Semi-retired Adventurer Lives Leisurely Chapter 44

Published at 24th of June 2021 06:31:34 AM

Chapter 44: Paperwork

(Grandes Church Tavern)

We do meet after every expedition to reflect on any mistakes and review our progress, but we also have a meeting every 2 weeks here.

We decide general hunting goals, bring up anything troubling us outside of expeditions, how to upgrade or get better armor, and off-days planned ahead of time. We especially make sure to align our off-days. I mean, we have 3 women in the group, so it’s critical to know when they want off.

But anyways, it’s nothing formal, and we try to keep it as casual as possible.

At the meeting, I decided to go ahead and bring up the main topic for the day.

Henry: “I wanted to see if we could move our hunting grounds to Altohern starting next month.”

The other four are surprised by this news.

Cyril: “When you say ‘Altohern,’ you mean that mountain, right?”

Henry: “Yes, I looked it up, and the higher you climb up the mountain, the thicker and denser the magical corruption gets. From around the midpoint of the mountain, you’ll start seeing Ogres which are mid-tier upper-class demonic creatures. ……….that would be a good target for this group now.”

If you go all the way to the top, you’ll start seeing upper-tier’s as well.

Jend: “I knew there were strong demonic creatures in that mountain, but I thought Adventurers couldn’t go to that mountain? They already patrol the area with the Flowtier army, no?”

Demonic creatures, by their very nature, do not leave areas with thick magic corruption. That’s because the stronger you are as a demonic creature, the weaker you get if you leave that environment.

But once they reach a certain capacity with the environment, they start pushing creatures outside of that territory, and you’ll start seeing more creatures out on the roadways if nothing is done, so in a sense, Adventurers serve a role in ensuring that the number of demonic creatures in an area is controlled.

And even within the rewards we get for certain demonic creature drops, there is also a very small percentage added for the patrolling done.

Henry: “As Jend mentioned, yes, Adventurers are not permitted to enter the mountain UNLESS you get explicit permission from the Governor of Flowtier.”

Jend: “Is that true?” Henry: “I asked the Priest working here, and currently, there are 2 parties permitted to enter the Altohern mountain area.” That really is a very small number of parties, but part of it stems from children in Flowtier being told to never enter that mountain from birth. So many who grew up here will hesitate to break that norm.

Henry: “We will need to meet directly with the Flowtier Governor in order to obtain permission. And of course, we will also need to submit to the Church our current abilities, personality analysis, and battle records, and stuff like that too.”

Cyril: “Henry, Henry. If it’s permission from the Governor, I can go ahead and ask him for it.” Henry: “Idiot.”

I flick my finger into Cyril’s forehead.

Cyril: “Ow～ what was that for?!”

Henry: “No, we do things right, and we're not taking any shortcuts like that. What would happen to our group once word gets out that you used your connection with the Governor to push us through the process? We’ll instantly lose our legitimacy and reputation.”

Cyril: “Oh, I didn’t think about that. I’m sorry.”

I’m sure she didn’t mean anything by it and just spoke without thinking, but she listened to my explanation and nodded in agreement.

And to be fair, this is a case by case basis. There are some corrupt nobles out there where a little bribery would take you a long way in just getting this over with quickly and be done with them.

But the Governor of Flowtier has a flawless reputation as a fair and honest man, so any actions like that would backfire immediately.

Teo: “It’s just as Henry says, Cyril. Please think before you make any suggestions like that.”

Cyril: “....Teo, you're so cold… Miss Ferris～”

Ferris: “Oh Cyril, come here.”

Teo followed up my comment, and Cyril went crying to Ferris. Ferris is holding her and gently patting her on the head.

…….the women in our group really get along. It’s a good thing.

Henry: “Alright, so what do you guys say? To be honest, the Griffins are getting old for me, and I don’t want your fighting style to get rigid with only dealing with one type of enemy. If you’re going to be moving up in this world, I think you should do it.”

Cyril: “Of course we’ll go～!”

Cyril immediately throws up her fist in agreement. She recovered quick.

The others don’t have any objections either.

Henry: “Then I’ll start the paperwork with the Church, and we’ll need to make an appointment with the Governor.”

Cyril: “Oh, it's okay if I do that much, correct?” Henry: “Yeah, that’ll actually be faster and better.”

There’s no way anyone would raise a brow for that.

Ferris: “But if it’s the Governor, wouldn’t he be very busy? When do you think he can make time for us, Cyril?”

Cyril: “Yeah～ let me think. Around this time, he’ll be planning for the Fall Flower Festival, the harvest gatherings, resolving issues with tourists… I would guess that it might take around 2 weeks?”

There’s some nobles who do not meddle with their territory's business at all and strive for complete self-sufficiency, but this Governor seems very busy...

Henry: “Well, let’s finish up the paperwork with the Church first and wait patiently then.”

And besides, it’s not a guarantee that we can get permission, so we’ll just have to play it by ear.

<<<<>>>>

Cyril: “If you’re okay with it being this evening, he’ll make time for us.” Henry: “THAT WAS FAST?!”

This was only the day after our meeting about the Altohern transition.

Cyril came over bright and early in the morning to the Bear’s Keg Inn to deliver the message to me.

Henry: “.........how were we able to get time so fast? Did he have an opening in the schedule?” Cyril: “No, he was supposed to attend a meeting about the Flower Festival, but it was a meeting between the Counts’ families so he was able to delay the meeting to a later date.”

This would be the Flowtier’s Fall Flower festival held every year. I mean, yeah, it’s still a ways ahead, but I wouldn’t think that he would delay this kind of big event meeting just to see us.

I am thankful, but…...is there another reason?

Henry: “Cyril…..did you force his hand in any…..” Cyril: “Of course not. I just got yelled at by the group just yesterday.”

