Nearing dusk, we, who entered the town of Horuas, arrived at the inn 『Badger’s Sett Pavilion』 that Doganbo-san had recommended.
「Here, over here!」
Doganbo-san stopped at the inn’s dedicated space, unfastened the Demon Horse and asked the inn staff to take care of it.
「This is the shop that I’ve been in the care of since I was young. Their meals are cheap but delicious.」
Doganbo-san briskly walked into the inn alone. We hurriedly followed.
「Ou! Got vacant rooms?!」
Doganbo-san loudly called out at the small counter.
「Oh, how rare. If it isn’t Doganbo-san. It’s been a while.」
The one who came out from inside is a woman with a dialect befitting of a dignified mistress.
「Ooh, it’s been a while, Nora. Do you have vacant rooms where me and Takumi’s bunch can stay today?」
「How many rooms will that be?」
Doganbo-san looked at me.
「Two rooms please, one single and a triple room.」
「Eh?!」
Before I could say anything, Sophia answered the inn’s mistress.
「My oh my. Well then, a single room for Doganbo-san at room 301, and the three over there can use a quadruple room at room 403.」
「Thank you very much.」
Nora-san handed over the keys to Doganbo-san and Sophia.
「For starters, how much will it be for three days?」
「With meals in the morning and evening, it will be 5 silver per night for the single room, and 10 silver per night for the quadruple room used by three people, for a total of 45 silver for three nights.」
I paid Doganbo-san our share.
「What will you do about dinner? You may eat immediately if you want it now.」
「We’ll eat, thank you.」
Since we just got hungry, we decided to eat at the dining room / bar on the first floor.
The food was delicious just like Doganbo-san had said. As expected of a mining town, it tasted a bit stronger but it was delicious cooking. It has been strongly influenced by dwarven cuisine, a stimulating flavor in this world where spices are precious. I think the salt is as strong as the laborers in this town.
I let Kaede out of the Subspace when we entered our room, fed Kaede her meal, and used Purification on everyone.
Today, we quietly slept in separate beds till morning. Only Kaede sneaked into my bed and slept clinging onto me.
「Good morning.」
「Oh, you’re early.」
Morning, we went to the first floor and Doganbo-san was already seated at a table.
「So about today, Takumi, you’ll go to the Adventurers Guild to accept a tunnel subjugation request, right?」
「Yes, that is the plan.」
「Then I’ll tag along with you to mine ores. I am a member of the Blacksmith guild, so I’m free to go mining in the mine.」
After we finished breakfast, we went to the Adventurers Guild.
The Adventurers Guild in Horuas is a smaller building compared to the guild in Volton. But it is jam-packed with adventurers.
「That’s a lot of people.」
「That’s ’cause there are a variety of jobs, like mining escort, ore transport, monster subjugation,」
We looked for requests at the notice board.
I can’t raise my rank until I return to Volton, but Sophia and Maria can rank up to E here if they complete a request. Raising my rank to D apparently requires a promotion exam. This was the advice I received from Heath-san, to see if interpersonal fights are possible.
「Iron Mole subjugation? Is that “mole” a monster talpidae[1]?」
「Yeah, it eats ores. A monster that feeds on ores is the natural enemy of a mine.」
What the, so there are monsters that eat ores?
「I’d like for you to take the ore eater request too. They dig holes any darn place, those can become causes for cave-ins and tunnels collapsing.」
At Doganbo-san’s recommendation, we decided to accept a Rank E subjugation request. As you can see from it being Rank E, the Iron Mole itself is that strong. But since it isn’t a swarm of monsters, subjugating a number of them is hard, so it isn’t a profitable request. It is put up as a permanent request but is unpopular.. The requester is the Blacksmith Guild.
We tore of the written request and lined up.
「Okay, an Iron Mole subjugation request, yes? Your guild cards please. ………… Okay, I have verified it. Subjugate three Iron Moles to complete the request. The proof of subjugation will be the claw of the Iron Mole. The deadline is 3 days after the request has been received. Please take care and do your best.」
The polite receptionist returned our cards and we left the guild.
「I brought a pickaxe but should we buy for you, two?」
「No Takumi, wouldn’t it be better if the girls guard us instead?」
It might be as Doganbo-san says. While Doganbo-san and I dig, it would be normal to leave it to them to keep watch of our surroundings.
I dabble in all production jobs so I might have wanted Sophia and Maria to do the same.
But it doesn’t necessarily mean that Sophia and Maria want to become artisans.
At Doganbo-san’s lead, we headed to the third tunnel.
The mine has tunnels 1 through 5, but according to Doganbo-san, the third tunnel has roughly the same ratio of mineable Mithril ores and Adamantite ores. He said that he chose the third tunnel this time since I wanted either of the ores.
The first tunnel mainly has iron ore, the second has copper and iron ores, the third has Mithril and Adamantite ores, the fourth mainly yields Mithril ore, and the fifth mainly yields silver ores and a bit of gold ore.
For the clueless people, they’d think that people would gather at the third mine, but the refinement of Mithril and Adamantite is too high of a hurdle here, so Doganbo-san says that the third mine is always open.
At Doganbo-san’s lead, we will head to the third tunnel.
A stagecoach came before long, and about 10 minutes later, we arrived at the entrance of the third tunnel.
「Our lanterns are ready, so follow me.」
With Doganbo-san at the lead, then Maria and I, then Sophia and Kaede at the end of the line, we walked into the dimly lit mine in that formation.
***
Footnotes:
Well.. just random, today’s my birthday. a ha ha ha