Bonded Goddess – Chapter 19

“Hmmmmm…”

While I looked at the adventure guild signboard that was held aloft at the front of the building. I was trying to absorb what had just happened.

From my conclusion and what I could reason out… that magic circle in that room was a transportation trap that forcibly teleported the victim to a faraway place. I didn’t know what the conditions of the magic were, or how it selected what kind of place it teleported me to, but at least the trap didn’t dump me into an abyss or right into the middle of an ocean. Or the heart of a volcano. Or inside of a giant monster.

Just imagining all of that happened to me was enough to make me shudder. Teleportation magic was really frightening! I was glad that didn’t happen to me. At least, that trap only teleport me to another city. Well, I guess I was safe here… at least for now.

At first, I thought that I needed to return to the Vaerian Palace before Evelyn’s wedding. But after thinking twice, what was the point? I supposed that the late knight B told me the truth.

Evelyn wasn’t in the palace. Since she wasn’t there, there was no need for me to return there. So, she really was with that bastard Leonardo.

I guessed my plan was back to where I had to crush the wedding or find Evelyn’s whereabouts. Also, I needed more information. My current location was Rolong City. Where is this? Was this city far from Calastine? What if I was teleported to another country? Or even worst, another world?

Let’s put that aside and decided to think about that later. Let’s move to somewhere else.

As I was about to leave, the door to the guild house suddenly swung open. A few rough-looking men with various equipment stepped out, laughing. They stopped to stare at me curiously, but no more than a second, then they were out on the streets where they resumed their jovial conversation. Boisterous laughter punctuated the air behind me.

“Are they adventurers?” I wondered out loud.

“That’s right!!”

A voice shouted out from right next to me. I was surprised at the sudden appearance of a voice. I glanced up at the exiting Adventurers, but I didn’t see any of them turn this way. It none of them who had spoken. I turned back to building and saw a muscular man with wrestling outfit standing at the door. When I saw this man, I wanted to make a retort but rather I decided to use the moment to ask.

“Who are you?”

The man didn’t answer me; he merely waved and gestured for me to enter the guild building. Surely, he didn’t expect me to just walk over to him, right? I didn’t have plans to be an Adventurer right now.

Seeing I didn’t move toward him, he moved toward me instead. His hulking frame seemed to tower over me as he approached. If he was wearing an exceptionally friendly smile, I might have thought he was attacking me.

“Are you aspiring to become an adventurer?” The man asked, grinning like a car salesmen.

“No, I’m not.” I replied.

“You don’t? Even though you are already dressed like you are ready for an adventure! I have feeling you would become a great adventurer!”

“No, not really,” I responded. “I just randomly arrived here by accident.”

“Then, this must be fate for you to come here!” He chuckled.

Annoying! This guy was so annoying! Don’t act like a persistent salesman! There was no such fate stored for me!

“Thanks, but I’m not interested.” I said again.

“I see…… it’s regrettable. If you registered in this guild, there will be a lot of benefits……”

“Such things, I don’t feel a bit interested in them. I don’t have money problems. In the first place, I already told you that I’m not interested in being an adventurer.”

“Or perhaps you do, and you just don’t realize it yet?”

“Un, not at all…” I said with a creased brow.

This conversation was not going to take me anywhere. Also, becoming an adventurer at time like this? How could I forget my mission to go off on adventures. Even if every child dreamed of being able to do exactly that, I had more important things to worry about.

“Is there a place I can stay?” Shifting the subject, I asked the man this question instead.

For this world’s currency, I already had substantial amount of gold. I’m glad I looted the knights.

The man thought for a while, and then nodded.

“There’s the Sun Flower Inn down the corner from here.” He pointed out of the door and then jabbed his thumb to his right. “It’s cheap and affordable. You should be able to stay there for a week and still afford new equipment, weapons and food.”

I stifled a yawn. Whatever I needed, I could worry about it later. I returned to this world at 1 A.M. that was pretty late. Now, it was morning and I was completely exhausted after fighting Elsha and her knights.  Not to mentioned the wounds on my chest.

“Thank you.”

Expressing my gratitude, I left the place and headed straight for the Sun Flower Inn he pointed me toward.

