Orario was a circular city divided into eight parts by eight main roads. At the center stood Babel. Since Akira was still new to the city, he chose not to go through the backroads to reach the Guild but instead took one of these main roads, first walking toward Babel.
As it was just about noon, the flow of adventurers was small, since most had already entered the dungeon early in the morning.
On the way, he passed by the Hostess of Fertility and decided to visit it later. As he walked past, he ran into Ryuu and Syr returning from their trip to the market.
"Good morning, Ryuu-san, Syr-san," Akira greeted them.
"Good morning, Akira-san."
"Good morning, Akira."
Ryuu noticed him wearing only thin clothes without armor, and what looked like two spears covered in cloth on his back. Concerned, she asked, "Are you going to the dungeon, Akira-san?"
"No, no. I wanted to go to the Guild first to learn more about the dungeon," Akira shook his head. Just as she thought he might be a mature adventurer, he pointed to his spears, "As for these, I thought it would look cool. Does it look cool?"
Taking Syr's advice, he adjusted the spears to form an X-shape across his back, making it look cooler.
"It's a good habit to learn more about the dungeon. Just make sure never to let your guard down in there. As for your weapon, if you want to use a spear, make sure it's the weapon you're most comfortable with. Since you've just started, you could also try other weapons." Ryuu gave him advice like a responsible senior.
Akira rubbed his chin and gave Ryuu a suspicious look. The change in her behavior was too sudden. Noticing his stare, she became defensive. "What seems to be the problem?"
"Although I like this Ryuu who is concerned about me, the change in behavior is too much," Akira answered.
"That…" Ryuu didn't know how to explain.
"Kisame-san told us everything," Syr jumped in.
"Oh, did he…" Akira wasn't sure how much Kisame had revealed, so he decided to just go with the flow.
"Your wife and fiancée, are they…" Syr began, but Ryuu tugged her sleeve, stopping her.
"Yeah, they're gone…" Akira admitted.
"I'm sorry," Syr said softly.
"It's okay. I'm not hurt by it. After all, when I'm done adventuring here, I'll reunite with them." Akira smiled, as if looking forward to that day.
"I'm sure that's what they would want," Ryuu consoled him.
"Stay strong…" Syr tapped his shoulder.
Akira felt there was a misunderstanding here, but he wasn't about to explain further in front of a living lie detector. Saying goodbye, he went on his way.
Watching him leave, Ryuu felt envious. She thought Akira had already found some closure with his dead wife and fiancée. At least she could rest easy knowing he didn't seem suicidal.
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Reaching the base of Babel Tower, Akira, who had once lived in jungles of towering buildings, felt it was truly magnificent.
'A tower named Babel reaching into the sky. I bet in the ending of Danmachi this thing is going to fall down,' he thought, then continued toward the Guild.
The Guild looked exactly like what he expected from a fantasy world: an old European bank-like structure on the outside, wide space inside with counters for advisors and a magic stone exchange area. Since it was afternoon, there wasn't much rush.
Not seeing his advisor at a desk, he asked another employee, "Excuse me, is Miss Eina here?"
The red-haired werewolf replied, "She's in a meeting. What do you want with her?"
"Well, she's my advisor, and the day before yesterday was my first day in the dungeon, which didn't go too well. I think I need to be better prepared next time, and I remembered Eina-san telling me she could teach me more about the dungeon."
"So, you ignored your advisor, dove straight into the dungeon, and after somehow surviving, you want to go back?" the werewolf asked, as if he were an idiot.
"Well, that's pretty much it." Akira nodded.
"You might not be lucky next time," she warned.
"Maybe, but there's a goal I want to achieve, so I'll go to the dungeon again," Akira replied. He needed strength to save people, perhaps a lot of strength. And of course, he hadn't forgotten his rival waiting in the dungeon.
"Do whatever you want." The werewolf dismissed him as she saw Eina coming out of the back room. "Eina is out. You can go."
"Thank you for your concern, Miss Werewolf. I promise I'll come back alive, so as not to make you sad," Akira said before walking off. He had dealt with a lot of people like her. So he know she only discourage him because she didn't think he would survive.
'Promise to come back… as if I haven't heard that before,' the werewolf thought. Still, she hoped this time someone would keep it.
