Chapter 18
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Knowledge That Can Be Utilized (1)
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In the village of Dandelrion, near the mansion where Aren Eldiad resided.
Tsubal, the Guild Master of the Hunter Guild in that village, was feeling uneasy in his office.
"I sent the letter, but I have no idea how the 9th Prince will respond."
The 9th Prince.
The imperial who had suddenly descended upon the village and whom he had met for the first time not long ago.
Tsubal couldn't quite get a read on the man.
When he had moved to the mansion built nearby, the only notice had come via official guild correspondence, and the prince had never once visited before.
For a full year after that, there had been no news at all, aside from the occasional maid heading to the market. Then, out of nowhere, the prince himself had come down to the village.
The 9th Prince, rumored to have no talents whatsoever.
Tsubal was well aware of the whispers that his only gift was his kind and gentle nature toward everyone.
But his actions didn't match those rumors in the slightest.
An imperial trying out hunting with escorts in tow?
One could dismiss that as mere amusement, but then he had effortlessly defeated a veteran hunter in a sparring match and slain fifteen Chickleks in short order. No one could brush that off as a lack of talent.
Above all, Tsubal had seen it with his own two eyes.
At a glance, the prince was anything but ordinary.
Having observed countless hunters over years of trials and tribulations, honing his keen eye, Tsubal's judgment told him the 9th Prince was no talentless weakling.
That was why, after the prince departed, Tsubal couldn't help but wonder if the standards of imperials differed entirely from their own.
He had been told "let's spar again sometime," but from Tsubal's perspective, he wished the prince would just stay holed up in the mansion forever.
And even after that, incidents involving the 9th Prince kept cropping up.
A report came in of a griffon suddenly appearing near the village and flying toward the mansion. Shocked, he had immediately dispatched hunters to investigate.
Fortunately, he learned it was a summoning mage riding the griffon to the mansion, which eased his mind. But just a few days later, a request arrived directly from the 9th Prince.
The request was to locate a certain hunter.
The difficulty itself was low.
With details on the hunter's appearance and combat style provided, Tsubal identified him right away.
Kirigumo, the veteran hunter who wielded the Cloud Mist Fist. He was a generation younger than Tsubal.
Tsubal had never met him personally, but he had heard the rumors of his skill many times over.
There hadn't been recent talk of his activities, but finding him shouldn't be an issue.
The moment the letter arrived, Tsubal assigned hunters with exceptional tracking skills.
Ironically, he handed the job to Chorak, the one who had sparred with the 9th Prince and gotten thoroughly trounced.
A few days later, the report came back.
"A failure?"
"Yes. His location wasn't far, so we found him quickly... but no matter how much I tried to convince him, he kept refusing, saying he wasn't in any position to be a tutor."
"Did you clearly tell him it was to tutor an imperial?"
"Of course! I emphasized it several times! I even told him it was a chance to turn his life around, but it fell on deaf ears. Well... I get it, given his circumstances."
Tsubal heard the full story of Kirigumo's situation from Chorak.
"Sigh. So that's why his activities have been scarce lately."
Even in Tsubal's view, Kirigumo's plight was unavoidable.
First things first, he needed to report on the request.
But whether to include the full details of Kirigumo's circumstances gave him pause.
"Better to just send the results for now."
If another request came in to find a different hunter, that would be that.
If a follow-up asked for the reason behind the refusal, he could send the details then.
"If he learns of the rejection first and reads about Kirigumo's situation while angry, he might not understand."
Tsubal figured it was better to wait a bit, let tempers cool, and send it later.
No matter the rumors of the 9th Prince's benevolence, to Tsubal, he was still just someone he had briefly met once—a prince whose skills contradicted every rumor.
Thus, it was wise to prepare for the worst.
And yet.
"We meet again, Guild Master?"
Tsubal hadn't anticipated the prince coming in person to demand answers.
Aren headed down to the village with Ridel, Amelin, and Gillek, making straight for the Hunter Guild.
"Ugh... uh..."
On the way, Amelin shrank under the stares from passersby.
"Walk tall, Amelin."