“Hey, you should come here later! There’s always work at the Guild!”

I didn’t turn back and just keep walking away. All I wanted for now was a soft bed to lie on.

Sun Flower Inn was, unsurprisingly, full when I walked in. as one would expect in a fantasy setting, the first floor was a tavern, with drunken middle-aged men raising mugs of ale and clinking them together before chugging them down. Seriously… it’s the morning guys… don’t you have work or something? Bellowing laughter and loud bragging filled the space below as several men competed, either by drinking or by tales of heroic feats.

I was interested in neither. I just wanted a bed, so I wandered toward the innkeeper, who was polishing a wine glass at the counter, and tried to catch his attention.

“Hello.”

“Hello, there.”

The innkeeper was burly and muscular just like the men from the Adventurer’s guild. His hair was down to the stringy mess on his head and the thick mustache and beard hanging down from his nose and chin.

“I would like a room, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course I don’t mind!” he laughed as he slapped me in the back, almost sending me sprawling over the counter. “As long as you pay up front, we’ll give you the best service possible!”

“Oh, no need to go that far. I just want a place to sleep.”

I held up one small gold coin. The innkeeper glanced at it.

“Cheap room, I’m guessing?”

“Yeah.”

“Hmm, I’ll see what I can do. We should have a couple of cheap rooms in the corner. Rhonda here will show you the way.”

His attitude sure changed quickly when I asked for cheap room. I didn’t complain, though. As this was the first day in this world, I needed to save money wherever possible especially I might need them in the future. Like repairing my armor.

The innkeeper swiped my coin at a magical-looking cashier register, and then give me a change. It was paper money.

“Dear guest, please follow me.”

I raised an eyebrow when I caught sight of the waitress dressed in a maid uniform. Her long, golden hair was tied in a side ponytail, with a huge black ribbon and the usual frilly maid hairband. Complete with an apron over her back dress, revealing blouse and extremely short skirt, she looked more like a part-time worker in a maid café than an actual bar waitress from a fantasy world. Not that I was going to question the logic, but hey… who care? This is feast to my eyes~.

“Would you like some food?” the maid named Rhonda asked as she led me up a rickety set of stairs and toward a dark and dank corridor. Two doors stood at the far corner, nearly enshrouded in shadows.

“No thanks. I appreciate it, but right now what I need is sleep.”

Rhonda nodded as she handed me a key.

“Here’s a key to your room. If you need anything, feel free to approach me at any time! Have a great stay!”

“Thanks.”

I watched as she went back down the corridor, then glanced at the key in my hand. Sighing, I inserted it into the knob and twisted, unlocking the door and pushing it open. Stepping into the room, I took stock of my surroundings.  I had no complaints. In fact, as dreary and minimal as the room was, it was clearly an upgrade from sleeping on the cold, hard ground outside. I flopped onto the bed and fell asleep almost immediately.

―○●○―

I woke up with a start, noticing the sunlight that was streaming into my window in isolated streams. The room was located in a shadowy part of the inn, so it didn’t get a lot of sunlight. Now that I was fully awake, I found the air musty and dusty. The wooden surface of the wardrobe was peeling off, and there was no desk or other furniture except the bed. At least there was a private bathroom for me to wash up in.

That reminds me, I also brought some necessities.

MRE, few bottles of water, soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, a towel and new clothes. I had arrived in this world with so much preparation. Now I should change my armor and wear comfortable clothes.

After changing my clothes and suppressing a yawn, I stretched my arms and put the key in my pocket before venturing out of the room.

“Sir guest, would you like some lunch?” The same waitress who had sent me off to bed asked.

Her name is Rhonda if I’m not wrong.

Rhonda was still working in the inn when I got down the stairs. I wondered if she ever managed to catch some sleep. Given how bright, fresh and cheerful she was, she most probably did. I wouldn’t be surprised if I had overslept until noon.

“Yes, please.”

“Then please follow me.”

I followed her to the empty table and sat there. After I was sitting, the waitress placed a glass of water on the table and she was pulling a black leather book-like object, probably the menu. Then she handed the books me.

