Stories Outside the Tower 5

The small city of Erteta was something of a gateway on the road to Maurice County in the west. Then again, cities formed wherever people gathered out of necessity and grew from there, so perhaps that was only natural.

Merchants risking the northwestern wastelands for a big score, merchants heading to the port city at the far western edge to buy seafood and western specialties — anyone traveling from the central region to the west had to stop here for supplies. A mandatory waypoint.

Thanks to that, the city itself wasn't particularly large, but its streets teemed with merchants and mercenaries. Merchants might stake their lives on money, but they weren't the type to throw themselves barehanded into a firepit — so of course the escorts they hired were plentiful too.

"There are so many people. Mercenaries, especially."

"…So what's the difference between an adventurer and a mercenary, anyway?"

Before we checked into our lodgings and split up, Han Se-ah tossed out the question while eyeing the mercenary-packed streets. I was pretty sure I'd given her a light explanation before — whether she was asking for the stream audio or had simply gotten curious while looking around, I couldn't tell.

It didn't seem directed at the viewers, though. The one who answered her muttered question wasn't me, but Lily Depp. Still walking along with her long spear slung across her back, she casually turned her head and began explaining from Han Se-ah's side.

…Did Han Se-ah have some kind of woman-charming aura? Lily Depp was friendly enough, sure, but the speed at which those two were getting close was ridiculous.

"Honestly, there isn't much of a difference. Mercenaries can register as adventurers, and adventurers can register as mercenaries. It's just that the guilds push different kinds of jobs as their main focus."

"Oh, is that so?"

"The Adventurer's Guild mostly takes Magic Tower commissions related to monsters, while the Mercenary Guild handles a lot of merchant escorts and territorial war contracts. My people are Upper-grade adventurers, but they're also registered with the Mercenary Guild as Silver Badge mercenaries, so when we head west we pick up caravan escort jobs."

"Caravan escort jobs? Can't you take those from the Adventurer's Guild too?"

"Well, there's no Mercenary Guild in the Adventurer's City. The place has a Tower crawling with monsters planted right in the middle of town, plus a major Magic Tower branch — why would a mercenary branch even bother setting up shop? They'd just get their rice bowl stolen and shoved out by the Adventurer's Guild. This city is the opposite. No wild beasts, no monsters nearby — just merchants coming and going — so there's a Mercenary Guild and no Adventurer's Guild."

Han Se-ah and the rest of the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠party nodded along to Lily Depp's explanation. It had been long-winded, but the bottom line was money — something every adventurer who made a living off quests could accept without difficulty.

Stories of overlapping Adventurer and Mercenary Guild commissions that let her double-dip the pay. Stories of heading west on a trade run, running into clueless bandits, and pocketing some side income. Stories of other mercenaries underestimating them as mere adventurers, trying to betray them, and getting wrecked instead.

Lily Depp's sudden storytelling session had the whole party — and the viewers — hanging on every word. Even the gamers among the chat who'd tried the mercenary path would only be bottom-rung Wood Badge or Bronze Badge types, so a Silver Badge adventurer's tales were bound to be interesting.

"We should start splitting up and gathering information soon."

"Ah — right!"

Only Katie, who'd once served under Rebecca's Gold Badge mercenary company, managed to snap back to reality and remind us of what we were actually supposed to be doing. At her words, Han Se-ah finally remembered we had a quest to progress and hurriedly began dividing the party.

Me, Han Se-ah, Grace, Irene, Katie, plus Lily — six people total. For gathering rumors, pairing off into three teams of two would be ideal.

Wandering alone was too chaotic, and everyone except me was a striking beauty, which meant hassle from mercenaries was a real possibility. Going around in groups of three, though, would tank our efficiency. Everyone seemed to be thinking along the same lines; we exchanged glances, and Irene spoke up first.

"Then we can go around in pairs of two. As for time… hmm. How about we meet back at the inn before the moon is fully up?"

No one had any objections, so the party nodded along to Irene's suggestion. Then came the awkward part — figuring out how to split up — and everyone started trading looks. I was watching Han Se-ah shoot Grace an intense stare when—

"Then I'll go with Roland."

"…Huh?"

Lily Depp strode right up beside me as if it were the most natural thing in the world and linked her arm through mine.

