Nozomanu Fushi no Boukensha (LN) - Volume 7 - Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Vistelya, The Capital 

Crowds flooded in and out of the gate to the capital. It was only natural. For as small as the Kingdom of Yaaran was, it was still a proper country; it would have to see a fair number of visitors. However, as a less advanced country, their security was sloppy in some places. 

“Where’s your identification?” one of the gate guards asked a man standing in line before us. His clothes were worn out, a straw hat sat upon his head, and he carried some vegetables wrapped in cloth. He looked like he could only have come from a small village. 

“Oh, uh, I don’t have none of those,” he said, but his accent was thick and hard to parse. 

The guard seemed used to this, however. He sighed, shook his head, and asked, “Where are you from?” 

“I’m from out in Yanga. Came to town to sell these.” The man opened the cloth to show off his vegetables, asserting that he possessed nothing suspicious. 

“I’m sure you did. Go on through,” the guard said with a nod, letting him enter the gate. 

“Do you think he should have done that?” Lorraine asked. “He could easily have been hiding illegal material inside those vegetables.” She was judging based on her perspective as a citizen of the Empire. 

“I don’t know. I’m sure it’s fine. When you enter the aristocratic district near the castle, they apparently perform a more strict inspection. Besides, the guards have dogs that’d probably smell anything illegal,” I said as I looked around, unsure as to whether I was right or not. Older adventurers always told me how lax the capital’s security was, actually. They seemed to be right. 

“I’m impressed they’ve gone so long without being destroyed by any of the surrounding nations,” Lorraine muttered. 

“It’s not like there’d be much use in destroying Yaaran. They could expand their territory, maybe, but there’s hardly any decent land around here.” 

Some of Yaaran’s cities were actually big enough that they might be worth attacking, but the other countries in the region weren’t much different in the first place. They were too laid back to engage in the sort of grandiose power struggles that took place in the center of the world. Well, maybe they weren’t that laid back, but they came across that way when compared to the strict laws and regulations of the Empire. There was a reason these countries weren’t major players on the world stage. 

“Next!” the guard said, so I stepped up. He took a look at my face. “Have any identification?” he asked, surprisingly not mentioning my mask. Plenty of people had wounded faces they wanted to hide, and this guard was evidently polite enough to not ask questions. I showed him the ID listing my name as Rentt Vivie. “I see, an adventurer? And what brings you to the capital?” 

To be honest, I had no reason to be here other than that I came along with a group that immediately split up. “I’m here to see the city,” I said, for lack of a better excuse. “I do adventuring work in another city, but I want to work in the capital eventually, so I figure I should check it out.” 

“I see. Bronze-class, are you? Once you reach Silver-class, you should be more than good enough to work in the capital. Just keep working at it. All right, you may pass!” the guard said and patted my shoulder. 

He seemed to take his job seriously, but as far as I could tell, he didn’t keep any records of who came and went. I had to assume they would for those who went to the aristocratic district, but maybe writing down the names of everyone who entered the outer city would take too long. It did seem kind of careless, but Yaaran was that kind of country. 

After I was done, Lorraine got questioned by the guard too. I was already pretty far from them, but my vampiric ears were strong enough to hear them clearly. 

“Where’s your identification?” the guard asked, so Lorraine presented an ID from the Empire. “You’re, uh, from the Empire?” the guard said very respectfully. 

The Empire was far from Yaaran, but everyone knew it to be a great and powerful nation. As a citizen of Yaaran, I could see why he would have trouble standing up to a visitor from the Empire. One wrong move could start a war. 

“Yes, but don’t mind that. I’m only here to see the sights. You don’t mind letting me through, do you?” Lorraine asked confidently. 

“Of course not. Just know that regardless of your country of origin, you’re not allowed to cause trouble,” the guard asserted, still retaining some pride. 

“I know, I’ll be good. Farewell,” Lorraine said and walked up to me. “That guard is a bit too humble for his own good.” 

“Yeah, probably. But nobody from the Empire comes to Yaaran for the most part. It’s like how Riri and Fahri felt when we visited them from Maalt.” 

“Because I come from a metropolis? I’m not even particularly a city person compared to others in the Empire, but oh well. Here we are in the capital, so we may as well take a look around. Is there anywhere in particular you’d like to go?” 

“I want to check out the guild, I guess. But maybe I shouldn’t.” 

