Cooperation
Cooperation
The departure had been ordinary, but the road to the city was never smooth.
Why was it different from the way there, when the same people were moving in exactly the same way? It was because of the cargo loaded behind our horses, that's why.
Our party, which had been nothing but high risk low return, transformed into a high risk high return treasure goblin—and the dumbass brigands who thought exactly that began enthusiastically showing themselves.
"What the hell is wrong with the security around here?"
"Lately... it's been a real shitshow..."
"No, how can the ones they call a gate city be in this state? Where the hell are all the taxes going that they collect for security upkeep?"
A dog-fucked shitshow of a world. Traveling the plains, the number of bandit bastards we met outnumbered adventurers and civilians combined.
It was absurd, but the closer we got to Englem—the southern gate city that was also Sen's party's main stage of operations—the more the security turned into a total shitshow. Was it even remotely sane that the bandits I'd cut down numbered nearly fifteen just while we traveled to the point where the city's outline became visible in the distance?
That came out to five killed a day. Thinking it was only right to suspect that someone might be deliberately sending people after us at that rate, I decided to bring it up while I was at it.
"If there's a good chance someone with a grudge is after your life, or you've done enough that you've faced threats to your life, raise your hand."
When I raised my own hand as a demonstration in front of the group seated around the campfire we'd lit to warm up for a moment, all ten gazes merely focused on me, and no one else raised a hand.
The meaning of their stares and the situation where only my hand was raised was so painfully clear that I muttered to myself involuntarily.
"...Ah, fuck. Am I the culprit?"
"Pfft!"
There was too much that came to mind, so I couldn't even offer a rebuttal.
Was it me? Was it really me?
Except for Asilie, who burst out laughing at my single muttered comment, the others still seemed to understand the intent of my words and, albeit with uncomfortable expressions, began to objectively analyze the situation.
"There didn't seem to be any commonality among the bandits who attacked us, though. Could it not just be a coincidence?"
"I share a similar opinion to Mr. Gin... but admittedly, as Eldmia says, the frequency is at a somewhat strange level. If we're going to split hairs, it's closer to 'not natural'."
"It's a bit subtle to call it a commonality, but weren't the bandits unusually well-equipped? We ended up putting more into our cargo than we threw away."
"They also seemed to have a weird degree of cohesion..."
It was nice that a fine debate had opened up, but time just slipped by without reaching any conclusion that felt like a smoking gun. If I'd sensed something was off earlier, I should have caught at least one running away and tried torturing them or something.
In the end, after wrapping up a debate that was little more than killing time, we set our goal on entering Englem. The problem was ultimately that we were hauling around a bunch of valuable shit, so once we liquidated all of this, the journey would become peaceful again.
"...There was a time when I thought that, too."
That was never the case.
Instead, all we had was Sen, whose eyes had rolled back in fury and who was bouncing up and down, and Kals trying to restrain her.
"Are you fucking kidding me right now!? I'm Kikuidel Sen! A red-rank adventurer registered with the Adventurers' Guild! I've got an ID card, so what do you mean adventurers of unknown identity, you piece of shit!"
She'd been docile in front of me lately so I'd forgotten, but this one also had no brakes on her temper or her mouth. Even with her opponent being a guard, I quite liked her attitude of speaking her mind without holding back about the unreasonable treatment she was receiving.
Though, of course, the guard did not appreciate her attitude.
"Khaak, ptui! You can throw all the tantrums you want, you're not getting in. Englem currently prohibits entry to adventurers."
The guard, who had been lazily scanning the gazes of those in similar straits to us that were beginning to gather toward the gate thanks to Sen making a rare spectacle of herself, simply spat on the ground with a sullen look and delivered a one-sided notice.
"You!! Fucking!! Dog!!"
A torrent of curses erupted from Sen's mouth, but the guard merely picked at his ear hole and didn't even give a proper reaction.
If anything, it was strange that he maintained such a reaction. As I saw it, it was plenty enough to apply obstruction of official duties, yet he stayed still—was this roadblock not following any formal procedure?
Recalling the law provisions I remembered, being able to block adventurers from entering like this was only possible if the city was under siege or by order of a legally authorized authority figure, so it really shouldn't be an easy occurrence.
"Seneran. Do you happen to have something like an identification document?"
"No. I only brought out the adventurer tag I got ages ago."
Hmm. That was a shame. If only I could prove she was the owner of the Magic Library, we could have just pushed through under the pretext of being her escort.
