Day 531-540/Day 535

Day 535 / 65th day
I had planned to return to the "Free Trade City of Sectriad" today, but decided against it as black clouds covered the sky and it was pouring down rain.
　I had no choice but to do some simple muscle training indoors early in the morning, and then took a shower to work up a sweat. Then I went to the cafeteria to have breakfast, which was delicious. The menu consisted of toast with a sweet and spicy spread, salad with a half-boiled egg, and a coffee-like drink. This was the basic menu included in the room rate, and it was probably enough for breakfast, but we didn't have enough, so we added some meat dishes.
　We had chosen an expensive place to stay for the night, so the cook must be good. Each dish was carefully prepared, and all of them were delicious.
　I finished my meal with satisfaction, and as I was thinking about what to do next, an old man approached me.
　The old man was wearing a high quality priest's uniform with a special pattern on it, as if he was a priest serving some 【God】. He wore a special atmosphere that attracted people, and his face with deep wrinkles and a gentle smile would give you the first impression of a good-natured old man.
　However, while he is smiling, his blue eyes are calmly observing me. I wonder if it is a fox or a raccoon. I knew from experience that it was better not to be careless.
　The old man asked me if I would mind sharing a seat with him, so I nodded and invited him to sit down. The old man was one of the customers who had already been there when I arrived at the diner. I knew that he had been casually observing the whole cafeteria while drinking something, and had been paying attention to me while I was eating. It was easy to guess that he had some business with us, and if he had actually contacted us, it was natural to be curious as to what that business was.
　He didn't seem to have any hostile intentions, so I made simple small talk with him, and after a while, I got down to business.
　To put it simply, the old man was an 【Apostle】of the 【God of Records】. It is said that he is an old stock among the 【Apostles】 in the "Madralen Missionary City", and is a celebrity in the "Nubel Great Book Temple" where all kinds of information are usually collected and recorded. He had heard information related to the 【Apostles】from the dead demon yesterday, so there was no doubt that the old man was the real thing.
　When I tilted my head and wondered what such an old man - let's call him the Old Apostle for now - wanted, he said, "If you don't mind, I'd like to talk to you about the "Adram Verhuca, the Harmonized Tower of Balance.""
　That made sense to me.
　The "Balance of Harmony Tower" is known as the place where the "Astrakium", the ancient lightning control emperor, one of the pillars of the "Area Raid Boss" is located.Since 【Area Raid Boss】 is probably a being that has been given the same or even more 【Benefit】 of the 【Gods】 as the 【Apostles】, information related to it is valuable even if it is only a little thing. In the event that you have any questions regarding where and how to use the internet, please do not hesitate to contact us. As a believer, you must want to know at all costs. In addition, if you are the 【Apostle】of the 【God of Records】, you will probably want to record any unknown information.
　And I've sold quite a few of the drop items I got from the balance tower. In the event that you've got a lot of low quality drop items in your possession, there are still some high quality items from the upper layers that are mixed in. The old apostle would have his own information network, and there is a good chance that the Chamber of Commerce sold them to him. Whatever it was, it must have been judged to have reached the upper levels because of its high quality. I wonder if the fact that the old apostle came directly to us was also a sign of sincerity.
　While sipping a coffee-like drink, I held off on answering for a bit, and after thinking about the pros and cons of this and that, I finally decided to talk.
The immediate goal is to defeat the 【Area Raid Boss】.
My memories have returned, and judging from the changes in my body, it's clear that there's an important connection to me.
If I can learn more about the 【Area Raid Boss】, I will be able to have more options for my future actions.
Considering the fact that I was going to be bored for the rest of the day due to the heavy rain, I thought I could kill time in a meaningful way.
I invited him to my room, as I was afraid the conversation would leak out somewhere in the cafeteria, and the conversation continued past noon and into the evening.
The conversation continued past noon and into the evening. I stopped at the top of the balance tower because I didn't trust him enough yet, but all the information he gave me in exchange was still useful, and it would have been a meaningful time for both of us.
However, the old apostle had some business he had to attend to today, so he had to leave before dinner.
There was still a lot of information I wanted to know, and the old man was still interested in me, but the squire came to pick me up, so that was it for today.
As I was wondering what to do, the old apostle told me that it would rain heavily again tomorrow and clear up the day after tomorrow.
So I decided to ask him to come again tomorrow.
It would be the day after tomorrow before we returned to the "Free Trade City of Sectriad".
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PLACE TRANSLATIONS ABOVE THE BAR. THESE ARE THE RAWS, LEAVE THEM HERE. CLICK EXPAND TO VIEW THEM.
