Chapter 5: Perverted Dragon Girl Reina’s Bandit Group Subjugation Quest Acceptance

“Make way for the newbie~!”

Bang!

The foolish dragon girl, Reina, made her entrance by kicking open the Western-style saloon doors with her boot.

‘Alright! An entrance this energetic is bound to get me noticed, whether they like it or not!’

Perhaps thinking such a loud noise would draw the eyes of every adventurer inside, the corners of her mouth curled up and her eyes sparkled. When a busty, red-haired beauty—a newbie—made such an arrogant entrance in a perverted outfit that revealed a hint of underboob, you’d expect a swarm of perverts eager to “educate” her. After all, neither the gatekeeper nor the Black Witch had anything good to say about the guild, so it was only natural to assume the place was crawling with degenerates—

However, Reina’s wish did not come true.

A gust of wind seemed to blow through the ensuing silence. Reina’s yellow eyes widened.

“Huh?”

“Welcome…”

“…Huhhh?”

A look around revealed only a single guild receptionist sitting at the desk; the tables were all empty. Reina’s act of kicking the door in should have been startling, yet the receptionist simply stared at her, her expression suggesting that such a disturbance was a daily occurrence.

‘What’s with this tired face…’

Her face was even more haggard than the Black Witch’s. Her guild-issued uniform was a mess, bottles of alcohol and cigarettes were strewn across the reception desk, and her freckled face looked as if the word “annoyed” had been stamped all over it. Her brown bob, tucked behind her ears, was greasy, and the sharp, upturned corners of her brown eyes gave her a fierce look. While the witch could be chalked up to a character aesthetic, this woman seemed to be the type whose personality was just plain nasty, her face full of spite despite her service position.

“Uh, um, well, hel-lo?”

“Yeah, yeah… hi…”

“Ummm… is this the Adventurer’s Guild?”

“Yeah… can’t you tell by looking? It’s the guild.”

“Then where is everyone else?”

“Like I’d know. Don’t ask me~!”

“Uh, uum…”

Indeed, this was not a normal attitude.

It was a good thing she’d met the Black Witch first. If she had come straight to the guild and run into this receptionist, she would have been in a foul mood.

‘I thought things were a bit more normal the last time I was here. Was I just imagining it? No, I think the receptionist was a prettier woman then…’

She decided to test the waters.

“Where did the other receptionist who was here before go?”

“What… you know that slut of a senior? She quit, so you won’t find jack shit looking for her here.”

“I don’t know her, but…”

“Then why the hell are you asking? God, you’re annoying… Can’t you see I’m already fucking pissed about being demoted to this shithole?”

‘Like I give a damn about that~!’

A flash of anger flared within her, but she quickly suppressed it. Her old self would have already blown up, but thankfully, the Reina of today was a patient dragon. The real problem was that she now took pleasure in being insulted by other women. Realizing it was pointless to expect any kindness from this receptionist, she scratched one of her proud horns and glanced around awkwardly.

‘Shouldn’t this place be packed at this hour? Or did I come too early?’

Scratch, scratch.

“I don’t know who you’re looking for, but all those pieces of trash are probably at the mine.”

“The mine?”

Though she clearly didn’t want to talk, she must have found Reina’s awkward presence in the middle of the guild hall irritating, because she tossed out the comment. She sat with her legs crossed, her spiteful eyes sizing up Reina’s body.

“This is an Adventurer’s Guild. What do you mean, the mine?”

“What, you don’t even know that? There’s no way I wouldn’t have noticed a big broad like you before… Ah, you just got to this city, didn’t you? ID?”

“Ah, uh, here’s my plate…”

“What… Iron Ore? You’re trash. And your timing sucks. Were you born under some unlucky star? I’ve never seen anyone your age still stuck at Iron Ore.”

“Kh! Ugh… yes… So what happened?”

The receptionist lit a cigarette in her holder and jabbed a finger toward the outside.

“There was a major accident at the mine over there, and most of the poor bastards who’d been dragged there as mine slaves died. They had enough regular workers to keep things running for the time being, but they still needed to fill the vacancies. So, until new laborers arrive from other cities, they posted a request with the guild and swept up every jobless adventurer to work in their place.”

“So there’s no one here?!”

“Of course not. They were hiring urgently, so the pay was hefty. They offered enough money for the lowlifes here to live it up for a good while, so they all scrambled to get a spot. Everyone who signed up for the mine job is staying in the dorms over there, so there’s nobody left in the guild. As proof, just look at that.”

“…Ugh!”

Their gazes fell upon the quest board, which was in such a state of disarray that Reina couldn’t help but let out a cry of surprise.

“Simple gathering quests, magic beast hunts, merchant escorts—all kinds of quests that would normally be gone in a flash are just sitting there, ownerless! It’s a total mess! Thanks to this, I get complaints every single day, and it’s fucking killing me! What the hell am I supposed to do about them all running off to the mine?! God, it’s so irritating!”

Muttering that she couldn’t bear it without a drink, she chugged a glass, narrowed her already sharp eyes even more, and spat on the floor.

