Legend of the Southern
Legend of the Southern
Balrus, who had settled in remarkably quickly for someone who had fearlessly stuck his head into the adventurer industry like any other newcomer, was a fairly decent talent. The flaw, though, was that he foamed at the mouth whenever he saw people impersonating Eldmia.
Still, quite a few people viewed him favorably for his unyielding sense of justice in never forgiving scammers... but there were also plenty who thought an anger-management problem was more plausible than justice, given that the impersonators tracked by the guild already numbered over twenty and seven of them were standing right there.
Of course, putting all that aside, Balrus's actions were justified. No one at the guild had any complaints about what he did. In fact, they were supportive enough to slip him a cheap recovery potion on the sly after a scuffle.
In a way, it was a situation perfectly primed to give the impression that the guild was letting adventurers do its dirty work instead of directly cracking down on such fraudulent acts, but the guild wasn't standing by because it wanted to.
From the very start, as soon as Eldmia had vanished and those kinds of people had begun to appear, it was the guild that had first cracked down hardest and put a stop to them. No matter how trashy their behavior was, having personnel you might need in a pinch die off because they recklessly pulled stupid stunts was a huge loss even from the guild's perspective, so that was only natural.
Strictly speaking, it was the same logic as restricting adventurers from crossing the continent in winter. Even if their character was questionable, they were still adventurers capable of handling jobs above a certain rank.
At the very least, moving between cities in winter still held some possibility of arriving safely, but an Eldmia impersonator caught by Eldmia himself was highly likely to end up maimed or dead. The guild went so far as to hand out reward money to those who reported impersonators, working hard to clamp down on their criminal activities.
However, sanctions like that were only possible when there was a definite witness or when a victim came forward with evidence. The capital was vast, and the guild was limited. There was absolutely no way to catch every single idiot running around pulling shady shit outside on the sly.
Even so, if they went around punishing people as impersonators simply for carrying a sword and leading a single dog without any proof, unusual individuals like demonic beast tamers wouldn't even be able to set foot in the guild. Someone who was nothing more than a hunter who actually kept a dog could be falsely accused and suffer harm.
Thus, no matter how obvious the intentions of those gathered in front of the notice board were, from the guild's standpoint, there was no choice but to accept their flimsy excuse that they were merely a sudden spike in dog lovers.
Even if they wanted to get rid of them for being so deplorable, it was only natural that the guild receptionists rated Balrus highly, for he voluntarily picked fights with these brazen bastards who used loopholes day in and day out, keeping them somewhat suppressed.
In truth, Balrus's actions could easily have backfired on him. There were only a handful of death-seekers among the people active in the capital who would impersonate Eldmia; most impersonators were outsiders who had come to the capital through the orc gate, heard the rumors about Eldmia, and decided the name looked useful. And as the nerve required for such a stunt suggested, they were adventurers far more experienced than Balrus.
Naturally, he got beaten up more often than he did any beating. Even so, Balrus still went berserk and charged in whenever he saw a fake Eldmia. In fact, there were not a few young punks who gave up their impersonations because of him... but...
"Haah, you crazy motherfucker, for real. You'd better be prepared not to get up for the rest of the week."
...most of the ones gathered here right now were not those young punks.
An adventurer who had been dragging around a vicious-looking hunting dog cracked his knuckles and approached Balrus. He looked nothing like Eldmia, but he was a scammer who at least managed some semblance of the appearance and had a fair bit of skill. The two men advanced on each other with their faces twisted into hostile glares, and as soon as the distance closed, they threw punches without caring who started first.
"Ughk!"
Unfortunately, Balrus was the one who got hit. Scammer or not, the man was an experienced Blue-rank adventurer.
"I! Said I'm! Eldmia! Why! Are you! Fucking with me! You! Cocksucker!"
The scammer's attacks, which came out with a decent form suggesting he had done some back-alley brawling, connected heavily, and Balrus staggered with each blow. There were adventurers who tried to stop it, but other adventurers blocked them instead.
It wasn't because they disliked Balrus or were defending the scammer. If anything, it was closer to the adventurers' own way of being considerate for Balrus's pride.
Balrus knew better than anyone that his skills were lacking compared to theirs.
Yet the reason he couldn't give this up was that the impression from that brief moment he had actually met Eldmia had been so overwhelmingly strong. He considered even allowing such a farce to continue as joining their side, and so he had no choice but to swing his fists even when he lost.
They couldn't brand Balrus, of all people, with the stigma of just showing off while expecting help, so some adventurers simply showed their consideration by buying him a drink or a meal once the incident was settled.
"Tsk... at this rate he's just going to walk right out of the guild... I..."