“Please feel free to order anything you like.” Rhonda smiled and said to me. After that, I dipped my head into the menu, looking for the cheapest items available. What? I just want to fill my stomach, not looking for delicious food. Hmm? It made me looks like stingy man? Fine, I will order the most delicious one!!

Put down the menu on the table and I asked Rhonda.

“Could you please tell me the famous dish of this inn?”

Rhonda’s face turned to delight when I asked this.

“Certainly! Roasted spicy Kalibul’s meat is the best dishes we serve!”

I raised my eyebrows, Kalibul? What is that? Is that monster or animal of this world? I don’t want to eat monster. I hope it’s an animal. I really hope so! Also what kind of creature is this Kalibul? Was it bull looking? Because it’s got “Bul” at the end of its name!

“Well, get that one and I also want this white soup.”

She writes down my order before looking back at me.

“Anything in beverage?”

“Iced tea, give me that.”

“Certainly, sir.”

“By the way, how long will it take?”

“It will take 15 to 20 minutes.”

Ahh, that’s surprisingly normal. I thought this world will have something that makes food instantly. Guess in every world, food means to be cooked slowly.

After confirming my order, Rhonda turned and walks off to the kitchen.

While I wait for Rhonda to return with my food, I’ll just sit here without anything to do. Man, this is boring! Then I could hear the laughter from here. It was so loud that voices slammed into my ears, almost like thunder.

I looked at the direction where the laughter comes from. I saw that it was the group of adventurer that I saw earlier that morning. What a coincidence.

“Did you see Mike? He passed out from happiness when he saw the recruitment for Taebutopia Rey household!”

I know it’s rude but I frowned when I overheard the topic of their conversations. Taebutopia Rey household? Curious, I decided I needed to hear this conversation more!

“Well, it was his dream after all.”

“Really, Nolg? I thought his dream was to be an adventurer.”

“He certainly dreamed of being an adventurer but his life wish was to guard of Taebutopia.”

“I see, but he needs to pass the contest, right? He can’t do that passed out, can he?”

“Hehe, he’s still got time. Although, if he does manage to become a guard, then….I guess I need to send a request back to the guild to recruit new members,” the biggest mercenary in the group complained before he downed a mug of mead. The frothy alcohol dribbled down his thick, dark beard before he let out a hearty yell of satisfaction.

“Well, here’s hoping he succeeds… after all, Mike is on of Leonardo’s biggest fans!”

Leonardo… Taebutopia Rey household…It was Leonardo’s household! This information was exactly what I needed! I immediately dash toward them and slam my hands on the table which surprising them.

“PLEASE TELL ME EVERYTHING YOU KNOW!”

While still in shock, after seeing the dark look on my face, even theses tough men could only nod and push out a chair helplessly.

―○●○―

After joining the rough-looking adventurers to have friendly conversation, Rhonda returned with my order. I accepted it gratefully with a slight dip of my head. Rhonda responded with a radiant smile and bowed before attending to other customers.

“So, there is competition to be a guard for the Taebutopia Rey household?” I asked the man name Nolg while eating my roasted Kalibul meat. It was really delicious.

“Yes, it was just announced this morning.” he spoke as he gulped his ale.

“When will it be being held?”

“Tomorrow, at this hour,” another man answered. I believe his name was Rusty. He was the biggest one among them.

“Ohh, but that’s really weird,” I said.

“What do you mean?” Nolg asked.

“Why would the Taebutopia Rey house hold a competition only to find one person to be a guard?”

“Ah, you were talking about that… Well, this guard’s role is apparently very special.”

I raised my eyebrows. What did they mean, special?

Seeing my confused look, Nolg continued speaking, a gleam in his eye showing he was the type to like gossiping.

“The Taebutopia Rey household typically hires guards out of the retired military given Leonardo-sama’s station. Bringing in a guard like this only means one thing. A special assignment.”

“Special assignment?” I frowned.

“A VIP, a very important person. They’re looking for a personal bodyguard, someone a bit more creative and flexible than your typical soldier. I couldn’t guess what important person needs a personal bodyguard in their household, but they’d hold a high position. It’d be the greatest honor and their future would be secured. People hired in that household are taken care of for life!”

Very important person? When I heard this part alone, I trembled with excitement! Is it Evelyn? It has to be her! I finally found you, Evelyn!  Just you wait! I will come to get you!

