In Short, Anger

"Mm... that should about do it."

I counted up the money we had earned over the past four months. You could say we had more than enough now.

Before, I had taken things too much for granted, thinking that as long as we accepted a request, we could finish it within a day. But reality was not that simple.

Even with my ability to detect things, there were times when I still could not find where the monsters were.

So requests were almost entirely a matter of luck. If we were lucky, we might find the monster in a single day and finish the job. If we were unlucky, it would take three or four days, or even a week or two.

I had bought a map too. From here, we just had to head south...

"What should about do it?"

Eris's voice came from behind me.

"The money. We've earned just about enough. Next, it's time to head to the next city. Hmm... There's probably about another year or so of traveling left, and once we reach Wind Port, we'll have to take a ship..."

"A ship!! I've never been on one! When are we leaving?"

"The day after tomorrow. Tomorrow I'll turn in all the requests, and say goodbye to those people while I'm at it."

"Okay! Also! Rudeus, teach me Demon God Language!"

"What's this about? Why do you suddenly want to learn that?"

"Because it's really annoying not understanding anything all the time!"

"Fair point... Mm, we'll start tonight. You can learn together with Aisha."

"Mm... Also... Rudeus..."

"Th-there's more?"

Eris fidgeted awkwardly, her cheeks faintly flushed.

What was she trying to do...?

Though I had no romantic experience in my previous life, the way Eris looked right now really resembled a girl about to confess her feelings.

Could it be!

Hm? Hadn't Eris already confessed to me? What was I getting so excited for?

After fidgeting for a while, Eris spoke.

"Tomorrow! Will you go around the market with me!?"

"Uh... Don't we do that together all the time?"

"That's not what I mean! This time... I want... just the two of us..."

A d-date?

Uh...

"Ah... Mm."

"Does that mean yes?!"

"Mm..."

"Yay! Then I'm going back to teach Aisha swordsmanship first. Rudeus, go do your own things!"

And just like that, Eris dashed back to the inn in a flash.

"Lord Rudeus, we've found out about those people you asked us to investigate."

"That took you long enough. I'm about to leave, and only now you give me the list."

"Sorry... It's because we still had to do missions as usual..."

I tossed them two silver coins.

"No need to explain. I'll be leaving this city in a couple of days. You did well. You actually got me raised to B-rank."

Though it had only happened right as I was about to leave.

If it had been a month earlier, I could have earned a lot more money...

"Heh heh, well, no matter what, we are among the very top C-rank parties. Getting you raised to B-rank wasn't hard."

"Mm. You did well. That's that, then. We probably won't see each other again."

"Then we wish you a safe journey, Lord Rudeus."

"Mm."

After saying goodbye to them, I found the party I had been cooperating with, Song of the Four Seasons, and explained the situation to them.

"I see. So you're leaving this city."

"Yes. So our cooperative relationship ends here. Until we meet again, I suppose."

"Until we meet again! You are an exceptionally capable support mage, and your older sister is an incredibly strong swordswoman. We'll probably remember you forever. Next time we meet, let's have a drink together."

"Heh heh. If we do meet again in the future, I should be old enough to drink by then."

Although it had started purely because of money, after four months together, I had still developed some feelings for them.

Friends born from a relationship of mutual profit...?

Honestly, that was not so bad. At least over these four months, the three members of that party had not rubbed me the wrong way. They were greedy, but they knew their limits, which made them much better than the other Demon Race members I had met.

I walked out of the guild doors and headed toward the inn. After coming out of a narrow side alley, a Demon Race member stepped in front of me and blocked my way.

He had the head of a bull. I was not sure exactly what race he was, but he was probably some kind of Demon Race, right?

Based on what I had observed over these four months, those with animal-like heads were collectively called Demon Race, while those with human-like heads that retained some beastly traits were Beastmen.

"You're Rudeus Greyrat, right?"

"What do you want?"

"I've been hearing a lot about you and your older sister lately."

"Oh? We only take commissions like gathering herbs and finding lost animals. That was enough to catch your attention?"

"Yeah. To think you became B-rank relying on jobs like that. Pretty impressive."

"Well, thank you for the compliment. In that case, I'll be going."

I had only turned and taken two steps when I found two more people had appeared to block me.

One was a pig-headed man, and the other was a somewhat scrawny Lizardman.

"May I ask what this is about?"

"Rudeus Greyrat. You commissioned other parties to help you complete jobs that belonged to your own party, and at the same time, you cooperated with the B-rank party Song of the Four Seasons, while you were only F-rank at the time. Am I wrong?"

Looks like I had been exposed... But I clearly dealt with the witnesses every time. Where had it gone wrong?

I sighed.

"You're pretty well informed. But that's not really a big deal, is it? The guild actually knows. They've always turned a blind eye. As long as both sides of the cooperation have no complaints, they won't interfere."

"Not a bad point. But it's different when someone reports it. I did a proper investigation, you know. And... you have a younger sister too, don't you? Although you often keep her at the inn, you occasionally take her out for a stroll when you're resting, right?"

Looks like I would have to strengthen my counter-surveillance ability in the future...

"So? What do you want?"

