Chapter 13
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Crack in the Main Scenario -2-
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The moment the door to the Adventurer's Guild swung open, a thick stench of booze and tobacco hit them.
"Urk-! Booze smell!"
Seria pinched her nose without thinking.
This was her first time in the capital's Adventurer's Guild, but it felt chaotic and disorganized somehow.
It wasn't the free-spirited haven of camaraderie she'd imagined—no proud powerhouses brooding in the corner with arms crossed, no helmeted, armor-clad mass murderers of specific races refusing to remove their gear.
The first impression was nothing like the guilds from her stories.
People were swarming the stairs. Had some accident broken out?
A crash of shattering glass echoed from below.
-Don't lose this time!!
-I've bet everything on you! Kill him!
-Head!! Hit him in the head!!
-Lizardmen forever!
The only one watching the two who had just walked in was a lone woman with a headband.
"Welcome."
"Um... is something going on?"
The receptionist glanced impassively at the stairs before flashing a practiced business smile.
"It's nothing out of the ordinary, so please don't worry about it."
"R-Really?"
Seria was momentarily speechless at the receptionist's enlightened expression.
"I have a consultation."
Rike approached the receptionist, ignoring the scene with a blank face.
"Please, go ahead."
"How much does it cost to commission a Platinum adventurer?"
Seria's jaw dropped, and the receptionist looked momentarily flustered.
The receptionist quickly recovered her business smile.
"I'm sorry, but it would be easier to explain if you could verify your identity. Platinums are our guild's top assets, so we can't disclose details lightly. I hope you understand."
'So who the hell are you? Got the money to hire one?'
-Woooaaahhh!!!
-We won't have to work for a while, heh heh.
-Argh! That idiot! Lost again!!
Cheers erupted from the stairs.
Rike ignored it and pulled the marquis family crest from her pocket.
"I'm Rike Skadi, eldest daughter of the Skadi Marquisate."
"...Please wait a moment."
The receptionist pulled out a peculiar monocle and inspected the metallic crest from every angle.
She nodded to herself in confirmation, stood, and gathered some documents.
"I'll guide you. Let's move to a private room."
"Uh... I'll wait outside?"
Personal commissions were confidential affairs.
They might expose personal failings or things one didn't want publicized.
Seria had no intention of intruding.
Though she was curious about the price...
"Come with us. You're just listening today."
Rike's quiet voice held her back.
A soundproofed meeting room.
The receptionist showed them a contract pledging nondisclosure between herself and the Adventurer's Guild before taking a seat.
"To start, there are over 500 pending commissions ahead of any Platinum adventurer right now."
"...So we can't commission one until those are cleared?"
"No. The commissions are queued, but whether they accept is entirely up to the adventurer themselves. Especially... higher-ranked ones tend to chase thrills over money."
"Thrills..."
"Money's great in abundance, of course. But when you're drowning in so much cash it rots, you start craving something else entirely."
Adding that it was her personal opinion, the receptionist slid a paper across.
"This is the most recent fee for a Platinum who took a job for 'money alone.'"
"Gasp-!"
Seria peeked at the paper and clapped a hand over her mouth at the exclamation that burst out.
Even Rike's eyebrows narrowed ever so slightly in shock.
"If not money, what do they usually take instead?"
The sum clearly exceeded Rike's expectations; she pushed the paper back.
"Items, elixirs, territories, mansions—it's hard to define. Even something worthless can work if it piques their interest."
"I see..."
Noting Rike's darkening expression, the receptionist added one more thing.
"This is something they permitted me to mention... but rarely, they've accepted a commission for nothing more than sharing a drink."
"A Platinum?!"
Seria beat Rike to the punch, blurting it out in surprise.
"Yes. They're beyond normal logic. To help you understand, the client was an astonishing beauty."
'Even so...'
Seria pressed her temple, still unable to comprehend.
No matter how rich, choosing a beauty and drinks over that sum was incomprehensible.
"Who was she, by any chance?"
Rike had once been told she resembled her mother.
To her, her mother was the continent's greatest beauty.
She paled in comparison—embarrassingly so—and her face was scarred besides, but Rike grasped at the straw anyway.
"Well... she's in the underground tavern right now."
"Behold! The trash who preyed on a grief-stricken widow crumbles before my righteous iron fist!"
-Woooaaahhh!!!
-Roman! Roman! Roman!
-Virgin slayer! Virgin slayer! Virgin slayer!
-Adventurer's Guild unicorn!!
Nottingham lay passed out, embedded in one wall.
I yanked the arrows from my forearm and shoulder, then fished a potion from his pocket and poured it on my arm.
"Now, I claim the victor's rights!"
Hoarding cheers erupted as I hoisted the unconscious Nottingham with one hand.
Repair fees for the tavern, today's booze tab—all billed to him.
Chump change to him, sure, but it'd sour his mood.
-Woooaaahhh-!!!
Strip him naked and toss him outside the guild?
Dump him at a brothel for a double shift as a male escort?
Tough call on which was more humiliating.
Clap. Clap.
"Hey—Roman, that's enough."
The receptionist who'd just been spectating from upstairs descended, clapping to draw eyes.
"No matter how popular our receptionist is in the guild..."
"Two young beauties are looking for you, Roman."
Thud-!
I slammed Nottingham to the floor and hopped off the table.
"You lot play with him yourselves! I'm out!"
I pocketed his belongings pouch.
I bolted up the stairs like the wind.
Tormenting a stinky guy versus chatting with fresh beauties.
Score for fun and interest—which even compared?
Wonder who it is today.
I opened the meeting room door with anticipation.
Creeeak—
"Huh?"
"Ah."
We locked eyes and both let out dumbfounded sounds.
"...Do you know them?"
The receptionist read the mood from behind me in the doorway.
"...Wow, such stunning beauties—I'm shocked. Luck's on my side today."
"Sigh—get in already."
Prodded firmly in the back, I reluctantly entered and sat.
Seria averted her eyes shyly; Rike stared straight through me, unflustered.
'Where did it all go wrong?'
Rike getting tangled with other heroines only happened after the main story wrapped, regardless of the ending.
She'd build relationships with the heroines around Robert, triggering events or illustrations.
Her showing up at the guild was odd enough; together with Seria, it amplified the confusion.
'Me becoming an instructor? Pummeling them in class? Or...'
The first thing I'd guarded against in this world, knowing bits of the future.
But something I'd let blur into forgetfulness over long years here.
That these weren't NPCs spouting fixed lines from safe spots—they were humans with free will.
Until now, I'd fixated on hidden pieces, blind to main scenario deviations.
The main story I knew hadn't even begun.
The characters from the entrance ceremony?
I'd assumed I knew their paths cold.
Everything in my palm.
Like some Buddha, drunk on omnipotence.
One leads to two, then inevitably three.
'I thought too simplistically... Total rewrite needed.'
It's different.
Swept up in this world too long, I'd taken the obvious for granted and relaxed.
People aren't objects.
Can't think linearly.
Even Robert-related events need full revision.
How would he grow without gamer interference?
"Mind if I talk to these two alone?"
"Of course not. Ridiculous..."
"What do you think?"
I dangled an intermediate recovery potion from Nottingham's pouch before her eyes.
Made by a skilled alchemist.
Similar to the church's vitality potions, but effects varied by use.
True regeneration potion—drinking healed wounds; applied to skin, it boasted superb cosmetic benefits.
Absurdly expensive for beauty use to commoners.
But her eyes, jaded from nobles and elite adventurers, wouldn't balk.
I knew her spending dwarfed her pay; she'd never refuse.
"...It depends on the two inside."