「Oh, Grey, Yuna, you done with your quest?」Dale

「Yeah, we were able to wrap things up pretty quickly.」Grey

「Well, fighting a bunch of wild boars isn't a simple job after all, but since you two could defeat a Goblin King, it must have been just a breeze!」Dale

「Yeah... Haha... ha」Grey

Except that it wasn't just a bunch of wild boars, it was a horde of orcs.

When we were about to head out of the city, Dale-san asked us where we were going, I was about to tell him what the quest was about when Yuna suddenly said 「We're going to subjugate a bunch of pigs.」, and since we were on a rush, I just left it as it is.

I wonder what his reaction will be when he learns what really happened.  

「Oh! What am I doing holding you guys here for? You still need to report the results of your quest, right?」Dale

「Oh, right! Then, later, Dale-san.」Grey

「See you at the Rabbit's Den.」Yuna

After we said our goodbyes, we headed straight to the adventurer's guild. When we entered, we garnered the attention of everyone inside. Some looked at us with envy, some with curiosity, and some with confusion. 

But among them, there was a certain group that was mocking us and looking at us like some kind of pest. By the looks of it, they look like the type of people who are always up to no good. What a bunch of scumbags.

Well, I would be pretty pissed too if some rookie appears out of nowhere and gets the favor of the boss. But somehow, seeing them act like that is getting on my nerves.

Speaking of the boss, the guildmaster was standing in front of the reception counters, probably waiting for us to turn in our reports.

「So... How did it go?...」Gaston

Asked the guildmaster, with a tinge of nervousness in his voice.

「Haha, they probably got scared and came back empty-handed.」Scumbag 1

「Hahaha, they probably wet their pants! Hahaha!」Scumbag 2

The group of scumbags laughed like there was no tomorrow.

It seems like they won't believe us without any proof. Hmm... "That" should be enough proof.

Without saying any words, I grabbed the Orc King's Necklace from my 『Storage』and threw it at him. By reflex, he nabbed the necklace mid-air and took a look at it.

「Oi oi oi oi oi, isn't this the Orc King's necklace?!」Gaston

Hearing the guildmasters words, the silent crowd became noisy and the guild was overrun by voices of disbelief and curiosity. 

While this was happening, I was still eavesdropping that certain group of adventurers, but the noise in the guild is too much, I can't concentrate.

Seriously, are you guys programmed to react to every single statement of the guildmaster? Couldn't you guys just stay quiet and watch!

「Appraiser!  Hurry up and call our appraiser here!」Gaston

「Y-Yes, guildmaster!」Receptionist 1

A few moments later, the appraiser arrived and started appraising the item. While the appraiser was busy doing his job, the adventurers inside the guild were restless to know the results. 

But even though this was happening, that certain group was still mocking us, no, worse...

「Hey, isn't that elf girl kind of cute?」Scumbag 3

「Now that you mention it, she really is a beauty.」Scumbag 1

「And she also has a great body.」Scumbag 4

「She may be a bad adventurer, but she must be good in bed! Hahaha!」Scumbag 5

「I wonder if she will play with us if we ask her nicely. Hahaha!」Scumbag 3

... they're sexualizing Yuna! You bastaaaards!!

「So...」Gaston

「It's authentic. This is a genuine Orc King's necklace.」Appraiser

「Hey, did you hear that? The appraiser said it was real!」Adventurer1

「No way... Those kids couldn't have possibly beaten the Orc King with just the two of them, right?」Adventurer 2

「But they have genuine proof in front of our eyes.」Adventurer 3

「But it had just been 6 hours!」Adventurer 4

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Disbelief, surprise, and fear, these were only some of the emotions I could see in the adventurers' eyes. And the faces of those who were mocking the guildmaster, saying he has gone senile, are now filled with regret.

But the bunch of scumbags still continued their vulgar conversation. I would really feel better if I could just give them a good beating.

「This isn't all you have, right?」Gaston

「Ah, actually... we collected all their dropped items.」Grey

Mana crystals, Orc leather, and even Orc weaponry, various things came flooding as I opened my 『Storage』. Items that some adventurers haven't even seen before.

The surrounding eyes widened as they saw the amazing display of items that suddenly appeared out of thin air. The guildmaster in particular has a very unique expression if I say so myself.

If only there weren't this certain group of adventurers, I would have enjoyed his priceless expression. Haah... the more I think of them, the more I get irritated.

