That Time a Shut-in for 300 Years Continued to Make Antiques , but All of It Turned out to Be Cheat-Level Magic Tools - Chapter 32

“So, what was the result?”

Upon Frog’s return, I immediately asked for an update. Frog looked at me with a clearly unamused expression before sharing the evaluation results.

“After rechecking, the result is that they will take all the Aloy herbs you brought this time. That’s good news.”

And still, he comes at me with such a condescending tone. Does he truly understand his current position—

“Yay! Amazing, Edson-kun! You’ve managed to get them to accept a harvest that’s never been acknowledged before!” 

“Huh? Hey, wait!”

This guy suddenly hugged me from behind, something soft on my head—no, that’s not the point!

“Get off me!” 

“Kyaa! What are you doing~?”

As I pushed him away, Alecto looked at me with teary eyes, clearly displeased. Is he really happy about this?

And for some reason, Mei was standing nearby with her arms spread wide. What is she doing?

“…shun.”

She looked dejected! What’s wrong, Mei!

“Hmph, I don’t care, but save your foolishness for outside the guild. Also, the reward for this time will go towards repaying debts. See ya.” 

“Wait! The conversation isn’t over yet!”

I shouted at Frog as he tried to slip away. There’s no way I’d let him end the conversation like this.

“Fe? Is there still something else~?” 

“Don’t you have any thoughts about what just happened!” 

“Yes, thanks to you, our debt has decreased. I’m happy.”

He showed an obviously displeased expression as I pointed it out.

“What? Don’t tell me you’re going to say we shouldn’t put it all towards the debt repayment? How brazen. Just because a request is successful, you get carried away immediately. Let me remind you, your debts are still so huge that this won’t even make a dent. Consider that.”

Unbelievable how boldly he could say such things.

“What I want to say isn’t about that. It’s that I’m not satisfied with the debt itself.”

“What, you’re still talking about that? Whatever you say, there’s a contract.” 

“The contract has nothing to do with this. The issue is that there might have been previous instances like this one.”

“What do you mean, ‘instances like this one’?” 

“Exactly. You guys initially decided you couldn’t accept the 20,000 bundles of Aloy herbs we brought in. But now, with Mr. Roat’s involvement, you suddenly changed your stance and agreed to take them all. If the guild can do something like that so easily, it’s entirely possible that there was nothing wrong with the magical herbs this woman gathered before. In fact, I’d say it’s more likely.”

As I pointed this out, his face twisted in annoyance.

“Assumptions… Listen, even monkeys fall from trees, the guild can make mistakes occasionally!” 

“A mistake in appraising 20,000 bundles of Aloy herbs is a minor issue to you?”

At Roat’s point, Frog groaned.

“That’s what I mean. A mistake with one or two bundles might be minor, but 20,000 is a different story. That can’t just be chalked up to a simple error.”

“Shut up, shut up! Whatever you say, the Aloy herbs she gathered were deemed unsuitable after evaluation! That decision won’t change!” 

“Then prove it.”

“Prove it, you say?”

As Frog’s eyes widened in surprise, I knew this was our moment.

“Exactly. If you’re so confident, show us the records of your assessments. You should have them, right? Records are saved. There’s no way you don’t have them. It’s the guild’s duty to keep them.”

This is a common requirement across all types of guilds—Adventurers, Commerce, etc. No excuses like ‘lost them’ would be accepted. It would lead to troublesome consequences if it ever came to light.

“…We have no obligation to show you anything!”

“That doesn’t make sense. After such a mistake, you expect us to just trust your previous assessments?”

“Shut up! No matter what you say, past assessments won’t change and I won’t show the records!”

“Just show them, why don’t you?”

“…What?”

The voice didn’t come from any of us. From behind, and a distance away, it was from an adventurer who had been watching our exchange with Frog.

“From what we’ve been hearing, their argument sounds more legitimate.”

“How could you mess up 20,000 bundles?”

“Seems petty to be squabbling with kids.”

“If there’s no wrongdoing, just show the ledger and clear it up.”

“Yeah, yeah! Show us!”

“Wha, wha…”

Frog’s eyes widened in shock. And indeed, it was an unexpected turn for me as well. I hadn’t expected the remaining adventurers to come to our defense.

