The receptionist girl slowly walked back through the town streets, her steps a little sluggish, her expression stuck sowhere between nervous and resigned.
She passed bakeries, rchant carts, and a group of kids running by with half-eaten fruit buns—probably ones Hazuki delivered earlier.
She sighed.
Inside her mind:
How am I gonna tell Guild Master Braham...
And Deputy Guild Master Gikan... about this?
They told it was a simple task.
"Just find Hazuki and bring him in," they said.
"He won’t give you any trouble."
She frowned, puffing her cheeks in frustration.
Right. He ran away like a criminal, made chase him through town, scared the kids, and then...
She paused mid-step.
...And then I felt my chest bounce like sothing was clinging to it—nope, not thinking about that!
She resud walking, hands nervously adjusting her collar.
I’m sure I’m going to be scolded. Hard.
As the guild hall’s familiar stone building ca into view, she took a deep breath.
Let’s just hope everything went smooth on their end...
She opened the door slowly, bracing herself.
Just inside, near one of the front benches, Deputy Guild Master Gikan was already seated—arms crossed, a cup of cold tea sitting untouched beside him.
He looked up the mont she stepped in.
"Where’s the human?" he asked bluntly.
"Aa... umm... err..." she fumbled, shifting her weight from one foot to the other.
Gikan sighed heavily, rubbing his temples.
"I already knew this was going to happen."
He leaned back against the bench.
"So he refused?"
"Umm... no." she said softly.
"He... he’s sleeping."
Gikan blinked.
"...He’s sleeping?"
She nodded.
He narrowed his eyes.
"Why didn’t you wake him up?"
She hesitated, then looked down.
"The lady from the orphanage... she said he told her not to disturb him."
There was a pause.
Then another long, world-weary sigh from Gikan.
He shook his head slowly.
"That human is weird."
He glanced to the side.
"Strong... but weird."
Gikan sighed and leaned back slightly, rubbing his temple with two fingers.
Then looked at the receptionist.
"Go handle the work around the counter."
She straightened up quickly. "Yes, sir!"
He pointed with a slight tilt of his head.
"Just look at all the adventurers who volunteered during the attack. They’re all waiting for their monster kill rewards."
"Alright, sir." She hurried off toward the main desk, already pulling out request forms.
Gikan watched her go... then shook his head slowly.
Inside his mind:
Just look at them...the adventurer
They kill one or two low to mid-tier monsters and already lose patience waiting for reward processing.
I get it—it’s good for guild business.
Those monster corpses... they’ve got excellent quality materials. Skins, hides, mana cores... even the at is valuable.
But that human...
His eyes drifted toward the window, squinting toward the distant gate.
He killed a lot. Not just a squad’s worth. Whole flanks.
Handled the monsters from both the east and west gate alone.
His reward, just for defending the town, already qualifies for the highest payout tier.
And that’s before counting the corpse bounties.
He let out a deep breath.
I don’t even know if the guild’s liquid funds can afford to buy it all.
He folded his arms.
Lucky Guild Master Braham worked out a deal with the rchant guild, and even contacted other adventurer guilds outside Macia.
Not to ntion—those monster parts? Already booked by rchants in three different towns.
Gikan stood, watching the busy main hall—adventurers laughing, arguing, bragging about who stabbed what—and the guild receptionist scrambling behind the counter.
He shook his head once more.
Inside his thoughts:
Good thing the town treasury stepped in with a reward budget.
Otherwise, there’s no way the guild could afford to purchase all of those monster corpses.
With the town compensating us directly for Hazuki’s "solo defense," the guild can buy everything he dragged in... and then so.
This year—
He glanced toward the ledger on the wall, showing the guild’s processing totals.
—Macia Guild’s profit will skyrocket. Probably the biggest across all known guilds. Not just in the Beastkin Kingdom. Maybe the world.
And it’s all because of one weird human.
He exhaled slowly.
If he were Rank D or above...
He rubbed the bridge of his nose.
I’m sure that noble who oversees this region would’ve already sent him a personal invite for that ridiculous party coming up in three days.
Gikan sighed and shook his head again, rubbing the back of his neck like the weight of the entire guild’s absurd future was stuck there.
"...No," he muttered.
Inside his mind:
I’m sure I already know what he’d say if he got that party invitation.
His inner voice shifted into a deadpan Hazuki impression.
"Noble who?"
"No way."
"Pain in the ass."
"Not going to suck up, or lick butt."
Gikan exhaled.
"Yup. That sounds about right."
He glanced at the wall again where the guild’s bounty ledger was slowly being updated by scribes.
And yet... that idiot’s the reason the town is standing today.
Then Gikan stood up from the bench with a quiet, deliberate motion.
His coat shifted with the movent, his gaze sweeping across the bustling guild hall like a storm cloud on the horizon.
He took a breath—then shouted with a voice that cracked like a whip:
"All adventurers—WAIT FOR YOUR TURN!!"
And then—
A silent pressure dropped over the hall.
Gikan’s aura flared.
A wave of power—controlled, focused, and undeniable—rolled through the room like gravity just got heavier.
Not visible magic.
Not glowing lights.
Just weight.
Veteran adventurers stopped mid-brag. Younger rookies dropped their coins. Even the loudest loudmouths sat down without thinking.
So trembled slightly, backs stiff.
More than a few flinched and lowered their heads, as if staring him in the eye would trigger a death flag.
Every adventurer felt it.
Gikan slowly let the aura recede—just enough to breathe again.
He rolled his shoulders once, casually.
"Now..." he said calmly.
"Line up properly. One squad at a ti."
"Oh~ Gikan!" a loud voice bood from the far side of the hall.
"How about a duel? Huh? Just one round! Stretch the muscles a bit!"
Gikan froze.
He slowly turned his head toward the voice.
And there he was.
Braham.
Guildmaster of Macia.
Towering. Grinning.
Muscles like iron barrels stuffed into a sleeveless tunic.
And inside his head?
Only two things ever echoed:
Brawl and fight.
Gikan let out a deep, long-suffering sigh.
Inside his mind:
Of course. This guy.
The braindead guildmaster who thinks paperwork is a punching bag and etings are sparring rounds.
He spoke flatly, without blinking.
"No way."
Braham blinked.
"Eh? What? Why not!?"
"We’re already busy as it is."
Gikan rubbed his temple.
"I don’t have the energy to babysit your shoulder dislocation again."
Braham laughed, loud and booming.
"C’mon~ Just a warm-up match! I’ll go easy on you this ti!"
"That’s what you said last ti."
Gikan deadpanned.
"Then you punched through a stone wall and dislocated your own shoulder trying to impress a C-rank swordswoman."
Braham paused.
"...She was really pretty."
Gikan turned away.
"I’m going back to work."
( End Of Chapter )
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