Gromeyer's Day in Froikton
A man with deep, dark red hair, his unkempt locks roughly tied back, bore the marks of time. A faded scar ran across his cheek, cutting through the wrinkles around his eyes, while countless scars on his forearms, exposed beneath the rolled-up sleeves of a coarse linen shirt devoid of any embellishment, hinted at the life he had led.
Two swords hung at his waist, and the clinking of multiple buckles on his leather boots echoed with every step as he ascended the stairs. This man, named Gromeyer, was busy. Just a few hours ago, the hunting party he led had arrived in Froikton.
After directing a few members to deliver crates to the Adventurers' Guild warehouse and a list of goods to the merchants' guild on Craftsman Street, he hurriedly climbed the stairs to his room on the fifth floor of the Adventurers' Guild. The heavy clinking of his leather boots' buckles harmonized with the metallic jangle of his sword sheaths and the tools dangling from his belt, creating a rhythmic sound.
Though the room provided by the Adventurers' Guild was luxurious, the stairs were a cruel ordeal for his weary legs. He barely made it to his room.
As soon as he entered, he dropped the bag from his back onto the floor and tossed his belt, along with the sword sheaths and tool pouches attached to it, toward the bed. With practiced ease, he unbuckled his boots, kicked them off into a corner of the room, and flung himself onto the bed, avoiding the scattered gear.
"Phew, Those damn stairs… they'll kill a man twice over."
Lying down, Gromeyer closed his eyes for a moment, lost in thought.
The goods will be unloaded here in Froikton… Lusen said something about running out of spices… Wait, didn't he say he'd buy them himself?
As he mentally sorted through the tasks at hand, a knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.
"Captain, it's me."
"Huh? Oh, right. Clute, come in. Knocking out of the blue like that… I thought you were someone else."
A blonde man, dressed neatly in a white shirt with a brown vest and his hair slicked back with oil, opened the door with a smile and stepped inside.
"Heh, well, it's been a while since we've been in a proper room instead of out in the wild, hasn't it?"
"Ha, true enough! When else are we gonna sleep in a place like this? So, what's up?"
"Well… it's about the mana stones for the Blast spear…"
Clute scratched his head, hesitating as if the words were hard to say.
"We managed to buy some mana stones pretty cheap in Lampton, which was great, but…"
"Yeah, you got a good deal. So what's the problem?"
Sensing that the news wasn't going to be good, Gromeyer sat up from the bed.
"Uh… well, we were supposed to bring them here to Froikton and trade them at the merchants' guild for fully charged mana stones with an additional payment. But…"
"Right, a city as big as Froikton should have plenty of those, you said."
"Yeah, they do. They always do… except, well… the shipment of fully charged mana stones that was supposed to arrive a few days ago never showed up. They lost contact with it, and the merchants' guild is in a bind. They did us a favor, though, and let us trade our stones for some naturally high charged mana stones for free, so we've got enough to use for the blast spears for now, but…"
Wiping sweat from his brow with his sleeve, Clute delivered the bad news to Gromeyer.
"So we can use them, but they won't have the same firepower as stones fully charged with mana. Of all the times… damn it…"
Gromeyer scratched his bearded chin, clearly displeased. Things were going wrong from the start, and with the hunt for what was expected to be the greatest drake ever looming, securing mana stones was critical.
He recalled the last words of the previous captain: When I die, place the finest drake meat dish on my grave. Drake cuisine, of all things… Even after a lifetime of eating it to the point of exhaustion, the former captain, Lamir, had wanted to be a drake hunter even in his soul. Thinking of Lamir calmed the frustration stirring in Gromeyer's mind.
"Well, on my way up here, I put in a request to charge about a hundred mana stones, so we'll have to hope for the best."
"Right. Froikton's a big city, so we can count on that. Any more bad news to report?"
"Nope. It's not like we're completely out of mana stones. We've got about twenty fully charged ones as a backup for the backup, and some of the ones we got from the merchants' guild are decent enough."
"Hahaha! Backup for the backup! Well, if we've got those, we're fine!"
Relieved to hear about the spare stones, Gromeyer let out a hearty laugh.
"Oh, and have you heard about the Tolpa hunting party"
"Tolpa? Torpa… Tolpa? Oh, those turtle hunters? What about them?"
"When I was at the merchants' guild earlier, I heard their swamp turtle hunt went really well. Apparently, there were so many turtles they didn't even need to venture deep into the swamps. Word's spread not just in Froikton but all the way to Duke Kavil's territory in the south. Merchants from there are rushing to the northern swamps to buy swamp turtle shells for medicine, along with hunting parties."
"Hahaha! I'll have to get those Tolpa guys to buy me a drink next time I see them!"
Laughing loudly, Gromeyer stood and moved to a chair by the table in the room. He picked up a dark brown bottle from the table and took a big swig. As he lowered the bottle and turned back to Clute, the conversation continued.
