Chapter 31: Why the Hell Are You Here Too…? -3

Chapter 31: Why the Hell Are You Here Too…? -3

“…If you’re talking about these potions, then yes.”

“Potions? Is that the name of these elixirs?”

“……For now, let’s just say yes.”

Even though one more main character was entangled with me… I couldn’t run away from here.

I had already planned to do business at the Adventurers’ Guild, so running away just because one main character showed up was a bit….

“Hey, kiddo.”

“…I’m not that small.”

“If you’re younger and smaller than me, you’re a kiddo. Got it?”

Melini replied with a small laugh at my unconscious retort.

…No, honestly, this is a fantasy medieval setting, so isn’t 162cm not that small…?

Unfortunately, Melini’s height in front of me was over 175cm, so I couldn’t really argue.

“Anyway, don’t sell this kind of stuff, do something else.”

“…Huh?”

“You look young, so don’t bother trying to sell this; just follow your parents and do something else.”

It was a blunt statement if ever there was one, but considering Melini’s personality in the novel, she was speaking very gently.

If it were according to the novel’s description, it would probably be…

“Hey, don’t live by pulling off scams like this; just go help your parents. You look young.”

…Wouldn’t it have been something like that?

Thinking about it this way, she definitely spoke much more gently.

……Of course, that had nothing to do with whether her words were right or not.

“Excuse me. Why are you interfering with someone’s business? And I’m an adult, you know?”

“Oh, I’m sure you are. You look like you just crossed the threshold of adulthood. Are you even 20 yet?”

“…You’re saying things old people would say. And I just took out my goods, isn’t that too sharp a reaction?”

Melini’s age at this point would probably be 26.

…Meaning she wasn’t old enough to treat me like a child.

Of course, there was also the setting that she had a habit of looking down on those who seemed less experienced than herself due to her harsh and rough childhood,

But I never expected that part to be so openly displayed.

“…Tsk. Damn it, now you’ve got me speechless, but I’m just saying this for your own good, okay?”

“To someone you just met?”

“No, I’ve seen a lot of kids like you, so I know. So, even if you’re desperate for money, this isn’t the way to scam people, okay?”

Perhaps tired of beating around the bush, Melini’s tone gradually began to become the tone ‘I knew.’

Of course, I was intentionally provoking her too.

…My intention? Of course, I have one. If Melini causes a commotion like this, it becomes the perfect situation to demonstrate the effects of my potions.

Not only will it gather people’s attention, but the number of people directly interested in my potions will also greatly increase.

‘If possible, I hope she inflicts a small injury with force….

 ’It would be the best situation to show the effect of the ‘Health Potion’ more than anything else.’

Melini, having lived a rough life, is the type of person whose fists come out before her words.

More precisely, the greatsword she carries on her back comes out before her words to threaten the opponent.

“Scam, huh… You’re so sure? Without any basis.”

“Basis? Ha. This kiddo is bolder than she looks, isn’t she? You look like you’d cry and run away with just a little scare?”

“Inside the Adventurers’ Guild building, with so many people watching, you’d hardly be able to scare me with force, would you?”

“……Don’t say that, okay? You’ll regret it, you know?”

Melini reacted immediately when I spoke in a slightly teasing manner.

It was the result of a very hot-headed personality combined with a dislike of having her skills disregarded.

Of course, I was provoking her knowing that.

“Regret? Oh, right, if I had known that adventurers of the Adventurers’ Guild were like this, I wouldn’t have come here in the first place. That’s a regret I have.”

“…I, I clearly warned you, okay?”

Saying that, the blade of the sword she wore on her back glinted.

If my five senses hadn’t told me that all those attacks were just threatening gestures to scare me, I might have genuinely been scared.

…However, the fact that my five senses were excessively enhanced was both truly good and annoying.

I immediately calculated how much and at what angle I should move my body to get a suitable injury to show off the ‘Health Potion.’

‘My upper body won’t be damaged even if hit because of the armor, so the blade needs to graze my leg……’

I don’t like pain, but if I can definitely prove the effect of my potion with this light pain,

And…… if I can give the future legendary adventurer a sense of guilt that won’t easily fade.

That would be a sufficiently profitable business.

So, I pretended to move as if to avoid the glinting blade, intentionally bringing one leg towards the blade.

Naturally, just enough to cause a slight injury.

And… Melini didn’t yet have the skill to avoid hitting a target that was intentionally moving to be hit.

Thud.

Lightly falling blood.

And blood stained on the blade of the greatsword.

