Ch.18Chapter 18 – When the Contract Ends

When I woke up, I found myself staring at an unfamiliar ceiling.

“… Ugh, damn it.”

As I sat up, I noticed someone’s leg resting on my stomach. I quietly moved it aside, then gathered and put on my clothes and armor.

I remembered drinking alcohol I couldn’t even handle last night, after feeling homesick and depressed when I saw the streetlights.

Thanks to that, my memory was gone.

Still, looking around the room now, I could be certain everyone had been drinking heavily last night.

One of Haven’s party members who shared the room with me was lying on the floor instead of the bed, with his leg previously resting on my stomach.

And another party member from a different room had occupied another bed and was sleeping there.

I’d never seen his party members wake up late during our travels, so they must have been drinking until late.

‘Do I sleep deeply when I drink?’

It was a strange thought that came to mind as my body felt surprisingly refreshed.

Last time, I had fallen asleep wearing my armor but still woke up feeling well-rested.

I quietly left the room and went downstairs to the inn’s first floor, where I found someone else who had risen early like me.

“Good morning.”

“Did you sleep well, Mr. Kay?”

I exchanged greetings with Eve, who was sitting by a sunlit window reading something that looked like a newspaper.

“What’s that?”

“It’s a newspaper. It contains various information.”

I thought to myself, “So they call it a newspaper here too,” as I ordered breakfast and sat down across from her.

“You seem refreshed, so I assume you slept well.”

“That’s good. You’ll need your strength today since we have to unload cargo.”

Eve replied and began reading her newspaper.

Watching her made me curious about its contents.

It’s not like I had anything else to do besides waiting for breakfast anyway.

“Is there any interesting news in there?”

“It’s mostly ordinary except for one item. Most of it is advertisements.”

Eve said this while pointing to a section of the newspaper.

“There’s news about a mage who received a title from the Magic Tower.”

“A title?”

“Yes. As I understand it, the Tower Masters confer titles after deliberation when someone achieves something remarkable or does something extraordinary.”

“And I see that makes it into the newspapers.”

“Indeed. They usually award one about once every year or two.”

Eve said with a slight smile.

“But I found the title quite interesting.”

“What kind of title is it?”

“Usually they give names like ‘Seeker of Truth’ and such.”

Imagine having something like that published in the newspaper.

If it were me, I’d be too embarrassed to show my face.

It’s not a public execution, but what a frightening world.

“This mage’s title is ‘Mad Dog.'”

“What?”

It sounds ordinary enough and somewhat plausible, but it doesn’t match the image of a mage at all.

Noticing that I found it unusual, Eve began reading the newspaper content.

“The achievement is… holding the record for most duels within the Magic Tower and achieving the highest victory record.”

They gave him that title because he went around fighting like crazy?

“If they give titles for that, wouldn’t all the mages in the Tower start fighting each other?”

Praising someone just for fighting and giving them a title for it.

It seems like fights would break out at the slightest eye contact.

The Magic Tower would turn into an apocalyptic scene.

“Ah, there’s one more line here. It says he challenged three Masters to duels. The win-loss record is confidential, but if they gave him a title, he might have won at least once or twice.”

From what I’d heard before, the Masters of the Magic Tower were such powerful mages that they could do as they pleased even if the king made requests.

Does this “Mad Dog” mage not value his life?

“That is indeed an achievement.”

“I’m curious about what kind of person he is.”

What kind of character would go around challenging even the Masters to duels?

That title wasn’t given for nothing.

Let me ask for his name.

“Is his name mentioned?”

“It seems he objected to having it published in the article.”

Perhaps even he was embarrassed by it. Unfortunately, his name isn’t listed.

That title almost seems like it was given to mock him for fighting too much.

But then I realized that could create a problem.

“Wouldn’t that lead to potential impersonation issues?”

“Yes, it could.”

Eve nodded in agreement with my point.

“But since he objected, I suppose he’ll handle any such problems himself?”

She wasn’t wrong.

As we were talking, my meal arrived, so I removed my helmet and began eating.

While eating quietly, I felt someone’s gaze on me, so I paused and looked in that direction.

It was Eve.

“Is something wrong?”

“Hmm…”

Her lips were curled up strangely.

“It’s nothing.”

“……”

Something felt off.

I tried to ignore it and continue eating, but strange things started happening afterward.

A passing waitress flinched when she saw my face, then stared blankly at the helmet I had set aside before leaving with a smirk.

It wasn’t just her—several other staff members began showing the same behavior.

It was really bothering me.

“Did I do something again yesterday?”

“I’ll keep it a secret.”

Something definitely happened.

“Oh, good morning.”

Hearing voices behind me, I turned to see Haven and Ravi.

They both ordered light meals and sat near us, but like the others, the corners of their mouths turned up slightly when they looked at me.

Haven eventually had to turn his head away.

“What happened yesterday?”

I desperately asked Ravi, clutching at straws.

But she too turned her head away.

I could see she was trying hard not to laugh.

I had no allies.

“Mr. Kay.”

I turned around at the quiet voice to find Eve smiling.

I felt a sense of déjà vu.

“Would you like to have another drink with me sometime?”

I made a vow again.

Never to touch alcohol again.

I really shouldn’t.

If I do, I’m truly insane.

Later, after the rest of Haven’s party members woke up, we left the inn and moved through the streets.

“Here, buy fresh hot bread!”

“Fresh milk for sale~”

“Excuse me, would you like to become a believer…?”

