Chapter 31
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: 6. External Enemies and Allies
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‘Following those weird rumors, now it's Claude... Ever since I started working at the general store, there hasn't been a single quiet day.’
Edin felt a bit tired just thinking about it.
“......”
Saella, seeing Edin's expression, thought to herself.
‘Edin is annoyed.’
He'd looked uncomfortable when he heard the name earlier, and it was clear he wasn't thrilled that this Claude guy had shown up.
“Should I take care of him?”
“What? Oh, no.”
Edin shook his head frantically at Saella's earnest question.
He was afraid that if he said yes—even as a mistake or a joke—she might actually kill him.
Anyway, after calming her down and stepping outside, he saw Claude smugly signing autographs for a crowd of students.
His face looked a bit thinner than before, and the dark circles under his eyes suggested the curse of insomnia had hit him hard over the past few days.
“H-hey. Long time no see?”
Claude, who had been signing for the students who'd gathered because he'd offered, shoved them aside and approached Edin.
He handed Edin a note.
“Come to the place and time written there. This isn't something to discuss out in the open, so don't tell anyone. Just come.”
He whispered it so quietly that only Edin, standing close, could hear.
Of course, Saella behind him had caught every word with her sharp elven hearing.
“Hey. Don't get so close.”
Saella stepped forward immediately and shoved Claude away from Edin.
“Fuck, what the hell? What's this elf bitch's problem?”
Claude's face twisted in anger as he started to say something more.
“...!!”
But he flinched at the extraordinary aura emanating from Saella and shut his mouth.
Ever since getting thoroughly beaten by Mureos, who was stronger than him, Claude had shifted from being recklessly arrogant regardless of strength to cowering before the powerful.
He did wonder why such an elf had suddenly appeared at Edin's side.
But he didn't really care.
No, he hadn't cared much about Edin to begin with.
He was solely obsessed with using him to get revenge on Chairwoman Mureos.
“Anyway, come there. Got it? It's an order from the Guild elders. You know what happens if you disobey.”
“......”
Edin was dumbfounded by Claude boldly waving the order around where everyone could see.
No matter that it was the elders' instructions.
Who marches up to someone he'd personally kicked out and starts barking orders like this?
‘Does he still see me as one of his obedient underlings?’
If that was genuinely what he thought, Edin found it utterly idiotic.
He barges into the Academy openly when he says it's something hard to discuss here, gathers students and pulls every bit of aggro possible.
It was a parade of arrogance and stupidity.
“Elders? What business do the elders have with me?”
But it was an order from the Adventurer Guild elders.
Separate from Claude's attitude, that was something he couldn't ignore.
The Adventurer Academy was, broadly speaking, under the Adventurer Guild, and Edin was still technically affiliated with it.
Which meant he couldn't casually defy the elders above them.
There might be special circumstances where he could refuse, but there wasn't really a reason to here.
Claude's boldness probably stemmed from knowing that.
“Ugh, just come if you're told to. Why so many questions?”
As Claude snapped irritably, Saella's eyes flashed from behind Edin.
“Hey, you greenhorn Hero. I'm not affiliated with the Academy or the Guild right now. Hero or Guild elder orders—doesn't matter. I could kill you anyway.”
Her eyes were dead serious.
She looked ready to put an arrow through his temple on the spot.
Feeling her sincerity, Claude recoiled and took a step back.
“F-fuck. Are you insane? You think the Guild will let that slide? You'd get purged across the continent—you and all the elves.”
He was a bit scared, but Claude fired back without backing down completely.
There was some exaggeration in his words, but they weren't entirely wrong.
The Adventurer Guild had grown enormously and had deep connections with influential figures across nations.
No matter if it was Mureos Avantredin, one of the continent's top five.
Or Lunarin Brettis, third daughter of the Myos Empire's prestigious magic family, the Brettis Count Family.
Or Saella, an elven prodigy who'd reached S-Rank Adventurer.
If the entire Adventurer Guild issued an extermination order.
And heroes from across the continent—who hadn't become adventurers but held prominent positions elsewhere—came hunting them.
