Seeker 370

Test

Chapter 370. What Happens On The Journey, Stays On The Journey

A female guild staff member came rushing down the stairs that led to the second floor of the guild.

She shouted towards the adventurers gathered in front of the quest board.

“An urgent quest request! We’re looking for an adventurer party capable of handling a four-party raid or an S-rank quest! Is there any party that can take it on!?”

“What are the rewards and details?”

One of the adventurers immediately raised their voice, and the guild staff answered.

“The completion reward totals 600 gold coins! The quest is to subjugate a vampire! This request isn’t from a village but a direct commission from our adventurer guild!”

The adventurers stirred upon hearing that.

“A vampire subjugation…!?”

“Whoa… Vampires, huh? They’re said to be even worse than dragons in a way, right?”

“Yeah. I heard a whole city was almost destroyed once because of just one vampire.”

“Was that thing about zombies earlier... could it have been about this vampire?”

“Man, that’s bad. Does this mean there’s a vampire in Midna Village right now?”

The adventurers voiced their thoughts, each giving their opinion.

The common thread was clear: vampires were seen as an extremely dangerous threat.

Meanwhile, the first thing that crossed my mind upon hearing the word vampire was one of my unfinished missions.

There was a mission offering 70,000 experience points for defeating a single vampire.

For reference, defeating a dragon granted 30,000 points, so the fact that vampires were considered tougher than dragons was clear even from that.

The adventurers around me hesitated, mumbling, “What should we do?” or “Well, even if we wanted to…”

Most of the adventurers here—or perhaps all of them besides us—were likely level 25 or below.

Looking around, I didn’t spot anyone who seemed like they’d broken through their limits, except for us.

I didn’t want to stand out too much—but it all depended on the situation.

We weren’t planning to stay in this town for long, anyway. If people saw through that we had exceeded normal limits, it wouldn’t be the worst thing.

After checking with Kazane and Yuzuki, I got their approval.

“I’m in.”

“Yeah, I think we should go for it.”

Raising my hand among the crowd of adventurers, I signaled to the guild staff member.

“We’ll take it.”

“Th-Thank you! Does this mean your party has the strength equivalent to an A-rank? I’ll need three other parties to join for the raid quest—”

The guild staff woman seemed panicked, speaking quickly.

Come to think of it, she had mentioned a raid or quest just a moment ago.

Maybe she didn’t expect any adventurers capable of accepting the quest to appear.

Since there was no point in hiding things any further, I made my stance clear.

“No, we’ll take it as an S-rank quest. Our party consisted of just three people, but all of us broke through our limits and were over level 55. We’ll manage.”

“Huh…?”

The receptionist and the surrounding adventurers all echoed their confusion in unison.

For a moment, the entire place fell into stunned silence.

A muscular adventurer with tanned skin near us spoke up with a trembling voice.

“H-Hey kid, now’s not the time to joke around. Are you saying all three of you are over level 55 and have broken through your limits? You expect us to believe that? Show us your status, or are you bluffing?”

His tone had a hint of mockery, which annoyed me a little.

I responded sharply.

“We can show it, but there’s no reason to show you. It’s enough if the guild staff checks. Shall we, then?”

“Ah… Yes, of course. I’ll confirm it right away.”

With Yuzuki (with Griff perched on her hat), Kazane, and me, we made our way toward the guild staff member.

The crowd of adventurers parted like the sea before Moses, giving us a clear path.

When we reached the guild receptionist, we showed her our statuses.

After checking them, she wiped sweat from her forehead, her smile twitching slightly.

“Y-Yes, I confirm… Level 56, level 55, and level 56… All correct.”

As soon as she said that, the adventurers erupted in disbelief.

“N-No way…!”

“All three of them broke through their limits!? And they’re over level 55!? Those kids— I mean, those young adventurers!?”

“Why are people like them even here, mingling with the adventurers in this town!?”

The buzz grew louder and louder, and the guild hall was thrown into chaos.

This was getting out of hand.

I thought they’d be a little surprised, but I didn’t expect this kind of uproar.

Some adventurers even came up to shake our hands, which was just confusing.

Hey, old man over there, quit holding Kazane’s and Yuzuki’s hands so tenderly, or I’ll kill you.

Ah, Kazane’s death glare sent him scurrying away.

Yuzuki also looked like she’d touched something gross and made a gesture as if to ward off bad vibes.

“Um, would you mind coming upstairs so we can discuss this further?”

“Sure, we’d be happy to.”

Thanks to the guild staff member’s intervention, we decided to head upstairs.

Phew, being popular sure is tough.

From now on, I thought I’d be more careful when revealing our breakthrough levels.