Chapter 164: Cedaraille.
Wait, are you kidding me, there is a dungeon in Griffonpeak, too? I asked Eine with an incredulous face.
Yes, a B rank one. The Knights of the Lionheart Order, our Kingdoms griffon knights, use it as a training ground for their veteran members. However, because the difficulty of the dungeon is rather high, it isnt very popr with the average adventurer, Eine exined, mildly blowing away the excitement I felt for the dungeon in Cedaraille. On the other hand, as Cedarailles is ranked as D but possesses floors with varying degrees of difficulties, its far more popr with beginners. Mother said the first few floors are easy enough for F Rank adventurers while the depths can be too hard for B rank adventurers. In certain parts, I believe.
Youve never been in a dungeon, Eine?
Eine gave a wry smile at my question. Youve seen how inexperienced I was during our first hunt together, La- Hestia. I apologize, its still hard to get used to it all the time.
No need to worry, Eine. Even if Griffonpeak has a dungeon, I believe we should stay here for a bit just to experience a dungeon as well as raising our levels up. Although I really do want to continue our trip to the capital of the kingdom, I do not think rushing forward is a wise decision, Saoriforted Eine before stating our partys current goals.
Tasianna nodded, adding why we couldnt stay here for too long, Of course, we cannot stay here as long as in Firwood. Lady Hestia still needs to visit the cathedral in the capital, Miss Saori needs information on her own Quest, and Lady Eine needs to formally ask for time off from the royal academy. We will leave once SpringSun arrives.
We had just arrived in Cedaraille a little while ago. As you would expect from a city, Cedaraille was big, far bigger than Firwood when it came to the wall surrounding the city as well as how crowded the streets were. Of course, it was nowhere close to how crowded New York was, but if I were to stretch my arm forward, I would definitely hit somebody, unlike in Firwood.
Technology-wise, it was around the same level of Firwood, where manatech was nowhere to be seen in the lowermoner district, rare in the merchant district, and abundant in the noble district. In other words, the basicyout of Firwood was simr to how the districts were divided here in Cedaraille. Evidence that Firwood took some notes from the duchys capital city before being built, ording to Eine.
However, architecturally, there was a clear difference.
The smell here isnt that bad, Saori pointed out, which I agreed with. The middle district of Firwood reeked of rubbish and toilet stuff, and most of the inhabitants would have too if they werent cleaning themselves in the local bathhouses or at home.
Thats when Eine was forced to answer our questioning stares, Uhm, the local mages guild is responsible for the sewage system of Cedaraille.
Hold on, Peolynca already knows about sewers? I raised a brow at what Eine just said.
Do not be so surprised, Hestia. Even with where wee from, some cities managed to fund a sewer system to stop the horrible smells within their walls while others couldnt, all during the same era, Saori exined. Of course, she was speaking about Earth during the middle ages, keeping certain parts vague for the sake of any prying ears while we were still out in public.
Eine nodded, also understanding what Saori said. Yes, that is the case. A sewer was actually under construction in Firwood; however, due to a problem with the slimes, it was dyed for a long time forck of funds. Earth mages had problems constructing the system, as the architects were unable to design a working blueprint with Firwoods geology. Then, water mages were needed to maintain the sewer water, but with Davison forcing the mages guild out of Firwood, the ns had to stoppletely.
<em>Ahhh, in other words, a series of shitty problems No pun intended.</em>
Slimes? Saori questioned.
Yes, do you three remember the slimes in the bathrooms of my mansion? Those slimes would be used to clean up the sewage canals. Of course, in an environment where they have ess torge quantities of food, the slimes needed to be regrly culled; otherwise they would grow far toorge and numerous. Usually, this would be the water mages duties buuuuut nobody respectable enough would want to do that.
You are implying hunters Quests, correct, Lady Eine? Tasianna replied.
Yes, work for adventurers. Sometimes other monsters enter the sewers, so a sewer usually turns into an undesirable training ground for beginners, or so Ive heard from father and mother. Uh, I beg of you, please do not misunderstand and send me into the sewer, everybody. I beg of you, please, no, Eine pleaded, looking for all the world like a scared kitten, terrified of being sent to train in the sewers.
