Chapter 29 - Adventurer's Guild
Ebonshear - Adventurer's Guild - Midday
"Welcome to the Ebonshear Adventurer's Guild! How may I help you today?" The silver-haired woman at the receptionist counter bowed slightly. She appeared to be in her early twenties, but the pointed ears peeking out between her long hair said otherwise.
An elf?
She wore the standard black staff uniform one would expect to find in the Adventurer's Guild, complete with a white blouse beneath the black jacket.
"Hello Madam, My name is Simon, and you are?" Simon offered his own polite bow while the elf stared on blankly.
"None of your business. How may I help you?" The woman replied bluntly and didn't even blink. Her smile remained stationary as well.
Kayae and Suavi went wide-eyed while Simon tilted his head to the side, "I'm sorry? I apologize. I meant no offense."
"None taken. We just don't take kindly to child abusers here. Now, How may I help you?" The woman's smile widened enough to show off her rather sharp-looking teeth. At the same time, several of the adventures that had been sitting at the bar started to stand up and pat their weapons lightly. Suddenly a large man appeared from the next room heading straight for Simon.
"Oi, creepy old bastard with the two girls. I challenge you to a duel!"
Voices erupted around the hall, along with a few cheers at the declaration. Kayae and Suavi simply shook their heads while Simon sighed loudly.
I should have left them at the inn.
"Hey!" The large man gripped Simon's shoulder tightly and tried to budge him, but Simon didn't move. Instead, he quietly turned his head to face the brutish-looking man, "Yes?"
"I just challenged you to a duel. If I win, you hand those girls over to the guild master."
Simon shook his head again and turned to face the man, "and if I win?"
Several of the adventurers laughed out loud at his response, "You won't."
"Then why would I accept?"
A cruel grin appears across the man's face, "They aren't bound, are they? It would be a shame if the guards were involved, wouldn't it? Having unbound beastmen within the city walls is a crime, after all."
Simon narrowed his eyes at the man, "You really want to do this?"
"I do."
"Fine, Madam, does this facility have a ring?"
The elf happily answered quickly as if planning the whole event herself, "This way, please." Two adventurers stood up from a nearby table and stopped Kayae and Suavi from following. "Sorry, girls. What happens next isn't something ya'll should see. You seem to be rather well taken care of. The guild isn't likely as nice as the place you came from, but you'll be safe here, at least."
Simon watched the two girls tilt their heads at the man's words as he followed into a nearby room.
So that's why.
"Pardon me, Madam, Are beastmen's adventures exempt from the kingdom's slavery law?"
The silver-haired elf shook her head, "No, but we're allowed to keep them here for as long as we deem required."
Simon nods his head, "So you collect them early and sneak them out to the other kingdoms to be set free."
The large man and the elf stopped in their tracks but quickly resumed walking.
"Good luck proving it when you're dead, bastard." the large man replied while giving Simon a murderous glare.
Soon they arrived. It was a large arena with a set of bleachers on all sides. On the top row, several men clad in strange-looking robes wielding staffs were mumbling to themselves.
Simon stepped into the ring and headed to one corner while the large man went to the other side, "Before we begin, may I ask a few questions?"
The large man looked at the receptionist and replied after she gave a slight nod, "What."
"First of all, Who are those men up there in the robes?"
The large man's eyebrow tilted upwards as he eyed where Simon was pointing. Meanwhile, several of the adventurers from earlier started to fill in the empty seats holding a beer in one hand while placing bets with the other.
Oh? How about that.
"They're mages. They'll cast a barrier spell around the ring to ensure the crowd doesn't get hurt by any stray magic or projectiles. Not like we'll need it for this anyway."
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Simon's eyebrow tilted upwards at the unfamiliar term but more or less understood its meaning. So they're mages. I'll have to see if I can't find a book or something on magic later, "Alright, secondly, what are the rules for the duel?"
Several gasps came from the bleachers, "What? You don't even know that? Fuck it. Kill the other guy. That's it." the large man spits onto the dirt-covered floor.
"Kill? So the other party can't surrender or otherwise admit defeat?"
The man scoffs loudly, "Sure, you can surrender. I'm a little hard of hearing, though, so please forgive me if I miss it." he replies with a grin before cupping a hand around his ear.
Simon narrowed his eyes but continued on anyway, "Alright. One last question, those men are betting on the outcome. Am I allowed to bet as well? Naturally, I'll be betting in my favor."
The large man grinned widely while the crowd cheered loudly, "Sure. Why not. You can't bet the girls, though."
"That's fine." Simon took out the large sack of coin and tossed it towards the elf woman standing outside the ring. She nimbly caught it and went wide-eyed when she opened it. "That should have 126 gold coins, 85 silver coins, and 12 copper coins. There are another 200 gold coins left inside the Genital Lady in room 8. I'm betting it all on me. Oh, I accept the duel, by the way."
