The ale mugs that each of us held clinked together above the table.
Having successfully cleansed the Abyss safely and without taking any damage, we had just returned via stagecoach from the site of the Abyss. Before dismissing our party, it was our custom to celebrate at our regular bar — the Orc’s Club.
In addition to well-chilled ale, there were many dishes laid out on the table. Most of them were meat dishes. There were thick beef steaks, pork spare ribs and sausages, roast pigeons and stewed offal. They were all greasy dishes but we earned our living using our bodies so we polished off plate after plate without hesitation.
Seekers were all gluttons. Taking the tall, well-built Walter as a matter of course, even the only girl, Tania, who was slim, ate much more than ordinary people did.
The rate of alcohol consumption increased proportionately to the food eaten. At first, we mostly discussed serious topics, such as reviewing the battle, but as usual, we were tipsy and talking loudly before we realized. Especially since we had made a killing this time, the alcohol flowed easily.
「All things considered, we did great work! After all, we earned 5 million Fil! It’s 5 million Fil! It’s the most we’ve raked in so far!」
It was the fifth time Walter had repeated that line since we sat down at the table. The alcohol must be slowing his thoughts. It was common for drunks to keep repeating the same things loudly.
With that said, I could sympathize with him. If I got drunk, I might become just like Walter, but as I took after Grandfather, who was a heavyweight, I won’t get drunk unless I drank an incredible amount of drinks with pretty high alcohol content.
Peeking out from the leather pouch placed grandly in the middle of the table, was our reward for subjugating the Lesser Vampire — 50 gold coins, or 5 million Fil.
The usually graceful Tania was entranced by the unclouded glint of the coins, and even Lloyd, our typically gallant leader, couldn’t help having a slovenly look on his face.
I was happy too. Happy, but also dissatisfied.
By rights, we should have earned more than this. But we only got 5 million Fil. That fact left me in a bad mood.
「We’ve come so far…」
When Tania muttered emotionally, Lloyd nodded while pushing back his burning red hair.
「Even though it hasn’t even been a year, we've had a smooth start. At this rate that we're going, we can probably aim higher. We should all be close to reaching B Rank as well」
There was no trace of doubt in his confident voice. I held the same belief. The members here would surely all rank up.
Each Job had its own rank up requirements. However, almost everything about the B Ranks has already been revealed. According to that information, we were very close to meeting the requirements.
There were 3 known Jobs that I could rank up into. Of course, my intention was to rank up to a Job that would strengthen my current role. The other three also had the same plan.
It had been a year since I became a Seeker. As Lloyd said, it was going smoothly.
However, when newcomers like us did so well, there would also be a lot of jealousy.
There were several Seeker-exclusive bars in the imperial capital. They weren’t just places for eating and drinking, but places where you could fulfill various purposes like gathering new members or sharing information. Because of that, even though there was no formal arrangement, there were Rank and achievement requirements for each bar.
Those with C Rank Jobs couldn’t enter bars frequented by B Ranks, and even in bars for C Ranks, they could get chased out based on their achievements. Violence that occurred because of this was partly officially recognized, and it was common for newcomers who didn’t know anything to receive a severe baptism.
In other words, this Ogre’s Club that we ate and drank in was a bar that matched our Rank and achievements. But more importantly, we were 16 to 18 year old youths who hadn’t even been active for a full year. Even with the same Rank and achievements, age and the length of career could change the value of the achievements.
Looking around the bar, parties in similar situations to ours were eating and drinking merrily, but tables with older Seekers had a dark and gloomy atmosphere. Those were the Seekers who had stagnated and were unable to rank up.
With their long track record, they at least had the qualification to sit in this bar, but conversely, only their pride that didn’t match their abilities grew inflated because of that, and promising newcomers only exacerbated their jealousy.
Even now, there was a guy who was looking at us with a hateful look. When I grew annoyed and stared back at him, he awkwardly averted his eyes and drank his alcohol.
Having to go out of my way to deal with him was a pain, but if I left him alone and let him look down on us, he might try something sneaky in future. That was why I needed to keep him in check like this.
「Hey, what happened? Putting on such a scary expression」
「It’s nothing」
The red faced Walter peered at me as he drank from his mug. It was really not a topic worth sharing. I tried to dodge the issue by biting into a sausage, but Walter didn’t let it go.
「What is it, what is it~ I’ll listen to your troubles~」
「You're annoying. It’s a pain, so don't pester me」
「Could it be that you’re still holding a grudge about the reward?」
「You’re wrong. Don’t worry about it and drink silently」
「It’s not good to be obsessed with money. Seekers have to be men of high caliber. Your favorite Grandpa must have said the same thing as well」
「Huhh?」
I though that I would just let his comments slide but I snapped when he used my respected Grandfather to conveniently make his point.
Just what do you know about Grandpa and me? I did say that I’m the grandson of Over Death, but I don’t remember ever talking about what Grandpa taught me. Don’t say stuff arbitrarily.
If anything, what Grandfather had taught me was the complete opposite. I was told, time and time again, that a Seeker must be obsessed with money.
Money, money, money, a Seeker’s activities always required money.
Nothing could be done without money, be it buying or repairing equipment, or stocking up on the items needed for exploration.
However, contrary to Grandfather’s teachings and the reality of the situation, the trend among Seekers was that not worrying about money was『chic』, which gave me so much grief.
For this time’s request as well, if we had negotiated when we received the request, a further 500,000 Fil should have been added to our reward. This was due to the recent surge in the prices of the materials obtained from Lesser Vampires.