Laughing it off, I now understood why she didntin as much about the smell as our time in Firwood. Ahh, so thats why you didnt mention anything about the noble district. I honestly thought you would want us to enter through the noble districts gate, Eine. Well, it does smell rather nice here.
Eines family had another mansion here as well. One in Helvas County, another in Firwood, a third in Cedaraille, and a final one in Griffonpeak. As nobles were expected to show up to balls during social seasons, they sometimes had to leave their fiefs or primary homes and travel to another city or town, requiring them to find amodation. The most efficient way would be to build another home if you had to travel to certain locations a lot.
Well, aside from the smell, I also knew you wouldnt agree to it, Hestia. Hmmm, to be honest, I hope our inn will have proper beds instead of those thin mattresses over hard bs of wood Ive heardmoners have to sleep on. Sleeping on forest floors is just not good for my back or fatigue, Eineined, revealing how much shed struggled with our travels this past week.
Well, I guess we might have been a bit too harsh with your training. As part of her training, I had used [The Will to Fight and Survive] to make Eine have infinite Stamina so that she could strain her muscles to the limit. Building up stats and overall Stamina was important for her.
As we walked through the middle district of Cedaraille, the big city atmosphere became more and more pronounced. People on the street calling people out to buy some suspicious stuff, adventurers manning monster material stalls, and areas on the street that were taken over by street food vendors. These were all things that also happened in Firwood, but not the sheer number of people crowding around the stalls for the simple pleasure of shopping.
Saori showed some interest in grocery shopping at the local marketce, but finding an inn before noon should be our priority. Thest thing we needed was to settle for sleeping outside or in some sketchy, rundown inn. And, with how many merchants were walking around on the streets and therge line in front of the city gates, we needed to hurry before the goods ones were all booked up.
[Saori,] I called Saori out using [Telepathy].
She replied immediately, [Yeah, I know.]
Huh? Excuse me? Eine looked confused as she questioned what we were talking about.
Its a habit for me to use [Telepathy] on everybody in Aurora, however, since we havent gotten Eine to level up yet, she hasnt earned any SP since she unlocked the SP shop to buy [Telepathy] from her shop, meaning she needed to speak tomunicate until then. Her sensory skills werent high enough, either.
Without answering Eines question, Saori turned around and quickly swiped Eines pouch from her belt. While Eine was flustered, Saori loosened the strap on it and revealed the contents, or, rather, theck of contents, to the sneaky little pickpocket before he could attempt it himself.
Wrong targets, pickpocket, Saori scowled at a young fox-eared boy in dirty clothes. A bolt of ck lightning wrapped itself around her arm as she tied Eines pouch closed. It is empty. Run along now, otherwise you might get into trouble.
The young foxians eyes widened, looking terrified as he quickly nodded and merged back into the crowd without anybodys knowledge. Eine shouted Impertinent! and questioned why Saori let him go, despite almostmitting a crime against a noble; however, Saori held her back before she could chase after him.
I do not like pickpockets either, but chasing after him now would be a waste of time. He looked agile and he knows the alleyways of his home better, Saori reasoned with Eine, but she wouldnt have it.
With all due respect, Saori, letting a thief go without punishing him will only cause trouble for everybody else. He will not learn from this, and as a noble, it is also my duty to enforce thews of my kingdom, Eine stubbornly refused. If there is one thing her inferiorityplex hadnt dulled, it was her sense of duty as a noble.
As people were starting to notice us, I grabbed Eines shoulder and ordered her to stand down and to find an inn first before we do anything. She was reluctant, but as a noble, she couldnt refuse the words of the one she deemed her mistress now. It was ufortable to do and caused some awkwardness between us, but I had to intervene. This is why we had to help her adapt to our partys culture fast.
<em>Also, there is the topic about the impending grimgarian war I have to talk with Eine about. I dont feel its time yet</em>
After entering the merchant district, Saori picked out a decent-looking inn in the area. Not the best, since she wanted to save on money, but not the worst, either, as she thinks our party deserved some luxury after our trip here.
Woooo, this is soooooooft. My poor legs. Immediately after checking in, Eine tested the beds in our room before crashing on one like an exhausted athlete. She embraced her pillow and tried to reposition her posture until she reached the right spot. Even this lowly bed is far better than the ground. I could just fall asleep now Oh! Lady Hestia! My apologies.
