Chapter 30
“I'll allow you to join the guild I'm founding!”
Even with my 〈Sky Series〉 gear meant to keep people away, there were still people who came up to me.
A night had passed since my first trip into a dungeon, and I was out shopping when someone approached me like this. Maybe I was easier to talk to because Hannah wasn't with me today?
I looked at the cute girl in front of me. She'd approached me, skipped right past introductions, and gone straight to recruiting me into a guild that didn't even seem to exist yet.
Her short silver hair shimmered, and her blue eyes were as vast as the ocean and full of spirit. Her academy-issued white uniform and navy skirt bore the blue embroidery marking her as a first-year.
Most eye-catching of all was the 〈Silver Tiara〉 perched on her head.
It showed that this beautiful girl was royalty.
Ah, so that was why she was so overbearing.
In 〈Dan-Katsu〉, when you formed a party or guild, you recruited members.
You could recruit someone who already had a Job based on their Job, or deliberately recruit someone without a Job and fulfill the conditions from scratch to help them acquire a rare Job.
And you could recruit more than just Jobs. You could recruit Races, too.
“Royals” were among the recruitable characters. A prince wore a 〈Golden Crown〉, while a princess wore a 〈Silver Tiara〉 as their symbol.
But recruiting royalty was fairly difficult. You couldn't recruit them unless your Fame was over 200. Since your Fame started at zero, you'd have to progress through the game before you could recruit one.
So had my Fame somehow reached 200 without me noticing?
It was true that I was famous now for having the 【Hero】 Job, but in the game, that alone wasn't supposed to raise your Fame.
As I was mulling that over, the princess, apparently displeased by my silence, came at me.
“Hey, are you listening?! I said I'll let you join my guild, so your answer should be 〈Yes〉 or 〈Yes〉, right?”
Wow! She was really good at throwing her weight around.
She was the very picture of a selfish princess. I didn't mind selfish princesses.
Then again, that was only because this was the world of 〈Dan-Katsu〉.
Well, I appreciated the offer, but I was going to turn her down.
“My answer is—〈No〉!”
“Whaaat?!”
I paused for effect before rejecting her, and the princess cried out in shock, clearly not expecting to be turned down.
Yeah, this was kind of fun.
That's a great reaction, Your Highness.
“I'm afraid I plan to start my own guild, so I have no intention of joining someone else's.”
“W-W-W-What an insolent fool! I specifically granted you permission to join my guild!”
The princess trembled with rage. Unfortunately for her, I was the kind of Japanese person who could say no.
Normally, the commoners' role was to bow down to power and authority. If I turned her down, I probably wouldn't get away with it.
But this was the world of 〈Dan-Katsu〉.
It was a meritocracy based on level and ability. No matter how much power she had, the princess was still a first-year, so there was no way her level was higher than mine.
More than that, there was no Job stronger than 【Hero】. No first-year who'd just enrolled could lord it over me when I'd already gotten a head start.
If she wanted to make me obey without offering anything in return, she'd need a level to back it up.
That was common sense in the world of 〈Dan-Katsu〉.
So I decided to ask.
“I'm Zephyrus, the 【Hero】, and I'm LV10. What level are you, Princess?”
“G-Grr...”
She had no retort.
That probably meant she hadn't acquired a Job yet.
Those who haven't acquired a Job are still children.
No matter how royal she was, a child without a Job ordering an adult with one around using her authority was out of the question.
Especially here at the 〈Dungeon Academy〉.
“If you want me to listen to you, get a genuinely good Job and level up.”
“W-Whaaat?!”
“Royals” could take special Jobs reserved just for them.
【Princess】 and 【Prince】 were famous examples. They were powerful buffers, among the very best of the lower-tier Jobs.
“Royals,” who couldn't be recruited without at least 200 Fame, could take especially excellent Jobs. But the conditions for those Jobs to manifest were just as difficult to meet.
She was probably struggling because she wanted a higher-tier Job but couldn't meet the conditions for one to manifest. She could become a 【Princess】 right away, after all.
“Remember this! Once I get a high-tier Job, it'll be too late for you to come begging to join my guild!”
“No, like I said, I'm planning to start my own guild. I never intended to join yours.”
“N-No! That's not allowed! It's already been decided that you'll join my guild!”
“Wait, which is it?”
I thought she was just being a sore loser, but was she actually tsundere?
She was an interesting princess. Pushy, but hard to dislike. No, I couldn't say I disliked her at all.
I might've started to like the princess a little.
“I-I'll come back. Next time, make sure you say 〈Yes〉 or 〈Yes〉, okay?!”
“Sure, good luck with that.”
“Grr! Just you wait!”
I watched the princess leave after saying something that sounded very tsundere.
Oh, right. I should've at least asked her name.