Chapter 17 – The Magic Tower’s Strange Investigation Quest #2

What kind of quest are you doing?
I questioned Lily’s words.
After a while, Lily explained the contents of the quest to me, as if there was no intention of vaguely lumping it together.

“It is a quest to investigate a special phenomenon that occurred near the city of Yoensuu. It is not simply a physical phenomenon, but a matter involving magic. Strange things that cannot be explained by common sense. They are doing bizarre things as a group. We investigate such a phenomenon.”
“Eh, a case involving magic? Isn’t that a rather difficult quest?”

I scratched my cheek in embarrassment at hearing Lily’s words.
Because the word magic was mixed in, the level of difficulty seemed high. It didn’t seem like a quest that a bronze adventurer living in the deep sea like me could get involved in.
But Lily waved his hand as if it were okay.

“No need to worry! Not all magical phenomena are dangerous. The quests I received from the Mage Tower are also relatively safe. Judging by the adventurer’s guild’s difficulty level, it’s probably…”

Lily thought about it before opening her mouth.

“E grade? I think I heard from the professor that it was that difficult.”
“It’s E-class…”

It was a difficulty suitable for bronze level adventurers.
The difficulty of the herb gathering quest I received last time was also E grade. If he hadn’t encountered a kelpie, the quest for collecting herbs would have been a very easy quest.
In other words, the request that Lily wanted to entrust to me was at a level that could be fulfilled.

“It’s okay. What’s the pay?”

It was the moment when I nodded and asked a question.
Hearing Lily’s answer, I couldn’t help but put on a surprised expression.

“It’s 1 silver, Mr. Luke.”
“I-Really? They give you 1 silver each as a reward? It’s a quest that’s only E-level in difficulty?”

1 silver!
A single silver coin is a lot of money to me!
If I save 1 silver, I can live without doing anything for 15 days. I was embarrassed by the unexpectedly high pay.

“Yes.”
“Why, why? Why are you so paid?”
“Of course it is. My credits are at stake for this request!”
“…?”

Lily suddenly put on a serious expression.

“To graduate from the Mage’s Tower, you need to accumulate credits, but the Mage’s Tower encourages students to go outside and run on their own. That’s why we create a quest every semester and entrust it to the students. Depending on their performance, we give them additional points, and that’s how it works.”
“Is that so.”
“That’s why I’m asking you to help me with the quest as hard as I’m giving you 1 silver. Adventurers say that the more money you get, the more motivated you are? Am I wrong?”
“That’s right. That’s right!”

I remembered the days when I was in college in my previous life.
Lily, like me back then, was a slave to grades.
Investing personal time and money to get a good grade on an assignment.
Actually money is not something I care about.
If you were a student at the Magic Tower, Lily was definitely a girl born with a golden spoon in her mouth.
Whether her family is a family of great wizards, or the daughter of a rich family who paid a huge donation to enter the Mage Tower.
From Lily’s point of view, about 1 silver would be no different from buried money.
As if to lighten her mood, Lily clapped her hands and opened her mouth.

“I think we only need to gather one more party member. Bringing in too many people is also a point deduction factor. However, if you complete a quest alone, your cooperation points will be deducted. That’s why. Are there any good adventurers you can recommend? ?”
“Anyone I can recommend? Of course there is.”

I scratched my head and glanced sideways at Rebecca standing next to me.

“Hey, hurry up and say something. Don’t just look at me there.”
“Huh? Uh, yeah…”

Rebecca stood there watching as Lily and I chatted.
After interrupting her client and failing to find the timing to break in, Rebecca became like a sack of barley.
Rebecca only got the courage after I pushed her on the back.

“Oh, hello! I’m Rebecca. Oh… Great.”

Were you nervous?
Rebecca covered her mouth as if she had chewed her tongue.
Then she began to introduce herself in her unreliable pronunciation.

“B, this is Rebecca, the bronze swordsman. Ah. She handles her sword well. That, and…!”
“Hey? I can’t hear what you’re saying?”

It was the moment when Lily frowned at Rebecca’s immature speech.
I quickly joined Rebecca’s side, thinking that if I left her alone any longer, I would end up in a catastrophe of being denied the quest ride. He put her hand on her shoulder in a very friendly way and started talking.

“This swordsman and I are a fixed party. A set menu that cannot be separated from each other! You can say that we are a soulful duo who are in perfect harmony with each other. Oh, don’t you know what a set menu means? Anyway, if you hire me, One more prosecutor is coming along.”
“A prosecutor? Is your skill reliable?”
“Yes, of course! He’s a monstrous rookie who survived single-handed fights with broncos. One of his movements is agile. Rebecca, am I right?”
“Huh? That’s right-.”

Fortunately, Rebecca wasn’t such a jerk that I missed feeding her.
I sweated hard to free Rebecca, who had hardened.

I can’t help it.
Newbie adventurers usually lack brazenness.
It means that he does not have the courage to put an iron plate on his face in front of a client. It took me a few months to get off my newbie tee. It was difficult to expect Rebecca to act skillfully right away.
Thanks to my chattering by my side, I was able to overcome the crisis.

