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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Yuziro
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The criminal who had been eyeing the little girl’s bottom was saying things he shouldn’t have said. The world was truly in its final days.
“What? What is this, you bastard? What’s wrong with what I said, asshole? You didn’t think you’d get cursed at for throwing someone around like that?”
But surprisingly enough, that guy was genuinely angry at me.
It was as if I had just thrown him around to vent my anger. He also didn’t get to commit the action he wanted, foaming at the mouth with rage.
“Who the hell is the moron who thinks he can slyly grope a girl’s bottom and not get cursed at? Did you fry your brain?”
“Wh-wh-wh-what nonsense are you spouting, asshole!”
At the guy’s outcry, the surrounding noise gradually diminished. Cheryl, who I grabbed, looked back and forth between the guy and me with a puzzled expression, before upgrading her doubtful look to an angry one as she understood the situation.
“Do you have any proof, asshole?! Do you have proof?!”
“I only let you off because we’re in the guild. If it were anywhere else, your hands would have flown off separately from you. If you want to argue, go get the Truth Crystal from the library.”
As I spoke, no matter how hard I tried to remember, I hadn’t seen his face even after nearly a year.
The capital’s Adventurer’s Guild is similar in structure to a low-level hunting ground, so experienced adventurers move on to other places, and it’s common for newcomers or new arrivals to join.
With that appearance, he couldn’t be a newcomer, so he must be an adventurer who came from somewhere else…
Those who crawl into the capital with close to mediocre skills are rarely sane.
“What’s going on? Dantel? What happened?”
“That bastard is slandering me!”
I don’t understand why those types often gather in groups. As the guy shouted loudly, four similar scruffy guys appeared and stood by him, glaring at me as if they found it amusing to watch.
“You damn bastard! Did you think you could insult me like that and get away with it?!”
Nine out of ten jerks acted like that, and made a mistake, looking like they were about to draw their swords at any moment. They were morons. The remaining one was not human.
Thanks to that, my head was gradually tilting to the side.
“Get away or what, you child sex offender bastard.”
“Wh-wh-what?! Sex, what?! The fuck?!”
Cheryl suddenly pinched my side, nearly making me scream, but I grit my teeth and endured it. Why are my acquaintances so eager to stab people’s sides?
“Hey, kiddo. Even if there was a misunderstanding, you should apologize properly.”
“You want to act tough in front of your half-baked girlfriend, but the world isn’t as clean and easy as the capital, you know?”
Not only did the guys maintain their unreasonable attitude, but they were now subtly threatening us.
Just as the angry look on Cheryl’s face was about to leap out of my arms, I hurriedly covered her mouth, sensing the situation.
“I… Mmph! Mmph!”
“Hey! You can’t! You can’t!”
The irritation that had risen due to the petty situation was instantly replaced with consternation.
No matter how unfamiliar people were with noble faces, I had to stop her from shouting my name, as that would cause chaos. But Cheryl, already fuming with irritation and anger, struggled desperately to break free.
“Agh! Don’t bite me!”
Then, a sudden helping hand appeared.
“A fight? Who is… oh, it’s Frenzy!”
“Eh, Eldmia Egga!”
“There are guys picking a fight with Frenzy Eldmia!”
Although it wasn’t in a desirable form, help was help. At their outcry, the adventurers who were nearby quickly retreated.
However, they encircled us, clearly not wanting to miss the spectacle, entering full spectator mode.
The surrounding adventurers, Dantel, his companions and Cheryl, whose mouth was still covered by me, suddenly became lively and moved farther away. They were all looking at me with strange gazes.
No, there really was no choice. With so many troublemakers picking fights, how could I just ignore it?
It was absolutely not my fault that an incident erupted to the extent that I needed to indoctrinate beliefs every time I completed a quest.
Still, it was a great help at the moment, so I tried to remain calm and informed them:
“The capital isn’t as clean and easy a place as you think. If you don’t want to get ripped apart for trusting in your numbers, take that criminal bastard and leave.”
“…I’ll remember your face, you bastard. Be careful.”
Dantel’s threat made me laugh involuntarily.
“Yeah, remember it well. You’ll get ripped apart the moment you forget.”
I’ll let it go since it didn’t go beyond an attempt. After the guys left the guild and the surrounding area calmed down somewhat, I could only say one thing:
“Frenzy?”
The countless gazes that had gathered dispersed instantly, as if by promise. Those were really…
“Child?”