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"Good morning, Eina-san."
"Akira-kun, you're here...." Before Eina could finish, the person she had been talking to stormed over.
"You! Why are you walking around? Is that a spear? Are you trying to go to the dungeon in your condition? Didn't I tell you not to move for at least two weeks? What if your bones misalign—you won't be able to walk again! Do you want that?" Airmid scolded him like she was possessed.
"Airmid-san, I'm fully healed. See?" Akira did a light jump and some stretches.
"Impossible… Let me see." Airmid grabbed his kimono, pulling it open at the chest and shoulder. Finding that wasn't enough, she reached for his sash to undo it.
"Airmid, not in front of everyone—it's embarrassing," Akira protested like a maiden being manhandled. To everyone watching, it looked like a level 2 healer was bullying Akira.
"How bold."
"Isn't this what the gods call doctor-patient play?"
"I didn't know the Saint was into this."
Hearing the murmurs, Akira felt he deserved an Oscar. Meanwhile, Airmid ignored everything, focused only on his injuries. "Don't worry—you'll need to shed some shame if you want to survive the dungeon."
Akira started to worry she might strip him completely, but Eina quickly stepped in. "Airmid, we have a private room where you can inspect him fully."
Akira thanked her for the save, though when she adjusted her glasses with that knowing glint, he realized it wasn't out of kindness. Her next words proved him right: "I also need to talk to him about a lot of things."
Inside the private room, Akira sat on a chair, Airmid beside him, Eina across the table. Airmid undid the sash and removed his kimono, her hands carefully checking his chest, arms, and muscles. While she examined him, Akira casually asked, "Eina-san, earlier you said you wanted to talk. What is it?"
"We can discuss it later. Let Airmid-san finish first." Eina focused on sipping her tea, avoiding looking at Akira's bare torso.
"Okay…" Akira nodded.
Finally, Airmid finished. "How did this happen? Can you tell me?" she asked curiously.
"Well, it's a mixture of magic, potions, and a magic item," Akira explained while dressing.
"Do you have any left? I'd like to study them—I'd pay appropriately," Airmid offered.
"The potions aren't with me. As for the magic item, you can have it for free." Akira pulled out a roll of bandages from his pocket.
Airmid examined it and quickly deduced, "This is made from a unicorn's drop."
Akira was surprised by her sharp eye and nodded. "That's the only material I know. The rest you'll have to figure out."
"This is too precious. I can't take it for free," she objected.
"How about this—I only have one left. If you can make a degraded version, just give me a discount on my first purchase," Akira bargained.
"Agreed," Airmid said. She couldn't wait to start her research, so she said her goodbyes and hurried off.
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"Explain…" Eina placed a paper in front of Akira with a penalty of 300 million valis written on it.
"Well, many things happened… It's not that much now that I think about it," Akira replied.
"Akira-kun, that's not what I'm asking. Were you coerced by your teammates?" Eina asked, worried.
"No, no. Why would you say that?" Akira denied.
"Then explain to me how a rookie adventurer gets fined this much by the Guild."
"Well… I had an item from my hometown on me. It activated in the dungeon, and the dungeon didn't like it," Akira answered honestly without going into detail.
"How can you be so reckless…" Eina rubbed her temples. "So how are you going to pay for it? Do you have more magic items to sell?"
"Even if I do, I won't sell them. If I did, they'd just sit in some rich familia's storeroom, never used. I'd rather give them freely to someone who needs them," Akira said firmly.
Eina sighed. He seemed idealistic—maybe even foolish. But she decided to help him. "So how are you going to pay?"
"That's why I'm here. I want to learn everything about the dungeon from you, so I can earn money myself." Akira pulled out paper and quill.
"Oh… then I'll make sure you learn everything properly, so you can be a true adventurer." Eina stacked a column of books in front of him.
Looking at the pile, Akira thought, 'Eina inventory was supposed to be my cheat…'
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(A/N: It has been so long that I wrote something by myself that I feel I forgot how to write. Any advice to improve would be a huge help)
You can Support me on p@treon: [email protected]/Uchiha_Itachi007 (replace @ with a)
I mainly translate other fanfics on there.