“It’s not bad. You mean the two of them are a fixed party? One wizard and one swordsman. It’s a good combination.”

Lily accepted Rebecca as a member of her party without much hesitation. In fact, most of the clients visiting the adventurer’s guild preferred a fixed party. There’s no way you wouldn’t know that a fixed party with your hands and feet set up in advance is better than a gong pot where people recklessly gathered. In addition, if there was a wizard in the party, the value of the fixed pot would rise even more.

“Both of us are new to the Mage Tower investigation quest. I’ll tell you about that in advance.”
“It doesn’t matter if it’s your first time. It’s an easy quest anyway.”
“All right.”
“Luke-sama, Rebecca-sama. Then, each of you take time to organize your belongings before leaving. It’s an investigation quest, so you don’t need to buy anything else. I’ll be back by this evening at the latest, just pack your backpack and food.”

Lily gave instructions to reassemble in front of the west gate of the city after the maintenance.
According to what Lily had told us, the place our party should investigate was Morris Forest.
Maurice Forest, where I hunted goblins the other day.
This is the place where I went hunting solo and got hurt by a group of goblins.

“Then I’ll see you later.”

As I was leaving the guild building, a hand suddenly grabbed my sleeve.
It was Rebecca.
She seemed to have something to say to me.

“What? Why are you holding on?”
“That, that… Thank you just now. You spoke to the client instead of me.”
“Thank you. You and I are a fixed party. If we have difficulties, we should help each other.”

I smiled and shook my head.
Rebecca wiggled her fingers and then she undid her sleeves.
What I wanted to say was that it really seemed like that was all.
It’s a bit embarrassing to say this, but I find Rebecca a little cute when she looks downcast.
It smells like a strange newbie, so I like it very much.
I want to pick it up and put it right there.

“See you later. Do you know where the preface is?”
“That, that’s for sure!”

Leaving behind the irate Rebecca, I went back to the inn and had a brief maintenance session. It is to pack a bottle of beef jerky or drinking water in a backpack.
Of course, I brought a crossbow just in case, but I don’t think I’ll need to use it anymore. It’s better to shoot magic spheres than to fire arrows.

*

An hour after that.
After joining in front of the west gate, we and our client, Lily, immediately set off for Morris Forest.
Morris Forest was within walking distance from Joensuu. There was no need to rent a carriage, so I decided to ask Lily what I wanted to ask while walking.

“I think there’s something we haven’t heard about the quest yet. Our party is going to investigate a magical phenomenon right now? Then, what phenomenon should we investigate?”
“If you ask me what kind of phenomenon it is… I heard that it was a phenomenon in which animals and plants become gigantic. Organisms growing in the forest become gigantic overnight.”
“Is the flora and fauna changing massively? Why is that happening?”
“Yes? That’s… It’s something I don’t know with a student-level knowledge. There’s a project to study the gigantic phenomenon in the Magic Tower. But I don’t have the qualifications to enter the research building yet-.”
“Okay.”

Nodding my head, I had a sudden thought.
It was the corpse of a basilisk he had seen while working part-time at the Mage Tower not too long ago.
A snake whose body was huge enough to fill a waste dump.
Listening to Lily’s words, the basilisk might have been a giant monster in the Mage Tower.
Where the hell are you going to use it after researching something like that?
Anyway, to summarize the quest, it was roughly like this.

[Magic Disaster Investigation Request]
Grade: E
Content: Investigate the gigantic phenomenon that occurred in Morris Forest
Reward: 1 Silver

Time passed and the party members arrived at Morris Forest.
Lily knew where the gigantic phenomenon had taken place, so she acted as a guide for our party.
I followed her Lily and gave her her hints.

“By the way, Miss Lily, do you know that there is a goblin nest in Maurice Forest?
“Oh, goblins? Did goblins live in this forest?”
“Yes. I’m asking in case a fight breaks out in advance. Is Lily-sama a wizard?”
“I’m a student belonging to the Magic Tower, so of course I’m a wizard. But I’m a student belonging to the alchemy department. I haven’t learned offensive spells. I’ve never fought monsters.”
“You mean Lily-sama is an alchemist? Can she possibly make potions?”
“I’m still learning how to make potions. I can make a simple first aid kit, though.”
“Okay.”

Through conversation, I sorted out Lily’s use in battle. A student at the Pension Department of the Magic Tower. Since she revealed that she hadn’t learned any offensive spells, Lily wouldn’t be much help in battle.
Rather, there was a need for me and Rebecca to protect Lily.

“Hey, I guess that girl doesn’t have any fighting skills.”
“So you’re saying I have to protect you?”
“Yes.”

When I whispered a hint, Rebecca moved closer to Lily. In case of emergency, Rebecca would be quicker to respond with her sword, so Rebecca volunteered to act as Lily’s escort.
When I walked for a while and went into a deep forest.
Me and Rebecca finally arrived at the site of the gigantic phenomenon.

It was by a creek with a babbling stream.
The moment I arrived at the creek and looked around, I couldn’t help but put on a puzzled expression.

“It’s so big…”

It was much bigger than I thought.
Beyond imagination.
That was my honest impression of looking around the creek.