Chapter 9

The content and reasons explained by the guild receptionist hit too close to home.

Indeed, at that time, I was flustered... No, if I had only studied the basics properly with Gaius, or rather, as a human, I had acted inappropriately.

A shop is an important place for the shopkeeper. The adventurers who visited might not have been able to sell their items or buy the materials they needed. Despite this, we didn't give them any thanks or compensation, and we were only focused on our own issues.

We paid the blacksmith, but the materials from the monster should have been processed by the adventurers. Instead, we told him to come to the yard, and then complained about the price being too high... Even if we apologized, the damage to the shop's reputation from being called a swindler couldn't be avoided. If there were any novice adventurers there, they might have stopped using that blacksmith.

Gurgan and the others recognized their narrow-mindedness in these all-too-familiar examples. It was understandable why other adventurers would look down on them. The fastest way to resolve this would be to bow and ask Gaius to come back... but, barely, the cold gazes and attitudes of those around them held them back.

The other adventurers already knew that they had fired Gaius without any alternative plan, and that all their subsequent actions were poorly handled. Of course, if the shop made a mistake, the shop, which had done nothing wrong, would get a bad reputation.

Nodding to each other, the "Crescent Claw" members acknowledged that they weren't in a position to argue, and they all bowed to the guild receptionist.

"We request the training!"

"Understood. Please come to the Adventurer's Guild tomorrow morning. If necessary, bring writing materials."

Thus, the "Crescent Claw" began to take steps forward, realizing the inadequacy of their decision to fire Gaius so lightly.

The decline in their reputation was clearly their own doing.

And through the training, they would come to realize even more how much they had brought this upon themselves.

◇◇◇

"Well, with just two of us, there are too many things we lack in the dungeon. ... I didn't plan to use this, but it seems the time has come."

"What is that? That... suspicious mask and hood?"

"This is something I bought with the money I saved from the antique market when I left my hometown. It's not just a simple item to hide my face, ... let me put it on and you'll see."

When Gaius took out a mask that covered the upper half of his face and a worn hood from his inventory and put them on, his appearance changed before Miria's eyes.

He became shorter, his age became ambiguous, and his figure looked somewhat sloppy. Yet, he looked like an ordinary person.

"Did I change?"

"Is that you, Mr. Gaius...?"

"Yes. Well, to put it simply... this hood distorts perception, and this mask reduces presence. The item looks flashy but is useful. I haven't used it for about two years, though."

I told Miria it was from an antique market, but in reality, I bought it from a black market to escape the orphanage.

After turning 15, my role in the orphanage changed. I was cleaned up, and the food became better. I was gathered with others my age in a different building, and I noticed that they were disappearing one by one. This went on for two years.

When I realized what it meant, I had already fled into the town at night. They were being sold as slaves. That was something I absolutely didn't want.

The strongest reason I didn't want to quit my job as an "Item Master" was that I didn't want to reduce what I could do. I had finally learned how to interact with others as a regular person and enjoyed being part of the party as an adventurer... It was a bit sad that everyone had decided to quit together.

However, I don't think anything was wasted. I couldn't leave the area near the capital, and meeting Miria and everything I accomplished in between made me feel that way. Even being fired wasn't a waste.

"I'm going to buy the necessary items for the dungeon... no, Miria, would you like to come with me?"

"! Yes! I'll go with you!"

I fed Shukuru and removed the dirty parts of the needle leaves I had laid out, spreading them around the camp.

The monsters in this forest will stay away from Shukuru's scent. It should be fine for half a day.

Gaius, who had given up on asking, was trying to change his mindset a little for the dungeon exploration with Miria.

... Given that I had asked them to take care of things, facing the "Crescent Claw" was painful, and I didn't have the courage to return to the capital with pride.