104 - - Episode 102 The Punishment of Carls

I think I drank a little too much at the lunchtime drinking party with Sylphy and his friends, but I feel heavy. After all, Nomos joined us and we emptied two barrels. I had intended to drink only one keg, but since we started drinking at noon, it was not enough at all.

We managed to appease Nomos, who was begging for another keg, and sent Dine, Nomos, and Dolly back to sleep, and by the time we fell asleep, it was past the date. But you know what? Who would benefit from a bearded old man's coaxing?

Good morning, Yuta.

"Oh, good morning Sylphy. Are you feeling well?"

"Hmm. I'm fine."

Sylphy smiles, not a trace of alcohol left in her system. It's a little hard for me, even though I've been going out to eat with Sara and the others, and taking little breaks here and there. Is it because I'm a spirit?

"Yuta. Good morning... cue... good morning... cooing...

I greeted the belles in the morning and went to Sarah's room to calm down the energetic belles, prepared breakfast for the spirits, and then Sarah and I went to the dining room.

.................. Normally this would not be a problem, but with a little alcohol left in my system, the hearty breakfast at the inn was too much for me.

"Well, we'll go to the Adventurers' Guild today, check on what happened yesterday, and then go to the labyrinth. Sarah and the others have gotten used to the labyrinth and we are planning to go to the sixteenth layer, but we may take a day off depending on the development of the Adventurers' Guild. Well, just be prepared. If you go to the sixteenth layer, you will have to stay the night.

Okay. - Yes.

Now, let's see how yesterday's events are affecting you. ...... can't turn out to be a bad thing, unless you've been falsely accused or something.

I tell Martha that I might stay in the labyrinth for a couple of days this time, and leave the inn.

** **

I entered the Adventurers' Guild with some trepidation, and a stirring occurred. I had been coming to the Adventurers' Guild every day recently, so I had been ignored, but the fact that there was a buzz today probably had something to do with what had happened yesterday. I'll ask Sylphy about the conversation among the adventurers later, but first let's talk to Ertina.　　

As we approach Ertina's counter, some adventurers leave the line. It seems that we are back to the situation of dealing with a tumor.

"Good morning, Ms. Ertina. I wanted to ask you about the incident that our children were involved in yesterday.

When it is my turn, I call out to Ms. Ertina.

"About yesterday. Could you please come to the back of the room so that we can talk with you?

Ertina is expressionless as usual. I think it would be nice to see a little change since she fought off the kidnappers with her spirit technique ....... Apparently fighting off kidnappers is not enough to be considered a spiritist. I'm a little curious to know what kind of a level of a spiritualist is surrounded by royalty and aristocrats.

I wonder if it would be a good idea to follow the faceless Ms. Ertina to the back of the house.　I don't want to start another strange rumor.

"I'm a little worried about the back. After I went to the back of the house before, there were unfounded rumors that I hit on Ertina and was rejected, so it won't be good for either of us. Is this something you can't talk about here?"

I'd hate to hear rumors that he attacked Ms. Eltina next. Based on past patterns, I can't say that it won't happen. I feel safer where everyone is. It's a little late for that.　

"There's nothing I can't tell you about ......."

Then this is the place, please.

"...... Okay. Okay, I'll talk to you here. Those who have been captured know they are innocent. They say you and Mr. Carle set them up.

You're not living up to your word. But maybe it's not a bad argument, since there is a possibility that Guilmouth would take their side.

"I don't have to go to the trouble of setting them up, do I? Why should I set them up in the first place?

"After losing the duel, I heard that you were spreading rumors to ruin your reputation, so you must have a motive."

I see. I mean, you say "I heard that he was there" in an uncertain way, but the Adventurers' Guild was fully aware of it. In fact, they were even encouraging them to do so. The way they talk as if the guild is not responsible reminds me of the bureaucrats.

I can only say that I wouldn't go to the trouble of setting them up just for that. So what does the Adventurers' Guild, the source of my bad reputation, think about it?

"We have investigated each of them individually and found several inconsistencies in their stories. I don't think their conviction will stand unless something new comes to light."

I tried to be lightly sarcastic, but it was easily brushed off. Well, let's convict the necromancer because we don't like him!　It's a good thing it didn't turn out like that. Gilmouth seems to be wondering if I can't be punished along with him somehow.

"It's not confirmed yet? Then please tell me what the charges will be if they are confirmed.

"Expulsion from the Adventurers' Guild. You will be handed over to the Guard and given a sentence appropriate to the crime. The guild does not have jurisdiction over the sentence, but since it is attempted kidnapping and attempted murder, you will probably be sentenced to forced labor in a remote area or military service in a war zone.

Ms. Ertina explains in a matter-of-fact way, as if she were talking about someone else. I think it's okay to show a little more emotion. But military service in a war zone sounds like an incredibly exhausting experience. Forced labor in a remote area seems to be quite tough, too. It's a scary world.

What's going to happen to Karl and the other guy?

"Although it was a crime committed by a member of your party, we prevented the crime and captured him, so you will not be penalized. But you lost your equipment and your friends, so it must be hard.

I feel like I'm being told it's your fault. You are completely ignoring the guild's responsibility for spreading rumors. I guess you have to be that thick-skinned to make it as an organization.

However, as a person who has been spreading bad rumors, I wonder if there is no punishment for it. I wonder if there is no law against stalkers in other worlds.

