The immortal hero who thinks of the heroines as his daughters vs. heroines who want to make the hero understand them - Chap 10
Rex doesn’t recognize the girl who calls herself Chloe. After all, he manages the Adventurer’s Guild as the second-in-command and generally knows the faces of well-known adventurers. Suppose Chloe has come to the mines confidently in her abilities, aiming to subdue the monsters troubling the town of Lainshell. Could she be an as-yet-unknown skilled adventurer? He sighed as he watched her tearfully rub her sore behind, thinking this was unlikely.
“So, why is the esteemed adventurer Chloe here?”
“Ah, yes! I came to… subdue that monster!”
“…Subdue?”
She had been pitifully running around in confusion. He didn’t say that, of course.
Suppose a monster is causing significant harm to a large town and has not been subdued. In that case, imagining the creature is powerful is easy. Nonetheless, if she came here full of enthusiasm to defeat it, she’s either a fool… or has the makings of a hero. Rex leans towards the former, although it’s something he hesitates to ask her directly. For now, it would be best to go to a more secure location and converse.
“We shouldn’t talk here; it’s not safe. Let’s head to the checkpoint.”
This mine also serves as a checkpoint, and while it may not be frequently used these days, it should still be functional. Once they reach the building, it’s unlikely that they’ll be turned away.
Rex had said what he did while contemplating such matters, but upon hearing him, Chloe’s cheeks gradually turned red, and for some reason, she hugged her thin frame and screamed.
“Are you what they call a ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’!?”
“…That’s not it.”
“Lies! My mother always said that guys who act kind to take girls somewhere are all wolves!”
What a biased education. Is she negating the existence of gentlemen in this world? Rex turned his gaze to Chloe, who was tensing up, thinking he might leave her be since this was getting troublesome. But if he were to ignore her now and be cold to her the next time they met, that would be a terrible wake-up call. Or rather, Linda would probably kill him. Whether he moved forward or back, he was in hell. His back seemed darkened as he pondered what on Earth he should do.
Chloe swung her white hair back and forth, bowing her head deeply.
“I-I’m sorry! I had no idea you were from the Adventurer’s Guild…! I’ll do whatever I can, please don’t expel me…!”
This could be easily understood by everyone aware of the situation. And many people at this checkpoint didn’t know the details, so they gravely misunderstood the situation. Even Rex, who had often been called insensitive, clumsy, and naive by Linda, noticed the cold atmosphere around him. A bead of unpleasant sweat trickled as he extended his hand toward Chloe.
“No, I’m not angry. Please lift your head.”
“Is that true…?”
“Really?”
“Are you saying that if I let my guard down here, you’ll rush back to the guild, expel me with supernatural speed, and then say something like, ‘Heh heh heh. Now you’ve lost your means of livelihood, huh? If you want to keep living happily, you’ll listen to me. Heh heh heh heh!’?”
“What do you think I am?”
Suddenly confronted by this barrage of fast-talking insults, Rex involuntarily put on a severe face. Chloe also looked deeply concerned, which only helped to spread an atmosphere of, “Wow, he really would do something like that… What a scumbag…” around them. It was pitiful.
Despite being unjustly labeled as a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” and honestly wanting to go home, Rex had no choice but to take Chloe to the checkpoint. There was no conversation between them on the way, and climbing the mountain under icy stares was not an experience he ever wanted to repeat. Upon reaching the building, he remembered he had a ring that he carried as the acting representative of the Adventurer’s Guild.
Showing it to her, who was still looking at him as if he were suspicious, she changed her tune in a flash. It was a rapid turnaround that would be pretty effective if used as an attack. Surrounded by people in heavy equipment likely meant for fighting monsters, he waited for about twenty minutes with a tearful girl bowing her head to him in this hellish situation. The scornful looks persisted.
Rex, who now wore an expression as if he had reached Nirvana, coolly ignored them. The slight twitch at the corner of his mouth was just an added touch of charm. More importantly, he needed to interrogate… or question the girl before him instead.
“I hate to say this, but… It is hard to believe you have the skills to defeat a Wyvern. Yet, you went after a definitely strong monster. Is there a reason for that?”
“…………”
The girl closed her eyes and slightly bowed her head. If she had answered that the monster had killed her parents and that it was out of a desire for revenge, he might not have praised her, but he wouldn’t have stopped her either. Vengeance might not yield anything positive, but the victim might be haunted by the incident forever without it. A slight tension filled the air, and somewhere, the sound of a gulp echoed.
“–I wanted money.”
The sound of someone stumbling could be heard. Rex also closed his eyes. Whether from understanding or something else, when Chloe looked at him full of anticipation, his temples started twitching. Why exactly he was in such a state, she didn’t seem to understand at all.
“So, you’re what they call an idiot, huh?”
“Idiot!? How rude… See you in court!”
“…Court?”
“What is it, indeed? It just slipped out. May I consider it an idiom?”
Chloe tilts her head slightly, and Rex sends a prayer to her parents, who must have had a tough time raising her. Completely unaware of his thoughts, Chloe continues.
“Actually, I’m short on money. It’s not like I’m spending without thinking. But for some reason, my wallet is empty the day after I get paid. It’s strange. It’s probably the work of a new kind of monster.”
“I can’t help but feel sympathy for the monsters that get blamed for everything you do.”
Rex lets out a deep sigh. If left to her own devices, this girl will probably meet a miserable end one day. The demise of adventurers is rarely decent, and her case seems likely to be even worse.
“So, I thought, if money disappears quickly, then I should earn an amount that won’t disappear so quickly!”
Though her statement already reeks of poor judgment, Rex decides to listen till the end. After all, judging things merely on a superficial level is not good. Some works only become masterpieces when you see them through to the end. The possibility that her plan is brilliant when fully understood could be as likely as finding a grain of gold in the desert.
“But you know, in Linex, monster cores are basically what’s being bought and sold. You can exchange it for top-quality items if it’s an extensive core. And if you break it while fighting, it isn’t beneficial. So, for some reason, whenever I fight monsters, I end up breaking their cores. Strange. This is also the work of a monster.
“…I see, so?”
“So! Due to the nature of dungeons constantly spawning an infinite number of monsters, there are no requests like ‘Please exterminate this specific monster.’ However, I figured there must be room for making money in other towns where the monsters are finite!”
Chloe has a knack for strange reasoning. Looking at her puff up her nose with pride, Rex couldn’t suppress his headache.