Chapter 48: Anyway, That Disagreeable Bastard… No, Father!

The inside of the boss room was a complete mess, as if a fierce battle had taken place.

Slash marks were scattered chaotically everywhere, along with craters so large it looked like meteors had fallen.

I quietly stared at Hames. A sword scabbard hung at his waist.

Those chaotic slash marks matched his usual behavior.

—Slurp.

Hames licked his lips, as if recalling the fierce battle with the boss.

“You didn’t really do much, did you.”

Whether she found that sight irritating or not, Glare, his fellow guild member, spoke up.

“Glare, you damn woman! You can’t just blabber that around! It makes me look bad!”

“I actually contributed more to taking down the boss.”

Glare swung the large scythe in her hand in a full circle through the air.

The scythe then vanished, raising a mist. That seemed to be some kind of ability of that weapon.

The higher the rank of a Hunter’s equipment, the better its performance and the more special abilities it contained.

For a Hunter of Glare’s level, having equipment like that wasn’t surprising.

And judging by how Hames was talking, it seemed Glare was the one who finished off the boss.

I’d felt it ever since we ran into these two again, but Glare seemed stronger than Hames, and it looked like that was actually the case.

As we moved further inside, we could see the boss lying there as a cold corpse.

It was a massive snake. If I’d seen it moving, I probably would have felt an incredible sense of pressure.

Ah, of course, I mean from Marcel and Deneb’s perspective, not mine.

‘Was the boss something like a basilisk?’

I’d taken down a boss with a similar appearance before, and it was considered quite a troublesome one.

A snake that petrified you if you met its eyes. Of course, its magic eye couldn’t pierce my Mana Shield, and it died instantly against me.

I still remember it. When its magic eye didn’t work, that snake made a funny face, for a snake.

‘Pfft.’

The face came to mind, and I let out an involuntary snort.

“What’s so funny, our Super Genius Pretty Girl, Miss Verdi?”

“…”

This son of a bitch.

“What’s wrong? Did a cockroach crawl by or somethin’? Why the serious face?”

A cockroach, huh. Ah, well, there is one. A big cockroach walking around on two legs right in front of me.

This guy really has no tact. Anyway, that disagreeable bastard…

“Anyway.”

Hames turned his head in another direction.

“Too bad, Mr. Marcel. You finally worked up the courage to challenge a High-Rank Gate, but we’re gonna be taking all the rewards.”

Apparently, Hames and Glare hadn’t encountered any Demon Beasts until they reached the boss room either.

That was probably why they thought we’d come up empty-handed. We hadn’t even managed to collect Magic Stones from the minor Demon Beasts.

But they wouldn’t know. We had taken down an earth dragon. The materials and Magic Stone were gone, but… ta-da!

The egg was still there! The first in history! We had succeeded in acquiring an egg laid by a Demon Beast, and a Dragon Egg at that!

So I didn’t need their pity, but since I wanted to hide both obtaining the egg and even encountering the earth dragon, I’d asked Marcel to act disappointed.

“Yes, that’s right…”

Marcel let out a deep sigh, openly showing his disappointment.

“You don’t have any complaints either, do ya, Ms. Lilian? You were the one who suggested it in the first place.”

“I don’t care.”

Surprisingly, Lilian accepted it coolly.

Well, unlike us, she wasn’t exactly strapped for cash. Damn, I’m jealous.

“But, it’d be a shame to go back without any real profit from a Gate we worked up the courage to come to, wouldn’t it?”

Hames curled the corner of his mouth slightly, then turned his gaze toward us and spoke.

“Our little porters are pitiful too. So, how about we split the shares like we originally talked about?”

“…?”

I couldn’t help but widen my eyes at what he said. I never expected words like that to come out of his mouth, of all people.

I’d thought the meaning behind his smile was dark and nasty, but that was my misjudgment.

Hames’s smile was that of a benevolent Holy Mother—no, Father!

I wasn’t the only one surprised.

“Uh…”

“Hm…”

I saw Deneb and Marcel flinch reflexively. They were probably checking my reaction.

“You don’t have to watch what I say.” I drew a circle with my finger. Gotta take everything I can get!

“…Are you really alright with this?”

Deneb, the porter, held back, and only Marcel asked in a slightly excited voice. Marcel nodded readily.

A warm atmosphere was about to settle in.

“I don’t really care if you don’t give me anything. I’m not looking for charity.”

Lilian threw cold water on it.

As an A-Rank Hunter belonging to one of the Five Great Guilds, a high-ranking Hunter, this kind of reward probably didn’t even catch her eye.

Unbelievable. Doesn’t that woman know how precious money is?

‘Then that means Lilian’s share goes to us!’

…Not that I could say that.

I felt a pang of regret, but even I thought that was pushing it.

“Hey, Ms. Lilian.”

Hames, who’d been lighthearted until a moment ago, called out to Lilian in a voice that had turned quite serious.

“What.”

