God's Weapon (5)
Kenis and Cale stepped carefully into the Adventurers' Guild and spotted the messy-haired adventurer deep in conversation with someone seated behind the counter. The messy-haired fellow was doing most of the talking, gesturing and arguing with great enthusiasm — while the man across from him made no effort whatsoever to listen. He dug at his ear with a pinky, blew the wax off with a bored little whoosh, and fixed the adventurer with a thoroughly unimpressed stare.
"I'm telling you! I have to go there!"
"Talk all you want. The guild says no. What are you gonna do about it?"
Cale slipped between them with a polite greeting.
"Excuse me — hello?"
"If you'd just — wait, huh? Oh, you're the ones I ran into outside earlier?"
"What, customers? Here to post a request?"
The messy-haired adventurer gave them an awkward little wave of recognition. The man at the counter looked Cale up and down with a slow, appraising sweep of his eyes.
"Walking around with a sword that nasty-looking, you ain't no customer. Looking for work, then?"
He jerked his chin toward the far wall.
"Requests are over there. Pick one you like and bring it back. Just so you know — you can't take anything above your own rank."
Cale shook her head.
"No, we're not here for a request. We actually have business with this adventurer."
"Huh? Me?"
The counter man raised one eyebrow and grunted.
"Fine by me, then. Just keep any sword-fighting outside. I don't want a mess in my guild."
"Great! Why don't we talk over there?"
"W-wait a second—!"
Cale took the messy-haired adventurer by the hand and led him to a table in the corner. The guild lobby was dotted with other adventurers, nursing mugs of beer, chewing on jerky and dried snacks, and talking among themselves.
"We met earlier, right? I'm Cale — a Holy Knight of the Pantheon. And this is Kenis, a trainee Holy Knight traveling with me."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Kenis. We keep running into each other — first at the door, and now here."
"Uh… y-yes. A pleasure. I'm Hans… an adventurer. F-Grade."
Hans introduced himself with the dazed expression of a man who had no idea what was happening to him.
"…What business would Holy Knights have with an adventurer like me?"
Two Holy Knights seeking out an F-Grade nobody like him — Hans couldn't help but ask.
"The Pantheon is currently investigating a certain rumor."
"A rumor…?"
Cale pointed at the golden sword hanging from Hans's belt.
"The rumor about that God's Weapon. There's a chance a new god has descended to the mortal world, so the Pantheon is taking this very seriously…"
"This sword?"
"Yes. Which is why, Adventurer — the Pantheon would like to purchase that sword from you."
Cale knew full well she had no authority to negotiate on the Pantheon's behalf, but she put on a bold front all the same. The mission came first, didn't it? She thrust out her hand, fingers splayed wide, with a look of absolute confidence.
"Right here, right now — this much! What do you say?"
Five whole gold coins! Considering that a common family of four could live for a year on about thirty silver, Hans had just been offered a small fortune. Kenis leaned in, whispering frantically into Cale's ear.
"S-Senior! We don't have that kind of money! What are you doing?!"
"It's fine. The Pantheon will reimburse us later. This is a mission, isn't it?"
Cale's utterly baseless reassurance made Kenis press a hand to her forehead without thinking. Hans, blissfully unaware of their exchange, looked thoroughly uncomfortable.
"Um… I'm sorry, but I don't think I can sell the sword."
"What? Why not? Is the money not enough?"
Cale's brow furrowed. Adventurers were a notoriously money-hungry breed — was this one holding out for more?
"No, the money's plenty… but I won't sell this sword. I can't sell it, actually."
"Can't sell it?"
"This sword the god gave me is strange — it always comes back to its owner. I don't think you can change the master a god has chosen."
"That's…"
"That's how the Guild Master here lost a God's Weapon he'd paid a fortune for. Poor guy."
Cale and Kenis exchanged startled looks. They had arrived in the city fully expecting to secure the God's Weapon on day one — only to learn it returned to its owner no matter what! It was a marvel worthy of a divine armament, but terrible news for the expedition team.
To study the weapon, they needed to bring it back to the Pantheon. And already, that first step was blocked.
What now? Do we have to go into the dungeon and receive a weapon directly from this so-called god?
Cale's face grew heavy with thought.
Hans glanced at her, reading the room.
"Um… as Holy Knights, you're the ones controlling access to the dungeons around here, right?"
"Ah — yes, that's right."
"And you'll be going in to investigate eventually?"
"We will, yes."
She'd heard the adventurers were furious about the dungeon lockdown. Cale eyed Hans, wondering where this was going.
"Would it be possible to bring me along when you investigate?"
"Excuse me?"
