Chapter 173: Journey for the Divine Sword

Still, the reward was enormous. Perhaps the investigation itself was already considered part of the mission, starting with gathering all the missing information.

"Should we try taking on this mission?"

"I don’t think getting involved with the Church would be a good idea."

"But the Church has already stopped pursuing me, so I think I’m a little curious about it."

"As a swordsman myself, I’m extremely interested in Divine Sword Velikorya!"

With the three of them showing interest in the mission, Qiu Nuoya and the others decided to take it on.

Or rather, there was no need to formally register for this particular mission. If they happened to find the sword, all they had to do was report it to the Adventurer’s Guild, the Church, or another relevant organization.

Unlike the adventurers who were eagerly preparing to take on the request, dreaming of striking it rich by finding the Divine Sword at all costs, Qiu Nuoya and the others were not nearly as enthusiastic.

For Qiu Nuoya, it was enough to simply think, Maybe we should look into it.

That relaxed attitude suited him just fine.

"We were planning to go to the royal capital anyway, so this works out perfectly."

"Well, surely the Divine Sword isn’t still in the royal capital by now? There aren’t many criminals who would keep stolen goods in their possession for long. It was probably sold off and sent somewhere in the countryside fairly quickly, which is likely why mission like this have been posted all over the country."

"That’s probably the most reasonable assumption. Even so, unless we head toward the royal capital, we won’t be able to trace where the stolen sword has gone. Either way, I suspect the royal capital will soon be overflowing with adventurers."

I see. So the first step in tracking down stolen goods is to figure out where they are likely to end up. That’s good to know.

Qiu Nuoya and the others submitted the remaining Imoogi materials belonging to Warren for appraisal. While waiting for the guild to determine their value, they gathered information they would need for their journey.

The Adventurer’s Guild constantly collected and made available information about various regions and anything related to adventuring, so if someone was planning to travel, gathering information at an Adventurer’s Guild was by far the quickest and easiest option.

They considered which roads to take and what route would be the most efficient. Since they did not need to earn money for the journey this time, there was no reason to deliberately stop at every town with an Adventurer’s Guild.

"Since we’re traveling anyway, I’d like to eat some good food along the way."

At Igor’s suggestion, they decided to take a slight detour from the main road to the royal capital and travel through Cider Orchard, a tourist destination famous for its local cuisine.

Cider Orchard had flourished along the shores of Cider Lake and was apparently famous for its delicious fish dishes. Since it was a tourist destination relatively close to the royal capital, it was also well known as a luxurious resort, with many nobles even owning vacation homes there.

Since Cider Orchard was such a place, Qiu Nuoya had assumed it might be too expensive for ordinary people to visit. However, the nobles’ vacation estates were apparently concentrated in an upscale residential district on one side of the town, while the area around the main shopping and entertainment district was a popular tourist destination that ordinary people could freely enjoy.

"Fish dishes, huh? I wonder if we can get sashimi too." Qiu Nuoya could not help grinning as he imagined a large boat-shaped platter piled high with sashimi.

"Sashimi?"

"People here don’t really eat it, do they? Slices of raw fish..." The moment he said that, all three of them looked at him as though he had just said something utterly horrifying.

It was true that Qiu Nuoya had never eaten sashimi in this world. The first place he had lived, Coalora, and his current home, Oraria, were both far from any bodies of water, so fish itself was not widely available. Although a Magic Bag could preserve its freshness, Magic Bags were not exactly common either. Sashimi depended entirely on freshness, so Qiu Nuoya had always thought it was simply unavoidable that he could not eat it under these circumstances.

But why were they looking at him like that!?

"Nuoya, you mustn’t eat living creatures raw. You’ll get sick, and in the worst case, you could die."

"Um... Of course I know that."

"But you just said raw fish..."

"Sashimi is delicious, though."

For some reason, all three of them gave him the exact same look that seemed to say, This guy has absolutely no idea what he’s talking about.

How rude! Who did they think had been preparing meals for everyone for the past three years? Qiu Nuoya had always handled food properly, and as far as he knew, not a single person had ever suffered from food poisoning!

"Listen, fresh fish can absolutely be eaten raw if you follow the proper procedures and prepare it correctly! The only reason I have never served sashimi before is because I couldn’t get sufficiently fresh fish. That’s the only reason! So stop looking at me like I’m some kind of freak who eats bizarre things!"

"Even so, I’ve never even seen a dish like that, let alone eaten one..."

"What!? There’s no sashimi in this world?" Qiu Nuoya was stunned.

Oh no. The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to eat them.

"People who say things like that aren’t getting any fresh raw fish even if we find some! I will just eat all of it by myself!"

[ You can’t keep all the delicious food to yourself~! I want some too, I want some toooo~!! ]

The glutton hiding inside Qiu Nuoya’s robe poked its head out, unable to resist the temptation of delicious food.

Qiu Nuoya smiled.

That’s right, Mochi can eat with him too.

It would be a waste to refuse delicious food simply because it did not fit the local culture, especially when they knew it was perfectly safe to eat. Of course, Qiu Nuoya did not think they should force anyone else to eat it either.

So the two of them could just enjoy it themselves.