Chapter 21

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Rolo’s optimism and Saran’s planning both hit the mark. Just a week after the public notice, Marhas’s new district was already bustling with adventurers.

“This way for pioneer adventurer registration!”

Sure enough, a familiar guild clerk was the one guiding the new arrivals. Well, she is from Hirte, so it’s not that strange for her to be here, but I was still a little surprised to see someone I recognized.

“Hey, that registration… we gotta do that too?”
“Ah, Mr. Yulg! No worries—members of ‘Mercia’ are already pre-registered!”
“Is that so? Still didn’t expect you to be the one here.”

At my comment, the receptionist gives a proud smile. Even though she’s been posted to this remote backwater of a frontier village, she seems oddly happy.

“I volunteered! I’m a big fan of all of you, after all!”
“Well, that was a mistake. You might die if something goes wrong, you know?”
“Oh, that’s the same anywhere. When I applied for the administrative chief position in Marhas, I was fully briefed on the risks.”

Putting ambition on the line, huh? As expected of a guild worker—they’ve got nerves of steel. Well, I guess you’d need to, to survive out here.

“Come to think of it, I never caught your name.”
“It’s Katie! Katie Greenbell. Looking forward to working with you, Mr. Yulg.”

We shake hands as Katie flashes a bright smile. Hmm, now that I take a closer look, she’s actually pretty good-looking. Big, well-shaped eyes behind her glasses. Green irises with a hint of mystique. And her reddish-brown hair, tied up loosely in a braid for ease of movement, suits her well.

“Is something wrong?”
“Nah, just enjoying the view. You’re better-looking than I expected—bit of a treat for the eyes.”

Katie’s eyes go wide in surprise… and then her face turns red. Ah—so she is a bit of a country girl at heart.

“You’re such a charmer! Please don’t tease me too much.”
“Well, you’re probably busy, but if anything comes up, let me know. I’ll lend a hand to make up for it.”

Waving a hand, I walk away. Didn’t want to get in the way of her work more than I already had.

“Yulg, there you are.”
“Yo. What’s up?”
“I have a job for you. Since you clearly have time to flirt with receptionists.”
“You saw that, huh? So what’s the job?”

Saran hands me a few sheets of parchment. On them are monster reports—stuff I’d written during our earlier expeditions into the unexplored territory.

“I need you to assign these jobs appropriately to the adventurers we’ve gathered.”
“…What? They’re adventurers, remember?”

Adventurers are people who turn risk into gold through their own skill. They take whatever jobs they want, and what happens after that is all on them. This isn’t some civil service gig. These people don’t just take assigned tasks like obedient little workers.

Besides, isn’t this the guild’s job? Shouldn’t you be giving this to Katie, not me?

“You’re free to approach it your way. All I need is for these jobs to be accepted today, and the monsters hunted down within a few days.”
“Come on, they just got here! You’re gonna send them out without even letting them scout the area first?”
“That’s what I’m using you for.”

Saran points to the stack of papers. Looking more closely, I see these are special request forms—each one includes a map of the surrounding area.

“Now that the adventurers have arrived, what we need next are results. I chose relatively safe requests—perfect entry-level tasks for stepping into the unexplored zones.”
“So you’re saying, go survey the land and kill some monsters while you’re at it?”
“If money starts circulating, the other adventurers will follow suit. And once that happens, this village’s safety and importance will increase too.”

Saran’s sharp eyes gaze toward the new district, and the forest beyond it. This is the guy who works himself half to death, and this is the future he’s mapped out. Most likely, this really is the best possible move.

“Agh, geez… fine, I got it!”
“Good. I’m counting on you.”

As I reluctantly nod, Saran gives a small smirk and walks off. Damn, he’s really good at using people.

“Yulg, is something troubling you?”

As I scratch my head and shuffle off, Fimia appears before me. She’s not in her adventuring gear, but in a brown country-style dress, giving off a rather rustic vibe. Though honestly, she suits Marhas well.

Come to think of it, if she ever married Rolo, she’d probably look just like this.

“Saran dumped a bunch of trouble on me again. That guy’s a genius at using people.”
“Well, he is the son of a bureaucratic noble.”

Fimia giggles at my sigh. She could almost pass for just another village girl.

“What about you? What’re you doing?”
“I’ve been inspecting the food supplies that arrived from the Dairy City. Some of it may require Preservation or Antidote spells.”
“Letting the Saint handle grunt work, huh? What a world.”
“Oh, but I like this kind of work. It makes me feel like I’m really living.”
“Well, it is a lot different from an adventurer’s life. But I’m glad to see you getting along with the villagers.”

Fimia’s completely settled into Marhas. I find myself a little envious of her. Even now, when I walk around, I still get stared at and whispered about. Not that I can blame them. I was never meant to be here in the first place.

“I’ve heard all kinds of nasty rumors about you, you know.”
“Figures. If someone brings it up again, tell them, ‘He’ll disappear once he’s done his work, so just bear with him for now.’”
“Disappear…?”

Fimia blinks in surprise and grabs my sleeve.

“Are you going somewhere? Alone?”
“That’s the plan. Like you’ve heard, the ‘Scoundrel’ is considered a monster around here—hated and feared. Some folks got hurt. Some got really scared.”
“But… you’re working so hard now!”
“This is just penance. Repaying the debt I owe to Rolo’s family.”

Still gripping my sleeve, Fimia lowers her gaze. If she pulls any harder, she might stretch the fabric.

And if Rolo sees this scene, it could get… complicated.

“No.”
“…Huh?”
“You can’t leave.”
“Hey, did you even listen to what I just said?”

The Saint shakes her head adamantly, and I look around in desperation. Somebody—anybody—get me out of this.

“Huh? Yulg and… Fimia?”

See? Just my luck—the last person I wanted to see us got here first.