Chapter 4: Beyond Being Fucked
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 4: Beyond Being Fucked
“Fuck… Fuck… Fuck…!”
Immediately after Alto Bertrand left the guild, the Lukart Branch Manager of the Adventurer Guild was writing a report, repeating curses under her breath like a mantra.
The report stated that Alto Bertrand, a National Merit Recipient, had left the Hero-rank adventurer party, Mirei’s Party. It listed a fabricated reason: that he had chosen to leave after deciding he was a poor fit for the group.
“Dammit!”
The Branch Manager pressed down hard on every stroke of her pen, recalling the situation just before Alto’s departure.
‘Hus, I like the sound of that.’
Fortunately, her suggestion seemed to have pleased him, as Alto’s tone had returned to its usual politeness.
She had survived.
Yet, she couldn’t even afford a sigh of relief.
The face he had shown her—the one accompanied by the scent of blood after he shattered the teacup—made it abundantly clear why he was called the “Bloodhound” during the Final War.
With his brow furrowed like a snarling wolf and a murderous aura radiating from him, the Branch Manager had nearly pissed herself.
‘So, why are you recommending Hus?’
When he repeated the question, she realized she couldn’t possibly deceive him.
If the rumors from the war were true, trying to trick him again would result in her own blood turning him back into the Bloodhound right then and there.
‘H-Hus has a few dungeon cities. They’re small and low-level, but they exist.’
The existence of a dungeon city meant there was an Adventurer Guild branch there, regardless of its size.
That was the best option the Branch Manager could squeeze out of her frantic brain.
‘So you want to keep me registered with the Adventurer Guild at the very least?’
‘…My life and that girl’s life depend on it.’
If she didn’t at least do that, she couldn’t hope for the guild’s mercy, even if she ignored her own fate.
Pointing at the receptionist, the Branch Manager had dropped to her knees before Alto.
‘Please, spare us. I have committed a mortal sin!’
‘I have no intention of killing you. I told you, didn’t I? I want to minimize the damage as much as possible.’
Alto had stood up quietly.
‘Fine. I’ll go to Hus.’
‘Thank you!’
‘In exchange, make sure the reason for my departure doesn’t leak. Even if rumors do spread, ensure they don’t harm Mirei’s Party. I trust you have the competence to handle that much.’
‘I will make sure of it!’
‘We’ll see about that.’
Alto had turned away coldly.
Blood was still dripping from the hand he had used to smash the teacup.
‘By the time rumors reach me in Hus, I’ll consider the situation beyond repair.’
What would happen if the rumors reached him?
The Branch Manager didn’t even want to imagine it.
As soon as Alto Bertrand left, she had sent the receptionist to gather more details while she sat down to write an emergency report to the guild headquarters.
“Branch Manager! I found out!”
“You stupid bitch! Don’t you know how to knock?!”
When the receptionist burst into the office shouting, the Branch Manager screamed right back.
“Did you keep your identity hidden? Were you followed? Was anyone around when you came in?”
“Y-Yes! I did exactly as you ordered!”
Though terrified, the receptionist answered promptly.
The fear of the Branch Manager was nothing compared to the terror of the fallout from driving a National Merit Recipient out of the city of Lukart.
“So, what did you find out?”
“Well…”
“Spit it out, now!”
I was just catching my breath.
The receptionist felt wronged, but she quickly continued her report.
“It seems that a while ago, the priestess Krima pestered Lord Alto into taking out a massive loan.”
“How much?”
“Forty million Dalk.”
“F-Forty million…?”
“Exactly forty million Dalk.”
“For what?”
Common sense dictated that the receptionist should have given the Branch Manager a moment to brace for the shock.
However, having been scolded to answer quickly, she ignored all tact and recited the report like a machine.
“To buy a new Archiyo designer wallet.”
“That crazy bitch! That’s a men’s brand!”
“She supposedly begged Lord Alto, saying she needed the money for orphans.”
“Well, she must have been real charming to get him to take out a loan! But why would a woman buy a men’s brand?!”
Despite her question, the Branch Manager’s mind naturally traced the logic to its conclusion.
Remembering the men Mirei’s Party members had been seen with, the Branch Manager began to tremble.
“Don’t tell me…”
“Yes. She bought it as a gift for Lord Gerend…”
“Those insane sluts!”
Unable to withstand the shock, the Branch Manager slumped into her chair, drained.
She couldn’t even bring her hand to her forehead; she just stared blankly and muttered.
“What do we do? Those crazy bitches didn’t just cheat on a National Merit Recipient, they bled him dry too… What the hell are we going to do?”
She kept spiraling, chanting “What do I do?” over and over, but both she and the receptionist were too mentally shattered to think straight.
Their meager brains were doing their best just to process the catastrophe.
And tragically, the receptionist’s report wasn’t over yet.
“Branch Manager, I also investigated how Lord Alto found out about his party members’ infidelity.”
“……”
“Branch Manager?”
“Just fucking say it! I’m listening!”
The receptionist’s face turned pale.
It wasn’t because she was scared of the Branch Manager, but because she couldn’t believe she had to utter this cruel truth.
