Chapter 340 – Tension in the Guild

Tension in the Guild

When Senkun called Hikaru’s name, the adventurers stirred.

「What’s with the kid?」

「He shows up here a lot. I think he buys grimoires or something.」

「A client? I heard he’s an adventurer who hangs out with the Four Stars of the East.」

The situation was not ideal for Hikaru. He’d done well so far not to gather public attention.

Using Mana Detection to scan the guild every single time was exhausting, and even the skill couldn’t really tell who exactly was inside. Nevertheless, someone like Selica who had enormous amount of mana would stand out, so he decided to at least do a quick scan next time.

「And the beautiful lady in black!」

Senkun jumped down from the chair, strode towards Selica, got down on one knee, took her hand and kissed it. His movements were so smooth that no one even had the chance to stop him.

「Whoa, whoa. What a riot! That is, like, my kinda thing, y’know.」

Gilliam the elf was laughing hysterically, tapping the counter. His reaction brought Selica back to her senses, and she gave Senkun’s face a frontal kick.

The adventurers screamed as Senkun rolled directly backwards. They were getting excited about a fight between A and B ranked adventurers.

「It’s just like Senkun to get, like, kicked right there.」

「True that.」

But neither Gilliam nor Nargo—both members of Sweet Pleasure—seemed to mind at all as they picked up Senkun.

Thank goodness. They all forgot about me, Hikaru thought.

「What’s with all the ruckus?」

Slowly, a tall, muscular man appeared at the guild entrance—a tiger-type Beastman.

「I-I-It’s Gotthold! From Einbeast’s rank A party, Polar Tiger!」

Once again, the adventurers were in an uproar.

Gotthold—with about ten people in tow—was an Einbeast adventurer. Gotthold admired their ruler, the Beastman King Gerhardt, and he was also a part of the expedition to the new continent.

But this was actually the first time they had come to this guild, and many adventurers didn’t know that Gotthold’s party would be here.

The Beastmen streamed in. Some were tall, some short, some male, some female. They were all demi-humans—from half-rabbit to half-wolf. There was even a dwarf.

「Hmm…」Gotthold’s eyes met Senkun’s, who was sitting on the floor holding his nose.「Ponsonia’s Sweet Pleasure. I’ve heard about you.」

「Oh, we know about you too. It’s a shame, really. I was gonna beat you all to a pulp if you invaded Ponsonia. 」

Senkun was referring to the time when Einbeast marched its troops to Ponsonia. In the end, no direct confrontation happened.

Gotthold was not just your typical, violent adventurer; he was a man of position. He didn’t fall for Senkun’s cheap provocations.

「I see. Well, that is indeed a shame.」

Ignoring Sweet Pleasure, Gotthold headed for the counter. Senkun seemed unamused, but he didn’t press it further.

「「How boring. You should’ve planted a trap right there. And you call yourself an adventurer?」」

Voices in perfect unison suddenly rang out. More adventurers appeared from inside—a pair of people with the exact same face.

They were tall and slender, but it didn’t seem like they had well-toned bodies. Except for their hairstyle—one parted to the left, the other to the right—Hikaru couldn’t glean any difference between the two.

I’m gonna call them L<>R. Such an absurd thought crossed only Hikaru’s mind.

Selyse, Senkun, and Gotthold were all on edge.

「I didn’t expect Huge Twins to be here.」

「Aw, shit. More trouble.」

「Ram and Leg. It’s been a while.」

They were famous, apparently. The other adventures started whispering among each other, restless.

(What’s going on? Are they bad news or something?)

Trying not to get involved, Hikaru took advantage of Selyse’s loosened grip and grabbed Lavia and Paula’s hands, fleeing to a corner with Group Obfuscation on.

「「We’re here, so you can all relax now. It’s all gonna be smooth sailing from here on out. Get it? Cause we’re going on ships! Hahaha!」」

「It looks like we need to discuss how to distribute the giant dragon stones.」Gotthold said.

The guild’s receptionist nodded.「Indeed. The guild also wants to know everything about the participating adventurers and divide them into units. Our top priority commission is to set up an Adventurers Guild branch in the new continent.」

「「Yeah. We can’t just sit around while the armies get dragon stones. Right, Gotty?」

「Bastard… How dare you address Lord Gotthold that way!」A young dog-type Beastman, also a member of PolarTiger, shot a glare at the twins. He was quite something, losing his temper over a name, even though Gotthold himself didn’t seem to mind at all.

「Don’t bother. Your words will only fall on deaf ears.」

「Come on, Gotty. You make it sound like you’ve said something to us before. You know we’ll do whatever you want. Just say the word.」

「Unfortunately, I don’t have time for a fight to the death.」

「「What a shame.」」

The pair—Hikaru was sure they were identical twins—shook their heads. Hikaru was surprised at how casually Gotthold said “fight to the death”.

So they’re strong enough that a fight between them would result in either of them dying.

Gotthold was a skilled sword user. Hikaru surmised he was stronger than Selyse, but weaker than Lawrence. Someone as strong as him was cautious around the twins.

Who are these people exactly?

The guildmaster invited Polar Tiger, Sweet Pleasure, and the Four Stars of the East inside. Selyse frowned at Hikaru’s sudden disappearance, but realized that running away was the wiser choice; no fun really in going inside with her.

Ram and Leg seemed to have already been briefed. As soon as the other parties were gone, they put a leather bag full of gold coins on the counter.

「「We heard Sweet Pleasure would treat you to drinks. Then we’ll buy information from you. Anyone with information about the new continent, come forward. The better the info, the more coins you’ll get.」」

For a moment the adventurers were stunned, but a second later, they rushed into the twins, roaring.

I can’t get close to check their Soul Boards like this. I’ll get an opportunity some other time.

Hikaru decided it would be better to revise their registration after today’s discussion among the higher-ranked parties. Getting assigned to a squad where he couldn’t move around would be terrible for him.

「Let’s head back to the hotel for now.」Hikaru said.

「Yeah.」

「O-Okay.」

The three headed out of the guild, and stopped.

「What the… Who are these guys?」

The guild was surrounded by men and women dressed in all black armor. Numbering over a hundred, they all seemed to be adventurers, judging by the various weapons they had. One of them was carrying a banner to indicate their affiliation.

Huge Twins.

The biggest and most powerful party of adventurers in the Empire of Quinbland.

It wasn’t long before Hikaru found out that each of them was a member.

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