Chapter 16: Escort Quest To Cover-Up Quest

"Ms. Karna, I hope you understand that my identity as Kumiko-sensei is also protected by the Guild."

"My family, the Greendale Baron House, is also involved in this protection."

"We will deal with any bad guy that comes after Vier!"

"I understand. Slain and I will keep what we know from you a secret until the end."

"And the three of us will do the same, Ms. Karna."

"But I do have one request for you, Ms. Vier."

"What kind of request, Ms. Karna?"

"Please give me Kumiko-sensei's autograph!"

Half an hour after our discussion about being a Dream-Holder, the Guild Master, the DryadGuardian, our previous employers Mr. Gregg and Mr. Borris, and one more scary person finally arrive in the conference room.

"Thank you for waiting. For those who didn't know me, I'm Karakal, I'm the Guild Master of Green-Dale town's Adventurers Guild. I'm glad that everyone returned safely from your previous quest."

"Everyone has done well in this incident. I'm Misaki Greendale, you can consider me as a member of the Guild staff."

And there she is, the Half-Elf Misaki-sensei, our teacher at the Adventurers School, and the person who is surely monitoring my every move every day.

"It's our honor to meet you Guild Master Karakal and the famous BlackElf Sorcerer Misaki. I'm Karna of the NeoHeroes."

"I'm Slain, our group came from the Naiades Kingdom."

"It's also an honor to meet both of you, Ms. Karna, and Mr. Slain."

"I hope your group enjoys your stay in our town."

We don't usually see the Guild Master, I think we only see him at least once a month in the Adventurers School which is led by Misaki-sensei.

What I know about the Guild Master, is him being a Half-Beastkin of the Lightning-Beast Saber race. But unlike Felin who has black cat ears and a tail, his cat ears and tail are colored brown.

Also, even if he is the Guild Master, he seems to be afraid of Misaki-sensei.

"What are you doing here Grandma?"

Misaki-sensei is actually Mifumi-sama's Grandmother. She's already more than 500 years old, even though, she still looks like a young adult... Huh?... Why is Sensei looking at me while smiling like that?

"Well, I'm interested in the unreasonable quest that was given to both of your groups, Mifumi-chan. So I'm here to listen to Karakal-san's explanation."

"Ugh!... Misaki-sensei, I told you I didn't know that would happen."

"What do you mean by unreasonable quest, Misaki-sensei?"

"Did the Guild Master do something bad, Sensei?"

"Vier-chan, Felin-chan, we will decide if the Guild Master did something bad after listening to his explanation."

""Okay Misaki-sensei / Sensei!""

After everyone has taken their seats, the post-briefing for the escort quest has begun.

According to the Guild Master, everything started when the Green-Dale Adventurers Guild received an emergency letter through Skymail from the Guild Manager of the Adventurers Guild Branch at the Neem village.

"Vier, Vier."

"Hmmm? What is it Felin?"

"What is a Skymail?"

"Hmmm... Do you remember that Half-Pheonixkin Mister that we see once in a while in town? I think he works as a Skymail deliverer. They fly in the sky to deliver letters and packages from town to town."

"So they're like the pigeon bird we use to send messages?"

"Ehh?... Ummm... That's the same idea but don't compare them to pigeons, Felin, they might get mad at us."

"Okay."

According to the letter, a fairly large number of bandits have been spotted committing robbery and murder by some villagers.

After the witnesses reported this to the Guild Branch at Neem village, the Guild Manager sent two Iron-Rank Adventurers-Party to investigate the place.

What they found at the scene were only the destroyed carriage and the dead bodies of the victims. All of the items and baggage of the victims were taken by the group of bandits.

Considering the safety of more travelers and the locals of the village, the Guild Manager decided to issue a bandit subjugation quest.

It was taken by a few numbers of local Iron-Rank adventurers and one group of Silver-Rank Adventurers-Party which was currently staying in the village.

The subjugation of bandits was successful, they managed to defeat those that resisted and capture the ones that surrendered, but another problem occurred upon the discovery of the High-Level Undead-Orb that was included in the bandits' hoard.

"So the package we picked up is also an Undead-Orb? Like that one inside the Undead Light-Eater?"

