Today was another beautiful day. Even from my room in the guild, I could tell the weather felt exceptionally clear and fine. That had to be due to my trip into the outer world with Laladie recently, and having felt the sun on my skin directly for the first time in ages. However, since our return from Laladie’s flower garden—and all the unexpected troubles that arose with it—my guildmates were so worried that I confined myself to those halls once again. Granted, the skirmishes with the orcs and ogres could have gone poorly, but with both Laladie and the heroes Yuuto and Maho, I was never in any real danger.
Er, no… I suppose the Hero’s Party was destroyed in the aftermath of that little walk, so I can’t say nothing went wrong.
“GWEEEEEEEERGH!”
Despite that, I found myself in the woods on a monster-hunting mission on this particular day.
How did this happen…?
“Prithee, Master, look to thy right.”
It was a woman’s voice, and one I knew well at that, though its owner was nowhere to be seen. I obediently turned to find the rough-hewn blade of our lizardman mark being brought down on my head.
Lizardmen were, in essence, just human-shaped lizards, hunched over in their awkward stance on their hind legs. This specimen had glossy red scales and large, piercing eyes, and its tongue flicked out between its rough “lips” at me.
In an effort to save myself from this predicament, I unleashed a short blast of mana into the monster’s chest. The fiend was reduced to ash before it could even scream, disappearing without a trace.
“Excellent, Master. A kill worthy of thine name.”
It wasn’t any decent measure of my personal strength, as lizardmen were simply that underwhelming, but my guildmates always praised me to an embarrassing degree. Case in point, Soulgros had appeared out of nowhere and was applauding me politely. I could tell from the joyous gleam in her eyes that she wasn’t being sarcastic—no, those were the eyes of intense and whole-hearted admiration.
“I’m supposed to be helping you on your commissions, though, so what’s the point in making me do all the fighting?”
As the leader of our dark guild, I couldn’t infiltrate other guilds, much less the legal ones. That was why Soulgros had accepted the quest, and I was supposed to be her civilian guide to the area.
“Of course there is a point, Master. Witnessing thy heroic visage as thou slayest foul creatures fills my heart with joy.”
I wasn’t sure what she meant by that, exactly, but it wasn’t as though there was anyone from the guild she’d infiltrated to watch her, so it didn’t make a difference either way. I’d be dead weight otherwise.
Soulgros’s aid was instrumental in making sure the task went so smoothly, after all. She could stay undetected and tell me where the targets were coming from, or snipe them with her throwing knives should they attempt to flee. I was genuinely impressed that she could hide from their superior senses as well.
“You’re doing too much to support me; I only wish there were something I could do for you.”
“F-For me?!” the kunoichi stammered. “B-But observing thine fight is all the reward I could possibly require… Though perhaps I could ask thee to accompany me on seduction training…?”
“I appreciate your humbleness… but stop that. You’re like a daughter to me.”
She was fidgeting restlessly, her full-body black garb rustling and shifting without a sound as she looked at me with some unknown emotion.
I sighed. “It’s been ages since I’ve hunted monsters like this…”
She froze. “I-Is it not to thy liking? I invited thou thinking thou hadst thy fill of paperwork…”
I hurriedly shook my head no. I was genuinely grateful for the chance to get some air, what with how little I’d seen of the outdoors lately. Desk work was still my task of choice, as I didn’t want any of my lovely guild members to struggle with such tedious work, but sometimes I felt guilty that I was the only one not risking my life. I’d love to take on more dangerous tasks if possible.
“I’m surprised you could tell I wanted to come out so badly. And here I thought I’d be hard to read, given that I’m always smiling.”
She chuckled, hints of a delirious smile peering out from beneath her mouth scarf. “How could I not? I am always watching thee… Always.”
That made sense… though the way she said it sent a chill down my spine.
“Now, Master, we have yet to slay all the monsters we need. Let us locate the next warband.”
She smiled, the bloody, freshly-plucked scales of our foes in her hands, though I never saw her take them.
Soulgros was right in that we still had work to do. We were at the mercy of the guilds, and if they discovered that we were from a dark guild—much less that I was the guildmaster—they would try to kill us outright. Our Messianic Legion of Yerkchira almost never accepted monster-hunting quests, after all. Such things were saved for the legal guilds, mainly as a means of letting their newer members gain experience in the field. Instead, we were often assigned crimes such as assassinations, the slaying of especially dangerous monsters, or even capturing dangerous criminals. Our very organization was illegal, after all, and the work was nothing to be proud of.
Because I rejected the more unsavory tasks, however, it tended to limit the work we took on. Gray guilds were better at petty crimes in general, and there were fewer risks involved in contracting them. That was why I had some of my members pose as newbies at the proper, legal guilds. They tended to be quite lenient in giving prospective adventurers trial periods, and it was as simple as satisfying performance from there. Very few of Yerkchira’s members were willing to do such a thing, unfortunately, so most of our income came from slaying powerful monsters—hence my rising guilt at staying home all the time.
I could never let them do something as foul as murder, though… Never.
“Master?”
Soulgros shot me an inquisitive look, puzzled by my silence. I simply smiled and tousled her hair, telling her that today, of all days, I wouldn’t be hanging back.
“M-M-Master?! Hast thou lost thy mind?!” Her hands flew to her head, panicking just as I’d expect her guildmate Krankheit to. “Hath I done something to warrant such a boon?! No… hast thou finally awoken to my womanly charms?!”
My smile strained. She was charming, no doubt about that, but it’d feel wrong to lay so much as a finger on her. With that, I suggested we return to the task at hand.
“As thou willst, Master.”
The two of us returned to our quest with renewed vigor.