Seeing as there were quite a few people outside with tents pitched waiting for this absurd blockade to lift, it didn't seem like they were strong-arming only us, and if we just ran all the way to the capital like this, the bandit bastards would probably come foaming at the mouth to attack again, annoying me to death...
Ugh. I really must be someone who drags incidents and accidents wherever I go. If staying put doesn't resolve it, I've got no choice but to move personally.
"Excuse me. Might I ask the reason the blockade order was issued?"
When I dismounted from my horse and stepped forward, as if by magic, the wave of curses Sen had been spewing cut off abruptly. Whether that had been effective in its own way or not, the guard, seeing her reaction, showed a response that was a little more subdued than when dealing with Sen and answered my question.
"Recently, some thieves who'd joined hands with adventurers came inside and caused a pretty major incident. The noble lord who got badly burned by it is currently seeing red. Trust what I'm telling you. Even if it's a bit shitty for you folks right now, you're far better off pitching tents here and weathering the storms until the noble lord's temper cools. Even the adventurers originally inside the city aren't setting foot outside their lodgings."
Were they combing through the city like hunting lice to root out the culprits? Unexpectedly, the blockade order itself had been carried out through legal procedure, and the guard, being decent, had stayed quiet even after hearing Sen's obscenities that bordered on obstruction of official duties.
If he was willing to extend a bit of kindness like that rather than acting high-handed, then we should respond courteously as well.
"Thank you for your consideration. However, we are also pressed for time. Now that I know the circumstances, I have no intention of insisting unreasonably to be let in. However, could you at least deliver a message to the Englem Adventurers' Guild? Naturally, I will make it worth your while."
"...Well, if just delivering a message can earn me my drinks."
Whether the guy was the reasonable type or the one silver coin I discreetly offered him made him the reasonable type, I didn't know, but I smiled genially for now.
"Thank you. Please inform the Englem Adventurers' Guild that Eldmia Ega, who was commissioned a secret quest by the Capital Adventurers' Guild's guild master Engrim, requests identity verification."
Englem. Engrim. Come to think of it, they were similar. There probably wasn't some connection there.
At first, I'd considered myself lucky if he just went during shift change, but the guard demonstrated diligence worth at least the price of one silver coin, immediately asked someone else to cover for him, and vacated his post.
"Uh... Eldmia? Will that actually work?"
We'd sidestepped away from the roadblock since it wasn't going to budge anyway and had been waiting, so Yekaterina tilted her head and tossed out the question.
"Who knows?"
"What do you mean 'who knows'... if it doesn't work, doesn't that silver coin just fly away?"
"That's true, but I think it probably will."
Still, he was someone who'd been personally commissioned by the royal family to report back, so wouldn't the fact that I'd raised hell in all directions have naturally reached his ears anyway?
My intention in dropping only my name without mentioning all of Gaendal's party was for that effect, but if the result turned out to be 'they still say no?', I'd feel pretty damn awkward.
"Definitely, if the guild master puts in a word, entry will be smooth. Even the fact that you received such a quest is, in itself, already based on a certain level of trust. That seems plausible."
"The guild has also been building up a communication network in collaboration with the library, after all. If we remember this trick well, it seems there'll be an opportunity to use it at least once more sometime."
Worse, Gaendal and Mr. Gin started nodding and accepting it on their own as if our entry into the city was already an established fact, which started making me self-conscious for nothing.
"It'll be pretty awkward if we can't get in after all this."
"...My thoughts exactly."
I agreed with Asilie's opinion, which was exactly the same as mine, and we waited for about thirty more minutes. The guard who had vacated his post appeared in the distance.
Fortunately, he didn't return alone. A man wearing a light cloak over the uniform that guild receptionists typically wore was running alongside him. When I spotted him, the rest of the party also looked at him with eyes full of curiosity, and Sen spoke up first.
"Oh, it's Receptionist Kunz. That friend has some experience, so he doesn't move carelessly. I've got a good feeling about this."
"Considering that... doesn't the atmosphere feel a bit overly welcoming?"
This time around, even I started to have the same question as Merdela. In the end, this was just a bothersome escort for a slightly less troublesome customer, so why such a reaction?
"Welcome to Englem, Eldmia! I'm Kunz, assigned to guide you to the guild... Oh? Sen and other party members are with you as well?"
Kunz, who politely reached out a handshake to me while also skillfully greeting Sen, had a strangely tense look about him.