"Ms. Vier, the one you found inside the Light-Eater monster is a Low-level Undead-Orb. It will only work for monsters under Rank-3 or below."

The Guild Master explains to us that a High-Level Undead-Orb can even turn a Rank-4 dying monster into a pseudo-Undead and increase its Rank by one or two levels.

And if the Necromancer using the Undead-Orb is quite skilled, he can probably turn a Rank-5 dying monster into a pseudo-Undead and increase its rank to Rank-6 or Rank-7. If that happens, only Gold-Rank adventurers can defeat that kind of monster.

"I can't believe we're transporting something as valuable and dangerous as that. Do you know about this, Fred-san?"

"Well, we're the leading group of the escort quest so our employers decided to inform us about the details about the quest, Ms. Mifumi."

Huh?... Wait!... It's only one High-Level Undead-Orb, right? Why are we transporting two packages back then?

Anyway, the Guild Master also informs us about the real identity of our employers. Mr. Gregg and Mr. Borris are actually Guild Inspectors from the Capital of our Smilodon Kingdom. They're currently staying in our town to oversee the preparation for the upcoming Adventurers Admission Exam.

"But why would the Guild Inspectors decide to personally pick up the High-Level Undead-Orb?"

"They're just bored Ms. Karna. Both of them wanted to do something exciting but didn't expect all of that to happen. Right Mr. Gregg, Mr. Borris?"

"We thought it would be exciting to accompany your group, Mr. Fred... Hahaha!"

"You won't normally experience being chased and surrounded by a swarm of Undead monsters. So it's really exciting don't you think... Hahaha!"

For non-combatant Inspectors like the two of them, they really have an extremely dangerous habit.

The Guild Master then continues his discussion about the reason behind the escort quest.

"According to the captured bandits, the box containing the High-Level Undead-Orb belongs to the recent victims, the one the local villagers witnessed."

"But the Guild Branch can just ask those Silver-Rank Adventurers-Party to deliver the High-Level Undead-Orb to the Guild Main Branch of our town or ask the Skymail to deliver it to us. Why did they ask for it to be picked up, Karakal-san?"

"Well, there's still other concerning things, Misaki-sensei. After the subjugation, the Guild Branch buried the dead bandit's corpses at the monster cemetery outside the village."

"Wait!..."

I interrupt the Guild Master discussion to clarify my suspicion as to where all of the Undead humans and monsters that are waiting to ambush us had come from.

"Did perhaps the Undead humans waiting for ambush and the swarm of rotten Undead monsters come from the monster cemetery?"

But my suspicion didn't even come close to the source of those Undead.

According to the report of the Adventurers Guild Branch at Neem village, the monster cemetery outside of their village was left untouched.

And when Sakura-san finished analyzing the Necromancer Item-Bag and the Monster-Core of his Sorcerer-Staff, the result was that the Item-Bag is actually a Dungeon-Artifact that is especially used to store large amounts of dead bodies and the Monster-Core came from a Rank-5 monster called Wight and has a Magic skill to control a swarm of Undead.

We're all quite alarmed after hearing that a Dungeon-Artifact like that exists. What if the Necromancer entered our town and released all those Undead monsters? But thankfully, the Guild Master told us that it can be detected by Appraisal Magic-Item at the town's gate.

The Guild Master then continued his discussion.

The Guild Branch at Neem village investigated the bandits' hoard and identified the items that belonged to the recent victims. What they found is that the I.d. of the victims were fake and that they were probably spies from other Kingdoms.

"Even if they came from the east of our town, it's unlikely for them to be spies from the Dweorg Kingdom at the east. Our Kingdom is on good terms with the Dweorg Kingdom so they probably came from the Purus Empire at the north."

"That's right Misaki-sensei, since there's a chance that other spies might attack the village to take back the High-Level Undead-Orb or ambush any Skymail deliverer, the Guild Branch at Neem village decided to ask for the Guild Main at our town to send some Adventurers-Party to pick up the High-Level Undead-Orb."

"I see. They need every local adventurer and the help of the Silver-Rank Adventurers-Party to defend the village in case of attack. And they can't risk the possibility of losing the High-Level Undead-Orb if the Skymail deliverer was attacked all by himself."