At Cheryl’s chilling voice, I hurriedly dodged and ran to the bulletin board to take the thief-hunting quest.
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“What were you doing, anyway?”
“I was upholding my beliefs.”
Despite only telling the truth, Cheryl looked at me with a suspicious expression.
After the brief commotion and taking the thief-hunting quest we had originally intended, Cheryl persistently asked me what mischief I had been up to while we moved to the assembly point.
Since I had only repeated actions to uphold my honor and beliefs, there was nothing for me to be ashamed of.
“Come to think of it, she said you had that kind of personality back in Ogwen, too.”
“Huh? How do you know about that?”
“Lagnis told me.”
Ah, that’s right, they were originally friends. Although the tragedy of her family had created a class difference, their friendship seemed unchanged.
“Now that I think about it, you did say you knew each other before. But it seems like you haven’t really gone to see her since you became my exclusive attendant?”
“Lagnis is busy too. You can hardly see her yourself, right?”
“That’s true.”
She was just extremely busy. Lagnis had been incredibly busy for the past year, to the point where I could only describe it that way.
In the past, I would at least go see her face occasionally, but now it has become difficult to meet her even once a week.
“Lagnis doesn’t have enough time. With Lord Radnelband leading many people in educating her and making plans… it’s only natural.”
Unlike me, who spends most of my time at the estate or taking guild quests, Cheryl, who goes to and from the academy, seemed to hear some stories. However, she only heard the stories and did nothing more.
“In any case, it’s not something we need to worry about. Levian Vanguard will complete her duties well.”
There was an age difference and a class difference, but Cheryl acknowledged her as an equal friend and trusted her, which is why she neither pitied Lagnis nor tried to help her first.
If she had been in that situation herself, she would have found such actions insulting. Of course, from Lagnis’s perspective, she could wish for help even without asking. But unless Cheryl could fully grasp her true intentions, she would only show the utmost respect and prepare herself.
To be ready to help when asked and cut off the heads of any meddlers who got in the way.
“Well said. There’s no reason to worry or waste time when she hasn’t asked for help. Isn’t it best to prepare so we can help when she really does ask later?”
“I’ll let you off this time, you brat.”
“Who’s talking?”
It was certainly both an advantage and a disadvantage that their ideas were so remarkably similar. When they spoke, they found each other irritating, but they communicated incredibly well.
Thanks to that, even though the distance to the western gate, our assembly point, was quite far, we were able to converse without getting bored along the way.
It was a possible outcome because Cheryl lowered her arrogant attitude by about half when acting as an adventurer.
“Is this just a group of thieves, or is it a thieves’ guild? There seem to be quite a lot gathered here.”
Contrary to my expectation of no more than 20 people at the assembly point, over 50 people appeared to be scattered about, waiting to depart. Judging from the three wagon-like vehicles built like military transport trucks, it seemed they had gathered up to 60 people.
No matter the distance, it was hard to believe that thieves operating in an area considered part of the capital’s vicinity would be conducting such large-scale operations that they needed to assemble this many people.
“There were talks that the Knights would be deployed if they failed this time too.”
Before I could voice my question, Cheryl seemed to anticipate my confusion and continued speaking.
“For the first attempt, it was tried as a simple quest given to adventurers. This is the second attempt.”
“I’m starting to understand.”
Quests related to thieves are usually rated as green or blue difficulty levels at most.
Most thieves are simply at the level where they have to rob others to make ends meet.
Those with decent skills can make a living doing anything, anywhere. It’s that simple. However, these thieves had clearly deviated slightly from that simple premise.
There was definitely someone strong among them.
“But they’re still just thieves, so the leader must be capable, right?”
“If the subordinates are more capable than the leader, I’m willing to introduce myself and give them a standing ovation.”
“That’s a part I can acknowledge. If that’s the case, I’ll clap alongside you.”
If a mere group of thieves were not ruled by force but acted with honor, they would be qualified enough for our applause.
Still, I had a feeling that having just one or two exceptional individuals would not have led to this situation, so I revealed my thoughts with a smile, and Cheryl smiled back similarly.
Cheryl must have taken an interest in this quest for that reason. Despite her lovely appearance, she clearly had the blood of a knightly family flowing within her, and she considered gaining insight from actual combat against strong opponents to be entirely natural.
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What happened to the translation quality? This were several parts here that were a word salad.
*There were -sigh-