It stung to watch, but Garun, who had been about to pick up a chocolate and put it in his mouth while watching that sight helplessly, dropped the chocolate without realizing it and trailed off.
Engrim, who had been glaring slightly at Garun for dropping that expensive chocolate when he was already in a foul mood, noticed that his expression was unusual and turned his gaze to where Garun was looking.
And then he understood Garun. At the same time, he felt as if hair he'd lost was suddenly growing back.
"I'm! Eldmia! Ega, you bastard!"
A big full swing finally landed clean on Balrus's jaw, making him reel. Even so, Balrus somehow moved his feet and tried not to collapse. He staggered backward five steps, and if someone hadn't bumped into his back with a thud, he might have fallen over right then.
At that moment, someone who had bumped into him spoke.
"You're Eldmia Ega?"
So startled that he even forgot the dizziness and pain from the beating, Balrus hastily turned his head back, but because he couldn't regain his balance properly, he ended up landing square on his ass backward. But Balrus didn't mind one bit.
"Haah, yeah. I'm Eldmia Ega. And you... what the fuck kind of mutt is that?"
With a placid-looking shepherd dog that was panting innocently and wagging its butt beside him, the man stood against the light. Some of the adventurers who recognized who he was instantly began to move in a rush, swarming toward one wall of the hall.
In direct opposition to the fake Eldmias gathered near the notice board.
Among those standing in front of the board, only a few had noticed that movement starting, and even those who did notice merely sent glances as if wondering what the hell they were doing, failing to grasp the gravity of the situation. And that included the man who had been punching Balrus just moments before. He glanced back and forth between the shepherd dog and the man and gave a scoff.
"I really can't believe this shit. If you're gonna imitate him, why don't you bring a proper dog at least?"
Even among the adventurers in front of the notice board, who had reached a temporary lull due to the commotion the scammer had caused, snickers towards the new spectacle burst out.
Still, at least the mongrel I dragged here is better than that one. Quite a few people were laughing with exactly that thought in mind.
The dog the guy who had just entered the guild was leading looked that harmless. Even now, it was panting with a queerly smiling face that was cute if anything, not threatening in the slightest.
However, the man who had bumped into Balrus swept his gaze expressionlessly over those reactions, then brushed back his hair and spoke.
"Laika. Herd those dogs into one spot."
"Woof!"
The moment it heard his command, the shepherd dog that had been innocently panting barked once as if in answer and immediately bared its teeth, snarling.
"Arreureureureureureu...!"
And with that alone, the atmosphere changed in an instant.
Whether they were fierce-looking hunting dogs or dopey-looking mutts, every last one of them tucked their tails and lowered their heads, whimpering after that single snarl, and the expressions of the adventurers watching that turned dead serious at once. The sight of all the dogs scrambling to huddle in one corner of the guild to get as far as possible from that previously utterly harmless shepherd dog was by no means a natural scene.
But the one who had created that spectacle walked into the guild as if it were only natural and murmured quietly.
"You've all gone batshit crazy while I was away for just a month or so."
The man who had been excitedly throwing punches at Balrus tore his gaze away from his own dog, which had yelped and fled backward, and belatedly looked at the man.
He hadn't paid much attention before because he found the dog laughable, but now that he looked, the man's build was no joke. The gauntlet he wore looked like a high-grade item, and the sword at his waist was impressive enough, but the two-handed axe strapped to his back looked heavy enough that he could almost feel its weight just by staring at it.
With each step the man took closer, all of that pressed in as an overwhelming pressure, and the scammer involuntarily flinched backward and tried to retreat.
But the man's words and reaction were faster than that.
"Thank the gods you ran into me inside the city."
Without giving him even a moment to comprehend what that meant, the man's fist flew in like lightning. Crunch! Amid the brutal sound and impact, the scammer knew one side of his jaw had been properly shattered.
"If it had been outside, I would've split your skull in half."
The man's words that followed amid the excruciating pain were something he simply could not comprehend.
Seems like it's already split.
With that impression surfacing in his hazy consciousness, the scammer collapsed to the floor like a doll whose strings had been cut. Amid the sudden silence from everyone at that spectacle, the man looked at those gathered at the notice board and spoke.
"I am Eldmia Ega."
That one's the real deal.
Only then did the impersonators understand why the adventurers resting in the hall had flocked to one side, and their faces twisted grotesquely.
"Let me give you fake Eldmias gathered here a helpful tip."
It wasn't as though they'd made a promise, but the moment they heard the man's words, all the rumors they'd heard about Eldmia replayed in the impersonators' minds at once. And if even a single one of those rumors was true, the impersonators could easily sense that they were fucked.
"Eldmia Ega tears impersonators apart."
Regrettably for them, most of the rumors they'd heard were true.