty didn't sit well with him, so I had to promise that I would go pick him up on my way home once I finished some business in the area. Frankly, I was just pushing back the issue, but the fact that I wanted to at least give finding clues to giving Alicia a new body one more shot before I had to resort to independent research.

I couldn't see such a thing going well, so even if I became the world's foremost expert on the subject of creating a new body, I wasn't sure how long such research would take when I was spending most of my time hiding from hitmen sent by those god-like beings.

After promising to rendezvous with Magni in a few weeks and seriously pressing on the matter that he lay low and do his best not to be spotted while he waited for me, we parted ways and I moved to return to Knossis.

Spreading out my wings again, with a great flap my body lifted up into the air like a rocket. Claret held on tight to my neck as she dangled like a cape on my back.

As I reached the apex of my flight, the oppressive brightness of the sun spread out from the horizon and engulfed my body. Pulling down my hood as far as I could, I flipped my body into a shallow dive to temporarily escape from the sun's assault on my senses.

With a final flap of my wings, I transitioned into a glide and we made our way back to the city at a pace slow enough that the little fluffballs can keep up with while keeping myself invisible thanks to [Spirit Form].

It didn't take long before the city's gates were in sight. At least, on the occasion when I mustered enough courage to peek from under my hood. The fact that I've managed to burn my chin a few times as my hood flapped around while I peeked didn't help matters in the slightest.

As I idly wondered if it was possible to get my hands on vampire grade suntan lotion or something else that would protect me from casual sunlight exposure, we touched down on the ground and I quickly moved out of sight from the gates.

The moment I disengaged [Spirit Form], I got out from a particularly tall patch of grass and made way to the road on foot before making the rest of the way to the city.

Very soon I had arrived in the city's Adventurers' Guild.

The inside the building was a loud cacophony of people going about their business. From checking the requests wall to waiting in line for a receptionist, to sitting around at one of the tables waiting for one thing or another.

Since all needed I to do was report on the request I already had, so I simply went straight to one of the lines for a receptionist. All the lines here were long, but most likely it was because the guild had only just opened and everyone wanted to get set up and go on their requests for the day.

"Welcome to the Knossos Adventurers' Guild. How may I help you?"

The man behind the counter was relatively young looking, but half of the glove he was wearing on his right hand looked stiff and flopped casually as he moved his arms. My guess was that he was missing everything had his thumb and index finger on his right hand.

"Ah, I need to talk to the guild master regarding something he requested. Here's my guild card."

I presented the little metal business card.

"Miss Scarlet? I understand. Please wait a moment and I will go confirm the details."

With that, the receptionist took my card and disappeared through a door behind him.

After only a short wait, though one long enough that the people behind me started to grumble, the receptionist appeared once again, this time together with the assistant guild master.

While it was difficult to tell since it was the standard guild uniform, but it felt like her outfit looked a bit more worn than it did yesterday. There were some dark circles under her eyes and her hair wasn't as well kept as it was the day before.

I wondered if she had just pulled an all-nighter or something.

(Now that I think about it, she looked pretty tired yesterday as well.)

"Miss Scarlet, it's good to see you in good health. The guild master is currently indisposed, so I will take any inquiries on his behalf. Is that acceptable?"

I nodded. Though I felt bad for giving even more work to someone who was visibly overworked, frankly, it was easier dealing with her rather than that muscle head. Though rather than a brain made of muscle, her brain worked so well it was scary. Just because it was easier to get things done with her didn't mean that I wouldn't lose out in the long run with her instead. But it was a risk I was willing to take as I couldn't even imagine what sort of negative consequence such a short interaction could have.

Well, I did just end up hoping that it wouldn't bite me in the ass in the future though.

"In that case, allow me to take you in a meeting room instead of out here in public. Please follow me."

I did as she asked and we made our way up to the second floor and the last room down the hall. The assistant guild master opened the door and let me in first before closing it behind her.

"Please sit."

She made her way around the single table in the middle of the room while gesturing towards the chair closest to the door before stopping behind the far chair.

