63 - Sixty-one. My?

I got some of what I wanted and finally finished shopping. That was a lot of work. I go back to my room and take a rest.

"Sylphy. Can you tell me about the people in the guild?"

"Hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey. BERU. Eat meat.

Before Sylphy could reply, Belle jumped into my chest. We promised to eat after we got back to the inn.

"That's right. I'll prepare it now. Sylphie, let's talk about it after we eat. Do you want some too?

"Yes. I'll have some."

I quickly put the dish I had bought on the table, wash it, and put a piece of bread with a thick piece of meat on it, which Belle and the others wanted to eat the most. The old man at the stall told us that he had put herb-roasted roughbirds on the bread.

"Yummy!" "Cue!" "Big!" "Coooo!"

Yeah. Everyone's so excited. I'm getting excited just looking at it. The meat is so thick. When I tell them they can eat it, they immediately take a bite of their thick sandwiches.

Belle floats down, holds the sandwich with both hands, and takes a bite into it with her mouth wide open. Her mouth can't compete with the size of the bread at all. He only bites off about half of the thickness and spins around, losing his position. Bell's mouth seems to be a strong opponent to this sandwich.

Rain and Tamamo seem to have no problem. They both open their big mouths and happily take on the sandwich. Dolphins and foxes have big mouths. They don't seem to have a problem.

Tulu calmly takes the sandwich. He takes a small bite like a small animal. He must like it, because he's eating it with all his heart. Maybe Tulu's way is the right way. But I'm inclined to push for Belle's way, even if I know it's difficult.

I heard a crackling sound and turned around to see a startling sight. Sylphy had cut the sandwich into small pieces, probably by the magic of the wind.

"Oh, Yuta. What's wrong?"

She must have noticed my astonished expression, because she spoke to me.

"No, Sylphie. I'm not so sure about that. It's a thick sandwich. I think it's polite to hold it in both hands and bite into it.

"Is there such a courtesy in other worlds?　It's not proper for a woman to open her mouth so wide, so when she can, it's customary for the ladies of this world to cut the food into small pieces."

Sylphy is a lady. I have nothing to say against a lady. Because my opinion is just an obsession. A man's obsession can be blown away by a lady's sniff.

"That's right. A lady needs to be classy. I remember that women are like that in my world, too."

"Hmmm, I guess there are similarities everywhere in the world."

Sylphy puts a small piece of the sandwich in her mouth. It sure looks classy.

"Yuta. Beru moshujo."

No, Belle. A lady doesn't proclaim herself a lady by holding her half-eaten sandwich high in the air with both hands. But it doesn't matter. She's cute.

Well, I'd better eat mine without looking at it. I take a big bite of the hot herb-roasted roughbard sandwich.

The hard bread is crunchy on the surface and the inside is juicy as it soaks up the juices of the loughbird. When your teeth reach the meat, you feel its firmness and elasticity. At the same time, the aroma of herbs and juices burst in your mouth.

......This is delicious. I bite into the sandwich. The price was twice as expensive as other food stalls, but it was worth it. If I see it again, I will buy a large quantity.

We enjoy eating our hearty sandwiches with a lot of fun. In a way, it might be a better deal than grilled skewers, since one sandwich is enough to fill you up.

"It was delicious!" "Cukyu!" "Suki!" "Kukyu!" "Kukyu!"

"I'll get some more if I see them again. I'm going to have a talk with Sylphy, you guys go for a walk or something."

"A walk. Find something tasty to eat.

"Cue."

"I'll find it."

"Coo-ooh!"

He seems to be looking for something tasty even though he has already eaten a big sandwich. We cheerfully watch the belles fly away from the window. I'm glad they're going out for a walk, since they're going to give us all a bad name anyway.

"So, Sylphy. What did they talk about in the guild?"

"Hmmm. "Hmm. A lot of things have happened, but all of them have bad reputations. You want to hear about it?"

"I have to ask, why do you look so happy?"

"Hmm. Because there are a lot of rumors going around. I'm having fun imagining what the situation will be like when Yuta becomes active. Hmmm. Yuta. Let's do our best."

The content is gruesome, but you are smiling so adorably.

"Sylphie. I think your personality is getting worse."

"Hmm. Maybe so. But I think it's all because of the contractor."

I'm the contractor.

"When I was back home, people said I was a good person. Maybe this world is bad."

