Chapter 64: Dartan Rock Kingdom

“Don’t go! You can’t go!”

“Release me! I have to go!”

At the front door of the mansion, the father and daughter pair were making such a racket. Lord Frederia clings to Erna’s waist and desperately tries to hold her back. However, Erna forcefully moves forward one step at a time and she steadily approaches the front door.

The spectator, me and the Lady, can only be exasperated at such scene.

“Why don’t you just give up? Erna is already nineteen years old. She’s old enough to live well by herself.”

“No! My adorable Erna won’t go anywhere! The successor of this house can only be Erna who evolved into a founder elf!”

“Haah-…”

The lady sighs loudly.

As the audience with the Queen and the sacred tree was now done, my task here is also completed so we decided to leave Sanargia. From the start, I didn’t plan to stay here for a long time so it was convenient for me that the matter was settled quickly. That was why I’d like to leave right away, but the problem is as you can see.

The love of Erna’s father for her has indeed gone over the top.

Based from the story that I heard, of her three sisters, it seems that Erna is the one close with her father. And when she left the house, he cried his eyes out, enough to form a puddle. Furthermore, because Erna informed her parents that she has evolved into a founder elf, it was immediately decided that Erna would take over the Frederia family. That’s also one of the reasons why her father was pretty much riled up now.

Well, founder elves are the symbol of the sacred tribe in Sanargia after all. Along with the sacred tree, they were the ones who started and created this kingdom, which then became the starting point of the elf race. On top of that, Erna is the only currently confirmed founder elf. So even if it’s not her father, someone will also try to keep her here.

“You will succeed the Frederia family! I won’t allow you to be an adventurer!”

“No! I’m going to be a great mage! I want to be even more famous and become a great adventurer!”

It seems that Erna is a little stronger than him. She gradually dragged his father as Erna approaches the front door. Her outstretched hand was now about to grab the doorknob.

“Rock wall!”

With the magic of her father, a rock wall appeared before the front door. It cut-off Erna’s path and it blocked the door which was just within her reach.

“Father that’s mean!”

“Kuhahahaha! We are mages, the wiser one wins!”

“Is that so? Here I go then! Fireball!”

After Erna swings her staff, many softball-sized fireballs appeared. The fireballs then hit the rock wall directly and the front door was blown off along with the rock wall and such a huge hole was opened up.

“Damn! That power is a foul!”

“Well, I’m a founder elf! Father’s magic can’t be compared to mine!”

I think this should be stopped, but I can’t find the right words to mediate between them. Besides, I don’t think other people can just intervene in a squabble between a parent and child.

“That reminds me, you guys have an agreement during your duel right?”

Lady Frederia right next to me nudged me with her elbow.

Ah-, I see… That agreement can be effectively used here. I then spoke to Erna’s father.

“Lord Frederia, do you recall our duel?”

“What is it this time? I’m busy right now, let’s talk later.”

“I can’t do that. You see, Lord Frederia and I promised that the one who lost in the duel would agree to the demands of the other party and, since I won… You understood what I meant right?”

“Don’t tell me…”

Lord Frederia’s face turns blue.

Yes, it’s precisely that.

“As her parent, I would like you to approve of Erna as an adventurer. Adventure is a part of an adventurer’s work you see. It will be against our agreement if you stop her.”

“Noooooooooo! Erna is my adorable daughter! I don’t approve of it! That agreement is now invalid!”

He clings to Erna like a child. The Lady who was watching the situation swings her staff and then Lord Frederia’s eyes rolled and with a thud, he collapses on the floor.

“Alright, go on. I’ll take care of the rest so don’t hesitate to go on an adventure.”

“Thanks Mother.”

Erna hugged her mother and then she rushed out of the front door. After giving a bow, I followed Erna and went outside.

“Shinichi, here are the unicorns!”

Erna is pulling the reins of the two unicorns and brought them to me. We hopped on them immediately and we then left the Frederia Family’s residence.

“What was the magic used in your father a while ago?”

