Chapter 56: Grahl’s Request

“Ugh,” Liz groaned as she almost toppled over before I managed to catch her. “That wasn’t like teleporting in the dungeons.”

“I forgot to tell you that teleporting over long distances can be disorienting at first,” I said as I spread my wings. “You will get used to it.”

“Why is it different?”

“I’m not exactly sure. It doesn’t happen for short distances, so distance seems to be a factor,” I pondered. “I got used to it ages ago, so I forgot about it.”

“How long does it take to get used to it?”

“Tell me when you find out,” I smirked. “Let’s go meet that tamer.”

After landing in my favorite alley, we made our way to the adventurers guild. The morning rush had long passed, but there were still enough people in line at the reception to make talking to Saria right away tricky.

I should have kept [Erase Presence] on. Should I just go up to Grahl’s office anyway? I don’t want to waste time waiting in line.

Saria noticed us when we moved closer to the counter where she was stationed. I waved at her and pointed at the stairs. After a brief moment, she nodded and went back to helping the person in front of her.

Perfect.

I took Liz’s hand and pulled her up the stairs.

“Are we allowed to go up just like that?” Liz asked, slightly confused at my actions.

“Saria said it was okay.”

“She did?”

“I guess you didn’t see from behind me,” I smirked. “I pointed at the stairs and she nodded. I took that as confirmation.”

“Just Luna doing Luna things, I suppose,” Liz sighed. “But shouldn’t I wait downstairs? I’m still uneasy about meeting the guildmaster.”

“No better time than this to get used to it,” I chuckled. “Besides, Grahl isn’t someone you have to fear.”

We entered the guildmaster’s office. Grahl looked tired, to say the least.

“Oh? Are you actually working for once?” I grinned as I led Liz to the couch and took a seat.

“Have you been talking to Saria again?” Grahl muttered with a pained expression. “I have barely had time to leave the office in a week.”

“Sounds rough.”

“Don’t act like it has nothing to do with you,” he groaned. “Did you come here to dump some more problems on me?”

“Maybe?” I smirked, taking out the letter from my [Inventory]. “I appear to have gotten myself a job delivering mail as of late.”

“Anything you are tasked to bring me will surely be trouble,” he replied. “I assume it’s from Chloe?”

“Correct,” I grinned as I got up and gave him the letter before retaking my seat.

Grahl opened the letter and muttered to himself while reading the contents. After he was done reading, he leaned back in his chair and sighed. “Gryphons, she says…”

“That would be the case,” I said. “I took care of them, though.”

“I have fought gryphons in my younger days a few times. I can’t fathom how they managed to tame that many of them, let alone find that many to tame.”

“Do you know how to tame them?”

“I’m not that familiar with taming, so I can’t say.”

“Chloe said there is an experienced tamer in the capital.”

“There was one,” Grahl said, glancing at the map. “He retired from the guild two years ago and moved back to his home village.”

“And where is his village?” I wondered.

“South of the capital,” Grahl replied, stroking his chin. “About four hours on horseback, maybe?”

“Sounds like we will have to take a small trip,” I said, looking at Liz.

“You want to go there yourself?” Grahl asked, looking at me suspiciously. “For what purpose?”

“Why do everyone think I have an ulterior motive behind everything?” I pouted. “I’m just interested in taming.”

Grahl glanced at Liz and smirked. “I suppose you would have an interest in that.”

“I thought matters that happened in the registration room were supposed to be confidential,” I muttered. “I should have a talk with your wife.”

“Wife?” Liz whispered.

“Didn’t you know?” I smirked. “Grahl here gave up his life as an adventurer to settle down with Saria. It’s quite romantic.”

“It was nothing like that,” Grahl protested with a flustered voice. “I was getting old and decided it was time to quit.”

He’s blushing. Such an adorable old man.

“If you say so,” I chuckled, noticing the smirk on Liz’s lips.

“You should know better than to tease your elders,” he muttered.

“Who exactly is the elder here, you fledgling?” I laughed and turned to look at the map. “So, it’s that dot directly to the south of the capital?”

“Yes. If you follow the road, you can’t miss it,” Grahl said. “Could you wait a bit while I write him a letter? I will need him to visit the capital, as well.”

“Of course,” I smirked. “I have become somewhat of an expert at delivering letters.”

Grahl hastily wrote a letter and gave it to me.

“I have one other thing I want to ask of you,” Grahl said after returning to his desk. “It’s, uhm…”

“Out with it.”

“Do you know about the magic institute here in the capital?”

“Liz mentioned it once. What about it?”

“Could you consider holding a lecture about chantless casting there?” Grahl asked reluctantly. “Just once is enough.”

“I didn’t take you for a jokester,” I chuckled. “You know my answer already, don’t you?”

“I think I can guess,” he muttered. “I took up the issue with the institute since the recent events have made it even more important to improve the abilities of our mages, but a certain individual is blocking any progress.”

“That sounds odd,” I pondered. “Why would anyone want to prevent that?”

