Semi-retired Adventurer Lives Leisurely Chapter 2

Published at 6th of June 2021 10:50:50 AM

Book 1 “The Adventurers of Flowtier”

Chapter 2 "Being an Explorer"

At the gate, I finished all the paperwork and went straight to Mr. Thomas’ store.

He’ll introduce me to the inn after I finish my rounds with the church, and Cyril and Jend are leading the way there as we leisurely walk the central main street.

The streets were not empty nor was it too overcrowded. The tidy, clean buildings lined the left and right of the street, and you could feel the excited energy of the street merchants as they called out to pedestrians. The goods they sold also looked current and up to fashion.

And upholding its name of “The City of Flowers and Water,” the number and variety of floral decorations touted its distinction to its neighboring town.

And most importantly, feeling a small pang of hunger, enjoyed a delicious shish kabob from a food cart. The bird meat was a cheap 10 *zenitha per stick, but it was still quality meat.

Cyril: “Henry! Henry! Please tell us the rest of the story! You were on the frontlines surrounded by a 100 *dragon kin, and what happened next?”

I was telling them a story of one of my adventures, but I got distracted by the kabob. Cyril saw that I finished my snack and pressed me for more details.

Henry: “Well, at the time, we had a strong mage so me and one other person bought time, and the mage took out the whole group with a spell.”

Jend: “Wait, I thought dragons had strong magic resistance…”

Since his partner is firing off questions, Jend realized that all courtesy was lost and started cutting in with his own thoughts and questions.

Henry: “No no. Dragon kin only look like dragons, but they’re not as strong as real dragons. Besides, the mage was the strongest among everyone I know, so he could easily burn this town to the ground.

Cyril: “OMG, that’s amazing! But when it comes to strength of magic, I won’t lose to anyone!”

Cyril is getting pumped up as she raises her staff in the air, and she gets karate chopped immediately by Jend.

Cyril sends a protesting glare back at him.

Jend: “Don’t be swinging your weapon in the middle of town.”

Henry: “Yeah, he’s right.”

I nod in agreement.

Cyril: “Oka—y, I’m so—rry.”

She’s pouting. She has a variety of expressions change on the spot.

Cyril: “Oh! Henry, we can see the church from here!”

Henry: “Yup, I see it.”

A four-story mansion appears in the distance.

A shield with two swords crossed decorates the entryway - a very familiar emblem.

Any churches related to the god of Mother Earth have a more strict atmosphere, but the church we are at focuses on pragmatism only. It’s no different than other business headquarters.

Inside, we’re greeted by an even more familiar setting.

Henry: “No matter where I go, the churches for the god of war is the same.

There is an altar before us where you can offer your prayer. On the right, you’ll see a billboard posted with quests for explorers, the market prices for demonic creature parts, and a counter to handle the administrative side of these requests, and coordinates with the quest givers. On the left is the bar.

A tavern inside the church? Other churches would raise a brow at the sight, but according to legend, the god of war cherishes the drinking party after the victory of every battle above all else, and hence, why a bar is included in every one of his churches.

Cyril: “Oh, Jend, today, I’ll be first in the drawings! You went first last time and got an uncommon draw so it’s my turn this time!”

Jend: “Umm, the order doesn’t change your chan…”

Cyril: “Sister—! Today, I hunted down a lot of them , so I should have at least 3 draws—!”

Since no one was standing in line, Cyril dashes forward to the altar.

Henry: “3 chances after one hunt? You guys just started adventuring huh?”

Jend: “Haha, yeah. We only started about a month ago.”

Cyril and Jend both had high quality equipment, so even if they looked young, I thought they had more experience. I guess their families are just well off.

Church Sister: “Yes, yes, Ms. Cyril. First, please complete your prayer to the God Grandes.”

Cyril: “Yes ma’am—“

Reprimanded by the sister, Cyril begrudgingly got into the prayer position.

Church Sister: “...Yes, now we can begin. We have confirmed your records. Today, Ms. Cyril will be bestowed a godly equipment from the Treasure Vault with 4 points.”

Cyril: “YES! …I mean, I’m so sorry.”

Whoa, 4 draws. I would have to save up quite a bit to do the same.

Church Sister: “Ahem. ...Now then, Oh Great God, Grandes. Please bestow your blessing upon your faithful follower, Cyril.”

The sister accessed Heaven's Treasure Vault.

Using the points. Cyril earned today as the key, a gate opened in the air and light filled the room.

From there, 4 shadows lightly landed upon a prepared table next to the altar.

Church Sister: “Yes. One common wand, two health potions, and the last one is…oh! Congratulations! This hoodie is an uncommon!”

Cyril: “Yes! What does it do? What does it do?”

Church Sister: “Please hold for a moment. I will check. According to this...it is called the ‘The Slight Breeze hoodie’.”

Cyril: “Okay, okay. And its ability?”

Church Sister: “It will cause a slight breeze around approximately 1 meter around the hoodie.”

Cyril: “Umm, I guess I could use it for drying my hair?”

Cyril isn’t thrilled either. Oh, a drunkard at the tavern jokingly gave his condolences.