“That’s my mother’s original magic. I don’t really know much about it, but she often uses that magic on father.”

“Original magic?”

Lord Frederia said that when he became a master-class mage, he could freely use magic. That is probably his original magic too. If so, magic can be an even more useful force, well, depending on how you use it of course. It is a technique that I want Erna to learn as well.

“I have a question, Erna can you also create original magic?”

“It’s difficult right now. Rumor has it that master-class mage will have special training, but I don’t know how to do it, besides, I’m not yet that skilled on magic manipulation.”

“Special training huh… Is it not that easy to get?”

I was only able to ask till that part. I stopped talking as we are now about to leave the city.

“He—y, stop!”

A soldier was waving at the exit of the city. Seeing his face, it was that Kevin guy, the childhood friend of Erna. We then made the unicorns stop. Kevin rushed to Erna and speaks to her.

“Erna! Are you leaving the city already!? You just came back!”

“Yeah. We are already done with our business here so we are now leaving.”

“That’s—!!”

Kevin was so shocked that he even held his head.

“Is that it? We are in a hurry you see.”

“W-Wait! Then, the next time you come back, uhm, w-will you go on a date with me!?”

“Date?”

After thinking for a minute, Erna replies with a smiling face.

“I don’t know when I’ll be back, and I can’t afford to do something like that now… I’m sorry.”

“I-I see…”

Kevin looks at me with hatred. Perhaps… does Kevin and others think that I’m dating Erna? That’s a big misunderstanding.

“Alright then, see you again Kevin.”

Erna then urged her unicorn to run. I immediately urged my unicorn to run as well and then we quickly moved far away from the entrance of the city.

“That young man seemed to have a good personality. Are you fine not going out on a date with him?”

“I’m not interested in Kevin. I can’t think of going out with anyone unless that person is at least more capable than you Shinichi.”

“A person that surpasses me huh. I think someone like that exists out there, but I don’t know if you can meet one that easily.”

I’m not being proud here, but I’m still confident in my strength and wisdom. Finding a person who is better than me would probably be hard. I’m worried that Erna will be late in getting married.

“…Stupid Shinichi.”

“Hn? I’m not stupid, I was even reputed to be a man with a sharp mind you know.”

Erna rolled her eyes. Why was she making an eye roll? Really, I’m not stupid.

“Forget it.”

Erna resigned herself to something and then she made her unicorn speed up more.

◇

As we cross the mountains, the dense trees ultimately reduced in number. Gradually, the number of large rocks began to increase and then I began to see rocky mountains on the cliffs. Further along the road, we arrived at a mountainous area with wide grasslands.

“It seems that the dwarves’ kingdom is just ahead of here.”

“Dartan Rock Kingdom right? By the way, why wear your hat that deeply?”

Erna wore her purple pointed hat so deeply that even I couldn’t see her face. Her appearance give me a sense of discomfort.

“I guess you have forgotten that the elves and dwarves are not on good terms.”

“Ah-, I did heard something like that.”

That was when I introduced myself to the members of the Earth Fang. Roy considerately taught me why Dhal and Erna were always arguing.

“But Dhal was someone who likes to look after the others, he also took care of you, right? Isn’t all dwarves like that?”

“They are completely different. Dhal has lived in the kingdom for a long time, so unlike the other dwarves, he is kind to other races. But the dwarves in the Rock Kingdom are different. When an outsider comes, their response towards them is always cold and they especially ban elves from entering.”

“So to hide your ears, you decided to wear your hat huh.”

I was convinced. They probably hate them a lot that’s why there’s even an entry ban on elves. I want to know what happened in the past, but the first question is whether Erna can enter the city safely. While thinking about that, a magical beast that I had never seen before, popped out from the bush in the direction of our travel.

“Gugyaun!”

Its height is about 1m. Its body is covered with stone-like skin, the mouth has sharp fangs, and the ears are also sharp. At first glance, it looked like a fiend, much like the gargoyles built in a Western-styled building.

I immediately used my analysis skill.