“Priestess Krima gave the new Archiyo wallet to Lord Gerend, and then she and the ranger Diane took turns kissing him.”
“He saw that?”
“Yes.”
“Where the hell were they wagging their tongues for Lord Alto to see them?”
“I-In the street. Right in the middle of the street…”
“Those goddamn whores—!”
She felt like she was losing her mind.
The Branch Manager eventually started banging her head against the wall. Only when her forehead cracked and blood began to flow did she ask urgently.
“If you were able to find this out… that means quite a few people saw it, doesn’t it?”
“There were… a few.”
“Haaa… Ah…! AAAAAAGH—!!!!”
The Branch Manager collapsed onto the floor and threw a literal temper tantrum.
“Do you know how hard I worked to get here?! Fuck, even when I spread my legs, they wouldn’t take me because I’m one-eyed, so I had to pay my way up with bribes—!!! I haven’t even made my money back yet!”
Only five years.
She had spent every cent she’d ever saved on bribes to be appointed as the Lukart Branch Manager.
Her branch had produced a Hero-rank party, and being a dungeon city right next to the capital, there were plenty of men, causing her performance reviews to soar every year.
She had just started to recoup her bribe money, and now, overnight, she had become one of the “bitches” who kicked out a National Merit Recipient.
“B-Branch Manager. Should I go now and try to cling to Lord Alto? They say you get over one woman with another.”
“Are you insane?! Do you think ‘Bloodhound’ is some neighborhood dog’s name? He only left quietly because he was being a gentleman!”
“I was just trying to find a way to survive…”
“Do you even know what the Bloodhound is?!”
“I know he’s amazing, but I don’t know the details!”
“Uuuuugh!!!!!! Why is a girl like you my subordinate?!”
Banging her head against the wall again, the blood-soaked Branch Manager grabbed the receptionist by the shoulders and shook her.
“In the Final War! He was the sole survivor of the right wing that was ambushed by two of the Demon King’s Four Heavenly Kings! That right wing was the one that cleared the path for the Heroes to reach the Demon King! And in that wing, it was the Bertrand Unit that personally carved the path! In the Bertrand Unit, which killed two of the Heavenly Kings, the man who personally took down one of them was the Bloodhound!”
“Wait, what…?”
The receptionist’s eyes widened to their limits at this revelation.
Only then could she feel even a fraction of the weight of the sin she—and the entire city of Lukart—had committed against him.
“We just mocked the Final War’s No. 1 National Merit Recipient because he’s ugly, let his party members make out with other men, and then let him slip away!”
The Branch Manager stopped screaming.
The words she had spoken were now suffocating her.
“We’re… fuck… we’re so fucked…”
Tears blurred her vision.
Everything felt hopeless.
She felt like she was falling into a bottomless pit.
“Branch Manager…”
“What…? It’s over… It’s all over…!”
The receptionist asked blankly as the Branch Manager sat there crying, having abandoned all dignity and status.
“At this rate, Mirei’s Party will be coming soon to confirm Lord Alto’s departure. What do we do then?”
“Ha!”
A hollow laugh escaped her.
Crying one moment and laughing the next, the Branch Manager felt the bitter realization that this was what hitting rock bottom looked like.
“Mirei’s Party? This whole mess happened because of those bitches! What do you think we do?”
“But Lord Alto said to make sure Mirei’s Party doesn’t suffer any damage…”
“Listen closely, you moron.”
The Branch Manager grabbed the receptionist’s hair and flashed a miserable smile.
“Just sending Lord Alto to a place where the guild exists isn’t enough. This? This report? If I send this, the headquarters will send auditors the very next day. They definitely will. Or they might come even later. Do you know what that means? It means ‘fix it.’ There are probably two ways to fix this. Either bring Lord Alto back, or create a situation where he wants to come back.”
“But Lord Alto said the damage to Mirei’s Party…”
“He said to minimize the damage! Did you forget? This year is the 5th anniversary of the victory in the Final War! They said the Victory Commemoration Ceremony would be the biggest ever, on an unprecedented scale! And do you know which city is hosting it?”
The receptionist shook her head.
She had heard it would be big, but she hadn’t heard the specific location.
“This is still top secret… but since we’re in the same boat, I’ll just tell you.”
The Branch Manager began to giggle again.
She looked like she was losing her mind.
“The place with the best performance among the Adventurer Guild branches, the place that birthed a Hero-rank party: right here, Lukart.”
“Ah…?”
“They’re planning to gather all the war veterans this time. What happens if Lord Alto, the No. 1 National Merit Recipient, refuses to come to Lukart? And what happens when the reason for that becomes public?”
The receptionist finally snapped.
“Hehe… Hehehehehe…!”
“I told you~. We’re all fucked!”
The receptionist laughed, and the Branch Manager laughed with her.
Everyone was laughing.
Laughing through a mess of tears and snot.
Then, the Branch Manager suddenly stopped laughing.
“I don’t care if they’re a Hero-rank party or whatever. Wreck them by any means necessary. If we fix this, we’re heroes. If we don’t, we’re traitors.”
“…Understood.”
The receptionist answered obediently, her eyes completely vacant.