Henry: “Yeah, didn’t think so…..then why……?”

I heard Cyril is well liked by the Governor, so is it because of that? Or is it because he plans on immediately rejecting our proposal and didn’t want to waste any time on it?

……...there’s many possibilities at this point…

You would think that Adventurers only go on Demonic Creature slaying expeditions and complete Quests, but after a certain point, you have to start dealing with the nobles.

I had to be a guard for this one Count’s son who came to inspect Ligaleo.

From those experiences, there’s a number of things I can think of that the Count may bring up with us.

Henry: “Well, then we accept. If he’s willing to set aside time like that, then let’s go this evening. Please send our acknowledgement back to the Governor.”

Cyril: “Roger roger～”

Cyril stands tall and salutes in response.

Henry: “What’s everyone else’s plans tonight?”

Cyril: “I think they will be free to attend.”

Henry: “Then I’ll go speak with Teo. Could you go find Jend and Ferris?”

Teo’s house is actually the opposite way to Jend and Ferris so this will work out better this way.

Cyril: “Okay! Ummm….we’ll meet in front of the Church at 15:00 hours? And then we’ll all go together, like that?”

Henry: “Yeah, that sounds fine……….but you could just wait at home if you want.”

Cyril: “No no. I’ll be happy to guide the group.”

The Governor’s mansion is at the center of the city, so no one would really get lost trying to find it. But we may be able to skip having to go through the guards at the front gate.

Henry: “.........(sigh)....I guess I’ll get my formal wear.”

Cyril: “Ohhhhhh, you have something fancy to wear, Henry?”

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Henry: “It’s nothing much. Adventurers are allowed to wear their gear on formal occasions.”

But it’s something I had custom made. I rarely get to wear it, but I have one set of clothes for these kinds of occasions.

As for the others……….Jend is a merchant’s son so of course, he’ll have a formal suit. Ferris apparently got some clothes as a gift from Jend, so she’ll be okay. No one would really complain about Teo since she’s still a kid.

Cyril: “Okay, then I will see you at 15:00 hours. I’ll look forward to seeing you in your formal wear!”

Henry: “Don’t….I’m telling you, it’s really not that fancy.”

Sigh…..girls really like these kinds of things…

<<<<>>>>

Now, it’s time to meet up with the gang.

Everyone was there right on time.

Cyril: “Henry, you said formal wear, but…...you look almost the same….?”

Henry: “The material used is actually fancier.”

Well, that’s a weird comparison to make because high-grade Adventurer armor is made of demonic creatures’ fur and cloth made from the Elder Tree Ents or a blended mix of different materials like that, so the price of armor like this would be much more expensive than any formal suits….

Jend: “Well, as long as it’s not anything inappropriate, we should be fine. I’ve met with Sir Alvare on several occasions, but he’s easy to get along with.”

Cyril: “Yes, yes. He’s a Governor, but he definitely doesn’t flaunt his authority at all.”

……..I could take Jend and Cyril’s word for it, but the governor knew them since they were kids. I’m sure that he would be showing them a different side of him compared to someone he doesn’t know.

But worrying about this here isn’t going to get us anywhere.

Teo: “Let’s get going. I know we still have plenty of time, but I hate to dawdle around. It’ll be embarrassing if we show up late.”

Ferris: “I agree with Teo. We can chat along the way.”

With Ferris and Teo pushing us forward, we begin to walk towards the Governor’s mansion.

There’s really no way to get lost. There is a spire rising out of the center of the city, and we just have to keep moving towards it.

Henry: “......now that I think about it...why is the office inside a tower?”

You can see the white, unblemished tall tower from a great distance, and it is the central government office of the city. They call it the Government Tower for that reason, and it’s pretty famous. It is beautiful, but I would think that traveling up and down the tower, and the maintenance and upkeep required would be tiresome.

And during the day, they open part of the tower for tourism too. Apparently, the view from the top of the tower is amazing. But I have yet to go and see it for myself.

Cyril: “I think the 2nd Governor back in the day built it to cater to his tastes.”

Henry: “...........so it was more like a hobby?”

It was the 3rd generation Governor who became an adventurer with Fezard’s King back in the day, so the Governor’s family in general may just be made up of a lot of odd characters.

But anyways, we head towards the Government Tower.

Around the central part of the city, there are many businesses lining up the streets, and it is one of Flowtier’s most prosperous business districts. It is quite crowded though, and it slows us down as we melt into the crowd of the busy streets.

And finally, we arrive at the Government Tower.

Next to the tower is the Governor’s Mansion where the Governor lives.

It is a 4-story mansion, and the yard is kept pristine.

And of course, there are two fully equipped soldiers standing at full attention in front of the gate to ensure that no suspicious characters come through.

Normally, we would be questioned pretty intensely concerning our identities, we’ll hand in our identification forms, and fill in a slew of paperwork before we enter. But this time…

Cyril: “I’m back! Mr. Bearl, Mr. Geo, thank you for all your hard work!”

“Welcome back Cyril. Are those your guests? I recognize Jend in the group.”

Cyril: “Yes, they are all part of my Adventurer Party. This is Henry, Miss Ferris, and Teo.”

Cyril greets the gatekeepers with enthusiasm and gusto and seems super friendly and acquainted with them. ……...no doubt because she goes in and out a lot.

“I understand. They have already informed us about your arrival so you can pass through.”

Cyril: “Yes, thank you! Please keep up the great work!”

“Haha, thank you.”

And we go through.

……………..yeah, I’m super thankful, but it’s letting a lot of air out of the tension.

Cyril: “The Governor requested that we wait for him in the meeting room, so let’s get going.”

Henry: “Okay, okay.”

Hmmm, alright. It’s finally time for the interview, but I wonder how the conversation will go.

Chapter end