After I pulled out a mountain of items, the guild called all its appraisers and started to assess the value of each item, after that we were brought to a room in order to discuss how to deal with the money we earned.

And just like I promised, I told the guildmaster to use the money we earned from the quest for the rebuilding of the village.

With how much money I got, giving away a few hundred thousand kiels wouldn't hurt. After all, it was partly Yuna's fault for using a high-level spell inside a village.

But even when the negotiation was happening, I couldn't get my thoughts off that certain group of adventurers. The more time passed, the more I got pissed thinking about what they were talking about.

「Are you really sure about this? With that amount of items, it would fetch at least half a million kiels, you know?」Gaston

「Yeah, after all, if it wasn't for a certain someone here, the village's condition wouldn't have gotten worse.」Grey

「S-Sorry...」Yuna

「Hey, Grey, it's normal that there will be collateral damage on quests like these. There's no need to be worked up about it.」Gaston

「But if she didn't decide to use a high-level spell and just eliminated them one by one then the damage could have been kept to a minimum!」Grey

Realizing her mistake, Yuna seemed a little bit apologetic and crestfallen. 

Hm?... Did I say too much? Did I just unconsciously vent out my irritation on her? This is bad... I really lost my cool there. I shouldn't have let these kinds of things reach my head. 

While it was true that I wanted her to realise her mistake, I didn't want her to get sad. How could I be such a jerk! Even the guildmaster flinched when I said those words.

「Haah... Then I'll be going now, I still have a lot of paperwork to do after all. And, Grey.」Gaston

「Hm?」Grey

「You better patch things up before you leave.」Gaston

The guildmaster whispered before he left the room.

When I looked at Yuna, she was looking down at the ground, visibly bothered about what I just said to her. I should really apologize to her.

「Yuna, look, I'm soー」Grey

「No, you don't have to apologize, it was true that I did use a spell without thinking of the outcome and it was also true that I caused most of the damage to the village. So you have every right to get mad at me, it's just that... I... I...」Yuna

Looking at Yuna shedding tears because of what I said, I really felt like punching myself not just once, but a millーno, a trillion times!

Come to think of it, this might have been the first time that I raised my voice at Yuna. It might have caused a shock to her.

「No, it wasn't your fault. Even if you didn't cast that spell, the village would have probably been ravaged by the orcs. I'm sorry, it's just that I was extremely irritated by a certain group of adventurers in the lobby that I unconsciously vented my pent up anger on you. I know this sounds like an excuse, but I'm really really sorry.」Grey

After I said those words, Yuna' tears flowed even harder. 

Huh? Did I make it worse? Is it something I said? How could I make the situation go from bad to worse! 

「Umm... Yuna, did I say something wrong? Um, if theー」Grey

「N-No, I-I'm just happy that I wasn't the reason that you got mad, after all, for this past year, I've always been relying on you for everything. You gave me food, you let me stay in your house, you even taught me how to use magic. When you got mad, I thought that you were fed up with me and was going to leave me, after all, I'm just a stranger you saved by chance.」Yuna

「No, that's not true at all, you're not a stranger, you're...」Grey

Huh? Wait, what's the connection between the two of us? We've lived in the same house for more than a year, we've also trained together, and are partners in the adventurer's guild, but what are we?

Acquaintances? Friends?  Companions? Teacher and Student? Partners? What exactly are we...

「Grey, are you okay?」Yuna

「Ah, sorry, I was just thinking about something.」Grey

「Are you still bothered about what those adventurers said?」Yuna

「Well, yeー」Grey

Huh? Did I tell her that they were talking about something?

「Yuna, are you perhaps...」Grey 

「Un, I was extremely bothered by it too. Especially when they started talking about me.」Yuna

Ugh... How could I selfishly think that I was the only one bothered by it. Yuna has better hearing than me, of course she would have heard all of that. Especially since she was the subject of the conversation, it must have been very uncomfortable for her.

I really should make it up to Yuna. And I don't think that cooking curry will be enough to accomplish that, maybe I should cook more dishes for her. Well, even if I can't make it up to her, I should at least make her feel better.

After patching thing's up, Yuna and I went out of the negotiation room and headed to the counters to deal with the completion of the quest. 

But by the time we arrived at the lobby, that certain group of adventurers had already left the guild. Too bad, I wasn't able to give them a piece of my mind.

Haah... Well, I guess it's a good thing that they're gone. I wouldn't want Yuna to feel uncomfortable again because they were here.

Anyway, we should deal with the quest's completion first rather than worrying about those good for nothing scumbags.

