The Mesugaki Saint's Teasing Plea
“Kyaaah♡ Hero-nim~! Please save me quickly~♡ If this continues, I'll be groped and molested everywhere!!”
The saint was held captive by a monster filled with dirty filth. The writhing liquid was melting her clothes, creating a lewd and obscene scene.
...Why did this happen? I don't know, damn it.
We were heading to the adventurer guild in Habsburg City after leaving Elfride. I asked the saint about our future plans.
“Estelle, are we going back to that guild then?”
“No? There's an adventurer guild in Habsburg too. We can take quests there. No need to go back. You didn't even think of that, as expected, you're such an idiot hero♡”
“Ah, can we register in other regions and still take quests here?”
“Of course. Otherwise, adventurers wouldn't be able to wander around everywhere, right? You lack common sense too much~♡”
That makes sense. Understood.
“Let's go to the guild first and check for quests suitable for this loser hero~♡”
“...Yes.”
...Even though I got blessed, I still got treated like a loser after killing an upper-class monster....When will I escape this situation?
We headed to the adventurer guild in Habsburg City. Compared to the one we went to before, it was a much larger building, and I was a bit surprised.
“The city adventurer guild is huge.”
“That's because there are a lot of problems too.”
“Problems?”
“Fights between adventurers are everyday, and there are even things that can't be said in words.”
Just listening to it sounds like a lawless zone?
“Doesn't the guild mediate such things?”
“Of course. But try thinking with that lowly head of yours~♡ If a famous and strong adventurer is the perpetrator of the fight, can the guild easily mediate~?”
“...Um, probably not.”
“All the guild can do is suspend their qualifications. So, hero.”
The saint pointed at me with her finger and warned.
“Once inside, make sure not to get into any fights with anyone. Got it?”
“Yes.”
That's easy. I've endured worse from the saint every day, so ignoring adventurer fights is a breeze.
Following the saint, I entered the building. The moment I stepped in, I tripped over something.
“Huh?”
Clang!
Damn it!
“Hero-nim!?”
“Ouch...”
I fell forward and almost broke my teeth....Instead, it felt like my nose was bleeding? I wiped the something flowing from my nose, and sure enough, it was a nosebleed.
I was staring blankly at the blood on my hand when a man next to me sneered.
“Heh heh, you should have looked where you were walking.”
“......”
...Wow, author. In this era, does a novel have such outdated snobbery? I really didn't imagine that.'The author of the novel I liked the most turns out to be a gatekeeper?'
Anyway, since it was just a nosebleed, let's move on. The saint told me to avoid fights as much as possible.
“Apologize right now!”
...Why are you scolding me?
The saint was angry at the adventurer who tripped me. I'm happy she got angry for me, but she was the one who told me not to get into fights.
But now she's escalating the situation herself? Is she the type who breaks her own words?
The man brushed it off as if he didn't understand and said to the saint.
“What are you apologizing for, miss? Don't get angry, let's talk logically. Lo-gi-cal-ly.”
“You tripped and fell, what more logic do you need!?”
“Miss, evidence? Miss, your boyfriend suddenly fell?”
“M-my boyfriend!?”
Hey, why is she reacting to that word.
Seeing the saint unable to catch on, I muttered in exasperation.
“...Estelle, why are you reacting at weird parts.”
“...Hmph! Anyway, apologize to Abel right now! Even if Abel is a loser and an idiot, he wouldn't fall because of your foot!”
...Is she saying this for me?
“...Estelle, just drop it and let's go. We have quests to take.”
“......”
The saint glared at the man who tripped me until the end, and I pulled her arm and headed to the quest board.
“Estelle, stop it and look here. There are a lot of quests.”
“...Huu.”
The saint sighed deeply, regained her composure, and looked at me.
“Aren't you angry?”
“I am angry, but you told me not to get into fights, right?”
“That's true... I didn't know you'd be so openly snobbish.”
Saying that, the saint reached out to me.
“Estelle?”
“I'll heal you.”
