READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 26
A Rare Day Off
“Huh, take a break?”
One day, Haise went to the adventurers’ guild as usual, searching for requests.
Geist tapped him on the shoulder from behind and dragged him into the guild master’s office.
While sipping the usual delicious tea, the guild master, Geist, suddenly said this:
“Haise. The investigation of the A-rank dungeon seems to be going smoothly.”
“Uh, yeah. I guess…”
“I’m surprised you managed to survey up to the sixtieth floor in such a short time. On top of that, your reports are detailed and thorough for every single floor.”
“Well… I’m pretty good at writing, I suppose.”
Haise, who once served as a mapper in Sacred.
He excelled at analyzing magic beasts and compiling detailed data to support his companions. Even now, as an S-rank adventurer, that ability proved useful, leaving Haise with mixed feelings.
“We planned to commission further investigation from other adventurers and consolidate the information before publishing it, but your reports alone were deemed sufficient. Therefore, the ‘A-rank dungeon investigation request’ is considered complete.”
“What?”
Just then, a veteran receptionist knocked and entered the room.
She placed a magic tool on the table.
“S-rank adventurer Haise. This is the reward for the dungeon investigation request. Please hand me your adventurer card.”
“Uh, uh… Geist, is this really over!? But I’ve only done up to sixty…”
“Only? No, already. It’s not good to rush the investigation too far ahead. We’ll publish that ‘floors beyond the sixtieth are uninvestigated’ beforehand. That way, skilled adventurers will gather.”
“Uh… Well, then, what about other dungeon investigations?”
“None. There are some, but no A-rank or higher dungeons have been discovered.”
“Ugh…”
“There are no subjugation requests either, for now. So take a break for once.”
“Ugh…”
After depositing the reward into his adventurer card, Haise withdrew just a little since his wallet was low.
Geist added:
“Enjoy some good food or just relax. You’re only sixteen, you know. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying your youth.”
“Y-Youth…?”
“You’re not planning to challenge the Six Forbidden Labyrinths yet, are you?”
“Well, no. I don’t have enough usable weapons yet. If I challenge it, I’d want to fully decode the ancient manuscripts first.”
“Indeed… That’s wise. How about going on a date for once? Presea… she’s around, isn’t she?”
“D-Date!? No way, she’s just… clingy and annoying.”
“Hoho.”
“Stop that face… It’s not like that at all.”
“Hahaha. Anyway, Haise, how about going here? You like books, don’t you?”
Geist handed Haise a piece of parchment from the table.
It read, Ancient Book Market Event.
“Ancient books…?”
“The book town of Roberia in the west hosts an annual ancient book market in the Kingdom of Heiberg. If you’re interested in books, it might be fun to visit.”
“…”
Haise took the parchment and left the room.
◇◇◇◇◇
“Hey Sasha, let’s take a break already.”
“Reynold… No, not yet.”
“You need to stop.”
One day, Sasha was in a room of their newly acquired clan home, looking over documents for teams hoping to join the clan.
The team “Sacred” had been reformed into the clan Sacred.
Their base was a large, five-story building in a prime location in the capital.
The spacious garden served as a training ground. Floors one through four housed the members’ rooms, and the fifth floor was reserved for Team Sacred. Surprisingly, the basement even had a grand bathhouse.
Sasha was in the Clan Master Room, her designated office.
Now, it was filled with mountains of documents she was reviewing.
Reynold snatched a stack from her hands.
“You’re too serious for your own good. I get that you want to review applications since the clan was just formed, but it’s still a month away. If you don’t pace yourself, you’ll burn out before it even starts.”
“Reynold…”
“Piasora’s working at the church, Robin’s tending to weapons, and Tycoon’s in the library researching clan rules and warnings. Everyone’s on free time today, doing what they like.”
“But… Piasora and Tycoon are working, aren’t they?”
“It’s fine. Tycoon was excited to finally read as much as he wanted.”
“Ugh…”
“Come on, let’s go relax.”
“Huh? Uh… where?”
Reynold showed her a piece of parchment.
“This is… an ancient book market?”
“You like reading too, right? Maybe not as much as Tycoon, but still. It’ll be good for you.”
“Reynold… Yeah, thank you.”
“O-Oh.”
Sasha smiled, and Reynold scratched his cheek, looking away.
◇◇◇◇◇
Haise headed to the Old Commercial District of Heiberg’s royal capital, Ryuzen, parchment in hand.
The Old Commercial District.
Unlike the current commercial district, it was the first market built when the Kingdom of Heiberg was founded.
The modern district was newly constructed with infrastructure improvements, centralizing merchants in the heart of the capital.
However, the Old Commercial District remained untouched, housing long-standing merchants and stores filled with old, charming goods. Rumor had it that niche enthusiasts had begun opening shops there as well.
Haise had visited a few times before with Tycoon.
“Oh, what a coincidence.”
“…”
At the entrance to the Old Commercial District, Haise ran into Presea.
“Are you following me or something?”
“Who knows? The spirit I attached to you just tells me where you are.”
“Huh!?”
“Just kidding.”
Haise frantically brushed at his clothes.
Presea chuckled softly and started walking.
“You’re here to look at ancient manuscripts, right? Let’s go.”
“…I wanted to come alone.”
“I won’t get in your way. I like being alone, too.”
“…”
With a sigh, Haise started walking toward the Old Commercial District.