"Oh, not every dungeon — just one. There's a place nearby called the Weed-Pulling Dungeon. That's the one I need. I want to go back to the Weed-Pulling Dungeon where I received this weapon, but that bald guy at the counter keeps saying no. He even kicked me out — literally kicked me…"
Hans muttered, then pressed on.
"Wouldn't it be convenient to have a guide when you go in to investigate? Just one local adventurer?"
Cale answered coolly.
"Why would we take an adventurer we just met into a dungeon? What reason do we have to trust you?"
"Well — you're Holy Knights, so combat shouldn't be a problem. But how exactly do you plan to find a God's Weapon in a dungeon you've never set foot in?"
"That's…"
"I've already received one and brought it out. Isn't it better to have someone who's been there at least once, rather than going in completely blind?"
And if I bring this weapon back into the dungeon where I got it… something might happen, you know?
Hans shrugged.
"I'm the one asking the favor here, so I don't want money or anything. What do you say?"
Cale and Kenis ran the calculations in their heads — the advantages and disadvantages of hiring this adventurer as a dungeon guide, the red flags, the possibility he was a plant, every contingency they could think of.
Their eyes met. They both nodded. The God's Weapon couldn't be transferred anyway; the only way to get one was to obtain it themselves. It was worth a try.
"All right. We'll use you as a guide. What was your name again?"
"Hans. Excellent choice! You won't regret this."
"We'll see about that, Hans. The Weed-Pulling Dungeon, was it? We'll probably search it the day after tomorrow. So… let's meet back here tomorrow."
"Yes, yes! Understood. Thank you, Holy Knights!"
Jingle~
Leaving Hans bowing deeply behind them, Kenis and Cale stepped out of the Adventurers' Guild. Bright sunlight washed over the street.
Kenis bounced on her heels as she turned to Cale.
"Senior, that was so cool! You looked just like a veteran Holy Knight!"
"Heh. Did I?"
Cale flicked her blonde hair back with one hand, preening.
"As expected of you, Senior! When did you get the authority to hire expedition guides?"
"…Huh? W-well, of course someone of my caliber has, uh, various authorities!"
At Kenis's words, cold sweat poured down Cale's face and her pupils went blank.
This woman had gotten carried away and done something completely outside her authority.
I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead…!! What do I do? If Paladin Demonic finds out about this, he'll kill me!
Deep down she wanted to go back and stop her past self — the one who'd gotten high on the feeling of "doing her job" and overstepped so badly — but the milk was already spilled. There was no scooping it back up.
Cale forced a casual smile for Kenis, who was gazing at her with sparkling eyes, but her feet felt impossibly heavy on the walk back to the temple.
"…Something's off."
Something was definitely off. Lately, almost no adventurers were coming to the inn. Random visits were random, sure — but this was ridiculous.
"Not a single one all day?"
I had no idea what the problem was. Well — I wouldn't know until the remaining time ran out and something showed up, at least.
"Why aren't they coming?"
Was my reputation too low? I'd been selling weapons steadily to F-Grade adventurers, so I thought it had gone up a bit. I tapped the detailed reputation view for the inn.
Tap.
Current reputation is at the level of "the city's promising circus troupe"!
"Is that high or low?"
Showing it in such a vague way made it impossible to tell whether my reputation was actually good. A promising circus troupe by city standards… was that reasonably well-known?
I stopped fretting over adventurers who weren't coming and shifted the screen toward the temple under construction in the empty lot. The dwarves were hard at work, bustling about.
"Hmm. I should hire more workers."
I spent what gold I'd saved up on two more laborers — and just like that, my gold was gone.
"This trash game, I swear. What's with the resource balance?"
A whole night's earnings, wiped out by two workers? I was about to close the game in disgust when I noticed the shop icon blinking.
"What's this? New package drop?"
It was bound to be a new package, of course — but notifications like this kept popping up until you actually went in and checked. Annoyed, I tapped into the shop.
A new banner filled the screen.
◈ Adventurer Visit Probability UP!
◈ Permanent Duration!
◈ Adventurer Visit Rate Increase Buff!
…What? Are the developers watching my screen?
The second I complained about no adventurers showing up, a brand-new package dropped with perfect timing. I eyed it with deep suspicion. The timing was way too good.
I tapped the package for a closer look.
37,000 won
50% OFF
18,500 won!
Ah — half off? That was hard to resist. The moment I saw the fifty-percent discount, all suspicion of the developers evaporated, replaced by the urgent conviction that I needed to buy this.
While my brain was still tallying the rest of this month's food budget, my finger was already drifting toward the purchase button.
Bzzzt—
A text lit up my phone.
Whatever. I'll just skip fried chicken one more time.