Aurora

“You want to clean up the Fire Salamanders over on Rogus Path?” Albert asked, seated at a table inside the guild. “Well, I don’t have a problem with that, but why?”

“A certain someone advised us to,” said Eric, seated across from him. “As for who that someone is, I’m afraid I can’t say.”

“Aw, thanks for the privacy!” said Nyle, snacking on a meat skewer. “… Still not giving you guys any, though!”

Back at the guild, Albert was about to respond when someone walked up to the table he and the heroes were sitting at. Kanie nearly spit his drink out.

It was Aurora, the inn receptionist from the night before. Instead of formal attire, she was dressed in a suit of silver battle armor that showed off her womanly shape. Her blonde hair was tied up in a ponytail, and accompanying her were two young men and a woman.

“Aurora!” said Albert. “You and your party here looking to take on another quest?”

“Yup~,” Aurora replied. “Adventuring is really fun! Plus…”

She twirled her thumbs.

“I really need the money~,” she pouted with teary eyes. “It’s been tough for a single girl like me to cover my expenses~.”

“This is Aurora,” said Albert to Kanie and Eric. “You met her last night at Vhasnoir Inn—the place you stayed at.”

“—! The heroes of Jandariu!?” Aurora exclaimed, clearly nervous. “Um… It’s a pleasure to meet you again. I’m Aurora, a C-rank adventurer.”

She extended her hand shyly.

Eric responded first.

“My name’s Erika. Erika Chandler,” he said, shaking her hand. “The witch hero.”

Well, looky here. Someone got their girl name right, for once, Kanie thought.

He took Aurora’s hand next, surprised to find that his own were shaking.

“K-Kanie Misawa,” he said.

Aurora smiled and blushed.

“Kanie… What a nice name,” she said, slightly flustered.

“R-really? Thanks,” he stammered before letting go of her hand.

That sure as hell isn’t what the girls who knew me said back in middle school, he thought with a troubled face. It’s truly never about the item, but who sells it, huh…

La~me. If that’s how you act toward a human, this ‘romance the dragon queens’ mission is as good as failed, Eric thought. So long, Jandariu. It was nice knowing you.

Aurora turned around when one of her party members brought back a slip of parchment paper. He handed it to her.

She looked at it and started to read it aloud.

“Let’s see here… ‘Exterminate Fire Salamanders along Rogus Path.’ Location: Vorax Thicket… Quest Rank: C-Class …,” she mumbled. “Max Party Size: Eight Members… Reward…”

“—This is—!”

Her eyes sparkled as she held the quest slip in the air with both hands.

“Fifteen gold nuggets!?”

“Ah~, I’ll be able to pay my rent this month~!” she squealed in delight.

She turned toward her party members. There was a look of fiery determination in her eyes.

“You guys! We’re definitely taking this mission, okay!?” she said, clenching her fist.

Albert looked up at her.

“Actually,” he said. “These two here also wanted that same quest.”

“… Eh?”

Aurora paused.

She slumped over dejectedly.

“—B-but, my rent…” she said, poking her pointer fingers together.

Albert said nothing. He thought for a while, and then he spoke.

“I have an idea,” he said. “Why don’t you guys take on the quest together?”

“That’s a great idea,” Eric replied. “The quest paper said the maximum party size allowed is eight, right? We have six people here—that’s still comfortably under the limit.”

“—N-no! We can’t just swoop into a joint quest with the two legendary heroes of Jandariu—!” Aurora protested.

“It’ll be fine,” said Kanie. “We’ve been here for less than a day and haven’t the faintest idea in hell how anything works. If anything, having you go with us would be a huge help.”

“Kanie’s right,” Eric added. “Plus, we don’t have any time to waste. We need to get down to Rogus Path as soon as possible.”

He turned his attention to Albert.

“Albert,” he said. “Yesterday, you said something about it taking five to seven days to go from Narvec to other regions by carriage. How do we get our hands on one?”

“Normally, you’d pick one up with a voucher issued by me or other staff after registering for a quest up front,” Albert explained. “There’s a stable close by, located just southeast from here. But—"

He continued.

“I know you two have some, ahem, urgent business to take care of.”

“You there!”

Albert whistled, calling over a young man who was busy prancing around the guild’s interior. He stopped what he was doing and came right over to the table.

“How may I be of service, Mr. Zeforya?” the man asked.

“Prepare the fastest carriage we’ve got—the heroes are going on a quest.”

“Right away.”

The man saluted Albert and left the guild.

“Now then, all of you,” Albert said, standing up. “Come with me to the registration counter.”

Kanie and Eric, along with Aurora and her party members, proceeded to follow him. Once they got to the counter, Albert asked them to show their adventurer’s cards.

Aurora’s expression changed to one of shock when she saw Eric’s.

“… An S-ranked adventurer!?” she exclaimed. “I’ve never met one before in my life! Are you sure we won’t just slow you down?”

“Like Kanie said, we just got here yesterday,” Eric said. “That’s just for show until I figure out what I’m doing.”

He pointed to Kanie with his staff.

“This guy, on the other hand,” he started. “He can actually throw hands. You should’ve seen him earlier today when he whooped street thug ass!”

“… That was just an accident,” Kanie said, shrugging. “My body just kind of, moved on its own.”

He showed Albert his adventurer’s card next.

“Besides,” he added. “You’re the one with the infinite magic stat. I’m still not sure what that means, but being able to use any kind of magic sounds broken as hell.”

After Aurora and her party members had their cards checked, Albert took the quest slip and stamped it. He handed it back to Aurora.

“Huh? No liability form or anything?” Eric asked.

“Nope. Zero. Nada,” Albert responded. “Adventurers automatically assume all responsibility for whatever happens on quests. It’s written at the top of every quest form in bold print.”

Eric was about to say something when a loud screech interrupted him. —It had come from directly outside of the guild’s entrance.

“Ah, perfect timing,” said Albert. “Your transportation’s just arrived.”

The guild’s doors opened, and in walked the man Albert had sent to the stables earlier.

“Mr. Zeyforya, I’ve returned,” he said. “I brought the Pink Keisor carriage, as requested.”

Aurora and her party members gasped.

“… Pink Keisor? What’s that?” Kanie asked.

“See for yourself!” Albert said, pointing toward the guild’s entrance.

Right outside was a four-wheeled wooden carriage with a white canopy top. In front of it was a large, birdlike creature. The creature stood nearly seven feet tall, and its body was covered with elegant, reddish-pink feathers.

“The Pink Keisor—the fastest known land animal in all of Jandariu,” Aurora said. “That carriage is normally reserved for parties with A-rank leaders or higher!”

That thing must get a ton of vacation time, then, Kanie thought. I mean, how many A-ranks even exist in Jandariu?

One by one, the adventurers boarded the carriage.

Eric was the last to board—only he couldn’t, because he was too short to climb in.

Kanie took the opportunity to tease him.

“Come on, kiddo! You can do it! We believe in you~!”

“Shut up, Kanie,” Eric snarled.

After a long, hard, struggle, he finally succeeded in pulling himself into the carriage.

The man who Albert had sent to retrieve the carriage stepped up into the coach box.

“Good luck, all of you!” Albert called out. “Safe travels!”

He waved goodbye as the Pink Kaisor let out a shriek and started to pull the carriage forward.