Simon grinned widely, showing off his elongated fangs to the crowd, and turned towards the large man while removing his shirt and jacket, exposing his bare muscular chest. It'd be a shame to get them covered in blood so early.
The large man started to sweat profusely as Simon gently folded the clothes and handed them to the elf, clearly not having expected the man to actually put up much of a fight.
"If you're nervous, I don't mind you bringing a few partners in here. I'd hate to have my bet go to waste after all."
The large man growled loudly and started to speak before three other men entered the ring as well. Several gasps could be heard as the crowd began betting even faster.
Oh? Seven to One? I'm actually starting to feel a little bad now.
Simon started to hold up a hand to stop the betting, but one of the men who entered early spoke before he could, "Remember this was your idea when you ask why in the next life."
Simon smiled, "You too."
A middle-aged man walked into the room and gave the elf woman a nod. The guild master, perhaps. "Begin!"
All at once, the four men charged at him with weapons drawn, of the men had an ax while two others were wielding longswords. Meanwhile, the large man had retrieved a mace matching his size from somewhere unseen. Simon, for his part, was unarmed.
One of the smaller men slashed at Simon's waist and was caught off guard as his sword was caught by Simon's bare hand. He delivered a kick that sent the man flying into the air. His body only stopped flying when it hit an invisible wall in the air.
That's a barrier?! That's a fucking hard light forcefield!
Simon stared at the shimmering light with wide eyes while blood erupted from the man's mouth, falling back to the arena with a thud. His armor was crumpled, and his legs were bent at odd angles. The entire stadium went silent, all eyes focused on the corpse.
"My condolences. I thought I held back more than that," Simon shrugged once and turned towards the other three men while snapping the sword still in his hand in two.
"""I surrender!"""
Simon grinned widely, and the three men's blood ran cold, "Sorry, I'm a little hard of hearing."
Everything after that happened so fast. The elf woman didn't have enough time to call the match.
The once brown-colored dirt floor was now covered in streaks of crimson. The two other remaining additions lay crumpled on the ground clutching at the stumps where their legs had been seconds before with the one arm they had left. Meanwhile, the large man under Simon's boot was crying uncontrollably while muttering surrender over and over as if the word had suddenly become his new god. Everyone stood motionless as they watched the nightmare in front of them.
He shifted more weight on the man's skull, pressuring his jaw until it started to crack from the strain. Blood pooled out of his mouth as his teeth began piling atop the floor.
Simon looked down at the weeping man and sighed, removing the weight while making sure to avoid the pool of blood. His entire body was covered in blood, but none of it was his own.
"Madam!" Simon's booming voice snapped the woman back to reality, "I think I heard these men surrender, wouldn't you agree?"
The elf nodded her head rapidly while trembling, "T-The winner is -" she looked at Simon with a pale face.
She forgot my name. "Simon," he replied with a polite bow.
"The winner is Simon!"
Instead of the usual cheers, one would expect the only thing that reverberated through the room was the quiet sounds of the three wounded men's breathing.
Suddenly the middle-aged man cried out, "What the fuck are ya'll doing? Get in there and treat them! Someone get all the healers you can find in the building. These guys aren't going to last long!" the elderly approaches Simon slowly with a hateful gaze.
Oh, before they all scatter.
"For the record, I'm not a child lover." He didn't know the word for a pedophile in this world, so he chose the next best thing. "The girls chose their own clothing. You try arguing with two fourteen-year-olds who had previously only owned rags and tell me how it goes."
The eyes of everyone in the room went wide at the declaration. At the same time, a man ran into the blood-filled room, "Shit! This is bad, Nina! He's not a pedo! He's just a wondering ex-soldier that found them and got them cl- WHAT THE FUCK?" The screaming man stopped in his tracks at the sight, followed closely behind by the other man and the two girls.
Kayae took one look around the room and shook her head while Suavi spoke, "I understand that you were mad about being considered a pedophile but honestly, was all this necessary?" Suavi walked into the center of the ring and spreads her arms out wide as if showing off the arena. "This is almost as bad as what you did to the bandits that attacked our village. At least you didn't impale them and leave them around the borders this time." At her words, the three men who had been quiet up until now all wet themselves.
"He defended their village?" "Was he alone?" "What? Did you not see what he just did? Those four guys are gold ranks! Of course, he did it alone! He's at least mithril level!" "D-Did she say Impaled, like, hung on spikes?" "Y-yeah, apparently he left them as an example too..." "W-"
The peanut gallery around the room sounded off all at once while the guildmaster approached Simon again.
"My office. Now."
Simon shook his head and followed the guild master with Kayae and Suavi in tow, quickly leaving the carnage of the arena behind.