“Come, buy fruits, fruits~”

We passed by merchants calling out to customers everywhere and what seemed to be a girl trying to recruit for her religion, walking leisurely along the paved streets until we arrived in front of a warehouse.

A woman with neatly tied long blonde hair was waiting there with several men.

When she saw Eve, the woman greeted her respectfully.

“Guild Master, welcome.”

Eve smiled and returned her greeting.

“Rachel, you’ve become even prettier.”

“Guild Master, it seems your skin has tanned a bit.”

She appeared to be Eve’s subordinate.

“Have you been well?”

“Yes, thank you for your hard work. Someone from the guild should have accompanied you if not for that incident. I’m glad you’re safe.”

“That’s thanks to these people, so you should thank them.”

At Eve’s words, Rachel came forward and bowed politely to our group.

“I am Rachel Custard, Deputy Guild Master of the Lavencha Guild.”

“I’m Haven from the Adventurers’ Guild. These are my party members.”

After a brief greeting, she bowed deeply again.

“I sincerely thank you for focusing on your escort duty despite our guild’s emergency situation that prevented us from providing proper support.”

“Not at all. Our employer personally took care of us very well…”

Soon we began carrying the cargo loaded on carts with the help of the workers.

Eve must have contacted them in advance yesterday, as there were quite a few strong men.

Though I was supposed to help carry the luggage, with this many people, it seemed like I’d only need to go in and out of the warehouse once or twice.

After carrying some items and watching the workers sort the goods, I came out of the warehouse to find Eve apparently reviewing documents she had received from Rachel and giving instructions.

“Ah, Mr. Kay. Are you done carrying the luggage?”

“There were many people, so it finished quickly. The sorting inside should be done by someone who knows the warehouse well.”

“Mr. Haven and the others should be coming out soon too.”

As if they had been waiting for those words, they also came outside.

“Miss, it looks like we’ve moved all the luggage.”

“Then we should finish the last task.”

Was there one more job?

As I thought this and looked at Haven, he answered with a smile.

“We need to get paid.”

After Rachel called one of the people organizing the warehouse and gave some instructions, we all walked through alleys until we reached a building with a large sign.

The sign read “Lavencha Guild.”

Inside, goods were neatly displayed.

Uniformed staff regularly patrolled the store.

We climbed the stairs at the far end of the building to the second floor, where we came to a door that Eve opened without hesitation.

Past a corridor was what appeared to be a reception room, and Eve pointed to the sofas.

“Please sit there. I’ll bring the contract and payment.”

“Yes.”

The room had a predominantly white color scheme, with yellow flowers in a vase as an accent.

While I was staring blankly at this, Eve quickly returned.

“Miss, you came back fast.”

Eve nodded at Haven’s comment.

“I had them stored separately. The payment and contract. Please check them.”

While Haven and his party members were checking the money pouches, Eve sat down in front of me.

“Mr. Kay, please wait a little longer. Rachel will bring yours.”

“Ah, yes.”

I had no reason to object to waiting for money.

“Oh, and I’ll dispose of the troll’s blood here and calculate your share separately, but it will take some time. Please come back after a while and I’ll settle the account.”

I had no complaints about that.

Instead, I decided to ask something I’d been wondering about.

“Have you been running such a large guild?”

“It’s not an extremely large guild, just moderately sized. Does something seem strange?”

When we traveled together, she hired only escorts and conducted business directly, so her current appearance didn’t match up…

From Rachel’s earlier words, it seemed like something had happened at the guild, forcing Eve to go out with just hired escorts.

Of course, I doubted she would answer if I asked. Everything had been resolved well, and Eve didn’t seem like the type to just rely on subordinates, so she probably had no complaints herself.

While thinking this, I noticed Eve was writing something in a notebook.

As I was wondering whether to ask what it was, Rachel entered.

“Guild Master, I’ve brought the amount you mentioned.”

“Thank you, Rachel. You can go attend to your duties now.”

Eve then handed me a money pouch.

When I opened it slightly, I saw it contained many silver coins.

“I calculated it precisely. Would you like to check?”

She showed me what she had been writing in her notebook.

It seemed to be a summary of how she had calculated the payment.

“Let me check.”

I nodded and received the statement, then counted the money in the pouch.

“I valued it slightly higher than the market price.”

Eve said with a smile.

The amount matched the statement exactly.

By the time I finished counting, Haven’s group seemed to have finished their calculations as well, as he nodded.

“It’s accurate, Miss.”

“Then our transaction is complete.”

Eve said this, then took out what looked like a seal from her possession and stamped the contract.

Haven took it.

“Now when we submit this to the guild, the request will be considered successfully completed, Mr. Kay.”

“Does the contract need to be stamped?”

“More precisely, the client needs to leave evidence. Whether it’s a signature or something else.”

Eve nodded, so it seemed correct.

Eve smiled and stood up.

Then she bowed her head in greeting.

“Haven, everyone, thank you sincerely.”

Haven also stood up and greeted her.

It was time for our contract with her to end.

“Of course, this isn’t goodbye. If you ever want to purchase anything, please visit our guild anytime.”

“Yes, we will, Miss.”

“Looking forward to seeing you again, Miss.”

Haven and his party members left one by one, leaving me last.

Feeling somewhat awkward standing there, I looked at her.

“Stay well until we meet again.”

Eve replied with a slight smile.

“You take care too, Mr. Kay.”

I turned to leave, receiving Eve’s farewell.

“See you again.”

“Yes.”

With that, I headed out the door.