QualiA – Chapter 26: Seeking the last fragment… ①

This bar that was filled with cheerful voices and the loud talk of people that was close to shouting, wooden two-storied building, with a country-like look interior with tables and seats lined up orderly, was filled with people that were there to relieve their fatigue of the day.

In this place where beastkin comprised over half of the numbers there, humans somewhat stood out. More so if that human looks like a youngster of around 20 years old all in his lonesome. It can’t be helped that he was directed impolite gazes.

“Everyone is lively.”

While surveying the state of the surroundings, he drank his tea and brings the food to his mouth.

A different country, different food. More so when the race is different, the taste also is different. The food that I ate at the cafeteria had a -how to say it- human-like seasoning to it, but here, it feels as if they are treasuring the natural taste of the ingredients.

…Yeah, it is delicious.

No matter how much complicated stuff I think, there’s no other way of calling something delicious other than delicious.

I forgot the name of the dish, but it is some pseudo-pilaf, and I also take a sip of the vegetable soup. I felt warm and fluffy at the simple taste of it, and after finishing my last spoonful of it, I put my hands together in gratitude.

“Uuf, that was tasty.” (Makoto)

“Thank you very much. Do you want a refill of your tea?”

“Oh, please.” (Makoto)

As if she had been waiting for when I finished eating, the waitress had come to where I am with something that looks like a kettle.

“Customer, I haven’t seen you before. Are you a traveller?”

“Hmm, well, something like that.” (Makoto)

The waitress was directing an interested look towards me, and her cat ears that were proof that she is a Cait Sith twitched, and her tail swayed gently.

“Hmm…Then, are you an adventurer-san?”

“Do I look like I am cut to be an adventurer?” (Makoto)

“…You don’t.”

That laugh of hers was so honest, even so, it didn’t sound malicious, probably because her smile was incredibly pure.

Also, the template adventurers of course exists in this world too. By the way, there’s guilds too.

There’s a splendid guild in the Motoyasu royal capital too, but there’s currently no point in going there, so I have been completely ignoring it. It smells like it would be a pain if I were to go there after all -considering my present standing.

“I am searching for something, you see.” (Makoto)

“Searching for something?”

“Yeah.” (Makoto)

The cat girl tilted her head, and when the voice of someone called her from the kitchen, she told me: ‘well then, take your time’, and hurriedly ran off.

Yup, cat ears and tail are great.

Her mother must be a beautiful Cait Sith as well.

The child of a beastkin will inherit the race traits of their father and mother.

A girl inherits the mother’s, and a boy would inherit the father’s race special traits, so her mother must be a Cait Sith as well. I think there’s not a trace of resemblance with her father. In terms of body traits, they will inherit the traits of the parent of the same gender, but in terms of body abilities, they will inherit the ability of both parents. Because of this, in order to leave stronger offsprings, [Akashic Library] tells me that the nobles and royalty have taken in many different bloodlines.

“…So, what should we do?”

“Even if you ask me, those numbers are just abnormal.”

When I was going all fan-mode on the beastkin, I heard a voice from the back seat.

“It is true that it is abnormal, but even the guild already warned about it.”

“But the numbers are clearly way too much. The guild said they are around 200 in numbers, but no matter how I looked at it, there’s three times that number.”

“Well, yeah… The marshland being completely filled with Poison Lizards was nothing short of a nightmarish sight.”

Oya, they are having an interesting conversation.

I am currently in the Rosuha Town that’s located in the northeast area of Ushtolma, close to the Marick Wetland Belt.

The reason I am in this bar that is facing the main street is so that I can gather information. This bar is also close to the adventurer guild, and most of the customers are adventurers. In terms of the current customers, I would say 70% are adventurers and the remaining are travellers or residents. Well, I may be classifying them in that way, but it doesn’t change the fact that most of them are beastkin. A mofu mofu paradise!

I was about to let it get to my head, but who would want to rub the beast ears of a man.

If I am going to touch one, I want it to be a girl Caith Sith. I won’t say where, but I believe any enthusiast would know where.

“Has there been such an abnormal breeding season as this one?”

“Well, the Guild did say that they would be forming a subjugation unit. Are you going to be participating in it?”

“No, I will sit out of this one. That was somewhat strange… I wouldn’t want to die from getting carelessly close to it.”

“If you are saying that, I will also sit out on it. But the pay is good…”

“It is good pay, but once you get hit by the poison, you are done for, you know? The only one who could negate poison like that would be…there, that person.”

“Aah, that one, huh. It is true that if it is that person, poison wouldn’t work.”

I was listening in on them while thinking they are quite the cautious people for adventurers.

