Seeker 168

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Chapter 168. A New Journey

The journey to the Dwarf Great Town, Dagmahar, which was planned to last about a week, had begun. 

Leaving behind the city of Flamberge, which had served as our base until then, we first headed northwest along the road for a day and a half. 

Along the way, there were no accidents as encountering monsters, and we safely reached the outskirts of the next city, Luxverry.

Compared to Flamberge, Luxverry was considerably bigger in both size and population. 

In this world, even a city with a population of less than 5,000 like Flamberge gets classified as a city. 

But Luxverry, with a population about three times larger, was classified as a metropolis. 

The sturdy city walls surrounding Luxverry had 4 gates in total.

Led by Esryn-san, we entered the city through one of them, the southeastern gate. 

Despite it was getting close to dusk, the main street extending from the gate was still bustling. 

People and carriages were passing by, and street vendors along the way lit lamps and continued to call out to potential customers.

After following Eslyn-san for a while down the street, our employer, the female merchant, entered an inn.

 She negotiated with the innkeeper and secured accommodations for us.

"Well then, good job today. Take it easy at the inn today and depart again tomorrow. By the way, I've arranged for the 3 of you to share the same room, is that okay? As long as it doesn't interfere with your work. I won't complain about your private matters. Hehehe."

"Well, uh... yes. Thank you very much."

They treated us this way because we were thought to be a lovey-dovey harem couple, which wasn't entirely inaccurate.

"Hey, Daichi-kun, do they think we're like that all the time?"

"They do."

"We like being lovey-dovey with senpai, so it's fine. We're at an age where we long for warmth. Also, I want to cuddle with Guri-chan."

"Oh, that's important. Since Guri-chan comes as a set with Daichi-kun, we can only cuddle together in the same room."

Kupii, Kupii!

"Right now, I'm jealous of this little one."

"Oh, sorry~ Daichi-kun, don't sulk~. Of course, you're the most important one~."

And so, while exposing our undeniable idiocy as a couple, the day ended. 

By the way, when we passed through the city gate of Luxverry. We completed one mission.

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Mission Completed: Reached a city with a population of over 10,000!

All party members gain 3,000 experience points!

New Mission Unlocked: Reach a city with a population of over 30,000 (Reward: 10,000 experience points)

Current Experience Points:

Muusou Daichi... 24,8444/26,7563 (Next Level: 19,119)

Kodachi Kazane... 26,4056/26,7563 (Next Level: 3,507)

Yuzuki Hotaru.. 27,1441/30,3707 (Next Level: 32,266)

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Compared to when I first arrived in this other world, my level has increased significantly, and the experience points required to level up have also become quite substantial.

Even though around 3,000 points of experience won't have a significant impact anymore, it's still important to steadily accumulate experience points.

After parting ways with Eslyn-san and the others, during dinner that evening, as the three of us sat around a table at a popular eatery that doubled as a tavern, we overheard the following conversation from a lively corner of the restaurant.

"By the way, did you hear about the captain of the Kokurou Knights currently stationed in this town? They say she's an incredibly beautiful knight-sama."

"Yeah, I heard about it. But even though she's called the captain, she's from a noble family and is just for show, right?"

"That's right. I wonder what the big shots are thinking."

"Well, having a single young lady leading a group of rough-and-tumble adventurers-turned-knights might make for a good show, though."

"Hahaha, you've got a point."

A group of men at a nearby table was getting animated discussing this topic. 

Listening in, Yuzuki, while poking her fork at a sausage on her plate, chimed in.

"So, there are knights and knight orders in this world, huh? They mentioned 'adventurers turned knights'."

"Oh, I've heard about that too. Adventurers who gain enough experience and strength get hired by countries or influential nobles and they're called knights. They get paid over 5 times more than regular soldiers."

"But when I hear about a noble lady becoming an adventurer, it reminds me of Aria-san. I haven't heard anything about Aria-san joining any knight order, though. It must be someone else."

"A noble lady becoming an adventurer seems like a rare character. They must lead quite eventful lives."

With such conversations during and after dinner, we spent the night at the inn and welcomed the next day. 

However, it was there that we would meet with another unexpected incident.