kscans

Chapter 64 - Everyone Misunderstands Me

I took a taxi to the back of the Ikebukuro Guild, walked through the parking lot, and entered the Guild through the back entrance. Once inside, I went down the hallway and emerged behind the reception counter. By now, the Guild staff completely ignored me even when I came in from the back.

Feeling as if I had become a Guild employee myself, I passed through the reception area and entered the lobby. Unusually, there were a few adventurers in the lobby, and as soon as they saw me, they took out their phones and lowered their gazes.

Posting online again? Get over it already. Don’t you have anything else to talk about…

Feeling annoyed, I made my way to Kaede-chan at the reception desk.

"Hello."

"Yes, hello."

When I greeted her, Kaede-chan returned the greeting, but it was still formal. It couldn’t be helped, but it still felt a little lonely.

"Where is Guild Master-san?"

"This way."

Kaede-chan stood up, so I retraced my steps through the reception area. I then followed Kaede-chan to Satsuki-san’s office.

"Branch Manager, Eleanor-san is here."

"Mmm."

A nonchalant reply came from inside. Kaede-chan and I exchanged a glance and a small smile, then opened the door and went in. Inside the room, Nanapon was already waiting, sitting on the sofa and looking as timid as ever.

"Satsuki-san, don’t bully my disciple."

I complained to Satsuki-san as I sat down next to Nanapon. Kaede-chan sat down next to Satsuki-san.

"I’m not bullying her… For some reason, I’m just not well-liked."

No, it’s because you blackmailed her about cheating.

"Well, that’s just the kind of girl she is. She really dislikes Okita-kun, you know."

"No, it’s not that I dislike him. Okita-san and Guild Master-san are just kind of scary," Nanapon objected.

"Scary? Me? I can understand Okita-kun, but I’m not scary, am I?"

"Why can you understand Okita-kun… He’s the very picture of a pleasant young man."

"Hey, you asked me with a smile if I wanted the kidnapper’s head, didn’t you? That’s just plain scary."

It was obviously a joke. If I had actually brought it back, it would have caused a huge panic in the reception lobby.

"Hey now. Could you please stop branding Okita-kun as some kind of dangerous person?"

"Not a chance. I heard from Kaede. Your Swordsmanship level is 6 now, isn’t it? You casually surpassed my ten years of training."

"Huh!? Six!? Eleanor-san, that’s amazing!"

Nanapon is so cute. My disciple, indeed.

"In the first place, it’s strange to think I’d be on the same level as the likes of you."

Don’t underestimate my fifteen years or so.

"Wanna test that out?"

Satsuki-san’s hips lifted slightly from her chair.

"To not even understand the difference in strength between us… you weakling, on par with Saegusa-san."

Satsuki-san was probably stronger than Saegusa-san. That said, with skills and levels involved, it was hard to say for sure. But she was weaker than me. ……Probably.

"So that’s how you saw Yoshino."

"Men are the worst, aren’t they."

"…………Senpai."

Ah, they figured it out just from the near slip-up. I could tell I had no allies here. Better switch back to Eleanor-san.

"That’s not important. That woman is famous for that in the world of men. Even I, who wasn’t familiar with the Adventurer industry, knew about it. More importantly, the auction. Is the contract finalized?"

"She’s famous for that…?"

"Men are the worst, aren’t they."

"You do like them, senpai."

I really wish Kaede-chan would be quiet for a moment.

"Enough of that. So? The contract?" I forcefully changed the subject.

"The contract. It’s done. Went smoothly this time, too."

"Last time as well, right? Does it usually get done this quickly?"

"There weren’t any particular issues. The winning bidders were a Japanese company and a rich person from the UK. The company wants to avoid trouble, and the rich person from the UK was staying in Japan just for the auction, paid immediately, and went straight back to the UK."

Rich people are amazing.

"So, I can get the money today, correct?"

"Yeah, I’ve already transferred it to your accounts. Though your account is mine, of course."

This one isn’t planning on running off with the money, is she? She could save it all up and then just disappear.

"Nanaka-san too?"

"That’s right. Nanapon, be careful how you spend it," Satsuki-san said, looking at Nanapon.

"I know. I’ve learned my lesson."

She wouldn’t want to go through that again, so even Nanapon would probably exercise some restraint.

"And yet, she immediately went and bought a staff. One that costs five million yen," Kaede-chan tattled.

"You…"

Show some remorse.

"It’s fine if it’s within the Guild, isn’t it? There are no other customers here on a weekday afternoon anyway."

Well, that’s true, but Kaede-chan and Satsuki-san’s expressions darkened a little.

"Just the staff?"

"No, I bought an inner suit. I decided against the robe."