One of them is a Weretiger, and the other is a Grand Bear. Both of them have robust body builds, but the Grand Bear man seems to be quite the cautious one.

This ‘person’ that the Grand Bear is talking about must be referring to the woman that is eating her meal at the counter with a large sword hanging on her waist. Her purple hair is tied at the back, and the characteristic atmosphere she gives off from behind made others unable to approach her.

The talk about the Poison Lizard continued, but there was no more useful information from it.

…I really do have to go to the guild early in the morning, huh.

I did head to the guild the moment I teleported to this town, but I got a business response of, ‘Today’s reception has finished. Please come again tomorrow’.

Looks like the guild is open 24/7, but once it hits 5pm, they don’t take any request aside from emergency ones. The processing of finished requests apparently also can only be done until 5pm. When it passes 5pm, you will have to wait till tomorrow when they begin business.

I teleported to this town a bit after 5pm. I had to explain a variety of things to Erin, and make countermeasures in some parts, so I ended up being late in leaving the castle.

It was clear that it would turn into a ruckus if I were to suddenly disappear, so the excuse was that I have a fever and am lying in bed. If the others were to know that, the bunch that want to play with me would come to my room, so in order to give them some nice reception, I set up a variety of things. Now, I wonder how many will come play with me… I am looking forward to it.

I was asked by Erin if I won’t be teleporting back, but what I am searching for isn’t something that can be done alone, so there’s the chance that I will be having the cooperation of someone. If I were to teleport back to the castle, there are sudden happenstances I wouldn’t be able to deal with if I were to do that, and if I were asked where I have been, it would be a pain to explain, so when I explained that to Erin, she finally agreed.

Anyways, I didn’t expect the adventurer guild that’s famous for being a gathering of rough people to be as business-like as this. When I was given this explanation, I could tell from the face of the receptionist that she was quite displeased with me. It has been a real good while since I have been directed such blunt displeasure.

One of the reasons may be that I am a human.

“Ah, excuse me.”

“Yes? …Wait, mister? What’s the matter?”

This girl that has her cat ears twitching and her eyes narrowed joyfully was acting strangely familiar with me, but it is hard to tell if that’s just a character trait of hers, or that’s how Cait Siths are in general.

“I want the bill. Is there a procedure to it?” (Makoto)

“Ah, understood. Uhm…it will be 700 norme.”

“Here ya go.” (Makoto)

I take out my bag of small change, and give a silver coin worth 1,000 norme to the Cait Sith girl.

The money is from the remaining pocket money that the Queen gave me-desu wa. I am doing the splendid work of a leech. I am going straight down the life of a hopeless human being. Gotta find a way to gain some income.

“Okay. I will bring you the change, so please wait for a bit.”

As if exchanging places with the cat girl that went running off, the beastkin(?) woman that the two adventurers were talking about had walked over to where I am, and passed by.

For a moment, I felt a pain as if something had pricked my skin, but it soon went away.

…Oh?

That woman just now was quite the strong warrior. The aura covering her is clearly different from when she was eating. It is scarily sharpened, and it is hiding a fierceness that feels as if it could cut anything it touches.

The moment she moved, the whole bar had fallen into silence in an instant, and the sound of her footsteps reverberated strangely well in the place. Only after she left did the talking in the bar return little by little. Looks like they are talking about the woman that just left, and she seems to be quite famous even within adventurers.

But why did she show interest in me?

It was just for a bit, but she certainly did direct her gaze at me, and it felt as if she was trying to analyze me. They were eyes as if appraising someone. She also seemed to be somewhat flustered.

Anyways, I can tell she is a beastkin, but I can’t tell which beastkin she is. Her ears were like that of a human, but they were slightly pointy, like those of an elf, but she had what looked like horns growing from her head that were around 15cm long.

Unknown class.

Okay, time to do your job, [Analyze].

[Dragonewt.]

[Dragon beastkin that’s said to have the blood of the dragon race in their veins.
They have a strong body, and they are battle junkies that always seek the strong.
They have a strict and noble personality, but are easily mistaken as being arrogant. On the other hand, they also hold a burning dutiful personality and can easily shed tears.]

Ara, a dragon-san, huh.

They are certainly noble and I can understand how they could be strict on themselves. She did have an aura that didn’t allow anyone to readily talk with her after all.

She has inherited the blood of the dragons, so if she were to take her beast form, I feel like it would be problematic to have her as an opponent.

“Excuse the wait. Here’s your 300 norme change.”

“Thanks.” (Makoto)

Receiving the change from the Cait Sith girl, I put them in the bag of coins, and while at it, I try asking about the Dragonewt woman that left just a moment ago.