The simple identity check at the gate was one thing, but if I went to the guild headquarters dressed like this, I had to imagine they would keep a record of it. Not that robes and masks were that uncommon, but my mask did more to put people off considering it looked like a skull. 

“What if you change the color of your robe and cover the mask with a cloth or something?” Lorraine suggested. “I can alter the color with magic. Although, your robe is highly resistant to magic, so I don’t know if even the surface will be affected.” 

At least if I visited them looking like that, they might not recognize me the next time. It was worth a try, and we could simply not visit the guild if it didn’t work out, so we headed to an empty alleyway. 

“I think that’ll do it. Not bad, right?” Lorraine said. Thankfully magic seemed to at least work on the surface of the robe, so the color was changed all over. It was as black as a void before, but now it had a purple base with a fancy, complicated pattern drawn on top. 

“I didn’t know you had a knack for designing clothes, Lorraine.” I thought she was just going to make the robe red or yellow or something, not give it a proper design. 

Lorraine shook her head. “I don’t. These kinds of clothes are just popular in the imperial capital as of late. I don’t wear them, but they seemed appropriate for the occasion.” 

If this style was big in the imperial capital, that made it the most cutting-edge style in the world. Yaaran wouldn’t be at all familiar with it yet. Maybe I could strut my stuff and act like I was hip and trendy. That didn’t sound like my kind of thing, but there was a right time for everything. 

Strange thoughts ran through my head until Lorraine said something to snap me back to reality. “Anyway, are we going to the guild headquarters or not?” 

“Oh, right. Speaking of which, shouldn’t you do something too? Unlike me, you’ve been there a few times, haven’t you?” 

Lorraine was a Silver-class adventurer, so she could take jobs escorting clients from Maalt to the capital. There were also alchemy materials that couldn’t be obtained in Maalt, so she occasionally went to the capital for those. She came to the guild headquarters during those visits, of course, so there could be issues if she went without a disguise. 

“I don’t know, how about this?” she said and cast a spell on herself. Suddenly, she gave off an entirely different vibe. Her hair was wavy, and she wore makeup that heavily emphasized her features. She also wore glasses, but they only increased her allure. Even her clothes were no longer the unfashionable robes she usually wore; they were replaced by flashy clothes that were commonplace in big cities. These were presumably also popular in the imperial capital. I had never seen anything like this in Yaaran, but even I could tell this was refined fashion. My overall impression was that she seemed like a rich, powerful magician of unknown age who maybe had one or two quirks. It felt like if you approached her, you’d get burned down to nothing but bones, like me two or three forms ago. 

“That’s pretty, uh, different. Bewitching magic’s got some diverse applications,” I said. 

Spells intended to change one’s appearance or clothes were generally called bewitching magic or transformation magic. They were barely good for anything when you first learned them, but as you gained more proficiency in them, their uses increased. In the end, you could change everything about your appearance, including your height. It was as crucial to stage magicians as illusion magic was, but changing your entire appearance for a sustained amount of time was pretty difficult, so it was limited to tinkering with outfits for the most part. Lorraine, however, gave herself a complete makeover. Rather than a scholar or adventurer, her talents could have provided her greater opportunities as a performer, I thought. 

But Lorraine shook her head. “What are you talking about? I’m not using bewitching magic. I just changed my clothes and hair, and put makeup on,” she said. 

I didn’t see how that was possible, so I stared right into her face. “Oh, it’s true. Nothing else has changed,” I said. Her hair color hadn’t changed at all, though it was styled more extravagantly. Magic accelerated the process, but she had actually, physically changed her appearance. “An actual transformation. Amazing.” 

“Please, I know how to get dressed up if I want to.” 

“I’m not saying I think you can’t. I mean, you have a pretty face; I know you can look gorgeous if you want. I just thought you didn’t think it was worth the trouble, so I’m impressed. Hey, what’s wrong?” I asked. She had turned her back to me while I was talking for some reason. Maybe I said something wrong, but I didn’t think I said anything that problematic? I remembered adventurers from Maalt with wives or girlfriends telling me that you should never tell a woman she looks that different with or without makeup, so maybe that was it. 

“Oh, it’s nothing in particular. Let’s go to the guild,” Lorraine said and walked off. 

I guess she wasn’t especially hurt, judging from the sound of her voice. Rather, she sounded somewhat lively. I didn’t know what that was about. She said it was nothing, so I decided not to ask any questions. 

