Dining Out and Adventurer Tales 3
Silvia, who had heard about Earth's history, was struck by a profound shock.
She learned that two major wars had occurred among the humans of Earth, claiming the lives of tens of millions.
"Many of the humans in Selenia are wicked. The dwarves currently enjoy the protection of dragons, but dwarf slaves existed until very recently."
"Recently?"
"Yes. About ten years ago, I believe."
Liria needed a better coffee machine to serve finer brews, and she reasoned that dwarves could craft one with ease.
Silvia summoned dwarves on her behalf, and through collaboration with them, the coffee machine was successfully produced.
Coffee machines spread throughout Selenia, and some red-blooded humans discovered that such machines could generate enormous profits.
They coerced the dwarf slaves they controlled into copying Liria's coffee machine.
Yet without Liria's assistance, production proved impossible.
To rapidly extract coffee rich in aroma using cold water, Liria's time ability proved indispensable.
Humans who remained unaware of this fact abused the dwarves, dismissing them as incompetent.
Of course, Selenia had patent laws that rendered copying illegal, but such humans who enslaved dwarves never considered the matter.
Upon learning the truth, Liria appealed to the dragons to free the dwarves.
After investigation, it emerged that dwarf slavery had been passed down through generations in noble society since ancient times.
The freed dwarves, now liberated from slavery, relocated to lands near the Eleas forest, abandoning their original homeland.
With the protection of dragons, the dwarves received profound gratitude from Liria and the dragons themselves.
"Liria is truly remarkable."
"Indeed? That is why the dwarves hold Liria in high regard."
"Even as a dragon, Silvia, you know human society well."
"I have been an adventurer for nearly forty years."
"Isekai stories are always fascinating, especially those involving adventurers."
While adventuring, Silvia shared stories about the humans she had encountered.
Silvia had pursued the path of an adventurer ever since completing her adulthood.
She typically selected quests herself or accepted guild-assigned ones.
The fees for guild requests to Silvia were exorbitant, meaning only nobles or wealthy merchants possessed the means to hire her.
Meeting members of these upper classes, Silvia found it difficult to encounter blue-blooded individuals among them.
She declared to guildmasters that she would not accept red-blooded quests, and if anyone called her red-blooded despite the declaration, they would pay dearly for the privilege.
Of course, she never actually took any quests.
"Even though she's red-blooded, she takes quests so brazenly."
"She probably thinks she's not quite red-blooded yet."
"Have there been cases where a red-blooded person becomes blue-blooded?"
"Yes, occasionally a light red-blooded individual would regret their ways and shift to blue. But a true red-blooded person never changed."
"I wholeheartedly agree."
The group appeared to share some measure of agreement with Silvia's words.
Especially Hong Doowon found Silvia's remarks particularly resonant.
Having encountered every variety of human during his social life, he could fully empathize.
"Humans are the same whether on Earth or in Selenia."
"How much does it cost to hire Silvia for a quest?"
"At the 9-star level, she charges one thousand gold coins just for travel expenses, and for 9-star quests she has accepted up to ten thousand."
"Truly astonishing."
"If I hunt with full determination, the earnings match that figure, so I don't consider it expensive."
"Ah, I see."
Quests for 1-star to 2-star monsters were priced at one to two silver coins each.
3-star monsters cost ten silver coins, 4-star ones one gold coin, 5-star ones ten gold coins, and a 6-star wyvern roughly one hundred gold coins.
If Silvia hunted 6-star or higher monsters with resolve, she could earn more than the quest fees.
Yet it was troublesome work, and ever since twenty years ago she had preferred spending time with Liria over hunting, limiting herself to only the most urgent quests.
"How often do you accept quests?"
"After reaching 8-star, I once accepted up to three per week. Now that I must return to Liria and Earth, I have decided to take only genuinely urgent ones. Among humans there are plenty of strong individuals anyway. There's no need to employ me."
"Silvia, have you ever fought humans?"
"I have only battled bandit groups, and even they surrendered immediately. I did spar with a human 7-star guildmaster on the day I became an adventurer."
"How did it go?"
"We were evenly matched at the time. He was an impressive opponent for a human."
Silvia recalled the moment she first became an adventurer.
