Ruler Vol 1 Chapter 8
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Author: Anit666
【Sam’s POV】
“Say, would you like to form a party with me? Oh, and I’m a S-ranked adventurer by the way.” (Cornellia)
Huh? Am I going deaf? Did she just ask me to form a party with her?
“You want to form a party with me, a F-ranked adventurer? Why would you do something like that?” (Sam)
“The thing is…… I want to go on a dragon subjugation quest. But that quest requires a party which has at least one S-ranked adventurer.” (Cornellia)
She explained abashedly.
“Okay…….. But why would you want to form a party with me? I don’t think I would be of help during the dragon subjugation. I’m still F-ranked, ya know.” (Sam)
Well actually, I might be able to defeat a normal dragon single-handedly. But there’s no need to tell her that, is there? Moreover, you can’t just casually approach me and ask me to form a party to subjugate a dragon while expecting to me to agree.
The elf, Cornellia, squinted her eyes with a bit of annoyance, raised her finger and started speaking as if she was explaining something to a child.
“Hmph. You might be able to fool an amateur, but not an expert like me. I was observing since you entered this building, and I could tell that you’re actually very strong. First of all, you have surrounded your body with a mana layer which can only be used by the S or upper-ranked adventurers in this guild. Next is the way you carry yourself. Although your way of moving might seem leisurely, it doesn’t have any openings. It’s like you’re always ready for a death-battle.” (Cornellia)
Uwaaa this girl is a stalker!
But, keeping aside my way of carrying myself, I sure have covered my body with a layer of mana. This layer can resist magical attacks to a certain degree, which makes it quite useful against surprise attacks. But this elf saw through me. Good grief.
And I carry myself in a way that suggests that I’m always ready for battles? Wow. Well, old habits do die hard.
“You’ve got one hell of an observant eye there. Anyway, this doesn’t tell me why I should join you. What merit is there for me in it?” (Sam)
Before she could answer, our food arrived. The elf had also ordered the same things as me.
That’s a coincidence, right?
We decided to first eat our food and then continue the talk. I raised my mask a little bit, just enough to expose my mouth and then took a sip of the stew.
And…. this is so delicious!
I tried the bread next and it was tasty too. I especially liked the texture of this bread. Tender yet a little bit crunchy. I took a sip of the stew, and it also belonged to another world. The combination of milk and spices was perfect and complimented each other. I then dipped the bread in the stew and then ate it.
Ah I’m in heaven! This is some serious gourmet shit!
We continued our meals in silence and finished in around 10 minutes. Although the tavern area was still full, it didn’t seem like there were any new customers, so we were not pressured to empty our seats. We continued our talk from before.
“As I was saying, what merit do I have in joining you to subjugate a dragon?” (Sam)
“How about I give you half of the dragon’s body?” (Cornellia)
A tempting proposition indeed, but it’s still not enough.
“And?” (Sam)
“What else do you need……. Ah! You are new here, right? How about I also give you information?” (Cornellia)
She exclaimed.
“Why do you think I’m new here?” (Sam)
Don’t tell me that she really is a stalker. Have I become that popular?
“Take no offence but I would’ve known if someone with an appearance as weird as you moved into this city. Not to mention that the way you ate your stew and bread told me you were new here. Although I couldn’t see from your expression, I knew from your body language that you found it very delicious, which is a trait that solely belongs to newcomers.” (Cornellia)
Damn. This elf sure has some sharp eyes. This is kinda annoying, but her offer of providing me with information is too tempting to let go of. In every era, the amount of information one possesses is the one thing that can decide the tides of wars. One must never look down on information gathering. Though there would be people who would think differently. The would be like, ‘Who cares what you know when pieces of your brain were flying out and splattered across the wall’.
However, that way of thinking works only when the side splattering the brains is overwhelmingly stronger than the side whose brains are being splattered. When both the sides are evenly matched, victory and defeat is decided by strategies, and the more information one has, the better his strategies can be.
……….
Looks like I have no choice but to accept.
But wait, what if this elf is a spy sent by Alicia to keep an eye on me? That’s certainly possible. Alicia should have suspected that I would be on the lookout for spies, so she sent one after me in the form of a friend. That would also explain why this elf knew so much about me.
