Adventurers

We continued on, as I walked, I recalled something from the memories of Estelia. To be precise the map that she was shown in the past. With that thought in mind, I should really study the local map eventually. I only personally studied the continental map from my previous lesson. And not much was told from it, it lacked intricate details. I suppose it was to be expected in an age where there were no such things as satellites.

That aside, I should have my hands on a local map for study, I couldn’t just rely on Estelia’s memories alone.

“By the way brother, we can arrive at the eastern plaza through this route, right?”

“Yes indeed. I guess we’re heading there then?”

“Hm. Why not? I’m interested to see how it is.”

This city has a total of three plazas. The north, west, and east. As we’re heading east, we might as well pass by the eastern plaza.

Amidst our walk, I saw a group of people walking out of a building. I raised an eyebrow when I saw them. I looked up towards the sign around the entrance of the two storey building, it said “Wellings Inn”.

An inn, huh. And those people…

Seeing how they looked, I instinctively raised my guard, becoming cautious as I closely looked at them. That was because they were carrying weapons.

I observed them closely.

A large man had a giant axe on his back. A slim and tall man had a sheathed sword on his waist and displayed in the open. The other man had a spear in hand, the bottom tapping the ground as he moved forward. Then, a woman wearing a light robe, however, she had no weapon whatsoever. But she could be hiding it.

They were suspicious. They were carrying weapons in a public place. Wasn’t that dangerous?

I pulled the sleeve of my brother.

“What’s the matter?” he asked.

“Them.”

I pointed at the group by cocking my chin. Estevan shifted his eyes towards them.

“Oh, what about them?”

I was baffled, he didn’t seem to think a lot about them, even though they were openly having weapons at their disposal.

Estevan was different since he was concealing his weapon in his cloak. But those guys were flourishing their weapons to everyone.

“Aren’t they dangerous? They’re carrying weapons…” I said timidly.

“Oh I see. Actually there’s no problem with that.”

There’s no problem with that? Are you serious?

Was there no law that prohibits such things? Is this only in this country or also somewhere else? If that was the case to all, then this world needs to work on their policies and improve societal order.

“They’re what you call Adventurers.”

“Adventurers?”

“They belong to the Adventurer’s Guild. And through the guild, you can post commissions for adventurers to work with. Of course with a price.”

“What sort of work?”

I mean, they were carrying weapons, so maybe to kill people?

“You can have them as your escorts. Merchants commonly do that to guard their caravan as they go around other cities or countries. Also menial tasks like, well, building, cleaning….. Also you can task them to find something or people.”

I nodded as I took in the valuable information.

“Although they are mainly tasked to exterminate monsters. That’s why they are armed.”

“I thought knights deal with monsters.”

“Only for grave or serious situations that would threaten the masses. Like the Elgion forest in the northeast, monsters there are incredibly strong. Therefore, knights would be the ones to handle the problem if it gets any worse since knights are more powerful than adventurers.

“Of course not all monsters stay in that forest. Some make their home outside of it, and adventurers would be needed to handle them. They are also the ones to exterminate the stray ones. Well, to be clear, not all monsters exist in the Elgion forest. They also come from other forests nearby, so the adventurers are a great help since the knights wouldn’t be able to secure all of those locations all the time.”

“Oh, I see.”

So basically, they’re mercenaries. Understood.

They could even fight, so they were not people to be taken lightly.

I remembered that there were also forests on the north, east, west and the south. Not like the old world I was used to that was mostly flat lands, rarely to find forests with the exception of mountains where barely anyone lives in.

Furthermore, not just the capital city Serene, but also the whole Wisteria Kingdom was surrounded by a number of forests, a lot of hills, and a few mountains. So I guess a lot of bad elements exist there, and they need to be balanced out, or in other words, to be eliminated.

So they go use hired guns.

That being said, I also need to study about those so-called monsters.

Damn, I have a lot to study. I feel like I am truly a student now. Only thing missing was going to school.

Oh, there’s no schools here, that sucks.

Then, a teenage girl also emerged from the inn. She wore white garb, like a robe, and gave off a vibe of holiness. Like those priests from churches, though in this case she should be called a priestess.

I’m confused.

But this was exactly not a place to be asking a lot of questions like having a lesson. When I get back, I’ll slowly learn things.

“I’m here! Sorry I’m late,” the priestess said as she rushed out towards what seems like her companions.

“Hehe, you’re always late, come on,” the other girl said with a smile.

The others were also smiling bright in the morning, showing their close relationship. Now that they have gathered, they began walking the same direction we were.

“Brief us on the job again,” the spearman said.

“Sure,” replied the swordsman.

They were a team, a party, and being in one was helpful in different situations. There were just some things that needed other hands. You can’t do many things at once. In the past, missions requiring a team were rare for me. Most of the time, a mission was to be carried out solo. But that didn’t mean you would have no one monitoring you, and that was a team in and of itself.

Like in an office where you are working with your workforce. And those team members you were assigned with, each were commonly sent to different operations. There were no permanent companions and groups. Reason? Because often others would be reassigned to other places. And, sometimes, they die. This moment reminded me of a little something, but whatever…

“There sure are a lot of things to learn. And it is nice to go out, don’t you think?”

Estevan looked me in the eye, his eyes tender. He must have empathized with my words since he knows that I never went out of the palace. The world was unknown to me, and today was as though I was finally seeing the world for the first time.

“... Yes, yes it is.”

I giggled. “Let’s go on, time is of the essence.”

“Understood, dear sister.”

Moments passed as we strolled, and human traffic had begun to increase. Maybe because of the time or the location, or both. Even so, amidst the crowd I was keeping an eye on every building.

If they were to place a smith shop, there should be one in which crowds were likely to pass by. I was expecting to find one at any moment. But as we went on, I found nothing.

I was slightly becoming restless. If I don’t find a place that sells decent daggers, then coming here was a waste. Although not exactly a waste, I would still fail the true purpose as to why I came here in the first place.

I took in a deep breath as I pondered on what to do.

Tch, if it comes down to it, I’ll find a way to make Estevan talk.

That was the last resort.

Then we have reached the plaza.