Volume 2 - CH 196

Thanks to Houen rampaging to the verge of depleting his magical power, we had to deal with the DaftWorm on our own.

Basically, if we left it alone, the monsters would eat it, but …… this time it was a request.

I’m not sure what to do with it, but I’m sure I’ll be able to find a way to get rid of it.

But even if we bring back the material of the DaftWorm, the parts that we bring back are very limited.

The meat would be useless as evidence, and the skin would be too smelly and brittle to be of any use.

The only usable parts are the fangs and eyeballs. ……

Thanks to the fact that Houen burned all of it, there are no parts that can be removed.

But there was only one undamaged part.

And that is …….

“…… is this …… heart ……?”

“It’s still moving. Ewww.”

DaftWorm hearts are a well-known delicacy.

Therefore, if there are no more parts to be ripped off, it is better to take the heart home with you.

However, the DaftWorm’s bodily fluids contain acid.

It is so strong that it burns the skin just by touching it.

No wonder they have the skill of rabid acid saliva.

Thus, I carefully dismantled the body with my reamed water spears and finally decided to take out the heart.

It was a success, and I was able to get the still-beating, creepy heart.

I wondered how much it would be worth.

“Hey, Houen. Is this good?”

“Perfectly fine. All right, let’s go.”

“At least manage your …… MP properly, you know?”

“Geh…… sorry.”

I decided to keep DaftWorm’s heart in the water I had created and move on with it.

I didn’t have a container and I didn’t want to touch that heart.

◆

I returned to the Adventurers Guild with DaftWorm’s heart.

We were lucky to get back in half a day or so.

At this rate, I’d like to take on at least one more request.

However, as soon as we entered the Adventurers’ Guild, we heard some commotion.

“hm? What is it?”

“Is there a fight?”

“Dunno. Let’s go there.”

I made my way through the crowd to the center of the commotion and found …… Alena and Uchikage standing there.

In Alena’s hands were dozens of bottles of golden liquid, held in a bag, and she was standing back, protecting them.

Uchikage stands in front of Alena and seems to be protecting her.

Confronting Alena and Uchikage is a group of what appear to be female adventurers.

Other than that, there were male adventurers, beastman adventurers, and for some reason, various other people seemed to be staring at them.

“Oi Oi! What’s the matter with ya’ll!”

“Ouren-sama!”

“Ouren-!”

Alena comes running toward me with a tearful look on her face.

I squatted down to meet Alena’s eyes, and she quickly put on a normal expression and mumbled in a quiet voice that no one could hear.

“Ouren, put this in your magic bag.”

“….I see.”

A little surprised that the expression on her face earlier had been an act, I immediately understood what Alena had said and put the bag I was carrying into my magic tool bag.

The adventurers who had been pushing at Alena and Uchikage seemed to have seen this and immediately began to protest.

“Ah! You! What the hell are you doing!”

“I’m the one who brought it here! I’m not giving it to anyone!”

“You lying little shit!”

“This is not a lie! I’ve been watching Alena collect this nectar all day!”

“There’s no way I’ll believe a word that her friends say!”

So the adventurers are after Alena’s golden honey?

Well, it’s …… something that’s expensive.

I can understand why you’d want to go for it, but it’s not going to happen.

“You know, ……, most of us-“

“You’re all the same!”

“……HA?”

I didn’t understand what he was saying, and my voice came out sounding completely mad.

Eh? Me too? Excuse me?

“You guys have the guildmaster setting the groundwork and that’s how you rise in the ranks!”

“That’s right, that’s right! It’s crazy that you guys are rising so fast!”

“That’s not fair!”

“That honey you’re getting is probably from someone else, and you didn’t really gather it!”

What kind of a joke is that?

Well, it’s true that our ranks rose very quickly, but it was all done the regular way …….

Apart from the fact that Maria went the extra mile!

So what’s the problem?

Let me get the situation straight: …… this is directed at us, Reitei.

It seems like a lot of people don’t trust us. ……

Well, let’s explain it from the beginning.

” Come on. We’ve worked hard to get to where we are. We took the promotion test, we conquered the dungeon, and we jumped one rank. What’s wrong with that?”

“That’s why! I’m asking if you guys didn’t cheat your way up to C rank!”

“No, I never cheated once.”

“Bullshit!”

This is not a conversation anymore!

Even Though everything we said is the truth….

“Just get the honey out of there.”

“Why should I? Hell nah. Why should I give you what my friends have been working so hard to get?”

“Because it was illegally handled!”

“Where’s your proof?”

“Because you’re hiding it from us!”

“This is seriously out of line. ……”

Are you just denying it out of your mind. ……

Good grief.

What am I supposed to do about this?

“Are you all right, Ouren?”

“As you can see. Such a pain in the ass.”

“It’s Houen-san!”

“Ah, it’s true! But why?”

As soon as Houen came out, the reactions of the people around us all changed at once.

Come to think of it, Houen is quite famous in the Adventurers’ Guild, isn’t he?

As Houen came forward, the adventurers who had been pecking at us raised their voices.

“Houen-san! These guys are ridiculous.”

“What kind of problems?”

“I’ve been wondering about them for a while now, but the way their ranks are rising too fast.”

“When they were ranked F, they had really good equipment.”

“There are other things too. ……”

When one person started talking, the others followed suit.

We listened to them for a while, but it seemed like they were going to get out of hand.

It seems that they really want to make us the bad guys. ……

What should we do in this situation?

Please tell us, Mr. Oh so famous.

I mean, if things continue as they are, rumors like this will spread and it won’t be about trust anymore.

No, I mean, please don’t do this to us!

“Oh, I get it, I get it.”

“Oh! You really understand us, Houen-san! You’re on our si-…….”

“No, I know now that you guys are liars.”

His words caused a stir around the room.

The person who was being told this is still not quite understanding what is going on, and seems to be in a daze.

No, well, I also don’t know how he could say that out of the blue. ……

“You guys must be jealous.”

[[Hah??]]

Houen nodded his head in satisfaction alone.

The people other than the guy who prodded him also seemed to be surprised by Houen’s words.

Without hesitation, Houen begins to speak.

“I understand. I understand very much. The frustration of being overtaken by those who came before you. I understand! But, you guys, ……. If you have time to take your frustration out on others, why don’t you move on your own! Look at the low rank boards! There are still so many requests for herb collection! I would love to do it myself, but I am an A rank adventurer ……. and I can’t accept low-rank requests. However, there was a time, albeit temporarily, when there were fewer requests for low-rank gathering quests. Did you know why?!”

Houen spoke out with an unusual passion, and everyone present was listening and watching his speech.

Houen asked the adventurers who had been prodding him, one by one.

“Do you know?”

“I-I don’t know.”

“Do you know?”

“I-I’m sorry. I don’t know.”

“Do you know?”

“I-I heard a merchant came in.”

“You fool! How could a merchant come in here with that kind of thing?”

“I-I’m sorry!”

He slammed the floor with his spear which made a loud thud.

After that, Houen came close to me, then turned around again and began to make a speech.

“You know. It is because Reitei, led by Ouren, had arrived here. Reitei did a good job of taking care of even the smallest of tasks, and managed to digest the numerous requests to collect medicinal herbs. Do you know how many people were saved because of that? I can’t even count them on my fingers. Listen up! Now listen to me! Those who rise to the top do so for a good reason! Who would have thought that this Reitei, whose work has been highly valued, promoted, and evaluated for their abilities, should still be working with others who can’t even gather medicinal herbs!”

Many of the adventurers turned away from Houen’s words, as if they had a different opinion.

Is it working rather well ……?

“If we don’t do something that will be evaluated, the guild won’t look at us for anything! If you don’t do anything, you won’t even be appreciated! Take that frustration out on the request, not on the person! Like I did!”

He hits the floor with his spear once more and turns all eyes around him to us.

No, that’s not the part where you dignify me.

I’m sure he was just angry at Daftworm a while ago.

“All right! All adventurers of the Adventurers’ Guild! We might be accepting requests for our own lives. However!”

He slammed his spear into the floor again.

Then, in a quieter voice than before, he spoke the following words as if to collect them and have them heard by those around him.

“We must not forget that we are the protectors of the people.”

Houen’s words took everyone’s breath away.

He reminded them of something they had forgotten, or had not realized.

So, the adventurers feel as if they are thinking.

“All of you! Let us make this guild, or rather this kingdom of Salettana, thrive! Uniting together we will be stronger than the Knights! So much so that people will say that the Knights are a hindrance! Let us defend this kingdom!

“[UOOOOOH!!!!]”

An unprecedentedly loud voice roared through the Adventurers’ Guild.

I was surprised at the ability of Houen to put it all together, thinking that with this loudness, it would leak out to the outside world.

It seems to me that he has successfully deflected the topic from the agenda, …… but I still think it’s amazing.

“Houen is so cool!”

“Sigh…. I guess?”

The cheers and applause still echoed from the surroundings.

Houen was holding up his spear as if to respond to it.

“But! There may be some who are still not convinced. Those people will have to go through the mock battle with Ouren.”

“WHA-?!”

“It’s a good opportunity for you to see for yourself what those who have been highly rated are capable of! Let’s see who’s up for it! Who’s up for it?”

“Wait a minute, Houen, I never agree to-…”

“Yes, yes! Imma do it!”

“Me too!”

“Let’s do it! – Me, too!”

“Oh, yeah! I can’t let a youngster beat me! I’ll do it too!”

F*&!

This is ………… inevitable!