NOVPUBReid stone, after which the later half of "Dragreid" had come up, was primarily a building material.
The reid stone was durable and easy to process, making it a prime material for construction, however what its heart's delight, as well as value soar, was another of its properties; the fine, invisible pores on its surface. Buildings constructed with this stone were said to have a warm, distinct acoustic quality.
The stone’s beautiful, calming milky-white hue, combined with its rarity—since it's only found in this area—makes it highly sought after as a luxury building material.
Dio, Satowa, Parry-kun—I have no inkling why he was even here—and I found ourselves heading to "Area 81," a mining site for said stones.
Parry-kun had proposed to come along with us, and of course, I tried to shoot him down, stating "We're not here to play." —What about myself, who had been so uppity about this whole trip? Of course, I had the discretion when to be serious!
"Area 81" was notorious for being a dangerous zone—so much so that the escort missions for the mason were often asked for B-rank explorers. For a D-rank like Parry-kun, it shouldn't be something he could handle.
However, to my surprise, Satowa, our client, readily agreed to let him accompany us.
"Parry-kun has been spending the duration of his spring vacation tirelessly handling escort duties throughout the day around here. He is also the top-runner among D-rank explorers. In fact, the branch manager of Dragoon has even personally pushed to promote his rank. Well, it would be impossible to bring him along at tomorrow's request, however with my presence, it should be alright if he accompanies us to Area 81. I believe this should be a refreshing experience for him as well."
This was the reason he gave. From his perspective as vice-president of Explorer Association, he might have wanted to watch over their future leading generation.
It could also be that he wanted to affirm Parry-kun's ability firsthand before proceeding.
Apparently, Parry-kun had trained himself through actual battles with monsters this vacation.
It seems that Pali-kun has spent this spring break focusing on gaining real-world combat experience with monsters. He must have been quite determined if he had decided to come here instead of Abenil County, given the strong monsters that roam around here.
I guess he couldn't forgive himself for putting the class into danger due to his own lack of actual experience during Outdoor Orientation that I had heard from classmates later.
«I have no interest in my rank... I just want to straighten out my flaws. That said, I will not be moving ahead with my career as an explorer. But I hope you can allow me to accompany you."
Parry-kun gave his explanation, upfront with his intention. Satowa, too, didn't appear upset, and after listening to everything with a serious expression, he remarked.
«You know, not even in my dreams had I ever thought I would become a member of explorer association. In fact, I had always thought of servicing this nation by becoming one of bureaucrat. But... life is such an unpredictable thing you never know what may await you in future. However, I believe it's good to have more than one option for any occasion."
Parry-kun silently bowed his head, though it was ambiguous if he understood the meaning of Satowa's remark.
◆◆◆
The vast Reid Stone mining site began with stretching in fence digging style, where the stone mountains were dug horizontally. Then followed by flat area digging, where columns were left behind as the mine was dug deeper. This underground excavation method helped avoid layers of stones with poor color or low market value.
Our destination, Area 81», was located at the deepest part of this underground mine.
After constant excavation over many years, a vast underground space had been gradually dug deeper into the earth, reaching depths of several kilometers.
Since mining started near the surface, where the stones were easier to extract and transport, numerous tunnels from various entrances crisscrossed inside, forming a labyrinth-like maze.
Recently discovered zone—Area 81 was home to a natural underground cavern and an underground lake.
The subterranean lake, quietly holding water that flows in from somewhere, exuded a pale emerald green hue, a scenery so epic truly illustrating the image of 'nature's wonder.' The lake's water, however, was overabundant in minerals, making it unsuitable for human consumption. But, on the flip side, it was particularly appealing to monsters, especially earth-type creatures, attracting a dangerous number of them to the area. 𝒏𝒐𝒗𝒑𝒖𝙗.𝒄𝒐𝒎
But the catching aspect about this place was the Reid Stones that could be found here. While the Reid Stones were already a high-class commodity, these variety of stones gave off green hue, reminiscent of opals, and iridescence in nature (in short, they would give off rainbow glow depending on the angle of light). Their captivating beauty had, unsurprisingly, made themselves a much-sought-to-be item. Hence they're traded at price as far as two orders of magnitude more than usual Reid Stones.
