Chapter 16 - Interlude Part 1: Impromptu Party
Unusually, Alec woke up early in the morning and declared.
"We're going to make today a holiday."
"Yeah, I got it."
It must be hard to spend all day hunting and fighting, and we need a rest.
I was about to ask him to go out to the city anyway, but he yawned so loudly that he was about to turn around and go back to his room.
Apparently, he was going to sleep again.
Hmm, I can't blame him. I'll just let him have his day off.
I finished my breakfast and decided to go out by myself.
"It would be nice to look around the market, but ...... well, if I'm an adventurer, I should probably go to the guild first."
I headed to the adventurer's guild, intending to see if there were any new quests available.
The building has a sign with a design of wings and shoes etched into it. I open the door and step inside.
There were still a number of adventurers there.
All of them are armed and intimidating, but they are doing so to fight monsters, not evil people who are always getting into trouble.
"Now then, Quest, Quest ...... Huh? Isabelle?"
I was about to go check the message board when I saw a young lady with a conspicuous gilded armor there.
Is she going to take the quest too?
Then Isabelle seemed to have noticed my gaze and turned around and came over to me.
"Oh, dear, well, it's an odd coincidence, isn't it, Serina-san? I was just thinking of going to look for you just now."
Miss Isabelle said, scratching her gorgeous curly hair back with a fuss.
"You looking for me? Why?"
When I asked her that, she pulled her face closer to mine, and I was nervous that she was going to kiss me, but she just lowered her voice to my ear and spoke.
"I can't talk about that here. Please come with me."
"Huh."
I was bewildered, but since this was a world where status counted for something, I followed Isabelle as she left the guild. Then, one of them seemed to be following behind me.
What are they going to do, ......?
I don't know Isabelle well, but she must be a noblewoman of some renown, and I don't think she would rob a store. I also don't remember her being attacked out of the blue.
In spite of my confusion and caution, she walked into an empty alleyway.
.............
"This should be good."
Isabelle turned around and said with a serious face.
"Actually, I'm on an urgent quest from a wealthy merchant."
"Urgent?"
"Yes, it's a matter of urgency. However, with only two party members, I was not sure if the mission would be successful."
When you say "Two," I guess that means that the black-haired girl standing behind me now is also Isabelle's companion.
She was lightly equipped with leather armor and a dagger hanging from her waist. She was a head shorter than me.
She seemed to be the same age as me, or slightly younger. She wears her hair back in a loose braid.
"Her name is Ai. I've just hired her as a thief to guide us."
Isabelle introduced her.
"Fufu, nice to meet you."
The braided girl smiled and asked me to shake her hand, so I shook hers back.
"Yes, my pleasure."
"Of course, you wouldn't refuse me after coming all this way, would you? Serina-san the hero."
Isabelle asks a confident question.
"That depends on what we're talking about."
There's no way I can agree to something when I don't even know what I'm going to do.
"Don't worry, it's a simple matter of helping people. A gang of villains has kidnapped the child of a wealthy merchant."
"Yeah, that's terrible. All right, fine, I'll help you."
"Yes, I knew you would say that."
Isabelle smiled with satisfaction.
"So, when you say they kidnapped her, was it for ransom?"
I asked her what the villainous gang was after. If it was for money, then there should be a chance to get in touch with the culprits.
"Yes, it seems that they are after the treasure. The wealthy merchant threatened by the gang to bring a jewel called "Mermaid's Tears," which he had recently acquired in a deal, as payment."
"I see. ...... That's unforgivable."
"Yes, of course it is. I must take this sword and defeat those who seek to steal the property of others through such evil deeds."
"Where is the designated place for delivery?"
"In the north of the country, there is a "Chalk Temple" that is no longer in use. They wrote to the merchant to bring the jewels there."
"Hmmm, how long will it take? If it's too far away, I'll have to call my party. Oh, I'll ask Alec to help us."
"No, that's very kind of you, but this time we need to keep the number of people to a minimum, or else the villains might be able to detect our movements. If there are three of us, we can manage to kill the bad guys and rescue the hostages, so we'll do it with just the three of us."
"Sigh, I understand."
Is that too conspicuous armor okay? I wanted to make a comment, but it was too late now. Let's hope that the child hostage is safe.
"Don't worry, it's less than an hour from here. Isn't that right, Ai?"
"Yes, it's close. It's only a few minutes away."
Ai nodded with a smile.
"I understand. Then, right now?"
"Yes, of course."
"Let's go!"
The impromptu party of three of us headed north.
We didn't even know that there was a big trap there that we couldn't turn back from.
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