Chapter 9
Chapter 9
Showdown
Hostile-looking adventurers were closing in on us.
But… strangely, I wasn’t scared.
Maybe being surrounded by dangerous party members had toughened my nerves.
Or maybe my survival instinct had already broken.
The only thing making me uneasy right now was Melraim’s bright smile.
I leaned closer and whispered to her.
“Don’t eat them… okay?”
“Of course not. What do you take me for?”
Melraim frowned in annoyance.
What do I take you for?
A predatory monster doppelganger.
Melraim turned toward the adventurers and revealed why she looked so excited.
“To think I’d experience the classic bullying of veteran adventurers against newcomers. It feels as though I’ve become the protagonist of a story!”
One of the adventurers snapped at that.
“What nonsense! You’re the ones who threatened a defenseless receptionist in a peaceful guild!”
…Fair point.
The receptionist had only been doing her job.
But one of my party members got offended and threatened her.
No matter how I looked at it, that sounded less like a protagonist and more like a villain.
Of course, these adventurers weren’t acting purely out of justice.
They kept glancing at the pretty receptionist called Lily.
Honestly, I understood.
Wanting to look cool in front of a pretty girl was natural.
And with everyone else around, it was easier to act brave.
Either way, Melraim and those adventurers were strangely aligned.
Melraim wanted the experience of standing up to veteran adventurers as a rookie.
And they wanted to look cool in front of Lily.
Though whether it actually looked cool… was another matter.
At that moment, Tanya bowed deeply to the receptionist.
“I’m sorry! I misunderstood!”
“Ah… no, it’s alright. I should’ve explained better.”
The adventurers exchanged awkward glances.
They had all stood up dramatically, and now backing down with, “Well, if you apologized, it’s fine,” would be embarrassing.
Sadly, the short-lived alliance between Melraim and these strangers was coming to an end.
I mean, the people directly involved had already apologized. What else could they do?
But apparently, these adventurers had no intention of giving up their role as champions of justice.
Despite looking more like delinquents.
“You think you can just brush this off with an apology?!”
“Oh? Are you challenging us?”
Melraim stepped forward, delivering a line worthy of a proper villain.
One of the adventurers shouted back.
“Yeah! A duel!”
But the atmosphere wasn’t truly hostile.
No one here was genuinely angry.
I figured I’d just watch from the sidelines.
I had no intention of getting involved in this farce.
But life rarely went the way I wanted.
The adventurer shouting about a duel drew his sword, pointed it at me, and yelled.
“You! Come outside!”
Why me?!
At that moment, Lily, still sitting at the reception desk, shouted at the sword-wielding adventurer.
“Mights! That’s a fine!”
No mercy at all.
Even though he had supposedly stood up for her.
Well, drawing a sword inside the guild naturally came with consequences.
So his name was Mights.
Mights froze for a moment, making a panicked expression, before pretending nothing happened.
Of course, I had no intention of accepting the duel.
Did he pick me because I was the only man in the party?
Or because my class was Warrior?
Probably both.
Just as I was about to refuse, someone tapped Mights on the shoulder.
“Wait.”
“Huh?”
The two stepped aside and started whispering.
“Think about it. That guy’s party is full of beautiful women with rare classes. Even if he’s just a Warrior, do you really think he’s weak?”
“Is that so? He doesn’t look like much.”
…I can hear you.
Why are you saying such rude things?
And Yuna?
Please stop grinning at me.
Apparently, I wasn’t the only one hearing their “whispers.”
The other adventurers were murmuring too.
The man puffed up proudly and continued.
“See that weapon?”
“It looks like junk.”
That’s just cruel.
Don’t listen, Karaman.
“You don’t understand. It proves he’s so skilled he doesn’t need to care about weapon quality.”
No, you’re the one who doesn’t understand.
I’m just poor.
But somehow, the surrounding adventurers found his nonsense convincing.
Mights turned pale, then shouted again with a trembling voice.
“On second thought, a duel would inconvenience everyone here, so let’s settle this another way!”
