“Could that building be the adventurer guild you were talking about earlier?”
Iris is pointing to a building with a triangular roof.
It’s a stone two story building, that feels special compared to the others along this street. It’s noticeably bigger, and has a western appearance with its white walls and orange roof.
And it’s immediately identifiable as the adventurer guild because of the shield crest placed in a conspicuous place. That shield crest is what identifies an adventurer guild.
And unlike the one in the capital, where they saved up a large space just for it, this one is more like a large office in the middle of the town. There are a lot of them that are like this, and have a training area somewhere else.
I coincidentally found the place where I’ll be working.
It’s late at night, but the lights are still on, so it must be open.
“It really is. So it was here.”
“Let’s go have a look, Mister Loyd. We might figure out where Flor Street is there. My experience tells me there are people there at all times, and I feel like they always have a town map in the lobby.”
I’m impressed by Iris’ wonderful vision.
People see adventurer guilds as ‘that place to accept quests’, so they don’t think to use it for other things.
Iris might be great, to have a change of mindset like that.
Still, what was that glass breaking sound I heard before?
Whatever. Finding Flor Street takes precedence. I need to deliver Iris safely and not let her attendant worry.
We go inside using the swinging door, and see that the lobby of the adventurer guild is built like a tavern, with round tables and seats and a counter.
There are four people sitting at the tables, and two at the counter. And for some reason, they’re glaring at us while holding their weapons.
Everyone is exuding bloodlust, and their eyes are focused on us.
Something feels off.
The air is tense, and I have a really bad feeling about this.
Those are mostly correct, and sure enough, a swordsman in his early thirties with an unkempt beard steps forward.
“You people… Got a lot of guts coming in here all proud.”
““Uh?””
His sword is pointed at us, and Iris and I both express our surprise at his open hostility at the same time.
I really don’t get it. I don’t know what’s going on, but he’s treating us like bad people coming to break a dojo.
It’s not just him either. The other adventurers react the same way, and slowly come closer with their weapons in hand.
“Yes, is there a misunderstanding going on here? We’re not here to break a dojo or anything. We just happened to stumble in here thinking you could tell us the way to Flor Street.”
“Ah!? Misunderstanding!? Don’t screw with us!! You shot an arrow through the window by mistake!? And aiming right to the portrait of our hero!! You know exactly what’s goin’ on!”
The swordsman yells.
It’s all untrue, and we’re left baffled, because he keeps saying stuff we don’t understand.
“Look Mister Loyd! T-there!”
It sounds like Iris found something, as she points behind me.
I turn around, and see portraits of the hero’s party hanging on the wall.
Hero, mage, priest, fighter. All have a portrait of how they looked back then.
These are the ones who defeated the demon king a hundred years ago.
And there’s an arrow pierced deeply into the forehead of the hero.
It’s like a target board you’d find in the conference room of the demon king’s army.
There’s also a glass window on the trajectory the arrow took, and the ventilation is nice on that spot alone. I wish it would ventilate all the volatile air inside this guild right now.
This is what caused it. It would make sense to take this as an attack on the guild. We were just unlucky to come in right at this time.
Seriously, who pulled this stupid prank?
Even one of those troll broadcasters nowadays wouldn’t shoot the hero’s forehead with an arrow.
I didn’t feel any bloodlust outside, so I assume whoever did it did it for fun. Regardless, it’s just a problem for us.
Come out and apologize for us right now!
“Why are you acting like you just noticed it, you shameless people!? We all know you did it.”
“W-we didn’t! We did nothing! Please believe us!”
“Shut up bitch!!”
The swordsman says something very rude to a saintess, and completely negates Iris’ explanation.
Their oppressive behavior makes me exasperated, so I sigh.
“You can suspect us all you want, but do you have any proof we did it?”
“Y-yes. Mister Loyd is right. This is a false accusation. We don’t even use arrows.”
“Keh! Maybe someone would believe your nonsense if it was during the day, but what time do you think it is!? It’s three at night. Who’s gonna believe you’re out lost so late, scum!?”
This guy’s so anooooooooooying!! I just want to blast him with high rank magic.
But my sense of reasoning is holding me back. If I let my emotions take over and use magic, that’s a strike on me.
But staying quiet won’t change anything either. It will only make it worse.
They’re fully convinced that we did it, and we have no way to prove we didn’t.
Making excuses might rile them up more, and pour oil on this situation that could ignite at any moment.
I’m thinking I should give up on talking, and the ruffian method of solving things with violence is the best option here.
My master always said it.
‘Hehe, you know Loyd? Overwhelming power solves all things.’
The same master that taught me Explosion.
I once had a master I admired, who taught me to live as a cool mage too. But looking back, everything turned into a mess…
Leaving that aside, I need to settle this.
I can’t think about all that difficult stuff after I make a mess of them.
If they won’t listen to me, they’ll listen after I smack them with the absurdity of magic.
But I don’t actually attack.
Suddenly, we all hear the angry voice of a woman coming from the stairwell on the second floor.
“What’s all this noise in the middle of the night when I’m trying to sleep!!?”
She has blonde hair that stretches to her back, and is looking down here with an imposing pose.
“Guildmaster!
So she’s the guildmaster.
She has a dignified expression on her young face, that can’t be over her mid twenties.
She doesn’t take a step, and yells at the adventurers.
“What’s going on? Why are you holding your weapons in the guild? Explain in a way I understand!”
“Guildmaster! Those two attacked the guild!”
“Hm, that doesn’t sound very nice. But it’s not good to make assumptions. Let’s listen to them first…”
The moment her eyes land on Iris’ face, she stops talking.
“A-aaaaah!? A-are you the legendary…!?”
The guildmaster falls back on the floor and yells.
“Great saintess Iris!?”
Wait, his master was Megumin?! We should be glad he is as balanced as he is….
More seriously, I can’t tell if Lena’s luck is irrationally high or irrationally low. Maybe both?
There’s someone with a good head on their shoulders.