The Otherworld Conquest Method of a Reincarnated Porter Chapter 72 Part 2
First, I head to the Adventurers’ Association. The receptionists are three young women. Truthfully, I would have preferred an older, more knowledgeable and experienced one, but it cannot be helped. I speak to the plain-faced woman nearby.
「This is my first time coming to this town. I will pay for it, so please give me some information.」
I put a small gold coin on the counter.
「Huh, so much?! Umm, what kind of information do you want…?」
「Hey, step aside. I will take care of it.」
「Ah, Lorraine-senpai!」
Telling the plain-faced woman to step aside by the shoulder, a slightly gaudy woman with a lot of makeup named Lorraine steps in. Well, this woman is the oldest and seems to be the most experienced of the bunch, and if she is a money-grubber, she is worth using as long as you offer her some money, so I don’t really mind.
「So, what kind of information do you want?」
「All useful information about this city. About the labyrinth, about the monsters and medicinal herbs in the surrounding forests. I also want you to teach me everything that I need to know about the stores, adventurers, and nobles in this city. If I need to pay, I am willing to pay more, depending on the usefulness of the information.」
「Let me see… This much should be enough for now. Let me show you to your private room.」
Lorraine puts the small gold coin in her pocket and shows me to the private room. After waiting for a while, she comes in with some documents. She seems pretty useful.
「Let me introduce myself. My name is Lorraine. I am twenty-three this year. Nice to meet you.」
「I’m Sei. Nice to meet you.」
I appraised her when I was being shown into this room, but Lorraine is thirty years old. Well, I guess she has her own circumstances. Let’s pretend I know nothing of it.
「You are not allowed to take the documents out, but you can copy any information you need. Even if it is not today, I will give you some information as long as you pay me. What would you like to know about first?」
「Let me see… Let’s start with the labyrinth.」
「Very well. The labyrinth in Astoma is called the Puppet Labyrinth, and only puppets and small fist onis can be found in it. The ranks of the monsters in each stratum are in this document.」
「I see. There are ten stratums, and the rank of the stratum lord is 33. Is there no labyrinth lord?」
「According to the old documents, there are actually twenty stratums, but we no longer know the way to get there. There is a reward of one hundred large gold coins just for finding the way to the eleventh stratum. Do give it a try, by all means.」
「A hundred gold coins, that’s an amazing reward.」
「It seems to be worth it. The stratum lord, bronze magic puppet, shows up on the tenth stratum, but it seems that red-iron magic puppets and black-iron magic puppets show up on the eleventh stratum and beyond. If you can find the way there, they should be able to recover the hundred large gold coins in no time.」
I see. Since we can only go up to the tenth stratum now, we can only get iron and bronze from the labyrinth, huh. Alright, I will find the way by all means.
「Please tell me about the surrounding forests.」
「This is a simplified map. Look here for the general distribution of the monsters. Also, if you head south, there is a plain, right? Beyond that is the Forest of Dead. Be sure to stay away from it.」
「The Forest of Dead? What does that mean?」
「Literally, it is a forest that will bring death upon you if you enter. This forest is a domain under the control of the giant purple spiders, which exceed 30 in ranks. It seems there are hundreds of them. There are also higher species, and no one goes near them, but every once in a while, adventurers who want to get rich quick enter the forest and die. There are also their superior species, so no one goes near that place, but it seems that every once in a while, a few adventurers who want to get rich quick enter the forest and die.」
「Get rich quick? What’s in the forest?」
「Medicinal herbs. It seems there are all sorts of medicinal herbs there. Apparently, the magical energy concentration is high in the forest.」
Medicinal herbs, huh. As someone who makes medicines, this is intriguing news. Given that they are purple spiders, they will surely come at you with poison attacks, but I have plenty of green potions, so let’s go and have a look for once.
Then I ask for all sorts of information about the city. Lorraine seems to be doing a job well worth one small gold coin.
「Is there a magic blacksmith in this town?」
「Of course, there are. But the work of a magic blacksmith is very expensive, you know? It costs a few large gold coins.」
「Yeah, I know that. Even so, I hope you can introduce me to one. There is a job I want to ask their help with, you see. I also have the materials.」
「I, I see. So even a large gold coin is no big deal for you, Sei. Fufufu, very well. By all rights, we only issue letters of introduction to people we trust, but I will do something about it. Pleases give me a minute.」
Lorraine goes and leaves the room. But this is a lucky thing. I am getting a referral to a magic blacksmith. If it had been any other receptionist, I doubt this would have been possible. Let’s treat Lorraine well from now on, too.
After a while, Lorraine shows up with a letter of introduction. I guess that is all for my plan for the day. Let’s think about the rest tomorrow.
「I really appreciate your help today. From now on, too, if you have any more useful information, I will gladly pay you for it.」
「Is that so? By the way, I am free tonight, so what you say about having dinner together?」
Hmm, there is no harm in getting along with a receptionist of the Adventurers’ Association. However, it might not be a good idea to get too close with her. This woman is faking her age, and is probably under the mistaken impression that I am some rich young master.
「T, that might be a good idea. I would like to thank you for giving me useful information, so please let me treat you to a meal. Do you know any good places?」
「Yes, of course. Then, I will see you at six o’clock….」
After Lorraine tells me the meeting place and time, there seems to be still time, so I take a look at the request list on the bulletin board. There is a particularly large number of escort requests, and a few medicinal herbs-related requests. There seems to be no subjugation requests. And then, the one that stands out the most is a request to find a way to the eleventh stratum of the labyrinth. The completion reward is 100 large gold coins. The client is Viscount Melnard, who governs this city. While I am looking at the bulletin board for a while, I hear Lorraine’s deep voice coming from the receptionist counter. Her tone of voice is an octave lower than before.
「Just shut up and listen to me and change your shifts.」
「B, but I have plans with my family today….」
Facing the plain-faced young receptionist, Lorraine seems to be threatening… I mean, asking her to change her shifts. Is it by any chance my fault? No, there is no doubt about it.
「I have an important appointment today. Do you have a problem with it?」
「Uuu, yes, I understand. But Lorraine-senpai, will it be alright? Just now, you issued a letter of introduction without the permission of the president of the association, did you not? If it gets found out….」
Bam! Lorraine slams her fist down on the reception counter. The plain-faced girl jumps up and shakes with fear. Is she for real? Give me a break. I have totally made Lorraine get her hand in bad things. Maybe I should return the letter of introduction now and save today’s meal for another day. However, it will probably be impossible for me, a mere adventurer, much less a porter, to ask the president of the association for a letter of introduction.
「If you don’t say anything, no one will know, right? If words get out, you know what will happen, don’t you?」
「Hii!」
I erase my presence and leave the Adventurers’ Association. My bad, plain-faced girl. I will make it up to you later.
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Otherworld Conquest Method of a Reincarnated Porter
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Thanks for the chapter 🙂