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“六十五日目　／　五■三■五■目”
今日は≪自由商都セクトリアード≫に戻るつもりだったが、黒い雲が空を覆い、土砂降りの雨が降っていたので断念した。
　仕方ないので早朝は室内で簡単な筋トレを行った後、シャワーを浴びて汗を流す。
　それから朝飯を喰いに食堂に向かい、美味しく頂いた。
　メニューは甘辛いスプレッドを塗ったトーストと、半熟卵が乗ったサラダ、そしてコーヒーに似たドリンクだった。
　宿泊代に含まれる基本的なメニューで、朝食としては十分な量はあっただろうが、足りなかったので追加で肉料理にも口をつける。
　宿は一泊でも高額なところを選んでいるので、料理人の腕もいいのだろう。
　一つ一つ丁寧に仕込まれ、どれも美味しかった。
　満足しながら食べ終え、さてあとは何をしようかと考えていると、一人の老人が近づいてきた。
　老人はどこぞの【神】に仕える神官なのか、特殊な紋様が施された質のいい神官服を着ていた。
　ヒトを引き付ける特別な雰囲気を身に纏い、深い皺のある顔で穏やかな笑みを浮かべているので、好々爺といった第一印象を受けるだろう。
　ただ微笑みつつもその青い瞳はコチラを冷静に観察している。
　狐や狸の類だろうか。油断はしない方がいい相手だと、経験から理解した。
　そんな老人が相席してもいいか聞いてきたので、頷いて着席を促す。
　老人は俺が食堂に来た時から既に居た客の一人だ。
　何かを飲みながら食堂全体を何気なく観察し、俺が喰っている時も意識をコチラに向けていたのは知っていた。
　そうなればこちらに何か用事があるのだろうと推察するのは簡単だったし、実際に接触してきたのならその用事が何なのか気になるのは当然だろう。
　敵意は無いようなのでコチラも構えずに簡単な世間話をして、暫くして本題に入った。
　簡潔に言えば、老人は【記録の神】の【使徒】だった。
　≪マドラレン宣教都≫に居る【使徒】の中でも古株で、普段はあらゆる情報が集まり記録されている≪ヌゥベル大図書神殿≫に居る有名人だそうだ。
　昨日の死霊鬼から【使徒】関連の情報は聞いていたので、老人が本物である事は間違いない。
　そんな老人――とりあえず使徒老人としよう――が一体何の用なのか、と小首を傾げると、『良ければ≪≫についてお話できれば』と言われた。
　それになるほど、と納得する。
　≪天秤の調和塔≫は【エリアレイドボス】の一柱である古代爆雷制調天帝“アストラキウム”が居る場所として知られている。
　【エリアレイドボス】は【使徒】と同じように、あるいはそれ以上に【神々】の【恩恵】が与えられた存在だろうから、それに関係する情報は僅かな事であっても貴重だ。
　信者としては是が非でも知りたいに違いない。
　ましてや【記録の神】の【使徒】ならば、未知の情報があれば少しでも記録したいのだろう。
　そして俺は天秤塔で得たドロップアイテムを結構な量売っている。
　手持ちの中では質の低い下の層のドロップアイテムが多いとはいえ、中には上の層で採れた高品質のモノも混ざっている。
　使徒老人ならば独自の情報網を持っているだろうし、商会が売り込んだ可能性も高い。
　それはどうであるにしろ、質の良さから上層に到達したと判断したに違いない。
　使徒老人が直接来たのも、誠意の現れなのだろうか。
　コーヒーに似たドリンクを飲みつつ返答を少し返事は保留し、損得あれこれ考えて、結局話す事に決めた。
当面の目標は【エリアレイドボス】の討伐だ。
記憶が戻り、肉体の変化からして俺にとって重要な関係がある事は明白。
そんな【エリアレイドボス】についてより多く知る事が出来れば、今後の行動について選択肢を多く持つ事が出来る。
大雨で一日が暇になりそうだった事を考えれば、有意義な暇潰しができそうだった。
食堂ではどこかで話が漏れそうなので部屋に招き、話は昼を過ぎ、夕方になるまで続いた。
信用がまだ足りないので話は天秤塔の上層までで止めているが、それでも対価として教えてもらった情報はどれも有用で、どちらにとっても有意義な時間になっただろう。
しかし今日は使徒老人にどうしても外せない用事があるとの事で、夕食前に帰る必要があった。
まだまだ知りたい情報は多く、使徒老人も俺について興味がまだまだあるが、従者が迎えに来たので今日はここまで。
さてどうするかと思っていると、使徒老人によると明日も大雨で、明後日には快晴だそうだ。
なら丁度いいと、明日も来てもらう事にした。
≪自由商都セクトリアード≫に戻るのは明後日になりそうだ。
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Category:Novel
Category:Re:Monster ~ The Dark Continent ~ Vol. 3