episode_0031

“Here, this is the Silver Badge. Please return the Bronze Badge.”

I returned the Bronze Badge that I had been carrying around for a long time to the guild counter.

The newly received Silver Badge was a sparkling silver badge that seemed to be shaped like an eagle’s head.

Now, I finally had a cool-looking badge befitting of an adventurer.

Thanks to Nigel submitting a good evaluation for me and Silphy, I was able to safely upgrade to a Silver Adventurer.

It seems that the threat of spreading embarrassing rumors had a better effect than expected.

As we disbanded, I parted ways with a feeling of “just wait and see” on my face, but it doesn’t matter.

What can a petty guy like him do even if he holds a grudge?

As soon as I left the guild, a mushroom-headed girl nodded at me.

“Um… Thank you! Thanks to you, I became a Silver adventurer safely!”

It was none other than Silphy.

She showed me the shiny Silver Badge she had received not long ago, smiling brightly.

But no matter how you look at it, she looks like a mushroom.

With such a perfect mushroom head, I wonder if she pays a lot of attention to her hair usually.

Anyway, seeing Silphy happy to receive the Silver Badge, I felt proud for no reason.

“Even weirdos like Nigel flaunt their Silver badges, so of course you should have received it.”

“Hehe….”

“I just made sure you received what you deserved.”

“Yunoa had the urge to touch Silphy’s mushroom-like head but managed to resist it.

What would it feel like to touch that head? Would it be soft or smooth? What scent would it have?

Would it smell like mushrooms? I want to smell it. These thoughts were swirling around in Yunoa’s mind.

No, I didn’t have such thoughts…

Yunoa’s desire, which now aimed beyond the underwear of a saint and the tail of a mermaid to the forehead of a fellow adventurer, did not know how to stop.

In the world, people like Yunoa were called perverts. She was the only one who didn’t know that.

I didn’t know, I really didn’t have such thoughts, right?

I thought I was showing a cool side to Silphy just now.

She’s determined to label me as a perverted trash at every opportunity.

Well, it doesn’t matter.

It’s not something that others will hear, and there is a lot of helpful content in reality.

The narration is not cursing me for a day or two.

“If you’re okay, let’s work together next time we have the chance!”

Silphy clasped her small hands in front of her chest and looked up at me.

I’m fine with that. In a world where weirdos like Nigel are adventurers.

Compared to that, Silphy is quite skilled, kind, and cute.

I nodded slowly and reached out my hand to gently touch Silphy’s mushroom-like head.

It felt like touching a cloud, soft and strange, making me feel good.

“Then! See you next time! Senior Yunoa!”

Silphy smiled brightly, bowed to me, and left.

Huh? What did she say?

Senior?

* * *

The Demon Castle Kutranux.

The 5th Demon Lord, Versella, was furious.

In front of her was Lord Javiel, who had returned after failing to assassinate the hero Cain.

Having lived in human form for decades, he knelt before Versella in his original demon form.

“You failed to kill the hero? Then what was the point of all the effort you put in so far!”

“I-I’m sorry. The hero’s resistance was unexpectedly fierce…”

Javiel bowed his head with a pained expression.

After Cain was designated as the new hero, Javiel immediately attacked him when he was alone.

But the hero managed to fend off Javiel’s attack.

Now that I’ve just become a hero, I never thought that a back-alley kid like me would have that kind of power.

Javiel’s plan to quickly deal with the hero and escape went awry as the fight dragged on.

“But the hero has suffered a fatal injury. We will definitely be able to defeat him next time.”

“It’s meaningless if we don’t kill him for sure!”

Bercella shouted at Javiel.

She was trembling with anxiety.

Would she end up being killed without even being able to properly resist the hero wielding the holy sword like her father, the former Demon King?

She had tried to eliminate the hero before he could grow into a threat in order to avoid becoming like her father, the former Demon King.

But even though they had found the hero so quickly, the assassination had failed. Was it already too late?

“M… M……”

Bercella’s lips trembled as if she was trying to say something.

Javiel knelt in front of her, waiting for the next words of the Demon King.

“I’m scared…! It’s terrifying! The hero is terrifying!”

“B-Bercella…”

“You all know what kind of being the hero is. You know what they did to my father!”

“We will do our best to protect the Demon King.”

“It’s useless! No matter how much you struggle or what you do, once the hero sets foot in Kutranux, it’s all over!”

Bercella cried out as if the room was shaking.

It was the truth.

The Demon King had never defeated the hero before.

The Demon King was always defeated by the hero.

