The Village That Posted the Commission

Because the Poisonous Demon Dragon had previously dwelled in this area, the poisonous mist leaking from its body had severely contaminated the surrounding air and water sources.

It was precisely for this reason that the people of these nearby villages had scraped together a sum of money to commission the Adventurer's Guild to send capable adventurers to drive away the Poisonous Demon Dragon dwelling here.

"Village Chief, can the adventurers sent by the Adventurer's Guild after accepting the commission really deal with the Poisonous Demon Dragon? The village's water supply has been completely exhausted. The poisoned river and well water can't be used to irrigate the fields at all. If this continues, sooner or later we won't be able to survive here."

"Yes, Village Chief. Didn't we go a little too far this time? The lord clearly provided enough gold coins in support, so why did we falsely report the difficulty of the mission? Not only will this offend the Adventurer's Guild, it will also delay the successful subjugation of the Poisonous Demon Dragon even longer."

Within the village, two young men looked resentfully at the old village chief before them.

Their village was the largest among the several nearby villages, so it was their village that had gone to the Adventurer's Guild to post the commission to subjugate the Poisonous Demon Dragon. As for falsely reporting the mission's difficulty, that had been the old village chief's idea.

"Are you idiots? That poisonous dragon is a dragon! Even if it's a subspecies, it's still a genuine member of the dragon race. Whether the Adventurer's Guild has adventurers capable of subjugating it, this old man does not know. But in my view, such adventurers should be exceedingly rare. And with the little money we have, it simply isn't enough to pay them. So everything I did was for the sake of our village. If the Poisonous Demon Dragon problem can't be resolved, won't our village have to relocate? Relocating costs money too. If we don't hold back some funds, how will the villagers endure those difficult days after we move?"

When a village had an elder, it was like having a treasure. Hearing the old village chief's words, the two young men wore expressions of sudden understanding. However, a voice interrupted their conversation at that moment.

"I see. Holding onto sufficient funds and planning before acting, huh? As the head of a village, it truly is admirable that you would consider your villagers so thoroughly. But while your villagers are safe, have you considered what will happen to the adventurers who accepted the commission based on the difficulty you falsely reported? They thought they were subjugating a five-meter Poisonous Giant Lizard monster, only to find a subspecies poisonous dragon over fifteen meters long instead. Adventurers who come here with false information have almost no possible outcome other than death. And all of this is merely because of your selfishness. Are the villagers in your village people whose lives matter, while the adventurers who came here are somehow not?"

Previously, Yoru Machi had assumed the nearby villages had falsely reported the mission's difficulty simply because they were short of money. He loved money, but he had principles and knew where to draw the line. He had only come here to inform them that the Poisonous Demon Dragon had been subjugated.

But after hearing that conversation, Yoru Machi was quite angry now.

So these villages were not unable to pay. They simply didn't believe adventurers could subjugate the Poisonous Demon Dragon, so they had symbolically posted the commission to deceive the local lord while secretly preparing to relocate the entire village.

If he hadn't been the one to accept this mission, and if he hadn't been strong enough, perhaps Yoru Machi himself would have become another victim in the Poisonous Demon Dragon's jaws!

"Who are you? What right do you have to meddle in our village's affairs? Adventurers are supposed to be like this anyway. Besides, we never forced any adventurers to accept the commission we posted."

Seeing Yoru Machi and Shimada Yousuke appear at the village entrance, the two young men who had been speaking with the old village chief immediately looked displeased. They stepped forward, intending to drive the pair away and tell them not to meddle in others' business.

However quickly those two young men charged forward was exactly how quickly they were sent flying afterward.

Against such small fry, Yoru Machi did not need to get serious. With a single sweep of one hand, the two tall, muscular young men were immediately swept away by the forceful wind. Their bodies crashed to the ground like large pieces of discarded trash, and they collapsed without getting back up.

"Who exactly are you, sir? This old man does not recall our village ever forming any grudge against you."

Watching Yoru Machi casually fling away two strong men from the village with one hand, the old village chief seemed to realize that Yoru Machi was not someone to be trifled with. Yet he was genuinely puzzled as to why Yoru Machi was meddling in their affairs.

Logically, if the other party had a grudge against the village, he should not possibly fail to recognize him. After all, Yoru Machi was far too handsome. With looks like that, there was no reason he should have no impression of him.

Especially since such an exceptionally handsome man as Yoru Machi was accompanied by another fellow who looked like a Half-beastman. Such a starkly contrasting pair should have drawn instant attention no matter where they went.

"I don't particularly enjoy meddling in other people's business. But the problem is that I am the sucker of an adventurer you were talking about. I foolishly thought my target was a large lizard, only to arrive here and discover that the target had changed from a giant lizard into a giant dragon. Now tell me, does this have anything to do with me?"

Hearing Yoru Machi's words, the old village chief's expression turned ugly. He had never expected them to be so unlucky as to reveal their true intentions right in front of the very victim involved.

"Village Chief, th-that... it's the Poisonous Demon Dragon. It was actually... killed!"

As one of the two young, strong men whom Yoru Machi had knocked down tried to get back up, he finally noticed the enormous corpse Yoru Machi was dragging behind him. When he looked closely, he was shocked to discover that it was the Poisonous Demon Dragon that had plagued their village for so long!

Just as the village chief had said, the Poisonous Demon Dragon was a subspecies poisonous dragon. At over fifteen meters in length, it was already fully grown, an existence ordinary humans simply could not contend with.

To subjugate such an existence, one would either need a perfectly assembled team of high-ranking adventurers or an army. Yet these two people alone had killed such a dangerous and powerful Poisonous Demon Dragon!

"So you are adventurers, my lords. Thank you, both of you, for subjugating the Poisonous Demon Dragon and removing this blight from our village and the surrounding villages. As for the reward, we can discuss it further. And regarding this matter, please give us an opportunity to explain ourselves and apologize."

Hearing the young man's cry, the old village chief hurried behind Yoru Machi and the others. Seeing the Poisonous Demon Dragon split into two halves, unmistakably dead beyond all doubt, he first showed astonishment before bowing to Yoru Machi and Shimada Yousuke in apology for his earlier actions.

They had slain the Poisonous Demon Dragon and dragged its several-ton corpse such a great distance without effort. No matter how one looked at it, they were no ordinary people. Thus, the adaptable old village chief immediately changed his attitude and became exceedingly respectful toward Yoru Machi and Shimada Yousuke.