Chapter 36: Please, Don't Work With Adventurers (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 36: Please, Don't Work With Adventurers (5)
Elisa told me to come to the Adventurer's Guild in a week.
Could she really bring an S-rank adventurer in just one week? And would an S-rank adventurer truly have the skills to satisfy me?
Half-believing, half-doubting, I visited the guild on the day Elisa had specified.
“…”
The Adventurer’s Guild was strangely quiet. It was a peculiar sight. The guild was a place where all sorts of riffraff gathered, dreaming of becoming famous adventurers.
How could a place where scuffles were a daily occurrence—people raising a fuss about their rank, hitting on female staff only to get beaten up by other adventurers—be so quiet?
I scanned the interior of the guild.
A guy looking for quests on the bulletin board.
A guy sitting at a table, waiting for party members.
A guy reporting a successful quest to a staff member.
Even the guild employees themselves.
Everyone was cautiously watching a group of people sitting at one table.
There were three of them.
A large man who looked like a barbarian had two massive axes strapped to his back.
A handsome, tall blond man wore armor that would make any knight envious, with a large greatshield on his back.
Finally, a beautiful woman with long pink hair wore lighter armor than the blond man and carried a spear, also on her back…
Wait.
‘Pink?’
I froze for a moment, then shook my head. One shouldn't judge a person by their hair color. That would be racist. It’s not like she chose to be born with pink hair, right?
She was just born, and it happened to be pink.
To be born with pink hair…
What a poor soul…
Still, I shouldn't let my pity show. That might hurt her feelings. I put on my most composed expression and walked toward their table.
Where’s an empty seat…
Ah, the spot next to the barbarian-looking man is free.
I sat down.
Immediately, the gazes of the three people at the table turned to me.
‘First impressions are important in situations like this.’
As their employer, what should I say?
Just as I was pondering this, I overheard something.
“Look over there. A new madman has appeared…!”
“Did he not see what happened to Rex earlier? He said one word and got sent flying with a single punch.”
“I saw it. That guy came in after Rex was carried out.”
“Ah… we won’t be seeing that handsome face anymore… What a shame.”
I could hear the adventurers looking our way whispering among themselves.
They smashed a guy’s face in just for talking to them?
My concerns shifted.
Is it really a good idea to hire these bastards?
What if I take them along and end up replaying my first run?
“You. What.”
A deep, clipped voice cut through my thoughts.
From the way he spoke, I knew.
This bastard doesn't just look like a barbarian; he is a barbarian.
“I am Cloud, an A-rank adventurer. And you are?”
The answer came from someone else.
“You’re Cloud? What the hell, they said you looked like a pretty boy, but you’re just handsome.”
“Ahem.”
“I just said you were handsome. Why are you getting annoyed? Are you jealous?”
“…”
“Ah, fine. It was a joke.”
The pink-haired woman and the blond man bickered.
They seemed to be a couple.
As I sat there with the barbarian, watching the couple’s little spat, Elisa came trotting over.
“Cloud-nim, when did you arrive? I thought you’d be a little later. Have you already introduced yourselves?”
“No, not yet. We were just about to. Nice to meet you, Cloud. My name is Gravelli. As you probably know, I’m S-rank, and I mainly use a spear. Next to me is my husband, Kyle. He’s also S-rank and supports me with his shield. He’s mute, so he can’t speak. Hope you understand.”
“A pleasure. And this is?”
I turned my gaze to the barbarian. He looked down at me with a displeased expression before sighing and answering.
“Gurua. S-rank. Use axe.”
A truly simple introduction.
“I see. I look forward to working with you, Gurua-ssi.”
“…”
Gurua looked away and didn't respond.
“Oh, right. Cloud-nim, there was something I forgot to tell you. Could you follow me for a moment?”
Elisa jumped in before an awkward silence could form. I followed her into one of the rooms in the guild.
Elisa unlocked a desk drawer, took out three sheets of paper, and handed them to me.
