Semi-retired Adventurer Lives Leisurely - Chapter 172

Ch. 172: Departure

The people sending us off lined up around the Flowtier’s main gate.

Since it would block the road if too many people came, it was only the closest of acquaintances.

……and it’s not an unusual sight at the gate, but having the Governor stand among the crowd was probably a rare sight. The gatekeeper was nervously looking around quickly to identify any possible threats.

And the Governor is a busy man. The fact that he took the time to walk with Cyril all the way here showed his overly obsessive concern…..erhm, I mean, his love and affection for his sister-in-law.

Alvare: “Cyril, take care of yourself over there. Make sure to listen to everything Henry says.”

Asteria: “And I heard that the city area is rough and dangerous. Be sure to be weary of other dangers other than Demonic Creatures. …..and do your best.”

Cyril: “I understand! I will do my very best!”

And with the Governor and Lady Asteria’s words, Cyril answered bright and energetically.

………and though she answered as she normally would, I could tell that she was taking all their words to heart.

I watched Jend and Teo speak to their families as well.

And just like the time we left to upgrade our gear and go train, Ferris and I had nothing to do.

We chatted together as we waited for the others to finish saying their farewells.

Ferris: “Henry, how does it feel to be returning to Ligaleo?” Herny: “Hmmm, yeah. I’m half frustrated that I have to go back to that hell hole of a battlefield, but the other half, I’m looking forward to seeing my friends. Wait, actually, I’m 70% frustrated and 30% looking forward to it.”

Ferris: “Well, that’s quite blunt.”

Ferris chuckled at my comment.

I was thinking about how effective this Party will be when we arrive at Ligaleo. I definitely looked forward to seeing how it turns out…….but I could never say that out loud – even if everyone else seemed to catch on to my feelings.

Henry: “What about you, Ferris? Are you not a little scared?”

Ferris: “Well, I think I’m the same as you. I’m half scared and half looking forward to it. ………but I can’t say for sure that I’ll be able to endure the frontlines.”

Ferris spoke jokingly.

But I highly doubted that the frontlines would break her. She was quite a tough woman. And everyone else was the same. I couldn’t imagine Jend or Teo getting discouraged.

And Cyril…….how should I put it.

Ummm, oh yeah. She reminded me of one of the Rishu’s toys – the wooden doll that would always stand back up. That kind of feeling. Even if something happens, she would get a good night’s rest and tackle the next day with renewed vigor. That’s how she looked to me.

……ohhhh, but….

Henry: “Besides fighting Demonic Creatures, be prepared for some awful food. There won’t be much of a variety, and the quality will be nothing like Flowtier.

If you were a gourmet food expert, Ligaleo is the last place you would ever want to go.

They did collect enough food to feed the hungry Adventurers and soldiers, but……besides quantity, they placed preserving high nutrient foods as the top priority. The taste of it really didn’t matter.

Of course, good food would raise morale, so they did have some luxuries…..but that came with an extremely high price tag.

Ferris: “Oh, I saw that you got barrels and barrels of Flowtier ale. Didn’t you buy 20 barrels?” Henry: “Yeah, well, it’s mostly as a gift to my friends on the frontlines. Even I would feel depressed if I had to suddenly switch to the Ligaleo ale right as we got there.”

And of course, in order to carry such a large amount of ale, we had to rely on Teo’s godly equipment. She accepted the task with one of the barrels as payment.

Henry: “And yeah, we’re bringing plenty of snacks that won’t go bad for a while like jerky. It’s quite another experience to be able to drink great ale while the people around you have to drink terrible liquor.”

Ferris: “I thought you said those were gifts.”

Henry: “Just 3 barrels!”

Hehehe….I can’t wait to see their envious faces.

……..then again, if I go too far, they’ll probably resort to collectively rioting and say, “Smash that guy and take his liquor!” They can be quite the barbarians.

ーーoh no. I need to switch gears soon. There were some rough, outlaw-types in Flowtier, but compared to the hordes of idiots who nest in Ligaleo, they’re completely tame. I’ll have to be the one who deals with those idiots when the time comes – specifically answering them with my fists.

Ferris: “…….I can see your imagination is taking you in a weird direction, but snap out of it. Looks like they’re done.”

Cyril, Jend, and Teo all came over together.

Everyone had their chests out and marched with pride. They received encouragement from their families, and now were filled with hope and determination.

Jend: “Henry, Ferris, sorry to make you wait.”

Henry: “Don’t worry about us. We can stay here for another hour or two if you like.”

Jend: “Ha! There’s no need. I’ll be a Heroic Warrior…..and eventually a Hero of Legend before long, and we’ll have a parade when we come back!”

Though he was talking big, there was something in Jend’s voice that made me believe him.

Cyril: “I have a big goal as well!”

And Cyril, who was planning to resurrect the Fezard Kingdom, held a blazing fire in her eyes as she spoke.

…..and in her case, it was like…..well…..I expected her to run into lots of hurdles……I’ll do my best to help her out.

Teo: “…..besides, can’t we also run here and back like Sister Ageha anytime we like?”

And Teo was the most calm out of the three.

And yeah, you don’t have to vow that you have to first accomplish something great before you return home. It might be even better to not put that much pressure on yourself from the get go. ……but regardless, we’re not going to run like that idiot, Ageha, okay? Henry: “Thenーー”

After hearing the 3 speak, I spun on my heel to turn around.

Henry: “Let’s go!”

Jend: “Yeah…..and farewell, Flowtier, my home sweet home….or something like that.”

And Jend tried to say something cool as he departed.

