Chapter 8: Dragon Armour and Some Simple Training

Author: 十一屋　翠 (Juuichiya Sui)

 

My name is John.

Viscount Grimoa’s skilled butler.

Today, I went to the adventurers’ guild again, looking to scout out a mysterious adventurer who defeated a Dragon.

My lord Grimoa will be returning shortly from an auction held in the royal capital.

So, if I don’t manage to scout the adventurer by then, it’s going to get quite bad.

Well, I am a skilled and indispensable human resource to the viscount family.

Even in the worst case, my Lord’s impression of me will become slightly worse.

That’s true, okay?

Although, my pride won’t forgive any more delays.

Entering the guild building, I headed straight to the reception.

Normally, I could have just spoken the Viscount’s name and had a commoner summoned here easily, but since he had refused an invitation to dinner, that had become quite difficult to do.

Usually, the adventurers’ guild was friendly towards the lord of the territory.

If that weren’t the case, the mediation of adventurers in the territory would become quite difficult.

Thus, if the lord had some request, the adventurers’ guild would act as an intermediary, as they had done in this case by forwarding the dinner invitation.

But, if the adventurer refused the noble’s invitation, like here, the adventurers’ guild would refuse to mediate between the two parties again afterwards.

Naturally, that also went for the disclosure of the adventurer’s personal information.

This was so the organization could protect the people possessing an extraordinary amount of power called adventurers.

‘Adventurers must always be free’ they say.

Therefore, they can’t give in to oppressive influential power.

It was a statement that could be said to be one that highly disrespected authority, but the person who had spoken it had been the Adventurers’ Guild’s Founder, who is said to have once protected the people from a worldwide disaster that once occurred.

With that background, every country gave the adventurers’ guild the right to veto unreasonable orders from the nations in order to protect the adventurers.

So basically, since I wasn’t able to use authority to summon him, I had to go meet the adventurer in person and negotiate with him directly.

Which was really bothersome.

I headed over to the usual receptionist and asked if the adventurer in question was present.

“Welcome to the adventurers’ guild, John-sama.”

“Greetings, is the adventurer here?”

The receptionist’s name was Elma, and her beauty did not fit the adventurers’ guild where all sorts of rough types loafed around at all.

She has been my personal contact for this matter since I asked her to get me in contact with the adventurer in question.

“Yes, you came at just the right time.
He only just arrived.”

Ooh, I can finally meet the adventurer who subjugated a Dragon!

Honestly, how many times did I have to come here for this?

I gazed at the lobby, wondering just who the dragon-slaying adventurer was.

Then, I noticed a big crowd in the middle of the room.

“He should be getting a request right now…”

“No problem, I understand.”

Over there, in the midst of that crowd, is the dragonslayer.

“Ah, hey, John-sama!?”

I immediately took action.

What kind of person is this dragonslayer, I wonder?

A warrior? A magician? Were they actually a group?

Various such questions sprang forth in my mind.

After all, he had refused us once, so the guild had not answered a single one of my questions.

Thus, to be able to finally meet the rumoured dragonslayer, I was beyond excited.

“Excuse me.”

Pushing through the crowd, I made my way to its centre.

And then, I saw him.

A man covered in a brilliantly sparkling light-green armour.

I was sure that this man was the rumoured dragonslayer.

“Why, that shine, that is no ordinary armour!”

It seemed the dragonslayer-dono was showing off his armour.

He seemed to have an unexpectedly vulgar personality.

But that was indeed no ordinary armour.
Even I, who wasn’t an adventurer, became interested in the shining armour.

“Excuse me, do you have a second?”

“Ah? Who’re you?”

His conversation interrupted, the dragonslayer-dono looked at me unhappily.

His gaze was quite rude, and I could tell he had been raised badly.

However, strength wasn’t all about upbringing, as this man had defeated a Dragon.

“Excuse me.
I work for Viscount Grimoa, who governs this town, and my name is John.”

“Viscount Grimoa!?”

Not only the dragonslayer-dono, but the adventurers around him let out voices of surprise.

And no wonder they were surprised.
Normally, someone connected to a noble would never approach someone like a common adventurer.

“If it would be permissible, might I ask for your name, good sir?”

“M-me!?”

“Yes.”

“I’m Aug… Aug.
So what’s… what does a noble want… what business does a noble have with me?”

The dragonslayer-dono, no, Aug-dono, asked me why I had approached him.

He might have had a crude manner of speaking, but the way he tried to correct himself midway showed that he had respect towards nobility.

“Well, actually, you see, I was looking for an adventurer who fit certain criteria at the order of Viscount Grimoa.”

“An adventurer who fits certain criteria?”

“Yes, for example, someone powerful, who would be able to wear such splendid armour.”

“Armour?”

Aug-dono looked at his armour.

“I can see that that armour is quite an exquisite masterpiece.
Even with my untrained eye, I can tell it is a considerable item.”

And I sincerely meant that.

I couldn’t really tell the difference between good and bad weapons and armour, but I was in control of looking after the art belonging to the Viscount, so I had some confidence in my aesthetic sense.

And my eyes were telling me loud and clear that that armour had been made by a top-notch craftsman.

“Huh, you can tell? This armour was made specially by the Master Gordov.”

Gordov!? I’ve heard of him.
He was a weapons and armour craftsman who was highly sought after even in neighbouring countries who happened to reside in our territory.

Naturally, the Viscount also possessed a sword made by Gordov.

It was a wonderfully and beautifully decorated gem of a sword that could even be called a piece of art.

And due to that, items made by Gordov were quite expensive for commoners.

To be able to buy something like that, this man had to be an adventurer with a fair amount of strength, and thus, income.

