The four women were still in the other building. They could hear welcoming voices from where they were, and naturally, it was quite disheartening. They couldn’t see outside, so they weren’t aware of how the fight had gone, but it wasn’t hard to believe that it was an even match that had gone well. The four of them were jealous. They themselves were unable to fight head-on.
“Well, all we did was guide them here...”
“If we have time to envy other people, we should use that time to train...”
“That’s right. We should start immediately.”
“Practice starts tomorrow, but we can just start working amongst ourselves.”
No matter how much they complained, nothing would change. If they didn’t practice, they wouldn’t achieve anything. Just as they were about to head out to lift their spirits...
“Wait a moment.”
They had been caught by the women of the Four Vessels Style.
“Ah, hello...” It was a gathering of important women, with the eldest daughter of the main Four Vessels Style house leading them. They were all much stronger than Yabia and the others, which caused the four runaways to freeze. The village women would no doubt nag them, so they prepared themselves.
“Long time no see...”
“I don’t need you to greet me! More importantly...” The eldest daughter of the head house thrust her finger into Yabia’s chest. She wasn’t going to attack, but it was still hard to remain calm with the tip of that woman’s finger on her chest.
“The last time you returned from Arcana, you were empty-handed...but this time you brought a lot of grandiose things with you.”
“Aha, aha ha ha... It doesn’t suit them.”
“Right? There’s no way nobodies like you should be able to bring back that much treasure. You did something sneaky to get it, didn’t you?”
“Yes, you are correct...” The men were jealous they had received so much praise, whereas the women were jealous they had gone not just to a large city, but to a faraway land like Arcana. While they couldn’t imagine what it was like, there was no doubt in their minds that it had been a beautiful place and a wonderful experience.
“Since you returned with princesses, did you get to stay in a wonderful castle, with fancy rooms?”
“Uh, yes...”
“People like you...!”
“No, I mean...it was thanks to Ran and Sunae...”
“I don’t care who Sunae is, and don’t you dare speak her name!”
“Sorry!”
Ran was hated, completely despised. As the runaways had each been born at the bottom of a branch family, the four of them had no honor to hold on to and were only known for accompanying Ran. They were scoundrels who had latched on to Ran, taking advantage of her power and reaping all the benefits. They didn’t want to swap places, but they were still jealous. The village women wanted to experience something splendid like that.
“Then, where is it?”
“Huh?”
“Don’t play dumb with me.” The women didn’t come just to berate them. Although that’s what they had ended up doing first, they also had another reason to be there.
“It’s here, right? Some sort of trick or cheat you got outside of the village that allowed you to win in the fights!”
The four women all looked at each other. “We did receive some treasures from the Berserker God...”
“As I thought!” The eldest daughter of the main house seemed pleased. “While it would have been the first time they had seen your abilities, that wouldn’t be enough to help nobodies like you!” She wasn’t far off the mark. If they hadn’t had the treasures—or tricks—they wouldn’t have been able to win the matches.
“Hand all of it over!”
“H-Huh? Wait...what?”
“Hurry up!”
The eldest daughter started to close in. Yabia was absolutely bewildered.
“We did receive a lot of luxurious treasures, but we don’t have enough! They’ve been shared with all ten houses, with ours being the last in line!” The Four Vessels Style house was the first to participate ahead of the other houses. Naturally, the other houses didn’t like it, but even then, the Four Style Vessels Style master didn’t give in, even going as far to say that they would be last to pick the treasure they wanted. As a result, the more interesting treasures were snatched up by other houses. Uzame and the others got to fight, but that wasn’t the case for the women. Or rather, the women got the short end of the stick, so the men could get what they wanted.
“You low-lives probably have something left!”
“N-No, we don’t...”
“We were watching! You didn’t hand anything over to the youngest daughter of the Drunken Fist Style!”
Yabia had brought back the fruits from Suiboku. Suji had brought treasures from Arcana, whereas Konoko had brought them from Magyan. Utto, Toris and Sukiyo had brought gifts from neighboring countries near Magyan. Kazuno was the only one who hadn’t brought anything back.
“We’ll be taking those...noble treasures!” They leapt towards the box that Kazuno had carried on her back, which now stood in the center of the room. “Any treasures that made you able to accomplish something must be amazing...!” Other women from the Four Vessels Style barged past the four, surrounding the box.
“Huh?” After looking inside the chest, they let out a lifeless reaction.
“Um, I’m sorry, everyone. Those are just our belongings.” Around seven people’s possessions had all been stored in Kazuno’s box. That’s all that was in there, so there were no treasures. In fact, it was all dirty clothing.
“Wh-Where are you hiding them?!”
It was said that the items Suiboku made could often be mistaken for normal everyday items. So, if you wanted to hide them, you could do so in plain sight. However, the four women weren’t hiding anything.
“The noble treasures, such as the Coiled Peach and Divine Ginseng, were all stored in the same box and have already been handed over.” They had forgotten to mention that they had already been taken.
“Why?!”
“There’s nothing we could do with them, even if we had them.” They had returned home hoping to learn how to win without simple tricks. They had matured, and had no problems handing over the noble treasures.
“N-Nooooooo!” However, the eldest daughter couldn’t comprehend it and let out a shrill scream.
“Um...sorry,” Yabia apologized. She was unsure on how to react.