The opponent was a swordsman, and she employed magic.
The result was a tie, after which Silvia could begin her career as an adventurer at the 6-star rank.
"Before becoming an adventurer, I sparred with a human guildmaster, and that guildmaster taught me swordsmanship."
"Ah, so you learned the sword out of curiosity."
"Even as a human, it was impressive to spar with me."
Silvia recalled the day she first became an adventurer.
Following her grandfather, she arrived at the adventurer guild, where the guildmaster suddenly bowed to him.
Upon seeing the group, the guildmaster immediately sensed that they were dragons.
Dragons were revered as great beings among humans and this race, and stories had spread within the guild that hatchlings performed adventurer work while learning human society.
Yet this was the first time a dragon of such high rank had appeared.
The guildmaster assumed he was a dragon lord.
The silver hair confirmed it was a silver dragon, and the existence of silver dragon lords was known even to humans.
The guildmaster understood the immense power of a dragon lord.
Fortunately, he knew silver dragons possessed good temperaments, allowing him to relax somewhat.
Silvia, as the youngest hatchling, had received much affection from numerous dragons, and her grandfather had personally taken her to the adventurer guild.
Silvert, bringing his granddaughter to the adventurer guild, was indeed a dragon lord, just as the guildmaster had expected.
As a guildmaster, he was utterly at a loss what to do upon seeing him.
"Welcome, welcome."
"Please, make yourselves comfortable."
"Yes. Thank you."
Only then did the guildmaster relax and lead them to a private room.
He instructed the staff to bring refreshments for Silvert and Silvia.
The very pretty girl Silvert had brought was considered extremely important, and if she could impress Silvia, Silvert would surely be pleased.
Silvia sampled the snack and tea brought by the staff, finding the taste quite satisfying.
The refreshments and tea had been prepared for a very important guest, yet Silvia's satisfaction brought the staff great relief.
As the staff had said, it was fortunate to always keep high-class snacks on hand.
"Quite delicious."
"Thank you. Would you like more?"
"Yes."
"Haha, it seems Silvia likes it. Good."
"Yes. Grandfather."
The guildmaster, overhearing their conversation, realized Silvia was the granddaughter.
Knowing that dragons doted on their hatchlings, he could only imagine how much more they would cherish a granddaughter.
He had heard that hatchlings came to the guild to learn human society and take the adventurer test.
Previously, hatchlings had visited and taken appropriate tests.
He had not expected a dragon lord to accompany them this time.
If the hatchling became an adventurer, reaching 8-star would be swift.
The silver-haired girl appeared young and extremely pretty, yet she was confident she was actually stronger than her.
If she became an adventurer, she would surely be a tremendous help.
Upon the guildmaster's gesture, the staff immediately rushed over.
"Guildmaster?"
"Bring all the high-class snacks."
"Eh?"
"Hurry!"
Only then did the staff realize the middle-aged man exuding an intimidating presence was a person of great importance, and he hurried to the staff break room to retrieve the snacks.
Silvert watched with delight as Silvia enjoyed the snack brought by the staff, gazing at her with fondness.
"Our Silvia wants to become an adventurer."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. Our Silvia can start from which rank?"
"Originally from 1-star, but through the test she can begin at 6-star."
"What does Silvia wish?"
"I want to take the test."
Silvia found the adventurer guild, filled with many humans, fascinating and enjoyable.
She had never ventured into rare realms during the twenty years she had been an adventurer, and the tales of adventurers told by other hatchlings had been endlessly captivating.
After completing her adulthood, she had sworn to become an adventurer.
"The test will be a sparring match with me."
"Very well."
The guildmaster's test consisted of a 1:1 sparring match against himself.
Even in sparring, the guildmaster could not harm Silvia, so he used a wooden sword without an edge.
He declared that if she landed a single magical strike, he would concede victory, and Silvia engaged with magic at the 3-star level or below.
Using higher-rank magic might endanger the guildmaster, so the test instructed her to use only magic below 3-star, as per Silvert's order.
The result was that neither landed an effective blow, and the match ended in a tie.
This experience inspired Silvia to learn the sword.
Hearing the story, Liria became even more interested in the life of an adventurer.
She resolved to become an adventurer herself, following in Silvia's footsteps.