Volume 1
Chapter 30
A Veteran
Adventurer Appeared
Translator : PolterGlast
In a dimly lit room of
a hidden tavern in a back alley, several fierce men with well-trained bodies
were gathered as usual.
"About the rookie
from before..."
"Yeah, it turns
out the White Rank was no joke. I've never heard of anyone hunting a swarm of
Poilsneg without any preparation."
"But that's not
all. I heard he's been exceeding the objectives of every request.
Incredible..."
The newcomer—probably
Kushina—these tough men were discussing him with respect and awe. They must
have gone to the villages that had requested his services and asked the people
there directly about his achievements.
"Hey, listen
up?"
"Hm? What's
up?"
A relatively young man
among them raised his hand during their discussion.
"I saw that
rookie escorting a noble (from the Gilmurg family) to their mansion
today."
""What did
you say!?""
Almost everyone in the
room responded with surprise at that statement.
"The plan to
incite the bandits—I didn't have high hopes for it from the start, so I wasn't
too bothered when I heard it failed... but I never expected it to turn out this
way."
"Was it the man
who did that...?"
"Both. But it was
the woman who wiped out most of the bandits."
"Seriously...?
So, both of them are monsters, huh?"
Someone muttered under
their breath.
"Judging from the
situation, it didn't seem like she was originally meant to be their escort. I
think she saw them being attacked by bandits and helped them out of an 'I can't
leave people in trouble' kind of spirit. And then she was invited to the
mansion—the details after that
are unknown."
"Whether she
accepted the request or not, there's no doubt that we have a troublesome
element on our hands..."
A man sighed and said
so.
"I wish outsiders
would mind their own business and not get involved in our affairs..."
"That's not going
to solve anything. We should prepare for the worst-case scenario."
"Yeah, we need to
come up with a plan..."
The men's meeting
continued.
□□□
The Next Day
We came to the Adventurers'
Guild as usual.
"Truly
unbelievable. I thought it was strange that you didn't give me the reward for
your work right away like you usually do, ... but I never thought you haven't
even been properly paid."
But what's different
from usual is that I'm being scolded by Kakyoin-san.
"A lot happened
yesterday, so I thought you were putting that off for the time being... but to
think you'd neglect something so important... Why are you always..."
Ugh... I got scolded
yesterday too, and it still hasn't calmed down today.
"Anyway... why
are you so mad at me, Kakyōin-san?"
"Ha?"
I just asked because I
didn't quite understand why she was angry... but maybe I made her even angrier.
"Why... Why, you
ask? You can't be serious, you didn't even understand that? What was
yesterday's conversation for? Unbelievable... truly unbelievable."
"Um...
Kakyōin-san..."
"Listen
carefully. In this world, everything revolves around supply and demand. You
receive what you lack from others, and to eliminate the disadvantage of being
indebted, you also provide something to the other party. That's the correct
cycle. But if you don't follow that cycle—that is, if you're like you were
yesterday and only give without taking—you'll be taken advantage of. You'll
become a convenient person to be exploited—a puppet. I told you, Kushina. I
won't allow you to become such a puppet now that you're my bodyguard. How many
times do I have to tell you the same thing? You truly..."
Apparently,
Kakyōin-san was angry that I made her say the same thing.
I should apologize
honestly.
"...I'm
sorry."
"………Good
grief."
With those words,
Kakyōin-san cut off the conversation and started walking forward again.
Inside the
Adventurer's Guild.
"Oh, hello
Runa-san! ...Huh? Is something wrong?"
"No, it's
nothing. Hello, Wick-san."
Kakyōin-san greeted
the receptionist lightly. And then───
"Oh,
Kushina-cchi! Sup!"
Tekiru called out from
behind.
"Un, Tekiru,
hello."
"Don't be so
stiff, Kushina-cchi. You should say something like 'Yo' or 'Sup'."
"Is that so?
Sorry."
"No, it's nothing
to apologize for..."
"?"
I don't quite
understand what Tekiru means.
"………Ahem, anyway!
Look, we haven't split the reward from yesterday yet, right? You were running
off somewhere, after all, Kushina-cchi."
"That's right.
Sorry."
"It's okay! Come
on, let's get it over with. I've got a favor to ask of you today, in
recognition of your skills."
"A favor?"
As Tekiru said that,
he reached for a leather pouch, probably containing money, that was tucked into
his belt, but—
Suddenly, the guild
became noisy.
"?"
"───! T-That's!"
Intrigued by the
commotion, Tekiru and I turned to look, and Tekiru suddenly had a brighter
expression than before, as if he had found something he had long admired.
"Faith-san!"
Tekiru ran towards the
center of the commotion, calling out a name.
With his call, the
crowd gave way, and I was able to see the person at the center. The man had
long black hair tied back, a black beard on his chin, sharp eyes, and a rather
large build. Combined with his somewhat aged appearance, he had the air of a
veteran adventurer. It was clear from the reactions of those around him that he
was highly regarded.
"Tekiru, huh?
Long time no see, kid. Still spreading your net, huh?"
"Wha, that's a
bit harsh. I just want to expand my social circle───"
"I know, I know.
I was just teasing you."
"Come on, don't
tease me right after we meet for the first time in a while."
"This is my way
of amplifying relationships. You've been around for a while, so you should get
used to it."
Tekiru and that guy...
Faith, was it? They were talking very familiarly. They seemed to be pretty
close.
"Anyway, you've
been away for a while this time. What kind of request was it?"
"Hm? Oh... I was
observing a certain man. He was quite a peculiar guy, and..."