"B-but, Your Highness. People are staring at me too much..."
"It's because you're beautiful, Amelin."
"Someone like me, beautiful...?"
"That's how you look to me—lovely and stunning. Or are you saying my eyes are playing tricks?"
"N-no! Absolutely not! Ugh... ughhh..."
This time, even her face flushed red.
She must not be used to compliments.
"Aren-sama, I'm drawing stares too."
"You're beautiful too, Ridel."
"Hee hee."
Chatting idly like that, they soon arrived at the guild.
"Hey, isn't that the noble from last time?"
"Yo, Chorak. Your favorite noble's back."
"What? What are you—oh."
"What's with him? Frozen stiff?"
"Whoa, who's that bombshell mage next to him? Killer figure."
"Man, I wanna be a noble too, surrounded by hotties."
"Cut the crap and pick a request for today."
We pushed through the bustling guild hall, just as crowded as before, toward the counter.
And told the receptionist,
"Here to see the Guild Master. Can we go right up?"
"Y-yes... Please, go ahead!"
"Thanks."
We headed straight to the second floor and approached the Guild Master's office, where Gillek knocked for me.
Knock knock!
"What is it?"
"Guild Master Tsubal, we've come to see you again."
"...! P-please, come in."
Opening the door, we found Tsubal looking flustered as he gazed at me.
"We meet again, Guild Master?"
The moment Gillek closed the door behind us, Tsubal shot to his feet and knelt before me.
"I greet Your Highness, the noble prince."
"Rise."
"Yes."
"From now on, just a greeting will do. No need to kneel."
It's a hassle.
"My thanks for your mercy. Have you come today regarding the request?"
"Yes. I want to hear the full reason that hunter refused, straight from the source."
"I apologize for making Your Highness take the trouble to come here."
"I was planning a stroll anyway, so don't worry about it. More importantly, I'd like to hear the reason..."
"Please, have a seat. I'll have the hunter who carried out the request explain it himself."
"Got it."
After a short wait,
"D-did you call for me, Guild Master?!"
Chorak entered, tense as a bowstring.
"Yes, Chorak. Explain to His Highness the circumstances behind why that hunter rejected the request."
"Understood! B-but first..."
Chorak bowed deeply toward me.
"For my grave rudeness last time, I am truly, deeply sorry!"
I see.
He had looked off when we entered—must have learned who I was during the request.
"I was hiding my identity back then, so it's fine. If anything, it was an entertaining experience. But could you explain? That's what I'm most eager to hear."
"Y-yes, sir!"
And so Chorak explained why the hunter I sought—the Cloud Mist Fist user Kirigumo—had turned down the tutoring position.
Kirigumo had an only daughter. A few years back, unidentified assailants had broken into his home.
The attackers were no pushovers, but he managed to drive them off.
However, his daughter had been poisoned by their toxin. Since then, Kirigumo had been caring for her weakened state while desperately gathering information to find an antidote.
But every doctor he consulted said it was impossible to cure.
The poison had an antidote, but the ingredients needed to make it were impossibly rare.
No, rarer still—they didn't even know where to source them.
Even if he took the tutoring job, there was no guarantee I'd let him bring his ailing daughter to the mansion, and he couldn't exactly tend to her illness while teaching.
No amount of money could replace his one and only daughter, so he refused.
"So that's the story."
"Yes."
"What exactly is this hard-to-find ingredient?"
"Your Highness may have heard of it. The legendary flower whose very existence is in doubt: Manlenesia."
Manlenesia.
According to my memories, it was the flower that, during a war, one of the past emperors had been saved by when his royal physician procured it to treat a deadly poison.
And that flower was...
"The exchange item, as expected."
In Savior of World, it was the item you had to hand over to the NPC Kirigumo to learn his secret technique.
I stood from my seat and said to Chorak,
"Mind guiding me to where Kirigumo is?"
"Pardon? But Your Highness, even if you go yourself, that hunter's stubborn as they come, and he treasures his daughter above all..."
"Her issue? I can fix that. Lead the way."
"...Pardon?"
Time to put my original knowledge to use, beyond just builds.