The Exiled Knight Takes Up Life as an Adventurer — A Former Captain's Secret Power and His Carefree Days in a Distant Land - Chapter 24

After several days of review, Velnica’s quest request was officially accepted.

Today, we’re meeting in the guild cafeteria to go over the plan.

“Good morning, Mardin. Here’s the official quest form.”

“Let’s take a look.”

Velnica and I sat at a round table for four.

Ferleat, always thoughtful, brought us two cups of coffee.

I picked mine up and glanced through the quest form as I took a sip.

———

Quest Form

Difficulty: C-Rank
Type: Subjugation
Target: Azure-Spitting Water Dragon, Azpreshius
Objective: Slay one Azpreshius
Reward: 3 gold coins
Time Limit: Within 1 month

Required Party: At least two C-Rank adventurers
Notes: See attached location sheet. Full details in contract. Adventurer tax paid.

———

“Three gold coins for the reward, huh. You must’ve paid quite a bit for the request.”

“I did. But that’s fine.”

“Who’s on the team?”

“You and me, a dismantler, and a porter. Four people total.”

“So basically, you and I are handling the actual subjugation.”

“Yes, that’s right. As for the reward—give five silver coins each to the dismantler and the porter. You take the rest, Mardin. Once we sell the materials, we’ll split those evenly.”

“Wait, what about your share?”

“I don’t need it… This will be my last quest.”

“What? Seriously!?”

“Yes. Originally, I planned to retire after marrying Lakle. Since he reached B-Rank, he was going to transfer to a city guild. I was going to move with him and support him from behind the scenes…”

Velnica stared into the rippling surface of her coffee cup as she spoke.

Though she offered a small smile, sadness still clearly lingered in her expression.

Back when I was a knight, I saw many who’d lost comrades, and those who were left behind.

It never gets easier.

“I missed my chance to retire. So now, I’m going to take down the Azure-Spitting Water Dragon… avenge Lakle… and then I’ll retire.”

“What will you do after that?”

“I’ll travel. I’ll visit the town we were supposed to live in together. I’ll see the world Lakle never got to see.”

“I see… I’ll miss watching your bow work.”

“Heh, thank you.”

Velnica may only be a C-rank adventurer, but she’s a master of the bow.

She’s easily among the top I’ve ever seen.

Once, when we went out to gather ingredients together, she shot and killed a Gourie—a brown-furred wild boar—from over a hundred medelt away with a single arrow.

After finalizing the rest of the details, we agreed to set out in three days.

———

Three Days Later – Early Morning

Our four-person team assembled in front of the guild.

At Velnica’s signal, we began our journey.

Azpreshius had last been sighted near a coastal area on the edge of town.

It’s a half-day walk on foot, but since this was a subjugation mission, we rode in a cart driven by the porter.

The cart was pulled by a creature known as a Shellhorn Beast, or Keramoum, a sturdy E-rank monster.

Standing at five medelt tall, it boasts incredible strength and bottomless stamina.

Its tough, shell-like scales are as hard as iron.

Keramoum are one of the rare monsters that can coexist with humans—they’re often used for farming and transportation.

“Mardin. This time, I’m not coming back until we finish the job.”

“Yeah, same here. You two good to go?”

I turned to the dismantler and porter.

“Yes. Of course,”

“Absolutely!”

The two women replied in unison.

The dismantler, Alisha, is a 27-year-old C-Rank specialist.

She’s known for being calm and precise. Her gentle, composed demeanor makes her quite popular with the local men.

Then there’s Ramitwa, the 22-year-old C-Rank porter.

She’s bold and fearless, sometimes to a fault, but she’s extremely knowledgeable about her work.

“Okay but—why is the whole team women?”

“They’re my usual crew. What, not happy? Shouldn’t you be glad to be surrounded by ladies?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. They’re kids.”

“What are you talking about? We’re all in our twenties.”

“You’re kids to me.”

“You’re not that much older than us. Hmph, someone’s shy. You’re the real kid here, Mardin.”

“Give me a break…”

“Fufu, looking forward to working with you, old man.”

Yeah, it’s an all-woman party.

But honestly, I don’t mind.

There’s no way girls this young would ever see an old guy like me as anything other than some grumpy uncle.

That’s why I can stay relaxed and just be myself around them.

“Velnica, I’ll park the cart at the cliffside camp spot like we planned, okay?”

“Yes, thanks, Ramitwa.”

Ramitwa, the porter, skillfully handled the reins of the Shellhorn Beast, Keramoum.

After traveling for a while into the Kaen Forest along the coast, we arrived at a clearly manmade clearing.

Backed against a cliff, the area was enclosed in a semicircle by wooden fencing.

Within the roughly twenty-medelt-wide campsite, there was a small cabin and a brick-built cooking station.

“This place is impressive.”

“First time here, Mardin? This site was developed by the porters from our guild. There are several of these campsites throughout Kaen Forest. We use them regularly for quests.”

“Huh… that’s pretty amazing.”

“Well, it’s part of a porter’s job too. But from here on out, it’s your turn, Mardin.”

“Of course. I’ll find that Azure-Spitting Water Dragon in no time.”

I grabbed my gear, strapping my longsword to my left hip.

Then I secured the newly developed Raphil Spool to my right arm.

“Mardin, I’m ready too.”

“Alright, let’s get going.”

I turned to Alisha, the dismantler.

“Alisha, we’ll be back before sunset.”

“Got it. Be careful out there. Ramitwa and I will finish setting up camp and prepare dinner.”

Ramitwa smiled and waved at us.

“Good luck, both of you!”

Velnica and I headed out to investigate.

Though it was still technically part of the forest, the beach and ocean were just ahead.

We walked through the woods, the soothing sound of waves in the background.

“Azpreshius hunts by compressing seawater inside its body and spitting it out like a boulder to knock out its prey. If you’re hit by one of those blasts, you’ll lose consciousness instantly. A direct hit to the head could be fatal…”

Velnica’s partner, Lakle—once a B-rank adventurer—was killed during an earlier attempt to slay the Azure-Spitting Water Dragon.

She never told me the full details, but it’s likely that very attack was what killed him.

“Yeah, that’s why I brought a shield this time.”

I usually don’t carry one, but for this mission, I made an exception.

It was a fifty-sedelt-wide wooden shield, reinforced with iron around the edges.

I strapped it to my left forearm with two leather belts.

“The sighting was just past here on the beach.”

“Was it hunting fish?”

“Probably. But Azpreshius has a wide range. It moves between the coastal forest and the beach.”

We emerged from the forest and stepped onto the sand.

There, we saw dozens—no, thousands—of Sandrunners, known as Snika Crabs, each about ten sedelt long.

They were snapping their claws in unison, intently focused on feeding.

These crabs are known as the “cleaners of the beach” for a reason.

But as soon as they noticed us, the entire swarm scattered, scuttling away across the sand.

“No matter how many times I see it, Snika Crabs sure are fast.”

“Hehe, they’re built specifically for speed on sand, after all.”

They’re said to be delicious when boiled, but they’re nearly impossible to catch thanks to their speed.

“Hey, Mardin. These tracks… look here.”

“Hm?”

I followed Velnica’s gaze and saw claw marks—three long, curved grooves etched into the sand.

The heel area was deeply gouged.

“That’s from a dragonbone-type theropod. Judging by the size and the webbed impressions… no doubt about it. It’s Azpreshius.”

“Just what I thought. So it really did appear here…”

“Alright. Let’s focus our search around this area.”

The tracks led into the forest, so we widened our search beyond the beach.

But despite our efforts, we weren’t able to find anything conclusive.