Vol. 3 - Chapter 38 - The end of the original quest
After discussing with Shirohime, it was decided that this incident would not be reported to the Adventurer\'s Guild. Of course, it was greatly insisted by Shirohime herself.
There was no way they, the White Wolf clan, the protector of this forest, would request aid from humans called Adventurers, who indiscriminately killed monsters in the forest.
As much as possible, she wanted to minimize the intervention of Adventurers in the forest.
I\'m a merchant and not an Adventurer. From what I\'d heard, there were quite a few creatures in this forest that were intelligent and rational, like Shirohime. If so, this place could become a profitable new commercial district. It would be more profitable for me to accept her proposal than to be dragged around by a bunch of tactless Adventurers. I would investigate the ownership of this land in detail, and if possible, my Sagami Co. would purchase it.
This being the case, it was necessary to keep this event confidential from the Adventurer\'s Guild.
The monkeys that the students had slaughtered were stored in a magic bag for the guild\'s submission. In any case, I decided to have these monkeys also bear the crime of stealing the livestock from the farm.
Right now, along with the mayor who had come in haste to the damaged farm, we were in the middle of inspecting the criminals who had stolen the livestock.
Of course, it was necessary to give severe reprimand to Haku, but this was a state of emergency where her mother was just about to die. There was no loss of life, and considering the situation Haku was in, it could not be helped. Besides, they were the reason why Haku attacked the livestock on this farm, so it wasn\'t exactly a lie.
"Thank God! I can now sleep in peace tonight!!"
The students smiled wryly at the farm owner, who was repeatedly bowing his head.
"I never thought the suspect was such an atrocious criminal. I am glad it was done before they did any damage to the townspeople. I\'m really grateful," the mayor also bowed deeply to the students.
"Then we will take our leave," I bowed on behalf of the students, who were smiling slightly.
Most of them were probably feeling uncomfortable for telling a lie. But when I explained that I was doing it for Shirohime and Haku, the students readily agreed to my false report to the guild.
After that, we got into the carriage that was parked there.
We could have returned using teleportation, but I wanted to prohibit myself from lending my power as much as possible.
"Um, Sensei?" Pluto stared at the roof of the carriage, only turning his neck towards me.
"What is it?"
"Those people, who are they?"
By "those people," he must be referring to Akuido and others.
"My subordinates. I should have said it, right?"
"That\'s not what I meant. I respect my father."
"I see."
In fact, Lampard Brauser was one of the most outstanding generals in the Empire. I can attest to that, having watched him die.
"I felt the power of those guys was somehow different from my father\'s."
He was quite a perceptive person. In a sense, Akuido and the others had stopped being a species called human due to [Awakened One]. So it was a given their power was on a different level.
"Can we become strong like those guys?"
"It\'s something that will depend on you guys."
Pluto stared at my face for a while, then pouted, "I know Sensei would say that."
"If you know, don\'t ask."
"......"
"First of all, you guys are still chicks. You\'re a hundred years too young to be looking for the next level of strength. Hey, Pluto, are you listening... or he\'s already asleep."
I shrugged my shoulders at the students, who had already begun to snore and lay down.
◇◆◇◆◇◆
As soon as we arrived at Straheim, we headed to the Adventurer\'s Guild.
"........."
The guild staff gaped at the dead baboons on the floor.
"We are also tired from all of that. So I hope you can investigate it quickly," I urged the receptionist, giving a sidelong glance to the students who were yawning continuously due to lack of sleep.
"Shirabe-san!!"
"Hmm, w-what is it?"
I couldn\'t help but take a step back from the menacing look the female receptionist gave me.
"You have defeated these monsters, right?" she asked, pointing to a big F+ rank monkey.
"I was only watching. I should have told you that."
"These monsters are baboons. A high-ranking one on top of that. No matter how much a G-rank Adventurer overstretched himself, it\'s impossible to defeat these monsters. Giving a false report is a grave breach of trust against the guild!"
"Even if you said that, it\'s the truth."
I gave up. The receptionist, perhaps based on her assumption, was vehement that I was the one who had defeated them.
"That\'s right. Sensei was just watching with an amusing look on his face from a distance, receptionist onee-chan," Pluto offered what seemed to be a helping hand.
"Yes yes. He was 30% more excited than usual."
"Yes."
The students began to fervently express their scandalous impressions.
"Is it really.....true?"
"Like what I have said from the start. Besides, is there any benefit for me to lie here?"
She looked at me and my students alternatively, then let out a big sigh.
"I apologize for my hasty decision," she apologized.
"It\'s all right. So began the process quickly."
"Ye-yes!"
At my instruction, she darted into the back room, where several guild employees came out and carried away a giant monkey called a baboon.
"150,000 gold coins......." Pluto was exclaiming at the pile of gold coins.
I thought it would be more, given the strength of that baboon, but it seemed that it wasn\'t rare and cost only this much.
"30,000 gold for each person. Take it. It\'s your hard-earned reward."
The students must have reached the end of their strength by now, so—
"Hurry up and get going!" I strongly instructed them.
Then, I left the guild hall.