Even if he rallied the demons and brought the human kingdoms to the brink of destruction, even if he sent powerful monsters to attack the hero, the hero always emerged victorious in the end.

“Bercella…”

Javiel’s expression turned bitter.

“Leave. I want to be alone.”

Bercella dismissed Javiel and covered her face with both hands, bowing her head deeply.

* * *

Even after becoming a Silver Adventurer, my daily life didn’t change much.

I would go to the guild early in the morning to check out the available requests and select the ones worth doing.

One day, as I entered the guild to inquire about requests as usual.

“R-Request canceled! Canceleddddd!”

Suddenly, a man burst into the guild, his eyes wide, and shouted at the counter.

The attention of the adventurers in the guild focused on the man for a moment.

“Canceled! Cancel it!”

The man was shaking and shouting in front of the counter, even drooling.

What on earth was going on?

“The cancellation fee is 5 gold.”

“I have the money! Cancel it quickly!”

“Yes, I will proceed with canceling the request.”

The man, as if being chased by something, hastily handed over 5 gold at the counter.

The receptionist, Tina, skillfully accepted the cancellation fee, took out the documents, and processed the cancellation.

“Is it canceled?”

“Yes, the process is complete.”

“Everyone here! Listen! Never! Never! Accept a request from the Bellafork Mansion!”

The man who had completed the cancellation shouted to the adventurers in the guild.

The adventurers murmured to each other.

“Again?”

“What kind of mansion is that? Does everyone end up like that if they go there?”

“This is the third time already? At this point, shouldn’t we raise the request grade with gold?”

As the situation escalated, I also became curious about what was going on.

After the man causing the commotion left the guild, I approached Tina at the counter and asked her.

“Who was that earlier? What was he talking about with the mansion?”

Tina sighed softly and spoke.

“There’s a rather unusual request among the Silver-grade requests.”

“Unusual?”

“It’s a request that offers an entire mansion as a reward instead of payment.”

The entire mansion?

“You’re giving away the mansion?”

“Yes. They say that mansion is cursed. They’re just giving it to whoever can lift the curse.”

“If it’s a curse, can’t they just call a priest?”

“Well… it seems like the owner has tried everything, including calling priests. They even entrusted the guild with finding a solution… Since they couldn’t find a way, they gave up ownership of the mansion and now they’ve put out a request with the guild to see if there’s anyone who can lift the curse.”

Tina calmly explained to me about the cursed mansion.

But looking at the expression of the man who just ran out, it seems like the curse on the mansion is not ordinary.

According to the stories of other adventurers, it seemed like such incidents were not uncommon.

“Why is such a scary request only at the silver rank?”

“Even though it’s a curse, it’s not necessarily life-threatening… According to the guild’s assessment, there isn’t much of a danger…”

“But judging by that man just now, it doesn’t seem that way.”

“Haha… It’s just following guild policy.”

Tina laughed awkwardly, placing a hand on her cheek.

Three adventurers declaring to give up the request for the cursed mansion…

Just because it’s a silver rank request doesn’t mean you can relax.

I should remember to never choose that cursed mansion request…

“Yunoa seemed to have no intention of taking on the request for the cursed mansion.

But there was one fact he didn’t know. Something was hidden in that mansion, even the current owner didn’t know about it.”

Suddenly, the narration began to tell the story of the mansion.

Is there treasure hidden there?

Even if they say that, looking at the man who was half out of his mind earlier, it’s definitely not something I want to do.

“But the frightened Yunoa pretended not to know about the secret hidden in the mansion.

He was truly a coward, preferring to go back to being a novice and doing menial tasks.

Even though he knew the cursed mansion was worth tens of thousands of gold, his thoughts remained unchanged.”

What?

Tens of thousands of gold?

My eyes suddenly widened.

Of course, I wasn’t in urgent need of money right now.

But if it’s a mansion worth tens of thousands of gold, the story is a bit different.

With that kind of value, it’s an enormous amount of money that can’t be earned even with countless silver rank requests.

It’s like a once-in-a-lifetime real estate opportunity.

Moreover, Tina also mentioned that the curse on this mansion “doesn’t necessarily take lives.”

If life isn’t at risk… then maybe I can find a way to deal with it?

A life-changing opportunity, the dream of owning my own home.

It’s always been said that real estate is the best asset.

Come to think of it, the narration must have had a clear reason for tempting me with this request.

“Tina, about that cursed mansion request… I’d like to give it a try.”

In the end, I couldn’t resist.