Chapter 30

1 The Guild was in an uproar this morning. “Three different parties need Priests! Would any parties with two or more Priests please send one over here?” “Any Wizards around?! We don’t have enough potions, and we need someone who can make some!” It had been a week since I had reported to the Guild about that demon. The forest had been declared off-limits while an investigation was conducted, and as adventurers, we lost one of our cushiest hunting grounds. At first, everyone had obediently gone hunting in the plains instead. But hot-blooded adventurers could never follow instructions for too long. The Guild, plagued by questions of when people would be allowed in the woods again, decided to hunt down the demon and began assembling a task force for that purpose. Anyone who was confident enough had been preparing all morning, many of them looking to work off some frustration over the loss of their hunting ground. I observed the busy scene in the Guild. “Seems we have quite a commotion on our hands again,” I remarked to Yunyun, who was clutching her wand and looking very nervous. “H-how can you be so calm?! You saw that thing, Megumin—that demon! Crimson Magic Village is full of powerful monsters, and even it doesn’t have anything that nasty!” She seemed caught between criticizing me and bursting into tears. “If you are so against the idea, you can certainly just stay here, yes? With this many adventurers, though, I don’t believe we will ever be caught out. We’re nowhere near a hundred people, but we will have well more than twenty or thirty. We will get a reward simply for being part of this hunting group. Even someone toddling along at the back would get at least a little pocket change, so this is not an opportunity to miss.” “G-gosh, really…! W-well, if you’re going to be a part of it, Megumin, I certainly can’t let you go alone…” “I’m sorry—did you say something? You did, didn’t you? Come on! Say it so I can hear.” “You heard me perfectly well, didn’t you?! What’s the big idea, trying to get me to repeat what you already heard?!” Yunyun pressed herself against the table, hands to her face, red up to her ears. I smirked and gave her a good shake before looking around the Guild again. According to Yunyun, who had apparently been here all morning, an attractive woman slightly older than us (but of poor pallor) had come by with an armload of potions. She had, I was told, mournfully mumbled, “I guess this means bread crusts and sugar water for me for a while…” as she handed them over. With this many people and this much support, I figured we would be safe even against that demon. “Truthfully, though, the reward money isn’t the only reason we should want to participate in this hunt. Think about it. If we show what we can do on this job, we won’t have to go around asking people if we can join their parties. They’ll be knocking down our door to recruit us.” That caused Yunyun to brighten up immediately. “What’s more, there are going to be two different famous adventuring groups out there with us—did you know that? One of them is supposedly led by a young man with an enchanted sword, and the other—” But I didn’t get to finish my sentence. “Aww, geez, what, you girls think you’re comin’ with us? Gimme a break! This ain’t a field trip, y’know.” “Rex, calm down and take a closer look. These girls are from the Crimson Magic Clan, see? I’ll bet they’re stronger than you are.” Our new interlopers were a man and a woman. The man, whose nose had a prominent scar, towered over us, while the woman was beautiful but looked tough and had a sharp gaze. I seemed to remember that their party was… “Whazzat? Stronger than me? These babies? What, are you jokin’? C’mon! Tell her what a stupid joke that is.” “Nah, man, I think Sophie’s right. You don’t know about the Crimson Magic Clan? Arch-wizards, every one of ’em, expert magic-users who all know advanced magic.” “You kiddin’, Terry?! G-geez, you two, do you really know advanced magic?” …Their party was the other famous group among us. “No, we don’t,” I said, and Yunyun shook her head to underline the point. Rex turned to his party as if to say, See? and gave a pointed snort. “Huh?! That’s weird, though; I was sure that’s what I heard about the Crimson Magic Clan…” “Yeah, well, sometimes rumors ain’t true. Like the one about some guy with an enchanted sword who’s stronger than I am. And the one about…what’sername, the nutjob everyone says to stay clear of? Exaggerations. They gotta be… Well, whatever. You pip-squeaks wanna tag along and make some pocket money, it’s your call; just make sure you stay out of our way, got it?”