Semi-retired Adventurer Lives Leisurely - Chapter 163

Ch. 163: The Voyage to Rishu

Henry: “Uhhhー so everyone, I have some bad news.”

It was during one of our weekly meetings. We gathered at the Grandes Church’s tavern, and that was the first thing I mentioned as the meeting started.

Cyril: “? What’s wrong, Henry? Did you mess up again? It will be okay.”

Jend: “If you’re troubled about something, I’ll do my best to help.”

As Cyril and Jend spoke up, Teo and Ferris also nodded their heads in agreement.

I appreciate the gesture, but unfortunately, it’s nothing like that this time.

Henry: “Yeahー so basically….well….”

I took out a single envelope. Seeing the name on the outside, Cyril let out a gasp of recognition.

Cyril: “It’s a letter from Miss Yuu! ……..oh wait, Henry. Are you in the middle of another weird argument with her again?”

Henry: “What? No, it’s nothing like that.”

I correct Cyril’s misunderstanding, and take out the letter inside of the envelope.

Henry: “Soー according to Yuu, we were planning on staying at Ligaleo’s [The Cries of Stars Inn] but…..they are currently under going construction after getting demolished completely for the fourth time now.”

When I was back in Ligaleo, I had a lot of connections there, so I figured my Party could start at the Cries of Stars Inn.

The inn is located in between Ligaleo’s first and second wall, and during a Demonic Creatures attack, it was destroyed.

…………and yeah, well. It’s not unheard of to have inns get demolished. The residents of Ligaleo are also accustomed to these kinds of accidents, so the reconstruction is swift too. It’s swift, butーー

Henry: “And with Lana’s most recent invention, they have had fewer and fewer Demonic Creature attacks breach the wall, so they want to properly reconstruct the inn this time ーー and it will take at least 2 months to do so.”

So this was one of the last victims or rather, collateral damages prior to the Magecraft Barrier upgrade…..or so they’re saying.

Ferris: “Well, even 2 months sounds like a very fast construction……but since they’re saying that they want to do it right, how fast do they usually rebuild?”

Henry: “Ummm, the Cries of the Stars Inn is the fourth reconstruction, and it took us about 2 weeks to build it. I was there helping too.”

As I answered Ferris’ question, everyone’s eyes widened with surprise.

Since buildings are constantly being flattened, in Ligaleo, the reconstruction of buildings is incredibly fast. If it’s a small house, we would usually rebuild it in 3 days.

Though food supplies may be in constant shortage in Ligaleo, we were able to gather wood supplies by killing off plant-type Demonic Creatures, so we always had a surplus of building supplies.

……..and well, I guess those kinds of projects will decrease going forward. It’s all thanks to our great and wonderful inventor, Miss Lana. I should turn towards the Bear’s Keg Inn and offer a prayer of gratitude.

Cyril: “Why can’t we use another inn?” Henry: “Ohー well～ so Ligaleo has rent assistance to encourage Adventurers to live there and…….switching to another inn would mean redoing a lot of paperwork.”

In that town, the Alvenia Kingdom, the Republic of Salaiz, and the Varsaldi Empire share the territory legally. With all the politics, laws, and regulations being negotiated, apparently, there were many heated legal battles which led to the increased explosion of overly complicated bureaucratic paperwork.

They are trying to streamline the paperwork that you most often encounter, but if you tried to relocate inns, worst case scenario, it could take 2 to 3 weeks to complete.

Henry: “So that’s the situation. Because of that, we don’t need to hurry to Ligaleo, and we actually need to postpone our departure because of it.”

We were originally planning on leaving next week.

Jend: “Hmmm, well, I’m okay with that. The Upper Region of the Altohern Mountains are a good hunting ground.”

Ferris: “I don’t mind as well.”

Cyril: “………I just had tearful farewell parties with my friends yesterday because I told them I was leaving next week thoughーー”

The 3 of them had no objections.

Cyril? Oh, this is like her 5th farewell party, so 2 or 3 more wouldn’t make a difference.

Henry: “What about you, Teo? You look deep in thought.”

Teo: “…….hmmm, oh, I don’t mind the postponement. But in that caseーー”

Teo scratched her cheek as she began to speak.

Teo: “So, for myself, I wanted to go say my greetings at the main Rishu household, but is that okay? I originally gave up on the plan since we didn’t have enough time, but there’s a lot of people I’m indebted to over there.”

We all looked at one another.

After that, we all asked many questions to Teo about her situation.

<<<<>>>>

Rishu.

Separated from the main continent by an ocean, it was an island with its own unique culture and society.

It was Ageha and Teo’s grandfather’s place of birth…….and for Teo’s family, their business relied on the connections of their main family to acquire goods and sell them in the Alvenia Kingdom.

And for Teo personally, before she became an Adventurer, she visited the Sagiri Family quite often……and in her childhood days, they took really good care of her apparently.

Simon: “Then Mr. Henry, everyone. You have taken great care of Teo during the expeditions, and…….I am entrusting Teo to you again for this journey. Please take good care of her.”

Henry: “Yes, of course.” We were at the docks of the Seasargo Port City in the Flowtier Count’s territory.

Teo’s father came to see us off as we departed for Rishu, and I nodded to answer Mr. Simon’s request.

It was after Teo asked if she could go see the Sagiri Family in Rishu.

………we had to think about it for a bit, but we all decided to tag along with Teo. There may not be another chance to go to Rishu if we miss this one.

The other Party members too were quite curious, and in the end, we all decided to go as one.

Thinking of our trip to the Salaiz Republic when we went to visit Yuu, our Party members are quite full of curiosity.

