Chapter 94: Once Again, The Foreigner Can’t Explore The Dungeon I & II (1/2)
＜Once Again, The Foreigner Can’t Explore The Dungeon I＞
「Huh?」
The following day.
At the Adventurers' Guild.
Right when I had just finished paying the taxes, the Guild President appeared behind the reception counter and told me that.
「Guild President, can you tell me why? Are we in some sort of trouble?」
Several things come to mind.
Getting into fights, causing brawls, unleashing magic inside the city, destroying buildings, beating up a Brave, drinking her blood, and sending her to the healing temple along with her attendant.
Oh, Rana is the culprit in 90% of the incidents.
「Why, you ask? You guys are doing pretty well for yourselves, right?」
「Well, sort of」
We had made a fair bit of money from the adventure that we went on yesterday.
The total amount we got for the materials came to 88 gold coins. 10% of that had gone to the Kingdom of Lemuria's Adventurers' Guild. Nevertheless, we still made quite a bit of money. Our party makes three times as much as the other adventurers in our batch.
Even if we consumed most of the honey ourselves, we would still earn a pretty penny from selling it.
「Also, you guys have been clearing the dungeon much too smoothly」
「As the Adventurers' Guild, shouldn’t you be praising us for that? We're adventurers after all」
The Guild President is a fair-skinned, beautiful-looking boy with small wings.
Despite his appearance, he is much older than me. And we haven't gotten along from the start. This time as well, I can't help but wonder if he's trying to sabotage me for personal reasons.
「To make matters worse, the other adventurers have their eye on you because Father joined your party」
I only found out recently that Otou-san is the Guild President's foster father.
Also, this guy had objected to Otou-san joining our party. According to him, Otou-san had apparently been approached by other outstanding parties.
Leaving aside our reputation, we're also an outstanding party though.
「Furthermore, the floors you guys have cleared is significantly deeper than the other adventurers in your batch. Do I have to spell it out for you? You're such a pain in the neck」
「Are you saying that I should be concerned about other people's jealousy?」
「That's right. Resentment and envy come with fame, but your party has taken it too far. Part of the reason is because the leader is you, foreigner. You’re close to the king, and you have his daughter as your mistress. You have a princess of Heures Forest as your wife. The merchant companies that you have ties to become famous all of a sudden, and the ones that oppose you go out of business for mysterious reasons.
The cherry on top is that the methods you guys use to defeat your enemies are unclear. Be it the Dragon-Tortoise, the guardians of the dungeon, or the beast monster that appeared in the plain……… Well, there's more than enough reasons to suspect that you're a fraud」
「No no, but――」
No way, all this over mere suspicion.
I shouldn't have left any solid evidence behind. Well, people don't need evidence to be jealous of others, I suppose.
「But it's not like there’s nothing you can do. It's important for adventurers to build connections with their peers. Those who fail to do so don't live long」
「Sum it up for me, Guild President. What do I have to do in order to be allowed to explore the dungeon again?」
Somehow, I have a rough idea of what's coming……
「You will have to complete personal requests that have been submitted to the Guild. Requests made by your fellow adventurers. That's reasonable, right?」
「Ugh」
Requests from my fellow adventurers, huh?
Rana got set up in the past by one of these. It was a request for help with an adventure, and after she accepted, she found a sexual predator lying in wait for her.
Because of that, I don't have a good impression of this type of request.
Every now and then, other parties would beg me to accept their requests, but I would turn them all down. My party has our hands full with our own adventures. We don't have the time to take care of other people.
「So, Guild President, how many requests do we have to complete?」
But……
I suppose I can't ignore them this time.
「At least three. I have several requests that suit you guys, but I'll at least ask if you have any preferences or conditions」
「Absolutely no hiring out of my party members. The same goes for our equipment. I’ll be the only person who can be hired. That’s what I’d prefer」
「Understood. Take this opportunity to expand your social circle. No matter how strong you are, there will be times when you need the help of other parties. Also, the biggest headache we have as the Adventurers' Guild is fights between fellow adventurers. I'll continue to overlook them so long as they don't rise above the level of fist-fights, but the next time you guys start blasting magic at one another in the middle of the city, I'll have you thrown out of the country」
「I very much understand」
I had figured that I would be told that sooner or later.
It seems that when Rana defeated Frey, she had completely destroyed the stable that Frey was staying in. We had somehow managed to assuage the greenhorn adventurers who had gotten mixed up in it by compensating them with new equipment as well as paying their medical bills. Along with the stable, the inn it was attached to also had to be rebuilt.
It had cost me a lot of money.
My dream of having my own home had evaporated into thin air.
「Simply put, this ban on exploring the dungeon is a penalty resulting from a cumulation of many things. You guys have been acting without giving any consideration to others for far too long. Learn how to get along with other people」
「I guess」
To the Guild President's perfectly reasonable words, I replied in the way a delinquent student would.
Good grief.
It isn't going to be that easy for me to make headway, huh?
＜Once Again, The Foreigner Can’t Explore The Dungeon II＞
『Honey♪Honey♪Hon~ey♪』
I gave a report after returning to the camp, but the women weren't listening.
My wife and sister were singing and dancing, with their arms linked with those of the dark-skinned loli elf between them.
「I can understand Maria and Ea acting this way, but even Rana?」
Maria, the dark-skinned loli, is the daughter of an acquaintance that I look after from time to time.
When she first came here, she wore a baggy combat uniform, but my sister said,『It's not cute,』and picked out an outfit for her.
She now wears a pair of vintage shorts, a chest wrap that looks like a sports bra, and a hooded jacket over all that. It's as revealing as a female beastkin's outfit.
Maria grew up in a cold place. This is just right because the climate in Lemuria is very warm.
However, from her father……
『I demand an explanation for the way my daughter is dressed』
…….I received as many as 50 messages like that.
It's a pain, so I ignored them.
『Honey seems to stimulate the secretion of serotonin as well as boost the parasympathetic nervous system of elves』
「Is it like narcotics to them or something?」
An A.I. in a mini-pod disguised as a lantern came rolling up to me.
After I picked her up, Yukikaze continued.
『As for the song, it's written by Makina. It's an ode in praise to honey』
「She's doing weird stuff again」
In the kitchen, a human-sized pod was making pancakes ”again” today.
Called the Makina-Pod, it’s an A.I. from the modern world who had come to the alternate world with me.
After we returned from our adventure yesterday, she had used baking powder that she had gotten from who knows where to make pancakes. She had drizzled a lot of honey on them, making the dish a big hit with the elves.
Thanks to that, we had pancakes for lunch, dinner, and supper yesterday. This morning's breakfast had been nothing but pancakes.
And, it's still early, but it looks like today's lunch is also going to be pancakes.
Consider the nutritional balance……
『Everyone~! It's done~!』
『Yay~!』
Makina stacked thick, hot, and extra-large pancakes onto a plate.
She put a lump of butter on top, then drizzled some honey from a jar over the pancakes.
The three elves watched hungrily as she proceeded to cut the stack of pancakes like a cake.
After it was portioned out and placed on each person's plate……
『Itadakimasu!』
……the women shouted a prayer, then started wolfing them down.
They didn't use knives, but just used forks to stab the pancakes and gobble them up.
The way they’re eating is unseemly. Especially since all three of them are of royal descent.
It feels like their parents would get mad at me for some reason if they saw this.
「Oh, Onii-chan, welcome back~」
「Souya, welcome back~」
「Dear, welcome back」
『Souya-san, welcome back~. Do you want some pancakes?』
They've finally noticed me.
「No, it's fine. I have work to do, so I'm going back into the city. You guys just take it easy」