"Would you like some tea?"

I sat down as instructed, but shook my head.

"I'm fine."

"Is that so? I hope you don't mind if I partake in some myself."

The assistant guild master placed a small pouch on the table and pulled out a small wooden barrel along with a white ceramic cup with intricate deep blue patterns painted on. She uncorked the little barrel and poured out a steaming fragrant tea that smelt faintly of blueberries and honey.

As she took a sip, despite tilting her head down towards her cup, it looked like she was still looking at me.

"Are you sure you don't want any? There's only enough for one more."

She asked once more the moment she put the cup down.

"No, I'm fine."

Strangely, I could swear that she frowned for a slight moment when I said that, but a smile returned so quickly that I couldn't help but think that it was just my imagination. She slowly put the little barrel back into her pouch despite it being larger than the little bag.

"Well, allow me to introduce myself once again. I am the assistant guild master of the Knossos Adventurers' Guild, Peitho Suada."

"Scarlet."

I gave her a polite nod along with my name even though she already knew it.

(Or rather, did she introduce herself because she figured I forgot her name already? Then again, it might be worth remembering her name for the future. Peitho Peitho Peitho Peitho Peitho...Peitho)

"So, may I ask why you have come to visit the guild so soon? Was there an an issue with the request we've made with you?"

"Ah, no, not quite an issue, but I did as you asked."

"I see. So the reports of rumbling and flashes of light from the Firestone Mountain last night was you hunting the ash wyvern then?"

"It is."

I didn't realize that they had noticed the fight.

(Were we that flashy or did they have someone close by to report on us?)

"I see. It might have been quite a furious battle then, considering that the guards stationed at the western gates were able to witness even a little bit of the battle."

(Oh.)

"If that's the case, then may I see your proof of subjugation? I don't mind if it makes a mess in this room, or do you require more space?"

"Ah, no, rather..."

(And here's the problematic part.)

I could only hope that my gamble would work.

"I...don't have anything to show."

"You don't have anything to show me, but you completed the request?"

"That's right. Umm...I did manage to deal with the target, but I had to do it by diverting a lava flow a bit. There's nothing left of the wyvern that I could find afterwards."

"Is...that so."

Peitho paused for a moment to take a sip of her tea before continuing.

"We'll have to send someone to confirm that there's no traces of the wyvern left. What about a nest?"

"I found something that looked like one. I just broke up the rocks in the area so it couldn't be used anymore. There weren't any eggs that I saw."

"I see. That's a relief then."

Peitho sighed out loud, the tension in her shoulders visibly relaxed for a moment before she fixed her posture.

"Since it will take time to confirm everything, we can't give you the money reward."

"Yea, that figures."

It wasn't like I needed the money in the first place so it wasn't even slightly painful. More annoying if anything since it meant that I'd have to return to this city someday to pick up my reward.

"On the other hand, as an apology to what happened yesterday in the guild master's office, I have already prepared the documents you have requested and hand that over as a preliminary reward."

Saying that, she went into her little handbag and pulled out a few sheets of parchment.

(Oh, that's the first time I saw that.)

They almost looked like stiff sheets of paper, but the lack of any telltale signs of loose fibres anywhere, even on the edges despite the less than straight cuts and slight tears, indicated that it wasn't made of plant matter at all.

"I apologize that for a part of your requested information we couldn't actually find that much in our archives. It's possible that there is more in another city, but I doubt you'll find much without going to Nysa, the capital of Arcadia."

Peitho placed two sets of sheets on the table in front of me. One was a stack of three, and had information about the metal mithril and mithril golems on the top page. Presumably the other pages were about orichalcum and adamantium golems. The other stack was of two pages, with the top page being about vampires.

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<Do you know anything about this Arcadia or Nysa Claret?>

As I casually passed my eyes through the pages one at a time, I asked her about the names I've heard for the first time.

