CH 37

The request for the subjugation of the Dark Priest and the rescue of Hero Randy and the monk Bud from the Windbreakers was determined to be a matter equivalent to the Silver-class.

However, none of the four members of the temporary party formed by Souya, Mia, Thomas, the hunter of the Windbreakers, and Rebecca, the magician, had a Silver-class, so it was necessary to invite an adventurer with a Silver-class to become the party leader.

The four of us went to the Adventurer’s Tavern next to the Adventurer’s Guild, but it was still early in the day and there were only a few adventurers in the bar.

“I don’t know who’s who in terms of rank. So I’ll leave the inviting to you all.”

Souya looked over at his companions and saw Thomas frowning. I followed Thomas’ gaze and saw a pair of men settled in a seat by the wall, chatting and laughing.

One was a tall man with silver hair parted into seven thirds. He was wearing plate mail, so he was probably a fighter. The other was a man with long, shaggy red hair tied back in a knot. Worn out leather armor. An eye patch over his right eye. Two daggers and a thief’s tool on his waist. I’m pretty sure he is a Thief.

“Thomas-kun. Is that them?”

“Yeah. I’ll go talk to them.”

Thomas headed towards the two men with a blank look on his face. When Souya looked at Mia and Rebecca, they were also giving him an uneasy look. 

“Mia-kun. Do you know them?”

“It’s a combination of Ryde-san and Jackal-san. If their ranks hadn’t changed, they would both be silver-class adventurers.”

“Is there a reason?”

“Jackal-san. No …… I’m not going say that for now.”

Mia looked like she wanted to say something, but she closed her mouth and folded her hands in a prayerful gesture as she looked down.

“Ryde-san, Jackal-san, could you lend me a hand?”

“…… Hmm? What the hell? It’s Thomas. Are you still working as an errand boy for that hero bastard?”

Thomas bowed his head to jackal with a tone of disdain.

“Well …… I’ll at least listen to you because of your errand boy services. Give it here, 1 gold coin.”

Jackal grinned, as if he sensed that Thomas was in for an unexpected surprise. Thomas wordlessly pulled out a single gold coin from the leather bag on his hip and placed it on the table.

Thomas explained to Ryde and Jackal what had happened to the Windbreakers and the renewed request that Louise had made. They listened in silence, but as the conversation became more serious, Jackal’s expression became more amused.

“…… Hey, Ryde, did you hear that? The Windbreakers messed up. They’ve been doing so well. It’s funny.”

“Hey, Jackal.”

“Ahahahahahahahahahahahaha ……! That’s some bullshit! That hero little bastard screwed up!”

“Jackal. Stop!”

“Even though you’ve been calling me a lowlife for years! It’s so funny!”

Jackal laughs disgustingly while holding his belly. Ryde clicks his tongue and sighs in exasperation. He tries to stop Jackal, but doesn’t seem to really want to stop him. 

“…… T-That’s cruel! Jackal-san, what do you think is so funny!?”

Rebecca stepped forward and protested to Jackal with an almost tearful expression and a trembling voice.

“Rebecca-chan, I’m sympathetic to you, okay? That hero bastard never looked at you …… Even though you’ve been following him for so long, how pitiful.”

“That doesn’t matter right now …… Besides, I followed him on my own because I liked him ……”

“Hahaha, that self-centered bastard got his just desserts.”

“Uhhh …… Ugh.”

“Jackal-san.”

Mia stepped between Jackal and the sobbing Rebecca and glared at Jackal.

“Oh …… If it isn’t Mia-chan. Long time no see.”

“Rebecca-san can’t help but worry about Randy-san. I know you and Randy-san don’t get along, but please don’t say anything inconsiderate like that.”

“Your angry face is cute, too. But Mia-chan, you really didn’t like that bastard, did you?”

“That doesn’t matter now …… I just hope that Randy-san is all right.”

“Heh ……”

Jackal licked his tongue and looked at Mia’s body as if he was licking it around, then pulled out his silver-class adventurer’s card from his hip pocket.

“Hey, Mia-chan. You need this shiny silver, don’t you? …… If that’s the case, I’d be happy to help you out if you’d like to spend the night with me, Mia-chan.”

Jackal smirked and tried to reach out his hand to Mia.

“Isn’t that a bit much?”

Souya stepped between Mia and grabbed Jackal’s wrist.

“…… Who the hell are you?”

“My name is Souya …… I heard that Randy-kun called you a lowlife.”

“Are you trying to pick a fight with me? …… Let go of me.”

