I Was Nearly Killed by My Fellow A-Rank Party, but Now I Fed a Nine-Tailed Fox Deep in the Dungeon. ~ “My Master, I Shall Never Leave Your Side for All Eternity,” the Legendary Monsters Said While Doting on Me. Before I Knew It, I Had Become the World’s Strongest Lord of the Demon Realm~ - Chapter 15

Giving the Jerk Adventurer What He Deserves

While Leadas was messing with us and all the other adventurers stared like we were some kinda show, Tamamo and Yukime whispered behind my back.

“Nine-Tails-sama, should we just kill these guys?”

“Hey, didn’t I just tell you no starting trouble? I could turn this whole building to ash anytime, so chill out.”

They were having this scary-as-hell conversation right there.

“Leadas, sorry, but I gotta turn in these materials. You two, come with me.”

I figured I’d better hurry and get my stuff done before the guild cleared out too much.

Tamamo ignored him completely with this cool face, while Yukime shot Leadas a quick glare before following me.

“Hey hey Leadas lol, got rejected hard lol.”

“Tch, those two are gonna get sick of Kuon real quick anyway, right?”

I could hear that crap from behind us.

“Um, excuse me, I’d like to turn in some materials please.”

When I said that, this nice-looking guild receptionist lady handled me right away.

“Sure thing, Kuon! And… uh, try not to let all the crap people say get to you too much, okay?”

“Haha… thanks.”

“Honestly, you weren’t even that into this Eternal Frost Labyrinth run anyway… it was Zex and them who pushed for it. You guys just didn’t mesh, y’know?”

While she checked the stuff I pulled out of the pouch, the receptionist—Melanda—kept trying to cheer me up.

“Really?”

Then Yukime actually spoke up, which was kinda rare.

“Yeah! This time the Eternal Frost Labyrinth clear was all Zex and them pushing it. Kuon was against it. He said, ‘They’re not even hurting humans or anything, so I’m against messing up their home!’”

“Huh…”

Yukime muttered that, then hung back a little closer to me while we waited.

“All checked! Here’s your reward money!”

She handed over 15,000 rira.

That was plenty—even after grabbing a room at an inn, we’d still have some left.

“There’s a bar right here in the guild too. Wanna grab some food or drinks?”

When I asked, Tamamo gave this kinda suspicious grin.

“Yeah, Kuon’s probably the most worn out here. I’ll go grab us some drinks, so sit and rest.”

“I can go instead—no need to trouble Nine-Tails-sama!”

Yukime raised her hand quick, but Tamamo shot her a look.

“I wanna get something for Kuon myself.”

“Y-yes… sorry for speaking out of turn…”

While Tamamo went to grab drinks, Yukime and I sat at one of the guild tables.

“Hey Yukime, how come you’re so devoted to Tamamo?”

“I don’t have anything to say to a human—!”

She started to snap that, then shut her mouth for a second.

“…Fine. I’ll tell you, especially since it’s you.”

“…Huh? Uh, thanks.”

Then Yukime stared off into the distance and started talking.

“I used to wanna get along with humans too. So I hid what I was and lived in a village. But then monsters attacked it… and I… as a ‘yuki-onna,’ drove them off…”

She said that and dropped her gaze to the table.

“Instead of thanks, the villagers threw stones at me. Called me a ‘monster.’ That’s when Nine-Tails-sama showed up, burned every single one of them to death, and told me, ‘If you’re lonely, just stay with me.’ She kept me by her side right up until she got sealed.”

Then Yukime looked straight into my eyes.

“I know the Nine-Tails-sama now isn’t the same as back then. But you’re trying to bring her back to how she was, right? So I’ll help too.”

“Oh… thanks, Yukime.”

“Hmph.”

Right after I said that, Tamamo came back holding glasses.

“Sorry for the wait! Here Kuon! Your favorite—milk!”

She put a glass of milk right in front of me.

“Oh yeah… I always ordered milk so I could share with Fokko…”

“C’mon, chug it! Want me to feed it to you?”

“If you did that, the other adventurers would make fun of me even more.”

I took a sip of the milk Tamamo brought.

She watched me drink it with this weirdly happy look.

“—!? Whoa, this is good! Really good! Kinda weird, it’s only lukewarm though…”

“Right? Right!? Go on, finish every last drop!”

For some reason she kept staring super intently while I drank the whole glass of milk she got me.

“There we go… now I don’t gotta worry about Kuon anymore.”

“Haha, did you think I was gonna pass out from thirst or something?”

“Humans are fragile, y’know. Don’t make Nine-Tails-sama worry any more than this.”

“—Hey! You bastard! Don’t screw with me!”

Right then a loud voice boomed from the bar area.

Leadas—the same guy who messed with us earlier—was picking a fight with someone.

When I looked, he had a tiny girl by the collar, dangling her in the air. She was holding a bone-in piece of meat.

“Sorry! I’m sorry! But you said ‘it tastes bad so I’m throwing it away’—”

“I just ‘dropped’ my meat on the floor. You stole my stuff—you’re a thief!”

“I’ll give it back! S-so please forgive me!”

“No way in hell I’m forgiving you.”

Looking at her ragged clothes, the girl was clearly a beggar.

Leadas had tossed his meat on the floor, and she tried to pick it up to eat.

Probably ’cause he was pissed Tamamo and Yukime ignored him, he was taking it out on her.

“Heh, guess I’ll sell you to a brothel. Let the pervs have their fun with ya.”

“—Hey! Cut it out!”

I couldn’t help yelling.

Leadas saw me and grinned all nasty.

“Oh? What’s this? Weakling adventurer Kuon’s tryna play hero in front of the ladies?”

Behind me Yukime stood up.

“Tch, what a pain…!”

“Yukime, hold back.”

“Is… is that really okay? If we leave it like this he’ll—”

Tamamo stopped Yukime.

(Of course. This is my problem—I stuck my neck out. Can’t rely on Tamamo or Yukime for this.)

“Please let that kid go. If it’s about money, I’ll pay for it.”

When I said that, Leadas dropped the girl and flexed his big muscly body like he was showing off to Tamamo and Yukime, stepping right up to me.

“Hey hey, you’re a guy, right? Settle this with fists.”

“With fists…? Uh, I don’t really…”

“—Why not? Go ahead and accept the duel, Kuon. So he never bugs you again.”

Even Tamamo said that all confident.

Then all the adventurers around us started hyping it up.

“Hell yeah! Fight! Fight!”

“Yo this ain’t a fight—it’s straight-up bullying lol!”

“Kuon’s the one who butted in! Don’t run now!”

“Public execution of the trash adventurer lol”

They were cracking up, waving beer bottles around.

Leadas cracked his knuckles, grinning ear to ear.

“Heh heh heh, I’m gonna make you look pathetic right in front of these two and totally disillusion them! Gonna smash that pretty face into a crying mess!”

Tamamo crossed her arms, gave a thin smile, and let out a little sigh.

“Wonder which one of us is actually gonna end up crying.”

And just like that, I ended up accepting a duel with Leadas.