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Volume 2 Chapter 18 - The Foolish Adventurers

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Having overran the bullfangs on the 20th floor leaving only a few dozen of them around the hole where Lionel was holed up, Allen hurried to the 9th floor.

That was because it took him more time than expected to deal with the abnormally large number of bullfangs, and if he returned slowly, it seemed like he wouldn't be able to make it in time for the afternoon when he was planning on delivering the medicinal herbs.

Then, once Allen arrived at the 9th floor of Lilac Dungeon, which was unpopular because only treants that are unprofitable to adventurers appear there, he defeated treants and processed them into building materials using carpentry tools such as saws.

Regarding treants, if you tried to take them with you in the state you defeated them, you would be limited to one or two, and it was clear from the unpopularity of this floor that you wouldn't be able to make much money with that.

This time, the main purpose was to show Rebecca how Allen himself is making something using treant wood, in order to show why the interior of their home had changed. By demonstrating his skill, he wanted to prove that Allen himself had done the renovations.

He took a detour because he had some free time and ended up getting involved in something important, but his original purpose hadn't changed.

There was no need to prepare that much if he just wanted to show off his skills, but Allen thought it would be better to show that he could make money by hunting treants at the same time.

Because he thought it would be easier to convince Rebecca that way.

Rebecca was very strict about money, as evidenced by the fact that she became a merchant. This can be seen from the fact that Rebecca, the youngest, was in charge of Allen's household finances until she left.

This strictness can be seen in the fact that even after she left the house, Allen continued to keep track of the household accounts, albeit very simply. He was sloppy enough to only collect copies of the request forms he accepted each month though.

The money from selling treant building materials to Brandt Workshop that Nick belonged to, which Allen intended to use to prove that he regularly went to pick up treant building materials that he used to renovate the interior, was properly recorded there.

That amount of money was much higher than taking home an entire treant.

It was such an amount that Rebecca would accept that it was not unnatural to bring treants if he could sell them for that amount. As for why that would be the case...

“Phew, this is about right. I feel like it's a bit of a waste, but I guess I'll hold back this time.” (Allen)

Allen let out a deep breath after he finished processing the treant. In front of Allen were lined up several pieces of building material approximately 4 meters long that had been precisely cut into 150 mm squares.

This 150 mm square was the standard thickness used for pillars in this Lilac City, and it was the building material that would be most appreciated when delivered to Brandt Workshop.

That's no wonder, as a treant wood, a building material made from monsters, was strong, long-lasting, and extremely resistant to insect damage, but it did have its drawbacks.

That was its difficulty to process. Because it was much harder than ordinary wood, more time and labor was required to process it.

The reason the treant building materials brought in by Allen were bought at a high price was because they had already been processed and were ready for use. In other words, processing fees were taken into account.

“This much should get me tens of thousands of zenny, so there should be no problem. Now then, I guess I'll collect the medicinal herbs and go home quickly.” (Allen)

Allen started walking, carrying the processed building materials, which had been bundled into a bundle about the thickness of a treant, on his shoulder. He had already found the location where the medicinal herb was located, and would be able to return home immediately after collecting it.

The place where the medicinal herbs were growing was near the route from the 9th floor to the 10th floor, so Allen was a little worried that they might have been harvested, so he headed there a little faster.

Arriving near the area, Allen was relieved to find that the medicinal herbs hadn’t been collected, but immediately after that, he heard voices that sounded like they were arguing and he reflexively hid.

(Wait, why did I hide? Well, I guess it’s fine. It smells like trouble anyway.) (Allen)

Allen, who had been hiding behind a tree trunk to hide his presence, gradually began to hear the contents clearly.

The people themselves may have intended to keep their voices quiet, but perhaps letting their guard down because the floor was unpopular, their voices gradually heated up and got louder.

“Like I said, We got no choice! Pierre and Milosh are dead, you know. And you want us to become slaves on top of that?!” (Adventurer 1)

“I don't want that either. But to abandon the benefactor who saved us...”  (Adventurer 2)

“We didn’t abandon them or anything, they're already dead. Don't pretend to be a good guy now, dammit!” (Adventurer 1)

“Calm down, you two. Your voices are too loud.” (Adventurer 3)

Curious about the contents, Allen glanced from behind the tree and saw four adventurers in tattered equipment walking along. Among them, a large man was grabbing a slightly timid-looking adventurer by the collar and snorted before letting go of his hand.

A tall man who was mediating between the two let out a deep breath and looked worriedly at a young woman who was trudging along next to him, looking depressed.

Allen recognized the appearance of those four people. They were the adventurers who had been chased by the bullfangs on the 20th floor, so it was natural that he recognized them.

The moment Allen realized this, a flame of anger against the adventurers lit up in his chest, but he suppressed it by taking a slow, quiet deep breath.

In fact, most of the bullfangs had been taken out by Allen, so he knew that [Lionel]'s crisis had already passed, and he thought it would make more sense to have the returning [Lionel] judge them.

Even so, Allen still felt a little irritated as he watched the four of them leave.

Then, he shook his head slightly to shake it off and let out a deep breath to change his mood.

(Seems like I passed them before I knew it. I hurried back to make it in time for the delivery in the afternoon, so... ah!) (Allen)

‘No wonder I passed them,’ right as Allen thought that, he realized a certain fact and his expression quickly changed to a miserable one.