With the constant swirl of beauty and monsters inhabiting this place, Area 81 started the ever-so familiar event—Gold Rush. And with dreams of making it rich overnight harboring inside them, many humans began to gather around, turning this into a high-risk, high-return area.
◆
Upon arriving at Area 81, we were introduced to the final member of our party, Ignis Rafador, assigned by Satowa.
"I’m Ren, an explorer from the Royal capital, who has also received this nomination request from Satowa-san. Of course, I do am aware of my inexperience, but I will do my best to not be a hinder. I hope I can learn much from you."
Ignis smiled brightly at my enthusiastic self-introduction.
"Hey, I have heard a lot about you from *many sources*, and welcome to Dragreid! Must I say, I had thought you to be quite a fierce guy given that alias of yours, but you're really an adorable lad! Yup, I'm Ignis, and feel free to ask anything!"
Though his words had a bit of an undertone, I couldn't quite place it...
With his distinctive canine teeth glinting, something that was rare to see in this world, Ignis laughed freely like a boy without a care. He was 32, but he looked like he was in his early twenties—quite youthful.
Ignis, clad in the distinctive Bufoo-style tunic made of monster hides, didn’t quite resemble the towering figure one might expect from someone with the title of «Giant Aragan.»
In fact, he was shorter than 170 cm, which would make him quite small for a top-tier explorer.
Rather than being muscular in the traditional sense, he had a more flexible and agile appearance. But when he offered his arm for a handshake at my initiative, the muscle in his upper arm was far beyond what would be considered normal. And when I shook hands with him, I could clearly feel the supple yer firm muscles of his palm. It was apparent he must have gone through rigorous training.
"I will be having you, Ignis-san, as the leader for this escort mission's party. Dio would be the attacker, while Ren-kun would be a scout. Is there any objection?"
Satowa smiled brightly as he looked at me and Dio.
"Of course not. Ignis is an A-rank explorer and a seasoned veteran, so I have no issues on my end."
"...I don't have any issues either. I'm Dio. Nice to meet you."
Dio followed after me, and remarked. Ignis-san's eyes flashed with curiosity as he held out his hand toward him.
With that, Ignis extended his hand with a look of curiosity.
"So you're the «Old Rookie»! I had been wanting to meet you after hearing about you so much. Well, I do be lacking age unlike you, but this place is almost like my backyard. You can be rest assured about the rest."
The two shook hands firmly and exchanged knowing grins.
I had to admit, he was the kind of person who knew how to quickly get into someone's good graces.
"So, who's this young lad? I believe I heard you saying it would be a party of four, Satowa-san..."
Ignis-san said while pointing at Parry-kun. Satowa stepped in to anwer.
"Right, he's Parry Abenil. He said he had wanted to take a look around. He’s a promising young man, so I decided to let him come along today."
Listening to Satowa's explanation, a grin crept on Ignis's face.
"Ah, you're the son of Nics, the big shot from the branch, huh? I’ve heard a lot about you. I like young people with drive. Nice to meet you."
"…You know my father?"
"As the man commanding the Dragoon's army, who doesn't know him? I had received many lessons from him during my earlier days. I get some request via him."
Perhaps hearing his father's name coming out, Parry-kun didn't push away his stout behaviour, and performed a bow, something that was rare from him.
"I'm Parry. I hope to learn many things from you."
After the introductions were done, I immediately jumped on my main objective.
"Please, take me on as your apprentice, Ignis-san!"
I bowed deeply at a perfect 90 degree angle, but before I could finish my formal gesture, Ignin-san replied unhesitatingly.
"Alright."
"Wait, really?!"
I mean, I had asked for it myself, but I was completely ready to be turned down with the man of status and ability he was.And maybe he would have given me trials to overcome before formally accepting me...
My surprise must have been written on my face as Ignis-san burst out laughing.