“By the way, if you want to participate the competition. I think you should get better equipment. Because our friend Mike is no slouch. I’d say he is the strongest among us, and he’s wanted to work under the Taebutopia Rey for his entire life.” Rusty said as he chewed the chicken’s thigh. “A guy like you, he’d crush you in a single hit!”

“You don’t need to worry about that.” I said, leaning back as relief flooded through me.

Finishing eating, I went to innkeeper and pay for the food. Surprisingly enough, after checking the money I earned from looting the knights. The money they had amounted to more than I imagined. I had one thousand gold! I covered the bill for the guys who had given me the information too. They had given me the hope I had been clinging on to.

Thanks to the adventurer, I learned quite a lot from them. Especially where I was I right now. From what they told me, the Rolong city was on south east of Vaerian kingdom and it would take a few days to return to Calastine. I also heard this place just recently become a city. Even if guards were sent out looking for me, I felt like I at least had a few days warning.

Thinking about the next step, I decided I should head to blacksmith. If I wanted to participate the competition, those guys were right. I still didn’t know how powerful I was in this world. Going against those knights, I believed myself to be strong, but that could just be my own pride. I shuddered at the thought that Elsha was just a lower or mid-tier knight and I hadn’t even faced the strongest of this realm.  Thus, I couldn’t take any chances. I really need to get it repaired. The armor was damaged with a clean cut, so hopefully they could do something with it. I’m sure if someone like Elsha slashed at same place, they would cut me in pieces. Just imagining that already scared me. That’s why I needed to get this repaired ASAP!

As I turned around to leave, I see my favorite waitress was serving customers, ferrying jugs of ale from the counter to the table.

Well, I guess I should ask her.

“Rhonda”

“Oh? What is it, dear customer?” Rhonda asked as she put friendly smile “Anything else I can help you with?”

“Ah, about that… Is there a blacksmith in this town?”

Rhonda listened and nodded. “Yes, there is. In that way, it is a few blocks down this road, you can’t miss it. It has a sign with a sword on it.”

I followed the direction she was pointing at and nodded.

“Thank you,”

“You’re welcome”

Expressing my gratitude, I left the inn to blacksmith.

“Let’s see…”

Following the Rhonda’s instructions, I headed for the blacksmith’s place. As she pointed out, there was a huge sign with a sword crudely painted over its wooden surface. Featuring the words, Jack’s blacksmith store, messily scribbled over the wooden plank, it stood out in contrast to the other houses and shops.

Well, I guess this is the place.

If I using isekai trope web novel that I’ve read! Most repair costs were about 40-50 silver at most. There was no way the blacksmith would charge me gold or more for an armor, right?  And maybe I should buy a swords while at it. Maybe I could find legendary sword sold under cheap price there .Of course, such sword wouldn’t be anywhere.

I knocked on the door. There was a grunt on the other side, followed by a gruff “come in.”

“What do you want?”

The bald, muscular man sitting at a bench and hammering at a piece of metal glared up at me. He blinked when he saw that I wasn’t anyone he recognized, and softened his expression. Squinting at me beneath dark, bushy eyebrows, he growled gently.

“An adventurer?”

“A traveler,” I corrected. The blacksmith, who I guessed was Jack nodded.

“Well, Mr. Traveler, what can I do for you?” Putting his hammer and the blade he was shaping down, he stood up and dusted his hands off a black, stained apron before placing them on his hips. A light shone in his eyes as he looked me up and down.

“I need you to repair my armor.”

Jack grinned. “Finally…business has been slow for a while.”

I pulled out my armor from my dimensional pouch.

“Do you think you can fix this?”

Jack’s eyebrows rose when he stared at the armor. He had me place them on his workbench before appraising them closely. After a few minutes of studying, he raised his head and nodded.

“Yes, I can! This armor damaged but not unfixable.”

“I see, that’s great.”

“But where did you did find this armor? This armor has strange material that I never seen?”

Erm, that armor was from my world. There is no way I could tell him, so I concocted a vague reply that wasn’t far from the truth.

“I bought it from crazy bald merchant then somehow I got caught by a strong enemy and it was damaged thanks to that enemy.”