“Ah, okay.”
Ever since earlier, my nose has been a bit itchy.
The saint poured divine power into my nose. The itchiness disappeared, and the slight pain also vanished.
That's why there are no doctors in the fantasy world. Divine power is the best.
“Now it's better.”
“Yes.”
“I didn't know you'd get angry for me.”
It was unexpected. The saint who usually gets angry like this was a first for me.
When I mentioned that, the saint said in a defensive tone.
“...It's not like I'm not ugly, if the ugly hero becomes even uglier, it's a big problem. That's why.”
“If I'm already ugly, what's the difference?”
The saint stared at me after hearing my words, gave a mischievous smile with narrowed eyes.
“If you become even uglier than now, you'll be uglier than a troll~♡”
“...That's a bit much.”
“Exactly~.”
...Am I really that ugly? Recently, I've been thinking that while the saint always teases me for being ugly, the reactions around me aren't that bad.
Especially when I heard people saying I looked cool at the banquet hosted by Duke Bathory.
Of course, it was overheard incidentally, so it might have been a mishearing. That's why I'm confused, so I'll confirm.
“Estelle.”
“Yes?”
I deliberately brought my face close to the saint and asked.
“...Hero? What are you doing?”
“Am I really that ugly?”
The saint's eyes widened slightly.
Eh? She looks surprised, is it suspicious?
But it was my imagination. The saint who seemed surprised for a moment said with a mischievous smile.
“Asking something obvious, do you want to be slandered by me~?”
“...Eh?”
“You have such hobbies, hero. You pervert♡ You pervert♡ You pervert hero♡”
How does she know the word 'pervert'?
And I don't have such hobbies!!!
“...No, I don't have such hobbies.”
“Then why are you asking me that~?”
“...I was wondering if I'm really ugly.”
The saint laughed with a giggle.
“Hero, you look just like a goblin~♡ You're completely goblin-like~!”
“...Okay, stop it.”
Damn. I dug my own grave.
“Fufu♡ Goblin hero, how about this quest?”
“It's not a goblin... it's a person...”
I looked at the quest sheet pointed by the timidly protesting saint.
[Clear the Slime Blocking the Sewer! Required Adventurer Rank: D]
Another D-rank quest?
But it's a slime, right? A familiar liquid monster to us. A low-level monster that appears in the national game "Tale of the Maple" once.
Since it's in the sewer, it seems the slimes in novels are not much different.
“Is a slime stronger than a forest wolf?”
“No? It might be weaker in combat power than a forest wolf.”
“Then why are we going to catch a slime?”
The original purpose of the quest is for me to get stronger. The reward isn't that high either, right?
“The monsters you've caught so far are different from slimes.”
“What difference?”
“There are two types of monsters. The monsters you've caught so far all die if you stab the neck or heart, right?”
“Yes.”
Then, if you cut the neck and stab the heart, you die. Then is that alive?
“Slimes are different.”
What? Are the slimes in this novel world immortal?
“Then they don't die?”
“Not exactly. Monsters that don't have a fixed form like slimes have a 'core'. You have to destroy the core to kill a slime-type monster.”
“Ah, I see.”
Now I understand.
“So, you're supposed to learn how to deal with monsters that require destroying the core?”
“Oh my♡ Hero. Finally showing that the thing hanging on your neck isn't just decoration~♡”
“...Heh heh.”
Damn. I'll get revenge someday.
“Ah.”
“Why?”
“Estelle, you made a bet with me, right?”
“A bet?...Ah.”
The bet between the saint and me. Whether I would catch a troll alone or not. If I defeat the troll myself, I would grant one of the saint's wishes.
“Do you remember?”
“...Y-yes. I remember.”
You lost. I'll make you feel the shitty feeling I've had so far.
“...Do you have something you want?”
“Of course. I do.”
I didn't think about it. But since it was a chance for me to have an advantage over the saint, I pretended to be confident.
I have to think about what to ask for now.
I smiled victoriously. Then the saint flinched, twisted her body.
