CH 44

Episode 44: Two-Horned Stag Inn

“What is it… You’re so noisy.”

Claude, who had stubble on his face, responded. His unsightly beard made even his red hair look shabby. It might be because he was drunk.

And he looked unhappy even though his best friend had come to visit him. I wonder if he doesn’t recognize me because I’m wearing a mask.

“Did you forget how to recognize my face?”

I took off my mask so that only Claude could see me. In this tavern, which was probably louder than a chicken coop in the morning, some voices blended in. So, it wasn’t suspicious when someone was having a conversation.

“Hm…? Ah, you’re Prince Henr — mmmm!”

I had to cover his mouth with my hand because he was about to shout my name out loud. Because I knew it was not convenient. 

“Oh! I want to do that too, where you covered his mouth!”

“Don’t be hasty, little brother. Let’s wait until Claude makes his next gaffe.”

I removed my hand from Claude’s mouth before he could get angry. Claude took a few ragged breaths and then looked at me suspiciously.

I gently put the mask back on. It’s unlikely that anyone knows my face, but it’s always better to be cautious.

“You’re even wearing a disguise to hide your…identity. So what do you want? …If it’s something troublesome, look elsewhere.”

“Troublesome is it. Actually, I want money and status.”

“All the villain needs is a woman. So, you already got everything you want.”

“Oh…you backstabbing bastard.”

A joke from a backstabber. I couldn’t tell if it was funny or not, but it was very much like that.

And I really wanted the money. If I had the money, I could go look for everybody’s family, and I could use it to strengthen the defense of my territory.

“What makes you think I’m in this town?”

“You were in trouble with your business associates earlier when you helped me with Thor and Sheila. Claude who did that is pathetically discredited in the underworld. So, I wondered….if he was spending his disappointment in a nearby city. Day after day, with nothing to do…he spends the money he has accumulated from his underground work on alcohol. The coin purse is getting lighter and lighter, despite his feelings…”

“Scary… Don’t say it like you’ve seen it. Well, you’re almost right.”

“If you weren’t in this city, you’d be running around the kingdom. We’re lucky.”

Claude made a face as if he was chewing on a bitter bug. He gulped down the ale in his glass as if ruminating on his wasted days.

“Nii-sama, who is this man?”

“Oh, you’ve heard correctly. This man is Claude. He is the hammer wielder who saved Thor and her friends from being kidnapped by the villains out of righteous anger. He’s blunt, but he’s probably kind.”

“Don’t be like that, kids. I’m just a jobless man now. It’s different from your respectable status…”

Claude was dejected. His mood and eyes were down.

“I’m not the kind of guy who let my friend end up like this, Claude. I’ve come to see you because I feel a little responsible too. We also need money too, of course. Let’s work together to make some money legally.”

“Legally is it…… I remember when I registered as an adventurer. A sixth-rank adventurer, that’s a crappy title.”

Claude explained in a sober voice.

According to him, adventurers were divided into ten ranks.

The ranks of adventurers start at the tenth-rank and increase as they fulfill requests. The first-rank consisted of heroes, of whom there were only a few in the country. I’ve heard that a few of my brothers were among them. I guess they were trying to gain popularity among the people to take advantage of the faction war.

Claude was the sixth rank. He was the kind of adventurer who could consistently hunt goblins by himself. As you can tell, he’s a bit weak. It seemed to me that he had more ability than that.

“I quit being an adventurer when my friends died. After that, I fell into the underground business. Hahaha…… I’m turning 25 already and I don’t know what I’m doing…”

“You’re still registered with the Adventurer’s Guild. We’ll register too, so let’s work together.”

From what I’ve understood, I have abilities equivalent to the second or third rank, and Sareha is equivalent to the fourth rank. That’s not bad. The higher the rank, the more money you can make.

There seemed to be a difference in the strength of the demons in the dungeons of that territory and in the world in general. I felt that if someone trained in that dungeon, anyone could reach the second rank.

“Don’t you want power and money? ……If you take my hand, everything will come true. Claude, you’re the right man for it.”

“Even the devil wouldn’t make such an offer today. Well……it’s better than starving to death.”

“I’ve got your word, brother! Tomorrow is entering the adventurer’s guild.”

Sareha seemed to be somewhat happy. Yes, every boy yearns to be an adventurer.

Claude and I would be the vanguard warriors, and Sareha would be the sorcerer. If we could just find a healer, we would be perfect. Tomorrow, I would find someone and immediately accept the request.

Thinking about the future, I explained to Claude about Sareha. I’m trying not to be overheard.

He was royalty. He was in as dangerous a position as I was and that his mother was being held captive in the royal palace. Claude listened to me with a serious look on his face. 

“We’re hiding our true identities, but I’m sure they’ll find out sooner or later. I don’t want to trouble you, so I’m not going to force you to accept what I’m saying now. However, I would really like to borrow your help as you know all the ins and outs.”

“Hmm. Well, many things can happen in life. Well, now that you’ve asked, I’ll tag along. I also want some money.”

“Thanks. I think we can handle most of the missions. We’re also good at going into dungeons.”

“If they find out that you go into dungeons, they’ll be mad at you again.”

Sareha advised.