“I told you before about the Bluhelts. They are in charge of the military mage corps. They also have a hand in supervising the magic institute,” Grahl explained. “My guess is that if our younger generation becomes more proficient, their mage corps will get outmatched. I wouldn’t be surprised if Marquess Bluhelt is preventing it while the mage corps are training in secret to increase his own influence.”

“So, more bickering with nobles?” I asked. “Can’t say that makes me more inclined to accept.”

“I was afraid that would be the answer,” Grahl muttered. “I can’t get along with that man. His father is an upstanding man, but greed and pride run deep in his son’s veins. Not to mention, he looks down on anyone that isn’t a noble.”

I knew Marquess Bluhelt sounded familiar! Well then…

“On second thought, I would be happy to hold a lecture,” I said with a sinister smile. “When do you want me to go there?”

“What’s with the sudden change of heart?” Grahl asked, staring at me with doubtful eyes.

“I simply want to help,” I said, batting my eyelashes. “Especially since it’s a request from you.”

Grahl looked at me, clearly not buying it. “And the real reason?”

“Spite?” I replied, failing to suppress my grin. “Marquess Bluhelt may have threatened to have me executed because I didn’t want to give up my room at the inn we were staying at when we first came to the capital.”

“I heard rumors about an incident at The Gilded Retreat. Of course you were involved,” Grahl sighed. “Maybe it wouldn’t be a good idea to send you, after all.”

“I didn’t start it, you know,” I pouted. “I just released a tiny bit of bloodlust when his guards were about to pull their swords on me.”

“I can guess how the exchange happened considering his personality,” Grahl mused. “So, you’re willing to do it just to spite Marquess Bluhelt?”

“Oh, don’t worry, I will do my job properly,” I smirked. “That’s just a bonus.”

“Luna,” Liz said, looking at me with pleading eyes. “Don’t do anything dangerous.”

“I’m only helping Grahl,” I chuckled. “It can’t be helped if Marquess Bluhelt is against the idea.”

“You’re not even trying to hide it,” Liz mumbled.

“It’s just a bit of harmless fun,” I smiled, patting her head before turning to Grahl. “So, when should I go there?”

“Would it be possible to do it in four days? That would give us time to inform the adventurers, as well,” Grahl wondered, stroking his chin. “It would be a special lecture open to the public, so we would like as many as possible to attend.”

“That should be fine,” I pondered, turning to Liz. “Am I free that day?”

“Eh? Why are you asking me?” Liz replied with a confused look.

“Isn’t it completely normal to ask permission from your tamer?” Grahl interjected with a huge grin.

I glared at Grahl. “I’ll ask Saria if you are allowed to come out and play the next time I need something from you.”

“Don’t take the ramblings of an old man so seriously,” he laughed. “So, can I count on you with this?”

“I suppose you can,” I replied, glancing at Liz, who didn’t say anything due to being busy blushing.

“We will schedule it after lunch. Could you come here before that?”

“Okay then,” I said, standing up to leave. “Oh, right! One more thing. Chloe said I was going to get some kind of reward for my… assistance with the army.”

“That’s correct. It will probably take a while, though,” Grahl replied. “What about it?”

“Any idea what it would be?”

“I don’t think it has been decided yet.”

“Can I give a suggestion?”

“I suppose?” Grahl pondered. “However, there are no guarantees that the king will agree.”

“I want a dungeon core.”

“A dungeon core? What for?” Grahl asked, looking at me with curiosity.

“Personal reasons?” I replied, batting my eyelashes.

Grahl sighed. “I won’t pry any further, but it might be a tall task. It would be easier to get a mansion.”

“Chloe said the same thing,” I chuckled. “But I don’t need a mansion.”

“I can pass it along, but don’t get your hopes up,” Grahl replied. “They are always in short supply. My guess would be that they will offer you a noble title.”

“I have no use for anything like that,” I muttered.

“A noble rank would come with its own benefits.”

“More benefits than my SSS rank card?”

“Hmm, most likely not,” Grahl admitted.

“I don’t have a need for something that would tie me down.”

“Understandable. I ran away when they tried to give me a title in the past, as well,” Grahl chuckled. “We are quite similar in that regard.”

“Glad we agree,” I smirked. “If I can’t get a dungeon core from the king, I will have to go and get it somewhere else. I would go and collapse a dungeon in Kaydossa, but Chloe didn’t want me to cause any trouble.”

“Surely you could sneak in and take one without them knowing,” Grahl said with a grin. “Considering what you can do.”

“Is that something the guildmaster of the adventurers guild in the capital should tell me?” I chuckled. “Maybe I should tell Chloe about that.”

“Don’t! Chloe is scary when she is mad,” Grahl pleaded. “But it would probably be best if you refrained from doing that for now.”

“Then I hope the king considers my request,” I said. “Is that all? We have a tamer to find.”

“That’s all. I’ll see you in four days,” Grahl replied. “Oh, I almost forgot. His name is Gregory.”

“Gregory? Got it.”

After saying our goodbyes, we teleported to the telenode outside of town since it was faster than leaving the usual way.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep