Chapter 160

A Dispute with Adventurers
During the snowy season, fewer people work. In this world, winter is a time to rest. However, adventurers don’t have that luxury. If they don’t work, they’ll run out of money and won’t be able to pay for lodging. Being an adventurer is a well-paying job, but the cost of living is high. First, there’s the lodging fee—without it, they can’t live anywhere. Then, there are maintenance and replacement costs for weapons and armor. Additionally, they need medical supplies. Just these alone must cost a significant amount of money.

For that reason, adventurers tend to be diligent workers. Furthermore, they generally avoid causing trouble. If they turn the citizens against them, they’ll lose work. Apparently, adventurers like me, who primarily hunt and occasionally gather materials, are quite rare.

"More than half of all adventurers don’t engage in hunting. Many aren’t good at combat, so a lot of them make a living doing work inside the town or gathering herbs and ores.” Alicia had said.

Most of the adventurers I met in Arland were fairly polite, so I never thought I’d actually come across an idiot like the one in front of me. Well, adventurers are just people too, so I guess it’s natural that some bad ones exist…

"Come on, why don’t you have a drink with us?"

"Yeah, yeah, just come over here for a bit."

"P-please stop!"

A group of middle-aged men, all armed, had surrounded several young women and were trying to hit on them. If that was all, it might still be within the range of something I could ignore. After all, flirting is a personal freedom… that is, if the women’s male companions weren’t lying on the ground.

"Cia."

"… Well, scum like that do exist, albeit rarely. However, if they go too far, the guild will revoke their guild cards, so such cases are uncommon."

The Adventurers' Guild is a business that relies on having clients. It’s not a profession that just any thug can take up. In fact, the guild is ruthless toward unruly adventurers who don’t follow the rules. If they weren’t, merchants and citizens alike would stop relying on them for jobs.

"That said, high-ranking adventurers are a different matter. There are so few of them that their guild cards cannot be revoked so easily. In those cases, other high-ranking adventurers step in and… 'correct' their behavior in a more physical manner. That group over there is Silver Fang, an A-rank party."

"Silver Fang sounds fragile."

Fangs made of silver would be too soft, in my opinion. Speaking of which, maybe we should come up with a name for our party too. People keep referring to us as “the mysterious masked one” and whatnot. As for Alicia, she’s been nicknamed “The Tyrant” because anyone who messes with me ends up invoking her wrath. Incidentally, that was also my father’s old nickname.

"Indeed… If I recall, there aren’t any adventurers stronger than them in the capital at the moment, so they’re getting full of themselves. It’s disgraceful. If we were in Arland, those kinds of people would be easily dealt with by the city guard."

The fact that the city guard is strong enough to match A-rank adventurers seems odd to me. Well, they wouldn’t be fighting alone but as a group, so they’d probably have no trouble arresting those guys.

"Please, stop it!"

"Tch, quit being so stubborn and just come with us already!"

"Our patience is wearing thin, lady."

One of the women broke free from an adventurer’s grasp and tried to rush over to the fallen man. A lover, perhaps? I couldn't just ignore this situation. If adventurers’ reputations suffered in places I wasn’t aware of, it would be a nuisance for me too.

"Helios."

"Understood."

Helios, clad in full plate armor, instantly stepped in between the adventurers and the woman.

"I will not permit any further misconduct."

"The hell do you think you are?!"

The adventurers shouted in anger at Helios’s sudden interference.

"As a fellow adventurer, I cannot condone your actions. I will report this to the guild."

"… Guts, this guy’s in that masked magician’s party."

"Crap, that Hollow or whatever they call him has connections to the royal family."

Oh? They know about me? Well, it’s good if they recognize that they’ve picked the wrong fight. That way, they’ll avoid causing more trouble.

I cast Heal on the two men who had been knocked down. Two of their ribs were broken. This was clearly excessive.

"We’ll handle things here, so you can go now."

"… But…"

The woman hesitated.

"We’re adventurers too. Rather, I should be apologizing. Please understand that not all adventurers are like those idiots. We’ll make sure they get what they deserve."

That kind of behavior is unacceptable. I’m a woman too, after all. I hate being forced to comply through brute strength. That’s why I decided to go through with punishing them.

After some thought, the woman helped the injured man stand up, bowed to me, and left.

"Now then, head to the guild and write a reflection statement."

When adventurers cause trouble, they have to write an apology letter at the guild. I, too, was made to apologize many times by Madame. It’s humiliating. Honestly, I wish they’d let things slide for minor incidents like slightly blowing up a shack or modifying a castle with magic.

"You… You’re lower-ranked than us, yet…"

"Rank has nothing to do with this."

Blindly worshiping rank will only make enemies. If you don’t believe me, try going around telling other adventurers, “I’m A-rank, so I’m better than you.” You’ll immediately see them looking at you with utter disdain.

