Philanthropist (2)
The Adventurer Guild maintained its own tavern for adventurers to unwind after completing requests.
While the primary crowd gathered there to drown the day’s fatigue in a glass of liquor, the establishment also served as a convenient spot to recruit new party members.
In one corner of that tavern.
Er’s voice filled the air as she introduced Ahin with his robe pulled low over his face.
“This one is Ahin. I hired him to handle the menial tasks on this expedition.”
“Ahin, nice to meet you. Please take care of us.”
“What? Rookie? Are you joking?”
A brown-haired man slammed his fist on the table they were seated at.
“Er, we’re not low enough to waste time with this kid. Why bring someone like him along?”
The brown-haired man glared at Er, his eyes twitching with annoyance as he poured out his complaints.
“You brought this nobody here? We were told no need for anyone to carry loads—”
“If we move slowly because of the luggage, we’ll be in trouble. Who knows what could happen inside the dungeon?”
The dungeon they were heading to was a privately discovered one by the Adventurer Guild only a short while ago.
The Guild had selected Er for the expedition due to her good track record, granting her full authority over party composition.
During that process, the only person Er had recruited was a Bronze-rank ranger named Kale, whom she had exchanged greetings with a few times before.
“Just in case, stay alert.”
“What ‘just in case’…? If something happens to that brat, who’s going to take responsibility?”
Kale pointed at Ahin, who sat silently beneath his robe.
“This request came down to a Bronze-rank adventurer. That kind of rookie isn’t tough enough!”
“It’s fine. We always hire new Scrap Iron-rank adventurers for menial labor and carrying anyway?”
“It’s a direct Guild request. The danger level…”
Kale slammed his fist on the table repeatedly, trying to force Ahin out.
“There’s no way he’ll die in that dungeon. Worry about your own ass instead.”
“…You bastard, what the hell did you just say?”
Kale narrowed his eyes at the arrogant tone, grinding his teeth as he continued.
“This brat doesn’t know his place!! If this keeps up, I’ll kick the party out…”
“Who are you looking at? You think I’m the party leader? The party leader is Er!”
“What? You real bastard…”
Kale’s mind was consumed with thoughts of punishing that insolent rookie.
Ahin, watching him subconsciously reach for the sword at his waist, noticed the golden eyes hidden beneath the robe.
The tense atmosphere, which had seemed about to explode, was finally diffused by Er’s sigh-tinged voice.
“Please stop it, you two. Or do you want to pay the penalty?”
Internal violence among party members fell under the Guild’s strictest jurisdiction.
Internal division was the fastest route to total wipeout, and it carried the heaviest penalties.
Recalling that rule, Er met the gazes of both men and spoke.
“Kale, you’ll be demoted to Iron rank. Ahin, even your Scrap Iron plate will be taken away?”
“…Damn it.”
Kale spat out curses at Er’s words and stood up in a fit of rage.
“Fuck, yeah. Since I’m the one who’s been letting you off easy, keep your mouth shut. Don’t forget the promised payment.”
“Kale! The quest details haven’t even—”
“That can wait until tomorrow! And you over there, you ungrateful rookie.”
“Huh.”
Kale shot a glare at Ahin’s blunt reply.
“You little shit, I’ll punish you when the time comes.”
“What? Did I say something wrong?”
“What? You real—”
“Kale! Ahin! Both of you, behave!”
Thud.
The table slammed as Er shouted, and Kale clicked his tongue before storming out of the tavern.
Even that outburst hadn’t satisfied him. He kicked an unnecessary chair and left, his temper laid bare without filter.
Er sighed as she watched.
“Isn’t it because of me that you got into this trouble?”
“It’s not as if there’s nothing to be done… but you really are necessary.”
“Why? That guy’s personality is rotten, but as long as he’s Bronze rank, he’s capable, right?”
“If he weren’t capable, I wouldn’t have taken him on.”
She, too, had many worries. Her voice carried exhaustion as she continued.
“I’ve gone through this before. Every time it was just me and Kale, we could manage it. More people mean less profit. Why trust someone like that…”
“…Is he crazy?”
For adventurers, a partner was essentially an extra life.
Having too many partners could be costly, but going on a dungeon expedition with only the two of them was bordering on madness.
“Recently, we found some pretty decent gems in the dungeon we just cleared. But with such a large party…”
“That’s why the income was low, huh.”
“It’s not like it happened once or twice. My fellow adventurers started avoiding Kale. I didn’t want to go alone…”
Many adventurers were sensitive to money. No, the majority were.
When your life could end at any moment, who would want to risk their own for pennies?
