Chapter 3: The Old Man Has No Money, So He Sleeps Outside

“Hah… you guys… are you idiots? A divine beast, said to be a phantom… and the strongest among them, Fenrir, appearing in a place like this? There’s no way. It’s gotta be a mistake. Well… Emma-san is the cautious type, after all.”

said one of the adventurers with a know-it-all look on his face.

At that, the others, whose faces had gone pale, started to regain their composure.

“Y-Yeah, that’s right. It has to be. If something like Fenrir showed up, this town… no, this whole kingdom would be in danger. There’s no way that could happen. Ha, haha…”

he said with a forced smile.

But it seemed a sense of dread still lingered.

Their expressions remained gloomy.

Seeing the reluctant adventurers, the man from before urged them on with a sigh.

“Stop your whining and come on. In any case, this is an order from Emma-san… the Guild Master. All adventurers are to report!”

“D-Dammit… guess there’s no choice… It’s probably just some idiot who saw things wrong… Seriously, the Guild Master in this town is such a worrywart… Is it because she’s a woman, after all? …Well, for an old maid, she’s got a nice face… and… hehe… a nice body, too…”

“Hey… you… don’t you dare say that in front of Emma-san, not for any reason. If Emma-san heard you… Wait… you haven’t been active in this town for long, have you…? Oh, well… everyone makes that mistake once… Anyway, take my advice. Just follow Emma-san’s orders.”

“Tch… She is the Guild Master, I guess… Besides, if I get on her good side, I might be able to get closer to her later… She’s a single woman, after all. Hehe…”

“Sigh… What a clueless guy… If you knew anything about Emma-san, you wouldn’t be able to say things like that… but whatever. My job was just to gather everyone.”

Though some were still grumbling, they all finally, reluctantly, started heading for the Guild.

But they all looked completely jaded.

The adventurers, who had been laughing heartily just moments before, seemed to have sobered up completely.

I guess you can’t blame them.

Getting called out suddenly while you’re enjoying a drink…

And on top of that, their opponent is a divine beast… huh.

A divine beast… is a general term for the disaster-class magical beasts that inhabit the depths of the great forests, places known as demon realms or, at times, divine domains.

No one wants to deal with magical beasts like that.

For starters, they aren’t opponents humans can actually fight and win against.

Well… the only thing I’ve ever done is run away from those magical beasts many times…

Putting that aside, I’m still an adventurer myself, even if I’m just a hanger-on.

Besides, I’ve known Emma-san for a long time, and she’s always looked out for me.

To protect this Guild… no, this town, I have to do something in this emergency—

Steeling my resolve, I turned toward the noisy group, but…

“Hey, Mikami, what are you doing? Don’t tell me you’re coming, too?”

“Well… I’m an adventurer, too, technically…”

“Idiot! What do you think a perennial F-ranker like you can do?! You’ll just get in the way!”

“But… even I can be a little useful—”

“‘Useful’? Don’t make me laugh! A good-for-nothing like you who can only run away! Running away won’t solve anything! A real man has to stand and fight. Like me, with this ‘Mighty Sword’!”

said the man they called ‘Mighty Sword,’ ostentatiously raising his blade as he snapped at me.

He reeked of alcohol.

He was probably pretty drunk.

Then, the members of Celesties, who had been hiding in the shadows and staying silent until now, also began to speak up.

“That’s right. To be blunt, Mikami-san, who does nothing but run away, would be less of a help to us in a fight than we are.”

“Less of a help? More like a liability. If there’s someone who runs away at the drop of a hat, you can’t trust them to watch your back, and it lowers morale.”

“Hey, wait a minute… I can…”

“Hey, what are you all arguing about?! Get a move on!”

“Tch… Anyway! Mikami… you’re not coming! We have no use for a coward!”

With that, the group of adventurers—everyone but me—shuffled out of the tavern.

Left behind, I let out another sigh—I’d lost count of how many today—and looked up at the ceiling.

Normally, even after getting insulted this much, I should probably go to the Guild.

But… I just didn’t have the energy for it anymore.

Besides, not a single adventurer in this town would care if I wasn’t there anyway.

I don’t want to admit it, but what ‘Celesties’ and ‘Mighty Sword’ said is right.

If a Fenrir really is out there, someone like me wouldn’t be any help at all.

I feel bad for Emma-san, who’s always looked out for me, but…

Well… just because it was spotted nearby doesn’t mean the Fenrir is going to attack the town.

In the first place, it’s hard to believe that a Fenrir would appear in a remote town like this, just as ‘Mighty Sword’ said.

It’s highly likely the eyewitness account was a mistake.

Since it was Emma-san who called for an emergency summons, she must have her reasons…

Still, for a divine beast to appear in a place like this is a pretty unthinkable situation.

Unless, of course, some idiot did something stupid, like deliberately trespassing in a Fenrir’s lair and messing up its territory…

Long ago, a powerful nation once tried to pioneer the far depths of the great forest… the divine domain… leading a host of its strongest soldiers.

That nation, it is said, incurred the wrath of the divine beasts living in the domain and was destroyed…

Those are the kinds of stories whispered as truth when it comes to divine domains and their beasts.

But… humans are funny creatures; it’s precisely that kind of place that draws out challengers.

Heroes, champions, or maybe just fools looking to strike it rich…

A few years ago, I went on a solo expedition to a divine domain myself, hoping to turn my gloomy life around in one fell swoop.

Well… it goes without saying… the result was a complete disaster.

I got horribly lost, couldn’t find my way out, and spent all my time running from magical beasts. I ended up wandering for several years.

I gained absolutely nothing from it, and of course, I never even reached the divine domain.

To be honest… I was wandering the whole time, so I had no real sense of my location.

But there were a ton of bizarre, stupidly huge magical beasts I’d never seen before.

And I spent my days running from them, but…

Come to think of it, I feel like there was something like a giant, shining silver wolf among them…

…Nah, no way…