It'd be safe to say there'd be no secure foothold left on this continent.
That was why he couldn't defy the Guild elders' orders without solid justification.
That's the nature of power.
No matter how strong an individual is, they can't overcome a tightly knit organization entangled in power structures.
But there's one thing that can overcome it.
“So what? Edin matters more than that crap.”
Pure madness.
Pure, unadulterated madness.
That's the only thing that could break free from the world's shackles.
“Wh-what the hell is with this lunatic...”
Looking into Saella's eyes brimming with terrifying madness, Claude felt not the fear from mana or aura overpowering him.
But something more primal, more chilling.
“A-anyway, I said what I came to say. Got it?”
Claude turned to leave, as if his business was done.
But then.
“Please wait a moment.”
A white-haired beauty descended slowly from the sky.
Her light purple robe fluttered like wings, adding to her mystique.
It was Chairwoman Mureos.
“I distinctly told you that if you had business at the Academy, you were to come straight to me.”
Chairwoman Mureos looked quite angry.
The reason was simple: Claude had ignored her instructions and acted on his own.
Upon hearing Claude had come to the Academy for Edin, she'd ordered him brought directly to her without detours.
But Claude had blown off her words, ditched the guards, and come alone to the general store to see Edin.
“Jeez. I'm not your subordinate—why should I listen? The Guild elders even gave me an official order.”
In front of him: Chairwoman Mureos.
Behind: A mad elf with eyes gleaming with insanity.
Claude put up a strong front against Mureos, but inside, he was panicking.
‘Fuck, what the hell? I just came to see that Edin punk. Why am I stuck between these monsters?’
That cursed old hag who'd slapped him with the insomnia curse.
The pointy-eared freak who seemed out of her mind.
Of all people, they both were monsters Claude couldn't beat even going all out.
Caught between them, surrounded, Claude decided to escape the situation quickly.
“I-I'm done here. I didn't cause any trouble at the Academy. Just let me go.”
He'd told Edin not to tell anyone, so he didn't think he'd blab to Mureos.
He hadn't even told Edin he was targeting the chairwoman yet, so there was nothing she could know even if she asked.
‘Well, even if he knows something, he won't say because I told him not to.’
Claude saw Edin as his longtime obedient errand boy or underling.
Someone who would never defy his orders.
“Edin, what was that about? Did he say something?”
“Nah, nothing much.”
And in reality, Edin followed Claude's instructions and said nothing.
‘Heh, good. He remembers who I am.’
Of course, not for the reason Claude assumed.
‘For now, he's a pain—better just send him off and ignore it.’
It was the elders' orders, sure, but they hadn't explained properly.
No details on why it was important.
Edin figured he could brush it off as being too busy.
No matter how great the elders were, without reasons, contents, or urgency explained.
They couldn't slap him with severe punishment or extermination over failing to follow such a vague directive due to a packed schedule.
Whatever it was about, he didn't know.
But if it was something they couldn't discuss openly here, it probably wasn't legit.
‘No real reason to go.’
In the end, it was Claude's screw-up for not delivering the message properly.
Coming to the Academy blatantly and issuing orders in this shady way.
‘To think I studied so hard to assist a guy like that. What an idiot I was.’
Though thanks to that, he'd gained knowledge and skills to reach his current position.
Anyway, Edin decided to just let Claude go and ignore the whole thing.
“Are you sure you're okay with this?”
Chairwoman Mureos glared at Claude's retreating back and asked Edin.
She seemed worried about retaliation from Claude or the elders.
“Yeah, it's fine. I wasn't planning to go anyway. I can make up some excuse. They'll probably blame Claude mostly.”
With that, he crumpled the note and tossed it straight into the trash.
He hadn't even read the contents.
Then Saella sidled up and asked quietly.
“Edin, should I go check the place on that note and handle it?”
“...Uh, no. Do you have to ask things like that?”
No matter what, suddenly killing him felt off.
Not because Claude was pitiful.
But because of the storm his death as a Hero would unleash.
The damage it would do to Edin himself and everyone around him right now.
“Oh, yes.”
Saella looked a little downcast at Edin's response.