“W-what are you going to make me do...♥”
...Why is she like that?
“...Let's do the quest first and I'll tell you. Prepare yourself!”
“Yes~♥”
Why is she like that.
The saint didn't seem to hate it. Her eyes were curved and her mouth was slightly upturned.
What's with that? It's creepy.
Because of that, I was flustered and urged the saint.
“L-let's go already.”
“...♥”
Mom, that person's gaze is too scary. It's like she's going to eat a person.
I ignored the saint's gaze and tried to leave the guild, but the man who tripped me earlier grabbed my chin.
“...What?”
“You, this is your first time at this guild?”
“Yeah.”
“Then why are you taking quests here?”
What kind of logic is this.
“What's wrong with an adventurer taking quests at an adventurer guild?”
“Those are quests for the people who live here, not for you stray adventurers.”
...Isn't it obvious that adventurers are strays?Listening to such unreasonable logic made me start getting angry. I didn't care about the one who tripped me earlier, but now this?This person has no sense of tact or is challenging me to a fight.
“Leave the quest sheet and get out. Otherwise, I'll beat you to death and bury you next to your mother.”
That's crossing the line?
“...You're crazy, you bastard.”
“What did you say, you bastard?”
Thud!
Clang!
...Ah, I couldn't hold back. Honestly, the padlip was crossing the line.
I hit him hard, but the feeling didn't subside. I glanced at the saint, she was deliberately looking away.
This time, she was giving me the gesture to close her eyes.
“You filthy bastard!!”
“Who are you calling filthy, you dog bastard.”
I swung my fist again, the guy retaliated with a cross counter.
“Solaria's Blessing”
Eh?
Suddenly, strength surged through my body. And when my fist touched the face, a loud noise rang out.
Kwong!
“...Estelle?”
“Why?”
“Why suddenly... blessing”
The fist strengthened by the blessing instantly slammed the man to the floor. The man's head was stuck in the floor, piercing through it.
Damn, he's not dead!?
“W-wait. Get up.”
“Don't worry, hero. That man is an A-rank adventurer, even if he doesn't look like it. He wouldn't have died that easily.”
“...Ah, really?”
As the saint said, the man who was slammed to the floor had an A-rank adventurer badge around his neck.
What kind of A-rank adventurer is picking fights with a D-rank adventurer.
At that moment, the receptionist came over and shouted.
“Fighting inside the guild, both of you are suspended!”
“...The fight was started by this person?”
“Eh?”
“This person suddenly insulted me with padlip.”
“Pad...lip? What is that?”
“Insulting my parents.”
The receptionist blinked at my words. Then, as if understanding with his head, he cleared his throat and said.
“...Then Abel adventurer, warning. Rustan adventurer, 7-day qualification suspension.”
“Yes. I'll be careful.”
Rustan, I remember this guy's name.
I came out of the guild building after receiving the warning and saw the saint.
“Estelle.”
“Yes.”
“Why did you cast the blessing?”
“...I told you the opponent is an A-rank adventurer. If you fought with your bare hands, the hero would have lost for sure.”
...She was worried about me?
“Thank you.”
“...The hero is a loser and X food~. I have to help you.”
Even with that tone, she worries about me a lot.
#
“Ugh, the smell.”
In the underground sewer. We ended up in the most unsanitary place in Habsburg City.
“It feels like my nose is going to run.”
“Hold it in~♡ After all, it's less than the hero's foot smell♡”
“...I have foot smell?”
...I really didn't know.
“Fufu♡ Just kidding.”
Damn. I felt sorry for nothing.
“Hero, the quest is to clear the slime, but there must be other monsters too.”
“What kind of monster?”
“In the sewer, which is a dirty place, there must be monsters that live there.”
Chitter!
...Rat sound?
“It's a heavy rat.”
“Eek, damn! Estelle, that's it!”
Enormous rats were running towards us from ahead. They're disgusting!
“That's a heavy rat, hero. So, catch them enthusiastically♡”