“Who is the Dragonewt woman that left just now?” (Makoto)

“Eh? Customer-san, don’t you know about Amalietta-sama?”

“Yeah, I don’t. I came from a pretty far away place, so I don’t know much about the matters around these areas.” (Makoto)

The Cait Sith girl had her eyes go round in surprise. Judging from her reaction, this Dragonewt woman -Amalietta- must be quite the famous one.

It doesn’t matter to me whether she is famous, but from my experience, this kind of encounters enter in the pattern where I will end up getting dragged in some sort of trouble. That’s why I have to be careful.

“I see, so her name is Amalietta-san. An adventurer?” (Makoto)

“Hmm, she is an adventurer, and at the same time she is not.”

“What’s with that riddle?” (Makoto)

“It is hard to explain. Also, it is not Amalietta ‘-san’, it is ‘-sama’. She is one of the four Saint Beasts, Blue Storm Amalietta-sama.”

Meaning she is a bigshot.

“Ooh? So, what’s this about Four Saint Beasts?” (Makoto)

“You don’t know that either?! You see, the Four Saint Beasts have a religious following in the Ushtolma nation, and they are patterned after the legendary Five Chief Minister-samas, and they are titles given to four great personages of the Ushtolma nation.”

Five Chief Ministers, she says… She is referring to ‘them’, right?

Jii-sama is probably excluded in it, but it is certainly true that the peak of Saint Beasts and Spirits are the Divine Beasts, so I can understand them being worshipped. But they are a bunch with heavy individual character traits, so if the beastkin were to meet them personally, they would most likely be shocked.

“Hohoh~. Why is such a person in this kind of place?” (Makoto)

“Well, excuse me for being ‘this kind of place’. I heard that Amalietta-sama has been dispatched by the Guild of the royal capital to investigate the abnormal breeding of the Poison Lizards.”

Seriously? Isn’t this the pattern of me going to the guild tomorrow and meeting her there?

Crap…If I had known, I would have acted while hiding my identity. It would be weird to try and hide it now, so let’s just go like this. Welp, I messed up there.

“Ooh…But this abnormal breeding of the Poison Lizards, is it that bad?” (Makoto)

“It is not on the level of bad. It is already on a level where a number of adventurers have died, and they are saying that the Poison Lizards are increasing day by day.”

“That’s problematic…” (Makoto)

“Hm? Is there something troubling you?”

The Cait Sith girl tilts her head. She really is filled with curiosity. As a waitress in a bar, she must hear a lot of information. Especially an amiable girl like this. The other person would lower their guard and slip out information. She may have some secret intentions.

“Yeah, I need the Paralysis Lizard, you see. But hearing from you said just now, I thought this would be quite dangerous.” (Makoto)

“Paralysis Lizard… Is Customer-san an alchemist?”

“Oh? It is impressive you could tell.” (Makoto)

“Cause you know, the only use for that would be in alchemy. That’s what Grandma told me.”

“Hoh…If she said that, it must mean that your Grandma is…” (Makoto)

“Yes, she is an alchemist too.”

The Cait Sith girl puffs her chest in pride. The Motoyasu Kingdom was filled with people in possession of giant mountains, but it is not as if hers are small, it is just that it feels as if they are lacking… No good, I am being poisoned by the standards of the Motoyasu.

“However, I think a Paralysis Lizard has been captured recently.”

“…Really?” (Makoto)

“Yeah…Grandma did say something like that.”

“Can you let me meet your grandma?” (Makoto)

“If that’s what you want, she is teaching alchemy as a teacher at the guild there, so you can meet her whenever.”

Seriously?

“So she is working as a teacher.” (Makoto)

“Yeah, she is a pretty famous alchemist in this country, you know?”

“Hoh…” (Makoto)

“She was working in the imperial court in the past.”

“Hohoh… So, that granddaughter of hers is working as a waitress in a bar.” (Makoto)

“Muh…Onii-san, you are a bully.”

The Cait Sith girl puffs her cheeks, her tail stood upright, and her arms were flailing in clear show of anger. It is quite the childish gesture, but with her looks, it can’t be helped that it would feel heartwarming.

“Sorry, sorry.” (Makoto)

“Muh… Now that I think about it, Onii-san, what’s your name?”

“Hm? Makoto.”

“Makoto-san, huh… What a weird name.”

What a straight and rude girl, oi.

“And, you?” (Makoto)

“Won’t tell you~.”

“…Oi.” (Makoto)

“Ahahaha, it was a joke. I am Mijuru. Nice to meet you.” (Mijuru)

Letting out a ‘kusukusu’ laugh, the Cait Sith girl -Mijuru- gives a ‘thank you for your patronage’, and after watching her walk off, I leave the bar.