The moment her senses returned, Eine opened her eyes wide like an owl and jumped off her bed, snapping her legs straight as she tried to find an excuse for her behavior. Her bright red facebined with her iling arms was adorable, causing me to chuckle a bit. Despite how often wed been alone in a room together, she still hasnt befortable enough to just let herself chill.
Eine, let me just say this again, but I dont care about our Mistress and Retainer roles, alright? If you want to be serious about it, then by all means; however, you are my friend and party member first. That is Aurora, I attempted to calm her down, worrying her tomato-colored face would overheat her head.
Y-Yes, I know. I do apologize that we had to repeat this discussion again, but to repay you for epting my selfish wish toe with you, I should be morepetent, no? Eine argued, feeling a bit impatient to prove herself despite the fact we have only been together for a week.
And we are about to do some training to help you get to that phase. One thing I learned from my dance trainer during my idol trainee phase was to always solidify your foundation. However, how will you be able to train effectively if you never rx, Eine? Youll stress yourself out, I then tested my bed and jumped on it, rxing immediately. So, take some time to rest. A nap even. Until Saori and Tasiannae back from grocery shopping, no food to eat.
We arrived just a bit before lunchtime, so Saori and Tasianna wanted to fill everybodys belly before we stormed the dungeon of Cedaraille. After all, the trip from Firwood to Cedaraille was quite far we even had to travel over a bridge built over the same river the barracudas travelled down during winter.
After Eineid back on her bed, she quickly fell asleep, the exhaustion of a week of straight traveling weighing her eyelids shut. Our trip probably would have taken longer for an ordinary group traveling on foot, since it supposedly would take the same amount of time as we took to travel from Firwood to Cedaraille by carriage. We could have ridden Saoris garms if it wasnt to help Eine train.
It honestly felt as if she was trying to prove herself to somebody. Was it me or to herself? Well, whomever it was, I hope shell be able to feel morefortable with us after the dungeon training.
A whileter, Saori and Tasianna returned with some freshly-made meals they made in the inns kitchen, which they were able to borrow with the innkeepers permission. After we devoured everything, I took out the wooden bathtub I made in our travels for Eine, who felt ufortable bathing in the wilderness. Tasianna filled it up with water and I heated it up, which we used in a rotation to clean ourselves up. At least Eine wasnt afraid of being naked in front of other girls.
Belly filled and refreshed, we departed from our inn after informing the innkeeper we would go to the dungeon. He didnt say anything about it, but his worried face betrayed his real feelings about it.
Dont worry. The Goddess is on our side. I snapped my finger before having my parallel minds show off ten spell circles at once. With level ten of [Parallel Thoughts], I finally maxed that skill, although now I have ten other minds speaking inside my head.
Our first destination was the hunters guild. We hadnt been very active in Firwood concerning Quests, due in no small part to running our restaurant and taking care of Davison, so we had to begin climbing the ranks. A higher rank meant better Quests and recognition, after all.
After asking adventurers on the street, we eventually made it to the guild. As we were about to enter, a giant suddenly came out of the guild.
Hmph! he huffed the moment he saw us, looking irritated as we were blocking his way out. Move.
Giant wasnt quite the right word for him, as he wasnt significantly taller than me, however, I thought of him like that cause his frame was farrger than mine. Muscles so thick they looked like rocks, slightly tanned skin with soot covering parts of it, a weird stone-hide covering his ears, and a massive orange beard and long oily hair apanied by two ram-like horns on his head. Was he a ram beastman?
ddarg! Move! he bellowed out, making me quickly step to the side, letting him leave. He was huffing around as he stomped away in a bad mood. Did I cause that?
Wow, I didnt expect to meet a taz dwarf outside the mountains, Tasianna suddenly said.
<em>Dwarf?</em>
As I asked her about it, she quickly began exining, Do you remember Kraftja and Ogni, Lady Hestia? They mentioned they were inko dwarves, correct? Tazong is the word for dwarf in the dwarvennguage, Inkong-gul, better known as the Undermountain Speech. An Inko is known as a surface dwarf, those who dwell in the upper crust of the earth or mountain, seldom leaving to the surface.