"That's right! If those spies are planning something, their other accomplices will surely take action to retrieve the High-Level Undead-Orb."

"Is that why you used the DryadGuardian together with the NeoHeroes and Mifumi-chan group as bait? So you can lure out these accomplices and discover their plans, Karakal-san?"

"""Ehh?...."""

Everyone was surprised with what Misaki-sensei says... Huh?... Except for Mr. Gregg and Mr. Borris. They look quite calm even after knowing that... Wait... Don't tell me that these two...

"That's... cough!... cough!... Ahem!... Of course not, Misaki-sensei! I would never do something like that!"

"Then tell me Karakal-san, why did the High-Level Undead-Orb which is supposed to be picked up by their group arrive by Skymail after their group came back to our town?"

"""Ehh!!!???...."""

Really?... I'm actually right that the escort quest is very suspicious... Huh?... Skymail?...

"Ahh!... That's probably the thing Felin noticed in the night sky before we got ambushed."

"Mhm! The big flying pigeon!"

"That person was probably traveling from our town to Neem village at night to avoid being easily noticed by anyone."

Upon our remarks, Misaki-sensei looks at the Guild Master with a very serious and frightening expression. That makes not only the Guild Master but everyone inside the conference room feel a dangerous chill all over their body.

"Are you still going to deny everything Karakal-san?"

"Ugh!... How... How did you know all of that Misaki-sensei?"

...Knock!...Knock!...Knock!...

"It's me Heleen, I come to respond to your notice, Misaki-sensei."

Her timing is perfect for the situation so Heleen-san probably has the answer to every question that is in our mind right now.

"Heleen-chan, please tell us what the Guild Master told you about this quest."

"Yes, Misaki-sensei."

"Ms. Heleen, Wait!..."

"The Guild Master said and I'm quoting his exact words... "Please ask the DryadGuardian to take this emergency quest. Also, recommend this to any two Bronze-Rank Adventurers-Party like Ms. Mifumi's group" ...that's what he said Misaki-sensei."

"Ms. Heleen, why did you..."

"I might tolerate this if it's only the DryadGuardian, but the NeoHeroes and Mifumi-sama's group were put in danger because of your plan. The level of that quest is surely beyond the skill of any Bronze-Rank adventurer. If not for Ms. Nymh, they might have died."

"But that is why I asked the DryadGuardian to take this quest."

"So you're admitting that you used them as bait without their consent, right Karakal-san?"

"Misaki-sensei that's not it...."

"You could have put two or more Iron-Rank and one Silver-Rank Adventurers-Party for this Quest, yet you choose two advanced Bronze-Rank and one advanced Steel-Rank Adventurers-Party...

....You're clearly inviting the enemy to attack by showing them that there are only two Copper-Rank and one Iron-Rank Adventurers-Party while it is actually a group of advance rank adventurers...

...You plan to capture the enemy but unfortunately, they end up dying together with the Undead monsters because of Ms. Nymh's attack. Now, you don't have enough results to back up this unreasonable quest...

Am I missing anything, Karakal-san?"

"I'm sorry everyone. I didn't think that they were capable of using an Undead monster swarm."

The Guild Master bowed his head in front of everyone but that didn't change the scary look of Misaki-sensei.

"Heleen-chan, bring this fool into my office. We will give him enough punishment that would make him think twice if he ever tried to make another cover-up quest like this again."

"Yes, Misaki-sensei!"

"Wait, you can't do that Misaki-sensei, I'm already the Guild Master..."

...BAMMM!...

Before the Guild Master can finish saying his excuse, Misaki-sensei gives him a punch in the face and sends him flying towards the wall of the conference room.

The Guild Master crashed into the wall, breaking it at the same time, then landed outside in the hallway.

"Urgh!... Urgh!..."

Luckily, the Guild Master is still alive.

"A Guild Master who sends his adventurers to unreasonable danger deserved to be hanged on his feet for a whole day."

After Helen-san dragged the Guild Master into Misaki-sensei's office, Misaki-sensei gave her apology to everyone and promised that we would receive additional rewards which would come from the Guild Master's own money.

"I'm sorry that we aren't able to capture the Necromancer alive Ms. Misaki."

