Chapter 98

"Alright, that's enough."

I stopped Fenyi from putting the gold coins he had taken out into his own account, raising my voice loudly and brightly so that everyone around could hear.

"Huh? What... gee!? A Jinnoid!?"

Fenyi, who had turned around, saw the Jinnoid standing behind me and let out a strange voice. The two female members reacted faster than Fenyi. They tried to quietly move away from the scene, but it wasn't that easy.

"Where are you going, miss? It's not nice to leave the guy behind, is it?"

With my first raised voice, everyone's attention was on us. The two women, who had tried to escape, noticed the eyes of the crowd and clicked their tongues. They looked at me with intense eyes, but honestly, I wasn't scared. It was a pity, but I often faced such looks from my family, which made me feel hollow.

Since there was no stepping stool here, I took out my own from my magic bag. I had gotten a wooden box just in case. I got on it and looked at the staff member on the other side of the counter, who seemed unaware of what was happening.

"Hey, miss."

I spoke in a loud voice.

"That big guy, the Jinnoid, was just declared dead by you and had his deposit withdrawn without permission."

"Huh?"

"Can you not kill him without permission? Why don't you check the tag? You withdrew the money without any verification just now, right? What's the point of the tag? Do you just believe it because they're party members? Or can you withdraw without a tag? Maybe our money has been withdrawn without permission too?"

"Uh, no, that's not..."

The crowd started to murmur.

"I know, you know. To prevent such things, there's a rule that you can't touch an account for six months if the person is declared dead or missing. Even party members can't withdraw, as stated in the guidebook we were told to read when we became adventurers. Do you not know this, miss?"

The female staff member's eyes darted around, looking for help from her companions, but no one spoke up. Whether it was a lizard's tail or just her problem, I couldn't tell.

"I... didn't know..."

"No, saying 'I didn't know' doesn't cut it. That's a problem in itself, isn't it? If a staff member doesn't know the rules that even I know, how is that? We risk our lives to earn money, and you handle it so casually. Is our life treated the same way? Anyone can be declared dead and erased from the records, right? You even listened to the death report with a smile just now, didn't you?"

"That... wasn't my intention..."

The staff member bowed her head. Yeah, yeah, I was being quite nasty. I was deliberately speaking in a loud, theatrical, and sticky tone, but it was starting to feel gross. Well, what's next?

"So, why are you acting so innocent? You just killed the Jinnoid without permission."

I looked up at Fenyi, who was standing next to me. He seemed to have let his guard down since I started confronting the staff member. He panicked under the attention of the crowd.

"What are you talking about! We really thought he was dead! We fought hard too! When we came back here, we were covered in blood!"

"Hmm. Then let's ask the guards later if you came back covered in blood."

"No, we healed before entering the city."

"Interesting. You ran the horse covered in blood but took the time to heal before entering the city. Why didn't you heal right away? And if you had a magic or potion that could completely heal the blood, why didn't you help the Jinnoid?"

"That's... No, that's it, we met a merchant on the way!"

What a poor liar. Why did the Jinnoid have to spend two months with such people?

"By the way, what happened to the dung? Did you sell it already?"

Fenyi frowned at my sudden change of topic.

"We don't have any Gandora dung!"

Hmm. Then, what did the Jinnoid die from?

"I just asked what happened to the dung. I didn't say anything about Gandora."

Fenyi blushed.

"Wait a minute. Did you just say Gandora?"

Suddenly, a well-dressed lady in men's clothing appeared through the crowd that had formed. A man who had been talking to her earlier followed behind. He was a nervous-looking, bespectacled older man who was sweating profusely and moving his eyes restlessly.

"Ah, it's Laurei, right? I'm glad you made it to the city safely."

Laurei smiled at me, squinting her eyes.

"Hey. I thought it was a grand speech, but it's you. Thanks to you. Would you like to hear his story?"

"Sure."

Fenyi was taken aback by the sudden appearance of the new person. She couldn't even bark at her.

"Sorry for the interruption. I'm Laurei, a B-rank adventurer. I have a few questions, is that okay?"

Laurei is B-rank. Wow. She doesn't seem to have any weapons, so how does she fight?

"Did you face the Gandora? Did you take a quest, by any chance? The Guild Master said no one had taken it, but things might change depending on the circumstances."

Laurei directed the last part to the bespectacled older man. Ah, he's the Guild Master.

Fenyi shook her head vigorously.

"No, we didn't take it. The Gandora thing is just what they said!"

"Why would I lie? I have nothing to gain from it."

I swatted away the finger pointing at me.

"To be honest, I don't really care about the Gandora. I wanted to know why you left the Jinnoid behind and ran away. It's simple, you were after the Jinnoid's money, right?"

"What are you saying! We fought hard. It was a tough decision to leave him behind. The Gandora was much harder than expected, and my sword..."

"Oh, so you did fight the Gandora?"

"No, that was a mistake..."

"You're saying different things now. Why are you lying?"

Laurei, who had been listening to our conversation, interjected, looking displeased.

"That's not..."

"What's not? You did try to deal with the Gandora, didn't you? Oh, what a disaster! When I heard there was a quest to slay the Gandora, I couldn't believe my ears, but it's real, and someone actually tried it!"

Laurei dramatically looked up to the sky.

"It's a natural disaster. Adventurers living in the area should be informed not to deal with it. Yet, the Guild Master himself didn't know about it, which is unacceptable."

Her angry gaze turned to the bespectacled older man, who was sweating and shrinking.

"The quest was accepted by a staff member..."

"You didn't train them properly, did you? From what I heard, the handling of death reports and deposits is quite sloppy. I'll report this to the headquarters, so be prepared."

Huh? Laurei isn't just a regular adventurer, is she? The Guild Master is sweating like he's about to dry up.

"You too. Falsifying the death of a party member is unacceptable. I'll hear your story thoroughly."

Fenyi's mouth opened and closed like a fish, intimidated by the beautiful and intimidating face of Laurei.

"And you too."

Then, the receptionist. She jumped up with a "Hai!"

"And you. I'd like to hear more. Is that possible?"

Me too. Well, that makes sense.

"Of course. I swear to tell the truth."

I bowed a bit theatrically, and Laurei's expression softened. She raised her slender hand and snapped her fingers. Suddenly, black-clad men appeared from nowhere.

"Take them to separate rooms."

"What, what's going on?"

"Kyaa! Let go of me!"

"Wait! I didn't know!"

Fenyi, the two women, and the Guild Master were each led away by the men. Seriously, who are these people? They've completely taken control. Well, I didn't want to stand out, so it's fine. Koushin might say I made a grand entrance, but to be fair, Koushin and the others didn't interfere but made sure they didn't escape.

Black-clad men also followed us. Oh, before that, I need to collect the Jinnoid's money.