“Which means that right now, the Adventurer’s Guild will give a warm welcome to even an Iron Ore-ranked piece of scrap like you.”

“Scrap…”

“I’m not wrong, am I? If you don’t like hearing it, hurry up and clear some quests to at least make it to Copper Ore. Come on, it’s a quest bargain sale! Take your pick! This is the only time I’ll be this nice to a bitch who’s all tits and no talent. If you pick now, I might even give you the okay for a quest above your rank~?”

‘She deserves to be demoted. This bitch is truly hopeless.’

All the low-life adventurers who were supposed to harass her were gone, off to the mine. She had been so worked up, and now her disappointment was immense. In her head, she had already scripted the entire scenario: she would enter the guild, get sexually harassed by some self-proclaimed “seniors,” be forced to join that creepy clan the gatekeeper had mentioned, and then have all sorts of things done to her. But now, that entire fantasy was ruined.

‘Going and having plain old sex with a male prostitute now just feels wrong… and getting it on with the woman in front of me feels… off, somehow… Sigh…’

Those adventurers wouldn’t be at the mine forever. In the meantime, she needed an opponent to kill some time and blow off steam. She scanned the quest board, ignoring the gathering section and focusing on the magic beast hunts, but none of the available enemies suited her level or, more importantly, her tastes.

‘They’re all creatures without genitals… Oh, a Werewolf? Eek… of all things, it’s a female… Pass on this one too…’

“Would you stop messing up the quest board? It’s a pain in the ass to organize~!”

“Mmmghh…!!”

There were plenty of quests, but none she found appealing.

And so, her hand reached out.

“Huh? That one…”

Seeing the quest sheet Reina had grabbed, the receptionist’s expression turned peculiar. She took a long drag from her cigarette, her face clearly saying she can’t be serious, but sure enough, the foolish dragon held it out to her without a hint of hesitation.

“Hey, you big-titted bitch. Are you illiterate? Or is this a demi-human thing?”

“Don’t treat me like an idiot. I know what kind of quest it is.”

“And you knowingly bring me a Copper Ore quest?”

“You’re the one who said it was okay to take a quest that doesn’t match my rank, aren’t you?”

“Well, yeah, but… Look! The recommended party size is ten people! And no rescue! The reward is suspiciously low, and it’s a quest that countless others have failed! An Iron Ore-ranker like you has no business eyeing a bandit subjugation quest!”

Slap, slap!

The receptionist slapped the request sheet in frustration. Reina had brazenly chosen the very quest the Black Witch had warned her about. Even this demoted receptionist seemed to know about the bandits, her brow furrowing with irritation, but Reina had no intention of backing down.

“It’s not like it’ll cause you any harm if one Iron Ore-ranker who just showed up today disappears, right?”

“It won’t harm me, but it’ll be a problem if I get caught.”

“If I succeed, I’ll spread the word that it was all thanks to you. If I fail, you can just act like you never saw me. …Deal?”

“…Ngh.”

Cornered by her own words, the receptionist hesitated for a moment before finally taking the request sheet.

“Don’t you go snitching on me, you hear?”

“I won’t, so just give me the info. You’re going to give me the basics, at least, right?”

“Info…”

After processing the paperwork to accept the quest, she rummaged through her desk and pulled out a file on the bandit group. It was thick with damage reports, and the receptionist, looking none too pleased to be handling it, gave a brief summary.

“The Pig-headed Bandit Group. They operate in the highlands and on the main roads near Orbie. True to their name, they hide their identities with pig-head masks. They’re active day and night, but the file says they have a weird habit of only striking on this particular day of the week.”

“Only on this day of the week? That’s blatantly suspicious.”

“Guess it’s just their habit. Their main targets are the ores from the mine. They occasionally attack merchants on the main road, but those incidents haven’t caused much damage. Ore is this city’s main export, so we requested support from the Royal Capital a while ago, but with the Demon King’s army only recently defeated, help has been slow to come. That’s why it ended up as a quest here. Of course, this place is full of losers, so they all came back badly beaten. There are even rumors that women like you don’t just meet a bad end—they get sold off somewhere. If you don’t want that to happen, you should quit right now.”

“I hear they have connections to the guild, too.”

“Who told you that?”

“Hit a nerve?”

“I don’t know anything! I just got transferred to this shithole, and every single person here is trash, so I have way too many suspects, you know? I heard they’re connected to some clan in the guild, but… seriously, they’re all such garbage, I wouldn’t even know where to start guessing.”

“Because they’re all hopeless?”

“Hopeless… I wish it were that simple. The Guild Master himself posted this quest, but the reward is suspiciously low… Even a newbie transfer like me can see something’s off… Aaaargh! Forget it! Telling this to an Iron Ore-ranker like you is just asking for trouble! Now that you’ve heard this much, you might as well go die! No, go get your ass kicked!”

‘Is she really part of the guild?’

“The paperwork’s done, so do whatever you want. I can’t stand watching a big-titted bitch like you jiggle her way around the guild, so I’d prefer it if you didn’t come back safely.”

