BXBX NOVEL Chapter 597: Cold Sweat
Eguchi Ren: Thank you for your continued support for Tondemo Skill!
Gumihou: Redid the dialogues a bit. Honestly, 6 High Elves are a bit tricky to keep track of
“This is great! It’s been a while since I had last been to a city.”
“It’s quite a big one too.”
“I’m going to take a good look around, so let’s stay here for a bit.”
“I’m going to look for some good restaurants.”
“A bar! Got to check out the bars and taverns!”
“There should be loads of stuff here that can’t be found in the village, so I’m really looking forward to it!”
Our group landed in the usual grassland just beyond the city walls. The High Elves appeared high-spirited [1] as they chattered like a bunch of high-energy squirrels scrambling up and down Grandpa Gon’s body. Personally, I was already high-strung and could not bear their high-pitched voices and high-powered interaction.
“Haahhh… we’re finally here…”
I just can’t deal with these High Elves and their love for the high-risk hobby of hopping all over a dragon like a moveable highrise building… for now, my highest priority is getting off Grandpa Gon safely and going home to lie down on a soft bed as soon as possible.
The entire trip was unbearable with these free-spirited running around like free-range chickens on what was basically the back of a, a giant flying crocodile-lizard-thing.
Wait.
Free-spirited [1] High Elves running freely around the City of Carelina and causing free havoc on the free citizens of my city… no, no, my mind immediately shied away from the thought as beads of sweat formed on my forehead. Absolutely not. I cannot allow this mayhem to descend upon Carelina so suddenly. No matter what, as an honourary citizen (I hope) of this city I should… do my best to prevent this.
At the very least, I should make them all come to my house first, introduce them to my employees and somehow make the High Elves stay at home while I quickly nip over to the Adventurer’s Guild to make a report.
Still, surely it should be fine? After all, it’s not like these High Elves were completely isolated or closed off from urban areas. They had been to cities before. So, it should be alright, right?
Right.
“Hey, uh, so, why don’t we drop by my house first? I mean, everyone must be tired, right? Why don’t you guys head over there first and take a break? I have some business at the Adventurer’s Guild…”
“We want to go to the Guild too!”
“That’s right, we need to sell our things to get money.”
“Can’t buy anything without money.”
“Can’t do anything without money.”
“Can’t drink without money.”
“Can’t have fun without money!”
“Ah…” my strategy collapsed right at the start. Let’s try a different tactic, “Ahem, you do know that if you’re not a registered Adventurer, you can’t sell your materials at a good price, right?”
At this, Jorgen and everyone else took out their cards and held them up to my face. They were Adventurer’s Guild cards. Jorgen, Adela and Radomir held A-rank cards while Verde, Selma and Laura had B-rank cards.
For some reason, I had the feeling that everyone was smirking at me.
I gave the cards another look and found that there was something different about them. I had held F, C, A and now an S rank card, so I’m pretty familiar with them. These cards have the Adventurer’s Guild mark on them, which meant they were probably the real deal , but… are they?
Or, oh no.
“Um, when did you get these cards?” I asked. “They looked, um, different from mine.”
“Different? Really?” said Verde interestedly. “May we see your card?”
I took out my shiny golden guild card and handed it to them.
“Wow, is this gold?”
“It says… S rank…”
The High Elves all stared at me.
“Ahem, well…” I gestured helplessly at my familiars.
“Ah, I see…” All six of them nodded understandingly.
I felt oddly annoyed by their easy understanding. It was not the first time that this happened. People take one look at my card, stare at me, then at my familiars, and then a look of understanding would dawn on their faces followed by a self-satisfied ‘I see…’
“Hmm, now that you mentioned it, I believe that Adela and I got our cards just before we left for the island. I guess it must have been 300 years ago,” said Jurgen.
Adela nodded from the side, “There was something we really wanted at that time. The fastest way to get cash was to make money as a ranked Adventurer.”
“I think I got this one about 350 years ago,” said Verde as he rubbed his chin. “It should still be less than 400 years though.”
[2]
300 years? 400 years? Would these Guild Cards still be valid after all these years?
Hold it, didn’t Jorgen say something about them often passing themselves as regular Elves?
Wait, how long do Elves live again?
How long do High Elves live?
Is this even my problem?!!
