Near the edge of the Mireana Kingdom. A city that was closer to the frontier than the central lands was approaching destruction.

About 30% of the city’s residents were down with a feverish illness. The remaining residents were desperately nursing them. But unfortunately, that only served to spread the illness further.

Yes, the illness that was spreading through the city was something that originally wouldn’t occur in the area. This place was normally hot all year round, but illness would usually only occur with the addition of higher humidity. However, many people in the town started falling ill for some reason.

There were some people who knew about the illness and about 10 hours ago, it had become clear it shouldn’t be possible for it to appear in this area. They asked the pharmacists and alchemists about the medicinal cure for it……but it turned out that they didn’t have enough stock of a herb to make the medication.

In situations like this, pharmacists and alchemists were usually the ones at fault. But they couldn’t be blamed as no one in that city expected that the illness, commonly known as 『Magic Fever』, would occur here.

「……So, what herbal ingredient are we short of?」

Diarog ,the deputy governor of the city of Baar, bitterly asked the elderly man in front of him.

The elderly man’s name was Seis. He was the guild master of Baar’s adventurers guild. At the same time, he was highly skilled mage and a close friend of Diarog.

「It’s called Aurani grass powder, its a powder made from the dried grass that can be found growing in regions with high magic power. It’s the main ingredient for making medication to suppress Magic Fever.」
「……Aurani grass. The grass only grows in regions with high magic power you say? Where would that be specifically.」
「That’s right. The closest place from here would probably be the city of Gilm, near the Forest of Monsters.」
「The city of Gilm? ……If I’m not mistaken, there is a method for guild masters to contact each other?」
「Yes. I thought of that as well……but is that okay? The city lord is a member of the Nobles Faction. Margrave Rowlocks is a central figure in the Neutral Faction. If we ask for help from guild in his city, will the lord blame you for that?」

The moment the guild master said that, Diarog slammed his fist onto the table.

「If we do this, I know that something like that will happen! But, having a way to save people who are suffering from the illness and leaving them to die, what kind of lord is that! I will take all responsibility!」
「……I understand. I will contact Gilm’s guild master immediately. But……」

Speaking up to that point, the guild master stopped.

Diarog knew what his good friend wanted to say. Although the city of Baar and the city of Gilm were both on the frontier, the distance between them was vast. If a merchant caravan had a smooth journey, it would take half a month. Even if a seasoned adventurer who drove their horse to its limits, it would still take 10 days.

It was possible to use an item in the guild to notify them of the city’s current situation. But if you considered the time it would take to collect the Aurani grass powder and then transport it to this city……

「It would be good if 40% of the residents can survive.」

Diarog briefly said that with a bitter expression of regret.

「It can’t be helped. It’s a situation of life and death. I will contact the city of Gilm immediately. ……I don’t know how much we will owe them for this.」
「Haa~, such a debt, if we can salvage this situation, I’ll pay back as much as I can.」

Giving a depressed sigh, Diarog spoke with a smile.

「That’s true, right now we are helpless in this situation. I’ll take my leave.」
「Ah. I’ve used my authority as deputy governer to shut the city gates so to not spread the illness any further. I can’t afford to spread it to other cities. Regarding food, I’ll figure something out with our reserves.」

Seis gave a small nod at those words and deftly left the office with movements unlike that of a mage in his fifties.

Seeing his good friend leave, Diarog hit the table with his fist again.

 

 

「Now then. This magic stone……what should I do.」

The Dusk Wheat, where Rei was staying. As he lay down on the bed, he took out two magic stones from the Misty Ring and looked at them.

The two of them were obtained during the dismantling of the Gamelions in the dismantling hut with Hasta yesterday. A magic stone that was 5cm in diameter belonged to the ordinary Gamelion while the larger 10cm diameter one belonged to the rare species.

Although the rare species was about three times larger than an ordinary Gamelion, the magic stone was only about twice as large. While wondering about that, he decided that it was just how it was……his main trouble was how to use the magic stones.

As to how Rei wanted to use the magic stones, it was naturally to get Set and the Death Scythe to learn new skills using the Magic Beast Art. If he had two magic stones of ordinary Gamelions, he wouldn’t be so troubled over whether to let Set or the Death Scythe use it. However, now one of his magic stones was from a rare species.

「In the case of Goblins, it was impossible to learn a skill with ordinary Goblin magic stones. But with a rare species, Set could learn Fire Breathe. In other words, it would be better to consider magic stones from ordinary monsters and rare species to be from two different types of monsters. Then……well, to play safe, it would be better to give the rare species magic stone to Set?」

While mulling over the issue on his bed, he was at a loss on what to do. However, he suddenly stopped moving and sat up before turning towards his door.

His gaze was much sharper compared to just a few seconds before, when he was wondering what to do with the magic stones.

Yes, he heard the sound of someone running up the stairs.

(Who is it? I don’t think that they’re trying to raid someone’s room with such loud footsteps. There shouldn’t be many people in the inn since it’s the afternoon.)

He turned to look outside the window.

Although he didn’t know what the temperature outside was, since he was inside the inn, the noise of the wind and the rattling of the window still made him feel cold. Fortunately, the Dusk Wheat was a high class accommodation and there were magic items for heating. Because of that, it wasn’t as cold inside the room. But, it was still easy to imagine how cold it was outside.

Although it was unlikely for snow to fall in this season, this could be considered the home stretch for adventurers who wanted to take a break for winter. If they didn’t work and earn money at this time, they would have to desperately complete monster subjugation requests in the snow.

Meanwhile, Rei had accumulated enough money to live and play around for a few years. The only thing he really had to do was to consider what to do with the magic stones he had obtained from the Gamelion and rare species yesterday……

「Well, I guess it has something to do with me after all.」

Muttering with a sigh, he put on his Dragon Robe and the Shoes of Sleipnir.