Even if they’re too far away to hear our conversation, the light from the Treasure Vault is obvious and from Cryil’s look, you can tell that she had a bad draw.

Cyril: “Shut it, you drunks!”

Cyril’s throwing a cute fit which is only making the drunkards laugh harder.

I sort of understand how they feel.

Church Sister: “How would you like to proceed? Would you like to make a return?”

Cyril: “Umm, well, it’s my very first uncommon so I’ll hold on to this. Please return the common wands.”

Church Sister: “As you wish.”

The sister passed the hoodie and potions to Cyril, and returned the common wands back to the Treasure Vault. In return, a small silver coin replaced the returned items.

Church Sister: “It is complete. ...Please don’t be so discouraged. From my experience, only 1 of 5 items that are above uncommon are generally useful ones.”

Cyril: “Ergh...I understand. ...Jend—! You can go next, here!”

Jend: “Sure.”

Jend tilts his head to me as he goes to where the sister stands.

Jend: “Just sit back and watch my amazing luck streak.”

Cyril: “You had a good draw last time, so you’ll probably end up with just commons — yeah, be cursed with commons today!”

Jend: “Hey now, don’t jinx me! What if my luck goes down because of you!”

After she finished teasing Jend, Cyril walks this way.

Henry: “Tough luck.”

Cyril: “Yeah—, it’s my first time drawing something other than common, but it’s not very useful equipment. Oh, but it’s a pretty cute hoodie.”

Cyril puts on the hoodie that she just drew. Well, regardless of its usefulness, she did look good in it.

This hoodie... is also a godly equipment. I wonder how things work with the Treasure Vault in the realm of gods.

It’s not the first time the thought crossed my mind, but I needed to finish my paperwork at the counter.

And Cyril totally jinxed Jend, and he only drew commons this round.

In general, all adventurers believe (with varying levels of faith) the god, Grandes. He is the god of wars and pioneering. But most believe he is mostly a god of war.

There are some theories that around 2 or 3 thousand years ago, he came down into this world.

And to all humanity, he passed down a revelation.

There are many complicated things written in the theology, but simply put:

Grandes: “Hey, you guys. Beat down the demonic creatures and go have an adventure. Don’t worry, I’ll let you borrow my equipment.”

…or said something similar to that. Believers of the god Grandes like myself call ourselves “adventurers” for this very reason.

At the time, humanity only covered a very small safe haven, and survived day-to-day.

Not a lot of quality metalsmithing was possible, and good weapons were scarce back then. To defeat one demonic creature, many adults had to gather and hit it with everything they got, or send out the rare and very few *sorcerers and sorceresses for each battle.

But from this time on, an oath of allegiance to the god of war bestowed upon you a promising metal weapon.

And if you defeat a demonic creature, that deed was recognized by the gods and gave you access to more weapons and equipment from the gods’ Heaven's Treasure Vault.

Visit readel.me for extra chapters.

...well, they call it a “Treasure Vault,” but I’m pretty sure it’s some sort of storage facility because there were a lot of useless items in there. Even so, with the items from the Treasure Vault, humanity gradually expanded their territories.

Nowadays, you can go to the weapons shop to find some quality weapons that are better than the common-level weapons. Magic Technology advanced, and people were able to fight off the demonic creatures on their own.

Cyril: “But, I still would like equipment with some sort of bonus trait--”

Finishing up their business trading in the demonic creatures’ dropped items, Cyril griped as she ate a parfait in the tavern. I just had that bird shish kabob, so I’m drinking juice.

Cyril: “Henry, did you see people with amazing godly equipment at the frontlines?”

Henry: “Yeah, of course, but only a very few people I knew carried legendary-class weapons.”

Cyril: “LEGENDARY?!”

The weapons from the Heaven’s Treasure Vault had 5 ranks associated with them. Common, uncommon, rare, epic, and legendary.

The difference lies in the fact that anything above uncommon had some sort of special traits and abilities attached to the weapon. Uncommon had one trait, rare had two, and so on and so forth.

Henry: “But some would say that it’s better to use human-made weapons since you can trade them, and those wouldn’t have weird traits and abilities associated. So I know some people who would return every godly equipment they received.”

All godly equipment is “borrowed.” Other than some exceptions with one-time use items, the godly equipment can only be used by the original owner, and if the owner dies, the equipment returns to the Treasure Vault automatically. In exchange, you get some silver or gold for equipment returned.

And this is the most important part but...like today, many times, you’re left with some really weird abilities and traits like Cyril’s Wind Hoodie, and the abilities are not always practical.

An “extra sharp” club, spy clothes with “concentrated aggro,” a “nice smelling” sword… things like that. If it’s meaningless, that’s one thing, but some item abilities are more curses or disadvantages than they are blessings.

Some of these makes you seriously wonder if the gods were drunk while making these. Really and truly, the rarity does not automatically mean that it’s a great weapon or equipment. It’s better to use an uncommon with one decent trait than an epic equipment with 3 useless traits.