However, the things this elf noticed about me aren’t that informative can be explained as her having good perceptive capabilities. In fact, there are people out there who can discern everything about you just by the way you talk. There are even techniques that are used for that purpose, like profiling, cold and hot reading.
Hmmmm……
The information I currently have in my hand is insufficient to draw a conclusion. Looks like I’ll have to be careful. I’ll have to observe her and determine whether she’s a spy or not. And if she is one, then I’ll have to dissolve the party and force her to go back.
I peeked at her from behind my mask, and she was fidgeting nervously while waiting for my answer.
“Fine, I’ll accept your offer.” (Sam)
She stopped fidgeting and looked at me with astonishment, but her face was soon filled with a wide beautiful smile.
“But we’ll have to wait some more time as I still don’t have my guild card.” (Sam)
“No problem. I also needed some time to make preparations for the journey anyway. Then we’ll meet up here at this guild after an hour. Is that fine by you?” (Cornellia)
“Yes.” (Sam)
After that she left the guild, and I ordered some more stew and bread. Although the food at the grand palace was also very good, but commoner’s food has a charm of itself. I continued with my food while trying to eavesdrop on others conversations to gather information. Though I wasn’t able to find anything useful.
About 40 minutes later, I went to the counter I registered at to collect my guild card.
“Here is your guild card, Mr. Hayden. Please take good care of it. You will be charged an additional fee of 5 silver coins if you ever lose your guild card and want it to be renewed. Please show it to Silica on the reception desk on the ground floor. You’ll be able to accept requests after that.” (Silvia)
“Thank you. And please don’t be so formal with me. Call me Sam.” (Sam)
“Okay, Sam. I look forward to your achievements.” (Silvia)
She accepted quickly.
I parted with her and checked the guild card. The card was green in colour, and had my name, age and rank printed on it. I went downstairs to show the card to Silica.
“Mr. Hayden, right? You’ve now been successfully registered as an adventurer. You can now accept quests, and you can also form a party. We look forward to working with you.” (Silica)
“Likewise. And please call me Sam. Also, I’ll be forming a party. My partner will be arriving shortly.” (Sam)
“Understood. You can register your party at this reception desk.” (Silica)
“Thanks.” (Sam)
After about 10 minutes, Cornellia came back with a medium sized shoulder bag.
Maybe it contains our provisions for the journey? That surely helps.
She also had a wooden staff in her hand. The staff had a red ruby embedded on its top. Looks like she is a magic caster. According to Reygus, using a magic staff can raise your proficiency in magic by up to 2 times.
“I’m back! Did you get your guild card?” (Cornellia)
“Yepp. Shall we register our party then?” (Sam)
“Yes!” (Cornellia)
Why is she so energetic? Did something good happen to her?
We proceeded towards the reception desk to register our party.
“Hello, Silica! I want to register a party. My comrade is him.” (Cornellia)
“Okay. A party with with Lady Cornellia and Sam as the members. …………. Wait. A party with a S-ranked and a F-ranked member?” (Silvia)
She asked with a confused tone.
“Yes.” (Cornellia)
“Are you sure you want to form a party with her? She’s regarded as the most reckless adventurer in this guild, you know.” (Silvia)
Silvia looked towards me and asked in a slightly worried tone.
Are you sure that it’s not just a facade to hide her cold calculating self? Or that’s what I wanted to ask, but didn’t. I just nodded.
“Okay then. And what would you name the party?” (Silvia)
“The Crusaders!!” (Cornellia)
What kinda name is that? And why crusaders? It’s not like we are going around to reclaim the Holy Land that’s occupied by people of other religions.
We aren’t, right? Don’t tell me that she follows an ideology of ‘If we can’t persuade, then it’s time for another crusade’? I sure hope that’s not the case.
“You two have now been registered under the party name ‘The Crusaders’. You can now accept up to SS-ranked requests.” (Silvia)
“Give us that dragon subjugation one.” (Cornellia)
“That one, huh. Undertood.” (Silvia)
She sighed.
And just like that, I formed a party.
It’s now time for a crusade! Deus Vult!
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