I walked by Lorraine’s side as we left the alley, and unlike when we entered, I noticed we were getting tons of looks. I thought their attention was drawn by Lorraine’s flashy beauty, but the magicians seemed to be looking at me. It probably had something to do with how we were wearing the latest fashion. We must have stood out, but if it was just our clothes they were looking at, then we were still safe. It’d be bad if we were causing some sort of problem, but I didn’t get that feeling. 

We arrived at the guild. It was much bigger than the one in Maalt, so simply standing in front of it made me shiver. After a decade of effort, I was never able to make it here. Strange circumstances brought me to the place now, but I was still happy about the chance to visit. 

“Let’s go inside,” Lorraine said and went on ahead. I followed her. 

The guild in the capital was the administrator of all guilds in Yaaran. If one were to ask where the guild headquarters in Yaaran was, you would point to this one. It also cooperated with guilds in other countries to some extent. They shared information on adventurer rankings and job completion, and the adventurers from this guild could also take jobs in other nations. Guilds couldn’t cooperate more than that due to regulation by their local governments, however. These organizations obtained and transferred information from other countries on a regular basis, but they were too big for any one country to fully control, so they seemed to have constant power struggles. That was why governments often distrusted the guilds. But because they were highly effective, they were permitted to exist. None of this meant much to a low-ranking adventurer like me, but it was always interesting to hear stories about it. 

Not only was this guild massive compared to the one in Maalt, but it was also cleaner. Even the front desk looked classy, whereas the one in Maalt’s guild was made of cheap wood. Many of the receptionists were beautiful women for some reason. Not that the ones in Maalt weren’t, but the ones here were attractive in more of a metropolitan way. 

“Hey, don’t stare,” Lorraine said. 

“I’m not staring. Just noticing how different this place is.” 

I kind of was staring, to be honest, but I was just charmed by what I saw. I’m sure Lorraine understood. She scoffed and left it at that, thankfully. 

“Anyway, I’ll show you around. Not that it’s much different from what you’d find in Maalt. Over there you have a bar and diner that’s run by the guild, there’s the front desk, there’s where you go to dissect monsters, there’s the appraisal counter, and that just leaves the job board, I believe.” 

Like she said, all of these things were in Maalt’s guild too. The tables, chairs, and interior design were a cut above Maalt’s and made it feel like an entirely different establishment, but after hearing Lorraine talk about it, it sounded exactly like what I was used to. 

I walked up to the job board, and it indeed looked just like the one in Maalt, with one exception. “There are a lot of tough jobs here,” I said. “Oh, except the one for picking herbs; that seems easy.” 

“Maybe it’d be easy for us, but it’s on the harder side as far as these jobs go. For the average adventurer in the capital, it’d be quite difficult. Look at the date it was posted.” 

“Three days ago? Personally, I would’ve taken this one right away.” 

“The adventurers in Maalt wouldn’t leave it for three days, I’m sure. Thanks to all the education you’ve offered, many of them are knowledgeable about herbs.” 

Before I became undead, I occasionally held lectures for beginners at the guild in Maalt. They weren’t about anything especially difficult because I wouldn’t know how to teach anything complicated, but most adventurers started off earning money by picking herbs. I taught them how to tell different herbs apart, how to find where they grew, and how best to traverse mountains and forests. I actually brought in herbs for them to sort and had them test what happens when you use similar but incorrect herbs. I even had the adventurers at the lectures eat the herbs personally if they would only make them a little sick. If they could potentially kill a man, though, I fed them to a puchi suri to demonstrate instead. 

When the newbie adventurers saw that, they began to take picking herbs seriously. Ever since then in Maalt, whenever herbs were in season, jobs related to picking them were immediately taken from the job board. Unfortunately, I made much of my money from those jobs, so I sort of sabotaged myself with that idea. But the new adventurers seemed to share the jobs, at least. I could still take requests to hunt goblins, slimes, and skeletons, so I could survive without that income. 

“I’d love to take the job if nobody else will, but that’s probably not a great idea,” I said. If I took a job looking the way I did, they were going to keep a record of it. I didn’t want to risk that. Lorraine also only had her own adventurer’s license with her. 

“Oh well. Are we done checking out the guild? Let’s go outside,” Lorraine suggested. 

At that moment, somebody approached us from behind. “Hi, folks. You didn’t just say that job was easy, did you?” he asked. 