We were about to continue heading to the counters but then...

「Ah, Grey-san! Yuna-san!」Tilda

... Tilda-san suddenly greeted us out of nowhere. Hm? Isn't she supposed to be at the counters? 

「Are you going to process the completion of your quest?」Tilda

「Yeah... We were about to head there.」Grey

「Actually, since that was a special quest, the guild still hasn't decided the amount of points and money to be rewarded. It will probably be decided after the assessment of the quest items are finished. So you will have to wait, I hope you understand.」Tilda

So special quests still have to go through a lot of processing, huh. Also...

「Tilda-san, isn't it your job to assess those quest items? Are you perhaps skipping your job?」Grey

「That's rude! I'm on my break, you know?!」Tilda

「Ah, sorry, sorry.」Grey

「That's right! You better be sorry! I've been working hard for the whole day, and rather than a receiving compliment, I get asked if I was skipping out on my work! That's just so rude! Grey, I hate you!」Tilda

「Yeah, yeah, I get it. I'm extremely sorry, so, please calm down.」Grey

「Hmph!」Tilda

What's up with the people in this world? They are extremely troublesome, one way or another.

「But... I gotta say, it was pretty generous of you two to give them the money instead of keeping out for yourselves.」Tilda

「Well, we really aren't in dire need of money, so we thought it would be of more use if we give it to them.」Grey 

We have ten billion kiels in our disposal after all.

「I was also partly responsible for its destruction so...」Yuna

Yuna mumbled in a very low voice that Tilda-san wasn't able to comprehend it.

Looks like she's still bothered about what I said to her. Even if I apologized, she wouldn't be able to forget it like it was nothing. 

Well, even if I said it without meaning it, I should still at least comfort her for saying something like that.

「Yuna, look, it really wasn't your fault. I already told you, didn't I? Even if you didn't do that, the orcs would have still destroyed it. So please stop blaming yourself, and you should know, frowning doesn't suit you at all! You're much much cuter when you're smiling! So... umm... can you please smile for me?」Grey

I said as I slowly patted her head.

「... Un...」Yuna

But even when she said that, she still looked like she was bothered by something, but I don't think it's still about the village's destruction. Hmm? What is perhaps something I said?

「Oho～.」Tilda

Oh, right... Tilda-san is still in front of us... And what's with that grin?

「Um... Tilda-san... is there perhaps something you need from us?」Grey

「Ah, no, nothing at all～ it's just that I'm really amazed by your boldness, Grey-san. Calling Yuna-san cute in broad daylight! Ooh! How bold～!」Tilda

Wait I said that!? No, wait! I totally did!

「Ah... Umm... No, I didn't mean it like that, I mean, sure, Yuna is cute, but, I didn't call her cute because she was cute, I was just trying to cheer her up, I mean, I didn't call her cute just to cheer her up, well, Yuna really is cute, but, you know calling her cute, it just slipped out of my mind, no, Yuna being cute is the truth, but, you know, I mean, ah... uhh..」Grey

Help... My mind is crashing...

「Alright, alright, I get it, no need to be so worked up about it, geez!」Tilda

Ahh... Thank God, if that continued any longer, my mind would have been in serious trouble.

「But it was still a fact that you called Yuna-san cute!」Tilda

「Tilda-san!」Grey

「Oh, would you look at that. There's an adventurer at my counter. Ok, bye bye, see you next time!」Tilda

She's escaping!

Before I knew it, Tilda-san was long gone and had returned to her counter. 

Really, what's up with the receptionists of this world? Why do they love messing with other people? First, Helen-san, and now this... Haah... I wanna go back to my bed and take a good rest.

Also, looks like I'm not the only one who could use a good rest... It might have been due to everything I said, but it looks like Yuna's mind has overheated.

Ugh... Damn it, why do I always act without thinking of the outcome...

Having no other things to do, Yuna and I left the guild and went back to the Rabbit's Den. But during our walk towards the Inn, we were so embarrassed about what happened, we weren't able to talk to each other.

Even though it's still just late afternoon, I decided to go to bed because of everything that happened today. This might have been the most mentally draining day I've experienced since I came to Merusia.

A few moments ago, I was asking myself what's the connection between me and Yuna, but up until now, I still couldn't find an answer to it. There's only two things I'm sure of. First, no matter what that connection is, I'm sure it exists, and second, that I'll always stay by Yuna's side whatever that connection is.

CHAPTER 12 END