“This is…”
“What I promised.”
The papers she handed me had their statuses written on them.
======
Lv.32
Strength: E(190)
Agility: E(160)
Endurance: E(170)
Magic Power: F(49)
=====
=====
Lv.31
Strength: E(165)
Agility: E(150)+(15)
Endurance: E(112)
Magic Power: E(105)
=====
=====
Lv.30
Strength: E(160)
Agility: E(130)
Endurance: D(135)+(70)
Magic Power: F(97)
=====
“In order, these are the statuses of Gurua-nim, Gravelli-nim, and Kyle-nim.”
I examined their stats one by one.
At first glance, they weren't too bad.
Most of their stats were lower than mine, but I was the Hero, after all. My growth stats were higher, so it was only natural that my absolute stats were superior.
That meant their specs were actually quite decent.
The only potential problem was…
“Are you sure their personalities are okay?”
“Pardon?”
“I overheard the adventurers whispering earlier. They said some guy named Rex got his face punched in just for saying a word to them?”
“Ah, that? That was Rex’s fault.”
Elisa chuckled.
“He was hitting on Gravelli in a really blatant way. And Gravelli didn’t like him.”
“But do people normally smash someone’s face in for that?”
“…They do have rather strong personalities. But it’s fine. You can really trust them this time. I’ve known them for a long time.”
“Are you willing to bet your husband’s chastity on it?”
“…If you wish, I can show you their performance records that we have at the guild.”
“I’m kidding. I’ve seen their stats, so I should probably get going.”
“You need to form a party first, right?”
Elisa took out three small glass vials filled with blood from the drawer. It was probably the blood of the three adventurers outside.
When did she even prepare this?
I covered my stats with a cloth, and she registered the party in the remaining space on my status window.
After finishing the party registration, Elisa and I left the room.
The three S-rank adventurers, who had been sitting at the table, were now standing by the guild entrance.
“Done talking? Then let’s go right away,” Gravelli said, pointing outside.
“Have you all packed your things?”
“You said the monster nest subjugation could take a while, so we should bring a few days’ worth of food and camping supplies, right? We’ve got it all.”
“Then we can leave immediately. Gravelli-nim, Kyle-nim, Gurua-nim, and Cloud-nim. I’ll pray for your safe return.”
“Okay, Elisa, we’ll be back~ Don’t forget to write a good review after this is over~”
“Ah, you can’t just say that out loud…”
Gravelli giggled, leaving a flustered Elisa behind.
And so, our party left the city.
During the journey, the only ones talking were the married couple, Gravelli and Kyle. Since Kyle was mute, it was really just Gravelli talking by herself.
“We just need to follow this mountain path for a few hours. It might be tough, but I’m counting on you.”
Just as we were about to start the uneventful climb, Gravelli slung her arm over my shoulder. Why the sudden arm-around-the-shoulder? I turned my head and saw her expression had hardened.
“Hey, A-rank brat. Let’s correct one little misunderstanding before we go any further.”
“?”
“First off, we came because Elisa asked us to, not because we wanted to take your quest. Do you know what that means?”
“What does it mean?”
“It means you’d better drop any ideas about acting like the leader and giving orders. If you do, I might just kill you. Understand?”
“Would it be alright to kill me? You said you came at Elisa-ssi’s request, didn’t you?”
“Of course, it won’t be me who killed you. You’ll have been killed by monsters. Do I look like someone who can’t pull that off?”
“Hmm, I suppose you seem more than capable.”
Gravelli grinned.
“Right? But don’t worry. Since we took the job, we’ll see it through to the end. From now on, I’m the leader of this party. Any objections?”
Gravelli’s eyes shifted to Gurua.
“Weaker than me. No orders. Won’t listen.”
Her eyes turned cold.
“Hmph…? That almost sounds like you’re saying I’m weaker than you.”
“Correct. Woman. Thin. Thin one is weak.”
“I may be slim… but want to test it? See if a slim person is really weak?”
“Fight good. Will crush.”