Lily Depp had pointed out that I was the only one in the party she actually knew, and Grace and Han Se-ah couldn't really argue with that — so the teams fell into place on their own. She wanted to walk around with the one person she was familiar with. After knowing her for all of a day or two, what was anyone supposed to say?

And so we paired off and scattered toward the market as the sunset faded and the streets grew steadily darker. Still, this being a merchant city, the mana lamps were properly installed — so even after the sun went down, the night market stayed bright rather than plunging into darkness.

"Let's try this way, Roland!"

"Sure, got it."

She had her arm linked through mine, but Lily Depp looked fully serious about hunting down information — her comrades' safety was on the line, after all. Watching her, Han Se-ah seemed to be cooking up some kind of scheme of her own.

Probably because a spare camera was floating above my head.

"Suddenly this subquest feels like it's turned into a love war. A comfortable female friend and former colleague she already knows? That's one hell of a strong rival."

"Hey, slapping 'idk for real' on the end is not an invincible cheat key. The AI might not have caught it, but it entered my field of vision, so you can go cool your head for about thirty minutes."

Judging by the way she'd teamed up with Grace, she clearly had reasons — and it looked like she was about to launch into relationship counseling rather than actual information gathering. Watching her stream floating in the corner of my vision, I nearly let out a snort of laughter.

The viewers still didn't know Grace and I had already crossed that line, so they were watching like it was some web drama. Fair enough — a romance frontline between handsome and beautiful NPCs who felt more human than actual humans was practically engineered to hold people's interest.

"Roland? This is a place mercenaries come to drink a lot. Let's go in."

"Yeah, sounds good."

I followed Lily while keeping one eye on the stream, and she naturally led me to a shabby-looking inn. It was clearly more rundown and worn than the one ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠we'd booked rooms at, but the raucous voices pouring out like noise suggested it was a popular hangout for mercenaries.

Creeeak — ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I pushed open the unoiled wooden door, and for a brief moment every gaze in the place swung our way. Lily had been granted a star rating and was a striking beauty, but she was openly armed, so no mercenary tried to pick a fight or strike up a conversation.

This being a merchant-heavy city, escort jobs probably outnumbered hunting or war contracts — so people had toned down their temperaments for the sake of making money.

"Innkeep! Three more beers over here!"

"Hahaha, so I flashed the gold and that girl went all gooey-eyed—"

"What the hell — not even a mercenary, the damn client just vanishes…?"

"Hah, shit. Got completely screwed on this job."

We sat down amid the noisy grumbling from every table, and a small-framed boy came scurrying over.

"Welcome! What can I get for you two?"

"Two ales, and enough sausage for two people to eat their fill."

"Yes, sir~!"

It seemed to be a family-run inn — the boy kept glancing over at the big man behind the counter as he took our order. Lily casually ordered two ales before I could say a word.

The menu wasn't important, so I just nodded and focused on the chatter of the surrounding mercenaries. Lily knew this city, and I had the most experience in the party — if the two of us were a team, we needed to dig up something or we'd lose face.

"Did you hear? A ship headed from the western port to the northern port sank."

"Hah, too many pig bastards raising the tolls these days…"

"Looks like the Dueng Trading Company is trying to bulk up. You thinking of joining them?"

"That son of a bitch — when am I ever gonna get my hands on a Silver Badge? How many jobs have I done already?"

"There's a street behind the Rusty Horseshoe Inn where the prostitutes gather—"

I leaned back in my chair, stretching out comfortably while we waited for the food, and let the noisy din wash over me. Everything from dirty jokes to drunk complaints to guys high on good fortune — the talk was no different from any adventurers' inn.

Of course, I wasn't expecting to find a perfect lead on Lily's missing party members this way. What I wanted was just two things.

One: orc sightings, or guys grumbling about taking losses from an attack by some unknown entity. Two: someone ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠who'd wandered around enough to trip Han Se-ah's quest trigger. We had a player on the team with the quest window open — using that was only natural.

"Roland, should we talk to those guys whose client disappeared?"

"Hmm. That does seem like the most relevant lead."

Still, we ought to dig up some clues properly.

Watching the small boy stagger over with mugs nearly the size of his own head, I stood up from my seat and headed toward a table in the corner.