Chapter 7

Chapter 7
Takami no Kago Episode 7

On the same day as Aria’s first mission, we returned to the Adventurer’s Guild once we left the forest, we then received more money than I thought we would receive . Up until now we secluded ourselves in the forest from dawn till sunset slaying about 100 monsters or so . After we sold our the best monster loot, and collected our reward money of 2-3 large silver coins (roughly 20-300,00 yen) . I calculated that today’s earning was 5 large silver coins, approximately double what the minimum payment usually is . Well, that’s obvious because there were two of us hunting instead of 1 person by themselves . Also, because we hunted a lot of monsters over a large span of time helped us .
“Aria’s fast movements helped us greatly . ”
Aria looked like she was about to cry from what I just said .
“I, I’m sorry . I hope I didn’t say anything to make you cry . ”
I tried to quickly apologize, thinking I made Aria cry .
“This is the first time anyone has said I was useful . ”
Even Though she was crying, Aria still looked beautiful . For several days we decided to make good use of our [Slime Fountain] hunting grounds, as we continued to hunt monster around or near it . Our concern about the cost of our living expenses quickly disappeared once we completed more monster subjugations, even now I’m very happy living with Aria . Our happy days continued for 10 day, in which we gained several levels, then we received word from the Adventurer’s Guild requesting two people .
“Escort a merchant?”
The Adventurer’s Guild receptionist Lily told us about a mission that had to be absolutely completed, so we listened to Lily who told us the details .
“It’s about three days from here by horse-drawn carriage, you’ll travel to Wereo village and return to Bureto . I would like you both to be the bodyguards for that time . ”
“But, why us?”
It hasn’t even been 1 month since Aria and I registered as adventurers, so why would they request a novice party like us . I feel like there is something more to this that she isn’t telling us .
“Actually this was requested to us by the merchants, they said that a party with a couple of adventurers with a [Divine Gift] would be best . ”
“Why would they make such a demand?”
I see that there’s demand for people with a [Divine Gift] . Aren’t there other adventurers in this city, with decent [Divine Abilities] . They could pick anyone with one . Yet, why are they specifying that they want a small party for this quest . There’s something suspicious about this .
“For that reason a few people in this town decided that you two would be best . ”
“Do what exactly?”
“Protect the merchant as he buys that village’s specialty, [Jade Textile] and few other things . ”
“[Jade Textile]!?”
Aria looks like she got excited by that .
“What’s so good about it?”
These two can’t seem to comprehend what I just said, so they both let out a sigh .
“[Jade Textile] is silk made from silk worms that have eaten magically infused pellets, so the fabric has magical properties . ”
“Oh really . You seem well informed . ”
“[Jade Textile] is a very popular commodity among women . Clothes made from [Jade Silk] are said to be worth several gold coins . ”
You wearing 1 million yens worth of fabric, amazing . ”
“I take it that only Were village produces it?”
Although I think they should increase their supplies since there’s such a high demand but…
“Their manufacturing methods are a secret, They say that you can’t make Jade Silk anywhere else . ”
First of all, don’t you have to feed the silkworms these gems first? Or is it extremely hard to make them? They’re monopolizing this, I guess this country doesn’t have laws against this yet .
“Because of this you can’t bring a lot of people to this place . This request came to us because the usual adventurers this merchant always hires are all dead . ”
I see, now that’s why he requested for a small party to protect him, since the request came at short noticed . I guess that’s reasonable . Meanwhile Aria is humbly looking at me, quietly hoping that I accept this request . I guess she really want to see the [Jade Textile] since it’s written all over her face .
“Lily, is it possible to meet the client first?”
“Yes, of course . I see you want to ask them a few questions before officially accepting this . ”
“I want to meet the client first, and If I don’t like that the mission entails, then I won’t accept it . ”
That way I can refuse this quest if the merchant doesn’t like us . The quest’s reward isn’t too bad either, the advance payment is 2 big silver coins, and upon completion you get 8 large silver coins . Also there are additional rewards, considering the amount of times we might get attacked by monsters, the money we would get from selling their loot would also give us more money as well . Because of the additional rewards, we will earn money to the utmost .
“I understand . I would like to only have the interview for now . ”
“Aha . I make that request . It would be nice if Hibiki does it . ”
Lily looked relieved as she sighed .
“Were you that concerned about it?”
I was curious so I asked Lily . ”
“Yeah I already asked several other parties, but they all declined the request . ”
I see, that why you didn’t ask us first, since even if we have [Divine Gifts] we’re still inexperienced adventurers .
“Well, I still might end up not accepting the request . By the way how many pairs did you ask before us?”
“ 4 pairs, you guys will be the 5th group I’ve asked so far . Eventually we’ll have a list of everyone who at least has a [Divine Gift] . I hope you do well . Please go to this residency this afternoon, since you wanted to interview the client . ”
I wonder why the client who only hires senior-adventurers, would suddenly put out a notice accepting novice adventurers for this task . Even though I was a little nervous Aria and I made our way to the client’s office .
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Translator Note:
Also if you want go back to episode 4 and read a comment by the user: Xias, I think you’ll all enjoy reading what he has to say since it makes a lot of sense and enlightened me surprisingly .