"Pfft! What’s with that look? Hahaha, I really don’t mind. Honestly, I enjoy mentoring juniors, but lately, everyone’s been so polite and stiff that they don’t even make eye contact! Sure enough, youngsters have to have some spin like you, Ren-kun!"
Wow! T-that's really the thinking of a first-class explorer! Asking was the right move after all.
With a big grin on my face, I expressed my thanks.
"Thank you so much! I’ll do my best!"
Parry-kun watched all of this with an astounded expression, but the next moment, seemingly stealing his mind, he took a deep breath and turned to Dio, bowing his head.
"…Red Demon Dio. I’ve heard plenty of rumors about your unparalleled spear skills at the Dragreid branch. Would you consider teaching me how to wield a spear?"
"No."
Dio answered in a heartbeat, without missing a beat.
◆◆◆
"Haaaa!"
Parry-kun’s eyes widened in shock as he thrust his cross spear at the Steinfrosh, a one-meter tall earth-attribute frog monster that had leaped out of the subterranean lake.
The Steinfrosh was a fairly common sight in the Dragreid region during early spring, a D-rank monster that Parry-kun had killed more times than he could count during his spring break.
However, this particular one, with a slightly different hue compared to the usual kind, effortlessly deflected Parry-kun’s spear that would have reap its life otherwise.
In the next moment, the Steinfrosh turned its eyes toward the underground lake behind it, and with a snap of its mouth, extended its tongue—nearly two meters long—toward Parry-kun’s right ankle.
"Ack, this guy!"
The tip of the Steinfrosh’s tongue had the same suction effect as an octopus's suckers, instantly adhering to whatever it touched. Parry-kun should've been aware of this, but Steinfrosh's movements were probably far more quicker than what he had imagined, and thus, failed in dodging.
In a panic, he gripped the cross spear with both hands, raising it high above his head, trying to sever the tongue. But before he struck down with the spear, the Steinfrosh pulled him in with its tongue and dove into the subterranean lake.
With a sudden, forceful tug on his leg, Parry lost his balance and fell.
In the nick of time, he drove the spear into the ground with one hand, avoiding being dragged into the water completely.
Yet, the Steinfrosh underwater relentlessly tugged on its prey, trying to pull him deeper.
A fear crept onto Parry's face as he glanced at the dark, bottomless subterranean lake, and darted his eyes toward nearby Dio, seemingly to seek help.
However, Dio, who had his arms crossed and was observing the scene, didn’t move a step, and a disinterested expression on his face.
Parry, trying to free his tongue, repeatedly kicked at the sucker part with his left foot. But the awkward angle made it difficult for him to put any real force into it.
The spear that had been thrust into the ground wobbled unsteadily.
—I will die.
Parry's mind went blank as soon as that thought crossed his mind, but before anything else could happen, Ignis made a follow up.
He grabbed the slimy tongue, stretched out like a taut rope in the middle, with his right hand and crushed it within his hand. The suction part came loose from Parry’s foot.
Without hesitation, he yanked it free.
The Steinfrosh, still underwater, let out a croaky “Gegoh!” as it was easily pulled out of the lake.
Without missing a beat, Ignis kicked the frog like a soccer ball. The frog flew almost thirty good meters before crashing into the far wall of the underground lake and sinking back into the water.
“Can you stand up, Parry?”
Ignis extended a hand toward Parry-kun, who was kneeling, panting heavily as he struggled to regain his breath.
“…Ah, yes, I’m saved. Thank you so much, Ignis-san.”
Parry, still pale, managed to stand and bow his head in gratitude. Ignis gave a hearty laugh, then gave Parri’s backside a playful smack before turning a severe gaze toward Dio.
“Isn’t that a bit harsh on the young man, Red Demon?”
T/N - Heya everyone, I hope you all are doing fine. I really didn't expect for the update to stall for so long. My health hadn't been quite great last month, and when I finally thought I am alright, it doubled down. Turn out it was typhoid. It had been quite a long wait, but I will try to shorten down it soon. Especially for our dear patreon readers. Can't keep the monthly subscription to nothing, eh?
Right now, it's 2/13 chapters huh.
