“Huuh….”
We took a long break next to the spirit spider that had turned into an undead. Everyone in the party except Kikel was sprawled out from injuries or exhaustion.
“Drink this, Hilde. It’ll heal your wounds!”
“Ah, thank you.”
While I leaned against the tunnel wall, panting, Kikel handed me a potion after taking care of Wolfgang and Laute’s injuries.
Apparently, they were potions Wolfgang had.
The quality was subpar, just low-level stuff, but even that was more than ample luxury for a copper-tier adventurer.
Since I liked to throw punches without wearing armor, I ended up getting hurt way more often, which meant I’d have to carry potions around.
Honestly, it would’ve been wiser to just save up potion money and get a set of steel armor….
Well, if Wolfgang had that kind of intelligence, he wouldn’t have chosen to be a brawler in the first place.
Considering his intellect, just understanding that using potions could heal wounds deserved applause.
“Hahhh…”
…Well, let’s not bash him more than necessary.
After all, he did help the party.
Thanks to Wolfgang’s mindless money-wasting, he was able to heal not just himself but also me and Laute.
The bald-headed brawler finally proved his worth.
Not a dealer but rather a healer, though.
◆◆
Since the effect of the potion was rather pathetic, quite some time passed before we could exit the tunnel.
After recovering a bit of stamina, I put my helmet back on and sat across from Kikel, who was warming himself by the campfire, drying my wet clothes.
“Sniff sniff.”
Kikel wrinkled his nose slightly.
He must have noticed some tragedy had occurred on my pants, yet he chose to remain silent, his thoughtful demeanor deeply appreciated.
“Oh my….”
Laute, having partially recovered thanks to the potion, examined the spirit spider’s corpse, using fragments of her broken shield to stabilize her cracked left arm against her body.
“To cut it like this… What method did you use…?”
She inspected the severed head I had cut off and checked the insides of the spinning fibers as if she were analyzing them closely.
“…Hilde, how did you manage to slice this off?”
She turned to me and asked.
“I just did it, and it worked out.”
I had nothing specific to say. Couldn’t explain the traits of Brunhilde or my strong body in detail either.
“So you just… did it? What does that mean…?”
“Well, you know… people sometimes exert incredible strength when faced with life-and-death situations? Maybe it was something like that.”
“Is that so…?”
Laute tilted her head slightly, looking skeptical.
“Is it really possible to do this just from that…? Even a knight wouldn’t be this clean…”
Laute muttered to herself while touching the severed edge of the spirit spider. Her voice echoed faintly with doubt.
A knight.
Well, if we’re talking about body specs, that does make sense.
Not just any knight at that, but someone talented enough to be chosen for the hero party.
Now, she was considered a fugitive in the Kingdom of Rhine.
…Oh, come to think of it, she must have seen my face but hasn’t mentioned it.
Did she not recognize me?
If she were from the Kingdom of Rhine, she would know me right away, but she’s from Hervor.
Otherwise, given the urgency, maybe my face didn’t register to her at all?
Well, either way, it was quite a fortunate thing.
“Ummm…. Well, no matter. I can just be thankful we survived.”
Laute bowed her head, showing her gratitude.
She even said she could give me her share of the request fee, but I declined, saying she should just keep it.
Laute’s equipment was just as trashed as mine, so she would need to repair it or buy new stuff, but if she gave her request fee to me, how on earth would she afford new gear?
If she went out looking for a new request to make money and died due to her equipment being in bad shape, then I’d just feel uneasy for no reason.
It was much more comfortable to show a little generosity instead.
◆◆
“Are you saying three of you defeated this monster…?! Truly amazing!”
Finally waking up, Wolfgang couldn’t contain his shock as he jumped at the sight of the decapitated spirit spider’s corpse.
Laute chuckled at his reaction and explained to him what had happened while he was out cold.
“So that’s how it was…!”
Wolfgang apologized for being unable to help and thanked us for protecting him while he was unconscious.
He didn’t even express any grievances about the potion I used without permission.
As part of the same party and his saviors, he would have handed me the potion if he hadn’t taken it, he said.
That sentiment was commendable, so I decided not to steal his request fee.
Anyway, after that, we harvested everything we could from the spirit spider’s corpse that could be sold for money.
Claws and fangs, poison sacs, and part of the head to submit as proof for the guild.
We painstakingly collected everything with axes and hammers, wrapping it in spider silk and strapping it to our backs as we walked out of the tunnel.
Then we headed straight for the cart, loading the spirit spider’s remains into the storage area. Meanwhile, I quietly changed into a new pair of pants from the storage.
I was really glad I brought an extra outfit. Otherwise, I would have had to return to the city in stained pants.
◆◆
“Oh! You’re back, adventurers! Did you take care of the giant spider?”
When we went to report that everything was done, the village chief greeted us with open arms, smiling as he welcomed us.