Naturally, Kale ended up avoided, leaving Er in the same position.
Even so, she didn’t want to go alone, so after searching and searching, she had finally reached out to Ahin.
Er explained the full story, then continued with a deep sigh.
“Besides, since I turned down his invitation to eat out the other day, it got even worse. He wasn’t polite in the first place…”
“…That’s it. Does he have feelings for you?”
…
Er fell silent at the words.
Ahin read the faint trace of irritation in her emerald eyes and spoke.
“If you don’t want him, just say it straight.”
“Of course I did. But at the Bronze rank, seeing the same faces every day is normal, and there was no way to avoid meeting him… This request was the only one where I couldn’t find a suitable ranger besides him.”
Rangers above Bronze rank offered inadequate pay, while those below fell short in skill.
All capable rangers of his level had their own parties. To hire one, you had to take the entire party, which would undermine the secrecy of the request and risk Er losing control of the party she had originally formed.
Even after laying out the full story, Er seemed to realize her slip and covered her mouth, shoulders trembling.
“…I said too much. Forget about it.”
“Me? I don’t care…”
Ahin raised a finger and pointed somewhere.
“…Can I eat this?”
Ahin gestured at the food that had gone cold because no one had touched it during their argument.
Er noticed the earnestness in his golden eyes and let out a small laugh.
“…Yes, it’s already paid for.”
“Thank you, Party Leader!”
At the same time, Ahin picked up a fork with both hands and reached for the food.
This was his first proper meal in nearly three days.
It was still a little cool, but there was no problem.
The faint heat that had escaped the wait eased his empty stomach, and he could eat quickly without burning his tongue.
“Delicious!”
“Looks like you’ve been starving for three days…”
“How’d you know? That’s exactly the third day today.”
“…Eat as much as you want. If you’re still hungry, I’ll order more.”
“Thank you, Party Leader Er!”
Er watched Ahin shovel food into his face with a dumbfounded expression.
All the men she had ever met had never once considered eating in front of her.
They had tried every trick to draw her attention, to seduce her.
But this man was the only one who showed zero interest in her and focused solely on eating.
Was it because he was hungry? Or was there another reason?
She didn’t know the truth, but it was fine.
Today, she could finally eat comfortably after a long time.
“…A weird person.”
The satisfaction reflected in Er’s emerald eyes as she murmured.
Yeah, it wasn’t bad.
---
“Fuck, fuck…”
Kale kicked at a pebble on the ground and glared, his brown hair disheveled.
The man who had just finished a shouting match and stormed out of the tavern muttered with a nervous tone.
“These bastards ignore me…!”
It didn’t sit right with him.
A nobody who threw around arrogance—
Or a pretty girl who thought she could play up her status just because she handled a sword decently.
“Without knowing their place…”
Even that girl had rejected the meal he had offered, acting high and mighty.
“What the hell, she’s just another Bronze-rank nobody…”
Of course, if they fought face to face, he had no chance of winning.
She was a promising talent the Guild was watching closely, while he had been scraping by at the bottom of Bronze rank for years.
It was already an open secret that the Guild was pushing big requests her way to nurture her.
It irritated him.
The industry wasn’t a place for brats who just turned adult to act up in.
If he didn’t show them what happens, those kinds of idiots would keep multiplying. Soon the Guild would become their playground.
He walked without a care in the world, replaying the worry no one had ever asked him about in his mind.
“…Ah, fuck.”
Kale spat curses while staring at the Adventurer Guild building right in front of him.
Without thinking, he had walked a full circle and returned.
He ran a hand through his disheveled hair and was about to turn away.
It was pure coincidence.
Inside the Guild building.
The sight of two men and one woman sitting together caught his eye.
A hooded man scooping food straight into his mouth with his own hands, the woman watching him with a disgusted expression as she spoke, and the man responding to her with a small laugh.
That was the trigger.
“Those fucking kids… so that’s what happened?”
A Scrap Iron nobody like that had no business being in a Bronze-rank party.
It wasn’t a normal request either. It was a direct Guild request.
For a high-difficulty request that demanded skill and experience, there was no need to insert an inexperienced rookie.
They just needed a place to leech off others.
They probably wanted a spot where their presence wouldn’t be noticed.
While doing so, they planned to steal his reputation and reward money.
He would laugh at their backs while they devoured his hard-earned experience.
“Those fucking kids, what the hell do they think this place is…”
Kale’s eyes, filled with curses, focused on the two men and one woman through the window.
Disgusting, brazen little bastards.
They couldn’t be left like this.
So,
“I’ll make sure you pay for ignoring me…”
---