“Just ‘cause you don’t wanna take it don’t mean you can refuse. Think about the relationship between the guilds. If those porter kids spread rumors like ‘Crescent refused to pay Royal Knights,’ what’re you gonna do then?”

“No one would believe that.”

“Some folks won’t believe it, sure. But reporters love gossip. If an article comes out, you’ll have to explain yourselves, won’t you? You wanna bother your guild master? We hate bothersome stuff too.”

When Hames went that far, Lilian let out a sigh as if she’d given up, said, “Fine, I’ll take it then,” and walked toward the Gate leading outside, disappearing soon after.

Acting like a child.

“You got lucky. You lot.”

Once Lilian was gone, Hames’s attention turned back to us.

“If Ms. Lilian had taken the boss first, I wouldn’t have shown this kinda mercy.”

Hames chattered on, as if he wanted to emphasize that he was our benefactor. Judging by how quiet Glare was behind him, she seemed to have accepted the distribution too.

Well, they were the employers. If bad rumors spread that hurt the guild and mercenaries stopped coming, they’d be the ones in a tough spot.

Hames. Annoying and unpleasant as he was, he seemed like the type who actually had a decent head on his shoulders.

* * *

And so, we came out of the Gate and returned to Crescent’s Guild House.

To get the settlement. Lilian took her share and immediately left, saying she had business to attend to.

Why did you even come? Just ruined the mood for nothing.

Anyway, that type only gets in the way of a raid party.

No matter how outstanding their ability, if their personality’s garbage, it’s better to not have them at all.

…Is it just me, or does that sound like I’m talking about myself?

“Mr. Marcel, hand over the Artifact.”

At Hames’s words, Marcel obediently handed over the Artifact.

About three minutes passed, then Hames returned it.

“Deposit’s done. Go ahead and check. Make sure the numbers are right.”

“They’re correct.”

Marcel confirmed the contents and said. That was the end of the settlement.

Without needing to go to the Hunter Association for a separate settlement, large guilds with enough capital flow could settle things quickly like this.

Because Artifacts also served as cards from the world they originally came from.

“If you’re free, come again. Crescent’s always open. And.”

Hames’s gaze turned to me. Even though his eyes were slits and closed, for some reason that gaze felt sticky.

“It’d be nice if that super-genius pretty girl, Miss Verdi, came too.”

“…”

I shot Hames a sharp glare. But the bastard just grinned darkly.

“Well then, see ya.”

And so, having finished our mercenary work, we left Crescent’s Guild House feeling relieved.

“…When you think about it, from their perspective, we didn’t do anything.”

Maybe it was because the third party was gone and only we remained, putting us at ease, but as soon as we stepped out, Marcel spoke in a low voice.

“Ms. Lilian is still affiliated with Royal Knights, so even if she accepted the distribution to prevent inter-guild conflict, I never imagined they’d give an equal share to us independents. Ms. Verdi, do you happen to know why?”

He had a point. Since we’d kept the Earth Dragon subjugation a secret, the only ones who actually fought properly in this Gate were Hames and Glare.

Honestly, this money was practically freebies to them.

But I thought I understood why they chose to distribute it anyway.

“They want us to come again next time, I guess.”

Crescent Guild is a guild that can only stay among the Five Great Guilds because of Moonlight.

In other words, without Moonlight, they’re nothing but a corpse of a guild.

So to them, mercenaries are practically another guild member and a customer rolled into one.

As for Lilian, Hames already talked about her, so I’ll skip that.

“Besides, we can’t be sure there’ll be another Gate like this.”

This Gate was abnormal to begin with. If it had been a normal Gate, our party could have pulled more than our weight in the subjugation team.

“This was my first time going with people from other guilds.”

Deneb said in an excited voice.

“Into a Gate?”

“Yes.”

This kid said she became a Hunter because she liked adventuring.

I wonder if today will stick in her memory for the rest of her life?

“I get you want to share adventure stories, but keep it a secret for a while. Please.”

I said it just in case, though. Because it reminded me of what Deneb told me before.

That her dream was to tell her own adventure stories, like I did.

“Of course! But you have to keep your promise to me too, Ms. Verdi!”

“Uh, yeah…”

Right, she’d asked me to teach her magic.

A promise is a promise. I don’t lie.

Anyway…

‘This kid’s got incredible strength, though.’

The way she lifted me up like it was nothing earlier, and when she made that trap to drop the Earth Dragon, she dug a pit that deep without any help from Marcel.

Which makes me think.

‘…Wait, isn’t this kid actually fucking amazing with a sword, not just magic?’

The Lucius family has always been renowned for swordsmanship.

And considering who Deneb’s brother is, it might really be the case.

Her brother Wilhelm reached S-Rank Hunter with nothing but a sword.

‘Well, it’s up to her to decide her own path.’

Even if she has talent, I’m not going to force her into something she doesn’t want.

I plan to teach Deneb magic, just like she wants.