I meet up with my comrades and then we entered a suitable café. This is to share the information we gathered with each other in a quiet place. When we sit down on the terrace of the restaurant, we each placed an order with the waiter.
From my seat, I could see the blue sky and the bright sun that dazzled my eyes. The beautiful sea that spreads out below would have been exciting if we were on vacation. Unfortunately, we didn’t come for that purpose this time. After the coffee was brought to the table, I started talking.
“Did you get any useful information?”
“Nothing at all. On the other hand, I was asked what the forbidden island is.”
“I’m the same with Rival. And for some reason, they just laughed at me.”
“All I was told was that there seems to be a man who once went to the island.”
“The story I heard was from a very long time ago. The person who provided the information said that there were people who went to the island several decades ago but it seems like they didn’t come out.”
Erna, Liz and Freya have no harvest. Pero seems to have met someone who has valuable information. Anything is fine right now. I want to know about the island.
“The person who provided me the information was the person who manages the city’s archives. When I told him I would pay him a reward, he was happy to answer my queries.”
“Hmm, so what’s the story of the old days?”
“It’s not that long and it’s not very detailed.”
Pero’s story went like this,
About 1,000 years ago, a human male came to this city. That man asked a sailor to take him to a distant sea. The sailor gladly accepted the request because of the good payment. Following the man’s instructions, the ship continues to sail on the open sea, and one day finds an island. The sailor anchored his boat in nearby waters and lent a small boat to the man who was going to cross to the island. Three days later, the man returned to the ship looking exhausted. After that, he returned safely to the city, but the sailor said he could not ask the man what had happened on the island.
“I’m curious who that man is. I also wonder how he knew about the Forbidden Island.”
“Actually, I asked about that too. He said it was probably Great Mage Moore.”
“Moore-sama!? Moore-sama went to the Forbidden Island!?”
It was Erna who overreacted. I called out to her, “Calm down.”
“It’s just a guess from the person who gave me the information. But the records mentioned that Moore was active in Naji around that time. There are also testimonies that they saw a man in a white robe talking to a sailor.”
“Then it’s Moore-sama for sure! He’s the greatest mage I admire! I can’t believe he has been to the Forbidden Island!”
Snorting heavily, Erna gulped down her coffee. When the situation calms down a little, I told the four of them the information I have obtained.
“So if we meet Lena’s father, we’ll know more about the island huh.”
“It’s very likely. I’m thinking of relaxing here for an hour or so and then visit their house.”
“I’m looking forward to meeting Lena!”
As the five of us are talking about Lena, who we will see for the first time in a long time, a strange group of human adventurers approached us.
A man who looks like a swordsman. A woman who looks like a mage. A woman who looks like a martial artist. A man who seems to be a spear user and a woman who seems to be a large shield user. There are five of them in total.
When the swordsman got close to me, his gaze moved from my head to foot, as if observing me carefully. Their purpose is unknown, but the atmosphere does not seem to indicate hostility.
“Uhm, are you perhaps Shinichi Tanaka of Homeless?”
The man asked me a question, so I nodded obediently.
Then all of them quickly sits upright on the ground and strikes a dogeza pose.
“Make us your apprentice!!”
……Huh? Apprentice?
◇◇◇
They are a party of adventurers who call themselves the “Sword of Glory”. They came to Sarasvati for training. Of course, they are also here to earn money like the other adventurers.
The name of the leader swordsman is “Liberto”. He has short brown hair and a relatively well-groomed and refreshing face. However, I must add that I would like him to remain silent. When this man starts talking, he has a really smug expression on his face. Well, as far as the analysis results go, it is certain that he is not the kind of person who commits crimes.
The mage woman is “Margaret”. She has a loose pink bob hair with a perm. She had a cute face rather than a beauty, and her plump lips were impressive. Her robe is purple, indicating that she is a high-class mage. Her eyes are lightly turned upwards, and it looked like she was glaring at Erna.
The female martial artist is “Tina”. She has short boyish red hair and an androgynous face. She has an air of innocence, and her big clear eyes are always moving around, in search for something. She looks like an adult, but a child inside. Well, she has the biggest breasts of the three women, and I can’t help but glance at her. Her breasts are so outrageous that they bounce like that. Mufufu.
The person wielding the spear is “Dominique”. He has a toned, masculine, chiseled face and a short green hair with left bangs that hang down to hide one eye. His body is also bulky and toned. However, for some reason, he himself likes to use a fake name, saying things like “I’m Catherine.” I think it’s good to call him Dominique because he’s masculine.
The woman who wields the shield is “Leila”. Her honey-colored long hair draws gentle waves, and her face is very beautiful. Her demeanor is soft and calm giving an impression that she is an adult woman. She didn’t look very strong and she doesn’t look like someone who would be fighting with a large shield though. Unfortunately, she got flat breasts. And strangely, when I looked at her, I didn’t get excited. It is very rare to see such a beautiful woman in front of me after all.
I made the five of them sit in a nearby seat, and I also sit at the same table to ask about the situation.
To be honest, I’m still confused about this. Someone suddenly volunteered to become my apprentice. It’s natural to be bewildered. Moreover, I wanted to know as to why at this time.
