CH 56

After leaving the weapon shop, Souya decided to head to the Adventurer’s Guild on his way. The master of the weapon shop told him that he now needed to get a letter of introduction from the Adventurer’s Guild to ask Doga, the dwarf blacksmith, to make the weapons.

Doga was an old acquaintance who had taken care of me twenty years ago, but unlike before, he had changed his name to Souya and his appearance was different. I am not even sure if he remembers the name Rei that I used in the past. It would be better to have a formal procedure in place, in case he forgot about the past.

In front of the Adventurer’s Guild, Souya encountered a pair of people he recognized.

“…… Geh! You are!”

The man with the shaggy red hair tied back in an eye patch at the entrance to the guild was Jackal, a Silver-class thief.

“…… Oh, that saved me the trouble. You said your name was Jackal. I’ve been looking for you.”

Souya hold his glasses with his middle finger and glared at Jackal. He was a man who had been involved in a dispute with me the last time I was asked to rescue an old fort, and he had a big attitude and was intimidating. It was probably because he had underestimated Souya as a lowly rookie.

He was also the boss of Rat, the Thief who followed Souya last night, and it seems that the tailing was done under his orders. I think I need to question him about that now.

“W-Wait a minute! …… I’m asking for a fight with the demonslayer!”

Jackal’s eyes widened and he thrust his hands out in a loud plea. Where was the bravado the other day, now that Souya has become a demon slayer, he seems to be very timid now. 

“A thief named Rat, who had been following me, confessed that he had been paid by you. Is it the thieves’ way to pick a fight by sending their underling?”

“T-That bastard …… I told him not to mention my name …… No, I did instruct him to gather information on the demon slayer. But I didn’t instruct him to track you around! Damn it, even though he can’t track someone that well.”

Jackal’s body was shaking slightly as he mumbled to himself. I’m not sure if he’s telling the truth, but it seems he didn’t instruct him to follow me.

Jackal’s face became tense and he suddenly started to get down on his knees, as if he had collapsed without strength. Seeing this sudden change, Souya almost blew up and involuntarily held his mouth.

“You know why I’m here. I was thinking of reporting to the Adventurer’s Guild.”

The reason for going to the Adventurer’s Guild was to get a letter of introduction to Doga, but Souya thought that he should also report the incident of last night’s tracking.

I’m not going to dignify myself with the title of Demon Slayer, but the possibility of being followed in the future like I was yesterday is more than a little annoying.

“The Adventurer’s Guild …… Anything but that. Please.”

When he saw Jackal rubbing his head on the ground, his partner Ryde, a silver-class fighter, looks dumbfounded.

“…… Jackal. You sent someone to follow Souya-san?”

“Rude, please help me apologize to him too. I didn’t mean to offend him who became a demonslayer.”

Ryde put his hand on his forehead and sighed, then turned back to Souya.

“Souya-san, it seems this idiot did something rude to you. I apologize …… Also, congratulations on being a Demonslayer. You really are no ordinary person, after all.”

Ryde apologized for Jackal and congratulated Souya for being a Demonslayer.

“It’s nothing for you to apologize for, Ryde-kun. The subjugation was really a close call. Honestly, I can only say that I was lucky to have survived.”

“I see …… Well, I’m glad I didn’t go at that time. I would have been helpless against the Silver Demon …… Also, It’s a shame about Randy. He was a good swordsman.”

It seems that Ryde had some interaction with the Hero, Randy, as a fellow swordsman. Their personalities were so different that they could be considered opposites, but as silver-class swordsmen, he may have some thoughts about his deaths. 

“…… Hmph, I’m sorry to Souya, but not to that hero bastard. I don’t care if he dies in vain. …… He scorned the work I did, calling it lowly, after all.”

Jackal sat on the ground, shrugging his shoulders and swearing. They must have been on bad terms. Even now that Randy’s death had been confirmed, he had not changed his attitude.

“Randy-kun’s sense of justice was overwhelming. I guess he couldn’t accept an openly evil person like you.”

“I’m sure you understand it, Souya. Adventurers don’t always have pretty jobs. The world needs dirty cogs like us.”

Jackal spat out in self-mockery. Ryde neither denied nor confirmed Jackal’s words, but listened in silence. He was Jackal’s partner. Together with him, they are probably adventurers who make a living by actively taking on dirty work.

The Adventurer’s Guild doesn’t take on any illegal requests, but there are many gray jobs that so-called ordinary adventurers would not want to take on.

When Souya was transferred to another world twenty years ago, he was asked by a not-so-reputable lord to suppress a peasant revolt through the Adventurers’ Guild.

At that time, I grasped the situation, scrambled with my friends, and somehow managed to bring about a settlement between the two camps, but suppressing it with force was probably the quickest and most fruitful solution.

“Well, I think Randy-kun was too idealistic. I guess it’s true that the adventurer’s guild needs someone like you too.”

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Souya paused for a beat, then continued.

“But that is that. I have not yet forgiven you. The fact that you were rude to Mia-kun is still bothering me.”

Souya pointed out that Jackal had thrown an obscene word at Mia.

“Ah …… haha. I’ll apologize to Mia-chan next time. Is it fine if I just tell her that I’m sorry?”

“I’ll tell her that. You should just stay away from her in the future.”

Souya’s intimidating attitude began to frighten Jackal again. Apparently, he had been unable to stand up even though he wanted to. I wondered if I had threatened him too much. I’m sure he has his own pride, so it’s probably best to end this here.

“…… Well, I’ll leave it at that. You are a leader of the thieves’ guild, right? There’s a possibility that I’ll ask for your help in the future. Let’s be friendly …… but please be careful from now on. I want to be a gentleman.”

Souya reached out his hand to Jackal in a hunched posture and dared to put on the business smile that had scared Rat last night.

Ryde, Randy, and Rat …… I’ve got a lot of supporting roles starting with R now. I’ll be careful.