"Nothing much. You and Song of the Four Seasons have been taking A-rank jobs. You must have earned quite a lot, right? Leave half of it behind."

"You know full well I've been taking A-rank jobs, and you still dare to threaten me? Aren't you afraid I'll kill you?"

"Of course I'm afraid. But isn't your younger sister still at the inn right now? We already sent people there. Besides, you're only a support mage. I waited until after I saw your older sister leave before coming to find you..."

Ah...

Without thinking, I froze the lower halves of all three of them.

Maybe it was a conditioned reflex from hearing them threaten me with Aisha.

"What... what are you doing!"

"Eris already went to the inn. And my younger sister is an intermediate mage, so I don't need to worry."

"Huh...?"

"Who told you so much about me?"

"I investigated—"

Snap!

I used water magic to cut off one of his arms directly.

He was so strong, but before magic, he was so fragile.

It was like those strong people in my previous life. No matter how much they trained, they still could not withstand a bullet.

"Aaaaaah! I'll talk! I'll talk! It was that C-rank party you commissioned! We captured one of them and kept torturing him until he told us! As for your cooperation with Song of the Four Seasons, that dwarf leaked it when he got drunk!"

...I could understand the dwarf, at least. After all, he drank himself into a stupor every day. It was only natural that he might let something slip.

But... so someone from that C-rank party I commissioned had been captured by them...

No wonder they suddenly said one of their members had gone missing before. So he had been caught.

"Hmm... you're called Noskba, right?"

The panic in the bull-headed man's eyes intensified, and he shouted loudly.

"You... how do you know my name?!"

"Because I investigated you too. After all, compared to me, you seem to be the more famous one."

"What... what do you mean...?"

"You never take commissions, your rank is forever stuck at B, yet you can spend your days living it up in the guild... You've probably been threatening other newcomers like this before, right? I investigated every person like you, but you're probably the stupidest of them all."

As I spoke, I used magic to cut off the heads of the Lizardman and the pig-headed man.

Northback screamed in terror at the sight.

"I'm sorry!! I'm sorry... I... I only used to make those newcomers give me one-third of the money they earned from commissions! I saw that you seemed to be making a lot of money, so I lost my head! I was wrong!! I have a wife and three children at home. I beg you... spare me this once..."

"Looks like you really care about your family. I'm the same in that regard... I understand you, so I won't kill you."

"Y-You're... willing to let me off this once...?"

"Yeah. I won't kill you. Your home is over in the western district, right? I looked into it."

"Y-Yes..."

Northback, frozen in place by me, was too terrified to speak, shivering as cold sweat streamed down him.

"In this world, my family is the thing I value most. In my last life, I failed to treat my mother well. I failed to treat my only family well."

"W-What... are you talking about...?"

"In this life, I said I'd treasure my family. Even if my family were scum, criminals, people the world could never forgive, I'd still stand on my family's side."

Noskba swallowed and looked in terror at the monster he had provoked.

"My adventurer status actually isn't that important to me."

"Wh-What... do you mean...?"

"I mean... you actually! Dared to use! My! Little sister! To threaten me! You even! Thought! I'd bow my head to you! Because of this worthless status!?"

With every word I said, I slammed a punch into his face.

"No! No... I was wrong..."

Once his face was swollen and bruised, I withdrew my fist.

"You know... right now, I really hate you Demon Race people who show up out of nowhere. You're ugly, stupid, and incredibly greedy. It's not just you. A lot of the Demon Race are like this... Because of my teacher, I once thought I could manage not to discriminate against the Demon Race... but I was wrong. Teacher is fundamentally different from all of you..."

"I was wrong... never again... never..."

Northback's tears and snot streamed down his face, disgusting to look at.

"Don't worry. I keep my word. I won't kill you."

"R-Really...? Thank... thank you!!!"

I took out the cloth strip of the Arrogant Water Dragon King.

I looked left and right for a while.

The western district, huh...

"What are you doing...?"

"Mm... you threatened me with my family. I only promised not to kill you. I never said I'd spare your family, did I? Besides, you should be praying. This is wide-area saint-level magic. If your family's lucky and happens to be in a cellar, they might survive."

"Wh-What... But... there are lots of innocent people!?"

"Then what should we do? Why don't you tell me your family's exact address? That way, we can save those innocent people, can't we?"

"No way!! You definitely wouldn't dare do this!! There are so many innocent people in the western district! If you do this and get found out, you'll only be sentenced to death!!"

"I see..."

I raised my staff, pointed it toward the western district, and slowly spoke.

"Hah... majestic spirits of light, Thunder Emperor who rules the sky! Do you see the one standing tall? That is the enemy of the arrogant Thunder Emperor! I desire to hold the sacred sword in hand and become one who strikes down the foe with a single blow! With the shining power of radiant light, reveal the majesty of the Thunder Emperor!"

With a rumble, lightning began to fall from the sky over there. It wasn't one bolt or two, but countless bolts of lightning crashing down nonstop all at once.

At the same time, I also released the freezing magic on Northback.

"All right. Go try and save your family."

Northback screamed and ran toward the disaster-like zone of falling lightning.

Looks like my date with Eris tomorrow was going to fall through...