This old man knew the city too well. I had to wonder who he really was.
「I used to be a soldier」
He must have noticed my suspicious look.
He said he had served Margrave Koraus as a soldier from the age of fifteen until past fifty.
It seemed that soldiers usually retired at forty, but because he rose all the way to captain, he was allowed to continue until fifty. Even so, the retirement pay was almost nothing. Life after fifty had been harsh, and he eventually ended up living on the streets.
「Old man, have you ever actually fought in a battle?」
He said soldiers were there to protect the city, and anyone trained from fifteen onward would have seen at least one real fight.
「Yeah. When I was young, I fought against a massive goblin horde, and I even marched to war with the Margrave」
W–war exists!? Wait, that useless goddess did mention a Demon King. Was there an actual demon king’s army? No thanks. Hard pass.
「Old man, you’re a seasoned warrior. Why are you living on the streets!?」
How did he fail his second life with that resume? He could have taught beginner adventurers how to use a sword. There should have been plenty of options.
「There’s no work for an old man who only knows how to swing a sword. Sometimes I can get heavy labor jobs, and the rest of the time I survive on the charity of folks like you」
Was this lord really managing his territory properly? If this were France, they would already be storming the castle. In Japan, it would be a peasants’ uprising.
「Then… old man, would you work for me? Or rather, would you allow me to hire you? It’s embarrassing to say, but I barely have any experience fighting with a sword. It might be too late to learn at my age, but if you could teach me whenever you have time, I’d be grateful. I’ll handle food, clothing, and shelter」
I handed him the reward I had received from Rusul.
「B-brother, are you serious?」
「I am. I at least want to be able to fight five goblins on my own」
「Five goblins is too few. Any proper soldier can take on ten」
Soldiers were too strong. And I was too weak.
「I mainly fight using ranged weapons, so I’ve only had a few direct fights」
「That alone is impressive. Even the best archers have had at least a handful of close-combat encounters」
Archers were overpowered too. I felt like crying.
「What do you say?」
「Are you really sure you want someone like me?」
「Of course. And since we make a living exterminating goblins, having your help with that would also be great」
I couldn’t spend my days training like a shonen manga. I had to keep exterminating goblins or I wouldn’t be able to eat.
「Goblins are nothing. If you don’t mind an old man like me, I’ll take the job」
And just like that, I got the old man. Ah, I hadn’t even introduced myself.
「I’m Takato. This is Ladarion. She’s a giant, but she’s using magic to stay small right now」
「I see. My name is Kainzel. Pleased to meet you」
「We need to stop by the Adventurers Guild, so please take your time eating and then come join us」
From the Aport Pouch, I retrieved a belt, a machete, and a knife, then placed them in front of Kainzel-san.
「Going unarmed isn’t ideal, so please use these. When we return to Lasagna Village, I’ll give you proper equipment」
「No, these are proper. What is this knife? It’s practically a work of art」
It didn’t even cost three thousand yen, but I guess to someone from this era it would look like a masterpiece.
「It’s a consumable. Use it without worrying about it. We’ll meet in front of the Adventurers Guild」
We needed to finish quickly and eat lunch, or Ladarion’s stomach would start rumbling like thunder.
I brought Ladarion, who was still holding up fine, and headed for the Adventurers Guild.
When we arrived, it wasn’t very crowded. Maybe because it was close to noon. The staff also seemed fewer than usual. Maybe they rotated breaks at lunchtime.
Since I didn’t see Sierra-san, I spoke to an open counter.
「You must be Takato-sama. Right this way」
I was guided to the second floor and shown into Cyrus’ office. Did this man spend every day buried in paperwork? If so, that sounded rough.
「It’s been a few days」
「Ah. You’re back early. Couldn’t you hunt any goblins?」
「No, we hunted about five hundred. I think this explains the details. It’s from Rusul-san」
I felt bad handing him yet more paperwork, but nothing would start unless he read it. Please do your best, Cyrus-san.
He accepted the parchment and read through it.
「…It seems to be true. Hoglus and Midary, huh. Another troublesome pair, and you managed to defeat them. So you really do make your living by exterminating goblins…」
Well, telling people in this world that I survived by killing pests that were useless and harmful wouldn’t make much sense to them. Even I still didn’t want to accept it.
「I understand. The Guild Headquarters will issue a reward as well. You exterminated five hundred, after all」
When he rang the bell, a woman who seemed to be a staff member entered the room.
「Bring twenty silver coins. We need to pay the reward for goblin hunting」
「T-twenty silver coins!? That’s an entire month’s budget!」
Was the goblin-hunting budget really that small? I didn’t know how many days were in a month here, but twenty silver coins was about two hundred thousand yen. For a city budget, that was basically nothing. There were probably thousands of goblins living around the territory of the Margrave Koraus.
…Between Kainzel-san’s story and Cyrus-san’s reaction, I couldn’t help thinking the Coraus Frontier Marquis was incompetent…
「It’s fine. He did far more work than that. In fact, twenty silver coins isn’t enough」
So it ‘was’ a low reward. Well, I didn’t have much to spend money on anyway, so whatever.
The woman left and returned after a short time with twenty silver coins wrapped in cloth.
「Next, I’d like you to handle the area around the city. I want the numbers reduced before the wheat ripens. If you need manpower, just say so」
Around the city, huh. It sounded easy since they didn’t form large groups.
「Understood. We’ll rest a bit first and then give it a try」
「Good. I’ll increase the reward next time. Also, could you sell me more milk tea? It was so delicious I drank all of it」
Had he become addicted to milk tea?
「Sure. I’ll sell you everything I have」
Good thing I’d bought it by the case. Ladarion drank it often too.
From the Aport Pouch, I retrieved six 1.5-liter bottles of milk tea.
「Ten copper coins is fine」
「I can’t live without this anymore」
He paid, opened one, and drank straight from the bottle. Don’t blame me if you end up diabetic.
「I’ll count on you again!」
Cyrus-san downed the entire 1.5-liter bottle. Take it easy, will you…
「U-understood. I’ll bring more next time」
After answering, I left the room.
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