"By the way, Clute, if the scouts are right, this drake's big enough to go down in the hunting records. We'll fulfill old Lamir's wish, make a fortune, and go down in history as the ones who took down the greatest drake ever! Right?"
Gromeyer grabbed Clute's shoulder with one hand, his voice filled with determination. Realizing he'd gripped too hard, he loosened his hold and patted Clute's shoulder gently.
Clute nodded silently, understanding Gromeyer's mood. It wasn't just the anticipation of making a fortune from a successful drake hunt or the tension of facing the greatest drake ever. He knew the time Gromeyer and Lamir had spent together, and the time he himself had shared with both captains. That knowledge fueled a resolve in Clute that matched Gromeyer's own.
Gromeyer's Day in Froikton - End
Gravel's Day
Gravel's steps were light as he walked the streets early in the morning. The drake hunting party was set to depart for the western mountain range the next day, so he couldn't take on requests that required traveling to distant villages or locations. Instead, he headed to the Adventurers' Guild early to see if there were any simple tasks available in or around Froikton.
As Gravel pushed open the thick wooden door adorned with the guild's emblem, a request clerk spotted him from afar, stood up, and approached. The clerk, walking briskly, said, "This way, please." and led Gravel to a room behind the reception desk.
The corridor leading to the room was dim, lit only by a single lantern on a small side table. But upon entering the room, which should have been dark due to the lack of windows, Gravel found it as bright as a sunlit field, thanks to a device on the ceiling emitting light.
"It's a mana stone lamp. A magical tool that uses the mana stored in a stone to produce light." the clerk explained, noticing Gravel's gaze fixed upward.
"I see." Gravel replied, lowering his head from staring at the mana stone lamp. There was a reason his attention lingered on it. Until now, the only means of illumination he'd seen in Froikton were oil lamps or candles, so learning about the mana stone lamp from the clerk was a first.
It wasn't Grand World Online, but since the term "mana stone" was common in other games from that era, so its existence wasn't particularly surprising. Still, curiosity about mana stones in this world prompted Gravel to ask the clerk several questions.
Since the request the clerk was about to assign to Gravel was related to mana stones, they kindly answered within the scope of their knowledge.
The information Gravel learned about mana stones was fascinating, and some facts were so far removed from his assumptions that they surprised him. Mana stones, he learned, were used not only for lighting but also in various magical tools and were highly valuable. Most mana stone mines were directly managed by lords, who deployed armies to protect them.
When Gravel asked, "Can you get mana stones from defeating monsters?" the clerk tilted their head, puzzled, but then recalled reports of acquiring mana stones from monsters like rock worms or stone golems, or from creatures that consumed mana stones.
Guess those trashy games where every monster had a mana stone in its body all went extinct, Gravel thought, realizing his question was foolish, and continued asking others.
Sensing the conversation could go on endlessly, the clerk seized a pause to walk toward a large safe in the corner of the room. They opened the ornate, black steel safe adorned with gold decorations and retrieved a sack filled with small, glowing stones of various colors, placing it on the table. The stones varied in shape and size but all emitted a faint light.
"These are the mana stones our guild is handling for this request. They naturally hold some mana, but we'd like you to infuse them with more. Just channel mana into them as you would when casting a spell."
After finishing, the clerk took one stone from the sack and placed it on the table. Gravel, after briefly looking at the stone, picked it up.
Focusing mana into the stone in his hand, he opened his palm to reveal it glowing far brighter than before.
"Like this?" Gravel asked, placing the stone back on the table.
"Yes, just do that for the rest. If you run low on mana, please stop and don't push yourself."
The clerk moved the sack of mana stones closer to Gravel, hoping he could charge at least twenty out of the hundred stones, and sat in a chair in the corner.
For a while, the room was filled with the sound of stones being placed on the table and the rustling of the sack as Gravel took out more. Eventually, Gravel left the room.
The clerk, using another magical tool to confirm that all the mana stones on the table were fully charged, repeatedly asked if Gravel was alright, concerned for his condition. Other than that, there were no issues, and Gravel received a hefty sack of gold coins as payment for the request. However, the sack was too heavy to carry around, leaving him at a loss until the clerk informed him that the guild offered currency storage services.
They explained that the guild could issue tamper-proof storage certificates or, with a new magical tool recently introduced, register a user with a drop of blood. This allowed adventurers to deposit or withdraw funds at any Adventurers' Guild with the same tool, anywhere on the continent.
The clerk noted that while this magical tool had long been available in major cities, it had only recently been introduced to Froikton, a frontier city of the kingdom. Some adventurers, distrustful of the new system, still buried their money in secret locations, hid it in their homes, or purchased safes. Others converted gold and silver coins into valuable gems, sewing them into the linings of their clothes or armor for easy transport.
The clerk explained that the currency storage system was designed with the needs of adventurers, who frequently traveled between cities for requests, in mind. After registering with a drop of blood on the magical tool, Gravel entrusted his sack of gold coins to the guild and left the building with a lightened load.