「What souvenirs would be good, I wonder?」
「I imagine an accessory made by Takumi-sama would please even the elves.」
Having settled on Sophia’s homecoming, we were preparing for the journey and souvenirs for her family.
「Since Yggurle Kingdom and Valkyra Kingdom have a diplomatic relationship, it would not be difficult for us adventurers to enter.」
「There would be no problems for you either, Sophia?」
「…… my associates from my time with the Chivalric Order will perhaps be in the royal capital, therefore I imagine it will be fine so long as we do not approach the royal capital.」
「Well Sophia, you are no longer a slave, so I suppose it’ll be fine even if you meet your associates.」
There would likely be problems if we entered Yggurle Kingdom with Sophia still a slave, but Sophia, not to mention Maria and Laeva, have already been freed. Seeing their fellow countryman treated as a slave wouldn’t give a good impression, much less if they knew that it is Sophia, a talented person who participated in the war as a knight of Yggurle Kingdom. It could become the worst of troubles.
「The rest is simply hoping that that viscount has somehow died.」
「I don’t know about that. He would be approximately 700 years old if he’s currently alive, but an elf’s lifespan is 800-1000 years, therefore the likelihood that he is alive is quite high. Nevertheless, a 700 year old would still be an elderly person, so I believe he would no longer continue meddling with me now.」
「It would be great if that were the case.」
I was a bit surprised hearing the elves’ lifespan, but in Mildgard, it is common sense to say that even a normal human can live a longer life if they raise their levels. The youthful-looking guild master of the Adventurers Guild, Barack-san, is over 60 years old, but his appearance and abilities show no signs of declining. It seems there are few humans who’ve exceeded Lv100 like myself, though it wouldn’t be unusual, even for a human, to live for over 200 years.
「Takumi-sama, I think it will be alright. Both Sophia-san and Takumi-sama are A rank adventurers, you know? I am B rank, and Laeva is C rank. It couldn’t be helped since Marnie and Akane-chan registered as adventures late, but even our party has been raised to B rank, so, odds are, not even a high ranking noble can be unreasonable towards us.」
What the optimistic Maria said isn’t wrong either. An S rank adventurer is extraordinary, however, an A rank adventurer also possesses power close to that. Even if the other party is a high-ranking noble, the adventurer can not be looked down upon. That is because war is not simply “numbers = strength” in Mildgard. It is reasonable to perceive one great person (Eiyuu) reversing the state of war. What Earth would call a great warrior indicates a strong person out of the norm, but in Mildgard, it is a great person (eiyuu) who can defeat a thousand men alone. An A rank adventurer signifies a person is of that level.
In truth, I’m not confident I can fight a thousand people, but in the perception of the world, Sophia’s and my A rank are said to be like that.
「Well, we’re going to a foreign country, so there is a need to do a delivery of goods to the Papeck Company ahead of time, correct?」
「Un, we have to stock up even on the Miasma Sensor MD and the Barrier MD to some extent and deliver it to Margrave Volton.」
Laeva stated we must deliver somewhat larger quantities of various types of potions and magic devices.
「Then I will replenish our food and seasonings with Maria-san.」
Saying so, Marnie left with Maria to go to the market. According to Sophia, Yggurle Kingdom had little variety in seasoning, and there were many elves that weren’t particular over their food either, so she said it would be best to do well with our food preparations.
Sophia said that, maybe because elves have long lifespans, there are many eccentrics. Majority of the elves are not fixated on eating because many of them find it troublesome to come up with meals for every day of their long lives. There are, however, eccentric elves that exist and there are those who are obsessed with the pursuit of food. They search for food that the world has never eaten. Sophia’s acquaintance apparently has a friend who was crazy about the cuisine of strange combinations.. Besides this, individuals research magic for the entirety of their long lives, or spend their lives on woodcraft, and the like. Sophia could say that there were many elves seeking for ways to waste time.
「Would it be alright if I made an accessory?」
「I believe Mother would be happy with it.」
「If that’s the case, would Status Abnormality Resistance to poison or paralysis and Magic Resistance enchantments be good?」
「Many walk in the forest so Status Abnormality Resistance will be appreciated.」
Since Sophia gave her stamp of approval, I made a mythril alloy accessory.
The design of the 2 cm wide mythril alloy bracelet were engravings of flowers and leaves in the image of an elf. There, small magic crystals of the water, earth, wind, and fire attributes were inlaid.
Since the final product was well received by the girls, it would be great if Sophia’s mother would be pleased with it too.
Until our departure, all that’s left to do is to coop up in the workshop with Laeva to make potions that we would deliver ahead of schedule. In the meantime, Akane and Lulu-chan accepted requests with Marnie so they could raise their ranks even a little bit. They were accompanied by Titan and Kaede as their escorts, so they’ll be fine even against lesser dragons.
And so, with our preparations complete, we embarked on our first trip to a foreign country.
***