As he was speaking,
Faith seemed to have found something and pushed through the crowd towards the
reception desk.
"Hey there,
Wick-chan! You're looking as cute and shrunken as ever! How have you
been?"
"Ah, Faith-san...
Hello..."
"Why are you
being so formal? We're friends, Wick-chan, so why don't you be a little bit
more casual?"
"A-Ahahaha..."
I thought something
was wrong because he suddenly walked over there, but... that guy seemed to be
quite a womanizer. Wick-san clearly looks troubled, and the crowd is looking at
him with a bored expression. ...I guess this is a regular thing.
"How about it,
Wick-chan? Let's have a drink tonight."
"I'm busy with
work today..."
"Then tomorrow!
How about tomorrow?"
"I'm also busy
tomorrow───"
"Come on, don't
be so cold. You can at least keep me company for a little while."
I hear Wick-san always
leaves work on time, so I'm sure she's just using 'work' as an excuse to turn
down the invitations.
Well, whatever, it's
too much trouble to get involved, so I'll just go to Tekiru and get my share of
the reward and get on with my job───
"Oh, you girl
over there is pretty cute too. You don't look like a receptionist. Are you a
new adventurer?"
Just as I was about to
go to Tekiru, Faith started talking to Kakyōin-san.
"………"
Kakyōin-san, who was
spoken to like that... whoa, she's giving me a colder stare than when she was
mad at me.
"A newcomer like
you probably has a lot of questions, right? Why don't I, the veteran adventurer
Faith Creeper, teach you everything you need to know───"
"I'm fine on my
own."
Kakyōin-san said only
that and turned her back to leave the scene.
"Now, now, don't
be like that. Okay?"
But Faith seemed to
think he could still go for it, and he put his hand on Kakyōin-san's shoulder───.
Then I realized───Kakyōin-san was facing
me slightly, and she was pleading with her eyes, "Do it."
Ah, well, I guess... I
have no choice, do I?
I quickly closed the
distance between me and Faith and grabbed his hand before it touched
Kakyōin-san's shoulder.
"───!? Aah!??"
Faith glared at me
with a harsh voice, annoyed that I had interrupted him.
"Ahaha... Can you
stop? If you keep doing this, I'm going to get scolded by Kakyōin-san."
"Oh, how hurtful,
Kushina. I haven't said anything."
"No, you were
clearly ordering me with your eyes. I don't want to get scolded anymore."
Kakyōin-san turned to
me with a mischievous smile and made a light remark.
But Faith, not liking
the atmosphere between me and Kakyōin-san, gnashed his teeth hard, glared at me
with bloodshot eyes, and said.
"You two, who do
you think you're ignoring───"
Faith tried to pull
his hand away from me.
But if I let go, it
would clearly lead to more trouble, wouldn't it? Ugh... it's troublesome either
way, but it's better to keep holding on than to let go. I kept holding Faith's
hand and forced him to kneel on the floor.
"Gah!? Wha, you
bastard!!?"
"Don't struggle.
If you stay still, I'll let go soon."
Why does this guy,
who's completely outmatched, still keep barking? People are really strange.
"Ugh... you, just
because you're White Rank, don't get cocky───"
"?"
Huh? This is supposed
to be our first meeting though───
"Faith-san!!"
Just then, Tekiru
walked towards us.
"Oh? Tekiru, what
the───"
"Let's stop,
Faith-san. You're in the wrong this time. It's your bad habit."
"What the hell
are you talking about!?"
"Whenever you see
a pretty girl, you can't help but hit on her. That's why your wife always
cries. Please put yourself in my shoes who always has to listen to her
complaints."
"Ugh..."
So this guy has a
wife...
"No, this is
like, a greeting to a newcomer..."
"That's a
perverted way of greeting someone. In fact, she was giving you a really cold
look."
"………"
Perhaps because he'd
been hit in a sore spot, Faith averted his gaze from Tekiru. He had something
like cold sweat running down his cheek.
"Kushina-cchi,
let him go. This guy may be skilled, but he's got a bad habit of hitting on
women and has an unnecessarily high pride... I'll tell you straight, let's just
leave it at that today, okay?"
"Yeah, well,
alright..."
I said that and
released Faith.
"Tch..."
"Faith-san,
a-p-o-l-o-g-i-z-e."
"Ugh...
t-thanks... and, sorry for bothering you..."
Whoa... Faith, who was
so aggressive, is obediently following orders. Tekiru is really scary when he's
angry... I have to be careful.
"Let's go. You've
been away for a while, haven't you? Have you seen your wife? Go see her and
reassure her."
"……Right."
"Please wait a bit,
Kushina-cchi. I'm going to take this guy home and tell his wife what he's been
doing at the guild."
"Wha!?"
"Y-Yeah, I
understand..."
Tekiru turned to me
and casually dropped a bombshell, and Faith reacted to it.
Well, I'm not in a
hurry, so I'll just wait patiently. I don't want Tekiru to scold me, either.
"You, don't
forget about our share of the reward,"
And then, Kakyōin-san,
who was still there, gave Tekiru a warning.
"Haha, I know. I
wouldn't do that to Kushina-cchi."
"That's good
then."
With those words,
Kakyōin-san left the scene.
-----
Thank you for my Patrons !!
[Platinum]
Aiden Elliott
MaxKne
Swagaraga
[Gold]
B random
DavidA
[Silver]
blue shooting
Creris
Frédéric Bertrand-Hudon
Gtsfan321
Pristia
Anton Lim
Ctdela
Curious Panda
Read Advanced Chapters only on my Patreon
-----