Cyril: “Hehehe～ a journey on a ship will be so funー!”

Ferris: “Cyril, don’t get too carried away. If you fall overboard, you’ll be in trouble.”

Ferris sternly warns Cyril who seems to be up in the clouds in her own little world.

Cyril: “Miss Ferris, do not fear! Last summer, Henry made me swim laps to build up stamina! Mermaid Cyril will not drown so easilyー”

Ferris: “………..wait, you know the water is freezing, right? You will die if you fall into the water.”

Though Cyril was confident, Ferris groaned and shook her head.

……..well, if she really did fall, I would jump in to save her regardless.

Simon: “Oh, I can see our ship approaching.”

Mr. Simon let us know as soon as he saw a ship on the horizon.

Today was the day when the ship carrying the various Sagiri Merchant Group’s products was arriving at the Seasargo port. Mr. Simon was here not only to see off Teo but for business as well.

Simon: “Then I’ll take my leave here……..oh, wait. Yes, I almost forgot. Mr. Henry, there was one other thing I needed to ask of you.”

Henry: “? What can I help you with?” Since Mr. Simon helped us so much in arranging this voyage to Rishu, I wanted to return the favor if I could.

Simon: “Well, you did see Ageha recently, right? Would you be willing to speak with my sister in the main household and tell her about Ageha? As you may know, Ageha’s not the best at sending letters, and my sister would really love to hear about her recent events.”

Henry: “Oh…….um, yes, that’s fine. Was Ageha and Mr. Simon’s sister close?”

Simon: “For Ageha, my sister was like a mother to her. ………my sister married my cousin in the main family.”

……..OH.

If I thought about it, Teo’s grandfather is from the Sagiri family, and his granddaughter Teo and Ageha being cousins was a little strange, but that’s how it was.

Simon: “Teo, give my regards to everyone in the family. I know that recently, things have been so busy that I haven’t been able to travel there, but I will go as soon as the next opportunity arrives.”

Teo: “I understand, father.”

And with that, Mr. Simon departed for another docking area. The passenger ships and cargo ships arrived in different areas of the docks.

Cyril: “Okayー! Then all aboard～!”

Henry: “Okay, okay. Don’t be in such a hurry.”

Cyril yelled with excitement and with her fist in the air, she headed for the passenger ship that was docked in port. Sheesh. All the members of our Party watched her go with some exasperation.

Henry: “……..well, I knew the voyage fees were a little high, but it’s a very nice ship.”

Teo: “When we go out to see, we can encounter oceanic Demonic Creatures…….so the ships must be of a certain size and good build in order to survive the journey.”

As I looked admiringly at our passenger ship, Teo explained next to me.

……….that’s true. It is really difficult to defeat creatures in the water. Physical attacks don’t work as well due to the water resistance, and Mages and Magicians need to take care of most of them.

If I combine my Spells with [Water] <Eedle>, then my spear throws have some effect…….but in general, I avoid confronting any water residing Demonic Creatures as much as possible.

Jend: “But it should be rare to really encounter one though. For any ships going to Rishu, there will always be a Purifying Mage aboard, so they will be purifying the corrupted Magic in our path as we move forward.”

Henry: “Oh yeah?” Jend: “It’s to also make sure that the sea routes remain safe. My family also owns a ship, and we have a few Purifying Mages hired for it.”

Thus, if there is extensive poor weather for long durations where the purification is delayed too much, the sea routes’ density of Corrupted Magic will get too high.

In that case, they would not only hire Purifying Mages, but also Adventurers who are used to fighting on the sea, and they would form a special Battleship crew ー a.k.a. A [Purifying Vessel] is what they called it according to Jend.

I’ve never been to Rishu, and Jend, who was closely associated with a Merchant Group next to the ocean, was far more knowledgeable about these things.

Henry: “You’re so knowledgeable, Jend.”

Jend: “Oh, well, around here, it’s common sense.”

Teo: “Yes, you should see some Purifying Mages on the cargo ship my father went to go see.”

As we chatted, we walked up the gangplank, showed the sailors our voyage passes, and boarded the vessel.

Cyril: “Geesh, everyone, you’re so slow～”

Henry: “Oh, c’mon. Just calm down for a bit.”

At the ship’s entrance, Cyril waved and greeted us, and I knocked her lightly on the head.

Cyril: “Ughhー what was that forー?”

Henry: “Can’t you see that you’re drawing everyone’s attention?”

The entrance to the ship led into a wide open room, and there were quite a bit of passengers heading to Rishu like us………and seeing how Cyril made a fuss, they chuckled quietly to themselves.

Cyril: “Fineー but anyhow, Henry, let’s go to top deck!”

Yeah, she doesn’t get it at all.

She tugged sharply on my arms to pull me forward, but I refused to move.

Cyril: “UGHHHH～～”

Her face reddened with the effort, but there’s no way she could move me with her strength.

Ferris: “……..why not go with her, Mr. Henry? When Cyril’s like this, she won’t budge.”

Henry: “Well, it’s me that’s not budging here.”

Ferris: “Don’t be a smartass. Just go already.”

Ferris pushed me forward as well.

……….well, it’s not like I’m not interested in seeing the deck, so that’s fine butーー

Cyril: “Thank you, Miss Ferris! Now, c’mon! Let’s go, Henry!”

Henry: “…….could you just please keep your voice down a bit?” I let out a deep sigh and began walking with Cyril towards the top deck.

ーーbut huh….

We’re docked at the port, but………I’m feeling the ship move quite a bit.