In comparison, yes, it’s much more difficult and the prices exponentially soar, but humans also have the ability to associate certain abilities and traits they desire to create the ideal weapon.

Cyril: “Henry, what about your stuff?”

Henry: “Me? I use one godly weapon and one *protective charm, but otherwise, the rest are normal equipment.”

Cyril: “Wow, interesting. What is its rank?”

Henry: “My weapon is an epic, and the protective charm is a rare.”

Among all the weapons and equipment I drew, there is only one other spear that is useful other than these two.

Well, I shouldn’t complain. There are people who have never drawn anything useful, so my luck isn’t that bad compared to others.

...I remember the very first epic-class godly equipment was a leather armor that was “rust-proof” (but it’s leather?), had a “floral” scent and was “edible.” It was complete crap.

Jend: “I guess if you become a Heroic Warrior, you’ll be able to draw epic equipment.”

Henry: “Well, I’ve only been able to draw 3 epics in my life. The second one isn’t OP by any means, but it’s useful enough.”

Jend sips his coffee, and I let him know that it’s not that simple.

It’s true that the more you draw from Heaven’s Treasure Vault, your point requirements for the next item are raised, and your chances for better equipment rise slightly.

Henry: “That reminds me. I didn’t see any demonic creatures around this area, but for adventurers, where would they go hunt?”

Jend: “The main hunting ground would be the forest east of here. If you go deep enough, they say you’ll run into stronger creatures, but around the entrance to the forest is perfect for Cyril and I.”

Henry: “Yeah, I saw the Killer Dog fangs that you were delivering.”

Jend: “Yes.”

Killer Dogs will gang up on you, so they are tough for beginners, but looking as how they are both without scratches, they must have some strength and skill.

Cyril: “Henry is a Heroic Warrior, so you could venture much deeper than us. You would be fighting Giant Spiders, and I heard there’s Griffins too. I really would like to have a go at Griffins one day.”

Henry: “No thanks. Well, maybe one day, but I’ll start with the Killer Dogs.”

Cyril: “What?! Why?”

Henry: “What do you mean why? It’s my first time at this hunting ground. I don’t have any reason to take on unnecessary risks.”

Sure, I have confidence in my skills, but in unfamiliar territory, it’s harder to use your full potential. Each territory has similar demonic creatures, but they may behave differently. If it’s a demonic creature you are used to, you have to be even more careful when moving to a different area.

Besides, I have no reason to go after stronger prey.

I just need to make enough to pay my bills. I wanted to live a more lax and stress-free life.

Jend: “Well, would you like to join us then? I would like to see how people above my level fight.”

Henry: “Huh?”

A sudden offer out of the blue.

Well, I did want to just take it easy, but it’s not good to let your instincts rust. That might be scarier.

So all in all, Jend’s offer is a godsend.

Henry: “Well, I mean, it would be really helpful to be with someone who knows the area, but what about you guys? Are you okay with that?”

No matter what, we just met. I trust them because Mr. Thomas, who is a long-time resident of this town, knew them. But from their perspective, I’m just a suspicious adventurer that came from out of town.

Once we’re out of the public sight, aren’t they worried that I would turn around and con them, and say something like, “I hate to do this to you but…”

Jend: “Cyril, you’re okay with this?”

Cyril: “Of cou--rse. I think Henry is trustworthy-ish.”

Cyril doesn’t seem to mind. Wait, I think she’s just too distracted with her parfait. I doubt she put much thought into her answer.

Henry: “Alright. Well, if you guys are okay, I accept. I look forward to working with you.”

Jend: “Thank you. I look forward to working with you as well.”

Cyril: “Me too--.”

So, things just ended up like this.

CHONKY TRANSLATOR NOTES

*Protective Charm - (Omamori) (お守り) -- The Christian cross is the closest thing the U.S. has that is similar to the Japanese “Omamori” (protection charms). But it is impotant to note that there is more casual superstition (i.e. jinx) involved with Japanese “Omamori” (think of it like superstitions baseball players carry in the Major Leagues or any other stories of famous athletes with weird personal rituals). The most common and practical way to think about an “omamori” is something that was imparted to your loved ones going to war to protect them. It has since been marketed and commercialized like crazy, but people will give “omamori’s” for good luck and protection for almost anything. Common instances are studying for a big entrance exam or winning a big game. In the MC’s case, it’s a protective artifact that has some spells inscribed which will appear later in the series.

*Mages/Witches/Sorceress (mahou-tsukai) (魔法使い), Mages/Wizards/Sorcerers (majyutsu-tsukai) (魔術使い) or (madoushi) (魔導士) are very loosely used and applied. The words and terms themselves can easily overlap and can be confusing since in most cases, they could be interchangeable. The only differences may be between ”magic users” (drawing out the magic inside you) and ”magic wielders” (manipulating the magic around you) but it doesn’t strongly apply to this novel. There are some gender differences as well inherent in the terminology - mahoutsukai (feminine and especially when associated more to the word “Witch”) and madoushi (masculine - rarely will you see a female character take on this title), but the sexism is more subconscious and not purposefully intended. More detailed explanation in later chapters.

Chapter end