Chapter 8

After receiving 2.5 million gold from the receptionist, I decided to follow Raul.

No matter how I looked at it, Raul seemed unwilling to be with those guys.

That's why I wanted to find Raul as soon as possible.

However, by the time I finished receiving the gold, Raul was nowhere to be seen.

But he couldn't have gone that far.

"...Huh, why is that?"

Suddenly, I wondered why I was so eager to take action for someone else.

In my previous life, I didn't communicate with people much.

Even in this life, as a noble's son, I had acquaintances, but no one I could call a friend.

Helping a passerby the other day was just because I thought it was a "good deed."

...However, in the case of Raul, despite the many uncertainties, I was worried and wanted to follow him.

It could be seen as unnecessary interference.

"Oh, right."

After so much self-questioning, I finally arrived at a simple answer.

"I want to be friends with Raul..."

In my idea of "happiness," the presence of friends is essential.

It's not that anyone will do, but maybe anyone would do.

But one thing is certain—I want to become friends with Raul.

...Really, I should have realized this sooner.

I might have needed to communicate more with people.

"Search Eye"

I quietly chanted the spell.

The detection magic [Search Eye] allows me to instantly obtain visual information within a 1-kilometer radius.

The scenery of the city flows through my mind.

Finding the information I need is a difficult task, but I'm used to it.

—There he is.

He's in a warehouse about 200 meters away.

The three adventurers are surrounding Raul.

Raul's cheek is swollen and red.

His clothes are dirty, and it looks like he's been beaten and kicked.

"It's just bullying, isn't it?"

But if I go to help him now, Raul might be upset.

Raul has his own reasons.

I might interfere with his plans.

In other words, helping Raul might just be self-satisfaction.

But... I want to help Raul.

I believe that helping him is the best thing I can do for him.

If he gets angry, I'll apologize with all my might.

Leaving the adventurer's guild, I hurried to the warehouse where Raul was.

***

"Hey, when are you going to start listening to us? Huh?"

In the warehouse, the three adventurers surrounding Raul are C-rank adventurers, top-class in the commercial city.

"Looks like you can't even pay the adventurer's fee today. Do you even want to be an adventurer?"

The adventurer's fee is a system where adventurers must pay 30% of their reward from completed quests to them.

The target is adventurers of a lower rank than them.

The "strange caste system" Raul mentioned to Alma is this.

One of them grabbed Raul's bangs and pulled him up.

He glared at Raul, who winced in pain.

"That kid got a lot of money from the appraisal, right?"

They concluded that Alma had received a lot of money based on the receptionist's reaction.

No matter how hard they worked to defeat monsters, they never got such a reaction from the appraisal results.

"Hey, hey, this is a done deal, you know. You know that if you don't promise to get that kid to give us the money, this will keep going, right?"

Raul didn't answer.

He just glared at the man in front of him.

"...You, you want to see more pain, huh?"

With that, the man punched Raul in the stomach.

"Ugh...!"

Raul involuntarily spat out blood.

"Scary, scary. If you don't listen soon, you might die, hahaha."

"Yeah, this guy's eyes are serious. He's really ready to kill."

The other two watched with amusement.

Normally, people would break at this point.

They thought Raul would have no choice but to listen to them, but...

"...Hehehe, I'm sorry, seniors, but I don't want to ruin that kid's potential. I have a feeling he can do things that someone like me can't. Even though we've only met recently, I'm convinced he's an amazing guy."

"...So what?"

The man punched Raul in the stomach again after hearing this.

"Ugh—"

Raul spat out more blood than before.

His consciousness was starting to fade from the pain.

Still, he refused to listen to them.

"...This kind of life... I know it's not smart... but rather than prioritizing a worthless life... I chose not to hold him back... that's all."

"...Are you an idiot? Do you usually go this far for someone you just met?"

"Stop acting all righteous. It's too much trouble, let's just kill him."

"Sure. At this point, it's useless to talk. Let's just get rid of him."

"—That's what I thought. Don't worry, after you're dead, we'll make sure to ruin that kid's future."

"...You bastards! ...Don't you dare mess with him!"

"Shut up, idiot. Just die already."

The man drew his sword to cut Raul down.

(Damn it...! To be killed by these guys...! I'm sorry, Alma.)

Raul, lying on the ground, shed tears... at that moment.

The warehouse door creaked open.

"Sorry to interrupt, but can you stop bullying my friend?"

[Request]

Thank you for reading this work.

If you would like to support this work in any way,

- Add to Bookmarks

- Rate with Points

Your support through these means will boost my motivation to update daily.

You can rate with points using the stars below.

Thank you very much.