MTLNOVEL Chapter 19 - Miracle of Myth (4)
The way from the hotel to the city hall involved walking down the main street. The one with that strange delivery man statue.
Of course, it was a place I had already seen several times, but this bustling area, which could be called the symbol of this city, always gave me a subtle feeling.
A city that most actively researches and utilizes artifacts and traces of the mythical era. Because of that, it’s a city where many traces of that era I know remain vaguely.
“What’s that carriage?”
“It’s an invention of the mado-engineers who have been increasing recently. Created based on legends from the mythical era.”
Something I hadn’t seen before caught my eye. It looked similar to a carriage, but unlike ordinary carriages, it had no tools or structures to connect with horses.
“They say that back then, iron carriages moved without horses?”
Patrick shrugged. The people of the current era are, after all, descendants of those who survived that Great Apocalypse, so stories from that time have been passed down, but naturally, many parts have been distorted and changed in transmission.
The fact that cars became iron carriages was actually a very polite case. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t even that wrong.
“That’s the city hall.”
Soon, Patrick pointed out a large building made of white stone to us. I already knew about it, but I didn’t think I’d be visiting it directly like this.
After all, Ethan, whom I had been living with, and the city hall were as incompatible as oil and water.
“Wait, short red hair. Are you perhaps Patrick?”
“Yes, but how…”
“Sir Duro mentioned you beforehand. Come in.”
When Patrick cleared his throat and approached the guard in front of the city hall, surprisingly, the guard recognized Patrick first. It was thanks to the guard captain we had seen earlier really passing on our information in advance.
We passed through the checkpoint just by showing our adventurer certificates as identification and entered the city hall.
“E-even for me, it’s my first time entering here in my adventurer life.”
Even Patrick was muttering while looking around. The guard told us to wait here while he would call his superior.
“Is there still no news about the artifact?”
“That’s right. We’re trying to find out about its source at least, but it seems highly likely that it flowed in from outside and was sold here.”
It was then that a group of people passed by us as we were looking around the interior like country bumpkins. They were busy talking among themselves and didn’t even glance at us, but I watched them with interest.
Especially the woman with red fox ears at the front, who was eagerly talking to those around her, was holding a staff signifying a mage and swishing her bushy fox tail that peeked out from under her skirt.
“Wait a moment.”
But then, she suddenly stopped right next to us.
“I smell an elf somewhere. No, wait. Is it not an elf? What is this smell exactly?”
She sniffed around and looked around with a confused expression. I flinched and hurriedly averted my gaze. I wondered if it was possible to discern my identity just by smell.
“I don’t smell anything?”
“Even if there was an elf, it wouldn’t be strange in the first place.”
“N-no! This is a smell I’ve never encountered before!”
Fortunately, the people around didn’t seem to pay much attention to her words, shaking their heads. Even she herself didn’t seem confident in her senses, her tail drooping.
“Well, I’ve had many false alarms before…”
“Remember when you mistook a beastkin mixed-blood wearing perfume for an orc? It’s probably something similar.”
Her companions led her away, almost dragging her. From my perspective, it was fortunate. I unnecessarily sniffed my sleeve, wondering if my body really had a strange smell.
“She seems like quite a successful mage… that woman just now looked like a spirit beast. To become a mage with a beastkin body, she must have that level of specialness.”
“Spirit beast?”
“There are special beings among beastkin. They call themselves spirit beasts.”
Patrick shared this new knowledge with me as he watched. Special ones among beastkin. Indeed, the atmosphere they gave off was different from Lina’s.
“By the way, is it really necessary to hide your identity like this?”
“It’s just to avoid troublesome situations. I think you can understand what I mean.”
He asked the reason when he saw me becoming flustered. I didn’t particularly need to hide it, so I just answered. I don’t want things to become bothersome. This was actually the biggest reason. Although the danger was also a reason, in reality, there were more than one or two ways to protect myself.
“It’s not my place to interfere.”
“Oh! Welcome!”
As he smirked, the guard captain we had seen before appeared at the same time. The guard captain recognized us and waved his hand vigorously.
“So these are them. The adventurers who finished off the werewolf that escaped the encirclement.”
“Yes, Mayor. It was rampaging more fiercely than expected and we almost suffered great damage, but thanks to them, we avoided major casualties.”
Mayor Wilren. The short man sat in the seat of honor and looked down at us who had come. I thought he would be indifferent, but he showed more interest than expected. I had a feeling that he might not have called us just to give a reward.
“I think you already know about the reward from what you’ve heard, so there’s no need to talk about it at length. Instead, I’d like to make a request that might appeal to skilled adventurers.”
As expected, he revealed his true intentions. We all flinched at the request that the mayor himself wanted to entrust to us.
A party that had been hunting low-level magical beasts was suddenly entrusted with such an important mission.
“It seems things have gone even more awry since the last forbidden anomaly. With the werewolf that appeared this time, and the continuous disappearances suspected to be the work of demon tribes in Raon, one of the villages near our city, I’d like you to investigate that place. If it’s something that can’t be handled at the adventurer level, we’ll have to mobilize troops again.”
He entrusted us with the task as if he was used to commanding people. Of course, we could refuse since we’re not his subordinates, but there was no particular reason to do so.
“Is it just a simple investigation?”
“That’s right. I’m not sure, but the city guard is so busy… We plan to make new plans based on the investigation results.”
Patrick noticed this and pretended to ponder, pretended to look at Lina, and then glanced at me. I was quietly bowing my head and didn’t answer separately.
Anyway, if I had wanted to object, I would have expressed it somehow, so he understood the hint and nodded.
“There’s no reason for adventurers to refuse such a request.”
“Good. The reward will be no less than what the guild offers, so don’t worry.”
The conversation with a satisfied Wilren ended there.
With a quite substantial reward and a new mission, we finished our tour of the city hall and came back out to the main street.
“I didn’t expect to receive such a mission, not just a simple hunt.”
“There’s something that bothers me. It’s probably nothing though.”
It was only then that Patrick asked me why we accepted this mission. There wasn’t any grand reason to hide or speak indirectly about.
The curse that is the origin of those called demon tribes by people of the current era. As long as that curse is related to the Tower, I just wanted to look into it once.
“It won’t be dangerous, right?”
“We were assured it’s just a simple investigation. If it becomes dangerous, we can just run away immediately.”
“Well, even that wolf in the end…”
He swallowed dryly in the middle of his sentence. It seems he’s mistakenly thinking I’m incredibly strong, like Ethan does. I don’t particularly think so myself, but my power certainly has its strengths.
It’s true that my growth has accelerated even more since coming out of the Tower, so I was confident that I could escape no matter how dangerous it got. That’s why I didn’t think much of it.
“It’s already late today. Let’s go back, rest, and set out tomorrow.”
“What are you planning to do now?”
“What should we do, Lina? How about going to the theater?”
It was already becoming late afternoon. As Patrick, with a dazed expression, asked after receiving his share of the money, I pulled Lina’s arm and pointed to the theater visible in the distance.
When I first came to this city, I remembered the nonsensical myth that the theater owner had told me.
The era 10,000 years ago that people of the current age don’t know well. I wanted to know how they research and interpret that era I lived in.
‘Did they write this thinking it would be interesting?’
I smirked as I read the plot.
No, it definitely wasn’t written to be interesting. This was a serious play meant to teach history.
It was a culture enjoyed by those who considered themselves somewhat learned or those very interested in this field. It’s not something created by a single person, but a reality reconstructed by many people searching for traces of the distant past.
Although I tried to forget it, thinking it was of no use now, the fact that I keep being drawn to this kind of thing might mean that my mind is still stuck in that era.