Chapter 491: There are Adventurers in Elyndor?
Heka had hoped for an easy journey, a simple arrival at their destination.
But Benjamin seemed determined to take the long way, to experience every moment of the journey rather than simply arriving at its end.
[But... it is not that bad, since I’m with the one I love~] she said internally, a warm feeling spreading through her chest as they moved through an open plain of green flat land, where a small group of people were quietly fighting a massive blue dragon.
Completely normal.
"..."
"..."
"...Are we not going to help them?" Heka asked, smiling as they walked.
Her voice ringing with curiosity, her brown eyes fixed on the distant battle unfolding across the plain.
The sounds of combat drifted toward them, the roar of the dragon and the shouts of the adventurers mingling together in a chaotic symphony from the distance.
"Oh, you mean that fight over there with the mature dragon?" Benjamin answered, looking at the scene several meters away.
His blue eyes narrowed slightly as he assessed the situation, taking in the figures that darted and weaved around the massive beast.
"I see a long-eared race there, possibly an elf. They seem to know what they’re doing, at least somewhat. I also plan to watch how it ends, so let’s go cheer them on." He grinned, clearly entertained by the prospect of spectating rather than participating.
Benjamin adjusted his position on Maximus, settling in for what he clearly intended to be an enjoyable show.
***
It was unfortunate that Benjamin refused to ride on me like he did some days ago, feeding Maximus all the attention, but I did enjoy the idea of being chosen among the entire women to be his escort.
The thought warmed my heart, a pleasant reminder that despite everything, the chaos and the strange, bizarre situations we had found ourselves in, I was the only one by his side.
After the quite awkward, but fairly warm, detour we made to the Khairkhan tribe, we had set out for Goliathens.
The encounter had been strange, the events that transpired even stranger, but we had emerged from it largely unscathed and with some interesting stories to tell.
The chief’s transformation, the gender swapping, the panicked escape, all of it would be remembered and retold around campfires for years to come.
Except Benjamin still wanted to walk there after all the time already spent.
His insistence on traveling by foot was becoming very stubborn, a quirk that I found both endearing and frustrating.
We could have been there by now, could have arrived at Goliathens and been welcomed with open arms.
Instead, we were trudging across the endless plains, taking in the sights and sounds of the journey at a leisurely pace.
We were now a great distance away from the Khairkhan tribe, still moving west, and the area was a plain but slightly rolling field of grass, as far as a normal eye could see.
And saw, we did.
The battle was impossible to miss, the massive blue dragon dominating the horizon with its appearance and presence.
Its scales gleamed in the sunlight as it roared its defiance at the small figures that dared to challenge it.
"Who are they, actually?" Benjamin asked me, as we still calmly moved closer to the heated battle.
His voice was casual and unconcerned, as if we were approaching a performance rather than a life-or-death struggle.
"Those people surely are adventurers," I replied, my eyes tracking the movements of the figures afar. "And they seem to be high level ones from overseas. I can tell by their equipment and the way they coordinate their attacks. They have experience, training, and they work together as a unit."
"Eh?! Adventuring in that sense is a thing in this world?!" Benjamin snapped his head at me, confusion and amusement painting his expression. His eyebrows shot up, his mouth falling open in surprise. "I mean, I have heard Sakura casually mention adventurers, but I thought she was talking about something else... something more metaphorical. I didn’t realize there were actual adventurers here."
As expected of Benjamin; he seemed to have prior knowledge of the term already. His reaction suggested familiarity with the concept.
"It appears you know about them," I inserted, as the ground had begun to rumble from our proximity to the fight.
The vibrations traveled through the earth beneath our feet, the impact of the dragon’s heavy body against the ground sending shockwaves across the plain.
"Hmmm. Something like that," he shrugged and tilted his head, his expression thoughtful. "I know them as, uhhh, trained individuals who take up jobs like exploration or extermination, or things like that. They go on quests, fight monsters, find treasure, that sort of thing."
He was basically correct: there was so much a single kingdom could do concerning its terrain.
The vast expanses of land, the dangerous creatures that inhabited them, the countless threats that lurked beyond the borders of civilization, all of it required a response that traditional armies were ill-equipped to provide on time.
And there was so much King Renard could do for the human kingdoms that begged for assistance, so he came up with the idea of adventurers shortly after he became the king of Gihon, so the people can train and enter the system for rewards whenever they complete a mission.
The system had grown and evolved over the years, becoming a vital part of the kingdom’s infrastructure and defense.
Explaining this to Benjamin, he was very surprised, and he asked me:
"Why does someone like Renard know about the idea of Adventurers?" He raised a brow, his expression one of curiosity mixed with a hint of suspicion.
I see he still doesn’t get along well with King Renard... Well, I heard they had a serious fight just when Benjamin left for the meeting following his awakening as a demi-god.
The details were unclear, but the tension between them was palpable even from a distance.
Ah, the memories... it doesn’t feel like some weeks ago, with the whole matter surrounding the vagina teeth...
...Vagina... teeth...?
What does that mean?
I must be misremembering something; I HAVE been deprived of training since we left Verdant Spire... Then again, it was I who got lax and didn’t train.
The strange thought flickered through my mind and was gone just as quickly, leaving behind only confusion.
Maybe Benjamin will allow me to join the fight against the Mature dragon.
The idea was appealing, a chance to stretch my muscles and remind myself that I was still a warrior, still capable of great feats of strength and skill.
It had been too long since I had truly fought, too long since I had felt the rush of combat.
"According to recorded history, Renard’s idea of the adventurers was inspired by a story told to him a very long time ago by a god-touched," I answered Benjamin’s question, my voice carrying the weight of historical fact.