Chapter 309: The Mediator
At the entrance of the Adventurer’s Guild, a woman with yellow hair, a scar on her cheek, and a massive halberd slung across her back shouted loudly. I felt like I had seen her somewhere before; she was the adventurer who had caused a commotion at the Camping House yesterday morning.
“Great, just what we needed—a troublesome one.”
“I’d like to ignore her, but that seems impossible…”
She was blocking the entrance, making it impossible to slip past her and escape outside. Moreover, she had clearly set her sights on us, leaving only the option of using Teleport to flee. As the woman marched straight toward us, I couldn’t help but let out a heavy sigh.
“You can’t run away now… Come on, spill it out!”
The woman declared as she stopped right in front of me, crossing her arms and standing tall. She seemed shorter than Ivan, but still towered over me by at least a head. What on earth did she want me to spill?
“Um, may I ask who you are?”
Since neither of us had introduced ourselves, I decided to test if I could play it off as a first meeting.
“Hmm!?”
As she stepped closer, she bent down to scrutinize my face.
“…Don’t try to fool me! You’re definitely that brat I met yesterday, aren’t you!?”
She pointed a finger at me and shouted. Thanks to her, I was drawing a lot of attention in the Adventurer’s Guild this morning. Seriously, does she have to keep calling me a brat?
“After what you did right in front of me, there’s no way I could forget!”
Her words sent a ripple of murmurs through the crowd. Whispers of “What did he do?” floated around. Did I really do anything? If I had to say, I might have ignored her when she tried to talk to me.
“Hey, hey, calm down a bit, Mei-chan.”
A man with black, red, and orange mottled hair, adorned with piercings in both ears, suddenly interjected. He had a face that gave off a somewhat flashy vibe.
“If you shout too much, the boy will feel sorry for you, you know?”
Who’s the boy?
“Rikyou-san!”
I mentally retorted at the sudden interruption. The woman seemed to address him with respect, indicating he was a higher-ranked adventurer. Given the murmurs around, it seemed I wasn’t mistaken. Despite his flashy appearance, he seemed to have earned some trust.
“So, what happened, Wei-kun?”
The flashy guy calmed the woman down and turned to the robed man standing behind her, the lanky fellow I had seen with her yesterday.
“Uh, yeah, so, a huge mansion suddenly appeared a little off the Southern Highway.”
“Huh?”
As the man called Wei-kun began to explain the situation, the one named Rikyou let out a bewildered exclamation. The crowd began to buzz again, and among them, someone claimed to have seen it too.
“It disappeared?”
The conversation about the mansion disappearing sent another wave of murmurs through the crowd. After a while, when Wei-kun finished his story, the attention naturally turned to us.
“Who are you two?”
Rikyou asked with a serious expression, completely shedding the flashy demeanor. It seemed he was back to his genuine self.
“I thought I mentioned we’re fellow adventurers.”
I pulled out the Mithril Adventurer’s Certificate from my collar. It looked like white metal, but depending on the angle, it shimmered with a rainbow hue, which was characteristic of Mithril.
“Ah… I see…”
Rikyou focused on the Adventurer’s Certificate I held up, but I could sense several people behind him using appraisal skills. As expected of the Adventurer’s Guild near the Forest of Enchantment, there were individuals capable of using rare skills. I made sure to return the appraisal and memorize their names. There might be someone who appraised only Rio, so I communicated telepathically to ensure nothing slipped through.
“So what if you’re fellow adventurers? Just because you have a slightly unusual Adventurer’s Certificate, anyone would be on guard if a suspicious building suddenly appeared near the highway!”
Mei-chan shouted, seemingly aware of the Mithril Adventurer’s Certificate. Contrary to my expectations, her words were quite reasonable. If a strange building appeared on a familiar path, it was only natural to be cautious. However, I thought attacking the door was a bit much.
“Calm down, Mei-chan.”
Rikyou placed a hand on the shoulder of the woman who looked ready to pounce.
“Let go of me!”
“He’s an S Rank Adventurer. If he says it’s a mobile base, then it probably is. It’s not much different from us carrying around tents.”
“Huh? Wait, what? …S Rank!? Wait, tents!?”
Mei-chan seemed utterly confused. Indeed, for us, it was no different than carrying around a tent. Moreover, if it was a simple tent, we could set it up on the spot without needing materials. Quite economical, really.
“Wait… so you didn’t know that S Rank Adventurers have Mithril Adventurer’s Certificates?”
Rikyou shrugged, leaving a stunned Mei-chan behind. He turned back to us, regaining a bit of his flashy demeanor as he continued speaking.
“Mei-chan was rude. I’ll make sure she doesn’t cause any more trouble.”
With that, he grabbed Mei-chan by the collar and turned on his heel, dragging her away.