Because I've been told that a lot. I'm a good person, but I'm a little ................... I'm a good person. I'm sure.

"If the world is bad, what's wrong with it?"

"Yeah. The world is bad, and there's nothing we can do about it."

It's all the world's fault. So it's not my fault. It's a flawless theory.

So, can you tell me what it is?

"Okay. First of all, the most talked about thing is that he was not polite enough to pick a fight with Guillmas, who was kind enough to persuade him to quit the necromancer's profession.

...... Kind Guilmouth?　There was no one like that, okay?　You did keep your courtesy along the way, didn't you?

"Are you being manipulated?"

"Yes. Yuta is treated like a nuisance because he can't read the air.

......I worked in a Japanese society where reading the air is an essential skill, and it's laughable to say I can't read the air.

"Who is spreading rumors?　Gilmouth?"

The source is Guilmouth, but it seems to be the policy of the Adventurers' Guild as a whole. They're sharing the information with the whole guild, and they're being told to leave Yuta out of it."

Bullying is uncool. No wonder no one got involved after all the showboating. You've completely isolated yourself.

"A cheater and an airhead and a nuisance. That's a terrible accusation."

"Oh, my. You can't read the air. Yuta's already proven it. You signed up for the beginner's class in that guild atmosphere after Ertina gave you that blank stare. At that time, the adventurers around us were convinced that you really can't read the atmosphere.

"Excuse me. I was reading the air, but I just ignored the air because it was necessary."

"I don't think it's going to make much difference."

"Uh. It's one thing to be unable to read the air, and quite another to read the air and ignore it."

"To those around you, it's hard to tell the difference between the two."

"...... sure it is. Was that all you heard?"

"No. Karl and the others, the adventurers who lost a bet to you, are spreading the word about Yuta's sneakiness. They say that he's been squeezing you out of all your money, that he's been trying to influence you to take all the money you've wagered. And there are rumors that he hit on Eltina and was dumped."

"You said you didn't want to quit being an adventurer, so I forgave you with all my money, and the bet didn't go through, so I took it. That's a totally different story. I didn't hit on Miss Ertina, did I?"

"It doesn't matter if it's true or not. The goal is to make Yuta look bad.

That's terrible. Especially the part about hitting on Ertina and getting dumped is unforgivable. I wanted to hit on her if I could, but I didn't have the guts. It's unforgivable.

"What do you plan to do now, Yuta?　We're going to look back at the Adventurers' Guild, aren't we?"

Don't look so excited. You're making me feel like I need to do something great.

"Hmm. At first I thought it would be enough to do a lot of good and laugh at their lack of discernment, but that's not enough. I want to push the Adventurers' Guild into more trouble.

"Yes. You can't do things halfway. You have to make him pay for what he's done. Besides, I don't like the idea that the spirits will think badly of us when it's only our fault for telling them about the problems of the genie magician.

Was Sylphy offended on that side, too? I think I can guide the genie, too, from what I've heard. I think I can make enough progress if I just ask them simply and without any pretense.

If I teach simply, I might be used for the war, so I might as well make a clan of spiritists seriously, considering various conditions. Oh, it won't be so bad since the contract is spirit-dominant to begin with. Hmmm. It will be very interesting to see what Gilmouth will do if the spiritists start playing a big role.

"There are two things I can think of at the moment. We can go beyond the fifty levels where we are stuck in the labyrinth, and not distribute all the materials to the Adventurers' Guild. The other is to create a clan or a guild of spiritists and train them so that they can be more active than the adventurers' guild. We can do both with Sylphy and the others."

It may sound cynical, but from what I've heard, it's not impossible. Other great spirits will make a contract with us, and if we can't proceed even with that, we can ask them to introduce us to other spirits that would be more suitable for the situation. I think it will work.

"Good. Both are good. Let's do both. It'll be fun for sure."

Both?　I don't think it's easy to do both.

"It's hard to do both because we have to explore the land of the dead. I don't think we'll have enough time."

"Yeah?　It's easy to get past the 50 layers of the labyrinth with us. It's only the training of the spiritists that will require more time and effort.

"I see. Is there nothing we can't do then?　Well, let's do it one by one. First, we'll explore the labyrinth. When we can afford it, we'll train a spiritist.

"Okay. Okay. I can't wait to see the look on Guillermas' face.

I knew it. Maybe I was a bad influence. I'm sorry, Sylphie.