Another way?
What, a dance battle?
Unable to resist my curiosity, I asked.
“What kind of way?”
“Uh… a quest! Yeah! We’ll pick a quest, and whoever clears it first wins!”
That was… surprisingly wholesome.
Of course, we weren’t familiar with the local terrain or ecosystem.
In that sense, Mights clearly thought this would favor him.
And honestly, he was right.
I asked again.
“What happens if we lose?”
“Umm…”
Mights started thinking.
He probably wanted to say, “Leave this town!”
But since he didn’t know our actual strength, he couldn’t risk it.
And the result was even more petty than I expected.
“Fifty silver! No… forty!”
That was still a decent amount of money.
But wasn’t it weird for a self-proclaimed champion of justice to suggest gambling?
At least be consistent with your character.
Yuna, please teach him.
Sure, your settings have some holes, but you’ve committed to your “person from another world” act twenty-four hours a day.
But Melraim’s eyes sparkled.
“Let us do it!”
Without consulting anyone, she accepted the bet.
Well… forty silver wasn’t impossible for us to pay.
We’d barely spent any of the reward from exploring Melraim’s cave.
And we’d just gotten paid for delivering the bear.
Thanks to that, we had nearly two gold coins on hand.
“Yuna, what do you think?”
“Well… we were going to take a quest anyway. I don’t care.”
Yuna looked Mights up and down before adding,
“Doesn’t seem like we’ll lose.”
Mights immediately started fuming.
Then Tanya raised her hand.
Mights, already angry at Yuna’s words, snapped.
“What?!”
“Are we allowed to interfere with the other side?”
“No!”
A wise choice.
It was obvious what “interfere” meant coming from an Assassin.
Mights marched over to Lily and asked.
“Since it’s come to this, would you act as the judge?”
What kind of sleazy tone was that?
Even Lily looked like she was forcing her smile.
“I suppose… sure. Then all participants must pay the forty silver entry fee in advance. Other parties may participate as well.”
The adventurers began discussing among themselves.
Meanwhile, Melraim held out her hand toward me.
“Luka! Lend me some money!”
“Lend? We’re doing this together. It’s not like I earned it alone.”
“Is that so? We are comrades, after all!”
“…Yeah. I guess.”
I handed her four large silver coins.
Melraim smiled brightly and gave them to Lily.
A few other parties hesitated, then started handing over money too.
“Alright! The party that completes the quest I assign will receive all the money gathered here! And the original quest reward as well! Anyone else joining?”
Lily skillfully encouraged participation.
For some reason, she looked like she was having fun.
Before I knew it, this showdown had turned into a guild event.
“Damn it! Fine, we’re in too!”
“Ugh… I don’t know what the quest is, so I’m out…”
“Hey Max! Lend our party the money! We’ll pay you back after we win!”
In the end, eight parties joined.
And in front of Lily, a considerable pile of money had formed.
“No more participants? Registration is now closed!”
Then Lily pulled out a document, stood up, raised it high, and announced.
“The challenge will be clearing the Pow Dungeon! The winning party will receive the pooled prize of three hundred twenty silver, plus the original reward of two gold! A total of five gold and twenty silver!”
Wow…
That was an absurd amount of money.
Forty silver alone wasn’t a small amount.
Even for adventurers working in a count’s territory, it would be considered a heavy stake.
But once all that money was gathered together, it became a jaw-dropping sum.
And the original reward was no joke either.
Two gold coins for a dungeon quest?
No wonder the adventurers immediately started shouting.
“L-Lily? The Pow Dungeon?! What do you mean?!”
“If no one clears it, we get our money back, right?!”
Lily smiled sweetly as she answered.
“There’s no time limit, so take your time clearing it.”
No time limit.
Which meant she wouldn’t return the money until someone cleared it.
Well… maybe if a non-participating adventurer cleared it, there might be some room to negotiate.
The adventurers cried out in despair.
Meanwhile, my party and I just stood there blankly, watching the scene.
What the hell is the Pow Dungeon?