Chapter 9

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"Hehehe, it seems the rumors about her are gradually spreading."

In the room of the inn where he was staying, Lux sat on the bed with a smile.

"The others are probably enjoying the spectacle of that girl's downfall. The stories being passed around are far from the initial rumors we spread."

"Hmm, what kind of rumors?"

"Things like inflating the reward money to take a larger share for herself, or being a promiscuous woman who flirts with any man she sees."

The female party member covered her mouth and told Lux about the current rumors.

"That's harsh, it hurts as a former party member."

"A harsh person, if you hadn't started the rumors, it wouldn't have come to this."

Another woman in the room said this with a delighted expression.

"Anyway, have you found a new mage yet?"

"Well, there are some applicants, but they might be intimidated by the S-rank requirement."

Lux and his group had started recruiting a new mage on the adventurer guild's bulletin board after expelling Teresa.

Normally, people would be thrilled to join an S-rank party, and there would be a flood of applicants, but for some reason, no one was showing up.

"Damn, there's no choice. We'll have to lower the rank of our requests again today..."

Lux felt frustrated because Teresa hadn't nodded when he approached her. As a result, their combat strength had decreased, and they had to lower the level of their requests.

"It's fine, even if we slack off a bit, we have enough savings. Compared to that, she's probably struggling to earn a daily wage now, isn't she?"

She covered her mouth and chuckled.

"Haha, you're right. If it comes to it, we can just hire a temporary mage."

Lux's mood improved, and he smiled.

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"Anyway, even I was taken aback by it."

"Seriously? That's way too much, right?"

While I was chatting happily at the adventurer guild, Teresa appeared.

"Alright, I'll leave it to you for the usual."

I shook the right hand of the male adventurer and joined her.

"Good to see you. Let's take on a request."

I could feel the gazes of those around us, and more than half were directed at Teresa.

Teresa, who had been keeping her distance and looking at me with a half-lidded gaze, nodded and moved to the request board.

"Which one? Last time I chose, so today it's up to you, Teresa."

She pointed at the request with her staff and read through them in order. When she saw a particular request, she stopped moving.

"Do you want to take this one?"

Teresa turned her face to look at me and slowly nodded.

"Hey, are you still mad about what happened last time?"

In response to my question, she gave me the best smile she's ever shown. It was as if I could hear her inner voice saying, "There's no need to answer that, is there?"

"Ah, well, it's fine. I've been spending a lot lately, so it might be good to make a big score here..."

I peeled off the request...

"Then, let's take on this A-rank equivalent request, 'Slay the Cyclops in the mine.'"

The adventurers around us looked at us as if we were unbelievable.

"R-Really, you're taking that request?"

The receptionist pressed the point when I handed over the request.

"Regardless of Teresa, who used to be S-rank, I think it might be too much for you, Galion, who just recently became C-rank..."

Teresa was looking at me intently from the side.

"Listen, Galion. The guild generally doesn't interfere with the requests you take. Assessing your own abilities and the difficulty of the request is an essential skill for an adventurer. But, I have to say, are you really going to take this request?"

She looked at me seriously, clearly worried.

"Of course. It's only natural to clearly assess our own and our companions' abilities."

I said this and looked at Teresa.

She was looking at me with a challenging gaze. I understood that this request was a challenge to me.

"Ah, that's why young people... Listen, if you fail the request, there will be penalties, but your life is the most important thing. In the worst case, make sure to run away."

Even while talking about personal responsibility, she scolded me sternly. She must be a good person.

"I understand. If things get bad, I'll make sure Teresa gets back safely, so don't worry."

We prepared and headed to the mine where the request was located.