Chapter 42: Better Next Time (7)

Chapter 42: Better Next Time (7)

The guy who volunteered to guide us was quite the chatterbox.

He told us that Grü Teltz was his hometown, and he had been a pirate before but quit his job and became an adventurer. However, he also quit being an adventurer after what happened in Tatara, which led him to return to his hometown. He was currently helping his younger brother run a tavern. He kept talking without a single break.

“Be patient.”

The problem was Deb. If it were just me, I could pass it off as something good that made the time pass faster, but Deb misunderstood, which meant I couldn’t just ignore this.

In other words, I had to act angry to meet Deb’s expectations.

“...Mind your own business.”

No, I mean, it was true that my character didn’t like such meaningless chatter, but for him to go so far.

Did he think I was going to pull out my sword or something? I didn’t set up my character to go that far, though.

Just how did Deb see me for him to jump to such conclusions?

“Here we are.”

「Grü Teltz: Adventurers’ Guild」

Anyway, we safely arrived at the Adventurers’ Guild. I opened the door, which was unusually large compared to the other cities I had been to. Although it was late at night, I could still see several lights inside.

“Yes, this is the Grü Teltz Adventurers’ Guild.”

The clerk welcomed us with a somewhat arrogant attitude, his feet propped up on another chair. It seemed like he had been inspecting his nails, only lifting his head half a beat later.

“What? I heard you retired, though?”

“Those guys have business here, not me.”

He had the tanned skin of someone who lived near the sea and brown eyes that looked toward me. His eyes, which I couldn’t tell whether they seemed lazy or tired, paired with his blond hair, gave him a delinquent-like impression.

“Woah, a new face. What brought you here so late at night?”

However, it seemed he hadn't yet completely given up on his job. As soon as he saw us, he lowered his legs and straightened his upper body.

“A request, something regarding the Sea Dragon.”

I threw my Adventurers’ card towards the window before the clerk could even ask for more details. Perhaps because he would have to check my identity anyway, the clerk grabbed it lightly.

“I've verified it, but... the Sea Dragon?”

“If you phrase it like that, no one will understand what you mean.”

Fortunately, I had someone who could supplement the words I’d omitted to act out my character. Deb stepped forward and explained the situation.

“Wh-What?”

“I can’t believe something huge like that happened!”

The former adventurer, who had decided against leaving, was indignant, and the clerk looked rather sad. He didn’t seem all too surprised by what he heard, but he also didn’t fully believe us.

“It’s true that the weather has become kind of unpredictable these days, and our catches have decreased a lot, but... We haven’t discovered anything unusual. We have a Magic Tower, as well as a Temple in this city, so if there were any Demon Worshipers, they would have noticed it long ago.”

“That remains to be seen. And whatever the cause, it’s clear the Sea Dragon has been consumed by Negative Energy.”

“Still, I can’t just believe you that easily...”

“No. It has to be true.”

“Hey, you.”

“Why would a man who received a Medal of Honor from Tatara tell lies?”

“Wait, what? The Medal of Honor?”

The clerk suddenly widened his eyes and stared at me. What he did next was request something in a trembling voice.

“Erm, could you please show it to me....”

“What does this have to do with that?”

“Even the Guild cannot ignore the request of an adventurer who has received the medal. Even if you have evidence to support your claims, it will take some time to check all the facts... If the adventurer owned such a medal, it would greatly shorten the time taken.”

In the end, the world only showed you any respect if you had money, fame, or something equivalent. I searched through my inventory, realizing the truth of the world once more.

I threw the medal toward the clerk. It arched through the air and landed in his palm, although he was making quite a fuss while trying to catch it, causing it to bounce a few times.

“...Isn’t that kind of a waste, Mister?”

“It’s just a meaningless trinket.”

Was there any reason for me to cherish it? The Demon Knight was someone who refused fame and wealth and only obsessed over revenge. I feigned an ill-tempered expression on my face.