She was clearly more than half-serious.

“So today happens to be their active period…”

By now, Reina had grown accustomed to the receptionist’s venomous, heartfelt curses. She ignored them and focused on recalling the local geography.

‘Main road… highlands…’

She had seen them while flying in yesterday, so a map of the surrounding terrain quickly formed in her mind.

“The steep highlands over that way are especially notorious. No one goes near there on this day of the week, so if you just look around, you’ll probably run right into them.”

“That’s near the mine.”

“It means they’re pathetic bastards for not being able to deal with a bandit group that’s settled in right under their noses.”

This was as good as openly admitting something was afoot, but Reina didn’t press further. She wasn’t the Hero Reina right now; she was the Iron Ore adventurer, Reinare. Her appearance was striking, so it was possible someone might recognize her, but she had come here to ruin her life. Her interest wasn’t in “bandit subjugation,” but in something else entirely.

“It’s a group of men, obviously, right?”

“Obviously. Haven’t I been telling you what happens to the women they capture? They’re a group of at least twenty confirmed members. If you get caught, a weak little bitch like you will have all her holes torn to shreds.”

“Enough with the threats. Is there any other information?”

“It seems they use some kind of restraint tool from the Demon King’s army. No idea where they got it, but after the army fell, their equipment started circulating on the black market, so they probably picked it up there. The guild I used to work at was having a hell of a time trying to recover all that stuff, so I guess we’re feeling the fallout, too. Here, I can’t be bothered anymore, so read the details yourself. There’s a separate reward for recovering their gear, so if you manage to survive, be a dear and bring it back. I doubt you’ll be in any condition to think about it after this, but hey, you never know.”

‘She’s looking down on me to the very end. Hmm, is this it…?’

She took in the information the receptionist had given her about the highlands and the restraint tool.

‘Devil’s Restraints… The kind of item that gets more dangerous the more you’re hit by it… It was standard issue for the Demon King’s army, wasn’t it? A cursed item that forcibly strips your gear with each hit, leaving you naked and bound… Three hits triggered an Armor Break, but it was useless against anyone with a high enough level or resistance. It might have been an absolute weapon against some, but to my party, it was nothing more than a toy.’

For Reina, the item was particularly laughable.

But.

‘Devil’s Restraints… Mage Hunting Type?’

She knew what Devil’s Restraints were, but she didn’t recognize the suffix.

‘Is this a slightly different version from the ones I know? And what’s this… Monkey’s Tail? I’ve never heard of that item… The file says it’s a cursed item, but why are there no other details?’

And there it was on the list—an item even Reina didn’t recognize. She prided herself on knowing the Demon King’s army better than anyone, yet this was new to her. Unsurprisingly, there were no details. The fact that there were supposedly many victims, yet no description was provided, could only mean one thing: the guild was hiding information.

“What are you looking at? Stop asking questions and get lost already.”

The receptionist clearly had no intention of providing any more information, and Reina had no intention of asking.

‘Whatever. It’s not like my goal is to win anyway. Isn’t there a certain thrill in being defeated without knowing all the details?’

Nhehehet~♡

“What’s with this bitch… has she lost her mind…?”

Finally feeling her spirits lift, Reina let out a silly giggle. The receptionist’s freckled face scrunched up in disgust as she recoiled. She had explained all the dangers of the bandits, yet this woman had not only taken the quest but was now laughing to herself. Anyone could see she was a total weirdo.

‘Well, I got what I wanted, so maybe I’ll go back, get ready, and leave right away~?!’

“H-Hey? What were you just laughing about?! Hey, can’t you hear me?!”

Tatadadak!!!

“Hey! Iron Ore!!!”

The receptionist yelled something as Reina turned her back, but the words didn’t register. With an excited spring in her step, the perverted dragon dashed out, returned home, and equipped a certain item.

“With this… Nuhuhu…”

Click♡

“Aaaahhh♡ Ugh♡ Ah, this feeling is so good~♡”

A sinister metal ornament clicked shut around her ankle. As it did, a red mist shimmered out of Reina’s body and vanished into the sky. A languid sensation washed over her, as if something vital was draining away. Her body swayed, but she didn’t fall. Instead, a pleasant smile returned to her face as she ran out the main gate of Orbie. Once out of sight, she unfurled her wings and soared into the air.

‘Rape~♡ Sex~♡ Rape~♡ Sex~♡’

It took ten minutes to reach the highlands the Pig-headed Bandits used as their base. Luckily, she spotted a suspicious group as soon as she arrived, so there was no need to waste time. Determined to get things over with before the effects of the aphrodisiac she’d applied that morning wore off, Reina dove.

“Ahat~♡ Ahaha~♡”

The monster plummeting from the sky laughed with glee, eagerly anticipating what was to come. Something terrible was about to happen—something so awful it would surely bring tears to her eyes.

To Reina herself, of course, not the bandits.

Reina, addicted to defeat, had no intention of winning against a mere group of bandits. Her mind was filled with only one thing: the thought of her own defeat.