☆☆ ★★★ ☆☆  

Guild of the Rosuha Town.

The door made a creaking ‘giii’ sound, and the gazes of the people in the silent building had gathered towards the woman that entered. There were many receptionists performing their duties, and there were also employees doing the paperwork, there’s also the adventurers checking the requests at the board; all of them had directed their gazes at the woman that entered, showed awe, and naturally lowered their heads.

“Welcome back, Amalietta-sama.”

“I am back. Is Obaa <granny>, not here yet?” (Amalietta)

“Yes, she is. She is currently still in the workroom.”

The Dragonewt woman called Amalietta gave her greeting to the receptionist, and soon walked to the side of the counter and into the corridor. The receptionist looked at that back of hers with eyes like that of a maiden in love, gave words of admiration to no one in particular, and praised Amalietta.

Even when Amalietta heard that, she didn’t heed it and continued walking, but she stopped at the deepest room, and knocked the door.

“It’s open.”

“Excuse my intrusion.” (Amalietta)

A wrinkled voice could be heard from inside the room, and after one breath, Amalietta silently opened the door and entered.

“How’s the store my grandchild is working at?”

“It had a good atmosphere. However, I think a girl of age working at a bar is problematic in itself.” (Amalietta)

“Hah…Ye have a hard head. That store is run by an acquaintance, so even if a problem happens, it will be okay.”

“…I see. If it is an acquaintance of yours, it will be okay even if anything happens.” (Amalietta)

The old lady laughs and the gray cat ears lightly shook. Amalietta returned a wry smile of her own, and shrugs her shoulders.

“And so, ya’ll be heading to the swamp tomorrow, right?”

“Yes. The Poison Lizards are increasing in numbers at a pace higher than expected, so there’s the need to put a stop to the source.” (Amalietta)

“Abnormal breeding of Poison Lizards, huh… According to the talk of the adventurers that came today, they did say that the numbers surpassed the thousands.”

“Yeah. There’s definitely something going on.” (Amalietta)

It was around one month ago that the abnormal breeding of the Poison Lizards was confirmed.

The first sighting report of this was from adventurers that were crossing the Marick Wetland Belt to head to the Kouzan City for a request, and there, they found a pack of Poison Lizards that surpassed the 300 in numbers.

Poison Lizards normally live in packs of 20 to 30, but a pack of close to 300 is nothing but abnormal. The guild immediately reported this and dispatched an investigation team, but at that time, it had already swelled into a scale of 500. In order to deal with the Poison Lizards that had propagated at an abnormal rate in a short period of time, a great number of adventurers headed there to eliminate them, but the numbers were a threat in itself, and injured ones were appearing one after the other, leading to deaths, and so, the Rosuha Guild Master sent out a request for reinforcements to the royal capital.

The King who saw this situation as grave had dispatched one of the Four Saint Beasts, Amalietta, and had arrived at Rosuha today.

“And so, yer heading there alone?”

“I don’t need deadweight.” (Amalietta)

“Kuku… You are as rigid as always.”

The old lady endured a laugh and shrugged her shoulders.

“I see. Was there no one there who caught yer eye?”

“That’s right. But…” (Amalietta)

She did have a comrade that is useful for emergency relays, but that person is lacking in ability to use in battle. More so when this time around it is an abnormal propagation of Poison Lizards, and there have already been deaths from it.

“There was one human there I couldn’t understand.” (Amalietta)

“…Human?”

“Yes. A man that seemed to be close to twenty, but my eyes…couldn’t see anything.” (Amalietta)

“Hoh…Even your ‘Dragon Network Eyes’ couldn’t see? Isn’t this the first time since the King?”

“No, I could see a bit from His Majesty…But for him…I couldn’t see a single bit……” (Amalietta)

“That’s…does that mean he is stronger than His Majesty?”

“…”

Contrary to the old lady that was raising the corners of her mouth as if finding this amusing, Amalietta was silent and couldn’t stop the noise inside her chest.

Even the absolute strongest that stands at the peak of the beastkin nation that is the Beast King, the Dragon Network Eyes of Amalietta worked on him, and she had winced at the difference in strength between him and her.

However, that human was different.

The Dragon Network Eyes uses Amalietta as the standard in ‘battle power’. Magic eyes that can appraise the person that it sees to a certain extent. With that standard of comparison, the man at the bar…is stronger than Amalietta, no, stronger than the Beast King that is considered the strongest in Ushtolma.

(I hope nothing happens.)

This wish of hers strangely aligned with the person in question, but the current Amalietta didn’t know that this wish of theirs would crumble feebly at the very next day.

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