We couldn’t help but feel irritated at the sight of the smile that had led us into the hellish ordeal with the spirit spider.
“We took care of it all. However, there was a bit of a problem.”
“A problem, you say…?”
I summarized our experiences in the tunnel to the village chief, who tilted his head in confusion.
We encountered an extraordinarily powerful spider monster that was not your average giant spider, and we barely managed to subdue it.
I decided to skip over some details about the spirit spider for now.
First of all—
“Therefore, we’ve all agreed that the originally set request fee does not suffice for this request. I trust you understand what that means?”
Listening to this, I needed to see how the village chief would respond.
“…Are you asking for an increase in recompense?”
The village chief frowned in surprise, looking as if I was speaking nonsense.
Ah, we’re in trouble.
Just from that reaction, I knew for sure that getting an increase in compensation was a lost cause.
“Umm… this is quite troubling. You see, I’ve kept the tunnel closed for quite some time, so most of my funds are tied up…”
See?
“Besides, transactions for rewards that haven’t gone through the adventurer’s guild are against guild regulations. So… I’m sorry, but it seems difficult to increase your rewards.”
Hitting us with the harsh truth, it seemed we wouldn’t get a single coin no matter how much we pleaded.
In other words, to extract “fair” compensation from this village chief, I would need to threaten him with the previous village chief’s journal and the severed head of the spirit spider…
…No, I would need to negotiate.
“Oh, is that so? I apologize for making an unreasonable request.”
Of course, I had no intention of doing that.
Threatening them would only bring trouble later.
It’d be far safer to just kill him and steal all his possessions than to harass him into a raise.
After all, the dead can’t seek revenge.
However, plundering was not an option for an adventurer.
An adventurer who kills their client just because they don’t get a bonus? If I went through with such nonsense, I’d end up being hunted myself.
“No, I should be the one apologizing. Not being able to raise the reward for those who worked so hard…”
Once I withdrew the attempt to renegotiate my payment, the village chief finally smiled again, his words dripping with insincerity.
“As both village chief and client, I truly feel ashamed…”
Ha, nice words.
Yeah, enjoy your laughter now.
“Then… we should be heading back to the city, so could you please sign off on this request form?”
I cut off the subject of payment negotiations and handed him the request form, asking him to sign it, confirming the request was complete.
Since negotiations had broken down, I had no reason to linger in this village any longer.
“No, it’s late. You should take at least one day to rest…”
Trust me, I have no intention to stay.
“We would like that, but… everybody has some pretty serious injuries, so it’s best we return to the city as soon as possible for proper treatment.”
I politely declined the village chief’s suggestion, got the completed signature on the request form, and returned to the cart.
“What happened, Hilde?”
Laute, resting in the cart, turned towards me and asked about the results of the payment negotiations.
“Failed. He had no intention of giving a single coin.”
I shrugged, saying there was no room left for negotiation.
“In that case…”
“Right. As planned, we have no choice but to report the spirit spider’s head and journal to the cult.”
Murdering a living person is an extremely serious crime.
If the only evidence was a journal, that might’ve been one thing, but with the presence of the spirit spider’s severed head, a crystal-clear piece of physical evidence…
“Then surely, they’ll take care of it properly. In the ways of the goddess.”
Once we hand this off to the goddess’ church, they’d rearrange the village chief’s address to either the underground prison or the pyre.
If the village chief’s crimes were confirmed, we’d receive some form of reward for being the informants.
Moreover, if we sold all the remains of the spirit spider, we could replace our shattered equipment with plenty of money left over.
Unlike the bounty for subduing the giant spider, the proceeds from the spirit spider was an arrangement just for Laute and me.
“Yeah, I think that sounds cleaner.”
Wolfgang nodded approvingly, his bald head bobbing.
◆◆
The adventurer request office in the kingdom of Vespians felt oddly chaotic as we returned.
We approached the desk where the receptionist girl was seated and informed her that we had completed the request, showing evidence by pulling out part of the spirit spider’s head.
“So, this is part of the spirit spider’s head.”
“Wait a minute. Did I hear correctly? Spirit spider? You mean a spirit spider?!”
The receptionist girl practically leaped out of her chair in shock. It took a significant time for her to calm down.
“Oh my goodness. Really, a spirit spider? How on earth…?”
“Just got lucky. Since the cursed spirit was an old one, it was a bit weak.”
I provided what seemed like a reasonable explanation as I recounted our party’s exploits.
“So, what about my rank upgrade? Will this be enough?”
“Of course! Even if you had come back just with a giant spider, it would have been an upgrade…”
The receptionist girl nodded her head in disbelief.
Although the actual rank certificate had yet to be issued, she assured me that simply reporting this quest would grant me the adventurer certificate immediately.
In other words, a genuine rank upgrade. Satisfying results.
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