Clearing out the goblins

Guligus had always kept a death grip on his authority, refusing to let anyone lay a finger on it. Of course, the guildmaster and deputy guildmasters were people the old man would never dare provoke—at least not at this stage.

But recently, a woman seemed poised to climb over his head and start giving him orders. How could Guligus possibly stomach that? Worse still, she had no powerful backing. Why stick your nose into this when you have no one behind you, woman? You really don't know how high the heavens are or how deep the earth runs!

"Oh, right, Miss Yue Sisi. If you're planning to bring this up at the next meeting and have everyone debate whether my decision was appropriate, save your breath!" Guligus continued.

"Before that, I'd be delighted to share some happy news with you. I intend to request your demotion, Miss Yue Sisi!" A smile crept onto Guligus's lips, as though victory were already in his grasp.

Given the circumstances, Yue Sisi truly had no room to fight back. Guligus ranked one level above her, and his authority happened to cover every area of hers. At the next guild meeting, the issue he raised would inevitably be addressed first.

And once Yue Sisi had been dealt with, she would have no chance whatsoever of turning the tables.

Yue Sisi bit her soft lip, unable to say another word. Even with reason and evidence on her side, she could not prevail against Guligus, her superior.

Meanwhile, Dean seemed to have realized something. Yue Sisi—that name sounded remarkably similar to Mousse. Almost... like the names of two sisters.

That was it. No wonder Yue Sisi looked somewhat familiar. She and Mousse bore a certain resemblance.

By now, there seemed to be no way to salvage the situation.

"What are you waiting for? Do you think my words are nothing but hot air?" Guligus snapped at the young man standing before Lamore and Yanxi.

The young man was deeply embarrassed, too. With the adventurers around him pointing and whispering, he felt as though he were helping a tyrant commit his atrocities. But he had no choice. If he kept standing there in a daze without doing anything, he would lose this precious job.

"I'm sorry, Miss Kana. Please hand me your team badge." Ignoring Lamore and Yanxi's attempts to block him, the young man held out his hand, gesturing for Kana to surrender the badge.

But Kana seemed not to have heard Guligus's order or seen the young man's outstretched hand. She merely stared blankly at Dean.

"Dean, after all this effort, are we really... really just a small-fry team? We've worked so hard, but we're still just small fry, aren't we?" Guligus's repeated use of the words "small-fry team" had clearly gotten to her.

Kana had poured so much energy into this team, spending countless days and nights working hard to complete quests.

Yet now, this old man had appeared out of nowhere and dismissed all that effort with a single remark. Perhaps if that were all he had done, Kana would not have cared so much. But now even their team's reputation was being dropped two levels for no good reason. How could she not care?

Kana seemed utterly deflated, all the strength draining from her body.

"Maybe. But what do you think, deep down? We started out knowing nothing, and now we've learned the ropes through practice." Dean himself could not say for certain whether their team was small fry.

Perhaps, viewed from a certain height, they truly were small fry. Every adventurer in Blue Town might fall into that category. In the eyes of someone stronger, who wasn't small fry?

"I think I've grown. When I first joined the team, I couldn't even cast Basic Illumination properly. Didn't you go out of your way to find a few little nighttime quests to help me get the hang of it?" Dean smiled as he spoke. Those days truly were worth looking back on.

Lamore turned to look at his young team leader, then shook his head and sighed. "So what if we're small fry? We're us. As long as we believe we did it, that we succeeded, what does it matter if we're small fry? What's the point of that question?"

Yanxi said nothing, but the shy young girl smiled at Kana as well.

Kana's spirits lifted at once. That was right. How could the team she had worked so hard to build crumble overnight because of a single remark from that old man Guligus?

"You have nothing more to do here. Go back. I won't be handing over the team badge," Kana told the young man pleasantly, sending him away.

Then Kana met Guligus's gaze. Her eyes were so resolute that even the old man was taken aback. How had the fragile little girl from a moment ago become so—difficult to deal with?

The young man had the good sense to slip away without drawing attention. Guligus was focused entirely on Kana and failed to notice the insignificant employee's escape.

"Oh? Refusing to obey management? I'm the one who calls the shots here. If you won't accept having your team reputation lowered to level three, you can start all over again!" Guligus was angry now, too. Since when had his words carried so little weight? As the hall supervisor of Blue Town's only Adventurers' Guild hall, his word was practically absolute.

"You! Yes, you again. Never mind the badge. Just wipe out Kana's team's reputation level. Put them back at level one!" Guligus ordered. Naturally, he was addressing the same young man, who had only just returned to his station. His seat had not even warmed before this order came down.

"I..." The young man's hands trembled. Why him? Wiping out every honor point belonging to a team with level-five honor reputation was unprecedented—utterly unheard of. It was also completely against regulations.

What had he done to deserve this? On one side was the hall supervisor's command. As the highest-ranking person here, whatever he said went. On the other side were the rules, which could not simply be broken.

Weren't they going to be the death of him? That was it. Without even realizing it, he had become a sacrificial pawn in the battle between Yue Sisi and Guligus. His sacrifice would not even have the slightest value.

One was the counter supervisor, the other the hall supervisor. He could not afford to offend either of them. Besides, the hall supervisor seemed to have swallowed gunpowder today, his temper was so explosive. Why else would he outright destroy a rapidly growing new team?

"Xiao Gang, get back to your own work. I'll handle this." Just as the young man was at a complete loss, someone patted his shoulder. That touch nearly made his legs give way.

"G-guildmaster? What brings you out here?" the young man stammered.

But Guildmaster Rukta did not answer him. Instead, he surveyed the entire hall, his expression grave.

His expression cast a pall over the whole hall. Without keeping anyone in suspense, Rukta announced, "I'm posting a bounty quest effective immediately. Clear out the goblins that have emerged from the Northwestern Magic Beast Forest. Proof of a kill from one adult goblin can be exchanged at the guild for one silver coin. There is no limit!"

(End of chapter)