“Ah, you are lucky then, because whoever damaged this was an expert.” Said the blacksmith.

Ugh… This blacksmith can tell that much? Guess he is real deal.

“Well, I can repair it. It’s within my skills. Anyway, I can fix it up in just ten minutes. You can take a look if you interested to buy something else.” He says. I nod my agreement, and he takes the armor to another room.

Loud scraping coming from the other room tell me he’s working on the armor, In the meantime, I decide to take a look around. Looking around I find various weapon such as sword, spear, axe and etc. After looking through the weapons shelves knowing I don’t have specialty to wield them, I began to rummage through all the swords because at least I know the basics.

I went to one of the shelves and pick a sword up. It was just a medieval style sword. It looks normal and nothing special about it.  I look through the other swords shelves.  I found other sword such as Chinese swords, Romanian swords, Japanese swords and others. Wow, this place has various swords. I’m surprised they have swords from my world. I guess, I am not the only one who transported to this world.

A while later I hear the blacksmith coming back.

He places the armor on the counter, and I’m surprised, the armor is now shining beautifully, even in the poorly lit room, lifting it up I can tell the armor was completely fixed.

“So how much is it worth?” I ask the blacksmith.

“That’s the thing… Because I don’t how much I should charge you…”

“What do you mean?” I asked the blacksmith.

“Like I said, this armor was made by unknown material… To repair I need use few of my Important stones.”

“Ahhh…”

“But I’d take it for about 50 silver since I had feeling you will become my new patron, how about it?” He said to me while grinning.

“I’ll take it, by the way… Do you have good sword for right price?” I ask him.

“Well, I was working on a new sword yesterday, I could give you that,” said the blacksmith.

Walking through the shop, he digs through some weapons before he brings out a sword and handing to me.

It was a single edge long sword that looks like a mix of two different metals, when the two different looking metals are forged together. This blade has a dark silver and polished steel colored metals that are mixed and create a pattern on the blade.

The edge of this sword was sharp… more than the knight’s sword I used from before.

“It’s my best one, you can kill and cut with this thing. You can have it for 1 gold.” says the blacksmith

Nodding in agreement, I ask him to give a sheath for the new blade.

After tying the sword on my back, I wave at the smith and I leave the blacksmith’s store.

What should I do now?

Should I head back to Inn? Or maybe I should go to Adventure guild. According to the adventurer I meet recently, I could get information about competition there.

Well, I guess I should head there.

As I walked there, I look around the city.

The city is busy with its hustle and bustle, and the scent of delicious food wafts in the air. A wide variety of stalls are lined up next to each other and various merchants are already busy raking a profit. Haggling housewives, adventurer’s fighting for discounts — it’s a city brimming with life.

And not long enough, I return to where I arrived to this city, right in front of Adventure guild. From what I see, the Guild was located right into the center of the city.

Scratching my head, I entered the guild house.

It’s a huge interior and many people, young and spirited, are gathered in groups. There are a few veterans that I immediately spot because of the stern look on their faces and the unfriendly aura that surrounds them. I immediately paused when I caught sight of the occupants. I wasn’t expecting a harem of beautiful girls or youngsters running about and looking for quests.  Actually, I didn’t even know what I was expecting. But bitter reality slapped me in the face when I caught sight most people here are bunch of muscular, middle-aged men with beards, mustaches or scars huddling over the tables.  There were women too – but middle-aged women with rough skin, ponytails and hostile scowls that sent chills down my spine.

Young looking adventurer are minority here? Or was this how real adventurer looks like? Will they become like that after few years?

“Huh? What do you want?”

One of the older women – who resembled more like her male comrades than a lady – growled at me. The only reason I could tell that she was female was the two huge bulges from her chest, that was barely held in by a tattered leather tunic. She had completely no fashion sense, or she just didn’t care about her appearance at all.

“Don’t know… Maybe I aspiring to be adventurer?” I grinned.

“Huh? A man like you?” She sneered. Ignoring her, I look around and spot what looked like the reception desk.

I walked past the she-hulk woman and approached a cheerful beauty, who’s probably on her mid-twenties behind the desk.

