CH 198

After walking for a while from the equipment store, I saw the sign for the guild. I called out to Makina, thinking that the signs were all the same shape, just with different names of towns written on them.

“I’m opening, okay?”

“O-Okay.”

I opened the door nervously and went inside. There were hardly any people there, probably because it was still early in the morning, and the spacious guild was deserted.

“Heh~, It is larger than the town of Gast. I wonder if there’s a back entrance to the training grounds? The tables are beautiful too!”

A woman’s voice came from the reception area as she looked sideways at Makina looking around.

“Fufu, are you guys new to the guild? Welcome to Oriola’s Guild! I haven’t seen your face before, but do you want to start by making a card? This way, please.”

A woman with long, light purple hair smilingly gestured us to the counter. As we approached with Makina, the beautiful woman looked at us from top to bottom, then nodded her head and started talking.

“That equipment is still new, isn’t it? Let’s make you a card! Oh, I’m Leisha, by the way.”

“Oh, no, we have the card.”

I put the card out on the table, smiling as I wondered if I would be misunderstood since the equipment I bought today was indeed brand new. Leisha-san picked up the card and stared at it with narrowed eyes.

“…… Hmm, it looks like it’s not a counterfeited …… Or rather, you came from Gust territory, huh. If you have a last name, does that mean you’re from a noble family, Lars-kun?”

“Yes, it would be very helpful if you could teach me more.”

When I said that and smiled, Leisha-san laughed softly and nodded. 

“If you have a card, do you have any experience about the requests? If you just made one, I can teach you the basics?”

“Er, when I was attending the academy, I formed something called guild club and did a lot of simple requests. I’ve hunted slime and rampaging boars before.”

She said “Hoh~” with her mouth in surprise a little at Makina’s words saying and handed us back the card. Leisha-san continued to talk. 

“If you’ve done the requests before, I don’t think I have much to say. There are some monsters that are a bit different from the Gust territory, so you should move carefully when you go outside. Oh, and please stay away from the depths of the forest. So, do you want to accept a request right away? Unfortunately, we don’t have any more requests related to defeating the enemy today.”

She smiled apologetically and pointed to the bulletin board where the request form was posted. I’m just here to check on the guild and the guild master, so I’ll just fake it. I call out to Makina, giving her a look.

“It’s our fault for coming so late, so don’t worry about it. Let’s go look at the request forms, Makina.”

“I’d like to get some exercise, even if it’s just collecting.”

In front of the bulletin board a little farther away, I turn my back to Leisha-san. When the people around us were leaving with their requests, Leisha-san spoke to us. Not as a customer, but rather as a friend.

“Hey, are you two lovers?”

“What? Yes, we are.”

When I answered, Leisha-san’s eyes relaxed and she opened her mouth happily, resting her cheek on the counter.

“That’s nice. I’m sure you have a great love life since you were in school.”

“Well, I managed to win ……”

Makina replied with a troubled face, and I saw Leisha-san slouching in the reception area.

“You won!? So you’re saying you fended off a rival!? …… That’s youth, too! I don’t have any rivals, but I like obtuse guys who don’t notice me at all ……”

“Is that so? Leisha-san is beautiful, so if you tell him you like him, it will go well.”

Proving that girls like to talk about romance, Makina moved quickly to the reception desk and engaged in conversation. I listened, paging through the request forms, trying to figure out what to ask about the guild master. 

“Is he an adventurer, after all?”

“Yes, yes. It’s not easy to meet people in normal life.”

“Fufu, Teacher said the same thing too.”

“Oh, really? The person I like has been out of town for a while because of a recent fight with a buddy, but it’s yesterday, I think? He showed up at the guild! I got a little excited.”

“That’s nice!”

“He’s good, and he’s got a nihilistic feeling that I can’t describe. His name is Conrad, and he’s quite famous in the guild, you know?”

” “What!?” “

We were all surprised at the same time, but Leisha-san, who was absorbed in the conversation, didn’t care and kept talking with her hand on her cheek.

“I also think that I should confess my love to him as soon as possible so that he won’t go away again. Hey, what do you think, Makina-chan?”

“A-Ahaha ……”

Makina is confused when she finds out that Conrad is her crush, so she tries to keep the conversation going with a friendly smile. At any rate, I was thinking that if she had a run-in with Basleigh-sensei, It would be a bloody affair, not just friends, when I saw the request below my waist and my eyebrows crept up. 

“…… Trent Extermination ……?”

