Chapter 27

"......Do you need something......?"

Three men spread out around me as I tilted my head to ask.

"If we let a mere mage get away with disrespect, we'd have to quit. This is a slum, after all... No one cares if an adventurer goes missing."

"Hehehe..."

"Nice gear you've got there? It'll probably fetch a good price if we sell it. You won't need it once you're dead, anyway. We'll put it to good use."

I sighed deeply at their words.

"So...? What are you going to do to me...?"

I've never fought a person in real life. But in the MMO, I did it every day.

And I played the game specifically to fight people.

My heart began to race as I recalled those days.

"Hey, you're up for it, huh? You don't even have a weapon, and you're going to fight us bare-handed... You're pretty confident, aren't you?"

The men drew their swords and pointed them at me.

In response, I pulled out a two-handed sword as tall as me from my dimensional storage.

"Wh-What!?"

I swung the two-handed sword with one hand, resting it on my shoulder with a smirk.

"So what if I'm bare-handed...?"

"Tch... A mage carrying something like that..."

In an instant, I dashed forward and placed the tip of my sword at the man's neck.

"Don't underestimate a mage, got it?"

I then swung the flat of the blade at the man, sending him flying several meters and crashing into a shack, where he lost consciousness.

I ran towards the other two, who were stunned, and struck them down one by one.

The fight was over in an instant.

"Still... a sword is the way to go. A berserker suits me."

Satisfied, I nodded and put the two-handed sword back into my dimensional storage, wondering what to do next.

...If I leave them here, something like this might happen again.

Alright... I'll take them with me.

I tied up the unconscious men and dragged them through the slum with one hand.

Everyone who saw me widened their eyes in shock and quickly looked away.

I walked out of the slum and headed towards a busy area, then to the Adventurer's Guild.

I opened the door to the Adventurer's Guild and walked in.

Of course, everyone's eyes were on me as I dragged the tied-up men.

Everyone in the hall swallowed hard.

The guild receptionist, seeing the state of things, quickly came out from behind the counter in a panic.

"What happened!?"

I explained the situation to the guild girl.

"I was attacked in the slum... I was warned at the guild earlier, so I brought them here. What should we do with them...?"

Their unconscious and bloodied state, combined with the damage to their equipment from being dragged, made them look even worse than when the fight ended.

"Get someone who can use healing magic immediately! And prepare a holding cell!"

The receptionist gave rapid instructions. Male staff members came out and carried the tied men to the back.

"Can you explain everything in a private room?"

"Sure..."

I followed the receptionist into a private room. It had a table and six chairs, a real meeting space.

I was invited to sit, and the receptionist sat across from me.

"Thank you. Can we start from the beginning?"

I explained how I was harassed at the guild in the morning, had a meal at an orphanage in the slum, and was attacked on my way back to the inn.

The three men had drawn their swords and threatened to kill and strip me, so I had to defend myself.

I couldn't leave them in the slum, so I brought them to the guild.

The receptionist nodded and took notes as I spoke.

"I understand. While those three are troublemakers, they are still D-rank adventurers. You look like a mage, right? Can I see your guild card?"

I handed my guild card to the receptionist, who widened her eyes in shock at the contents.

Well, it's no surprise when you see the level...

"Is this... really!? Level 57...?"

"Yes... as it says..."

"Moreover, to be at this level and still be C-rank..."

"I just registered recently."

I explained with a wry smile, and the guild girl crossed her arms and grunted.

After a moment of thought, she spoke.

"Understood. They will be expelled from the guild and turned into criminal slaves for attempted robbery and attempted murder. We couldn't catch them before due to lack of evidence, but this time we have witnesses."

I felt a cold sweat on my back as the guild girl smiled slyly.

What have they been up to all this time...

I had no intention of asking.

After the explanation, I left the guild and headed back to the inn.

The adventurers in the hall were giving me intense looks, still shocked by what had happened.

It was already dark outside, and I trudged back to the inn.

The inn's dining room was full of people eating.

Lumina and the others waved me over when they saw me.

"Hey, where have you been? We've all finished eating."

I sat next to Lumina, who was holding a mug, and ordered my meal.

Dai and the others had already finished eating and returned to their room to prepare for the next day, leaving Lumina drinking alone at the counter.

"I had a bit of an incident... I went to the Adventurer's Guild."

"Hmm. Don't cause trouble? We're on a bodyguard mission... And—cool it down first."

She placed a half-drunk mug in front of me. I sighed, cooled it with magic, and returned it. She took a sip and seemed satisfied with the cold ale.

I started eating the meal I had ordered.

The menu was a stew with cooked meat and two pieces of bread. I took a sip of the cooled ale.

The next day, we would leave for Fendy early in the morning.

After finishing my meal, I returned to my room and collapsed on the bed.

Thank you as always.