“Welcome to the Adventurers guild!” The beauty receptionist greets me.

Her clear voice that echoed throughout the building directs everyone’s attention to me. Oh please, stop it with the glaring. Is it because of my clothes or is it because of this beauty? Nonetheless, I disregard their loathsome glances.

“What is your purpose in the guild today?” she asks with a smile that outshined this gloomy place

“The guard competition of Taebutopia Rey household.

“Oh, you looking for that. Are you wanted to participate?”

Oh, so I can register here!

“Yes.”

“Oh, please give you A.I Cards”

A.I Cards? What the hell is that? Artificial intelligent Cards?

“Erm.. What is that?”

The beauty receptionist gave me a suspicious look.

“Adventurer Identification Cards, sir”

“Ah, I don’t have such things.”

“Oh, if you want to participated the competition, you need to register yourself as Adventurer.”

What the hell?! I need to be an adventurer to participate the competition!? Well, I guess that’s make sense. It’s better recruit a guard from establish organization and with known members.

“Alright, please tell me the requirements.”

The receptionist girl hands me a single sheet of paper and a feather pen for me to use.

“Just fill up the blank lines and you’re all set.”

Sighed, I put pen to paper filled everything I need to fill and left few thing blanks.

As I was done, I give the paper and she glanced up at me. once again, I was surprised. I can write this world’s writing language! Is this the power of my bond with Evelyn?

“Well, okay. Let’s review your registration. Name?”

“Oda Kousuke.”

No way I’m going to use my real name! My name already known in the palace! Especially, I got bounty on my head!

“Age?”

“42. I mean 24”

As I answered the receptionist’s questions, the beauty raise her eyebrows. There also was a furor among the other adventurer at the tables inside what seemed like the dining hall of the guild.

“Oi…did he says he’s 42.”

“Is he screwing with me? He’s young enough to be my late brother,” a thickset man with a beard.  Thanks, man. I guess, I’m really looks you now!

“Well, he just corrects it. He was 24.”

Ignoring them, the receptionist then coughed and continued.

“Class?”

“Class?” I repeated after her.

This world have something like Class thing?

The receptionist gave me a stare as if she thought I was an idiot. When I didn’t smile or respond, she shook her head and just scribbled in the scroll.

“I’ll just put scout then.”

Seriously? A scout? I prefer if you put an Assassin!  At least that was what I wanted to say, but I doubted she would take me seriously since I just wearing T-shirts right now.

Meanwhile, the other adventurer continued to chatter, sending glances in my direction. Bloody hell, they were still talking about me. Evidently, I could hear their chatter.

“He doesn’t look like a noble.”

“Yeah, he doesn’t look rich or spoiled.”

“And this kid looks completely broke and unequipped.”

For your information, I had defensive equipment. Not that I was going to show that off to a bunch of grizzled, cynical middle-aged men. I just didn’t want to get robbed.

“Do you have any special skills?”

The receptionist continued to interrogate me, paying no heed to other adventurer.

“Um, yes. Shooting, martial arts and regeneration.”

The receptionist raised an eyebrow again, but merely noted archer and healing. Well, in a way, she wasn’t incorrect…

“All right then.”

Once the application was filled out, the receptionist casted some sort of spell to create a card. she passed the card, which featured my photograph. When did she take my picture? And personal information. I took it and stared at it dumbly.

“This is your A.I Cards. Don’t lose it, okay?”`

“Yeah, I’ll do my best to keep it safe.”

The receptionist nodded in approval.

“Right now, you’re Porcelain rank.”

“Porcelain?” I almost snorted in laughter. That sounded so fragile, as if it could break any time. I wondered if it was an insult. I knew it was the most basic and lowest rank.

Because of the rank, I can’t help but asked the receptionist.

“Is there requirement rank for participate the competition? ”

“No, Taebutopia Rey household allow every rank to participate.”

Taebutopia Rey household, thank you! I will make sure to use this chance to kidnap Evelyn!

“Alright, can I register to participate the competition now?”

“Sure.”

I know what people would say, I just wasting time here. I know that, but this could be my only chance to meet Evelyn!

With that, I have participated the competition. Whoever I’m going to face… I’m ready to take you on!

 

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