“Seriously...”

At that moment, the clerk, who had checked the medal’s authenticity, spoke up. His tongue ran over his dry lower lip.

“Is there really something wrong with the Sea Dragon?”

“I don’t know.”

“Didn’t you just say there was something wrong with it?”

“I won’t confirm something I haven’t seen in person. I only pointed out the possibility.”

“This one, I guess. Would you like to take a look?”

To be precise, there was only one.

“The pirates who until now were running rampant on the southern coast are slowly moving closer to us. We plan to launch a large-scale subjugation, so this request involves that matter. Recruitment ends in the next two hours. The rest are just bounty-hunting requests: all you have to do is decapitate the pirate requested. However, there is a high possibility these will become obsolete due to today’s subjugation.”

And all the rest had to do with the same thing.

“What would you like to do?”

In other words, the fact that I had to board a ship eventually didn’t change, no matter what I did. It was fate at this point.

“...”

“Are you okay? You’ll get seasick again...”

“What? You get seasick, Mister?”

As I remained silent, the Archmage needlessly opened his mouth. I was already thinking about that, but just hearing that comment made me come to a decision.

The corners of my mouth trembled, and the muscles around my left eye twitched slightly.

“I’ll... do it.”

Uuurgh. Why was he asking when he already knew what would happen if he hurt my pride? Was he actually trying to bully me here?! Was it like that?!

“Will you really be fine?”

Ugh.

I gritted my teeth, trying to control my expression, barely suppressing the urge to whine.

I would like to say it was all an act, but how could that be possible? I really had to hold my tears back at this moment. If I became emotional now, I would seriously break character.

“It’s nothing... you guys... have to concern... yourselves with.”

I broke my sentence into pieces while speaking and strained my eyes. It wasn’t that hard to do. All I had to do was look as if my anger was about to burst out from within me.

Fortunately, I didn’t seem to have exaggerated it in the eyes of the others.

“Don’t overdo it.”

I had been overdoing it for some time, so wasn’t that statement a bit late?

I glared at the mage as I signed the request form. With that, the observant clerk quietly announced the contract established.

“As you may have noticed, you must go to the indicated location and join up with the city forces. The deadline is 8 o’clock today.”

Since it was a large-scale subjugation, as he’d said, it would involve a moderately large fleet going around the sites where the pirates were active. I felt this request was quite a good way to kill time.

We were told they would pay us 10,000 Gal per head, but I had no idea how many pirates there were. Wouldn’t it be good if we managed to at least make some money with this request?

“We’ll go with you, as well.”

“I-In that case, would you please present me with your adventurer’s card...?”

The others in the party also tried following me, arbitrarily signing the contract, as well. I wasn’t very happy about that.

If it wasn’t for those guys to begin with...

Ah, wait. The more I thought about it, the angrier I got.

“Ah, this old man should stay behind. There needs to be at least one of us who can monitor the situation.”

“Ah, I understand.”

“I don’t have an adventurer’s card.”

“How about getting one, then?”

I turned around, suppressing the resentment bubbling up in me. My three-pronged coat tail fluttered as I did so, like the tail feathers of a bird.

“Ah, please wait a bit!”

“Urgh, do I really have to take some test to become an adventurer?!”

“We don’t just accept anyone as an adventurer.”

“Uuurgh.”

Be patient, patient. There was a saying that goes, "If you can’t avoid it, enjoy it.” This might also be an opportunity, after all.

An opportunity to get rid of my seasickness. I wasn’t actually sure whether seasickness was something one could eliminate through experience, though.”

“Demon Knight!”

“I hate acting without compensation...”

“Will you stay behind, then?”

“It’s already done. I need to increase my experience with ships...”

I tilted my head back slightly, remembering the location written on the request.

It seemed the Archmage would be sitting this one out, so would it be possible for me to lead those two dumplings while also enduring my seasickness?

I suddenly felt anxiety welling up in me.