He would likely damage the room if he swung the Death Scythe here, so he didn’t take it out from the Misty Ring. Instead, he equipped the Mithril knife he was familiar with at his waist. He prepared himself to retaliate in the event that anyone attacked……

Gan~ Gan~ Gan~!

While frowning slightly at the sound which was too loud to be considered a knock, Rei called out.

「Who is it?」
「It’s me, Lenora!」
「……Lenora?」

Mumbling to himself, Rei opened the door to his room. Waiting outside was indeed the guild receptionist who Rei was acquainted with.

She looked like she had run here. Her ponytail shook along with her rough breathing.

First of all, Rei poured a cup of water from a jug in the room and passed it to Lenora.

「Ah, thank you very much.」
「So, what’s the matter? Do you want to buy the Gamelion materials?」

For a delicate person like Lenora to run all the way over here, Rei couldn’t think of any other reason.

However, Lenora hurriedly drank the water in the cup while shaking her head.

「No, it’s not that. The guild master has requested you to come over.」
「……The guild master?」

Rei muttered to himself. Rei had passed through the guild many times, but he had never met face to face with Gilm’s guild master. Rei wondered why the guild master, who he didn’t even know the face of, had suddenly called him over. Lenora continued speaking after putting the cup on a table in the room.

「It seems like an emergency situation, I was asked to bring Rei-san to the guild urgently. ……You really don’t know?」
「Ah. A recent big disturbance……maybe it’s about the Gamelion rare species? I don’t know why the guild master would call me over.」

He recalled in his mind the Gamelion that was over 8m in size. Maybe killing it had some meaning.

「I don’t know, but please come over as soon as possible. Ahh, not just Rei-san but Set as well.」
「……Set as well?」

(In that case, it’s not about the Gamelion. Although it’s a rare species, it’s still only B rank at highest. However, then I really have no idea why I would be called over……）

There was nothing scarier than being called over without knowing the reason. While thinking like that, he got up from his bed. Since it was the direct call from the guild master, he couldn’t just ignore it.

「I understand. Set as well. We’ll get ready immediately.」
「After telling you, I’ve been told to head back to the guild immediately, but please come over as soon as you can!」

Lenora was in quite a hurry. As soon as she said that, she immediately left without waiting for Rei’s reply.

Seeing her leave, Rei went down to pick up Set while having a slightly bad feeling about what was waiting for him at the guild.

「……I wonder what has happened?」
「Guru~?」

 

 

As Lenora had asked him, Rei had made his way to the guild with Set. However, the guild seemed to have an unusual atmosphere compared to normally.

To be exact, a large number of people were entering and leaving the guild. This was despite the fact that most adventurers would be out on their requests during this time.

Next to Rei, Set gave a puzzled cry.

「Ah well. I’ll head into the guild for now, please wait outside as usual Set.」
「Gururu~」

Set nodded at Rei’s words. With his fur coat as a Griffon, the coldness didn’t seem to bother him and he plopped himself down at his usual place without any complaints.

「If Lenora reminded me to bring Set, some big trouble has probably happened. You might have a part to play this time so I’ll be relying on you then.」

Saying that, Rei scratched and rubbed Set’s head for a few seconds before heading into the guild.

When Rei entered, he was met with a scene……

「How much Aurani grass powder have we collected!?」
「I bought as much as I could from all the miscellaneous shops, alchemists and pharmacists in Gilm!」
「Wait. In case anything happens here, we have to leave some behind. We should send them 70-80%.」
「But, the city over there……」
「It will be okay. Counting the number of residents there, 70% of the stocks from Gilm should be sufficient for all the people in Baar.」
「We’ll keep collecting Aurani grass for now, send me a few adventurer parties later.」
「I understand. Put out an urgent request as soon as possible for all the available adventurers.」

Guild staff and adventurers were all in a haste, as if they had been possessed by something.

「……Really, what’s going on?」

Seeing that, Rei mumbled to himself as he though.

Up until now, the most uproar the guild had been thrown into was when the Orc village was discovered. But right now, the noise was beyond even that.

「Ah, Rei-san. Over here!」

Lenora, who was busy at the counter, gave Rei a shout when she saw him.

Several adventurers and guild staff turned to look at Rei when they heard that, but soon returned to their work as if they had no time for it.

「Please come over here. I’ll take you to the guild master’s office immediately.」

Lenora pulled Rei behind the counter.

As Rei and Lenora were talking, Kenny could be seen at the counter as usual. However, it seemed that she didn’t have the time to talk to Rei and just waved her hand before returning to her work.

「……What’s going on?」

Walking behind the counter, Rei asked Lenora as she guided him in. But, Lenora just shook her head at the question.

「Please ask the guild master about that. However, something out of the ordinary has definitely happened.」

Replying to Rei’s question, she went up a set of stairs behind the counter. At the top was a door.

(……It seems to be a separate room from the meeting room I usually use. No, it might actually be the guild master’s office.)

While thinking to himself, Rei watched Lenora knock on the door.

「Guild master, it’s Lenora. I’ve brought Rei.」
「Yes, I’ve been expecting you. Please come in.」

Rei reacted with a twitch when he heard the voice from inside.

In any case, the clear voice belonged to that of a woman, which he didn’t expect from the title of guild master. Yes, the voice was as clear as a bell.

「Pardon me.」

Lenora opened the door and prompted Rei to enter, who was struggling at the sense of incongruity.

Rei was met with a brown skinned woman when he entered. However, she wasn’t a human woman as both her ears were much more pointed compared to ordinary humans.

「Dark Elf」

Rei’s words echoed through the small, silent, office of the guild master, where the noise from the first floor couldn’t be heard.

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