I turned around to see who it was and gasped. This person was wearing insanely garish clothes with all the colors of the rainbow. A peacock feather extended from his hat, and the hilt of the sword at his side was engraved with a blindingly colorful pattern. I also happened to recognize his face, because this adventurer was active in Maalt until a short time ago. 

“Oh, uh, maybe,” I stuttered. 

“Well, I’ve been checking that job since the day it went up, and nobody’s taken it,” the man said. “I’ve never cared for jobs as bland as picking herbs, so I avoid them as much as possible, but I feel kind of bad about how long this one’s been up there. It’s been an issue for the guild too, apparently. While picking herbs is easy, picking the right ones is tough even for an appraiser. It’s common for someone to do the job and discover they did it wrong, so most adventurers avoid these. I was wondering what to do about it. I actually knew a guy back in the day who knew a ton about this stuff, so I’ve considered asking him, but he lives in Maalt. I can’t just ask him to come all the way here, so what else can I do?” 

I had forgotten how much he liked to talk. “I think I understand the situation. Before I commit to anything, though, tell me your name,” I asked. I knew his name, but I just wanted to make him stop talking. 

“Oh, right, sorry. I’m Augurey. Augurey Ars, a Silver-class adventurer. Nice to meet you.” 

Augurey Ars used to be an adventurer in Maalt. I knew him since way back, and we got along nicely as fellow solo adventurers. He didn’t seem to recognize me in this getup, however. He couldn’t see through Lorraine’s disguise either. We both looked more or less like different people, so thankfully for us, it was to be expected. I didn’t know he had become a Silver-class adventurer, though. Back in Maalt, he was still Bronze-class. He was always pretty talented, and a good man aside from his eccentricities, so it wasn’t that surprising, but I sort of begrudged how he had surpassed me. I wanted to become a Silver-class soon, but I still hadn’t completed enough jobs to take the exam. 

“So what do you want with me, Mr. Ars?” I asked Augurey, trying to sound as unfamiliar with him as possible. 

He waved his hand, the shining gold of his glove hurting my eyes. “Please, we’re friends. Call me Augurey. If only everyone could be so friendly with each other, the world would be at peace! What was your name, by the way?” 

I was a bit surprised to hear him call me his friend, but he ended by asking my name, so I realized he was just saying that. He acted like this when I first met him too, so he could be hard to understand in some ways. 

Unsure what name to use, I looked to Lorraine. Her expression told me that I should make something up. That would be for the best, since he might guess who I was if I said Rentt. Despite how he was, Augurey had oddly strong intuition and could be shockingly perceptive. Taking those kinds of risks with him wasn’t a good idea. 

“The name’s Purple,” I said simply based on the color of my robe. It sounded like an obviously fake name, but I could always claim that I wore these clothes because of it. Maybe. The name did exist, so I thought I should be safe. I looked at Lorraine and she seemed appalled, though. 

“Purple, you say? I see, because purple clothes are stylish! And who’s the woman?” Augurey asked, looking at Lorraine. 

“I’m Olga, his companion. Pleased to meet you,” she answered. Unlike me, she picked an exceedingly safe alias. She also carried herself entirely differently from normal. While she was introducing herself, she wrapped her arm around mine. 

“I see, are you dating? Or are you married, perhaps? You certainly seem close. Purple, quite the beautiful woman you got to marry. You’re one lucky guy!” Augurey said with exaggerated surprise. He was wrong on all counts, but it was hard to say so, and Lorraine didn’t deny it either. She was grinning about the whole misunderstanding. 

Everything we said was a lie anyway, so I decided it might be easier to go along with it. “Making her my wife certainly wasn’t easy,” I said. “You don’t often see women so beautiful, refined, and pleasant to spend time with. I’m a happy man. Anyway, we traveled here from the Empire for our honeymoon. Just the two of us, of course. I heard that unlike the capital of the Empire, the beauty of nature is still present in the streets of Vistelya, so I wanted to come see it for myself. Oh, I’m afraid all this talking has taken up too much time. We have to be going now.” 

I was trying to think of a way to get out of there, and that was what I came up with. While I was talking, it felt like Lorraine’s arm began to squeeze mine tighter, but maybe it was my imagination. 

When I tried to walk away, Augurey grabbed my other arm. “Hold it! I still haven’t gotten to my main point!” he cried. “My goodness, you walked off so suddenly I almost let you go. Would you mind listening to what I have to say?” 