And yet, when I proposed negotiating, the three of them had argued that『Even though they're giving us as much as 5 million Fil, doing something like getting greedy and fixating on a mere 500,000 Fil is disgraceful』. As I wasn’t the leader of the party, I had no choice but to give up on the negotiations.
But 500,000 Fil wasn’t a small amount. Rather, it was a lot of money. We could have done any number of things with that money. Nevertheless, the reason why they thought that the amount was not worth negotiating for, was because these three people’s sense of money had been warped when they were faced with the 5 million.
In short, they weren’t particular when dealing with things. That was why they weren’t mindful of the market for Beasts materials and the thought of negotiating for a bigger reward never crossed their mind.
It was such a frustrating story. However, while I did think that, I also knew that there was no point in being excessively frustrated over it.
「...…I’m not holding a grudge or anything. That matter has already been settled, right?」
I sighed after swallowing my anger together with my ale. It was annoying to be looked down on but he was drunk. It would only be a waste of effort to argue with him.
「That’s right, the one who keeps bringing that up is Walter. Sure, Noel was obsessed with the reward, but he went along with us in the end. Right?」
Tania, who was trying to mediate between us, looked to me for agreement but it was hard for me to agree with what she said. I didn’t go along because I agreed with them. I had simply given up because I knew that it was meaningless for me to insist by myself. It was troubling that they still misunderstood me on that point.
That was why I could only smile vaguely in reply, but that seemed to have gotten on Walter’s nerves. He slammed his mug onto the table and started yelling.
「Wipe that foolish smile off your face! I’m angry with you!」
「Huh?」
「If you're stingy, it’ll affect the reputation of everyone in Blue Beyond! Properly reflect on your actions!」
「Don’t spout nonsense! Aren't you also getting carried away, shouting 5 million, 5 million? What are you saying while playing the innocent?」
「Isn’t it natural to be happy about our just rewards!? Unlike you, I didn’t greedily try to jack up the reward!」
He’s quibbling like a kid despite his huge figure. With that said, there’s no point in trying to reason with a drunk. There are appropriate methods of dealing with drunks. Let’s handle this in a well-mannered and gentlemanly way.
「Yeah, that’s right. Everything is all my fault. Mister Walter is the one who is always right. There is absolutely no room for objection. How impressive」
「What’s with that attitude!? I’m two years older than you!」
I gave Walter an icy stare as he got more and more agitated.
「What has age got to do with anything here? Are you going to be obedient to anyone, just because they’re older than you? Don’t make me laugh, ability is everything for a Seeker. Using your age as a shield to try and force others to agree with you, aren’t you pretty naive, young Walter?」
「Y… Yo… Yoo… YOU…」
Walter was so angry at my words that several blood vessels on his forehead popped out and looked like they were going to spurt blood. Kicking his chair aside, he stood up and fixed me with a ferocious glare.
「Don’t mess with me, Noel! Even though the only thing you can do is issue instructions from the back! Someone taking it easy in a safe place shouldn’t get carried away!」
「Yes, yes, it’s all thanks to Mister Walter that I always have such an easy time. Wow, I really appreciate it. The way you fight, you’re just like a fierce god! You're so different from an incompetent person like me, who can’t do anything other than issuing instructions! Yo, Seeker among Seekers! Hyuu~ You’re so cool!」
As I egged him on with my whistling, Walter, angry and mortified, ground his teeth so hard that I thought they would break. He was trembling like a newborn fawn.
「…Noel, you’ve prepared yourself right?」
「Hey, hey, what’s this? Is your caliber so small that you can’t accept my praise? Isn’t it bad if Seekers aren’t men of high caliber? Or do you want me to pat you on the head? Do you want me to sing you a lullaby or something? Only your body grew big but you stayed a pampered child, didn't you, little Walter? Oh~you toddling baby, behave yourself alrighchu~」
「I..I’ll… I’ll kill you!」
Walter, who had reached the limit of his patience, reached out to grab me. I smirked at the fact that everything had gone exactly as I planned.
Bring it on, I'll accept your challenge. Just because you’re a vanguard, don’t think that you can win a fist-fight while drunk. It’s just right, I had been peeved off by this guy’s insensitivity for a while now. I’ll make a good sandbag out of him.
As I stood up and was about to throw Walter, who was naively charging straight at me, Lloyd who had been observing silently, stepped between us.
「That’s enough! Both of you ought to be ashamed of yourselves!」
We got yelled at. Even though I so close to being able to beat up on Walter as much as I wanted. It was a pity, but so long as the leader had stopped us, that was it for this fun fight.
With a click of his tongue, Walter went back to his seat and threw up his arms as he sat down.
「Both of you are really such idiots...…」
Tania sighed as Lloyd put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her. The two of them were lovers. I didn’t really think there should be romance within the party, but it was not my place to say anything.
By the way, Walter had also fallen for Tania. But the one Tania chose wasn’t the stern and burly Walter, but the suave lady’s man, Lloyd.
There was nothing more awkward than a love triangle.
「It’s about time to call it a night. Let’s split the reward」
Lloyd gave a refreshing smile as he took command of the situation. Comparing Lloyd’s pretty boy smile to Walter’s dissatisfied face, I thought that I would have chosen Lloyd too if I was Tania
Has there ever been a time when someone says they’re going to be well-behaved and gentlemanly and it doesn’t end up in a childish squabble? ʅ（◞‿◟）ʃ But I like that MC has a childish side to remind us that he’s still really young.
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