It seems there are those with a sense of justice among the adventurers, not all are riffraff.

Well, this has turned into quite the tailwind. What will Frog do? His face is dripping with sweat again—

“Wait—”

Suddenly, as if struck by an idea, Frog’s eyes widened anew.

“Heh, alright. I’ll bring the ledger. Just wait.”

“Oh, we did it!”

“Not bad, not bad at all, kid.”

“Really, to give that frog-faced guy a run for his money, impressive for such a cute kid.”

Several adventurers came over and patted our backs, expressing their happiness.

It seems that man wasn’t well-liked by the adventurers either. Understandable.

“But I never imagined that the stuff I gathered might have actually been alright.”

“That’s why you ended up with such bizarre debts. You need to learn to question others a bit.”

“Ugh, this time I really have no retort.”

Hmm, seems like it hit him a bit hard. Good, being too gullible isn’t helpful.

“It seems you’ve been quite presumptuous.”

“Gah! He’s back already!’” 

“Is it bad that I’m back? I’ll remember your faces, make no mistake.”

The adventurers quickly dispersed. They supported us momentarily but preferred to avoid individual confrontation.

“Here, as you wished, I’ve brought them.”

Frog, accompanied by other receptionists, started placing a stack of thick ledgers on the counter.

They’re so bulky. Still using parchment as the main medium—so inefficient compared to thinner, smaller alternatives made from magically processed plant fibers.

Well, no use discussing that now. Either way, he’s dumped dozens of these unnecessarily thick ledgers.

“Hey, hey, how many volumes are there?” 

“Just checking them will take a long time.”

The sheer volume of ledgers on the counter had the observing adventurers whispering. Indeed, there are so many.

“Here you go, all of them. Remember, you started this because you said you couldn’t trust our assessments. Check them yourselves.”

Clearly, the guild folks aren’t planning to help at all.

“Yare yare, this is going to be quite the task. Perhaps we should borrow them and take them back?” 

“Oh, stop joking. This is crucial documentation for us. Can’t lend it out, and there’s a limit to how long you can view them.”

 “And what’s the limit?”

“Well, about an hour.” 

“An hour for this!?” 

“Ridiculous! That’s impossible!”

Roat protested, but Frog responded with a smug yet sinister smile.

“Well, that’s tough. We have our own circumstances, so that’s as much as we can give. After all, you were the ones who asked for this.”

“Roat-san, don’t worry. An hour is more than enough.” 

“…Huh? What do you mean?” 

“Let’s get this over with quickly. Mei, I’m counting on you.” 

“Yes, Master.”

Mei began flipping through the ledgers at the counter, so fast it was practically a blur—likely too fast for anyone else to understand what she was doing.

And in less than a minute, she had checked all the ledgers.

“Verification complete.”

“Ha, ha, that’s hilarious! You claim you checked everything just now? Ridiculous fools!”

As expected, Frog complained.

“It’s neither nonsense nor impossible. Mei has perfectly grasped everything now.”

“Don’t talk nonsense! That’s impossible! I know what you’re up to! You haven’t looked at anything, and you’re just going to complain!”

“Crank caller, huh? And yet it’s clear the guild’s management has issues.”

“Then let’s prove it. Pick any page from those ledgers, and I’ll tell you what’s written on it.” 

“Ha! Fine then!”

“Eh? Is that really okay?” 

“Trust in Mei.”

Though Alecto was anxious, my maidroid Mei is reliable for such tasks.

“Then, this one! Tell me what’s on page 43!” 

“March 6, adventurer party ‘The Unsung Heroes’ requested for escort. The client is Mr. Reneko from the Commerce Guild, registration certificate NO CJ62154789651. The fee is—” 

“What? That’s just luck! Now this, page 28!” 

“Eastern Mazo mountains, goblin nest discovered. Extermination request—” 

“And this one!” 

“Today, got touched on the butt by the frog-faced boss again. Third time, absolutely the worst! Always sweaty and greasy, unbearable. Seriously wish he’d just croak like a frog—” 

“Wha, wha, what is this!”

Frog shouted in anger. Ah, what indeed?

But quickly, a receptionist rushed over, snatched up the ledger, and exclaimed:

“Ah, might this be my diary mixed in, sorry!”

And with that, she ran off. Frog’s face turned beet red—