It was already dinner time when they arrived at the City gates because they couldn’t ride at high speed, considering that the two Cat-kind girls weren’t used to riding a Unicorn, or without the use of a saddle.
After greeting the City Guards stationed there and a quick explanation of what they were doing outside the City at that hour, they went along the main street, straight to the Guild. The stable boy came to get the horses and the Unicorns, and Koyaga opened the door for Nozomu and the girls to enter the Guild.
Inside, their arrival caused a lot of heads to turnin their direction, and an explosion of cheers received them. Nozomu looked around, surprised by the way so many Adventurers were greeting him, and something inside of him snapped.
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Nozomu raised his hand and waved, asking for silence. When the noise diminished, he put one hand over the girls’ shoulder and spoke in a loud voice, “I entered a mountain with Taisetsuna to save these two girls. A mountain infested with hundreds upon hundreds of Goblins. Two of us, sixteen-year-olders, while some of you were here when their parents arrived asking for help. I bet the rest of you were told where we went. We nearly died in those caves, and I didn’t see any of you near that mountain except Miss Koyaga, and she is this Guild’s receptionist, not an Adventurer. And now you are cheering and congratulating me? Do you know what you can do with those cheers? Shove it up your asses, band of cowards! You should all be ashamed! You call yourselves Adventurers when all you care about is getting paid for a Quest? Do you know the name for that? Mercenaries! Disgusting, dishonoured mercenaries! People that would sell their mother and kids for money! I will slice my throat if one day I become like the likes of you! Not even bothering to offer help because it was a dangerous mission? What the heck?”
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Nozomu went with the silent girls to the reception, ignoring the angry stares and the absolute silence. Taisetsuna was there, with a cup of ale in her hand frozen in mid-air by his explosion. When he got near her, she spoke after gulping, “Nozo… you… look very angry...”
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Nozomu answered in a loud voice while pointing with his hand to the room filled with Adventurers behind him, “What? You wanted me to laugh after all we went through and came here to see a bunch of cowards congratulating me for doing their job? I am a mere cook’s helper, but it seems I am a better Adventurer than they ever were! They are just sitting there, eating and drinking while you were almost eaten alive in that cave! If we didn’t arrive there when we did, these girls would have died, and those cowards over there don’t seem worried because if those Goblins came to this City, a bunch of people would die because they were too lazy and too scared to organize a proper rescuing mission!”
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From the corridor behind the reception desk, the Guild’s Master voice called, “Nozomu and Taisetsuna, come here for an instant, and bring the girls.”
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Nozomu gently pushed the girls to the corridor, followed by Taisetsuna while Koyaga was slowly shaking her head and mumbling, “Not a good idea to insult so many Adventurers, Nozomu…”
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Inside the Guild Master’s office, the parents of the two Cat-kind girls jumped to hug them, and they then hugged Nozomu, thanking him for what he did. Nozomu saw a familiar figure seated on a chair, with a serious look on his face. The Priest was there, looking at Nozomu and Taisetsuna in silence. While the parents were still hugging the now crying of happiness girls, the Guild Master signalled Nozomu and Taisetsuna to sit.
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The Priest spoke first, and Nozomu could sense the worry in his voice, “Taisetsuna already told us what happened in that mountain. You at least are aware of the risk you took? I am not saying you two did a bad thing because if I was here at that time, I would have probably gone with you as well. But you both should have thought things properly. You should at least try to convince the Adventurers to at least accompany you to the entrance, and maybe when they arrived there and saw two youngsters entering that cave without any fear, they would most probably enter as well.”
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Nozomu intertwined his fingers over his lap, and leaned forward, “Priest, we arrived there way faster than Miss Koyaga because we didn’t waste any time convincing a bunch of cowards to follow us, and because we were riding Unicorns. When we arrived at the big cave, that older girl was being sliced and the young one was on the ground, curled into a ball and scared to death. We almost died there, but if I had to choose again to go there or stay here, I would be on my Unicorn’s back even before you had time to blink. I saw the way that Taisetsuna was trembling and the look in her eyes when that couple was begging for help. If I didn’t go with her, she would have gone alone. No way I was going to let her face a bunch of Goblins on her own, because I know she wouldn’t let me go alone as well.”
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“I am not saying you shouldn’t, but you could have thought of a better plan. Entering a mountain full of caves and tunnels without knowing how many Goblins were there, was kind of stupid. The Guild Master already told me of your plan to save money to go to the Adventurer’s Academy. That is an excellent idea, because you will not only learn about strategy and planning, but you will have the chance of finding people you can trust to join your Party so that you don’t face such danger ever again.”
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The younger Cat-kind girl approached them and placed one of the wands in Nozomu’s hands, “You can sell this and save the money right? I have four, so you can keep this one.”
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Nozomu rubbed the little girl’s head and handed her the magic wand again, “No, this is yours. You took a huge risk to get them, so they are yours. Use the money to help your family, go to school, learn, grow up, and be happy. That is all I want from you. That, and a hug.”
