The Curse of Belle Epoque Mansion
"Here is the Silver badge. Please return the Bronze badge."
Yunoa handed over the Bronze badge he had carried around for so long to the guild counter.
The newly received Silver badge was a shimmering silver badge shaped like an eagle's head.
Now it truly looked like a proper adventurer's badge.
Fortunately, thanks to Nigel submitting our evaluation reports in a positive light, I was able to safely promote to Silver rank.
It seemed the blackmail about spreading rumors of "spreading shameful rumors" had a surprisingly effective result.
We parted ways with that feeling of "watch me!" as he gnashed his teeth, but what did it matter.
After all, what could a small-minded person do even if they held a grudge.
Right after leaving the guild, a mushroom-headed guy bowed his head to me.
"U-um! Thank you! Thanks to you, I became a Silver adventurer safely!"
It was none other than Silphy.
She showed me the sparkling Silver badge she had just received and smiled bashfully.
But no matter how you looked at it, it was a mushroom.
To have such a perfect mushroom head, did she put a lot of attention into her hair?
Anyway, seeing Silphy happy with the Silver badge, I felt a bit proud too.
"Even that weird guy Nigel is strutting around with a Silver badge, so you should have gotten one too."
"Ehehe..."
"I just made sure you got what you deserved."
『Yunoa was desperately trying to hold back the urge to stroke Silphy's mushroom-like head. What would the feel be like? Soft? Or smooth? What kind of scent would it have. Would it smell like mushrooms? I want to sniff it. These thoughts were swirling in my mind.』
Wait, I wasn't thinking that...
『The desire of Yunoa, who had gone beyond the Saintess's underwear and the beastkin's tail, to the crown of a fellow adventurer, was unstoppable. The world called people like Yunoa perverts. Only he himself didn't know it.』
Not that I don't know, I really wasn't thinking that, right? I was just showing Silphy a cool side a moment ago. She is plotting to call me a pervert trash whenever she gets a chance. Well, it doesn't matter. It's not heard by others, and actually, there's a lot of help involved. The narration has been cursing me for more than a day or two.
"If it's okay with you, if there's a chance next time, let's take on the quest together!"
Silphy said, clasping her small hands in front of her chest and looking up at me.
I'm fine with that. In this world, even weird guys like Nigel are adventurers.
Silphy is pretty skilled, kind, and cute compared to him.
I nodded and slowly reached out my hand, stroking Silphy's mushroom-like head.
The soft, mysterious sensation of touching clouds made me feel good.
"Then! See you next time! Yunoa-senpai!"
Silphy smiled brightly and bowed to me before leaving.
Eh? What did she say?
Senpai?
***
At the Demon King's Castle Cutranux.
Bercella, one of the Five Demon Lords, was fuming.
In front of her was Xavier, the Lord of Deceit, who had failed in assassinating the Hero Cain and returned.
He had lived for decades in human form, but in front of Bercella, he knelt in his original demon form.
"Failed to kill the Hero? Then what was the point of all the effort until now!"
"S-Sorry. The Hero's resistance was unexpectedly fierce..."
Xavier bowed his head with a gloomy expression.
After Cain was designated as the new Hero, Xavier immediately targeted him when he was alone.
But the Hero blocked Xavier's attack.
A delinquent from the back alleys who had just become a Hero, how could he have such strength?
Xavier's plan to quickly deal with the Hero and flee backfired as the fight prolonged.
"But the Hero has suffered a fatal injury. Next time, I will definitely be able to take him down."
"If you don't kill him properly, it means nothing!"
Bercella shouted at Xavier.
She was trembling with anxiety.
Is it not that she would die without even resisting a Hero wielding a Holy Sword like her late father?
She had tried to eliminate the Hero before he grew, to avoid becoming like the previous Demon King.
But even after finding the Hero so quickly, the assassination failed. Isn't it already too late?
"W-W..."
Bercella's lips quivered as if trying to say something trembling.
Xavier waited for the next words of the Demon King, kneeling on one knee in front of her.
"Scary...! It's scary! The Hero is scary!"
"B-Bercella...!"
"You know what kind of being the Hero is. You know what those guys did to Dad!"
"We will do our best to protect the Demon King."
"It's useless! No matter how you struggle in front of the Hero, no matter what you do, once the Hero steps foot in Cutranux, it's already over!"
Bercella shouted as if her voice would shake the room.
It was true.
Up to now, the Demon King had never won against the Hero.
The Demon King is always defeated by the Hero.
