Chapter 524

『Uwaah, we're so lucky!』

「Nn」

『I never thought we'd run into the commercial fleet just after entering Sheftent』

It was the day after we collected the spirit grass from the bottom of the lake.

What we witnessed from the back of Urushi, who was running nimbly along the shore of the lake, was the sight of several very large ships docked at the shore of the lake. Not all the ships could enter the harbor at the same time, so they use the harbor in turn over a period of days.

As Kiarazen's idiot-san (We didn't get her name) said, there must be more than 50 ships in total, big and small. I wonder how they could be so densely packed together and not collide with each other?

「Urushi, let's look from above」

「Woof woof!」

Urushi then used his Aerial Jump skill to run up into the sky at once.

『Ooh, it looks so messy from above』

「Nn」

Before I could say it was spectacular, I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of ships. However, the size of the largest ship could be seen from above. The flagship, which seemed to be the largest of the large ships, was as big as a fort.

It was probably over 150 meters long. It was also probably about thirty meters wide. The strong reaction of magic power made me think that it was carrying a magic propulsion system. No, I could feel the magic power from the hull as well. Maybe it was being strengthened by magic? Or maybe they were using special materials from magic beasts.

It was not as big as a luxury cruise ship, but it was a lot bigger than the ferries I've seen before.

「Let's see it from the town」

「Woof」

『While we're taking care of the deliveries in the Adventurer's Guild in Sheftent, let's ask them more about the commercial fleet』

「Nn」

When we entered the town of Sheftent, we found it was so crowded with people. Although it was a larger town than Kiarazen, though it was not many times larger, there was a difference between the two towns.

It must be because the commercial fleet was here. The crowd was as large as the Royal Capital in the Kranzel Kingdom. It was almost as if they're holding a festival.

「Mogu mogu」

「Momu momu」

『Just straight ahead』

I guided Fran, who couldn't see at all due to the crowd. Fortunately, the Adventurer's Guild was a tall building, so we could follow its roof and not get lost.

We managed to reach the Adventurer's Guild, despite the crowds of people, the delicious smells of the stalls, and the unusual stalls and their vendors. But its inside was just as crowded as the outside.

「Lots of people」

『I guess there's also the adventurers that were aboard the commercial fleet too』

The adventurers of the commercial fleet would have told adventurers that they would disembark their ships at ports of call to fulfill their requests. The story about a large number of young adventurers was also consistent with what we had heard in Kiarazen.

『That's a long line...』

For this number of people, there were not enough counters at all. But I guess it couldn't be helped. It only gets this crowded a few times a year.

They've added a temporary counter, but it was still not enough.

『We don't have any choice, let's just line up』

「Nn」

I was glad to have Urushi hide in the shadows. He would have been in the way even at any size.

However, as she stood in line, all eyes around her were focused on Fran. If she wasn't careful, they might all be looking at her. She was used to being the center of attention wherever she goes, but to have everyone staring at her from the moment we walked in was rare indeed.

(...Why?)

『Aah, come to think of it, all these guys here must have known each other except us』

It couldn't be helped if Fran, whom they didn't recognize, stood out. But it was not like she was doing anything wrong. She just has to keep her head up.

Besides, it must have been half a year since they came to this guild, and some of the newcomers must have become adventurers in that time. In the end, Fran's turn came without her being approached by anyone.

It seemed that the adventurers in the commercial fleet were better behaved than I thought. Well, they were from a ship with the same group of people working on requests, so the stupid ones would be naturally weeded out or re-educated.

「Umm, Are you new to this guild?」

「Nn. How did you know?」

「If you're an adventurer in a commercial fleet, you'll have an emblem so that we can identify you with」

Now that she mentioned it, I could see that the people around us were wearing matching silver badges. I guess that was their emblem. And the guild's receptionist could tell that Fran was not an adventurer from here.

「Nn. I just came」

「I see. Then what can I do for you?」

「Report on completion of requests. I have fulfilled the subjugation request. This is the delivery」

Fran submits the request form she had received in Kiarazen to the receptionist. Then the onee-san received it with a surprised look on her face.

「Well, is this a request for delivery of Scarlet Waterweed? We've had a shortage recently, so even a small amount would be appreciated. May I ask you to put it out here?」

「All of them?」

「Yes」

『Ah, Fran, wai―』

「Okay」

Baaam!

Aaah, it's been a long time since she has done that. Maybe, she guessed that Fran was a newbie. She probably didn't think she had an item bag and thought that she only brought one or two of them.

I heard in Kiarazen that some low-ranking adventurers were lucky enough to collect Scarlet Waterweed growing in the shallows and bring it with them. She seemed to think that Fran was that kind of person.

「Eh, Eeeeh?」

「This is all of them」

「Ho-how many are this!?」

「Maybe about 200 of them?」

I've thought―did I pick too much? But there was more than I expected, and they also said that they wanted as much as we could get. So, we picked up all the Scarlet Waterweed that was growing in that area.

But it seemed that since that place was full of Lake Murder and the water was quite deep, it was very difficult to collect them and no one had been able to do anything about it.

「Wa-wait a minute!」

The onee-san at the reception desk was in a panic. Also, the stares of the adventurers around us were amazing. A surprised, jealous and suspicious atmosphere drifted through the guild.

What should we do?

As the Onee-san at the reception desk fumbled around with a troubled look on her face, an older adventurer standing in line behind us approached her.

「Lulu-chan. Why don't you just count them and process them for now? There's no other Scarlet Waterweed that looks the same as it, so it can't be a fake」

「Yo-you're right!」

「Buying these medicinal herbs that are in short supply is top priority right? We'll wait until it's processed, okay?」

This Dandy adventurer seemed to have a lot of say in here, and the other adventurers who had approached nodded in agreement.

「Y-yes, of course!」

「Huft」

I think we're gonna make it. Thank you, Dandy-san!