The Guild Master Whose Hobby Was Helping People Found Himself Surrounded by the Strongest, Overly Attached Members - 49

Chapter 49: Too Much Sightseeing

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Having given up on acting alone—or rather, being forced to give up—I walked along with them when Leon suddenly stopped in front of a sword hanging in a weapons shop on the street.

“Wow… Amazing…!”

This shop must have been dealing in rare and valuable weapons. The blade glittered in the sunset, drawing people in just by being there. The elaborately crafted guard, and even with the blade sheathed, its sharpness still came through.

Even someone like me, who wasn’t a fanatic about romanticized weapons, could tell at a glance that those weapons had to be expensive. 

“Shin-san, this sword…! It looks easy to handle!”

Leon’s eyes sparkled innocently. He looked just like a child who had stopped in front of a toy shop. Which meant it was my job, in the role of the parent, to teach him some reality.

“…Leon, look at the price tag.”

“Huh?—F-f-fifty thousand!?”

Leon’s eyes bulged as he froze. So shocked that he stared harder at the price tag than at the sword itself.

“Big Brother, absolutely not. That’s the price of a whole house.”

Next to him, Iris gripped his shoulder firmly and whispered a warning into his ear.

“I-I know! I know, okay!”

Leon’s face turned bright red as he flailed his hands in panic.

“A sword isn’t about the price. What matters is whether it fits you when you hold it.”

“Fits…Me?”

When I cut in, Leon asked back with a serious face.

“That’s right. Even a cheap one is fine if it suits your hand. On the other hand, no matter how masterfully made the sword is, if the weight and balance don’t match you, it’s nothing but a burden. An expensive sword is meaningless if you can’t handle it.”

Leon nodded, taking those words to heart with a serious gaze.

“…What a valuable lesson! Thank you, Shin-san!”

Eyes sparkling, he bowed deeply. This was the persuasion skill of a Guild Master.

Leon resembled me. He was the type who could pour all his money into something he liked. If he turned into a spendthrift and ran into money trouble, the villagers who had trusted me enough to send him off might end up with a bad impression.

Then that bad reputation would eventually spread to the royal capital, lowering the guild’s evaluation… And then, my subsidies would be revoked. To prevent that, I needed to be a guardian to Leon, not just for Iris and the villagers, but also for me. 

When I thought calmly about it, it was laughable—a B-rank lecturing like this to an A-rank. What? If Leon and I were so alike, didn’t that mean I also needed a wallet guardian? Rest assured, Lisette already had a firm grip on my wallet. Probably on my heart as well.

Well, I’d just pick out a decent weapon for Leon next time and buy it for him. Next, Iris stopped at a small accessory shop.

“Shin-san, could you take a look at this?”

She slipped a thin silver bracelet onto her wrist and held it out toward me.

“How… Does it look? Does it suit me?”

Her eyes wavered with unease. She didn’t need to ask—she looked good in anything thanks to her natural beauty. But I had learned from my exchanges with Sera that it was important to give my own opinion properly at times like this.

“It suits you really well.”

“…! Thank you so much!”

Iris’s cheeks turned faintly pink, and a radiant smile bloomed on her face. Clutching her wallet tightly, she blurted, and called energetically to the shop clerk.

“Then, I’ll buy this!”

Was my word really trustworthy enough for that?

“My! This is… How simply wonderful!”

What Ceres picked up was a cloak trimmed with gemstones. Vivid red fabric with gold-thread embroidery, and a crest so oversized it looked downright incredulous plastered across the back.

“They say it’s a cloak for going incognito! It’s just perfect for Shin-sama!”

“Ceres-san, Ceres-san, do you even know what ‘incognito’ means?”

Ignoring my retort, she tried to drape the cloak over my shoulders.

“Come, please put it on right away!”

“No, no, no, it stands out too much! It’ll definitely catch a thief’s eye!”

“To draw even thieves’ attention—truly, Shin-sama’s charm is a sin!”

“That logic makes no sense! And don’t look so triumphant like you’ve won the argument—hey, you’re stronger than you look!?”

She swung the cloak over my shoulders with surprising force. I didn’t even need a mirror to know it didn’t suit me at all. At that moment, a shop clerk approached with a cheerful smile.

“Sir, you have an excellent eye.”

It was the kind of sales smile that looked ready to add, “We can even arrange an installment plan for you.”

“This is bad, this is really bad. I can’t let myself get pressured into buying it.”

I hurriedly shoved the cloak back at Ceres, practically tearing it off from my body, and bolted out of the shop before the clerk could grab hold of me. Dragging along a still-reluctant Ceres, the moment we stepped into the street of food stalls, Ragnar’s booming voice thundered like the rumble of the earth.

A savory smoke filled the air, and the smell of meat sizzling on iron griddles set everyone’s appetite alight. Tourists and children alike cheered “Wow!” as they passed through, and right in the middle of it all, Ragnar stood side by side with a stall merchant for some reason.

“Step right up! The true fuel for muscles! How about some grilled chicken skewers!?”

He flexed his bulging biceps while raising a skewer high. 

“…S-such presence… should we buy one?”

The sight overwhelmed passersby, who stopped in their tracks and whispered among themselves as they opened their wallets. The stall owner, flustered by the scene, wiped sweat from his forehead and bowed deeply to Ragnar.

“Ragnar… What are you doing?”

“Leader! This excitement—it’s irresistible!”

That’s not an answer.

“A-are you really his leader!? You’ve saved me! Sales aren’t just doubled, they’re tripled! At this rate, the whole stall might blow away!”

Apparently Ragnar had told the stall owner he was “helping under the leader’s orders.” Somehow that excuse made sense to the stall owner and now I was forced to bear the fallout of the misunderstanding. 

“Here you go, Leader-san! This is on the house! With comrades this magnificent, you should eat too!”

All I could do was accept the grilled skewer silently as it was thrust into my hands.

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