Chapter 59
Before the sun had fully set, we reached the north gate, carrying a large hemp sack.
As we waited in the inspection line, I looked down at my feet. Mud from the marsh, which had reached my shins, was beginning to dry on the surface of my boots.
Thanks to the grease we’d applied before leaving, the clumps of mud came off easily with a scrape of a piece of wood.
At last, it was our turn. The gatekeeper checked the Guild’s request slip, then inspected the contents of our sack. If it contained anything unrelated to the request, we’d naturally be taxed—and in the worst case, arrested on the spot.
After passing inspection without incident, we went through the archway from the back street into the Guild’s courtyard.
The delivery station facing the Guild courtyard was less bustling than it was in complete chaos.
“The appraisal’s zero?! How can that be right?!”
A mud-covered adventurer roared, looking ready to grab the clerk.
“These are just weeds. And these ones are carelessly torn and wilted. There’s no way we’re paying you for them.”
Exchanges like this were happening all over the place.
They must have rushed into the marsh without a clue, lured by the increased reward for gathering medicinal herbs. They didn’t even know what they were supposed to be gathering.
The adventurer who’d been shouting angrily was driven off, and Lyle set his bulging hemp sack on the now-empty counter.
“I’d like an appraisal.”
At Lyle’s voice, the delivery clerk looked up.
“...Well, well. Aren’t you the hero who defeated Otto the Ill-Omened Bird? You can gather herbs, too, not just swing a sword?”
At the delivery clerk’s teasing remark, the adventurers around us all turned to look.
Their gazes were a mixture of unmistakable contempt and jealousy.
“Hey, is that the kid who beat Otto?”
“He just got lucky. A hero? Give me a break.”
The adults’ jeers struck from all around the courtyard.
Lyle paid no attention to the noise and simply stood there in silence.
To check the contents, the delivery clerk opened the sack and took out a single herb. The instant he saw it, his eyes widened.
“...Are all of these Lapis Dewgrass? You harvested them carefully, too. They’ve been hounding us from above to increase our potion stock. You’ve saved us.”
The delivery clerk’s astonished voice rang through the courtyard, and the adventurers who’d been complaining moments ago fell silent.
The mocking expressions vanished from their faces in an instant. This time, a silence filled with wordless envy and admiration enveloped the Guild courtyard.
“Hold on, kid. Something’s not right here.”
With a menacing growl, the large adventurer who’d been shouting about his zero appraisal stepped in front of us. The stench of sweat and rotting marsh mud filled my nostrils.
“I’m not sure you really beat Otto, but... your gathering’s perfect, too? No way brats like you could pull that off.”
“Yeah! Exactly! You cheated somehow, both in the fight and the gathering!”
As if agreeing with the man, jeers flew from the other down-and-out adventurers nearby.
—Just right.
There was no avoiding attention anymore. If we showed them what we could do now, it would probably save us from this kind of hassle in the future.
Holding back a sigh, I pointed at the man’s feet.
“Cheating, huh? ...Mister, you didn’t grease your boots before setting out to keep the mud off, did you? You couldn’t even manage that much preparation, so you never made it to the Lapis Dewgrass patch. We just prepared and did exactly what we’d researched.”
At my calm retort, the man’s face turned bright red.
“You little... Watch your mouth! I’ll kill you!”
“Stop! Don’t start something here!”
The one who stepped between us was the delivery clerk.
“If you start a fight here and damage the goods or shelves, you’ll have to pay for all of it. If you can’t, you’ll be sold into slavery. ...But...”
The delivery clerk gave a vulgar grin and pointed with his thumb at a space at the edge of the courtyard, cluttered with carts and barrels.
“He won’t listen, no matter what I say. If you’ve got a problem, settle it with your fists. If you do it in that empty space over there, we won’t get involved. I’ll even act as the bookie.”
“...Fine by me.”
The man had been completely boxed in. He could no longer back down.
“You brats! Even if you cry and beg, I won’t let you leave in one piece!”
At a corner of the Guild courtyard, a wide-open space lay waiting.
In no time, it was surrounded by a crowd of adventurers with nothing better to do.
“The brat’s getting cocky. Don’t come crying when you get hurt.”
Amid the vulgar jeers, the big man drew a one-handed sword from his waist, its thick blade like a butcher’s cleaver.
I simply held my usual staff in a relaxed stance, without even raising it to fight.
“Hahaha! You think you can block my sword with that stick?”
With a sneer, the man swung his blade with brute force.
A clumsy, forceful diagonal slash.
There was no need to use ‘Enhance.’
I turned sideways, stepped in, and struck the flat of his blade with my staff.
“Wha—?!”
His full-force slash was deflected, and he stumbled forward.
Without pausing, I let the staff slide through my palm and thrust it toward his throat.
“Eek!”
As he recoiled to avoid it, I pulled my right foot back and spun the staff halfway around.
Using that momentum, I struck his right wrist.
“A-ah...!”
The one-handed sword slipped from his grasp and bounced off the flagstones with a shrill clang.
In one fluid motion, I flicked my staff upward, its tip catching him under the chin.
The man’s head snapped back as if to stare at the ceiling, his brain rattled by the blow.
Then I spun the staff like a pinwheel and slammed it into his thigh, using the force of the spin.
“Gyaaaaaaaaaah!!!”
The blow struck the nerves in his thigh, and a scream tore from the man’s mouth.
Still clutching his thigh, the man writhed in agony and rolled across the flagstones.
The man’s scream was the only sound in the silent courtyard.
I made my way through the ring of onlookers and spoke to the delivery clerk.
“Then, please continue the appraisal.”
At my calm prompt, the delivery clerk, who’d been frozen in place, suddenly came to his senses.
“...Sure. Hold on.”
The clerk returned to the counter and inspected the herbs one after another with practiced hands.
“All right, they’re all top quality. Here’s your appraisal slip. Take it to the window in back.”
“Thank you.”
I turned and looked toward the adventurers in the courtyard.
The adventurers who’d been jeering so vulgarly moments ago had their heads bowed, and not one of them said a word.
When I took a step forward, the crowd quickly parted to either side.
Behind me, the man’s muffled groans still rang out.
Without a backward glance, I calmly walked through the silent crowd of onlookers.