Chapter 148: The Two Pink-Haired Women
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 148: The Two Pink-Haired Women
After leaving Mars, Christina’s life fell apart.
“What do you mean? You’re downgrading our party’s rank?!” Hyou, the blond thug, shouted at the Adventurer’s Guild receptionist.
“I just told you. We can no longer maintain your party’s S-rank status. From today onward, while you may be S-rank adventurers individually, your party rank is now A.”
“Does that make any sense? A party with three S-rank members is only A-rank?!”
“And does it make sense for those three S-rank adventurers to screw up two S-rank quests in a row?” the receptionist retorted, her voice laced with irritation. “Do you have any idea what a difficult position I’m in because you blew two S-rank quests?”
She frowned, rummaged through her desk drawer, and pulled out a rolled-up parchment. Unfurling it, she scanned the contents.
“Your recorded performance is good. Your quest success rate is near one hundred percent. What on earth is the problem? The only thing different from before is that this person, Mars, is gone. Was he, by any chance, the core of your party?”
Hyou, Bomuro, and Christina.
All three of them stood silent as stones. Seeing their reaction, the receptionist sighed as if she finally understood.
“If that was the case, you should have said so from the start. Why hide it… Ugh, what does this make me look like? Huh?”
“We thought we could handle it on our own…”
“And why are you the ones to make that call? What’s the Adventurer’s Guild for, then? Why do you think people like me are here?!”
“I-I’m sorry.”
Seeing that the receptionist was more furious than she’d expected, Christina quickly bowed her head.
People generally think S-rank adventurers can boss the guild around, but that’s only partially true.
S-rank adventurers are divided into tiers.
Tier 1: Skilled with an agreeable personality.
Tier 2: Skilled but with a nasty personality.
Tier 3: Not very skilled but with an agreeable personality.
Tier 4: Not very skilled and with a nasty personality.
Here, the standard for being “skilled” was the ability to handle S-rank quests without issue.
Typically, Tier 1 or Tier 2 adventurers could, as the saying goes, throw their weight around at the guild. After all, personnel capable of smoothly handling S-rank quests—often issued by influential figures or highly profitable for the guild—were a rare commodity.
An S-rank adventurer who couldn’t complete S-rank quests?
That meant they lived by taking on A-rank quests, but A-rank quests could be handled perfectly well by a few A-rank adventurers.
In other words, they were replaceable.
And Mars’s party, without Mars, fell into Tiers 3 and 4.
Christina was Tier 3.
The other two were Tier 4.
“S-rank quests are too tough without that bastard. Our bad. We’ll do better next time, so just give us an A-rank quest.”
“…”
“Maybe an escort quest would be good… I-It’d be even better if we were escorting a pretty lady…”
“…”
Hyou and Bomuro’s words made the receptionist’s expression sour. Christina hastily tugged on their sleeves, pulling them back before bowing her head repeatedly.
“We’re truly sorry. From now on, we’ll listen carefully to what you say, miss, so this won’t happen again.”
Hyou and Bomuro shot Christina disgruntled looks. She continued to apologize, praying they would just shut up.
Did her sincerity get through?
The receptionist let out a long sigh and nodded.
“Fine. You’re still S-rank adventurers, after all. I won’t say any more. You must be tired, so go back and get some rest.”
“Thank you… Um, but we’re a bit tight on cash. Could we possibly take on an A-rank quest?”
The receptionist shot her a sharp glare, as if to ask if she was serious. Christina flinched but didn’t back down. It was true they were broke.
“There are no A-rank quests available right now. The B-rank ones have all been taken by other adventurers. There is a C-rank quest, though. If you’re that desperate for money, would you like to take it?”
“Ah, yes. Then we’ll take that…”
“Forget it,” Hyou cut in. “We’re S-rank. We have a reputation to uphold. A C-rank quest? No way. Let’s go.”
“Huh? W-Wait a minute…”
“Wait for what? Come on.”
Hyou grabbed Christina’s wrist and began to drag her away forcefully. Once they were outside the Adventurer’s Guild, she wrenched her arm free, slapping his hand away.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“What do you think you’re doing? Why would you accept a C-rank quest?”
“Because we need money, obviously! We don’t even have enough to stay at the inn.”
“There are plenty of other inns, aren’t there? Like that one over there, for example.”
Christina followed Hyou’s pointed finger and frowned.
“You can’t be serious.”
He was pointing to a shabby inn next to the guild, the kind frequented by rookie adventurers and those of D or C rank. Its exterior and facilities were far shabbier than the inn the three of them were currently staying at.
While she was horrified, Hyou just shrugged as if it were no big deal.
“The inn we’re staying at is too expensive anyway. 200 gold per person for just one night? Does that make any sense? Over there, it’s 20 gold for all three of us.”
“It’s expensive, but the facilities are incomparably better than that dump! They have guards, so we can sleep safely at night. And they provide meals.”
“Yeah, I know. The facilities are nice. I’ve used them, so of course I know. But we’re out of money now, right? So we have to be frugal.”
“This is all your fault! If you two had just stopped going to the brothels…”
“…You’re one to talk, buying those earrings?”
Bomuro pointed to the jeweled earrings on Christina’s earlobes. She subtly covered them with her hair.
