I Said Make My Abilities Average! (LN) - Volume 15 - Chapter SS

Bonus Story:

The Invitation

“A DESIGNATED HUNTER? What is that?” asked Mile, looking as dumbfounded as her compatriots.

One day, when popping in at the guild hall, the members of the Crimson Vow had been pulled aside by one of the clerks and brought up to the guild master’s office. They were bewildered by what they heard.

“A designated hunter,” the guild master explained, “is someone who accepts jobs that are treated as direct requests from a client, independently of the guild. This is most likely to happen when it’s a job that can’t be accepted officially—or it’s a job that the hunters wouldn’t normally be able to take but simply must for reasons of sentiment. Since this job ostensibly isn’t going through the guild, the client will post the request slip on the job board themselves. It will say something like ‘cleaners wanted,’ and it won’t list the details or the pay, only a point of contact, so most hunters wouldn’t give it a second glance.”

“It’s like the first edition of a comic! The version of the magazine before it was revised for publishing! A whopping 100-ton hammer!!!”

As usual, Mile had begun shouting something that no one else understood. By now, even the guild master had grown accustomed to her strange behavior, so no one so much as blinked an eye.

“I knew there was something there when I first heard about this concept…” Mile babbled to herself, clearly dreaming up some play on words with how she might read “designated hunter” in Japanese and the name of a certain anime.

“Obviously, it would be a slightly unconventional job,” the guild master confirmed, “but there are certain tasks that fall just within the bounds of the law, and might even border on criminal if done poorly. Those kinds of jobs require someone skilled, with a strong sense of morals, justice, and dignity, who isn’t hurting for money. It’s the sort of delicate job that can’t be left to normal hunters. In fact, there are few hunters who would be trusted with this at all.”

The members of the Crimson Vow were silent, looking back at him with an odd expression. They were obviously happy that he was recognizing their skill and had faith in them. However, he was also clearly angling for them to take on some kind of nuisance of a job. Yes, they were glad to think that this invitation was only being extended to them because the guild master knew they had what it took to overcome any troubles. However…

“No thank you!”

“No thank you!”

“No thank you!”

“No thank you!”

“What?!” the guild master cried as four rejections came in swift succession. “Wh-wh-why not? Getting this sort of invitation is a huge honor for a hunter—proof of just how good your reputation has become!”

“Be that as it may, we have to keep the job a secret, don’t we? We’ve never heard anything about this sort of arrangement before. That means that only a few people in the guild are ever going to hear about this. The cost-benefit analysis associated with a job that will only raise a few people’s opinions of us but has a high likelihood of being a pain in the butt is just far too dismal. It’s a bad deal,” Pauline explained. 

“Plus,” Reina added, “we’ve already built up a great reputation just by completing normal jobs, so something like this holds no appeal, don’t you see? We have no reason to purposely go and make trouble for ourselves.”

“Uh, well…”

They were correct—if this job was not going through the guild, they would not be receiving any official guild support, which meant it was, by definition, risky. Normally, no one would be allowed to post a job directly to the job board without going through reception. Even if the guild tried to claim the client had posted it themself, that claim was a little fishy. The whole situation required someone to consciously operate outside the rules of the system, contacting a client all on their own without going through the proper channels.

For a hunter, getting involved in something like this could be a breach of guild contract. Even just accepting a job that someone had posted up independently could be a breach of contract. 

And so, if the guild were so inclined, they could place all the blame on the hunters when something went wrong, the guild wiping their hands of the matter. In fact, they could play the victims in the situation.

“No thanks!”

There was simply far too much risk—and in this case, there was hardly any benefit to be had anyway. 

“So,” asked Reina, “how many are there at this branch of the guild right now? These ‘designated’ hunters?”

“Er… Um, well…” the guild master stammered.

“I’m guessing there’s not even one,” Pauline clipped.

“Uh, w-well no… That’s why…”

“And I’m guessing that you asked us first, so that if you extended the same invitation to anyone else you could say, ‘Well, the Crimson Vow agreed!’”

Even Mavis, who was normally quite open-minded, was not having any of this. 

“We see how it is!” said the members of the Crimson Vow, in unison, as they turned and left the office—ignoring the guild master’s desperate calls behind them.

***

“Honestly, the nerve of that guy!”

“I know that he’s done a lot for our party, but that’s no reason to push that obvious of a red mark on us!”

“Right? Guild master or not, I can’t believe he’d pressure us like that.”

“It seemed like that wasn’t even an established system—he just wanted to use us to set up something new…”

All the guild staff and hunters present sensed that there was something the Crimson Vow were not happy about. As the party came grumbling down the stairs, the others avoided making eye contact. Well, for the most part.

“You four. You are the Crimson Vow, yes? I shall be your party leader now, so I expect you all to fall under my command!”

“Oh my Goddess, it’s a real live overblown invitation from an arrogant maiden!!!” the Vow screamed out loud.

No, whyyyyyy?! screamed everyone else, inside their hearts.

The girl who had just issued this invitation—if you could call it that—appeared, to the Crimson Vow, to be a young noblewoman with golden curls. She might have been around fifteen or sixteen. Beside her were three women in their early twenties with swords, possibly her bodyguards or attendants. The three of them, perhaps having a bit more common sense, looked utterly mortified.

“No thanks, we’re fine,” Mavis swiftly said.

“You’re fine, you say? Good! That means that you’ve accepted!”

Apparently, the girl had completely misheard this refusal.

“What sort of stupid scam call is this?!” shouted Mile, who immediately seemed to grasp the situation. “Mavis, you have to be firm with these kinds of people! They’ll twist your words to mean whatever they want them to!”

