Chapter 5: Tavern Chatter ① (It has the feel of an online forum thread, but everyone’s drunk, so please bear with them good-naturedly.)
“Hey, did you hear?”
“Hear what? About your great deeds today or something? Wouldn’t know.”
This was a tavern attached to the Adventurer’s Guild.
Adventurers who explored dungeons in this town pretty much just shuttled between their lodgings and the Guild.
That was because the dungeon entrance was in the Guild’s basement; the first floor housed the reception, the drop item buy-back counter, and the tavern; while the second floor contained the Guild staff’s offices, a records room, and a weapon shop.
And what’s more, the preferred lodging for adventurers in this town was right next to the Guild.
It was said this arrangement was to prevent the rowdier adventurers from causing trouble elsewhere in town.
Of course, there were other inns and taverns in town, but this place was, above all, cheap.
Just by being an adventurer, you got a discount, so naturally, only adventurers gathered here.
Occasionally, clients from town or people close to adventurers would mix in; that was the general scene.
Being such a place, the conversations mostly revolved around dungeons, monsters, and prominent parties.
“It’s about ‘Senko’! That bastard Lux is apparently alive, can you believe it?”
“Yeah, I heard. It’s laughable, isn’t it?”
“The nerve of him, showing his face back here. After he screwed up, triggered a trap, and endangered his whole party.”
“Michelle-san still hasn’t woken up, right?”
“Wasn’t it because of the trap Lux triggered? Spears and magic flew from all directions, and she got badly injured protecting Jekyll-san, right?”
“Yeah, yeah. Poor thing. And she’s such a beauty too.”
In such a tavern, the topic most hotly discussed by the rough-and-tumble adventurers was, naturally, Lux, the former leader of “Senko,” which had become the top adventurer party in this town.
Lux’s return, the fight between Lux, Jekyll, and Elanda, and then Lux’s banishment—this whole sequence of events had become prime gossip material.
The entire story was predicated on Jekyll’s lies, of course, but no one knew that.
“Jekyll-san seemed to have it rough these past six months.”
“Yeah. He managed to rebuild by bringing in Lega, who was a solo warrior, and Barzam, the priest, right?”
“We worked hard too, didn’t we? Culling monsters.”
“Damn right.”
“It’d be bad if a Stampede occurred.”
“That Lux, acting all high and mighty. Just because he could thin out the monsters, who in their right mind cuts the budget for it?”
“Exactly. Thanks to him, the pay per monster kill dropped, and these last three years have been miserable.”
“And Jekyll said that only ‘Senko’s pay rate didn’t decrease, right? What a real piece of scum.”
“Elanda-sama and Guildmaster Gundos even apologized for it. They’re actually going to increase it from now on, right? Elanda-sama is the best!”
“But, would he really do something so blatant? Lux-san used to help train everyone and stuff…”
“Shut up! He probably never thought all his crap would come to light. Hilarious. There’s no place for Lux in this town anymore!”
“No doubt about it.”
“Good riddance to him.”
“Yeah, if he ever comes back, we’ll take care of him ourselves!”
Laughter echoed amidst the clamor.
None of them knew the truth, nor that they were being manipulated by someone malicious, as they drank merrily, spouting whatever nonsense they pleased.
“Still, to punch Jekyll-san and Laila-san and then just leave, that Lux guy is a real berserker.”
“He’s utter scum!”
“Talk about a misplaced grudge!”
“And when he tried to drag the city guards into the dungeon for ‘training’ and got shot down, he’d just drag us adventurers in instead.”
“It was the absolute worst. Such terrible working conditions.”
“He was a demon. ‘Push forward! You can still fight!’ That damn voice of his is still stuck in my head.”
“Getting all cocky just ’cause he can fight a bit. Lost his position over a mistake in the end, what an idiot, right?”
“Word is, he even lied to Shifa-sama before he took off.”
“Seriously?”
“Shifa-sama was crying, you know. Poor her.”
“If I see Lux next time, I’ll kill him myself!”
After that, too, stories diverging from the truth unfolded at various tables.
It’s a common enough story.
Sadly.
“Still, Jekyll-san and Elanda-sama are amazing, aren’t they?”
“Yeah. The town’s completely recovered.”
“Speaking of which, I heard Duke Hoherneld is praising this town’s recovery highly.”
“The Duke? Why’s that?”
“The Duke is Lord Riophendal’s patron, after all. Apparently, he was praised by the King for this recovery.”
“He even built a casino in this town for us. Long live the Duke!”
“But you lost every last coin you had there the other day…”
“It’s fine! It’s for entertainment. Besides, I won today!”
“You never learn, do you?”
“What’s wrong with it? Besides, Elanda-sama even came by the other day! Isn’t that the best? She’s so beautiful, that woman.”
“Seriously? I’m so jealous. I wish I could get closer to her.”
“Better not. Jekyll-san will send you flying.”
“Hahahahahaha.”
Adventurers have a profession where they stake their lives.
That’s why many adventurers are hedonistic.
They drink, they gamble. They buy women too.
“Hey, bring more ale!”
“Over here too!”
“Drink up, drink up!”
Clatter.
A Guild staff member entered.
“Everyone, this is terrible!”
“What is it~?”
“Hey little lady, pour me a drink, will ya~?”
“No fair~! Over here. Pour for me first.”
“Huh? I called out to her first, didn’t I?”
“Don’t mess with me, you bastard!”
The adventurers, completely ignoring the flustered Guild staff member, continued their ruckus.
Still, the staff member didn’t give up.
She gathered all her strength and screamed.
“Everyone, please listen! This is an emergency! It’s a Stampede!”