The thought of them being angry made my heart ache. They were even scarier than demons. Especially since Sheila didn’t usually get angry at all, she was even scarier when she did.

The table behind the counter suddenly became noisy.

A group of men who looked like adventurers were making a ruckus.

They seemed to be on the verge of a fight over their share of the reward request. A muscular man hit the table hard, and a silver coin floated up from the impact.

As soon as it fell with a clink, they shouted at each other again. I wonder if this is what happened when money is involved, even among friends who trust each other with their backs.

“My share is 20%, are you fucking kidding me! You bastaaaard!”

A man threw a cup with great force.

The fellow across from him dodged.

And then the flying cup hit with such force that it splashed the contents.

On Claude’s head.

“BHEH!!!”

Claude, covered in ale, twisted his face in anger, and his murderous intent increased.

When the men saw Claude, they approached him to relieve their frustration.

“I’m sorry, bro. But it’s your fault, you know. You’ve been drinking with a sour look on your face ever since.”

The men were laughing and giggling. This was bad manners. It was true that he had a sour look on his face, but there was no need to go that far.

“Oh, it looks like you want to die……oraaa!”

As soon as Claude’s fist roared, the man was blown away as if he had been shot. He fell to the ground, scattering their food around the table.

“You……!!!”

A group of people who seemed to be the man’s friends approached him. There were two of them and they had swords on their hips.

Should I join? I remember that I had this similar problem before. I think it was when I was contemplating this in front of the covered wagon that Thor and Sheila were riding in.

“Die, oraaa!”

The men came running up to him with their fists raised.

I didn’t have time to think about that, so I decided to join in.

“Ha!”

I grabbed one of the men running up to Claude by the chest and threw him down. His movements were slower than the demons I fought in the dungeon. In fact, it was way too slow. If you want to finish your opponent off, you have to move faster than he can feel your killing intent.

“Gubee!!”

The man who fell from his back to the ground moaned. Like a beast.

“The adventurer there. The ale fell on Claude-sama. You owe him an apology.”

I called out to the other man. Claude, who was suddenly addressed as “sama”, looked at me with surprise, but I ignored him. I needed to do this.

And I was really annoyed that the guy didn’t apologize to Claude. He should apologize if he spills ale all over people.

“What!? What’s with this masked kid? He looks like a lunatic.”

Calling me a lunatic was terrible. I was hoping that I would at least be seen as a weirdo. I looked to the side and saw that Sareha had grabbed his wand and was about to chant a spell, so I stopped him.

“You dare to talk like that……!”

The man’s temples twitched.

The fact that two of his friends were beaten and his reputation was damaged probably added to his frustration.

“You bastards……”

A furious man reached down to pull out the sword at his waist.

“Kyaa!”

A female clerk’s scream echoed through the restaurant, but the crowd was delighted to hear instead. They can afford to watch a fight over a drink. The owner turned a blind eye to the situation.

Mother, the world is a terrible place. I don’t think I want to go back to the palace anymore.

“Diiiiee!”

The man tried to pull out his sword. The moment I saw the edge of the blade glimpse out of the scabbard, I pulled out the sword at my waist.

I breathed in and concentrated my mind.

I exhaled and swung the sword three times with all my might. At the moment, three glittering Orichalcum Shortswords flew into the air and made a sharp sound. When I returned the sword to its sheath, the man’s sword had been cut into four pieces. The man held only the hilt of the sword, and it fell to the ground. The man grasped only the hilt of his sword and stunned.

“Wh, wh, what……who are you! This is impossible!”

“I am Claude’s loyal servant. I have no name!”

I pointed my finger at him and said one decisive line. I felt pretty good and Sareha applauded me.

His skill with the sword was still immature, but he could probably cut a stationary target with ease. In fact, the man’s sword was terrible looking.

The three men crawled out of the store.

Immediately, the surrounding customers began making noise around us.

“Claude, who is this kid!? I didn’t know you had such a strong henchman!?”

“That sword’s radiance …… is it mithril …… or orichalcum?”

“But that swordsmanship. It looked to me like the sword was swung twice.”

“Idiot! That’s three times. Look at it properly.”

It was a big commotion.

It was unexpected that a fight had suddenly broken out, but it was a good start to selling Claude’s name. If we could make a name for ourselves as servants, we could achieve our goal.

“It’s all according to Claude-sama’s will. We are followers of Master Claude-sama’s salvation. We only punished the miscreant who drew his sword in this resting place.”

“””Oh…”””

The guests around me let out a gasp at my words. It was interesting that the atmosphere made it impossible to question the fact that I had also drawn my sword.

Everyone was looking at Claude with half doubt and half expectation.

“What are you talking about…… what are you going to do with this……?”

“As you wish…”

I would make a name for myself as an adventurer in the future, but I think it was Claude who should receive the praise.

At that time, when he voluntarily saved Thor and Sheila, Claude seemed to be a different person from me. I rarely helped anyone of my own volition.

I helped Gabriel to relieve her loneliness, Thor and Sheila just because they happened to be around, and Sirius’ village originally started out as a hatred of my own family, Ace.

But Claude was willing to risk his own position to help others. He was not like me.

People like him should be rewarded more.