A strange war of nerves erupted between the two.
The atmosphere was so tense it wouldn't have been surprising if they drew their weapons and started fighting right then and there.
A heavy tension filled the party…
“Ah, forget it. It’s not like we’ll see each other after this job anyway. Nothing good will come from fighting. I won’t give orders, so let’s just try not to get in each other’s way.”
The tension dissipated with Gravelli’s words as she raised her hands.
“No fight?”
“Nope, no fight~”
“A pity.”
Once the power struggle was over, the party started moving again.
A few hours later, we arrived at a lake surrounded by peach trees.
“What? Why are we stopping? Where’s the monster nest?”
I entered the lake.
I pulled the ring, parting the water and creating a staircase. When I emerged, I saw the three adventurers staring with wide eyes.
I placed my hand on the stone gate, opened it, and said to them,
“Come on in.”
As if mesmerized, they descended the stairs.
“This is… too grand to be a monster nest…”
We passed through the stone gate and went inside. Thud! The gate slammed shut, and Gravelli jumped, spinning around. She cautiously reached out and began to stroke the stone gate.
At the same time, the sound of rushing water, shwaaaa, filled the air.
“Ahaha! This is a dungeon! A dungeon! To think you were hiding something like this. Kid, you’re more daring than I thought…”
“★Heavenly Demon Punch★”
My fist slammed squarely into Gravelli’s face as she turned back around.
I was currently using the Ogre’s Pattern, which doubled my strength.
Gravelli flew in an arc and rolled across the floor.
“…!”
Seeing his wife get hit, Kyle’s eyes went wide before his expression twisted into a snarl.
He drew the small sword from his hip and charged. It seemed he was trying to exploit the opening I created by throwing a punch.
“But you thought wrong. Heavenly Demon Jet Kick!”
“…!!!”
My spinning back kick caught Kyle on the jaw, and he flew in an arc just like his wife, rolling across the floor.
I smiled with satisfaction, looking at the two of them lying there together.
The reason I suddenly attacked them is simple.
These bastards are animals.
Didn’t I see it on the way up?
The way they were posturing and fighting for dominance.
They fight for control. But they’re worried about getting injured if they fight an opponent they can’t intimidate, so they avoid a direct confrontation.
Isn’t that the behavior of beasts?
And if they’re beasts, they can be tamed.
How?
“You strong! Fight! Uoooooh!!”
“You! Just! Take! A! Beating!”
“Ugh! Ock! Oook! Ogok!”
You just have to use the rod.
With a rod, you can tame any beast in the world.
“Aaargh! You son of a bitch, how dare you hit my face?!”
“..!!!!”
“Strong one! Fight and win! Be recognized by ancestors!”
If they can’t be tamed, it’s simply because the rod wasn’t used enough.
Let’s hit them some more.
“You motherfuckers. Bring it on, you shits.”
Ah, for the record, this is purely for the sake of taming these beasts with a rod.
There are absolutely no personal feelings involved.
“Khek… Keck…”
“How does a headlock taste? Can you feel the difference in our strength, barbarian?”
But something’s a little strange.
“..!!!”
“You talk with your eyes instead of your mouth, huh? You’ve been doing it since I first saw you. ‘Don’t even think about making a move on my wife.’ But fuck, I have zero fucking interest in your wife!”
I’m sure I haven’t put any personal feelings into this…
“And why the pink hair?! Of all the colors in the world, why the fuck did it have to be pink?! Huh?!”
“Kyaaaaaak! Don’t pull my hair, you crazy bastard!”
So why am I having fun?
Tsk, this disqualifies me as a tamer.
I’m just becoming an animal abuser.
“You call yourself a man, pulling a woman’s hair?! You got no dick?!”
…Maybe being an animal abuser for a little while wouldn’t be so bad.
“That’s right, I don’t, you bitch!”
I grabbed Gravelli’s hair and swung her around like a windmill. She had to desperately hold onto her hair to keep from going bald.