It didn’t seem like we’d get the chance to escape. I could tear myself free from his grip, but then he’d chase after us as a matter of pride. There was no peaceful way to say goodbye, so we had to stay and hear him out. It was bad enough how his outfit drew attention, but it’d be even worse if some weird adventurers suddenly started playing tag in the streets. 

“Fine, so what is it?” I asked, relieving him. 

“Well, you said that job would be easy,” he said, as I expected. “I was wondering if you’d like to accompany me in tackling it. You’re free to take the entire reward. I’m a Silver-class adventurer, after all. I’ll even take care of any monsters we encounter. All you have to do is find the correct herbs. Not a bad deal, if I do say so myself.” 

Considering I didn’t want to take any jobs from this guild myself, I couldn’t have asked for more favorable conditions. “Why go so far for this job, though?” I asked. 

“Isn’t it obvious! For the clothes!” he answered. 

I cocked my head. “What are you talking about?” 

“The herb-picking job, of course.” 

“What does that have to do with clothes?” 

“Look at who posted the job.” 

“‘Michel’s Boutique’?” 

“Yes. I ordered new clothes from them, but the dye is a bit unique. They absolutely need those herbs! To be honest, I thought they would be relatively easy to obtain before I placed the order, but then I found out it was rather hard to get them in this city. I need to stop assuming that everything is the same as in Maalt. I could import them, but I was told it would take a whole month. I want to be in those new clothes within the week! And yet they’re out of my reach! I can’t stand it!” 

I was left wondering why I should care to help. There was no way to see this as anyone but Augurey’s problem. If he could get the dye in a month, then he should have just waited. 

“Is that everything? Goodbye, then,” I said and tried to leave. 

However, Augurey refused to loosen his grip. “No, no, we’re not finished here! Why not help me out?! I’m giving you the whole reward! I’m acting as your guard! This job should be a breeze!” Augurey pleaded desperately. His yelling was drawing attention, so I gave up on trying to break free. 

His offer was certainly in my favor, but still. “There are reasons why we don’t want to take jobs from the guild,” I said. “Besides, I just told you that we’re on our honeymoon. We don’t have much time to spare.” 

I decided that convincing him to give up would be the best option. Augurey was pushy, but he wasn’t completely unreasonable. If I explained myself, I thought he would understand. Not that we were actually on a honeymoon, but it was true we didn’t have much time. We had to meet up with Gharb and Capitan later. 

But against my expectations, Augurey still refused to give up. “There are reasons, you say? That makes it sound like taking a job from the guild would in itself be a problem. In that case, what if it was simply a personal request from myself? And as far as your honeymoon, you’ll get to go places no honeymooners have gone before!” 

“You’re awfully persistent,” I said. “You need these herbs that badly? Why not just wait a month?” 

Augurey shook his head and begged in a grave tone, “I want them as soon as possible. Please. I’ll pay you even more than the reward listed here. It shouldn’t take long. I know they grow in a forest not far from here, so as long as you can tell the herbs apart, it should be done in a matter of hours.” 

I hardly ever saw him act like this in Maalt. I didn’t know he was so obsessed over clothes, but looking at what he was wearing, I shouldn’t have been surprised. 

“You think we’ll make it in time?” I asked Lorraine. 

“If it’s only a few hours, then probably. Don’t tell me you’re actually going to accept,” she said. She didn’t sound very enthusiastic about the idea, but Augurey did a fair bit for me back in Maalt. He told me about some nice hunting spots and provided the locations of monsters I could handle. I couldn’t turn down such an impassioned request from him. The frivolous nature of his request was somewhat astonishing, but maybe he was in some crisis that we ordinary people couldn’t understand. 

“If I don’t have to take the request through the guild, then I suppose I’m willing to help,” I said. “But if it looks like we’ll be late for our plans, we’ll have to go back. Also, don’t tell too many people about us. We don’t want to stand out.” 

“Of course. Thanks! Then I’ll accept the job myself, and you’ll simply be helping me with a personal request. You say you don’t want to stand out, though? When you’re wearing that? Honestly, the reason I approached you was I thought you’d understand my passion,” Augurey said, confused. 

Our clothes did stand out a lot, admittedly. But unlike Augurey’s, we were wearing the latest popular fashion from the Empire. I wanted to make sure he knew we weren’t like him, but before I could explain that, he went to the counter. 