<em>Now that I think about it, Kraftja did call herself an inko dwarf.</em>
Tasianna continued, Now, a taz is known as an undermountain dwarf, those who dwell so deep in the earth that some might have never seen the sun before. They are bulkier than the surface-dwelling dwarves but are considerably shorter to help them fit inside their tunnels. While I do not know how it happened, taz dwarves are known as firebreathers. They are able to expel mes without needing to use mana, although its considerably weaker than a dragons.
<em>That is a dwarf?! Well, I can see it with his long beard, but I honestly thought he was a demon for a second with his horns.</em>
Pardon, Tasianna, but wasnt he almost as tall as Hestia? Eine questioned.
She is right. Ogni was as tall as Hestia and so was that taz. I cannot call that shorter, Saori agreed with Eines point.
However, Tasianna didnt have an answer for that. As she shook her head, we decided to ignore this for now and head into the guild. The guild hall in Cedaraille was farrger than the one in Firwoods branch, and even had a mezzanine, a second floor that acted like a balcony overlooking the first floor. The building was packed, including the mandatory instations like the training hall in the back, the guild tavern next door linked through a door, the questboard where all the Quests were posted, and, of course, the handler counter.
As it was past lunchtime, the liveliness inside was simr to Firwood, as most adventurers were out for work. Consequently, there was barely a line in front of the receptionists.
Greetings on this wonderful LightDay, Miss, I greeted the handler once it was our turn, doing my priestess impression.
Thank you very much, Lady Shrine Maiden. May the Goddess bless you, too. My name is Cleo; how may the guild help you today, a human woman in herte twenties bowed slightly, greeting us with a professional smile.
Yes, my party Aurora wishes to enter the local dungeon managed by the guild. I heard that you require a stamp from the guild hall to enter, I recalled from Eines exnation. We four then handed the handler our IDs.
She epted them graciously and began inspecting them, raising an eyebrow as she looked at Eines, the only ID of the four with a different design. Excuse me, but isnt this person G rank? The dungeon is ranked as D, meaning the guild cannot grant this person permission to enter for their safety.
Eines eyes twitched as she heard this, smiling wryly as she knew this would happen. I patted her shoulder, telling her she was far stronger than G rank and returned my gaze back to the receptionist to clear up the misunderstanding, Miss, please look at the remaining IDs. Our party is designated as E rank and we will be bringing the G rank with us for training. That should be allowed, correct?
As she returned to her inspection, she quickly apologized for what she said before, confirming we could request permission if our partys rank was adequate. A partys rank was determined by the average between all members and while Eines G rank brought us down to E rank, we were still high enough due to Saoris, Tasiannas, and my rank. Luckily, Farron was nice enough to make us D rank. It was another reason why we should start grinding adventurer rank.
Lady Eine Fiero Helvas, Miss Tasianna Marina Silverpond, Miss Saori Segawa, Lady Hestia AtsukoOh! Lady Shrine Maiden, did you perhaps just arrive in Cedaraille from Firwood? Cleo suddenly asked me.
After I confirmed it, she nodded and informed us why she knew about it, The guild master for this branch of the hunters guild has received a message from the guild master from the Firwood branch to look out for you and Aurora. I apologize for not recognizing you earlier. With the rmendation of Farron Nordor, Guild Master of Firwoods hunters guild, permission may be granted. Please, wait a moment for me to imprint your permission on your ID.
<em>Farron? Jeez, old man. Worrying about us enough that you would inform another branch? Well, now I really have to help you out with your ailment although, considering the ingredients, we will need to wait until we reach Griffonpeak to begin.</em>
After we took back our IDs, we went over to the Questboard to pick up some Quests to help out Eine. In order for her to rank up, she needed to umte ten G rank points usually equalling ten G rank Quests however, she could also rank up by taking F rank Quests. Each F rank point was worth two G rank points. Fortunately, all of them were monster material collection Quests that fit into Eines power leveling goal.
Of course, we took more than just five F ranks; we took 20. Why? 15 F rank points were needed to rank up to E rank. As we nned to enter the local dungeon, we only took Quests which specifically mentioned monsters that spawned inside it.
When we showed our Quest choices to Cleo, she looked bbergasted at the amount presented but nheless registered them all to our name. Once they were all under our name, we finally took this chance to change our Jobs, something we forgot to do in Firwood in our excitement to leave.