Jackal glared at Souya, but Souya was undaunted, and continued to grab his wrist. 

“…… He may be right. You’re a lowlife yourself, aren’t you? It’s very unpleasant.”

“…… What the hell are you tightening up for! Let go of me!”

Souya let go of his hand, aiming for the moment when Jackal put his strength into trying to escape from the restraint.

“Whoaaaaa!”

Jackal lost his balance and nearly fell over.

“I let go, but…”

“…… Glasses bastard …… Damn you …… I’m going to kill you.”

Souya did not have the thin smile that he usually had when he was joking around, and he had a cold, deadly stare on his face. In the meantime, the embarrassed Jackal almost reached for his dagger, but Ryde restrained his hand.

“Come on, Jackal, that’s enough! Don’t make trouble for Louise-san …… You said your name was Souya, I’m sorry. As you can see, he’s a scumbag to the core and I’m having a hard time with him.”

“Hey, Ryde, you can’t talk to your partner like that, you know?”

“Shut up. If you weren’t the head of the Thieves Guild, I’d have beaten you up already. No, Louise-san would have cut you down before that.”

Jackal clucked his tongue in frustration and fell silent this time.

“Thomas, I understand what you’re saying. But about the offer. The answer is no. It’s too risky for a Silver-class to accept what you just said, even if I underestimated it.”

“…… Ryde-san. Is it absolutely impossible? You didn’t seem to be on bad terms with Randy, so I had some hope for you.”

Thomas asked Ryde to cling to him. He might have wanted to take him alone, except for Jackal, who had a difficult personality from the start.

“…… Let’s assume there was a dark priest. At the very least, he has the coercive power and leadership skills to take on more than two dozen goblins. And the ability to take on Randy and Bud and win …… This is not an easy job. You know best that Randy is a skilled fighter. I don’t want to deal with the guy who beat him.”

Ryde calmly presented his analysis of the request and continued.

“This is a request that should be submitted as a Gold-class case. I can only assume that Louise-san has decided to drop the assessment because she wants to rescue the victim as soon as possible. It’s not like her.”

“…… Well, that’s a composed analysis. You have a point, Ryde-kun.”

Souya praised Ryde. He has analyzed the enemy’s forces very well. But that’s why I was inclined to believe that the recruitment process would not go well. 

“Souya, right? If you’re as good as a Gold-class adventurer, then I can see why Louise-san would be interested in you …… I haven’t seen you before. Are you a new rookie?”

“This will be my second adventure …… Ryde-kun, it would be a great help if you could come.”

“…… I’m sorry, but you’ll have to look elsewhere. I wish you luck in your rescue.”

The man named Ryde was cautious. He was a Silver-class warrior, but he seemed to be the complete opposite of Randy.

“Too bad …… Oh dear. We’re back to square one. This is a problem.”

Even Souya, who was skilled in both hand-to-hand combat and magic combat, couldn’t do anything about the color of the adventurer’s card. They’ll have to find and recruit a Silver-class adventurer, but it will be impossible to convince these two men. 

At that moment, I heard a familiar voice from the entrance of the tavern.

“…… Well. I’ve earned it so much today …… With this much money, I can eat three servings of herb-roasted young chicken.”

When Souya turned around, he saw a Wood Elf girl with silver hair and pigtails at the entrance of the bar.

“I can’t believe I’m meeting the only Silver-class acquaintance we have at this time …… Hey, Merylou-kun. It’s been five days.”

———————-

There are a lot of new characters in this chapter, so it may be confusing. I apologize for that.

The following is a list of new characters.

<Windbreakers>

Randy　　

He is a descendant of the evil dragon slayer and calls himself a hero. He has light blond hair. Self-centered and overconfident. His face, voice, and sword skills are pretty good. Silver-class

Rebecca　　

A female magician with freckled red hair and a ponytail. She followed Randy’s journey from the village. Bronze-class

Thomas　　

A hunter with a good physique. Brown hair. Small voice. Childhood friend of Randy and Rebecca. Bronze-class

Bud　　　　

A shaven-headed monk of the war god Ragacia. He’s one year older than the others. He doesn’t talk much, but is surprisingly belligerent. Bronze-class

<A pair of Silver-class men.>

Ryde　　

A cautious man. He has silver hair parted in thirds. A warrior. Silver-class

Jackal　

Ryde’s partner. A red-haired bandit with long hair tied up in a bun. Has an eye patch. He has an annoying personality and is on bad terms with Randy. Silver-class.