Chapter 38
"Adventurer..."
"Well, technically, you could call me a 'former' adventurer."
Matthew faced him, trying to hide his unease.
――Adventurers.
They might indeed be able to help.
But that didn't mean he could let his guard down around them.
"Are you looking for money...?"
Matthew asked timidly.
He'd heard rumors that some adventurers demanded enormous rewards.
That was how they differed from the Knights, whose very purpose was maintaining public order.
A contract between an adventurer and their client was strictly a one-on-one agreement.
No matter how outrageous the demands, there were times when you had no choice but to accept them. Especially an ordinary villager in a desperate situation like Matthew—he was bound to be easy prey.
Matthew's expression clouded.
"Well..." The man grinned.
"I'll take every last coin you've got... and plenty of it..."
Ah, I knew it, Matthew thought.
The man looked like he didn't have any money at all.
He must be unbelievably greedy. Would the village even have enough money...?
――But then again.
"...Ah, wait a minute."
The man's cheerful expression suddenly turned sour.
The man began muttering under his breath with a conflicted look.
"I went and tried to shake you down out of habit, but Genesis told me not to take money... Ahh, what a pain."
(…Huh????)
Matthew didn't understand, but apparently this man was beholden to someone called "Genesis."
"Um, I'm not quite following what you're saying... Um, you don't want any money?"
"Yeah, kid. I've got my reasons."
The man answered with a sigh.
"Th-Then what do you want...?"
As he asked, Matthew's expression darkened again.
The fact that he didn't want money sounded generous, but it wasn't.
What kind of unreasonable demand would he make instead?
Would he enslave the entire village or something?
The grinning man before him looked suspicious enough to make such a demand.
(It's over. I'm sorry, Dad, Mom... Hafen Village ends with me...)
His vision went black――
"Ahhh... right."
For some reason, the man muttered.
"Kid. You lot... just have a banquet or something."
"Pardon?"
He couldn't hear him.
Matthew couldn't help asking again.
"...I said, you lot should just have a banquet or something."
◆
Time stopped.
"...A banquet? You mean, we're supposed to have one?"
After hearing that reply, it was Matthew's turn to be bewildered.
No matter how he looked at it, it made no sense.
A banquet?
Here? At a time like this?
Was he saying that if they managed to drive off the bandits, they should hold a banquet?
"Um, well, if a banquet's all you want, then I'm grateful, but..."
It made no sense at all, but Matthew replied in confusion.
"Even so, there's... nothing in it for you, and I thought you'd make a much worse demand or something."
"Shut up!!! Adults have their own reasons, kid!!"
"Got a problem with that?" the man said, cracking his neck as if to intimidate him.
But even Matthew, who wasn't very worldly, had realized it.
Maybe this guy wasn't such a bad person after all.
As proof, the man was saying,
"Honestly. A banquet, my ass. Why should I have to do something close to working for free...?" he grumbled.
Matthew stared blankly at the man before him, unable to keep up with what was happening.
The mysterious man who wanted no money and told them to throw a banquet once it was over.
Was that even a reward at all? Matthew couldn't help wondering.
And then.
The man, apparently having pulled himself together, called out, "Hey, kid."
"Y-Yes...!!"
"Let's get moving. Show me which way the village is."
As soon as he said that, the man took off running.
Matthew hurried after him.
Honestly, the rational part of his mind was saying there was no way a deal this good could be real.
He asked desperately as he followed him.
"Adventurer... will the village be saved?"
"Hmph. Are you an idiot, kid?"
The man laughed as if mocking him.
A suspicious appearance.
Crude speech. However you looked at him, there was no way someone like him could be a hero.
He was just a vagrant.
――And yet,
"You just worry about the banquet menu."
For some reason, Matthew could clearly sense a hero's presence in the man's back.
◆
Hafen Village.
The peaceful village near Lyon was now in a miserable state.
Houses were burning.
Men lay fallen.
And men dressed in black stared with cold eyes at the villagers gathered in the center of the village.
It was obvious what the men in black intended to do next.
The men raised their daggers.
"…………!!"
The villagers despaired at the fate that awaited them.
In fact, their instincts were right.
――Even if the hero Rain had come rushing to their aid, it would have been a little later.
Even the Knights, who had managed to respond, would still need some time to arrive.
Even the Knights would fail to save most of the villagers. This incident was supposed to expose the nobles' corruption while raising the reputations of the mayor and the Knights, who had responded swiftly despite it all.
That's right.
If things had gone the way they were supposed to.
But.
Just as the blades were about to come down, a bright voice—though more like the voice of someone who wasn't thinking about anything—rang out, wholly out of place in this scene of carnage.
"Oh, you're at it, huh."
Everyone in the village turned toward the voice.
They peered into the darkness.
Walking toward them from beyond it was a slovenly dressed man, swinging a sword idly in his hand.
"………………!!"
Neither the men in black nor the villagers could utter a sound.
Everyone here was thinking the same thing.
Who the hell was this guy?
"――Hey, hey, what's this?"
The man who'd barged in like he owned the place looked around.
"You guys will fight amateurs, but you won't let me join the fun?"
The man cackled.
――――――――――――――――――――――――――――
Enrique
→Genesis had forbidden him from accepting money or goods (so as not to attract attention), but he thought that rescuing them for free would damage his dignity as a former S-rank adventurer, so he desperately racked his brains. As a result, he blurted out the astonishing words, "Just have a banquet or something!"
Matthew
→He'd braced himself, wondering what the suspicious former adventurer would demand from him, but was bewildered by his desperate, "Just have a banquet or something!"
※
I've been splitting up my chapters so poorly lately that Matthew and Big Bro Enrique's side of the story has been taking up more and more chapters... (´；ω；｀)
It feels a bit late to go back and revise the chapter divisions, so I want to post one more chapter tonight.
That should bring us back to the protagonist's perspective next time, with a nice, clean break (probably).
I still haven't thought of anything, but I'll write it on the train ride home.
Looking forward to the match (´；ω；｀)