“Th-These were cheap. Compared to all the money you two have spent at brothels—”
“Alright, alright, I get it. Enough, let’s just go inside. Huh?”
Hyou slung an arm around Christina’s shoulder and groped her breast as he spoke. At the same time, Bomuro began stroking her butt. Biting her lower lip hard, she followed them into the shabby inn.
.
.
.
.
.
.
After a few intense rounds of sex.
Hyou and Bomuro passed out immediately, but Christina couldn’t sleep.
—Aah, you’re so rough~.
—I’ll show you what a real beast is tonight. Get ready!
The shabby walls offered no soundproofing whatsoever.
The small room was bare, without even a bed—only a thin cloth spread on the floor to sleep on.
As she felt the hard floor against her back, her gaze was fixed on the entrance to the room, where the door that should have been there was missing.
The only thing separating the room from the hallway was a single piece of purple cloth draped over the top of the doorframe.
Anxious that someone might wander in and harm her, she couldn’t bring herself to fall asleep.
Whenever her eyelids grew heavy, she pinched her thigh, trying to stay awake.
It was perhaps on the fifth pinch.
A thought suddenly occurred to her.
‘Why am I living like this?’
Why had she run away from home after realizing she had a talent for magic?
Wasn’t it to become successful and live happily?
So why was she living like this now?
‘How did it come to this?’
Had she never been happy since leaving home?
Was her decision that day a mistake?
No.
That day’s decision wasn’t a mistake.
There was definitely a time when she had been happy.
“Mars.”
His name escaped her lips in a hollow voice.
The man who had first brought happiness to her, exhausted as she was from a life of wandering.
The lover she had adored.
When she was with him, she was happy.
When she was with him, she could endure any hardship that came their way. No matter how difficult things got, she had faith that he would somehow resolve it.
When something good happened to him, she was happy too, because he always tried to share his happiness with her.
“Mars…”
Thinking back now, he had been so considerate of her in so many ways.
Even when women more beautiful than Christina tried to seduce him, he never wavered. Instead, he would reassure her, telling her she was his only love.
When she was with him, their luxurious lifestyle was maintained even when she indulged in small extravagances, or when Hyou and Bomuro blew their money at brothels.
A few S-rank quests were more than enough to cover what they’d spent.
Even when the three of them spent money so recklessly, Mars never tried to stop them.
He would just smile and say that his companions were more precious than money.
As she recalled his bright smile, a single tear rolled down from her eye.
“Maaars…”
Christina remembered that day.
The worst day of her life.
The day he had caught Hyou and Bomuro harassing her.
Seeing her with the two men, Mars hadn’t yelled or demanded an explanation.
He had simply given her a choice with a bitter smile.
He was considerate of her to the very end.
“Why did I…”
Why did she make that choice?
What was so great about these idiots that she followed them?
Compared to Mars, they were lacking in looks, character, strength—in every single way.
They were men who brought nothing good by being near, who only lowered her own value by association.
She should have abandoned these bastards and taken Mars’s hand.
If she had, she wouldn’t be living in such squalor.
She wouldn’t be scorned by the guild receptionist.
She wouldn’t be a laughingstock to others.
It was only because of the happiness Mars gave her that she could indulge in physical pleasure.
Christina realized this far too late.
‘I miss you, Mars…’
I miss the days when you were here so much.
I regret my foolish choice so deeply.
And it hurts so much…
As she wept silently, she overheard voices from another room.
—How’s the Alitia Kingdom? Still in chaos?
—Don’t even ask. I heard the orcs launched an all-out invasion. A whole city was taken.
—Holy shit… You don’t think the trouble will spill over into our kingdom, do you?
—Actually, I heard our kingdom’s Hero led troops to support them.
Hearing the conversation, Christina’s eyes widened.
The country she was in was the Prona Kingdom.
And the Hero of the Prona Kingdom?
Cloud.
The last person Mars was with?
Cloud.
A lightning bolt struck her mind.
‘H-He might be with the Hero.’
Mars must have been lonely traveling alone, and he seemed to be quite close with that Hero.
Christina immediately got to her feet.
She threw on her clothes, quietly gathered her belongings and money so as not to wake Hyou and Bomuro, and slipped out of the inn.
‘Alitia Kingdom. Orcs. City.’
With just those three words, Christina somehow managed to find out about a city called ‘Avila’ and headed there.
And, by a stroke of incredible luck, her timing was perfect. She was able to meet the man she had longed for so desperately.
“Christina…?”
Mars’s eyes widened in surprise.
Christina ran toward him and fell to her knees. Her skin scraped against the ground, but she didn’t even notice. She hugged one of his legs, rubbing her face against his thigh as she begged.
“Mars… can’t we start over…?”
*
Isabelle was in a good mood.
The Information Guild had finally delivered some proper information.
But her good mood was instantly shattered.
—Mars… I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…
—Christina…
A woman was sobbing, clinging tightly to Mars’s leg, while Mars looked down at her with a complicated expression.
To make matters worse, the woman was a beauty, and she had the same beautiful pink hair as Isabelle.
“…”
Isabelle quietly prepared to unleash a Wind Blade.