Chapter 169

I sat absentmindedly in the Adventurer Guild, contemplating the conversation I had with Kirsh and Lakia not long ago.

“You need my help? Did something happen?”

“I don’t know!”

“…Stop joking.”

“No! I’m not joking! I really don’t know!”

“I get that you need my help, but you don’t know why you need it… That doesn’t make sense…”

As I spoke, I suddenly thought of a possibility and stopped talking.

“Right. It’s prognostication. Lakia did a prognostication.”

Lakia is the next shaman of the Lizardman Village.

Shamans, like mages, use mana to create supernatural phenomena, but they’re not exactly the same as mages.

Unlike mages, who systematically control mana and explore and use laws with confirmed results, shamans often don’t fully understand the principles behind their own spells.

They use spells based on experience or rely on sudden flashes of inspiration to manipulate mana.

But that doesn’t mean shamans are inferior to mages.

Some spells used by shamans have unique effects that mages can’t replicate.

One such example is prognostication.

The ability to glimpse one possible future is a prime example of how shamans differ from mages, proving they are not simply better or worse but distinct.

Even if they can’t control what they see or know what they’ll see, being able to know future events before they happen is incredibly valuable in itself.

I asked Lakia, who was in my arms.

“…What did you see in your prognostication?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“I don’t know exactly what will happen. I just vaguely felt that some great threat is coming, and we’ll need Kurt to overcome it.”

“I see.”

That’s quite a vague prognostication.

Maybe it’s because Lakia is still a novice and can’t do precise prognostication yet.

“Don’t worry too much. When the time comes, you’ll naturally know.”

“Is that also a prognostication?”

“Umm… No, that’s just intuition.”

Intuition, huh…

If it were someone else’s intuition, I might dismiss it, but a shaman’s intuition isn’t something to take lightly.

A shaman’s intuition could be fragments of prognostication hidden in their subconscious.

“Well, anyway, we plan to stay at this inn until the time of the prognostication comes. Don’t stress too much and just relax.”

“Right. It’s just intuition, but it seems like there’s still a lot of time before the prognostication comes true, so Kurt, just live as usual. When the time comes, I’ll come get you~.”

Lakia spoke in a completely relaxed voice.

“Alright. Anyway, it’s good to see you after so long.”

If we can’t know until the time of the prognostication comes, it’s best not to worry and just live as usual.

“Right. I…”

“Yeah! I’m happy to see you too!”

Lakia cut off Kirsh’s response to me and chimed in with a bright voice.

Kirsh made a slightly awkward face at Lakia’s behavior, and we spent the late night catching up.

—

For that reason, Kirsh and Lakia are staying in Astram for now, but they plan to spend their time leisurely without any major events.

I also decided not to worry too much about the prognostication and just live as usual.

If I can’t know the exact details of the prognostication, there’s no need for me to stress over it.

Besides, even if the prognostication mentioned an unknown threat, it also said that with me around, we could handle it, so there’s no need to worry too much.

While I was thinking that, Mari suddenly interrupted my thoughts with her usual excitement.

“Kyaaaah! Karina! A haunted mansion! Did that really exist?”

“Yes! But even if you enter the haunted mansion, as long as you keep your wits about you, you can survive!”

“Karina and I, as seasoned adventurers, calmly and coolly broke through that haunted mansion!”

“…No wonder your return was delayed! I had no idea something like that happened!”

…It feels like it’s been a while since we all gathered, and as soon as we did, it’s already noisy.

Today, the Adventurer Guild was quite lively. Recently, Mari, who had been taking on quests with the dark elf Arisa, was taking a break today because Arisa had taken on a personal quest.

And Karina and Serena, who had been on a long-term quest, had just returned yesterday.

“No way. A haunted mansion? That can’t possibly exist. If ghosts could just linger in this world because they had too many regrets, this land would be completely overrun with ghosts. Souls might exist, but I’m skeptical about the existence of ghosts wandering this world.”

“That’s something I can’t agree with. If ghosts don’t exist, then what did I see?”

“Right! What makes you so sure ghosts don’t exist?”

“What makes me so sure…?”

Experience, of course.

That answer was on the tip of my tongue, but I swallowed it and vaguely trailed off.

Karina and Serena, having grown closer during their long-term quest, teamed up to pressure me.

But still, no means no.

As someone who has died once, I refuted their claims.

They took my rebuttal as a denial of their spiritual experiences and got upset, countering my arguments again.

It’s been a while since the four of us gathered, and the first thing we do is have this silly argument.

It’s so trivial it’s laughable.

“Ah, by the way, Karina and Serena, you haven’t heard about the ruins yet, right? It happened while you two were away on your long-term quest.”

As we were passing the time with meaningless chatter, Mari suddenly brought up the topic.

“Ruins? I’ve been at the Adventurer Guild the whole time, but this is the first I’m hearing of it.”

“…Kurt, you should pay more attention to the rumors around you.”

It doesn’t matter.

I don’t need to care about rumors.

“…So, what is it?”

“Well, Lisa told me. Recently, ruins of the Ancient Empire were discovered around here. Apparently, some adventurers passing by stumbled upon them, but by the time they found them, grave robbers had already taken everything of value. Even though the ruins are bigger than some noble mansions!”

“Really? Ruins of the Ancient Empire? That’s interesting.”

“Do you know what’s even more surprising?”

“What is it?”

“Judging by the traces left behind, the ruins were excavated and looted less than half a year ago. Such a large ruin was recently excavated and looted, yet no one in Astram noticed! Isn’t that strange?”

“W-what if it was the work of ghosts!”

“Maybe the ghost we met was an ancient empire ghost that escaped from those ruins!”

At Mari’s words, Karina and Serena, now obsessed with ghosts, started making a fuss, claiming even that incident was the work of ghosts.

Aside from their antics, it’s definitely an interesting story.

It sounds like something straight out of an urban legend.

But while it’s interesting, it has nothing to do with me.

Mari, noticing my thoughts, confidently smiled and clicked her fingers.

“Kurt, you’re thinking, ‘It’s interesting, but it has nothing to do with me,’ right?”

“…Why are you suddenly reading my mind?”

“Actually, the interesting part isn’t about the ruins.”

“Then what’s interesting?”

“After the ruins were made public, even though it was known that all the artifacts had been looted, countless adventurers and citizens still flocked to the ruins to see them or to find any remaining artifacts. The problem starts there.”

“What’s the problem?”

“As more people visited the ruins, the monsters in the area became more aggressive and violent due to the increased human activity.”

“The monsters got so agitated? That must mean a lot of people went there.”

“Exactly. So, the Astram authorities, worried about casualties, issued a quest to subjugate the monsters before any harm could be done. That’s the interesting story I was talking about.”

A subjugation quest?

But what’s the big deal?

Usually, quests issued by the city have lower rewards compared to private quests, so they tend to be unpopular.

Besides, I didn’t become an adventurer to make money in the first place.

In terms of interesting stories, the ruins were more intriguing.

Then Mari, as if expecting that reaction, confidently pointed her index finger at me and said.

“And guess what? Among those subjugation quests, there’s one for the Steel Armored Bison!”

“…What?”

There’s such a rare… I mean, monster around here?

I immediately stood up and said to the three of them.

“What are you doing? Get up already!”

Right. Thinking about it, I’ve been resting too much lately.

It’s been a while since I hunted monsters.