It seems that the laws are very lax. But I'm afraid that if you are caught, you will be easily punished by death or never get out alive. Well, now that we've heard most of what we wanted to know, let's go to the labyrinth. Bell and the others are getting bored.

I understand. We're going to the labyrinth now, if you'll excuse us.

Please wait. We haven't finished our conversation. Mr. Karl told me that the spirit you sent to protect the children fought off the kidnappers. Is that true?

It's true.

Can you prove it?"

...... Proving it is easy. Just ask Sylphy and he'll take your mind off of it. But if you prove it here, all your hard work will be in vain. And if we prove it here, it won't have any effect on Guilmas.

If we show our power now, Gilmas will be pissed off, but if we can use it, he'll leave us alone. Or they will continue to harass us like they don't give a shit. No. Let's say no.

"Hmm. I can prove it if you testify and apologize for all the harassment that Guilmouth and the Adventurers Guild have put me through."

"...... Do you really think the guild would do such a thing?"

I know, right? No organization bows down to a paper.

"I don't know.　My parents taught me to apologize when I did something wrong, didn't they?"

I do my best to withstand the icy glare. In a sense, it is amazing that his attitude did not change even though he must have heard that I had used the genjutsu, even though it was passed down from person to person. Or, as I thought earlier, is the low evaluation of the genjutsu-jutsu-jutsu-jutsu-sha amazing.

"Hmm. I understand. That's enough."

I won. Well, I didn't win anything, but I feel like I did.

Now, if you'll excuse me.

I leave the Adventurers' Guild with a subtle "what the hell is he doing?

"Master. Is it okay for me to say that?"

The moment we left the guild, Marco came to us with a worried look on his face.

"Hmmm. I know it's not very good, but it's not a problem since the relationship was bad to begin with. But nothing good happens when you get in trouble with people, so don't use it as a reference."

Was it bad education to bring them to the guild together?　I brought him along because lately he's just been ignoring me, but after what happened yesterday, maybe it would have been better if he came alone.

"Okay."

"Yeah. Well, sometimes you have to fight even if you don't want to, so let's try to think as much as possible."

That's it. If I had kept my cool then, my trouble with Guilmouth would have been much smaller. I don't regret it, but I should be sorry. You really shouldn't lose your temper.

"Yes."

I pat the nodding heads of Sarah and the others and head for the labyrinth. I guess I'll be responsible if they grow up to be bad characters.

"Yuta. It's going to be interesting!"

Sylphy came to me, looking very happy. Did you pick up any good information at the Adventurers' Guild?

(What happened?)

"Hmmm. First of all, I'd like to talk about the conversation among the adventurers at the guild. They seem to be having a hard time deciding what to do about Yuta. One of them said that he can use spirit magic remotely, and the other said that a spirit magician who can use a huge hammer is amazing. ...... I spit in front of him. I'm not sure if that's a good idea or not.　I'm split between adventurers who are like, "Oh, my God!"

So you have a divided opinion. I don't really care about it as long as I don't get spat at directly, but I am curious why Sylphy chose that story as an example.

Also, I wouldn't spit in front of someone when I can wield a huge hammer. He's an idiot. Did you think it's okay because the guild recommends it?

（So, what's the real story?　(By the sound of it Sylphy, you mean Gilmas?)

"Uh-huh. You're right. I've been scratching my head because the Fire Dragon materials have been flowing in, and I've been getting requests from the royalty and nobility to meet the adventurers who broke through, and I've been inundated with requests from various places to obtain the divine power plants."

I see. It can't be said that we don't know who has broken through the labyrinth, and the divine power herb is the herb that can be obtained after the sixty-sixth layer, which is written in the book of heroes and can make a very rare medicine to recover from a deficiency.

The fact that magic grass and almighty grass are now available shows that people have already broken through to the 56th layer, right? It would be expected to be obtained. But in this case, I wonder if Gilmouth would be more worried about whether to sell the herb of divine power to Marie's store or not to sell it in the market at all. It's fun information indeed.

（Hmmm... Sylphy. Thank you. I'll see what I can do to make it the most fun.)

"I'm counting on you."

While I was having fun thinking about it, I arrived at the labyrinth. It didn't take us long at the guild, and we'll make it to the sixteenth level by the end of the day.

I'll get to the sixteenth level today.

We quickly trudged through the 15th layer and entered the forest on the 16th layer.　Orcs appeared in the first to the fourteenth layers, but Fuk-chan and the others were able to defeat them without any problem, so I guess the only dangerous ones are trolls. Since we had won too easily so far, we can train with a sense of urgency against trolls.

"I'm going to leave the base today and take a rest. Sylphy said that the trolls coming out of this layer can't be defeated with a single blow by Fuchu and the others, so we need to think about how we can work together.

"Can we beat them?"

Yes, I can. Strong body and thick fat. They say it has a high self-healing ability, but you can beat it depending on how much damage you do to it. Good luck."

I wasn't sure, since Belle and her friends could easily kill a troll. And it doesn't matter how strong your body is in front of a magic saw.

But there's a big difference in power between floating spirits and lower level spirits. I wonder how hard they have to work to become a lower class spirit.

"Okay. We'll talk it over.

"Yes. If you have any questions, just ask.

After dinner is over, we watch Sarah and the others as they play with Belle and the others and plan their strategy. They have a lot on their minds and are looking forward to tomorrow.