“And that’s not all.
This armour was made by processing a Dragon’s scale!”

“A Dragon’s scale!?”

I knew it!

The Dragon’s materials were only just being auctioned in the royal capital, so it was still too early for something like that to reach a commoner.

And so, the only other way in which he could have acquired it was by slaying a Dragon with his own hands!

“To think you were in possession of a Dragon’s scale… just where did you get it?”

Now, how will you answer, Aug, no Dragonslayer-dono?

“Um, ermm, well, you see… I just happened to stumble across it randomly while out adventuring.
Uhh, I was lucky.”

What a pitiful excuse.

But, this man was unmistakably the dragonslayer.

He probably doesn’t want his true identity to be known for some reason though.

I heard many adventurers hid their identities.

If I could find out what that reason is, I might be able to get him under our control.

“I see, but to be able to acquire such an item means you are an outstanding adventurer.”

I indirectly accused him of being the one who had defeated the Dragon.

“Um, we-well…”

He admitted it! So he really is the dragonslayer himself.

“My Lord would like to meet with you, how about it? My Lord is looking for powerful warriors.
And if you wish it, we can also have you made a knight.”

“A k-knight!? Me!?”

Aug-dono gulped.

Fufufu, he might be an adventurer trying to hide his identity, but he too has ambitions of advancement.

“Yeah, but, I don’t really want to stand out that much…”

I see, he’s saying that’s why he turned down the Viscount’s invitation earlier.

“Please rest assured.
If it is your wish, my Lord will accommodate for that as well.
There is no need to give an answer right away.
But wouldn’t you have a meal with my Lord at least once?”

I hinted at us being able to assign him somewhere he wouldn’t stand out, and proposed an audience with Viscount Grimoa in the form of a meal.

“A meal?”

“Yes, we shall have a mountain of delicious foods prepared.”

“Well, if it’s just a meal…”

Yes! I got a promise out of him.

Now we just need to make him promise to become one of Viscount Grimoa’s retainers during the meal.

There are many ways to win over a man who is only strong.

“Then, I will be in contact with you again once the preparations are complete, so if you’ll excuse me for now.”

“Uh, okay.”

Phew, I somehow succeeded in getting a promise out of the dragonslayer-dono before Viscount Grimoa returned.

Now Viscount Grimoa’s lands are safe.

◆ ◆

Once the noble’s-servant-san had left, the guild, which had become silent, returned to its usual buzz.

Everyone had unconsciously stopped talking and swallowed as they listened to Aug-san and the man’s conversation.

But Aug-san really is amazing.

Being scouted as a knight of the lord-sama only happened to A-Rank adventurers!

“Hey, pushing you aside to approach that guy, is he blind or what, that old man?”

And such were the things Jairo-kun said, annoyed at me having been disregarded.

“Don’t say such things.
Aug-san was scouted to be one of the lord-sama’s knights because of his strength.”

“What are you talking about.
He was approached because he was wearing armour made with a Dragon’s scale.
There’s no way he’s amazing.”

“No, that wasn’t it.
That man recognised Aug-san’s strength, and that was why he called out to him.
All the armour did was catch his eye.”

I mean, the Dragon’s scale I gave to Aug-san was that of a Green Dragon.
There was no way anyone would think armour made from that kind of material was a masterpiece.

Not to mention that that armour was just something that had been made when Gordov-san was practising how to make Dragon’s materials into powder and mix it with iron like I had taught him.

And since he would be getting the armour made by Gordov-san for free, Aug-san had supplied him with the Green Dragon’s scale I had given him.

So, that armour was just a trial product Gordov-san had made for practise.

So who would think that the person wearing that armour was amazing?

“I wonder.
You can be quite slow at times, so I’m a little worried this might’ve been a misunderstanding.”

“Like I said, no way.
Anyway, weren’t you going to train with the sword today? We have to take a subjugation request for that.”

“That’s right! Today’s the day you’re going to teach me swordsmanship!”

“That’s right! And if you train hard, you might even become a knight, like Aug-san!”

“…I still don’t agree with you on that.”

Hm? If I were Jairo-kun, I’d rather hope to become a knight if I did my best.

◆ ◆

“So then, let us begin around here.”

I had brought Team Dragon Slayers to a field near the forest we had met in before.

“So, what’re we gonna do!? Practise swings!? Or some secret technique!?”

“Silly, there’s no way a simpleton like you can learn secret techniques.”

“What did you-!?”

I prised Jairo-kun and Mina-san who were immediately about to start an argument apart, and began explaining.

“The first thing I will be teaching you is simple body strengthening magic.”

That’s right, body strengthening was the most basic of basics for a warrior.

“Body strengthening magic? But I can’t even use magic!?”

Jairo-kun said that since he was a warrior, he couldn’t use magic.

This was common for beginners, so first, I had to correct that misunderstanding.

“Just because you’re a warrior doesn’t mean you can’t use magic.”

I explained to Jairo-kun while giving him an example.

“Human bodies always have mana flowing through them.
And while there might be a difference in the amount of that from person to person, no humans have no mana at all.”

I let my mana converge in my right arm.

“My mana is currently focused in my right arm.
Watch.”

Then, I abruptly punched the ground with my right hand.

Boom!!

Along with that sound, earth was sent flying in all directions, leaving behind a crater five meters in diameter.

“This is the basis of body strengthening magic.
If you cover your body in mana, your strength, agility, defence, and so on, so anything that has something to do with your body, will be strengthened, making it a skill useful for not only warriors, but magicians and monks as well.”

And having finished my simple explanation with that, I turned back to Jairo-kun and team.

“See? Easy-peasy.”

““““Nononono””””

Strangely, they were repudiating what I had said with all their might.