“Liberto, right? ……Are you guys serious about apprenticeship?”
“Yes, we want to learn about the strength of Homeless firsthand. If you say you don’t trust us, we can take an exam or whatever. I’m sure we’ll pass it.”
“No. I’m not that suspicious and I don’t intend to conduct any tests. Aren’t you all special-class adventurers?”
“It’s because we’re special class adventurers. We have crawled up to this point by training desperately. We finally made it to a place called top notch. However, recently, we have been feeling that we reached our limits. At this rate, we’ll not be able to reach the master level.”
Liberto had a frustrated look on his face.
Master level? We ourselves are just advanced adventurers…. I wonder why they think about us? Normally, one will feel like it’s pretty humiliating to ask someone from a lower class to teach them.
He continues.
“Actually, we went to Mana to scout you. We went upto the thirtieth floor of the Great Dungeon in search of the place where you guys live. Unfortunately, Leila was injured at that time so we had to turn back.”
“You’ve made it to the thirtieth level huh. That must have been hard.”
“Yes, it was tougher than I imagined. It made us even more convinced then. Tanaka-san is the one who will give us the opportunity. So, when I found you here, I am so happy.”
He takes my hand and squeezes it. His eyes shone with joy at meeting the person he longed for. I feel sorry for him though. I’m not the kind of person he should look up to. Turning to my comrades, each of them moved their head to express their volition.
Pero nodded, meaning YES. Freya is also a YES. Liz shook her head, meaning NO. Erna…… Ah?, OK if it’s not a woman?
As expected, opinions were divided. It can’t be helped. As long as my comrades do not agree, there is no way I could make “Sword of Glory” my apprentice.
“I’m sorry, but I’ll refuse. I’m busy.”
“It doesn’t have to be long so please consider it! We just need a little time, just for a while, please guide us! Oh, yes, please take this!”
Liberto handed a leather bag to me. It must have been filled with gold and silver coins. I guess you could say it’s a tuition. But I can’t take it. I decided to refuse so I couldn’t accept something like this. However, when I was about to return the bag to Liberto, Erna quickly took it from the side. Opening the mouth of the bag, Erna and Liz began to count the money.
“Ten gold coins and twenty silver coins, not bad.”
“The world depends on money, and those who pay for what they should pay must be respected.”
What a cash bunch! Even though they are my comrades, I feel they’re quite scary. Pero smiled wryly, but Freya nodded in agreement.
“We can’t say that there won’t be another angel attack in the future, so isn’t it our duty to increase the number of people who can fight as much as possible? Moreover, they are special class adventurers, they are people who need to grow further in order to protect the kingdom.”
“Hmm, that may be true, but I don’t think it’s the right time. We are going to the Forbidden Island after all.”
“You can take them with us. I’m sure the voyage will be long. If you use that time to train them, even if not as much as we do, they will surely be able to fight one-on-one with third-class angels.”
With Freya’s persuasion, I began to consider about them becoming an apprentice. With Saint Water, they can grow to the level she described. Besides, there is no merit or lack of merit in taking apprentices.
First of all, they can be expected as a reserve force. The next time I have a problem other than combat, I can rely on them. This is something I don’t really want now, but it might give me the reputation of having raised them. There were a few others, but I was sure that there would be enough change for the effort.
“Alright then, I’ll give you a condition: make Mana your base for a while after you become my apprentice.”
“Mana?”
“Yes. I don’t want you to stay that long, six months at most. Instead, I’ll train you at any time, and you can rely on us when you’re in trouble. Oh, let me emphasize, I won’t lend you money.”
Liberto and the others replied in a cheerful voice, “Yes!”
Of course, there is a purpose in designating their base. I want them to be a billboard for Mana, which is going to be the Food City. The restaurant opened by the chefs who can be said to be Kanzaki’s apprentice is now a very famous restaurant. The supermarket built by Arnold has also been accepted by the residents and it is crowded with many customers every day. As a result, new eateries were opening in Mana, albeit little by little. I also began to see glimpses of people called gourmets. The groundwork is done. Then there’s the question of name recognition.
In the not-too-distant future, my and Kanzaki’s plans may be half-fulfilled.
“So, Master, what are you going to do now? We will follow wherever you go.”
“Hmmm, let’s start by putting this on you.”
I took a block of metal from the bangle and used my metal manipulation skill to create five sets of five rings. They were fitted to their necks, arms, and legs so that they could not be removed by skill. It is a silvery metal with a black tint. It is called Visnir. It is a very heavy substance with properties that are the exact opposite of mithril. It even has the added bonus of making magic harder to use and is a well-known metal in another way that is used to restrain sinners.
“Agh…… Master, what is this!?”
“It’s a strength training device made by Visnir. You guys are going to live with it on you for a while.”
「「「「「What!?」」」」」
“Alright, now let me tell you. We are going to go to an island where the high-ranking dragons roam.”
「「「「「What!?」」」」」
The five of them opened their eyes wide in shock. Well, they were unlucky to apply for an apprenticeship at this time. I’m going to train them hard enough so that they won’t die. Kukuku.
Seeing the pale faces of the five people, I slowly sipped my coffee.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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