The murmuring that had fallen silent at some point, soon became noisy again, and

…Melini’s expression, looking greatly flustered and at a loss, showed that I had successfully moved.

“You…… are you crazy?! Why did you move there…”

I was clearly the one who was cut, but anyone would think Melini herself was cut.

Her expression was that shocked, as if she had seen something she shouldn’t have.

No matter how weak she was now, in her eyes, it must have looked like I intentionally brought my leg to the blade.

“Quiet down. And it’s nothing. I can heal it right away.”

Of course, regardless of what Melini said, I took out a ‘Health Potion’ and immediately drank it.

The murmuring adventurers’ gazes focused on the potion I was drinking and my injured area.

And, this time too, the potion I made immediately showed its effect.

The wound began to heal with a faint light.

……I hadn’t felt this before, but that light felt similar to mana.

It seemed that the potion was also a magical elixir, probably made with mana.

Of course… what I felt most strongly was the gaze of the adventurers looking at me.

Instant healing, which was considered the domain of priests and temples, happening with just one elixir.

From the perspective of adventurers who lost a lot of money to priests and temples due to injuries, they couldn’t help but be drawn to it.

On the other hand, Melini’s expression was…… very complex.

Guilt from the fact that my potion was not a scam, and yet, a lingering suspicion about whether the potion I drank was somehow strange.

It was truly an expression revealing various emotions.

It was even easier to tell because Melini’s emotions and thoughts were all displayed on her face.

“Stop. That’s enough.”

The adventurers’ gazes and murmuring continued until a dignified voice was heard.

In other words… as soon as that voice was heard, everyone quickly dispersed and went about their business.

And that means the owner of that voice was……

“I am Charles, the Guildmaster of the Capital Branch. You’ll have to come with me for a moment because of what just happened.”

“…Me too? I’m not an adventurer, though?”

“But you are the one who ‘appears’ to be the victim in this incident.”

“Well, alright. I have something to say too.”

As I lightly nodded, the middle-aged man who introduced himself as the Guildmaster turned his gaze towards Melini.

…And Melini’s gaze was trying to escape his gaze somehow.

“……And you come too, Melini.”

“No, but….”

“If you don’t want to be fired, hurry up. I’ll count to three. One, two…”

“Understood……”

Of course, that didn’t mean she could resist either.

***

The place I entered following Charles was clean yet stern.

It was obvious that it didn’t look like a room one would enter for a good reason.

“So, why did you engage in an act of harming another, which is forbidden inside the guild building, Melini?”

“No… I……”

Melini was flustered by the Guildmaster’s words.

From her perspective, it was awkward because… I was injured because I moved.

And the Guildmaster knew that too.

“…What a bad hobby. You know everything and still ask that way.”

“……Alright, I’ll stop. Then, as an outsider, I’ll ask you, why did you intentionally get hit by that sword?

 Did you intend to play a trick on this adventurer who was interfering with your business by exploiting the rule that one should not injure an opponent with a weapon inside the guild building?”

Therefore, at my lightly thrown remark, the Guildmaster changed the target of his question from Melini to me.

…A gaze that seemed to pierce through me was a bonus.

“No, I was trying to promote something.”

“…Promote?”

“If I just backed down here, my business would really fail. So, I wanted to show the effect right in front of everyone.

 I just used the situation; I had no intention of putting that adventurer in trouble. In the first place, I don’t want that adventurer to be punished.”

“……I was mistaken. I thought you were a malicious person intentionally exploiting rules, but you were a crazy bitch who doesn’t value her own body.”

Ignoring the Guildmaster’s subtly changed gaze, I intentionally stated all my intentions.

…That way, it would be a little more helpful in using Melini.

Guilt about using Melini? I don’t have any of that. We’re not going to be seeing each other for long anyway.

……At least, I hope so.

“But the promotional effect was excellent, wasn’t it? I needed a reason to make them buy my potions just once, as if they were being tricked, and thanks to that adventurer, things worked out perfectly.”

“W-wait. So you even said those words intentionally…”

“It was the best situation for me if you drew your sword. About that… I’m a little sorry.”

As I said that, the gazes of the Guildmaster and Melini looking at me became very strange.

Like, what kind of person is this?

Of course, I expected all these reactions. I’d react the same way if I were them.

“…Because surviving alone in the capital without parents, family, or anything, is much harsher than you think.”

And naturally, I had already thought of words that could overturn those gazes.

Words that would be easy to use to exploit Melini’s guilt.

If I’m going to be entangled with the main characters anyway…… wouldn’t it be right to use them as much as possible?