Okami Wa Nemuranai

Episode 2.4-5

"Oy. You. Yeah you I'm talkin' to ya."

Lecan stopped his meal and lifted his head.

A red-faced old man with white hair and a long white beard is standing in front of him. The old man has got quite the affable looks.

"Hey, ya don't seem like a registered adventurer, got any interest in a wagon escort job? Take four days, reward is 10 silver coins. Meals will be provided by client. Aah right, we're heading to Vouka."

Vouka.

It's exactly the town Lecan is heading to.

As it's the biggest town around here, there must be a skilled apothecary over there.

And there's also a dungeon near the town.

"Yale (got it). I'll take it. Where do you need me be."

"Finish yer' meal quick and follow me."

Lecan finished the rest of his meal in three bites and stood up.

"Hohho. Yer' even taller than I thought. That's a nice coat ya got there. And that sword. Quite a good sword it be."

There are several other travelers in this place right now. Having the best physique and being well equipped, Lecan must have caught the old man's eyes.

Lecan asked the man as he led the way.

"This registered adventurer."

"Hou? What about it?"

"Where do you register?"

"Let's see. 'Round this parts, a place with Adventurer Mediation Office would be Vouka. You could also register at town of Boid, but that's in the opposite direction. They usually don't accept registrations in small towns. Ya should be fine so long the place has an <Adventurer Association> signboard put up. And yer' better register. If I had found someone with an adventurer badge hanging on their neck in the dining room earlier, I probably woulda talk to 'em instead."

In other words, there should be an Adventurer Mediation Office in bigger towns. And offices that put <Adventurer Association> signboard up are recognized officially, registering there will get you this Adventurer Badge thing. Adventurers hang this badge on their neck. It acts as an advertisement to show potential clients that you're an adventurer.

There was no system to register as adventures in Lecan's original world. Those who go on adventures are called adventurers, and when one stops adventuring at any given time, they cease to be one. That's all there is to it. This world has a registration system in place. In that case, he might as well register.

<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel.>

"Chaney-san, I gotcha. I got us a good one!"

The wagon looks like it's ready to depart anytime.

The inside has spaces for two people, while the back is to be stuffed full with luggage. That said, there's not too many luggage right now. They must be on their way back after selling their stuff already.

"Oh, Eifun-san. Looks like you've found a capable one."

A plump middle-aged man called Chaney shifted a brown bag he was carrying to his left hand, walked up to Lecan and offered his right hand while smiling kindly. Lecan reluctantly offered his right hand, and shook the other party's with his. This is called a handshake, a peculiar custom of this world. Honestly speaking, Lecan can never get used to this ominous custom; to have his dominant hand be interlocked with other's like this.

"Well I'll be, if that isn't the face of a veteran warrior. My name's Chaney, a humble merchant at your service."

"I'm Lecan."

"I manage a store in town of Vouka, you see. Two swordsmen who were supposed to be our escorts suddenly fell ill, but since there is an urgent business I absolutely need to take care of back home, I've gone and hired two new guards. This young lady here."

Chaney was going to introduce a young woman who leaned her back on the wagon, but the woman stopped him.

"You. Yer' licenseless?"

"What?"

"I'm askin' if yer' unregistered."

The woman is carrying a quiver on her back, and a short bow in one hand.

"Yea. I haven't registered as an adventurer yet."

"Hee. Well, just don't get in my way, yeah? The name's Eda."

She pulled out something from inside a yellow muffler wrapping her neck.

A small silver-colored piece of metal attached to a silver chain.

She quickly put it back in, gave a right thumb up and then swiped her nose with the thumb.

"I'm Silver Rank."

As the people in this world have smooth faces, Lecan still cannot reliably guess someone's age, but this girl is obviously less than 20s, most likely around 15s. The vibrant yellow muffler wrapping her neck reeks of amateurs, and neither do her presence and conducts point to her being an adventurer.

Her short red hair is bouncing around here and there. Her red eyes look like they're burning, giving quite an impact.

This girl is a mana bearer. And quite potent mana at that.

Still, he got one info from this.

Adventurers have <Ranks>. Lecan has no clue whether Silver Rank is high or low in the pecking order though.

"And I'm the coachman, Eifun. Lecan-san, we'll be in yer' care for the next four days."

The man who first called out to Lecan introduced himself and boarded the coachman stand.

"Well then, I'm sorry for being so hasty, but we should depart soon. I'd like to close as much distance as possible before we get to the camp site."

"Got it. I will go on foot in front of the wagon. I shall match the wagon's pace. Feel free to go fast."

"Th-then, I'm gonna keep an eye out on board the wagon."

"You cannot. Eda-san. Please go on foot behind the wagon."

Seeing Chaney reproving her, Lecan thought to himself, "She's hopeless."

You'd get a nice profit if you stuff your wagon on your way back. Yet this wagon barely has any luggage, no possible explanation for that other than to raise speed. In other words, it's carrying either a lot of money or important goods that must be protected. Or perhaps, they have an important reason to go back, important enough to throw away a chance to make a profit. Yet, she was planning to get on the wagon and add more load to the horses, she has no basic idea how to act as an escort.

Furthermore, the two escorts are completely unknown to the client, it's possible that the escorts could turn on them and rob them anytime. It makes no sense for escorts to bunch up together either, thus she should have had the consideration to maintain a certain amount of distance from her escort target.

Though the client side also has an ace up their sleeve their own. Eifun the coachman is a mana bearer. He must be the trump card for if their escort cross them.

Mana bearers are rare in this world. Yet there are three such existences, including Lecan himself, gathered here.