The Closed Village Quest
We returned earlier than expected, and found Sister Mary sprawled across the bed in complete disarray.
She had always presented herself before us as the picture of composure and maturity… so even Sister Mary was human after all.
"S-Saintess?!"
"I—something came up, so we came back early."
Sister Mary scrambled upright, hastily combing her hair and straightening her clothes.
Hmm. Around me she had always been nothing but capable… so she had this side to her too? She normally rose earlier than I did and went to bed later, which was why I had never caught her like this.
"Th-this is just—I was only resting for a moment!"
"Yes, I know."
No one can stay serious all the time. Sometimes a person needs to let off steam, and with us out of the house today, she had clearly decided to relax in peace.
I almost felt bad for coming back so early.
"Do you know where my sister went?"
"If you mean Emma, she went out to train."
Must have been restless.
"But why did you return so early?"
By then Sister Mary had already recovered her usual neat appearance—the intelligent, refined beauty I knew. The memory of her earlier disheveled state rose unbidden, and I couldn't help smiling.
"Saintess?"
At my smile, Sister Mary's expression went flat. A chill ran through her tone and the air around her, and for a moment goosebumps prickled over my skin.
"Ahaha…"
I gave her a rough account of what had happened in the square.
"The prince and his entourage…"
"Yes. A troublesome bunch."
Thanks to them, I had given up on watching the play.
"He does sound like a thoroughly problematic person."
I shrugged.
"Once the Academy leaves tomorrow, we won't have to deal with them anymore."
"I certainly hope so."
I would make absolutely sure our paths never crossed.
Fortunately, the Academy party departed first thing in the morning. Their procession was so noisy we could hear it even from inside the inn.
"Ugh, things should finally settle down now."
I could truly call myself free at last.
In truth, there had been no great need to worry—but the what-if had weighed heavily on my mind.
"Yes, they're finally gone."
Sister Mary looked relieved as well, her expression easing.
After breakfast we gathered in the room.
"Now that the troublesome crowd has cleared out, we ought to settle our own schedule."
We had already decided to move in a way that avoided the Academy. What to do after that, however, was still up in the air.
"Should we pick up a suitable request like last time and travel on that?"
I glanced toward the young master.
"That would be fine."
"We really have been spending quite a lot of money."
The cardinal had given us a generous sum, and my sister and I had earned request fees on top of that, so we ought to have been comfortable. But expenses had cropped up everywhere. And because we had money, we hadn't been particularly thrifty—so we had burned through more than expected.
What remained now was a little under a hundred gold.
Was that a lot? Well, yes, it was a considerable amount… if you ignored the fact that we had started with over two hundred and fifty gold.
In effect, we had spent a hundred and fifty gold over two weeks—no, closer to three. And that figure didn't even include the lodging costs the young master had covered, so the actual amount our party had used was higher still.
"Hmm. Honestly, heading straight for the Capital just feels like it would be bad luck."
"Haha. Being careful is probably wise."
Who knew whether the Academy delegation might stop at some noble's estate and linger there for ages? Better to steer clear.
The conversation settled on moving so as to avoid the Academy.
"Then let's rest today, and gather some information tomorrow."
Even if it meant taking a longer route, stopping here and there along the way, we shouldn't run into them… right?
Once there was nothing left to do and the young master left the room, I lay on the bed and read through the compendium. The minor problem was that I had already read the book dozens of times. There was genuinely nothing to do.
I would have practiced alchemy, but I had no materials. So I buried myself in the book for lack of anything better.
My sister sat with her eyes closed in meditation, while Sister Mary read and sorted the laundry.
The next day, we ate breakfast and headed out at once.
"Ahh, freedom."
I could finally walk around outside without watching over my shoulder!
On the way to the Adventurers' Guild, I could feel how much the city's atmosphere had changed. More relaxed, maybe? Brighter?
"Looks like the townsfolk were being careful because of the nobles too."
"That would make sense."
The Adventurers' Guild was emptier than expected. When I asked why it was so quiet, I learned that the Academy side had hired a number of adventurers as laborers and taken them along.
"Huh…"
They already had plenty of knights and soldiers… but laborers were a different matter, I supposed?
I approached the guild master and asked whether there were any interesting stories or rumors floating around.
"Nothing in particular."
Figures… If there had been a lot of traffic, information would have circulated with it. In a middling city like this, with so little movement, it was probably inevitable.
We looked into decent requests and hunted for rumors.
Everyone split up to ask around, but—
"Hmm. Nothing useful."
Most of what we heard was about the Academy delegation from a few days prior. The noble who had run amok had caused quite an uproar. People could scarcely believe someone like that was a noble.