“Are you sure about this, Rentt?” Lorraine asked. “They won’t keep records as long as we don’t take the job through the guild, yes, and I suppose it will kill time until we need to meet up again, but still.” 

“I’m not that interested myself, but I do owe him to some extent. I don’t mind helping him out a bit as long as we don’t expose our identities. It’ll be an easy job anyway.” 

“You’re too nice for your own good.” 

“I guess. Sorry, Lorraine. We had the chance to see the capital, but now I’ve given us some work to do.” 

“It’s fine, I’ve been to the capital plenty of times. There’s not much left for me to see.” 

“Really? If there’s somewhere you want to go, you can go there while I attend Augurey. He’s not looking for help with fighting anyway; he just needs someone who knows herbs,” I said. Apparently Augurey had become strong enough to be a Silver-class adventurer since I last saw him. He had to be far stronger than he was in Maalt, so there was no particular need for both Lorraine and I to go with him. 

“As much as I’d love to sit this out, I suspect you’ll spill the beans if you go alone,” Lorraine said, pointing out my carelessness. I had just accepted a request for not much reason, so I couldn’t argue. 

“Sorry. I’ll make it up to you later.” 

“Oh, will you? Then take me out to dinner at a restaurant called All Flevne on the main street in Maalt. I’ve always wanted to try their full course dinner at some point,” she said. 

That restaurant was famous for being the most expensive one in Maalt. The prices were, of course, exorbitant. A full course dinner from there wouldn’t be impossible for me to pay nowadays, and considering everything I asked of Lorraine, I felt like I at least owed her that much. 

“Sure, we can go next time we’re in Maalt,” I said, to Lorraine’s surprise. 

“I was kidding. Are you sure?” she asked, looking worried now. But as an adventurer, I couldn’t go back on my word. 

I pounded my chest and said, “Leave it to me. You’ll get to eat all you want.” Then I smiled. 

“I believe this should be the place,” Augurey whispered as we walked through a forest outside the walls of Vistelya. 

After Augurey finished the paperwork to accept the job at the guild, we immediately set off. It had been a little over an hour since then. Just as Augurey told us earlier, it looked like it would take a few hours total. He knew to research the destination in advance, as any Silver-class adventurer should, so we never got lost on our way. Thankfully, the forest was close to the capital, so few monsters were in the area at the moment. The kinds of monsters that would appear here were perfect for new soldiers to train on, so they were frequently exterminated. That was why it was relatively safe to walk around here. From an adventurer’s perspective, though, they were systematically eliminating our source of income. But that also meant the guild in the capital had tougher, more rewarding jobs than the others in the region. That made it hard for new adventurers to work in the capital, so there were advantages and disadvantages. 

“There does seem to be a lot of different herbs here,” I said. “We’re looking for fire spirit madder, right?” 

“Yes, but I couldn’t say what it looks like. They all look the same to me,” Augurey answered, his head in his arms. He stared at the plants but couldn’t seem to tell them apart at all. 

There were a lot of little plants with yellow-green flowers, and at a glance, they all appeared identical. But I knew they were all different. “Fire spirit madder can be identified by the shape of its leaves and flowers, the number of leaves, the shape of the stem, the scent, and the roots. This is a good chance for you to learn that,” I said, explaining the unique features of the plant to Augurey. There were three or four similar types of plants, and they all grew in mostly the same places. They could be hard to collect, but not if you knew how to distinguish between them. I described them repeatedly until Augurey could also tell them apart after a few attempts. 

“I see, so that’s how you do it. I’ve learned something today,” he said. 

I didn’t teach him for his sake. I did it so that requests like these wouldn’t be left untouched in the capital. Augurey was a solo adventurer, but he was a relatively compassionate one, so he would probably pass this information on to the next generation. 

If the fire spirit madder was meant to be used for dye, then he must have wanted the clothes to be red. Dye could be collected from the dried roots of the plant, producing a bright red color. It was as red as the setting sun on days when the power of the fire spirits was especially strong, which is where the name came from. He was dressed in rainbow colors now, but this would make clothes that were glaringly red, apparently. I didn’t like the sound of that, but there was no accounting for taste. 

“Shall we return, then? I think you’ve gotten enough,” Lorraine said. 

Augurey and I nodded. This would be plenty to use for dye, so we had no reason to stay here any longer.