【Analysis Result: Gargoyle: They eat various rocks and metals, especially iron and silver. It is said that the wings on its back are prepared not for flying but for gliding from high places: Rarity C】

【Status】 Name:  Gargoyle Race:  Gargoyle Magic Attribute:  Earth Magic:  Rock Arrow Skills: ▹Intermediate: Fang Strengthening, Hardening, Separation ▹Beginner: Nail Strengthening Evolution: Does not meet the conditions <Requirements: Fang Strengthening (Special Grade), Physical Strength Enhancement (Intermediate), Hardening (Special Grade), Separation (Special Grade) >

“As I can see, it really is a gargoyle huh.”

After I made the unicorn stop, I alight from the horse and stepped on the ground. Erna on the other hand began to watch the surroundings for other enemies.

“Gugaaa!”

The Gargoyle bares his fangs and jumps at me. However, its movement appears to be slow. Contrary to its appearance, it is probably a heavyweight magical beast.

I straight away swing the sword down from above my head and I instantly cut the gargoyle’s body. I moved out of the way as the magical beast that was turned into two (while it was still in the air), fell to the ground.

“Erna, are the materials from a gargoyle expensive?”

“Well, it depends on the location. It seems that it often appears here in Dartan Rock Kingdom, so I think that selling it around here will only fetch a low price.”

“Oh, let’s sell it after we returned to the kingdom then.”

Immediately after I used Skill Picking, I acquired separation skill and then I placed the gargoyle’s corpse inside the bangle. I want to sell the corpse of the magical beast I have in stock somewhere in the city.

It has already been the third day since we left Sanargia, and we have hunted more than 20 magical beasts. I don’t know the extent of the capacity of the bangle but it’s obvious that I’ll be in trouble later if I don’t organize it.

“Okay, let’s resume.”

After I get on the unicorn, we start moving along the road again. Looking up at the sky, bird-like creatures were flying between the towering mountains. And if you look closely, they are griffons. Many were flying in the sky as they cry. Their appearance is imposing and elegant.

“Hmm, that’s…”

I finally saw city on the horizon. Surrounded by an outer wall made of gray stone, the entire city has a strong impression of being a fortress.

That should be Perun, the capital of Dartan Rock Kingdom. As we approached the entrance to the city, two men, who looked like a soldier here, crossed the spear in their hands to block the way.

“The two of you stop! It’s not allowed to bring a magical beast inside this city!”

As expected, we were stopped because of the unicorns. For the time being, I get off the horse and humbly replied to the soldier.

“This is a variant of a unicorn, a magical beast called homeless unicorn. You can think of it as a unicorn in black color. It has the same personality as a normal unicorn.”

“Homeless unicorn? It’s a magical beast I’ve never heard of. But this is pretty good.”

The soldier touches the unicorn’s body. The pitch black coat is illuminated by sunlight and it looks even more beautiful.

“Well, that’s fine then. Don’t let it rampage in the city though.”

The soldiers then made way for us. We succeeded in entering the city safely.

“Oh, this is amazing.”

In the Rock capital, Perun, buildings made of gray stone were lined up in a row. Furthermore, smoke rises from the chimney of each building, and the entire city looks like a factory. On the main street, many wagons loaded with stones were passing by, and a male dwarf wearing gloves and apron was puffing on a pipe of tobacco while looking at the sky.

“Shinichi look! It’s a beastman!”

A man with cat ears was walking in the direction Erna pointed. Although they are not found in Sanargia or in Rogas, beastmen seem to be a race common in this kingdom.

“Ooh~ I’m hungry! We should grab a meal after work!”

I glanced towards that familiar voice. The source of the voice is from the trio coming out of a large building.

“Dhal!”

“Ah?”

When I called out, the bearded dwarf stared at me. And then he grinned.

“Oh, isn’t this Shinichi!”

Dhal runs up to me and I shake hands with him. Behind him are Roy and Nina. I was delighted with the accidental reunion with this Earth Fang trio.

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.

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