Cooperation

Too slow...

The money was coming in way too slowly...

F-rank adventurers could only take requests meant for F-rank and E-rank adventurers?

What kind of bullshit rule was that...?

We spent three hours gathering herbs in the morning, then two hours surveying terrain in the afternoon.

After completing two requests, we had only earned forty copper coins.

This wasn't going to work... We needed at least one gold coin a day, or maybe two.

"Rudeus! I want to kill monsters! Requests like these aren't what adventurers are supposed to do!"

"Mm... That's actually what I was planning to do too."

"Ooh!! What should we do? We can't accept those monster-slaying requests, right?"

Looks like Eris still knew the rules adventurers had to follow. I'd thought she never bothered thinking about anything.

"Monster materials can be exchanged directly for money. We don't actually have to do the request itself. We just have to look at where those A-rank or B-rank requests are located, then go to the specified places and find those monsters. We'd miss out on the request reward, but taking the materials from the monsters we killed to exchange for money should still bring in a decent income."

"Oh, right! That's how we exchanged the monsters we killed on the Demon Continent for money before!"

"Exactly."

Now the question was whether the monsters here were worth anything.

The monsters we killed in the northeastern part of the Demon Continent were at least B-rank, but even after bringing so many materials from them, we only got five gold coins. Or was I ripped off?

No... The chance I was ripped off was pretty small. Those materials were probably just priced like that. After all, I only brought back things like claws...

In any case, Eris and I first returned to the adventurers' guild and stood together in front of the request board, looking over the posted requests.

[B]

· Job: Slay the Earth Snake inhabiting the Demon Continent plains

· Reward: Two gold coins

· Job Details: Slay the monster and leave the corpse intact

· Location: Demon Continent plains

· Time Limit: None

A

· Job: Slay the Swamp Dragon inhabiting the marshlands

· Reward: Eight gold coins

· Job Details: Slay the monster

· Location: The Swamp Dragon in the marshlands west of town

· Time Limit: None

Hmm... The request reward for killing one Earth Snake was two gold coins, but I'd exchanged Earth Snake materials for money before, and they weren't worth much.

So if you weren't killing a very powerful monster, then what mattered was actually how badly the client needed it...?

That was bad news... The value of the monster itself wasn't as high as the value of the request...

"Oh? Why are a little boy and girl looking at B-rank and A-rank requests? Do you admire them?"

As I was thinking about what to do, that voice reached my ears.

Eris couldn't understand it, but she knew it was directed at her.

I turned my head and looked at her... or rather, at them.

It was a group made up of a dwarf, a lizardman, and a brown-haired Demon Race girl.

"Hello. May I ask who you are?"

"We're the B-rank party Song of the Four Seasons. You were looking at B-rank and A-rank requests just now?"

The one leading them was the lizardman. From the sound of the voice, it seemed to be a female lizardman.

She had a sword at her side, so she was probably a swordswoman.

"Yes. To be honest, we're rather troubled right now. We urgently need money to continue as adventurers, but because of rank restrictions, we can only do F-rank and E-rank requests."

"Oh? Are you saying you're strong enough to do B-rank or A-rank requests?"

How should I answer this...?

Should I just confirm it outright and try working with them? Accept a job together and split it fifty-fifty? Or maybe... after finishing the job, kill them.

The request would be completed anyway, and under their name too. They'd just have sacrificed themselves, while Eris and I, as collaborators, would naturally end up with all the money.

In any case...

"That's right. The girl beside me and I walked here from the northeastern part of the Demon Continent. It took us two months, and every monster we encountered on the way was killed by us."

"Oh? Kid, you can lie without even blinking?"

The lizardwoman leader seemed to be trying to draw her sword to scare me, but Eris shot out from behind me in an instant, kicked her sword away, then cleanly set her own blade against the woman's neck.

Even though Eris couldn't understand her, the motion of drawing a sword had made her react on instinct? Amazing.

"That's enough, Eris. You should know she couldn't possibly hurt me. No need to keep your blade on her."

"Hmph!"

I deliberately said that in the Demon God Language, so these people would understand I could command such a powerful swordswoman. As for why Eris sheathed her sword as if she understood me, it was because I had gestured to her.

The lizardwoman's expression was still clearly frozen in fright. She had fallen to the ground and was gulping for air.

The commotion drew the attention of many adventurers in the guild.

As for me, I took two steps forward toward the lizardwoman.

The dwarf and the little witch girl looked as if they were ready to fight at any moment... So this little girl was a magician...

I reached out to the lizardwoman, ready to pull her up.

"You know, in the northeastern part of the Demon Continent, if we didn't react like that, we might've ended up in a monster's belly long ago."

"I... I understand..."

The lizardwoman leader panted heavily as I pulled her to her feet.

I swept my gaze around and noticed that many people in the guild were watching us.

"Shall we talk outside?"

"So, do you intend to cooperate with us?"

"Yes. We'll take A-rank jobs, and the money we earn will be split evenly between the two parties."

"No... That isn't fair to us... First of all, we'd also be taking on the risk of being discovered doing this. Bringing rookie adventurers who are only F-rank along on A-rank jobs would get us demoted if we were found out... And we have more people."

How greedy...

"Isn't that the same for us? If we're found out, our adventurer qualifications will be revoked outright. Besides, if no one in your party snitches, there's no way anyone else will know."

"H-how could it go that smoothly? We might run into other adventurers on the road too..."

"I'll kill them."

"Huh?"

"I'll kill any adventurers who witness us. Don't worry."

"That's..."

"What? Is there still some other problem?"

"No... Before that, could we take a simple B-rank job first to test things out? Uh, I mean to test things like how well the parties work together..."

"I understand your concern. You're the leader, after all. I can understand being responsible for your party members. Go back and pick any B-rank job you like later. Tomorrow morning, a quarter of an hour after sunrise, we'll meet at the gate."

"O-okay..."

"Then that's settled."

With the discussion over, Eris and I left the alley.

After all, it was already almost night.

"Rudeus... What were you all talking about?"

Eris spoke with a slightly wronged look.

Looks like following me around for so long without understanding anything really was boring.

"We'll be able to go kill monsters tomorrow. We're going to try doing a B-rank commission first."

"Oh... Oh! A B-rank one!"

"In any case, let's go back for today. Once we reach the inn, we'll take a bath first, then eat with Aisha."

"Mm!"

"Oh right, Eris. There's one thing I need to make clear to you. You absolutely must not tell those people anything about Aisha."

"I know! And I don't understand the Demon God Language at all anyway!"

Why did she look so proud of that...

"True."

In the twilight, the three members of [Song of the Four Seasons] were still standing in the alley in a daze.

"Leader..."

"Don't worry. At the very least, that girl really is strong. That benefits us too, doesn't it?"

"Mm..."

The lizardman leader thought for a while, then spoke to the dwarf beside him.

"Thaurissan, go look into them. They only just arrived in this city, so they should be fairly easy to investigate."

"Mm, leave it to me."

The Demon Race girl, however, sounded a little hesitant.

"Maybe we shouldn't... It feels dangerous..."

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. Anyway, we start working with them tomorrow. Any objections?"

"No."

"Mm..."