<<Previous Chapter | Let's Manage the Tower | Next Chapter>>
Translator: Kazumi
Editor: Silavin
Everyone exchanged brief greetings at the site of the battle and then immediately set off.
The merchant who employed Gozen wanted to get away from the place where monsters had attacked.
Being attacked by monsters was not something that a traveling merchant would be happy about.
Gozen laughed after mentioning to Kousuke’s group that everyone wanted to get away from the scene as quickly as possible. Everyone except for the adventurers, who were tasked as guards. Only they wanted to stick around to collect as much material as possible.
Since the merchants used wagons, there were fewer cases where they became too heavy to carry. However, since the main purpose of the escort was to protect the caravan, the merchants’ opinions were usually respected as the top priority.
♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦
The place where Gozen was being attacked was only a few hours away from the town, so they arrived without saying much during the journey.
It was not until they arrived in town that they started talking with Gozen.
It appeared that they were planning to stay in this town for a few days, to sell the goods they were transporting.
The guards would be resting until then, when they were needed for their travel to the next town.
Half of them will split off in this town to replenish the ranks of adventurers. The other half will continue to provide escorting services until the end of the peddling.
Gozen, who was responsible for the group, was supposed to be with them from start to finish, as per the contract.
“Well, it’s been a really long time.” Gozen said this in the restaurant set up below the inn.
They had already had their first toast.
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“You’re still as stiff as ever.” Gozen was smiling wryly at Kousuke’s attitude.
“It’s just my nature, so there’s nothing I can do about it. By the way, you remembered a lot, Gozen-san.”
This was the first time they have met in person since Kousuke and his friends took on Amamiya Tower.
In terms of years, more than ten years have passed.
Gozen laughed at Kousuke. “Hahaha. It was a party with two beautiful women, who I’ve never seen before. How could I forget?”
The reason Gozen remembered Kousuke and his friends was simple: it was thanks to Kouhi and Mitsuki.
Of course, there was also the uniqueness of the time they first met. However, if Kouhi and Mitsuki had not been there, it would not have been strange if he had forgotten. Gozen revealed this quite openly.
“Oh, I see. I understand.” Kousuke, who was confident that he would have been forgotten if it had been just him, nodded in agreement.
After that, he listened to Gozen’s story about what he had been doing for the past ten years.
Kousuke, on the other hand, had nothing in particular to say, given the circumstances.
Perhaps sensing this mood, Gozen did not ask any unnecessary questions.
There were many adventurers who did not like to talk about themselves. After adventuring for so long, he learnt to sense things like that.
“…So, Gozen-san, you’ve continued adventuring alone without forming a party?”
“Yeah. I thought about joining a party a few times, but I still prefer to go alone.” Gozen took a sip of the sake that had been poured for him and continued.
“When I feel lonely, I can talk to others by taking on escort missions like this.” After saying this, he looked over at the adventurers who were eating and drinking in another part of the tavern. They were fellow adventurers who were on escort missions with him.
“It’s probably thanks to your skills and experience that you can easily get escort missions.”
“Haha. Come on, don’t be silly. Flattery won’t get you anywhere, you know?” Gozen said this and waved his hand, but Kousuke was being serious.
What Gozen was doing was not just any ordinary escort mission. After all, he was the one who led the escort mission.
If he did not have a track record, the merchants who hired him would not entrust him with such an important task. The fact that he could take on such missions whenever he likes means that Gozen relied on that much.
“Speaking of which, you’re with Crown, right, Gozen-san?”
“Of course.” To Kousuke’s causal question, Gozen simply shook his head.
“In fact, it would be more difficult to find an adventurer who isn’t affiliated with Crown, right?”
“Well, that’s true.”
Whether hunting monsters and gathering materials, or taking on escort missions like this one, the quickest way to be active as an adventurer within the Central Continent was to have a Crown Card.
More than ten years have passed since the advent of Crown, and in addition to the headquarters and branch offices located within the Tower, there were also branch offices in most towns and villages.
Such branch offices do not handle tasks such as card registration or renewal, but they do handle tasks such as accepting requests.
If the request was completed, a completion certificate was issued.
The completion certificate contained information about past achievements that had not been registered on the Crown Card, and if they took it to the head office or a branch office, that would be the time it would be recorded.
At first, there were only headquarters and branches, so all requests could only be accepted at either of these locations. It was only after some time, when Crown further developed that requests could be accepted in the towns and villages where the branch offices were located.
The records on these completion certificates were significant for rank renewal.
In order for an adventurer affiliated with Crown to be promoted to D-rank, they must go to headquarters or a branch and take an exam. It was absolutely necessary to have the record of the completion certificate to confirm their achievements.
It was a great hassle for adventurers to have to go all the way to the headquarters or a branch office to raise their rank.
However, to advance to D-rank, one would have to complete at least one escort mission, so most people would usually take an escort mission as soon as they fulfilled the requirements.
Furthermore, for those adventurers from rural areas such as villages, a caravan was sent to the branch or headquarters once a year.
Crown was very thorough in this aspect.
“I assume you have a Crown Card too?”
“Yes, of course.”
Gozen did not behave rudely by asking to see Kousuke’s Crown card.
This was something that had changed over the past ten years. There was a growing sentiment that the Status information on a Crown Card should not be shown so easily to others.
Incidentally, when Kousuke met Gozen, he introduced himself with his real name. However, as expected, Gozen did not connect Kousuke with the Kousuke who had conquered Amamiya Tower.
Even Gozen, who knows to some extent about the power of Kouhi and Mitsuki, did not believe that Amamiya Tower was conquered by just three people. Above all, he does not even suspect it because he does not connect the Kousuke in front of him with the living god in his mind.
If Kousuke were to claim to be a living god here, their dynamics would change. Thus, he naturally had no intention of doing sp.
“Still, the situation surrounding adventurers has changed a lot in the last ten years.”
“That’s true. But it hasn’t become any harder, has it?”
“That’s true. It’s actually become easier.”
With the creation of Crown, Razequa Amamiya was founded and an army was formed. This alone has reduced the rate of large-scale outbreaks.
Even if they did appear, the army would go over to defeat them.
It was also true that peddling had become much easier.
Even so, escort missions themselves would still continue as long as monsters do not disappear.
It was by no means certain that adventurers’ activities would cease, not until monsters completely disappeared.
Kousuke spent a nostalgic and enjoyable time listening to Gozen talk about the current situation of adventurers.
<<Previous Chapter | Let's Manage the Tower | Next Chapter>>
