Ch 101 - Choosing the Route for a Trip to the Sea

　　"So have you decided where you plan to go when you leave?" asked the Guild Master. We were sitting opposite him in his now-familiar office in the Guild.

　　"We're heading for the sea, apparently." I glanced down at Fer, lying beside my seat.

　　"Umu, the sea." He opened his mouth, baring his impressive fangs and licking his muzzle. "I fancy eating some Kraken and Sea Serpent." Stop drooling Fer, you're in the Guild Master's office, I prompted him telepathically. Some poor flunky is going to have to clean that up, you know.

　　"That's why, basically." I explained to the Guild Master as Fer closed his mouth again.

　　"Kraken and Sea Serpent?" The Guild Master raised an eyebrow. "Those are the names of impressive monsters, indeed."

　　"Well yes, sorry. I don't know myself but Fer has told me they're very tasty..."

　　"Umu, they're truly delicious. Besides, it's good to eat seafood once in a while. If you cook it properly for me it will surely taste even better than raw." Yeah yeah, you've told me this before. Lots of times.

　　"So anyway that's why we're heading off to the sea." I finished.

　　"Oh, wait a moment." The Guild Master got up and pulled out a sheet of paper from a cupboard, spreading it out on the desk between us.

　　"This is a map of this country and the Erman Kingdom." he explained. It was quite a detailed map compared to the only other map I had seen in this world, the one I had bought for an inflated price from some rogues ahem fellow Adventurers some months ago. The Guild Master explained that this map was commonly sold by the Adventurers Guilds of both the Leonhart Kingdom and the Erman Kingdom. The Guild Master traced a path across the map with a finger as I watched.

　　"If you're headed to the coast I would appreciate it if you would follow this route. I recommend this route because the roads are well-maintained but it also pa.s.ses through three large cities. It's likely you would receive subjugation requests from the Guilds in those cities which would be convenient for us."

　　"That seems reasonable but what are the three major cities?"

　　"Leaving here you'll first arrive at a city called Claire." The Guild Master's finger paused on a city on the map, then moved on. "After that the next city is Doran which has a dungeon." He pointed at another city. "And the next city is Neihof and after that you'll reach Berleean which is a port city on the coast."

　　The city of Claire, our likely first destination was smaller than our current location, Carerina. It seemed to be a busy city famous for spinning and weaving, a popular destination for merchants in search of colorful threads and cloth. The next was the Dungeon City of Doran which as its name suggested has a dungeon in it which attracts both Adventurers and merchants so it seems to be quite a big city. The city of Carerina was the fifth largest city in the Leonhart Kingdom behind the Royal capital and the three Dungeon Cities of this country. Having a dungeon means a city will prosper and grow. I was looking forward to visiting some larger cities.