Even if the Demon King gathers the demon race and drives the human kingdom to the brink of collapse, even if sending the strongest monsters to attack the Hero, the Hero always emerges victorious at the end against the Demon King.
"Bercella...!"
Xavier had a bitter expression.
"Go. I want to be alone."
Bercella sent Xavier away and covered her face with both hands, bowing her head deeply.
***
Even after becoming a Silver adventurer, my daily life didn't change much.
I go to the guild early in the morning, check the quests I can do, and take on the good ones.
One day, as usual, I went to the guild to look for quests.
"Q-Quest cancellation! Quest cancellation ooooooooooo!"
Suddenly, a man with bulging eyes burst into the guild and shouted at the counter.
The gazes of the adventurers in the guild focused on the man for a moment.
"Cancellation ooo! Cancel it for me!"
The man was trembling violently in front of the counter, drooling.
What on earth is going on?
"The penalty fee is 5 gold."
"The money is here! Hurry and cancel!"
"Yes, I will process the quest cancellation."
The man, as if being chased, hurriedly placed 5 gold on the counter.
The receptionist Tina, handling him, skillfully received the penalty fee, took out the documents, and processed the quest cancellation.
"It's canceled?"
"Yes, it's completed."
"Everyone here! Listen well! Absolutely! Absolutely! Do not accept the quest for the Belle Epoque Mansion!"
The man who completed the quest cancellation shouted to the adventurers in the guild.
Adventurers were whispering to each other.
"Again?"
"What kind of mansion is that? If you go there, people become like that?"
"It's the third time already? At this point, shouldn't we raise the quest grade to Gold?"
At this point, I became curious about what was going on.
After the man who caused the commotion left the guild, I approached the counter and asked Tina.
"What was that man earlier? Something about a mansion..."
Tina let out a small sigh and spoke.
"Among the Silver rank quests, there's something a bit unusual."
"Unusual?"
"There's a quest where instead of reward, they give the entire mansion."
Give the entire mansion?
"They give the mansion?"
"Yes. It says the mansion is cursed. It seems they'll give it to whoever breaks the curse."
"If it's a curse, can't you just call a priest?"
"That... It seems the owner has already tried everything, including calling priests. Since they couldn't find a way even after entrusting the quest to the guild... The ownership of the mansion has already been abandoned, and now they've put up a quest at the guild asking if there's someone who can lift the curse of the mansion."
Tina calmly explained the cursed mansion to me.
But looking at the man's expression as he ran out earlier, the curse on the mansion seems extraordinary.
From the surrounding adventurers' stories, it seemed this kind of thing wasn't the first time.
"Why is such a scary quest in the Silver rank?"
"It's a curse, but it doesn't take lives... The guild judges it as not having much dangerous elements..."
"Looking at that man just now, it doesn't seem so."
"Ahaha... It's just the guild's policy."
Tina touched her cheek with one hand, looking troubled, and laughed.
A cursed mansion where three adventurers have declared to abandon the quest...
Even if it's a Silver rank quest, you can't just be at ease.
I remembered it well and absolutely must not take that cursed mansion quest...
『Yunoa didn't seem to have any intention of taking the quest for the cursed mansion. But there was one thing he didn't know. There was something hidden in that mansion that even the current owner didn't know.』
Suddenly, the narration began to talk about the mansion.
Is it hiding some treasure?
Even if I say that, seeing the man who was half out of his mind from panic earlier, I definitely don't want to do it.
『But the terrified Yunoa pretended not to know the secret hidden in the mansion even after knowing it. He was truly a coward. It would have suited him better to just return to Novice rank and do odd jobs. Even after learning that the value of the cursed mansion reached tens of thousands of gold, his thoughts didn't change.』
What?
Tens of thousands of gold?
My eyes suddenly widened.
Of course, I wasn't particularly short on money right now.
But if it's a mansion worth tens of thousands of gold, it's a different story.
If it's that valuable, it's an enormous amount of money that I couldn't earn even by taking countless Silver rank quests.
It was like a real estate deal that turns life around.
Moreover, Tina said about the curse on this mansion, 'It's not particularly taking lives.'
If it's not a dangerous thing for your life, then... can't I try somehow?
Life turnaround, dream of owning a house.
Since ancient times, the best asset has been real estate.
Thinking about it again, there must be a reason the narration lured me into this quest.
"Tina, about that cursed mansion quest... I'd like to try it once."
In the end, I went ahead and took it.
***