<Arcadia is the country of the fey folks to the south. Its mostly a forested region where most elves and fairies live at, and a lot of spirits tend to gather there as well. Nysa is the name of their capital.>

<Elves, fairies, and spirits? Do they all gather there because there's something special about that land, or are they together because they coexist well together I wonder?>

<It's definitely not the latter. The elves and faeries didn't seem to get along that well last time we went there. They separated themselves and don't mingle much. The spirits on the other hand are only there because there's more mana there than most other places and the elves and fairies are nicer to be around than the other races.>

<I see.>

Claret answered the idle question I just happened to say out loud...figuratively.

But it was interesting to hear about a nation that had high concentrations of spirits. It wasn't really a surprise that it was the land that the elves considered home, but to think that another fantasy race would appear there as well: the fairies.

But if pressed to say that I had the leeway to go visit such a country at this time, it was pretty hard to say yes.

<By the way, how far is this Arcadia anyways?>

<Umm...if we flew without rest, I think we can get there in two days or so? I'm sorry, but I still have trouble gauging how fast you can fly Master.>

<No, it's fine. I was just wondering anyways.>

A few days each way nonstop, but I can't fly during the day because my wings are exposed, so we'd only be flying for a third of a day or so forced to walk the rest of the time when the sun is up. Then add the time to gather the data I want on spirits, presuming they even had that data in the first place. In the end, it would probably take three weeks or so as a round trip, and that's if we went without any rest or breaks.

That was really starting to sound like I would be seriously pushing things, and that's if everything went well and there weren't any real delays involved. I didn't think that risking Magni having to wait any longer than that would be a good idea. The worst thing would be for him to go and start looking for me.

"You're pretty well used to handling parchment, aren't you?"

"Huh?"

When I looked up, I saw a sharp glint in Peitho's eyes. Somehow I must have given her some sort of tip while I was distracted talking to Claret.

(What did I even do? I was just pretending to look through the information she gave me.)

When I actually looked back down at my hands, I had all the sheets gathered together and was just flipping the top halves of the pages. I was only pretending to compare some information between some of the pages about the golems.

(Wait, this is the first time I've seen parchment or any other sorts of paper in this world. Does this mean...?)

When I thought about it, it was obvious what it was that Peitho noticed. While I preferred digital data in my previous world, it wasn't like I didn't often deal with paper, especially when I was in school. Most likely, only the rich dealt with paper in this world to the point of being casual about sheets being placed in front of them.

While the conclusion that this assistant guild master came to was most likely completely the wrong one, I didn't know if the end result was going to be a negative for me or not.

"No, I'm sorry, that wasn't professional of me. Please don't mind it."

"Umm, alright."

That really was all I could do, since I didn't know what it could mean in the future.

"Are you satisfied with the information we have managed to gather?"

"Ah, umm, yea. I am."

Shuffling through the pages, I quickly glanced through the information about vampires and spirits. While the things on golems would help me out when it came to progressing in the dungeon back home, the other data was what I was really needed. If I could understand how they were born, I would be one step closer to creating a body for Alicia.

But unfortunately, at a glance there wasn't a single clue in sight.

The page on vampires mostly dealt with their typical behaviour, strengths and weaknesses in combat, and notable specimens. There was even a note at the bottom that my predecessor was suspected to being a vampire, but details about it weren't available.

Spirits on the other hand had quite a bit more information when it came to their ecology, but conversely there was almost no data about their abilities in combat. Or rather, they were stated to be virtually harmless and warned that killing one could come with a penalty depending on the country.

There was a spot about how they are created, but aside from a single note that they tend to appear most in places that are dense in ambient mana, there wasn't really anything known beyond that.

Frankly, the data I received was pretty much useless to me. Aside from the notable specimens which I didn't even care about, all the information regarding vampires were things that I had already known. The spirits page was slightly better, but it looked like almost everything on it were things that I could find out if I just asked Claret.

For the most part, this was a bust. It might really be better to just go visit Arcadia and hope I could find something useful before Magni got tired of waiting for me or a celestial assassin decided to show themself.

