Yoru Machi put heavy emphasis on the words "all our property," and Rex and his two companions, having noticed it, immediately looked extremely awkward.
As fairly experienced adventurers, even if Rex and the others had fallen on hard times, all their property naturally could not have consisted of just that bag of Copper Coins. They had said that earlier purely because they thought Yoru Machi and the others were country bumpkins who knew nothing.
They simply had not expected the world to be so small. They had assumed they would never meet again, yet they had parted ways only that morning and run into each other again that afternoon. And this guy was actually the younger brother of the goddess they were pursuing?
"Rex, I hadn't realized you had such a helpful side. But I don't want to owe you too great a favor either. How much money did you give Yoru Machi? I'll pay you back for him."
Hearing his goddess ask that, Rex became even more embarrassed. He had originally wanted to earn some favor with her, but if the truth came out, would he not be completely out of the running with her from now on?
"Ha... ha, it was nothing. I've always liked helping people. By the way, Miss Sonya, is your younger brother really a novice adventurer?"
To avoid disappointing his goddess, Rex could only shamelessly say that. Fortunately, Yoru Machi merely wore an amused smile and did not expose him.
"He did register as an adventurer today. But he says he has some ability and wants to take quests above E-rank, which worries me a little.
That's why I was wondering whether you could take him along and let him gain some experience."
In Soya's view, while Rex and his party were not among the strongest adventurers in town, they were still around average. Taking along a "newbie" like Yoru Machi should have been more than manageable.
But upon hearing Soya's request, Rex and his two companions immediately looked constipated. In fact, Rex's two teammates instantly made up excuses and slipped away without a second thought.
"Rex, I suddenly don't feel very well today, so... I'll be going first."
"Me too. I just remembered my girlfriend asked me to go shopping with her today. I promised her a long time ago, so... sorry."
Hearing his two companions' excuses for fleeing, Rex inwardly cursed. Before coming here, the guy claiming he felt unwell had been flexing his muscles the entire way.
And the other guy was even more ridiculous. They had been a team for so long, so how did Rex not know the guy had a girlfriend? Going shopping together, my ass. With his left hand and right hand?
"Miss Sonya, as you can see, both my companions have run into some unexpected issues. It seems we won't be able to go out and complete any commissions today. How about we bring your brother along to experience adventurer life another day when we have time?"
Rex completely understood why his two companions had fled. If his goddess had not been standing right there, he would have been preparing to run too.
The "novice adventurer" brother Soya mentioned was, in Rex and his companions' eyes, a supreme powerhouse disguised as a newbie!
Take him along to experience adventurer life? He was a monster who could easily beat all three of them to death barehanded.
Besides, they had just stiffed him earlier. If they went into the wilderness with him now, the odds of ending up as corpses in the wild were extremely high.
"Big Sister Soya, I'm really strong. If you don't believe me, how about letting me spar with this Mr. Rex?
If I can defeat him, then arrange more difficult quests for me. But if I lose, I'll listen to all of Big Sister Soya's arrangements and steadily take on quests suited to my adventurer rank. How about it?"
Yoru Machi and Soya were naturally not actually siblings, but since Soya had introduced him that way to Rex and the others, he could not undermine her.
"Sorry, I suddenly remembered that I have something important to do today too, so I'll be leaving first!"
Before Soya could agree to Yoru Machi's proposal, Rex had already decided to flee the moment he heard it.
What the hell kind of joke was this? Spar with Yoru Machi? How was that any different from asking for a beating? The three of them had gone at him together before, yet against the unarmed Yoru Machi, they had not even lasted a minute. If he fought the guy one-on-one now, would he not become a five-second man?
Running away in front of his goddess might damage his dignity, but it was still better than getting instantly defeated during their spar. That would have been even more humiliating.
"Fine. As long as you can defeat Rex, I'll make an exception and arrange higher-ranked adventurer quests for you."
Rex had only just taken a step when Yoru Machi's hand landed on his shoulder first. Flashing a grin that showed his teeth, he said, "Then please teach me a few things, Mr. Rex, the helpful one."
There was never any shortage of people who loved watching a show, especially in a place like the Adventurer's Guild, where plenty of adventurers with nothing better to do often gathered.
Seeing some excitement, quite a few adventurers naturally came over with mugs of ale to join the spectacle. Some even opened a betting pool.
Rex, meanwhile, looked utterly miserable. The spot where he and Yoru Machi stood had already been surrounded by the watching adventurers. He was now stuck between a rock and a hard place. If he found another excuse to run, he would become the laughingstock of the entire adventurer community.
Sure enough, lust was a blade that scraped the bones. If he had not coveted Soya's beauty, how would he have ended up in this situation today?
Seeing that there was no way out, Rex drew his sword and stared at Yoru Machi with a fully guarded expression.
"No way, no way. Look at Rex's expression. He seems seriously focused.
His opponent is just a newcomer who registered as an adventurer today. Does he really need to put on such a posture?"
"Looks like my bet is going down the drain. I was hoping for an upset, since it's no secret that Rex has had his eye on Miss Sonya for quite some time.
I thought he might go easy on this newcomer for Miss Sonya's sake, but it seems Rex really is a real man."
Many of the adventurers who had been at the Adventurer's Guild earlier had personally witnessed Yoru Machi registering as an adventurer that very day.
Rex's skills might have been mediocre, but beating up a completely inexperienced newcomer should have been easy. Thus, none of the adventurers present believed Yoru Machi could win.
Yet compared to the spectators enjoying the show, only Rex, as one of the fighters, knew that the white-haired man before him was no newbie at all!
Before you continue