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The little girl smiled and hugged Nozomu, and she then showed the five wands she had in her hands to a curious Guild Master, “Can you help me sell this? Mister Nozomu told me these could give me a lot of money.”
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The Guild Master held one in his hands and the little girl quickly warned him, “Don’t press the shining buttons or you will destroy this room!”
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Nozomu quickly explained the function of those never seen Magic Items, and the Guild Master wide-opened his mouth, “I never heard of such a thing! How many uses do these things have? Because they might have a limited number of uses!”
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The little girl pointed to the shining buttons and explained, “I saw the Goblins using these wands to wash their bodies, and when the Magic ended, the buttons lost the shine, but after some time, the buttons were shining again.”
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“That means they are automatically recharged with the Magic of the World! That like... makes them worth five times more!”
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The Guild Master carefully put the wand he was holding on his desk and went to his safe. He took a few coins from there and put them on the table while smiling at the little girl, “Here, use these coins to get rooms at the Inn because it’s already too late for you and your family to go home, and tomorrow you can go with me to the Castle at the Capital so that we show these to the Princess. These things are too valuable and dangerous to be in other hands besides hers. She will for sure buy them all, and probably the Mages that work for her can find out how these work and make more. If your parents don’t mind you going with me tomorrow, that is.”
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The Cat-kind couple was looking at the smiling Guild Master, completely blown away by what they heard, and the little girl asked, “Can Mister Nozomu and Miss Taisetsuna go with us? I don’t know anyone in that Castle… and… going tonight to the Inn...”
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The Guild Master noticed the way she was grabbing Nozomu’s arm, and made a slight smile, “Well, if you prefer, I also have free rooms upstairs, near Nozomu and Taisetsuna’s rooms. You will feel safer knowing they are near?”
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The little girl nodded with a big smile on her lips, and the Guild Master pointed with his open hand to the door, “Go to the main room and ask for some food from Miss Koyaga. Eat, drink, and relax. I need to talk for a bit with Nozomu and Taisetsuna, okay?”
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Before running after her parents and older sister, the little girl hugged Nozomu and whispered, “He is mad? Are you in trouble?”
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“Probably, but don’t worry. Go eat, we will talk some more later, okay?”
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The worried little girl wrinkled her nose and ran to the door. As she closed it, the Guild Master sighed, “Taisetsuna and Nozomu... You did a very good deed, but it was extremely dangerous, way more than it should. Koyaga arrived there a bit too late to help you inside, but at least she covered your exit. Please, don’t you ever do something like this again without proper backup. The Priest and I, we were worried sick. I had to send a message to him to warn him, and he ran from the Church to get here, and he didn’t stop walking back and forth in this office until Taisetsuna arrived. Nozomu, I heard you insulting the Adventurers in there. You need to go there and apologise, say that you were nervous because of what happened, or something-”
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Nozomu interrupted him with a serious tone, “No, I won’t apologise. They all know I was right because none of them said anything to contradict me. I saw a bunch of angry looks staring back at me, but many of them averted their eyes as I was talking because they know what they did. I understand that it’s a job, Adventurers apply for Quests to earn money, but not moving a finger to help a couple that didn’t have money for a Quest and didn’t have any other option besides begging for help? What they did was hideous. That woman was crying her eyes out, and there were Adventurers in the main room that pretended not to see or hear her. I also blame you for that, because you could and you should have made a rule long ago, saying that an Adventurer has to do a Quest ‘pro bono’ once a month, meaning, a Quest for free. If you had that rule, the moment that couple begged for help, a group would go with us to that mountain, and things would be a lot easier than they were.”
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“No Guild has such a rule! And… that’s actually a good idea… Adventurers have some sort of dubious reputation, not only because of our dangerous line of work but because of how most Adventurers look, with scars, serious looks, weapons and armour. Such a rule could grant them a little more respect and consideration… You may have something there, Nozomu…”
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Nozomu frowned, wondering why never a Guild Master thought of that, and he then got up, “If we are done here, I have work to do. I bet Mister Azusake has work piled up till his horns, so it’s better if I go help him.”
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Taisetsuna got up as well, and the Guild Master pointed at Nozomu clothes, “It’s probably better if you go change first, your clothes are full of holes and ragged. I am not even sure how they didn’t fall apart already.”
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Nozomu nodded and held the Priest’s hands before leaving, “I am sorry for worrying you, Priest.”
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“That’s okay Nozomu, you saved them, that’s all that matters.”
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Taisetsuna joined Nozomu in the corridor and asked in a low voice as they were walking in the direction of the stairs behind the reception desk, “You are really not going to apologize to the Adventurers? They looked very angry.”
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“Suna, you almost died in that cave, and me as well. They don’t deserve my apologies.”
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Taisetsuna bit her lower lip as he turned to the stairs as she went to the reception. Koyaga received her with two empty cups, “Fill these, grab a tray, and go serve. Watch your tail, because many of them don’t look pleased after Nozomu’s scolding. That guy is nuts! He was right, but he is still nuts. No one in his right mind would say half the things he said to a bunch of scary Adventurers armed to the teeth!”
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