"Well, it’s for protection, so I suppose it’s fine…"

"Right? With something like a sword, you can tell if it’s expensive just by looking at it, but a staff just looks like a piece of wood. You can’t tell."

The staff had no decorations, it just looked like a wooden stick a hermit would carry. There was no discernible difference.

"Well, as long as you’re buying it from us, it’s not a problem. Just be careful outside," Satsuki-san warned her again.

"Yes."

"Right. So, what are your plans going forward?" Satsuki-san nodded, then turned to me.

"I told Kaede-chan as well, but for now I’m going to prioritize the contract with Claire. Until that’s done, I can’t sell the Healing Potion Lv2 to anyone else."

"What about Claire?"

"She said she was going back to America for a bit… Speaking of which, how did you handle that kidnapper incident?"

She was supposed to have discussed it with Claire and Harry.

"We reported to headquarters that you were attacked in the Diana Mine. We made it so that Claire and Harry were the ones who saved you."

Claire maybe, but Harry didn’t do a thing.

"Why? I took down two-thirds of them."

To be precise, Harry was the one who dealt the finishing blows. He stole my experience points and Healing Potions. Now that’s what I call a hyena.

"We let them take the credit. They failed to win the bid for the Item Bag, so they said they wanted some kind of achievement."

"I see. By the way, the break-in incident? Did you report it?"

"Of course not."

I figured as much.

"Do you think more people like that will come?"

"The Guild will be taking action as well. We weren’t able to crack down on assassins from overseas this time because of the auction, but security will be tightened from now on, and SDF security will be permanently stationed in Frontier. So when you go to the Diana Mine, you’ll probably see SDF adventurers, so be careful."

Come to think of it, I had never encountered other adventurers or SDF patrols in the Diana Mine. Well, it was probably pointless to patrol a place nobody ever went to.

"Understood. Well, since I have Nanaka-san with me, we can handle that somehow."

"Leave it to me," Nanapon said, puffing out her chest.

"I’m counting on you. So, can we put the auctions on hold for now?"

"Yes. I’ll think about it after my contract with Claire is finished. For now, I’ll level up while quietly selling Healing Potion Lv1."

"Quietly, huh… Well, whatever. You’ve been getting a ton of requests. To sell Item Bags. And for TV appearances."

So they are coming in.

"No TV. There’s no benefit to it anymore. As for the Item Bags, I’m selling one to Claire… Saegusa-san also asked me through Okita-kun, but is it okay if I sell one to her? Up to 100kg was fine, right?"

Satsuki-san had previously said I could sell up to 100kg.

"That was before the 1000kg auction. The auction is over, so you can sell them as you like now. She’s my cousin, so part of me wants to support her. On the other hand, it pisses me off to sell to someone from another guild, so part of me doesn’t want you to. Do as you like."

The fact that her cousin left her own guild must have really hurt her.

"Which guild is she with? She said she was one of the headquarters director’s proteges."

"She’s with the Shinjuku Guild. The headquarters director used to be the branch manager there, and now one of his cronies is in charge. So you can think of the Shinjuku Guild adventurers as the director’s pawns. Well, aside from Yoshino, they don’t have anyone that promising."

Is it like here? No, she went out of her way to transfer from the guild her cousin is in, so it must be better than here…

"The best place is Shibuya, right? Did Saegusa-san not go to Shibuya?"

"That place has no class. It’s a guild that fills its receptionist positions with pretty women. And their uniforms are a little suggestive."

If I had done my research when I decided to become an adventurer, I would have gone to Shibuya. Back then I had just lost my job and was in a panic, so I just picked a place that was close. But if I had looked into it, a place with a former gravure idol in a suggestive uniform is much better than this unpopular branch.

"Sounds like it has a lot of male adventurers…"

"Ninety-nine percent of them are men. The quality is what you’d expect, and they’re a rough bunch."

I probably would have become one of them.

"I’m glad I came here."

Kaede-chan is here, after all.

"That’s right. Don’t you even think about transferring. Shibuya is no good, and Shinjuku is boring."

She’s so desperate.

"It’s too much trouble, so I won’t transfer."

Like I ever would. Not when Kaede-chan is here.

"Good, good. Well, you can just be vague with Yoshino. I can contact her for you if you want."

"I have her contact information. I’ll handle it myself."

"I see. Just a word of warning, she’s a real cheapskate, so be careful she doesn’t try to lowball you."

She really is a money-grubber, just like her cousin.

"Understood. Are we done talking? If so, I’m going adventuring."

"We’re done… Oh, and be careful of other adventurers too. You’re carrying a lot of money."

"I know that."

Heh, who do you think you’re talking to? Me, with my level 6 Swordsmanship?

"Wipe that smug look off your face. I can tell you’re getting cocky."

…………Give me a break. I don’t have anything else to be proud of, so let me have this.