Breaking One's Word

On the streets of Ranoa, one of the Three Magic Nations, snowflakes drifted down. A black-haired boy carrying a sword walked side by side with a blue-haired girl in a mage's hat, holding a two-handed magic staff. Their figures stood out unexpectedly on the somewhat deserted street, drawing quite a few gazes.

Ah, it seemed the commotion from slaying the Red Dragons that morning had been rather huge.

A huge crowd had gathered outside the Adventurers' Guild, with countless adventurers blocking the entrance completely.

"Why aren't we getting paid? We participated in the Red Dragon subjugation too!"

"That's right! You nobles are going back on your word!"

A group of adventurers were complaining to a bald man.

Four guards maintained order nearby. Zoldat was among the protesting adventurers as well, but when he turned and saw Roxy and Cain approaching, he looked somewhat sheepish and walked over with an awkward smile.

"Yo, did you rest well, Cain, Roxy?"

Cain nodded and frowned slightly at the crowd outside the guild.

"What happened?! Looks like the feast is going to fall through."

"Tch, those damned nobles went back on their word! Of course, I'll still give you the reward I promised."

As he spoke, Zoldat took a bulging money pouch from his clothes and handed it to Cain.

"Including the valuable materials from the Red Dragons, it's forty Aras Gold Coins altogether."

Cain was somewhat astonished inside, but he had to restrain his emotions in public. He nodded slightly and tucked the pouch away, intending to split it with Teacher Roxy once they returned.

"Huh? That much?!" Teacher Roxy was far less guarded and let out a surprised cry, covering her little mouth. Her blue eyes sparkled.

Mm, Teacher Roxy's surprised expression was so cute.

Cain glanced at Roxy's slightly flushed, adorable face and smiled faintly without betraying a thing.

"Of course! After all, your excellent disciple, Sword God Cain, slew three Red Dragons all by himself. He's really capable!"

Cain raised an eyebrow as he watched Zoldat's gaze sweep between him and Teacher Roxy, his face sporting a comically gossiping expression.

Ah, suddenly I wanted to beat Zoldat up.

Roxy pursed her lips. She was a little embarrassed by his words, but she looked at the gathered crowd in confusion.

"Didn't they receive their rewards either?"

"No, even we haven't received our adventurer rewards. They said the Red Dragons were all killed by the Sword God alone, so why should they pay the rest of us?" Zoldat clicked his tongue unhappily.

"What a bunch of bastards!"

Cain frowned slightly and pulled out the money pouch.

"Then what's this money? Don't tell me they trusted you enough to hand over the reward for Teacher and me to you."

Roxy pursed her lips at that. Could this money be...

Zoldat gave a bitter laugh and scratched his cheek.

Behind him, Rina, Mia, Fira, and Bruce stepped forward, standing behind Zoldat. None of them looked particularly happy.

Something was wrong. Cain swept his eyes over their expressions and tightened his grip on the pouch slightly. It seemed this money had not come from those so-called nobles.

"Oh, right, Cain. This is for you." Zoldat pulled a crimson magic crystal from his clothes.

"A Red Dragon's magic crystal?!"

Roxy recognized the object in Zoldat's hand, covered her lips, and let out a surprised sound.

"Yeah. This was dug out of one of the Red Dragons. It's worth a great deal, but the right to deal with it belongs to you, Cain."

Roxy's eyes lit up at the sight of the red crystal. She leaned close to Cain's ear and spoke seriously.

"This should be able to serve as the core for that."

Cain immediately understood. Smiling faintly, he nodded and took the magic crystal from Zoldat, placing it in Roxy's arms.

"Sorry, but this seems pretty rare. I don't plan to sell it for now."

"Is that so? It's a shame, but you killed it, so you have the right to decide what happens to it."

Zoldat watched Roxy cradle the crystal like a precious treasure, curiously stroking it with her hand, and smiled faintly.

Cain kept saying he wasn't into little girls, but look how much he spoiled her.

Zoldat had assumed Cain wanted to give Roxy the Red Dragon's magic crystal as a gift.

Seeing the gloomy, complicated expressions on Zoldat, the three mages behind him, and the dwarf, Cain narrowed his eyes and weighed the money pouch in his hand.

"This isn't money from those nobles, is it...?"

Zoldat looked at Cain's serious eyes. Seeing that he could no longer hide it, he sighed helplessly.

"Actually, we're planning to disband the adventurer party. This money was scraped together at the last minute so we could fulfill the promise I made to you."

They really had sold the pot and pawned the iron...

Cain's eyelid twitched.

Roxy looked at Zoldat and the others, pursed her lips slightly, and tightened her grip on her staff.

Were these people idiots too? She wasn't going to take money that had bankrupted them. She believed Cain would not take it either. Besides, thanks to their adventurer party these past two days, she and Cain had been able to stay at a fine inn where they could bathe whenever they wanted.

"Why don't you go demand the reward from those nobles?"

Roxy could not hold herself back any longer. She did not want Zoldat's adventurer party to disband. That would be such a waste.

Zoldat scratched his head irritably and sighed.

"We went to see them this morning, but they have a Water King-class swordsman and a North King. We... we couldn't beat them."

"Is that so? Then that's easy."

Cain smiled faintly at that.

A Water King, huh? And a North King too? They dared swallow Teacher Roxy's and my money. That was truly outrageous!

"Where are they?"

Zoldat caught the money pouch Cain tossed back to him. Looking at the sharp-eyed boy, the corners of his mouth curled upward. Then he turned and shouted at the more than one hundred adventurers behind him.

"Hey! Lord Cain, the Second Sword God, is going to stand up for us! Brothers, let's go get our money back!"

At Zoldat's call, the adventurers' eyes reddened at the thought of recovering their rewards. After tying up the bald man and the four guards, they followed Zoldat and a solemn-faced Cain out.

Roxy's eye twitched slightly beside Cain. Looking at so many people, she felt a little flustered. Zoldat was obviously using her disciple as a weapon!

"I want ten percent."

"Deal."

Watching Cain bump fists with Zoldat beside him and seal the deal, Roxy's mouth twitched hard. Was it really okay for them to make such an open transaction? Shouldn't they at least avoid doing it in front of everyone...?

Roxy even began to suspect that her disciple Cain and Zoldat had arranged this in advance.

What surprised Roxy a little, however, was that all the surrounding adventurers readily accepted Cain's proposal and willingly agreed to hand over ten percent of their rewards.

"You're Cain's teacher, right? We've met before."

"Mm, h-hello..."

Roxy sensed a faint emotion coming from Rina, Mia, and Fira, the three smiling female mages beside her.

It felt like... jealousy...

Uh, but why would they be jealous of me?!

As she thought that, Roxy pursed her lips and unconsciously grabbed Cain's arm, shrinking slightly behind him.

The three women's smiles deepened, and Roxy felt that peculiar emotion grow even stronger...

"My lord, we've sent the adventurers away, but won't suppressing them like this cause trouble?"

After all, the Adventurers' Guild was a force that could not be ignored in any kingdom.

Darius, the bald man clad in expensive jewelry and silk, raised his brow. His hand, which had been roaming over the voluptuous woman sitting on his lap, came to a stop. The woman ceased her moaning and left at the fat man's signal.

"Those lowly commoners don't matter, do they? Besides, the king's birthday celebration is coming soon. These two thousand Asura Gold Coins can be used for the king's birthday, and besides..."

Darius narrowed his eyes as he looked at the photographs of Roxy Migurdia and Kayin Brand in his hand.

"We must stop them from destroying the Ranoa Kingdom!"