When I asked the young master about it—himself a noble—his answer was unexpected.
"Territorial nobles, especially those who reside in their lands and manage them directly, inevitably grow close to their people."
They cultivated a familiar image on purpose, it seemed. Made collecting taxes easier, or something like that?
To commoners, nobles were objects of fear—yet a lord still had to build an image of approachability and closeness? Coming from a remote village where I had never even seen a lord, I found the whole idea hard to grasp.
City folk must live by different rules.
"There you are."
"Oh, you're back?"
Sister Mary came running up, flushed and sweating. I conjured a cup of ice water for her.
"Drink this."
After downing the cold water and catching her breath, Sister Mary spoke up.
"I heard something interesting."
In short, there was a village nearby that had been sealed off after a plague, and rumors said monsters were emerging from it.
"Apparently it hasn't even been investigated yet."
"Interesting, sure, but…"
Would it pay? Unless a survey mission or a subjugation request came out of it…
"Would it be profitable?"
Doing good for people was fine. But for me, money came first.
"Well…"
"If the rumors are true, a request might well be posted."
The problem was that even if a request appeared, whether we could claim it was another matter entirely.
"But a place where plague has struck is far too dangerous."
The young master fretted about what would happen if we went near it and caught the disease.
"Come on, they say the plague was months ago. Surely not?"
"Complacency is the enemy. Do you have any idea how terrifying plague can be?"
He had a point. Come to think of it, plague had never touched our village. With so few people coming and going, disease had little chance to spread.
"Well, monsters scare me more than plague."
It might be different for the young master, but to me, monsters were the far more frightening threat. With the power I had now, I could protect the villagers—but still…
"Sister's here?"
While the three of us were talking, my sister approached without a sound.
"Mm."
"Find anything?"
She shook her head, then set a sheet of paper on the table.
"Request."
"Oh?"
What kind of request? We all leaned in to read it.
"This is a survey mission."
Conditions: the party must include a priest. Party size may increase depending on the situation?
I looked at Sister Mary.
"I—well, I have no objection."
I checked the details. This looked an awful lot like the plague-sealed village Sister Mary had mentioned.
"This is the one you were talking about, Sister Mary."
"Yes. Looking at the client's name, it's the Viscount of this territory."
So the lord himself had posted the request. Sending soldiers or knights might be too risky, so he was dispatching cheap adventurers first.
"Shall we take it, then?"
The pay itself looked decent. It varied with the results of the investigation, but we could earn at least ten gold.
"Here—it seems we'd also be serving as escorts."
So we would be moving together with an investigator?
"That works. Let's go with this."
There were probably requests that paid more. But wasn't this enough? It would kill a suitable amount of time, and I was curious about the village sealed by plague—so it worked out perfectly.
"We'll take this request, then."
The young master carried the paper over to a guild clerk and began discussing it. He also called Sister Mary over.
"Probably verifying that we actually have a real priest."
Watching the young master and Sister Mary stand side by side, I felt an irrational flicker of irritation.
At a hundred and sixty-five centimeters, Sister Mary's height paired remarkably well with the tall young master.
I wished I were a little taller myself…
"We've got it."
"Really?"
"Yes. They said the four of us should be sufficient—no other parties needed."
If the client was satisfied, additional compensation might be available.
"Well, that's good news. So when do we leave?"
"Today."
"What?"
I stared at the young master in momentary panic.
"We depart immediately today."
………?
"Then don't we need to pack?!"
The place was at least a three-day round trip, which meant we would have to clear our things out of the inn as well.
"Yes, we'll need to inform the inn too."
Why was he saying that so calmly?!
I shot to my feet and smacked his arm.
"You should have said that first!"
Leaving my sister behind, we rushed off to collect our belongings. The moment we reached the inn, we packed up and told the proprietor we were leaving.
"Ugh, so busy! Good thing I sorted everything yesterday—who knows what we'd have done otherwise."
Having tidied our luggage out of sheer boredom the day before had turned out to be a blessing.
"It was an urgent matter. There was little choice."
Sister Mary remained composed.
"Is that so?"
"Yes. A village struck by plague can overflow with miasma."
When that miasma builds up, undead monsters are born—or so the theory goes. And if those undead spread, plague returns, and the whole thing becomes a vicious cycle…
"So they want to assess the situation and deal with it."
That was also why a priest was required.
"Holy Magic cast with Holy Power can purge miasma, after all."
That made sense…
"Is that heavy? Please, let me take some of the bags."
The young master came over to me. I was holding my sister's pack as well, so I did have rather a lot.
"I'd appreciate it."
"Leave it to me."
Bags in hand, we left the inn and headed back toward the Adventurers' Guild.