The Empire's Adventurer's Guild

After getting clearance from the gatekeeper, we drove the cart into the Empire's city.

The first thing that hit us was a stale, sour smell. Not strong enough to make you cover your nose, but it drifted in every now and then as we walked.

There was no life in this city.

Looking around, I saw people sitting slumped against walls.

Beggars… didn't seem to be the right word for them.

Elza cast a purification miracle on us, so the smell stopped being a problem after that, but judging by the state of things, the situation was dire.

I glanced at Alexia. Her expression was hard to read beneath the hood, but I caught a glimpse of a grim face.

We decided to visit the Adventurer's Guild first.

The Empire had branch offices too. A city of this size was bound to have one.

After a short walk, we found it in a fairly prominent location.

Alexia said she'd watch the cargo, so I took the other two slaves inside.

The guild was deserted.

To say there were "few people" would have been generous.

A single woman sat at the reception desk, but she didn't appear to be doing any work.

If anything, she gave the impression of someone simply sitting there, conserving her energy.

Not quite sickly, but there was little vitality in her face.

Azu was the one with an adventurer's proof.

I sent Azu to the counter and stood behind her with Elza.

The receptionist noticed Azu and looked faintly surprised.

"Are you… an adventurer?"

"Yes. I'm here with a delivery of burning stone."

"Ah. This one."

She pulled out a single sheet of paper, looking as though even that was an effort.

It wasn't a matter of work ethic — she was probably simply exhausted.

"Please deliver it directly to Baron Aerg's estate."

"Um—"

(No -sama, huh.)

I spoke up from behind Azu.

"What is it?"

"What's going on in this city? The gatekeeper said something about angering a Water Elemental, but… there's no energy here at all. No other adventurers around, either."

"I'm not at liberty to say. As for adventurers, there are almost none left in this city at present."

The receptionist shut down the conversation there. Not a topic she wanted to discuss, apparently.

That was when Elza stepped forward.

"You seem a bit unwell. May I help?"

"A priestess, were you? Then please."

It seemed she hadn't even noticed Elza was there.

Elza held a hand over the receptionist.

She performed a healing miracle and a purification miracle.

Almost immediately, color returned to the woman's face.

"… I feel much better."

"I'm glad."

Elza answered with a smile, every bit the priestess. No one would guess she was a slave.

"Can you post a quest for me?"

"Of course. But as I mentioned, there are no adventurers in this city."

"No, it's this."

"Ah, a designated request. Understood."

I wrote a number and the details on the form.

A message for Finn.

Six gold coins was steep, but the quality of her previous work was beyond reproach.

The assurance that she'd deliver results proportional to the cost was worth it.

When we stepped outside the guild, Alexia was giving water to a girl sitting slumped on the ground.

People around her who'd seen this were crowding in, begging for water.

I thought about how much money I could make selling water here.

(Not that I've fallen far enough to actually do that.)

There was no end to it, so once everyone present had gotten water, we moved on.

Staying in one spot would only draw more people.

Given the state of the gatekeeper and others, it was conceivable that half the city's population could descend on us.

That would be a problem.

The people thanked the hooded Alexia, and some even clasped their hands together as if in worship.

"I thought you wanted to keep your identity hidden."

"I couldn't just stand there and watch. I'm sorry for acting on my own."

"I don't mind that."

"In exchange, I did manage to hear some things, so let me fill you in."

According to Alexia, after her family's house was dissolved, the territory had briefly gone without a lord.

(Same as our town.)

I listened in silence.

The absence of a lord hadn't been much of a problem in itself, but the next lord's arrival had been unnervingly fast.

Almost as if it had been arranged in advance.

"Most likely, a faction that considered us an obstacle had everything prepared. Looking back, the fact that our liege lord offered no aid can only mean some kind of deal was struck at the top."

After the transition, taxes had increased, but since Alexia's father had kept taxes low, it was simply a return to normal rates.

The citizens surely hadn't been happy about it, of course.

The real problem came after that.

This area was warm and had wetlands, making it ideal for agriculture.

At one point, the Kingdom and the Empire had even fought over it as a breadbasket region.

That also meant the area attracted more monsters.

Alexia's ancestor had suppressed them by force and established the territory as an Imperial city.

Her ancestor had also forged a pact with the local Water Elemental, and from that point on, water had never been an issue — or so it was said.

Given that Alexia had lived here her whole life, her account was credible.

After her family's house was dissolved, the new occupant, Baron Aerg, had summoned the Water Elemental with great fanfare and promptly infuriated it.

In just a few months, things had deteriorated to the current state.

"Then why is a lord like that hoarding burning stone?"

"That much I couldn't find out. But honestly, to anger that gentle spirit… what on earth did he do?"

Alexia's voice was a mix of exasperation and anger.

We had no desire to take a room for the night, so we left the guild and headed straight for the lord's manor.