“Haahhh… fine, let’s go to the Adventurer’s Guild first,” I said, my shoulders drooping.
In fact, it did not really matter when these High Elves had gotten their Guild Card, what was clear, was that they were eager to visit the Adventurer’s Guild and would not take no for an answer.
“YAY~!”
Yeah, I don’t care any more.
“Haah… we’re finally here…”
It took us an abnormally long time to reach the Adventurer’s Guild, because, like a bunch of elementary students on their first field trip, the High Elves were just too excited.
They would approach any shop or stall that caught their eye and had to be dragged off with ‘You do not have the money for that food/tool/shiny thing’. Fortunately, no one tried to steal anything and nothing was broken or destroyed on our way to the Guild. a few people looked our way curiously, but it was the natural attraction of good-looking people rather than the more problematic ‘why are these people so strange’ gaze.
After all, it was not every day that six extremely good-looking people travel together at the same time. Not in Carelina at least. Still, most of the locals tried to pretend not to notice anything too strange and went on their business without bothering us.
The moment we stepped into the Adventurer’s Guild, Guild Master Willem-san suddenly appeared and said ‘You…’ in a very menacing tone.
“Yes, it’s me. Ahem, so, a lot of things happened and, uh, these people would like to do business with the guild. Would it be alright if we do that first?”
“Do business?” asked Willem-san dubiously.
“Yes,” I beamed at him, doing my best to entice him with normalcy. That’s right, nothing weird here, just some regular Adventurers out to make a little money.
Willem-san looked at the gorgeous people behind me and said, “Elves?”
“I happened to run across them… somewhere. They would like to sell something.”
“Haahhh… I guess that’s fine. If Carelina doesn’t buy whatever it is from them, they would take their wares elsewhere anyway.”
“Indeed, indeed,” I encouraged him cheerfully.
“Come with me,” he said.
We all trooped after him to the very familiar warehouse. Johan waved at me with a ‘Hey’.
“So, are you registered with the Adventurer’s Guild?” was Willem-san’s first question the moment the doors to the warehouse closed.
Everyone smugly whipped out their guild cards.
“Hmm, these looked kind of old,” he muttered as he handed the cards to an employee who ran off with them. To be verified? “I shall give you the purchase price after checking the goods. Could you show me what you have first?”
The High Elves quickly reached into their [Item Boxes] and started pulling out things and piling them on workbenches and tables.
Johan-san looked over the goods and said, “Woah, these are beautifully processed. Can’t say I need to do anything else.”
Verde looked very smug at this compliment.
Speaking of which, things continued to pile up on the workbench.
“Oi, oi, don’t tell me there’s more?”
“These are the last ones,” said Radomir as he placed a set of fangs (or claws?) on the workbench.
“With this many things, it would take us some time to assess them,” said Johan-san.
Just then, the staff member returned with the High Elves’ guild cards. There was a bewildered look on his face.
“… …” I have a bad feeling about this.
So did the Guild Master. “What is it now?” he asked warily.
“Oh, um, you see, these cards are… very old.”
“Yes, we already know that,”
“Like, really old. Technically the cards are invalid now, but because they are high-ranking Adventurers, we could still access their details…”
“Wait, the cards? All of them? What-”
“Yes, that’s… the cards are all registered about 600 years ago…”
“Hah? What did you say?”
“I- I can’t quite believe it either, I had the information checked and, and…”
Even as the staff member tried to explain himself, the Guild Master was already slowly turning towards me.
I had to look away. There was no way I could look him in the eye…
Hold it.
600 years?
Didn’t they just say-?
Did they mean that they received their higher-ranked cards about 300 to 400 years ago, but had registered as an Adventurer over 600 years ago? Is that it?
From what I heard, the longest-living Elf is about 600 years old, so… I guess they can’t pass as regular elves now, huh?
Damn these handsome men and gorgeous women.
“Oi, you. Just who did you bring to my Guild? Why don’t you explain this to me?”
Willem-san was smiling, but yet not smiling.
I feel like a frog being stared at by a snake…
[Gumihou: Adjusted the dialogue so that it is less tedious and hive-mind-ish]
[1] Added comedic details since the chapter seems a little dull
[2] Switched out ‘yeah’ and ‘me too’ comments with details about lifespans etc
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