Chapter 122


    Relying on the map that Lenora had given him, Rei walked through the city of Gimuru . Basically, if he was in the area around the guild, where all the adventurers gathered, he wouldn’t get lost . However, Rei was now heading towards where all the big merchants, the rich people and the nobles lived . You could call it the upperclass area .


    「Come to think of it, this is my first time coming to this area . 」


    Rei muttered as he walked around the streets with his map .


    As expected of the upperclass, unlike other roads where dirt was exposed, it was all paved with stone here . There was hardly any litter around either . Occasionally, he would find random garbage that had been thrown onto the ground, but here, people were professionally hired to clean that up .


    In addition, the roadsides that were not paved with stone had all sorts of trees planted . It was completely different from the guild area, which could be called simple and robust .


    There were no street stalls, and although it wasn’t a substitute, several soldiers could be seen standing guard as gatekeepers in front of each house . Or rather, since they were nobles and merchants, they were probably their own private guards .


    (……The guard may even be tighter than the one around Margrave Rowlock’s residence . )


    While watching the private guards patrolling, Rei thought to himself .


    But that wasn’t just for show . Gimuru was a frontier city and there were many adventurers . And as the number of adventurers increases, so does the number of malicious ones . It wasn’t common for some to group with others to become bandits, it wasn’t unusual either . It wasn’t a strange scene to see wealthy people hire their own guards to counter that .


    With Daska governing the city of Gimuru, as it wasn’t bad enough that it was necessary to send soldiers and knights to guard the upperclass areas, there was a tacit consent that they could hire private soldiers as guards .


    As Rei walked into the area wearing his robe, he didn’t attract too much attention as it was clear he was an adventurer .


    「Boy, do you have any business here?」


    The first person to call out to him was a man in his twenties, wearing a light leather armour which had been dyed green . A long sword hung at his waist and he looked to be in his late twenties .


    Behind the man who called out, there were several more men, all of them wearing the same green dyed armour .


    Perhaps they were all hired by the same noble or rich person .


    Rei showed them the map that Lenora had given him .


    「I wasn’t invited to meet the president of Azoth Firm . If you know where this place on the map is, please tell me . 」


    Maybe it was because he asked that confidently, the men’s wariness of him lessened somewhat . If they had just come over to see who he was and he had ran away, they might have thought he panicked because he had done something .


    「This is……Bolton-san’s mansion . Go straight along this street and you will see it on your right . The roof is completely gold, so you should see it at first glance . 」


    「……Gold?」


    At the man’s words, Rei unintentionally asked .


    Several houses could be seen from where he was now, but most of them had plain coloured roofs . There was a gold one? He wondered to himself .


    Guessing what Rei was thinking, the man gave a strained laugh .


    「Well, that’s right . When someone gets rich, they look at things differently than us . 」


    「……I see . 」


    At the man’s remark, Rei nodded in agreement .


    Maybe the man expected that reaction, He patted Rei’s head, that was covered by his robe .


    「Let’s just say that . Well, anyway, you will reach that mansion if you go straight along this road . We have to leave because we’re patrolling, don’t make a fuss around here . It will become troublesome if that happens . 」


    Seeing the man wave his hand lightly as he left, Rei gave a sigh and continued down the street as the man had told him .


    「……This certainly is the upperclass area . 」


    Building on both sides of the street were built excellently and most of them were bigger than the Dusk Wheat inn, which Rei was staying in . Even if it was just a mansion, the further down he walked, the more expensive they became . For example, on the walls around the mansion that Rei had just walked past were all engraved with a complex wind pattern . Further back behind it, similar designs were built into every building .


    Rei continued walking for another 20 minutes . If anything, the mansion was built at the farthest end of the upperclass area .


    「Gold……is it . 」


    Rei spoke those word unintentionally as he looked at the roof of the mansion .


    The residences around it looked quite normal, so the mansion with the golden roof stood out all the more . However, it only stood out in a bad way .


    And in front of the gate leading to the mansion, there was a gatekeeper standing there with a spear, similar to the other mansions .


    (Well, there’s no use just looking . I should just go and finish this up quickly . )


    Thinking to himself, he walked towards the gate .


    Before long, the guard noticed Rei and looked at him suspiciously as he came closer .


    As they looked at each other, Rei went closer……and stopped before the gatekeeper .


    「Is this the mansion of the president of Azoth Firm, Bolton?」


    「……That’s right, what business do you have little kid?　Bolton-sama is busy . He has no time to care about people like you . 」


    When the man standing to the right of the gate said that, the man standing to the left of the gate also spoke up .


    「From your age, you’re having difficulty working as an adventurer and have come here to see if Azoth Firm would hire you, right?　But Azoth Firm is a place where the elite gather . The door isn’t wide enough to hire children like you . 」


    At those words, Rei’s cheeks started to twitch, but in the end, he still spoke out .


    「I have received a summons from the president of Azoth Firm, is this your attitude towards visitors?」


    「Ahh?　A brat like you was summoned by Bolton-san?　That’s a joke I can’t even laugh at . 」


    The man in metal armour standing to the right of the gate directed the tip of his spear at Rei while speaking crankily .


    On the left side, the other armoured man clicked his tongue at his fellow gatekeeper’s sudden action, but he still pointed his spear at Rei before speaking out .


