25th Day Morning Omui Guild
I ran away because I was getting yelled at.
But then...
"Why has not a single request changed? Does this guild even have any motivation? The bulletin board guy is not working at all, right? He is working less than a neet, right? I have no money, you know? I have no allowance, you know? When are proper profitable requests going to show up? Where exactly is my one big score?"
"Seriously, when are you going to start sneaking around properly? Profitable requests are for adventurers, you know? You have not become an adventurer, right? Why are you here again? …Where have you been? Everyone was really worried about you."
It is the receptionist class rep's glare after a long time. Man, yesterday had zero glare component, but now I am getting seriously glared at by the girls. And it is not even my fault? N-no way, is it bad that I came back alive!? No, I want to believe it is not that. I know! Souvenirs!? It must be because I did not bring souvenirs. My favorability really needs to go up or my life is in danger. I will get killed by lectures!?
"Is there money hidden somewhere?"
"Even if it fell on the ground, please do not steal hidden money. That is straight-up thief thinking! …"
Whoa. It is a glare. A real glare. Different from the teary-eyed glaring. Yeah, it really is a glare. Something the cave does not have.
Hmm, I am sleepy, but if I go back to the inn I will get yelled at.
Even if I stay in town I have no money.
The otaku are useless, as always.
The muscle-brained idiots are bedridden. Because they are idiots.
No, seriously, are they not too stupid? They were on the verge of death, arms and legs torn off, barely survived, limbs grew back, came out in rags, and apparently ran all the way to this town without sleeping at night, without resting, gnawing on HP mushrooms the whole time, reached the town, collapsed at the gate, and got caught by the gatekeeper… They are idiots, right? Extremely?
They knew rushing would not change anything, yet they still rushed. They were already on the verge of death so they should not have run! They were not even fully recovered!
While wandering around town I saw that cute maid from before… She is waving? …At me? Beckoning me? …It is me! …This is finally the moment for a high school boy to experience those kinds of things and these kinds of things...
I got caught.
Suddenly surrounded by soldier uncles! It should have been the maids! It is Zhuge Liang's trap! Using a high school boy's instincts against him… Zhuge Liang is terrifying.
It was Merimeri-san.
"I thought you might get caught, but why did you get caught so easily? We could not find you no matter how hard we searched… with the maids."
"Well, you were waving, right? You were beckoning, right?"
Of course I would go, right? Normally??
"If soldiers did that you would run away, right!"
Because, look? They are uncles, right? Of course I would run, right? Normally??
"Also, please stop making that 'who is this person' face. I am Merielle. It is written on the pass too! I am not Merimeri or Merimeri! I am Merielle!"
"Ah~ eh? But your mom is Murimuri-san? She said 'Merimeri's mother' though?"
"…Even mom did not remember… I guess… Fine, I will be Merimeri from now on… Meri or whatever is fine…"
The butler got mad at her.
That is why I said maids are so great… No, never mind.
"After that, father and mother were also looking for Haru-san to thank you, but we did not know if you were gone, running away, or hiding, so today we set a trap… and you were there?"
"Well, I came back last night? Midnight? But I could not get in, so… when I got in I was caught by the gatekeeper?"
"…Nn. Anyway, this is our thanks! We are deeply grateful that you saved father and mother, and that our entire family was saved by you. Father and mother have left again for the neighboring town and are absent, so on their behalf I offer our thanks. …Are you listening? Really? …So, this is a small reward. Please accept it."
I got money.
Helping that attacked carriage really does pay off, huh?
"On the way to the neighboring town, I wonder if they will get attacked again? Soon?"
"Why do you get attacked every time you leave!? What are you waiting for with 'soon'? The noble who was behind the attacks has already been arrested. It is safe now."
Apparently they will not get attacked anymore. Apparently I will not get more money.
My favorability is still far away.
I got money so I wander around town.
I go to the weapon shop that is slowly turning into a club specialty store. Is that okay for a middle-aged blacksmith uncle?
"Hey uncle? I found a goblin leader's club. Want to buy it?"
When I showed him the club he dashed from the back of the shop with a bag of money. Easy mark.
"Sell me as many as you can with this!! Wait, why the hell are these just lying around!?"
"Well? They collided? Died in an accident? The club fell? Kind of?"
"…You are saying it like it has nothing to do with you, but you killed them, right? You are not unrelated. You are the culprit who killed them, right?"
No, if someone is falling and comes charging with a club raised, is that not too stupid? That is not my fault, right?
"Ehh, well, something like? It fell? Kind of?"