Besides, adventurer ranks aren’t absolute. Those who do odd jobs in town or gather resources from forests can only go up to C-rank, but they are professionals in their field. I couldn’t do part-time work like that. Sure, I can gather materials, but specialized gatherers can make a good living solely from that.

A-rank adventurers are simply those specialized in monster hunting. If you can’t hunt monsters, you can’t rise above B-rank.

"Damn it, let’s go. You’ll regret making an enemy of us."

The Silver Fang members spat on the ground and left. That was the correct choice. Alicia’s anger was reaching a dangerous level. Please, stop radiating killing intent behind me—it’s making me shiver.

Afterward, I headed to the guild in the capital to sell the regular monsters I had hunted in the golem paradise.

"I brought a bunch again."

"This is... as always, an incredible amount. Are the magic gems the same as usual?"

When I placed several storage bags on the counter, the receptionist checked their contents.

"I use magic gems, so just buy the materials as usual."

Since I don't often use ritual-based magic, I have no need for monster materials. Well, it's not like I couldn't use them, but since they involve things like monster hearts, people tend to dislike it. Alicia even banned me from dismantling monsters... And I went through the trouble of making a large knife for dismantling, too. Not that I've ever done it before—I'm a complete amateur.

The receptionist carried the bags to the frozen storage area for dismantling and returned after a while. The magic gems would be given back to me later.

"I've checked everything. This is the purchase amount."

"That works for me."

Alicia took the heavy bag filled with gold coins and tucked it into her waist pouch.

"And you really should decide on a party name soon."

"Alright, let's get that done too. Give me the form."

I had been thinking it was about time to decide on a party name. Helios and Alicia told me I could choose whatever I wanted, so I twirled the pen around while thinking.

Let's go with this.

"W-Woof-Meow Club?"

"I love pets. I have both dogs and cats."

"My Lord... I am not a dog. And the ones left at the castle are magic cats. They’re all magic beasts. Also, I am a familiar."

Mr. Coote protested, tapping the floor, but only I could understand his words. Behind me, Alicia and Helios were trying to hold back their laughter. It's fine, isn't it?

And so, the B-rank party Woof-Meow Club was officially formed.

Next, I brought up the matter of those "Bronze Fangs" from earlier.

"Uh... wasn't it Silver Fangs? Anyway, I'll report it to the Guildmaster."

"I think that was the name. But why are they doing stuff like that?"

Normally, adventurers are monitored by the kingdom to prevent wrongdoing. Just because they're high-ranking adventurers doesn't mean they can do whatever they want. I mean, if they're going to flirt, at least do it without resorting to threats.

"That is... I'm sorry, but I can't say anything."

"Oh, it's the masked kid. I'll tell you. Those guys are siding with that prince. Idiots, really."

A fellow adventurer who had been drinking in the back spoke up with an annoyed expression.

"......"

The receptionist made a sour face and fell silent. What an amusing expression.

"If the guild ignores them, it'll ruin our reputation too. Do something about it, it's a damn nuisance."

It seemed the guild was hesitant to act because they had the backing of royalty. Other adventurers were also criticizing "Tin Fangs." Apparently, they had been causing a lot of trouble while I was away.

What the heck is going on? Is royal backing really that important?

"Normally, it's just a headache. Even if someone is out of options, as long as they haven't been stripped of their royal status, the guild can't complain. This isn't Arland."

I see. In Arland, if I were backing someone and they caused trouble, I'd be the one getting scolded. That's why things like this don’t happen there. Madame's lectures are terrifying, and my father, being a former adventurer himself, absolutely hates troublemaking adventurers.

But does having adventurers as backing even offer any real benefits? Maybe it makes it easier to obtain rare items? But that prince wouldn’t have much use for those.

Could it be that he's in a politically precarious situation and is gathering forces to stabilize his position? Maybe he's trying to exert silent pressure by showing he has subordinates?

But that would immediately count as treason... This sounds like a hassle, so I'll just stay out of it.

"I'm sorry. There are currently no other A-rank adventurers in the royal capital. No matter how much our staff warns them, they refuse to listen. We're considering bringing in adventurers from other regions who can discipline them. Most likely, this incident will also get covered up by, uh... I forgot his name, but the Fifth Prince."

A royal so unimportant that people forget his name actually exists. Well, "Fifth Prince" is enough to identify him, so I guess it’s fine. Looks like "Clay Fangs" are definitely going to be punished by the guild. And by "punished," I mean physically.

"In that case, why don’t we leave it to you, Hollow?"

An old man descended from the second floor of the guild and dropped a bombshell by suggesting that I should handle it. Why me?

Our "Woof-Meow Club" is busy, you know. We have things to do, like training Mr. Coote in new tricks or hunting monsters. So with that in mind...

"Too much trouble, I pass."

"At least hear me out."

I sent Mr. Coote at the old man, who was trying to push a troublesome task onto me. Mr. Coote's attack—spinning around the old man while doing a handstand—was quite effective. The old man pressed his forehead with his right hand in exasperation.

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