“What?! O-okay…”

Though Mavis was scandalized to think that such people existed in the world, she knew that whenever Mile’s expression shifted this quickly it meant she was giving a serious instruction, so she swiftly obeyed.

“U-um,” she said, “we refuse your invitation! We will continue operating with just the four of us!”

Saying it that clearly should have been enough. Mavis was certain of this, until…

“Don’t be shy to admit to your own inadequacies. I shall make up for all that you lack and bring you to a higher level!”

“This is hopeless…”

***

“What in the world was that about?”

“Well, she’s clearly a noble’s daughter…”

Reina and Pauline grumbled to one another as the four of them dragged themselves out of the guild hall, having finally escaped this mysterious noblewoman.

“I’m guessing she’s just some spoiled noble who got bored of her dull daily life and thought she’d come amuse herself with this ‘all-girl party’ she probably heard a rumor about,” said Mavis.

“Seems right,” Mile agreed.

“Uh-huh,” the other two sighed.

“Ridiculous for a young noblewoman to just decide to become a hunter out of the blue like th—” Pauline began to say, then fell silent, looking at Mavis and Mile.

“I mean, there was that girl from Baron Aura’s household, who joined the Servants of the Goddess…” said Mile, apparently having picked up on something in Pauline’s gaze.

“Maybe have some self-awareness, dummy!” Reina howled.

***

“Seriously, our luck must be terrible today. What’s with these strange invitations one after the other?” Reina muttered as they approached the inn.

Don’t jinx us! the other three thought.

When they arrived at the inn…

“Now, it’s time to take a nice, relaxing ba—wah!”

Just as they made to step inside, a very smooth party approached them. A smooth-looking swordsman, a smooth-looking warrior, a smooth-looking lancer, and a smooth-looking ranger…

Where’s Ritsuko-san when you need her?

Again, Mile had something ridiculous on the brain.

N-no, don’t tell me… All four of the girls were filled with dread.

“You four are the Crimson Vow, yes? We’ve heard a great deal about you. We are the Light of Hope, a B-rank party. We’ve come from the capital of the kingdom of Brandel.”

Did she really…? 

“So tell me, how would the four of you like to join our party?”

She jinxed us!

“We’ve heard tell of you even in Brandel,” the man continued. “Not having any mages has really been weighing our party down. It was just as we were thinking to improve our combat tactics by adding a few mages that we heard of your reputation. You have a powerful combat mage, a healer whose talents are said to surpass that of a sage’s, one who commands both sword and magic, and the wielder of the Godspeed Blade… And you are all beautiful young ladies. I see no course of action but for your party to join ours! We have been called heroes, and many agree that they would be lucky to join us, but we have not found anyone worthy until now… You pass!”

“Come again?”

The members of the Crimson Vow were not happy.

Worthy?

Pass?

What in the world was he saying?!

“Well, you all aren’t worthy of joining our party,” snapped Reina.

“You fail,” said Pauline, cold as ever.

“I really doubt you could keep up with us,” said the normally genial Mavis.

“Just as you all have the right to choose, so do we,” said the kindhearted Mile, but there was a surprising steel behind her words. “I don’t believe we could ever get along with any self-centered individuals who think that their opinions are the only ones that matter.”

On the other side of the counter, Lenny shrunk back. This was the first time she had ever seen her friends truly angry. It was particularly terrifying how all four members of the Crimson Vow were prone to smiling in their rage.

This was bad, Lenny concluded. At this rate, the inn was going to end up damaged. That was what her instinct told her.

“H-h-h-h-heyyyy there, big sisters! Maybe you should wait to make a decision about combining your parties once you see what everyone can do! Maybe at the hunter training grounds! Or outside of town!”

“Of course. You make an excellent point.”

The Light of Hope gladly accepted this proposal, thinking this would be the perfect opportunity to beat a bit of sense into the Crimson Vow for their cheeky words and let them know just how inadequate they were without a proper vanguard. After a display of power, they were sure to be begging the Light of Hope to let them join.

Phew. The inn is saved!

Lenny had not the slightest worry in the world about the Crimson Vow leaving town with these strange men. She knew just how peculiar her “big sisters” were, after all.

“Forgive us!!!”

The next thing the members of the Light of Hope knew, they were on the ground of the hunter training grounds, an absolute mess, in front of a crowd of spectators. 

Pour souls… the spectators thought. But really, what did they expect? The men had scorned—angered even—a group about whom they knew practically nothing. Most people who engaged in such stupidity would be dead, which meant these men were lucky to have learned their lesson and kept their lives. They should consider themselves blessed to have such an important experience without suffering any serious injuries—or at least, nothing that healing magic could not fix. Even if such injuries still included broken and crushed bones and severe burns…

***

“I’m beat!”

“I’m exhausted.”

“Emotionally and physically!”

“Ah ha ha…”

The day had been nothing more than one “invitation” after another. It was not the first day like this the Crimson Vow had faced—in fact, they often found on themselves on the receiving end of requests they did not want to fulfill. Such was the price of fame. For hunters, the more they suffered in this way, the more proof it was that they had succeeded in getting their names out there. People admired and respected them, so they tried to recruit them or use them… 

They were inundated with attention from their fellow hunters, young folks who hoped to be hunters, and people who wanted hunters’ help. These burdens were par for the course, so the Crimson Vow could not truly complain. However…

“Seriously though, the guild master was the worst of them!!!”

They simply could not forgive the guild master for being as bad as the rest.