Naturally, the guild master had summoned a trusted party to secretly escort Can to her inn. Although he’d told Loreia to keep the news contained, the hunters had already heard about the horn because of her outburst. A girl walking alone with that kind of fortune was just asking for trouble. Once she safely reached her lodging, palace guards would likely be discreetly watching over her. Plus, that Einherjar girl would be there.
As guild master, he naturally had such information at his disposal—though in reality, the Angel’s group had moved from an inn to a house they’d rented, but that was a minor detail.
The guild’s vault didn’t have enough gold to pay for the unicorn horn’s delivery at the moment, so they’d pay out some of it up front, and the rest would come from the client, the Vorrel Earldom, in exchange for the horn. Normally, payouts were deposited with the guild upon posting the request, but only the fee was prepaid in cases that had ultra-low odds with a ridiculously high reward, posted across multiple branches, by a client of impeccable social standing who would never default on their payment—the rest was agreed to be paid upon delivery.
“You want us to guard that maiden?” a hunter blurted out as he was led into the room by Karen, making the guild master spit out his tea.
He glared at Karen as he had a coughing fit, but she frantically shook her head as if to say she hadn’t revealed anything.
“Oh, my bad. Karen didn’t say a thing. Loreia’s the one who announced it to the whole world... Though it seems like that maiden set her up.”
Karen had brought in the B-Rank party, Phantom Bow. Their leader was a bit flippant—partially by nature, though he seemed to be playing it up on purpose. People tended to not take him seriously because of this, but he was actually quite honest and reliable. Acting unserious made others less wary of him, and he found it easier to approach strangers and show them kindness without embarrassment. In other words, he was a good-natured fool.
“‘Maiden’...?” the guild master asked with an admonishing tone.
“Huh? She approached a unicorn, so she’s gotta be a maiden, right? That’s what everyone’s been saying,” the Phantom Bow’s leader said.
The guild leader clutched his head. If everyone had been talking about her, that confirmed the unicorn horn news had spread among the hunters, along with the girl’s bizarre nickname. Being as kindhearted as he was, he hoped that wouldn’t become her official title moving forward.
“Fine... If you already know, that saves me the trouble of explaining,” he said. “She’s processing the paperwork for the job in a private room. After that, she’ll leave with some reward money and knowledge of where she got the horn. I want you to escort her safely to her inn, but don’t let her know she’s being guarded. You’ll get five small gold coins if nothing happens, fifteen if you need to save her from trouble.”
“Whoa, that’s generous!”
That would be a small gold coin each for their five-person party even if nothing happened, with a chance to get three each. That would have been cheap if it had been a full day’s work, but they were just escorting her within the capital, to an inn ten minutes away on foot. There wouldn’t be any monsters or bandits to deal with, and if troublemakers showed up, they would likely back off without a fight as soon as a B-Rank party stepped in. Not only would there be a skill gap, but causing a scene in the heart of the capital would quickly attract the guards. Other hunters, good samaritans, and those with ulterior motives would step in if a cute young girl was getting hassled by a group of men. Plus, the girl was a hunter herself, and armed with a sword. Even if someone did mess with her, it was unlikely to escalate into a life-or-death fight. Moreover, they were a five-man B-Rank party. They would scatter random thugs or bottom-tier C-Rank hunters easily, even if there were a dozen or so of them...not that anyone in the middle of the capital would attempt to attack a little girl with such a big group. It would be much more efficient in a group of two or three, maybe five or six at most.
The party was frugal, but spent lavishly whenever they unexpectedly earned a big payout. So, they were in for a fancy dinner and drinks tonight just for going on a little stroll through the city.
“We’re in!”
The leader didn’t even need to discuss it with his members; their voices synced perfectly. In their hearts, they prayed: Please, let something happen! I’m begging you... The gap between one and three small gold coins per person was massive.
“Huh? She’s not heading toward the inn district...”
Can had left the guild after finishing the delivery paperwork in a private room and accepted a portion of the payment in gold coins, tailed discreetly by the five members of the B-Rank party Phantom Bow operating under the guild master’s orders. Can hadn’t completely emptied out the guild’s vault, of course, because doing so would have crippled their ability to pay other hunters and thereby caused total chaos. Plus, Can couldn’t have carried such a haul while keeping her Item Box secret.
Gold was dense and heavy. Water had a density of 1.0, iron 7.8, but gold was 19.3, making it about nineteen times heavier than water and two and a half times weightier than iron. She could have carried some out with effort, but only if she had a proper bag. That sort of volume couldn’t just be stuffed in a coin purse and tucked into a pocket, so Can had only accepted a small fraction of her reward, leaving the rest with the guild. Still, she was carrying a fortune by the standards of C-Rank or lower hunters.