Cyril: “We’re going now! See you all again!”

Cyril waved her arms at the people who came to see us off as we began walking.

Ferris: “Cyril, you’ll trip if you keep walking backwards like that.”

And Ferris gave a short warning to Cyril.

Teo is…..oh, she’s already walking ahead of us.

Henry: “<sigh> I guess it’s business as usual.”

I let out a sigh and scratched my head.

……and we departed from Flowtier.

<<<<>>>>

We ran from Flowtier to Northerntier.

Since we already had reservations, there was no wait to enter the Teleportation Gate and get to the Capital.

With Ferris’ request, we went around to take a few photos of the Capital……and then we entered the Teleport Gate once more.

Since we have traveled this path before, everyone was quite used to it.

Cyril: “Ohhh, as always, it’s so fun visiting a new city.”

It’s been 4 days since we left Flowtier.

We had come to one of the Alvenia Kingdom’s Four Corner Cities and arrived in South Gaia.

The Teleportation Station was located on higher ground, and Cyril immediately began taking in the scenery excitedly. This city was built on a hill, and the central part of the city had the highest elevation. Since the Teleportation Station was practically in the middle of the city, you could see all corners of the Southgaia from here.

Teo: “……? Hm? But if you look closely, the southern side. Only that side seems newer. The southern wall is the only part where it looks to be newly constructed.”

Teo, who had the best eyesight, noticed first and brought the oddity to our attention.

A brief but bitter memory crossed my mind, but……it’s already passed.

Henry: “10 years ago…..well, 11 years now. That’s when the Demon Kingdom reached this area. At the time, we managed to push them back to Ligaleo from here but……there were a lot of casualties from that invasion.”

I remember it vividly.

That’s when the Fezard Kingdom was crushed, and we ran and ran……when Southgaia was being attacked, I was a refugee here.

………looking back, I was able to escape the Demon Kingdom’s attacks, cross the Isthmus of Bifrost that connects the North and South continents, and arrived to take safe refuge in a large city. I was lucky and equally lucky that my stamina somehow lasted that long.

And from there, I could have joined an orphanage or used my experience as a squire to become a Knight. There were many options… but in the end, I was engulfed by hatred and thirst for revenge. I didn’t want to wait around doing nothing, so to become someone who could fight Demonic Creatures, I became an Adventurer.

……well, I’ve already processed most of these feelings and thoughts since then.

With another sigh, I wipe away the painful memories.

Henry: “Okay then. Just like we discussed, let’s go to the Grandes Church.”

Jend: “Sure. Since we’re here, we’re going to see Brother Ashley and his Party, right?” One of Jend’s seniors in the dojo was a Party leader, and for a short time, they came to Flowtier – the Adventurer Party [The Shining Swords].

The Shining Swords used Southgaia as their main base…..and since they live closer to Ligaleo, we were going to poke them for information about any recent developments. That was the plan at least. We sent a letter ahead telling them that we were passing by soon, and if there’s an opportunity, we’d like to see them.

But it’s not like we set a date, so there is a chance that our schedules will not overlap. So if we end up seeing them, we were in luck.

Henry: “I think they were based off the West Church, right?”

Jend: “Yeah. …..that’s right, there’s four churches in this city.”

Henry: “Yeah, Ligaleo is nearby, so there’s a lot of Demonic Creatures in this area. There’s the military and Knights Orders that reside here year round, but Adventurers are the easiest to move around, so there’s a lot of work here. The merchants need guards to take them to Ligaleo, so stuff like that.”

And during my days in Ligaleo, we would accept Quests to guard the merchants back to Southgaia. But most of our transactions would be done with the South Church, so we had no connection with Ashley in those days.

As we chatted, we walked through the city of Southgaia.

Ferris: “It looks like the architecture is different from the Alvenia Kingdoms. How does it look to you, Jend?” Jend: “Yeah, this kind of architecture is more popular in the Southern Continent. ….and it’s no wonder. Before the war with the Demon Kingdom, Southgaia was a major trading port with the Southern Continent.”

I listened to Jend and Ferris discuss some interesting facts about the city.

Compared to themーー

Cyril: “Oh! Henry! Look over there! They’re selling crepes! Please buy me one!”

Cyril was Cyril.

………well, it was well past noon, so I felt a slight pang of hunger too.

Henry: “Here, I’ll give you the money to buy mine too. I just want the plane crepe. ….oh, how about everyone else?”

Teo: “Oh, are you sure?” Henry: “Yeah, don’t worry about it, Teo. Order what you want. Jend, Ferris, you two too.”

Jend: “Oh, if that’s the case….”

Cyril wrote down the orders, and I passed her the money.

Henry: “Go now, Cyril. Fulfill your quest to obtain these crepes.”

Cyril: “Yes, right awayー”

We joked a little before Cyril ran towards the Crepe Stand.

It was quite popular with a long line, but they tasted great, and we were all satisfied.

Once we finished eating, we started heading towards the West Church once again.

…….hmmm, there’s a lot of people today. During my days in Ligaleo, I don’t remember it being so lively.

I wondered about the crowdedness as we arrived at the West Church.

I knew where the Church was, but it was my first time coming here.

Adventurers came in and out of the entrance, and the door to the entrance was left open.

And as we watched a few people pass in and out………coincidentally, we saw some familiar faces.

Jend: “Ashley!”

Ashley: “Hm? …..oh!”

Jend shouted towards Ashley as he was just leaving the church.

Now then, before we head to Ligaleo, we’ll gather some intel about recent events.

….and to celebrate our reunion, we’ll drink tonight.