    「……That guy is overdoing it, but it’s our job to keep out people like you . Anyway, Azoth Firm is a pretty big company in the city of Gimuru and we deal with almost all the weapons trade here . We can’t let any suspicious people through . Can you just go home?」


    「Hey, Sakant . You’re too kind . Every time we talk to these guys, as long as we show a gap, they will try to get in . Your kindness is unnecessary . 」


    「Fader, you’re too noisy . You that a terrible time in your previous job because you kept making a mess didn’t you?　You can cause a commotion if you want, but at least do it without dragging me into it . 」


    When the man called Sankant told Fader, Fader clicked his tongue and glared at Rei .


    「Heard that, brat? You have until I count down from 10 to leave, otherwise my spear will taste blood . 」


    At those threatening words, Rei sighed .


    「I get it, you want me to go home right? Then I’ll leave . 」


    Saying that, Rei turned to walk back the way he came . He said that in a regretful tone, but he had a bright smile as he walked away .


    (At the very least, I went to Bolton’s mansion . Since I was sent away, even if I am blamed for it, I can give an excuse . ……Well, although I heard it from Freon yesterday and Milein today, I wouldn’t have thought it was like this unless I came here . Anyway, it would be good if he could just forget about me……he might cause a fuss though . )


    Rei left the upperclass area as he muttered to himself .


    Sakant breathed a sigh of relief as he saw that it didn’t become a big issue . Fader, on the other hand, was displeased at the disappearance of a suitable person to vent his violent impulses on .


    「You know . If you caused a commotion, I would be collateral you know?　You shouldn’t get so excited over fighting a kid . 」


    「I know already . However, I just did that on reflex when I saw that brat’s eyes . 」


    「……Fader, you don’t possibly have some strange disease or something do you?」


    「What do you mean by that!」


    Sakant took a step back as Fader shouted back .


    Time flowed on into night . The seasons had already changed to autumn and the sun set quickly . For that reason, the city of Gimuru was already covered in darkness although the 6pm bell had just rang . Although lamps started to come on here and there, even so, it was only a slight resistance against the overwhelming darkness .


    However, there were several places in the city of Gimuru where the lights lit up brightly . One was the lord’s residence in the heart of Gimuru . Another was the bars where adventurers celebrated the day’s work . There was also the brothels, where men gathered, seeking warmth from a lover for the night . ……And then, there was the upperclass area, where the lights shone brightly, as if to show that they were different from the poor commoners .


    Among the mansions in that area, a shouting voice echoed through a secluded area in one of the mansions .


    「Ehh!　Why hasn’t that adventurer called Rei obeyed my orders!　I should have told him through the guild to show his face here today!」


    A cup was thrown against a wall in anger . The cup that shattered and liquor that was inside fell onto the high class carpet .


    Whether it was the carpet, the thrown cup or the amber liquor, their worth enough for a commoner couple to live for several years . But the man who threw it didn’t care about that as he irritably placed his weight on a chair .


    The backrest of the chair took his weight with a creaking sound, but the man’s irritation still didn’t settle .


    The man, who could almost be referred to as an elder, didn’t look like the president of a company . Despite having reached his sixties, there was an energetic light in his eyes and he had an arrogant looking face . He believed from the bottom of his heart that it was only natural that people did what he told them to do .


    This man was Bolton, the president of Azoth Firm, which was the sole distributor of weapons in the city of Gimuru .


    Several maids who were in the room avoided his gaze as they cleaned up the cup and liquor that had shattered and spilled onto the walls and floor . Bolton watched them in irritation before giving a snort and pouring more liquor into a new glass, drinking it in a single gulp .


    「Hey! It seems like that adventurer Rei doesn’t move easily . Take some people and bring him to me!　Fine, you’re just an adventurer……does a D rank adventurer think that he can ignore my orders . Drag him here to teach him a lesson!」


    Perhaps seeing he was drunk, the butler beside him spoke to Bolton, who was shouting with a red face .


    「Master-sama . I heard that the adventurer called Rei has a Griffon . Speaking of Griffons, I heard that it is an A rank monster . At most, the adventurers hired by Azoth Firm are only B rank . I don’t think they will be able to oppose a Griffon . 」


    「Ahh!?　What’s that?　It’s fine to keep licking the shoes of a D rank adventurer!?」


    「I didn’t say that . According to rumors I heard, Rei had received a nominated request from Margrave Rowlocks . Naturally, he has some relations with the lord . You should refrain from doing anything too violent……」


    「Tch, I see . So there’s a possibility of him sticking his hand in . 」


    He clicked his tongue and slammed the cup in his hand against the table like a brick before pouring more liquor into the empty cup .


    It was a pricey liquor that most ordinary people couldn’t afford, but Bolton didn’t seem to care as he poured it down his throat like water .


    「Though I summoned him through the guild, he ignored me……it can’t be helped . Hey, get some adventurers we hired to look for Rei tomorrow . Since there’s a Griffon……no, wait . That’s right, if he doesn’t come tomorrow, tell him he won’t be able to buy weapons in Gimuru . 」


    「Master-sama……as I said earlier, as long as he has a connection with the lord, openly threatening him like that……」


    「Tch, there’s no choice . Just do enough to make him feel it . 」


    「Certainly, I understand . I’ll give the orders . 」


    After the butler gave a bow and left the room, Bolton gulped down more liquor in frustration .