"That's not your fault Ms. Nymh. It's the Guild Master's fault for acting like a clever kid and not informing everyone about the real objective of the quest."

"Still, this turns out to be the Guild Master execution rather than a post-briefing, right Borris?"

"You're right, Gregg. Hahaha!"

"You two were also involved in this plan, right Mr. Gregg, Mr. Borris? Perhaps the two of you should join Karakal-san on his punishment."

Yep!... That's my suspicion as well, Misaki-sensei.

"Wait, Ms. Misaki, you can do that to us."

"Even if we're involved in that plan..."

"Oi! Gregg stop..."

"... you don't have the authority for that, Ms. Misaki..."

...BAMMM!... BAMMM!....

Just like the Guild Master, both Mr. Gregg and Mr. Borris landed outside in the hallway after receiving a punch from Misaki-sensei.

""...Urgh!!...urgh!!...""

They're still alive somehow.

"Authority huh?... Heleen-chan!"

"Yes, Misaki-sensei!"

"Drag these two into my office and hang them beside Karakal-san!"

"Right away Misaki-sensei!"

""...Urgh!!... Urgh!!...""

"You two messed up. I wonder if you could get out alright from that place..."

This meeting is getting scarier and scarier. We need to get out of this room right away before something happens to us.

"Can you do that to the Guild Master and the Guild Inspectors? You won't get in trouble, right Grandma?"

"Don't worry, Mifumi-chan. Even if he's the Guild Master, if all the Guild staff decide that he is wrong, he won't be able to argue back at us. And since Karakal-san is still one of my old students, I will reduce his hanging time by an hour."

"Then how about Mr. Gregg and Mr. Borris?"

"Well... Hmmm?... I wonder who those people you're talking about Mifumi-chan."

"Don't joke about scary things like that Grandma."

"What do you mean, Sensei?"

"I hope that they will learn something from this and be more perspective in their decision. That's what I meant Felin-chan."

"Hmmm?"

"If the three of them would learn something from this, that is probably how hard it is to be hung on your feet."

"I see. So that's all you have learned from your punishment, Vier-chan. Perhaps you would like to join those fools in their punishment?"

Upon hearing that remark... No... That threat from Misaki-sensei, I stand up from my seat, swiftly run towards her, kneel on the floor, bow my head, then prostrate in front of Misaki-sensei as I beg to save myself.

"Ohh!... That's an excellent running Dogeza, Vier-chan."

"I already learned my lesson Misaki-sensei! I won't be involved again in any production and distribution of any illegal items in town! Never again! I don't want to be hanged on my feet again!"

"""Ehh???"""

Aside from Misaki-sensei, Mifumi-sama, and Felin, everyone was surprised by what I said.

"Kid, what kind of illegal market did you get involved with?"

"Ms. Vier, did you do something illegal?"

"Is that true, Mifumi-chan? Felin-chan?"

"It's true, Grandma. Vier-chan doesn't have any more stock of Stinky-Perfume!"

"Mhm! Vier doesn't hunt Stinky-Bug anymore."

"Stinky-Perfume?... Kid! Don't tell me you're involved no... Are you the progenitor of that prank perfume that circulated all over the continent? But the news said that the progenitor has been caught by the right authorities and got hanged for... Pfft!!... Hahaha!!!... Right! you got hanged on your feet Hahaha!!!..."

...SMACK!...

"Ouch!.. Urgh!... Nymh wait, stop... Ouch!"

"Nach, Don't laugh at Vier-chan."

"Ms. Vier, even the King of our Kingdom banned the production and distribution of that kind of prank perfume. Any adult would get mad if their kids put those Stinky-Perfume in their bath water since the stinky smell sticks in you for a week."

"It's not my fault, Ms. Karna. Those Alchemists who keep making it, those Merchants who keep selling it, and those kids who keep buying it, they should be the ones that must be hanged on their feet! Not me!"

"But you still earned all that money by having the Merchants Association sell your formula. Right, Vier-chan? Perhaps you really should join those fools and be hanged on your feet again."

"Ekkk!... No!... Please, Misaki-sensei!"

__________________________

***PoruShark Writer's Note***

Here are the characters' concept designs for The BlackElf Sorceress.

Look at the comments.

•Misaki-sensei