Job: Aggravator
Requirements: 1000 Health, 400 Intelligence, 500 Vitality, 500 Wisdom, [Fighter]
Acquirement Benefits: Health increase, Vitality increase, Wisdom Increase, Stamina increase, [Enhanced Health Growth] proficiency
Main Job Benefits: [Taunt]
Individual <strong>[Sunfang Dragonewt, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor] </strong>has switched her Main Job to <strong>[Aggravator]</strong>
Main Job benefits have been updated due to Job change
Aggravator Level: 0/5
Job Ability gained: [Taunt]
<em>Oh yeah!</em>
It was an obvious choice, an improved version of our partys Concert Farming strategy. As Eine wasnt the strongest currently, me being able topletely direct a monsters attention away from Eine was important to keep her safe while also giving me a chance to lure monsters closer to me for quicker kills.
The requirement was quite steep for a beginner-ss Job, since you need stats around a D rank adventurer to get [Aggravator], but I guess it made sense for a tank to be strong. However, what fighter would reach 400 Intelligence easily?
Back to the Job changes, Eine was the only one who couldnt change her Job as she switched from her [Magic Tinkerer] to [Fighter] after the hunt we did together, and without being able to level up, she would have to wait to change her Job until after we were done. Saori and Tasianna switched to [Dark Mage] and [Storm Sorcerer] respectively.
As we were about to leave the guild, I heard some people whispering about our party. Most of them were baffled by what they had heard the receptionist say about Farrons rmendation and our twenty epted Quests. The rest, however, were a bit less confused.
Are they the same people who spied on us when we entered the city? I asked Saori as our party was on our way outside the city towards the dungeon, covering us all with an [Air Shield] to prevent people from eavesdropping.
Saori nodded, so I gave her another question, Did you look into them while you were outside shopping for ingredients?
Uno did. He spied on them for a bit and ryed the information through [Telepathy] to me. They belong to a noble, but I am not sure from which house, Saori informed us all.
Eine listened, thought it through for a moment, before giving a possibility, It could be Lord Duke Greenveils. In addition Lord Marquess Sirius and His Majesty, Lord Duke Greenveil was also given your information, as you stayed in his duchy.
I frowned, shaking my head in frustration, unable to help but think of the worst possibility. If that is the case, then I really hope he doesnt drag us into his problems. We are staying here for a bit and then we will leave, nothing more. No nobles scheme, please.
<em>Please, please.</em>
A note from AbyssRaven
If you guys haven''t seen it yet...here you go:
That''s right! Dragon Idol''s cover art! Say goodbye to the adult dragoness with the spear, now you guys get the teen dragoness with a microphone! Technically, Hestia doesn''t have her microphone yet, but well, I wanted the art to show her singing.
Anyways, thank you guys so very much for all the support. We''ve gotten Hestia, Saori, and Tasianna as art already and now the story has a cover! Honestly, it''s incredible how far the story has gotten. With the addition of Eine, we do need her in art form now. Can''t wait for that to happen!
All the support you guys have given me, whether it''s reading on RR or pledging money on Patreon, all of it helped me achieve this sess today.
Special thanks to dinal06 over in Fiverr for helping me create this. Head over to his profile with this link if you guys need some art: Link
And with that, wee to the new arc! I''m sure we will have a fiery good time...no pun intended.
If <strong>you guys want to support me, Hestia and "A Dragon Idol''s Reincarnation Tale" (or just read up to 17 advance chapters + any Patreon-only chapters) please check out my Patreon: </strong><strong>Rawr!</strong>
If you guys enjoyed this chapter then, please follow the story. If you guys want the story to grow, then giving it a rating or a favorite will do wonders: Rawr
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About the author
<strong> 1 </strong> Fictions <strong> 7 </strong> Posts <strong> 1 </strong> Threads <ul><li> Friday, May 21, 2021 8:26:46 PM </li><li> Germany </li><li> [Member of Zard Skwad] </li></ul>
<strong>Bio:</strong> Hey there, AbyssRaven here. I''m just an avid Light Novel and Fantasy story reader who randomly thought of a story and began writing about it.
I eventually found out that I''ve been spending a bit too much time with building, nning, and researching for the story, that I''ve decided to just share it with others.
Writing is mostly a hobby for me, but I would still love any kind of criticism to improve on it.
I''m also german, so please excuse anything that sounds a bit weird...I wouldn''t mind you pointing it out though. Achievements
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