“What? Ah!? I’m sorry, I didn’t know that was still there. We’re not doing that right now.”

Leisha-san, who came fluttering out of the reception area, took the request form from my hand and said that while bowing her head.

“Oh, I’ve heard about the recent increase in the number of torrents, though? Would you like me to exterminate some of them?”

“Oh, that’s–“

And just as Leisha-san was about to speak, someone interrupted her from the side. He had blond hair with a goatee and a very strong physique.

“Hey, what are you chatting about?”

“Wawa, I’m sorry, Kelbrem-san! These kids look like they’re new, so we’re talking about some things ……”

It’s a love story, but without getting into it, Makina and I bobbed our heads in greeting. This is the guild master, Kelbrem.

“Yes, we’re thinking about doing some kind of request. There was a request to kill Treants, and I tried to accept it, but she said you weren’t doing this.”

When I say this, feigning ignorance, Kelbrem narrows his eyes and looks at us silently, examining our equipment.

“…… You’re young. A brand new armor too …… It’s hard for a rookie to defeat Treants, so give up. The first thing you should do is gather mushrooms. We don’t have any requests, but around here, you can try hunting blue rabbits in the shallow parts of the forest.”

“I see …… But I’m confident with my sword and magic, you know. We’ve heard that the lord and the guild aren’t moving, so we’ll take care of them–“

“You ……!”

I smiled fearlessly and said that, and suddenly fists flew at me. I dodged the fist by the skin of my teeth. Immediately afterwards, a few strands of hair flew around, causing a cut on my cheek.

“Lars!”

“Hey, Kelbrem-san!? Wait, it wasn’t hitting him ……?”

Makina and Leisha-san raise their voices, but.

“……?”

The one who looked most surprised was none other than Kelbrem. He didn’t think I could avoid it, and his eyes were wide open.

“It’s dangerous to hit someone out of the blue.”

“Hmph, so you can backup that cheeky mouth of yours, huh.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment. By the way, Leisha-san and I were talking about the fact that the Lord is troubled by the increase in the number of Treants, right? I don’t know If can I help you, but I might be able to do something. Right, Makina.”

“Yes. Even though I look like this, I have high offensive power, you know?”

Makina winked and swung her fist with [Kaiser Knuckles] on it as if she were shadowboxing. The sharp sound of the wind is pleasant to the ear. Kelbrem folded his arms, took one more look at us, then bent down and spoke in a whisper. 

“In two days, I’m going to gather some adventurers and head deep into the forest to take down Treants. Do you want to join that? There’s a good chance you’ll die, but if you want to go, I’ll take you.”

“…… I’ll go”

“Wait, Kelbrem-san, what are you talking about? These kids are still newcomers, you know!”

“They seem to be capable, and Leisha’s favorite, Conrad, is going too. They won’t die easily. Meet me at the back of the guild at six in the morning.”

“Yes, sir.”

After saying that, Kelbrem retreated to the back, leaving only us and a few adventurers behind. They seemed to be watching us with nervousness, but when Kelbrem disappeared into the back, they were relieved and went back to their own world.

“…… Hah~ …… That surprised me …… In the future, please don’t do anything that will provoke Kelbrem-san …… the Guilldmaster, okay? That guy is basically friendly, but he has a temper and is quick to take action. Anyway, Treants, will you be okay?”

“Well, maybe.”

“Maybe ……”

Leisha’s shoulders slumped in dismay as she muttered.

“Well, If you feel like I’ll die, we’ll run away. In the meantime, if that’s the case, I’ll not do the request to save my energy. Let’s go, Makina.”

“Right. Hmm, I’m starting to look forward to this!”

“W-What the hell are those kids ……”

I thought I heard Leisha’s confused voice as I left, but I left the guild as is.

Nevertheless, Kelbrem …… I don’t know if he’s related to the threat letter, but he smells pretty bad in the sense of “I’m about to do something”.

Conrad says he won’t go with them, so we won’t be able to get any evidence, I guess? At any rate, I’ll have to tell Basleigh-sensei and Conrad what happened.

Now then, is it time for Lars and Makina’s musou to start?

(T/N: Musou means peerless, unparalleled, and matchless; Is it their peerless/unparalleled/matchless journey starting?)

Thank you for reading!

[Afterword Theater]

“Lars, you’ve taken on an unusually unpleasant role.”

I’ve heard that if you provoke someone and see how they react, you can almost always tell who they are. Isn’t that right, Useless Goddess?

“I’ll kill you ……!”

Oh, she’s no good.