Uncle is examining the clubs, saying this and that. Clubs seem to be selling pretty well. This town might be dangerous.
I actually have king and emperor ones too, but I will not tell him because he might go bankrupt.
For some reason this town has a terrifying custom that whenever a shop is about to go bankrupt they blame it on me. What kind of town is this?
The older sister at the general store unfortunately had not recovered from mushroom addiction. It seems worse than I thought.
If you want mushrooms, just find some rice. When I tried that she cried for real, so I sold her some for cash and dried fruit. She was rubbing her cheek against the mushrooms while crying. Is this terminal? The scene looks suspicious so please stop. Seriously.
The suspicious peddler has not come back to town yet. My favorability has not come back either. The pheromones are not returning...
The class rep and the others are in the dungeon. They have to go because of some application or something. It is safe until night, but they will come back at night. That raging lecture. That yelling and scolding.
The cookies I made in the cave to kill time tasted mediocre because I could not find butter, but when I tried feeding the inn's signboard girl she was happy and started doing a mysterious patter-patter dance. Sugar is still valuable so sweet things are not common yet. I have dried fruit too, so if I make fruitcake it might help when I get yelled at. Actually, the moment I get back the lecture will probably continue. Since I ran away it is even more dangerous.
It was probably bad that I came back without souvenirs this time. That must be why they are angry. They got really mad, right? Even Boki-kun's weapons did not work. It has to be sweets after all. At this rate the girls will probably summon Captain Billy soon too… One more set!
With all that, fruitcake it is. It will probably turn into something like sweet bread since there is no butter, but it is fruitcake.
I borrow the inn's kitchen to make fruitcake. I have already bribed the signboard girl so it is fine.
I have flour, dried fruit, and milk. I do not know what kind of milk it is, but it is milk. If it turns into bread I will just steam it and pass it off as steamed bread. Anyway, right now everyone except the muscle-brained idiots is in the dungeon. They will not come back until night. When they return the lecture will resume. I need fruitcake before then! It is a race against time. The only way to prove I did nothing wrong is with fruitcake! Because I did nothing wrong!!
In reality my clothes and equipment are completely undamaged as usual, and my injuries are healed with mushroom potions, but I was pretty beat up, especially from flying to town at the end and crashing. I was near death. Anyway, I am pretty ragged. I have not slept either, yet I keep making fruitcake to avoid getting yelled at. Sift the flour, whip it, knead it, let it rest. The muscle-brained idiots are sleeping, but I am baking and steaming. Should I burn the otaku's heads too? Why are they not helping? Did they not say they would repay me when they came to town? They are not here when I need them? They are not saving me from the lecture? Read the room! I add air while whipping. Why am I the only one working so hard? I am a neet though...
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Victory. Complete victory. It could even be called an overwhelming victory. I won my innocence. It really was a false charge after all. If this keeps happening every time I am going to turn into the Count of Monte Cristo. I live in a cave too. Who should I take revenge on? The otaku for starters.
The girls are biting into the fruitcake-like steamed bread thing. They look like they are about to say "are you going to bite my head off" or something.
Some girls are crying while eating. Others are silently devouring and swallowing. Good thing I cut it into pieces. If I had left a whole block in the middle of the table it would have turned into a death game. For some reason everyone is crying while laughing… I did not put any mushrooms in it though? Did something bad get in there? They are crying with smiles on their faces.
It went straight into dinner like that, and everyone is making a huge racket as usual. Even the muscle-brained idiots came down so the conversation is chaotic. No one probably understands what anyone is talking about anymore. I do not either. I do not even know names.
In the end we took turns in the bath and kept making noise until midnight. What noisy people. As usual the class rep is close by, the bitches are putting pressure from behind, the sports types are being loud, the signboard girl is panicking, the idiots are getting attached and saying stupid things, the otaku are ignoring the conversation and doing their otaku thing, Vice Class Rep A is glaring at me from time to time, Vice Class Rep C is getting fed everywhere, Vice Class Rep B is still swaying… No, I am not looking at anything? Why is everyone glaring at once? Why did everyone suddenly go silent? Are the glares spreading? Is it contagious? Too bad. If it was twelve people it would be twenty-four glares and that would be a masterpiece, but forty glares have too much destructive power. For some reason even the signboard girl got infected with the glare. Seriously, as usual it is noisy, lively, and rowdy. We are already second-year high school students yet it is troubling. I wish they would learn some common sense already. Really.
With all that the night grew late. I finally returned to my room and fell asleep like I passed out. Or rather, it felt like I passed out… I am tired.
25th Day ended