Striving For The Luxury Liner – Vol 10 Chapter 16

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Chapter 16 – Treasure Hunt?

When I visited Ines’ parents to see how she was doing, I was greeted by an exhausted Ines. When all is said and done, I think I’ll be able to convince Bella-san to keep things quiet, and Ines’ homecoming will be a little happier… Maybe.

“Whew, it was a lot more trouble than I thought, so I didn’t get to enjoy it at all.”

“I guess so. It wasn’t the kind of atmosphere that would expose Ines’ selfishness.”

This time, I avoided Bella-san’s invitation to show hospitality with the excuse that I wanted her to use the souvenirs as soon as possible, which didn’t seem like a very logical excuse, and when we left Ines’ parents’ house, Alessia-san and Ilma-san said some pretty terrible things.

Well, even though they said such things with their mouths, they looked worried when Ines was exhausted, and I guess they have a character of not being honest. But when Ines seemed relaxed, they might have really exposed her or something, so maybe they’re just in a bad buddy relationship…

“Wataru-san, we still have some time before lunch; what are you going to do afterward?”

“Well, I was thinking of doing some random sightseeing, but I have to pick up Ines within the next few days, so I think I’ll go back to the inn and figure out what to do.”

I need a reason that doesn’t feel like a lie and that Ines’ family will be happy with.

“You’re going to pick up Ines?”

Alessia-san asks curiously. Oh, we were whispering at the time, so only me and Rimu heard.

“Yes. She seemed somehow uncomfortable, so she asked me when I was taken to the corner of the room. Alessia-san and Ilma-san, is there any way we can just pick her up?”

The persuasion was so subtle that the later I went to pick her up, the worse Ines’ mood would be when I returned. I was her master, so it wouldn’t be terrible, but I still didn’t want Ines’ bad mood to affect the night’s service.

“Oh, you asked me to do it. But the way to pick her up… normally, I would just say we’re going on an adventure, and we need Ines, but here we don’t have a job that suits us. Do you want to fake it by pretending that you were asked to do it?”

I thought about that too. But it’s hard to do.

“Dario-kun and Flora-san work at the Adventurer’s Guild, so I think it would be easy for them to find out that we lied about it.”

Alessia-san agreed with me as if that were the case.

“Wataru-san, can’t you just say that we’re leaving and you’ve come to pick them up?”

Ilma-san made a simple suggestion.

“If we really want to leave, that’s fine, but I haven’t done enough sightseeing and haven’t met any mermaids yet, so I’d like to stay in this country a little longer if possible. Besides, even if I lied here and went to pick up Ines, it would be awkward for both Ines and me if the lie was discovered when we came back to this country.

I may not come to this country often, but it would simply be a waste to have more countries that are difficult to visit.

“Why don’t you check out the request from the Adventurers’ Guild with your own eyes?”

Hmm? Ah, Felicia is trying to tell me that there might be requests that are not suitable for Alessia-san and the others but might be suitable for me.

It is true that Alessia-san and the others would ask me to help them if they had a good request, but they would not look for a request on the premise that I would help them. From my point of view, there might be a request that is worth accepting.

Besides, if I fulfill a great request, Dario-kun will confirm it, and I think Ines’ trust in me will be restored a little. I wonder if there is a request to find something legendary.

“That’s probably right. Alessia-san, do you mind if we stop by the Adventure Guild?”

“No problem. Dorothea is supposed to check on the request, but what you want to see is different from what we want to see, isn’t it?”

It helps that the conversation is so quick.

＊＊＊

Hmm, it’s true that these are all requests that are not suitable for Alessia-san and the others. The requests available are for killing weak monsters near the royal capital, help with fishing and carrying cargo, and escort requests. It’s not that different from the Southern City.

Even if Girasole, an A-rank party, were to accept these requests, it would be a waste of time.

On the other hand, the requests that Alessia-san and the others can’t accept are quite substantial. Most of the requests are in the sea, so I guess the fishmen will play a big role. But in this case, I don’t think I’ll be able to find a request that requires Ines’ help.

“Master. Look at the reception desk.”

While I was thinking of another way to save Ines, Felicia called me. I did as I was told and looked at the counter and saw Flora-san waving at me. Does she want to see me about something? Just in time, I asked her if she had any interesting requests.

“Hello, Flora-san. Do you need anything?”

“Hello, Wataru-san. I was a little curious as to why Wataru-san, who is a merchant, was looking at the request.”

If an acquaintance of yours, who is a merchant, was looking intently at the Adventurer’s Guild’s request board, would that bother you?

“I came here to see if the Adventurers’ Guild in this country had any interesting requests since I went sightseeing yesterday and thought it would be a waste to just go out to sea. Do you know anything about that, Flora-san?”