"Oh, by the way, I did hear something interesting. I don't know if it's completely accurate, but I heard that there's someone who's familiar with vampires near a small village to the west of Eremus city."

"Someone who knows something about vampires by some small random village?"

To be frank, it sounded a but suspect, but I was willing to at least hear Peitho out.

"Unfortunately it's only hearsay, and I couldn't verify the authenticity of it, but I did hear such a thing regarding a village called Parietina. If you could find this person, I'm sure that he'd be able to tell you more than any resource you could find outside of any secured archives."

"How confident are you that this person even exists anyways?"

"Pretty, actually. You can't underestimate the ears of the Adventurers' Guild after all."

And with those words, Peitho gave me a brilliant smile that made a shiver run down my back and forced me to look away. My cheeks even started to feel a little warm, and due to how poor my complexion was, I could only hope that my hood did a good enough job of hiding that.

"...*Ahem!* And, how far away is this village anyways?"

"Frontier City Eremus is five days by carriage if you exit the south gates and take the first fork to the right. After that, I believe Parietina Village is a further two days by carriage to the west of Eremus."

"I see."

From a distance standpoint, it was probably close enough that I could get there within a day, even when only flying at night. And even if I got delayed, a round trip probably wouldn't take much more than a week. Two at the absolute most if this person Peitho mentioned made me do some inane errands. Hopefully he won't ask for a bunch of fetch quests to prove my trustworthiness or something.

It was certainly much more attractive than going to Arcadia. The certainty that either would have the information I needed was iffy. Between the two, Arcadia was more likely to have what I needed, but the distance was just too much.

Since those were the only two leads I had, the outcome was pretty obvious.

"Well, thanks for the information."

"It's no problem. You've done us a huge favour and the things you've requested is still less than the reward we originally prepared for you. In compensation, we did increase the money reward, and we'll have it ready for you the moment we confirm that the ash wyvern is gone. If you are unable to return to this city though, you can withdrawal it in another branch if you like, though we would prefer it if you visit us again."

"Ah yea, I know about that. I'll probably be back to pick it up sometime in the future then."

It's not like I was hurting for cash anyways. Unless if I desperately needed it, there wasn't much reason not to come over to pick the money up in person when I had the time.

"We look forward to that day then."

Peitho gave me a smile and bowed her head.

"Then is there anything else I could help you with?"

"No, I don't think so."

I thought about it for a moment, but nothing came to mind.

"In that case, would you like to have some breakfast? I know a good place in the city."

"It sounds tempting, but no, I'm fine."

I shook my head. While I was hungry, sharing a meal with someone I only met a day ago wasn't something I could do. Not when one considered what my diet was. Eating in public was a double no at that.

"Is that so?"

Peitho looked visibly disappointed for a moment. It really was only a moment and her professional mask came back in a blink, but this time I was pretty sure that it wasn't just my imagination.

"Well, I think that's everything then?"

"Yes. Thank you for subjugating that ash wyvern for us. We are really grateful for your work."

"No, you're paying me for it after all."

"That does not change a thing. Gratitude has nothing to do with that. If there is anything you need, please don't hesitate to ask for me. I will inform our staff to immediately bring up any messages you have for me."

"No, I mean, aren't you busy?"

"That does not change the fact that I am willing to put aside the time for you. Even if you don't have any particular business, I would like it if you would be willing to have a meal with me or something in the future."

"No, really. To take so much time from someone who's so busy..."

Peitho leaned forward and grabbed my hands.

"I'd consider it a favour then. If it's a request from you, I can get away from the office for a little while and that muscle-brain can't do a thing."

For the latter half, the assistant guild master looked off to the side and spat out her words with a harsh glint in her eyes.

I couldn't help but feel that this was the real reason why she was so insistent.

"Umm, in that case, I'll consider it. Next time though."

"It's a date then!"

The elf in front of me did a full 180 and gave me a bright smile, making my cheeks feel warm once again, but with no ability to hide it from her.

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