[Reminiscence 3] The Adventurers
A group of about thirty people was advancing through the wilderness.
Their appearances varied greatly: some were clad in armor, others wore priestly robes, and some were draped in cloaks. Even among the armored individuals, who made up half the group, there was a wide range from light to heavy armor, giving the overall impression of a lack of uniformity.
This group was the Demon King subjugation team, centered around the adventurer party known as the Golden Fang.
They had crossed treacherous mountains and traversed deep forests to set foot in this wasteland, the domain of the Demon King. Unable to use horses on the pathless route they had taken, they should have been exhausted. Yet, their faces showed no signs of fatigue.
They had been using stamina recovery potions frequently, aware that they could be ambushed by the Demon King’s army at any moment.
However, while physical fatigue could be alleviated, mental strain remained. Since entering the Demon King’s territory, they had barely spoken, perhaps due to tension.
The most prominent figure among them was Ganon, the leader of the Golden Fang. Known as the strongest warrior, he was a large man with golden-brown hair, impressive in both height and build. He wore the most elaborate and flashy golden armor.
The Golden Fang was a large party of ten members, standing at the pinnacle of adventurers in terms of capability.
Ganon called out to Rainer, the leader of the Blue Ring.
“How are you holding up?”
“No problems in particular. If anything, I’m a bit taken aback by the complete absence of enemies,”
Rainer replied matter-of-factly.
“But you know, without Trao, aren’t you guys feeling a bit off your game?”
Despite his intimidating appearance, Ganon had a caring and meddlesome side. It was this personality that drew people to join the Golden Fang, but right now, Rainer found it bothersome.
“Blue Ring has no issues without Trao. Or are you suggesting that not having a merchant around causes problems? I recall you repeatedly saying, ‘Merchants are useless in situations like this.'”
There was a hint of sharpness in his words.
“Well, that was in the beginning, wasn’t it? Merchants have always been a formal profession, and I’d never seen one actually go on adventures. Honestly, I couldn’t imagine them being useful in combat. But watching Trao, I started to think maybe there’s a place for them after all. He’s sharp, thorough, good with people, and skilled at negotiations. Basically, he fills in all the gaps we adventurers have. Didn’t you find him helpful in various ways?”
“Not particularly. He might be useful when dealing with people, but he’s unnecessary against monsters,”
Rainer replied curtly.
“Well, that may be true, but there was no need to fire him outright. And to go as far as hiring a thief to dig up dirt on him…”
Ganon had extensive connections both above and below board. It was through Ganon that Rainer had hired a thief to investigate Trao’s background, uncovering his connection to Garnet.
“Trao was strongly against the Demon King subjugation. If he had stayed, Blue Ring wouldn’t have been able to join this subjugation team.”
“But you know, don’t you guys also think this operation isn’t likely to succeed?”
Rainer glared at Ganon, who calmly continued, unfazed by the look.
“Trao may be a cold-blooded merchant, but he valued Blue Ring above all else. No matter how much he opposed, if you decided to go, he would have come along.”
Ganon found it strange that they had gone out of their way to expel Trao.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.PAGES.DEV
“That’s impossible, Ganon-san,”
interjected Ciel, who was walking beside Rainer. She was wearing the cute priestly robes she had long desired.
“Trao has three family members, so we couldn’t bring him along. This is a fun picnic for singles only, you know.”
“Family? You mean the Garnet folks? They’re all women, but they’re well-trained and have potential. When I first saw them, I thought they were just a bunch of young girls who couldn’t make it as adventurers. I had no idea Trao was behind them.”
Ganon seemed to hold Garnet in high regard.
“Family? More like he’s raising his future wives himself,”
Louise teased, walking close to Ciel.
“Being a merchant, he’s probably securing his brides as futures contracts. Having three young women around him when there are two fine ladies right here – he’s quite the handful.”
Though her words seemed harsh, her cheerful tone made it clear she was joking.
“You got that right,”
Ganon laughed heartily. His laughter eased the tension in the entire team.
“But you know, you only found out about Trao’s connection to Garnet after you had the thief investigate, right? Weren’t you planning not to bring Trao along from the start?”
“He’s always right,”
Rainer answered.
“If Trao says it’s impossible, then it is. We’ve learned the hard way more than once by not listening to him. That’s why we’ve mostly followed his advice. This time too, it probably would have been better to listen to him, but being right isn’t everything, is it?”
“That’s true,”
Ciel sighed.
“If we always did what Trao said, we’d be safe and secure, but then I wonder if there’s any point in being adventurers at all. Our job is to do dangerous things. And sometimes, even if it’s wrong, there are things we have to do.”
“But you know, even if we’re wrong, Trao would still come with us,”
Louise said, her stern expression softening.
“Even when we do something wrong, he’d make a face like ‘Can’t be helped’ and end up going along with us. And then he’d fail together with us. For all his cold merchant act, he’s quite the softie in that way.”
“I see. So this time, you couldn’t let him make the mistake with you. That’s why you kicked him out of the party,”
Ganon said, looking like he understood.
“That’s right. Adventurers only risk their lives when they’re convinced. Trao wasn’t convinced at all about the Demon King subjugation. So I thought he shouldn’t come. That’s all there is to it,”
Rainer answered expressionlessly.
“But you know, isn’t he only nice to you guys? Doesn’t he just see the rest of us as greedy adventurers who only move for money?”
Ganon’s home country was also under attack from the Demon King’s army. Not just Ganon – most of the adventurers in this team came from countries facing crises due to the Demon King’s forces.
True, there had been a request from the Adventurers’ Guild, which was under pressure from various countries. The reward was attractive too. But that wasn’t the only reason they had joined this team.
“It’s a big mistake to think people only move for money. Besides, the prices of necessary equipment and supplies rising to such perfect levels just before departure – that was his doing too, right? What an annoying merchant,”
Ganon said, having seen through Trao’s hand in the price increases. There was no one else who would raise prices in sync with the adventurers’ movements.
“But well, including that, let’s all give Trao a good lecture when we return alive.”
Voices of agreement rose from various parts of the team at these words.
Even though they knew there was no guarantee in the phrase “return alive.”
Visit the request page If there’s a Japanese Light Novel (LN) or Web Novel (WN) you’d like me to translate
When the donation goal progress bar above hit 100% one novel will be chosen for translation
| Table of Contents | Next* |
Support the Author by Buying the Original Books!