“Ara, Ines is having a hard time, and she’ll sulk if she’s left out of something fun, won’t she?”

Flora-san laughs mischievously. Flora-san seems to have gone to see Ines as well. Or has she heard from Dario-kun? Come to think of it, Dario-kun is not here, but, well, I met him at the port the other day, so I guess he is working outside.

“I looked at Ines before I came here. If I find a request that looks interesting, I’ll invite Ines to join me, so it’s okay.”

“Ines will be happy to hear that. That girl has been squeezed a lot.”

“Well, since that’s the case, do you have anything you think she might like?”

“Well, it’s hard to say since the main request here is for the sunken city. I heard that you have a magic ship, so it’s not like there aren’t any requests at all, but when it comes to what Ines would like…”

Flora-san was also worried. Well, it is not as if there are no requests lying around.

“Flora-san, are there any legends or suspicious rumors? It would be fun to search for hidden pirate treasure, wouldn’t it?”

Treasure hunting is a man’s dream, isn’t it? I am the only male member of the group, though.

“Hidden pirate treasure? Well, there are a lot of pirates, so if you find their hideouts, you might be able to find their treasures. But pirates are sometimes connected to the state, so it could be troublesome, you know?”

Oh, so there are pirates in this world. That means it’s not a treasure hunt; it’s a regular pirate attack, right? I don’t think there’s any romance in it.

“It’s not the kind of treasure hunt I had in mind, so I’ll stop.”

“Fufu, it would be helpful if you could eliminate the pirates, but Wataru-san is a merchant, so don’t push yourself too hard. But there is one place where there is a high probability of finding the treasure.”

“Please tell me more about it.”

I was waiting for this kind of information.

“I’m sorry to get your hopes up, but it’s in the ocean, so it’s hard for Wataru-san to find it.”

Is that what you call lifting and dropping?

“What do you mean?”

“Actually, some simple maps of sunken cities have been found. And on one of them, the location of the castle of the lord who ruled the sunken city in the past was marked. It is said to be the castle of a wealthy duke who ruled a wealthy port city, and there are said to be some things of considerable value there.

A rich duke’s castle, that’s romantic. Even if it is not a king’s castle, a duke’s castle would have a treasure trove.

“So you mean they haven’t found the castle yet?”

“No, the castle has been found.”

“Then aren’t the mermaids and fishmen exploring?”

I would love to see a castle sunk in the sea, but if it has been fully explored, there is no point in going there.

“When the castle was discovered, it was already a nest of sea serpents. Even though mermaids and fishmen are good in the sea, it would be suicide to rush into a nest full of sea serpents. Besides, if you can defeat a sea serpent, you can make more money than a cheap treasure…”

The sea serpent was a white gold coin for one of them. Then you can live in peace for the rest of your life if you don’t go into the danger zone and kill the sea serpent safely in another place. No one but the most eager would explore the area.

And what about me? If I were a lover of things, I could buy a submarine and go to a castle that seems to be very deep in the ocean.

The problem is that it would be very conspicuous if I explored the castle, which is a sea serpent’s nest, and found a treasure. If I keep quiet, they won’t know, but that would mean that Ines’ domestic hierarchy would remain at the bottom of the heap. Hmm, it’s getting tiresome to think about it.

The original was conspicuous, and now that the luxury liner has been made public, it’s even more conspicuous. I don’t think it makes sense to be afraid of being conspicuous now. Besides, Ines is just a good reason, and I myself am very interested in castles that sink in the sea.

Why don’t I just pretend that I borrowed the submarine from the mage and go treasure hunting in the duke’s sunken castle? If I can make it sound like I owe everything to the mage, then I feel like I can do whatever I want. The mage is all-powerful, isn’t he?

“Flora-san. Can you get the map that shows the duke’s castle?”

“I can get you a copy that shows the general location, but what are you going to do?”

Flora-san looked at me with a puzzled expression. Well, there’s no point in me getting a map if I can’t get to the castle before the sea serpent nests, right?

“Actually, I have an idea about a ship that can dive into the sea. If I could borrow it, I could go on a little treasure hunt.”

“Wataru-san, when a ship dives into the sea, it’s called sinking, right?”

Flora looked very worried. I felt a little sad when I imagined what she thought of me now, but it seems that there are no submarines in this world, or at least they are not a major part of it.

“There are ships that don’t sink when they dive. For that reason, please give me a map.”

“Even if you say so…”

Flora-san was in terrible trouble. Should I have said that it would commemorate my visit to the Aquamarine Kingdom? Well, let’s somehow persuade her and explore the duke’s castle sunk to the bottom of the sea.

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