“I forgot the bullfang's meat. I was planning to freeze it, cut it up, and bring it home too.” (Allen)

Saying that, Allen slumped his shoulders and let out a big sigh.

.

.

.

After delivering the medicinal herbs that he had carefully collected, Allen turned down the client's invitation to watch his potion research today as well, saying that his sister had come home for the first time in a while, so he temporarily went home, and placed the treant building materials in the corner of the room.

The note Allen left when he went out was still on the table, and there was no sign that Rebecca had come here.

“Hmm, if she was here, I thought about showing her how I make something with treant wood or going shopping with her, but... Alright, for now, I guess I’ll go buy some ingredients for dinner to welcome her. Might as well go to the Guild to get today’s reward.” (Allen)

Allen was a little nervous when he entered the house, but Rebecca wasn't there, so his nervousness disappeared.

Allen was a little disappointed that Rebecca wasn’t at home even though he went out of his way to come back, but he quickly changed his mood and left the house again, thinking that Rebecca probably had a lot going on since she had become a merchant.

Allen walked through the city and visited the shops, thinking about the food that Rebecca liked for the welcome, and bought some good vegetables and other things that were a little more expensive than usual, and headed towards the Adventurers’ Guild with light steps.

That was to receive his daily wage of 30,000 zenny for the medicinal herb collection request.

As usual, Allen opened the door to the Adventurers’ Guild and headed towards Matilda.

At that moment, an adventurer came flying from the front, as if aiming for Allen.

“UOOOOH!!” (Allen)

Allen avoided it while protecting the ingredients he bought. Perhaps thanks to trying so hard to avoid it that he reflexively screamed, the ingredients he bought for Rebecca survived without a single scratch.

“Oi, what the hell are you doing?” (Allen)

Allen, who couldn't help but yell, tilted his head slightly when he saw the fallen adventurer's face ahead of his gaze. It was one of the adventurers he had seen several times today; one of the people who was chased by bullfangs, it was the large man who grabbed his companion by the collar during their argument on the 9th floor.

Allen glanced left and right to assess the situation, and immediately noticed that there was an unusually murderous atmosphere within the Guild.

Then he spotted Matilda beckoning him behind the counter, and quickly left the place to avoid getting involved.

“What’s going on?” (Allen)

When Allen arrived at Matilda's side and asked her this as the first thing he said, Matilda unusually furrowed her brows, and while looking like she was reluctant to speak, she opened her mouth.

“That adventurer just now was from a silver class party that came to Lilac a week ago, but it seems that bullfangs killed some of his friends on the 20th floor.” (Matilda)

“They were probably just getting majorly carried away, weren’t they? They reap what they sow.” (Allen)

“He was saying that other adventurers provoked the large herd of bullfangs. And that party, from what I’ve heard, was [Lionel].” (Matilda)

“Aah, so that’s how it is.” (Allen)

Matilda's words gave Allen a general idea of what was going on.

It wasn't that Allen wasn't angry, thinking ‘How dare they lie?’ but even more so was the feeling of ‘They sure are completely digging their own grave.’

And a scene that seemed to prove it was unfolding before Allen's eyes.

“There's no way Lionel-san would do something like that!” (Lilac Adventurer 1)

“That party is the admiration of every adventurer from this city! If you’re trying to blame them for monsters... even if you’re a silver class, I won’t let you off, you bastard!” (Lilac Adventurer 2)

The adventurers inside the Guild started punching the large man who was trying to stand up.

Fighting within the Guild was supposed to be prohibited, but the atmosphere didn't feel like it could be brought up.

“What do we do with this?” (Allen)

“I don't care. Besides, aren't you worried, Allen? Isn’t Lionel your friend?” (Matilda)

“At least call it a rotten connection. Or rather, I’m a wood class, there's no point in me worrying about them.” (Allen)

Allen and Matilda watched the one-on-many brawl while having a conversation as if it were no one else's business. ‘Really, what do we do with this?’ as Allen began thinking that, the door to the Guild slowly opened, and what appeared from there was a man in his prime equipped with a large shield.

That man looked around, then turned his gaze to the men who were continuing to brawl.

“Old Man Joseph, he’s come at a good time.” (Allen)

“He has a job of guiding the ones who’ll use the level up trap at night starting today after all.” (Matilda)

“Oh, so that talk’s been sorted out, huh. But it's still early, you know. Being way too serious is so like the Old Man though.” (Allen)

Ignoring the two who continued their conversation, Joseph held up his greatshield and dashed toward the men who continued to brawl.

His movements were so light that you wouldn’t feel his age of 46 or the weight of the greatshield, and even at such speed, the shield hardly wavered, showing his masterful technique.

Then, Joseph suddenly stopped the greatshield he had pushed out in front of the brawling men.

The wind pressure caused by the greatshield shook the men's hair.

“Fights within the guild are prohibited.” (Joseph)

Hearing those words that were short but with the weight characteristic of an elder, the adventurers who had been attacking the man reluctantly pulled back, perhaps because the blood in their heads had cooled.

Seeing this, Joseph nodded twice in satisfaction, relaxed his expression, and went straight into the back of the Guild as if nothing had happened.

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