Chapter 187:
What Makes a Top Adventurer
We ate a fair amount of the mounds of onigiri and other dishes we’d been given…but we still had some leftovers. Druid’s mother had insisted the meal was for two people, too… The three of us had made quite a dent in it, but we still had enough to feed one more mouth. I put the remaining onigiri and side dishes into a box and tucked it into my time-stopping magic bag. That way, I would be able to eat it the next day.
“Whew… Ya really saved my hide. I didn’t have anything to eat all day.” Druid’s mentor rubbed his belly as he took a sip of tea. He certainly looked very relaxed.
“Did they set a date for the forest expedition?” Druid asked.
His mentor gave a nod in reply. “Yeah, guess so… Oh, right, I meant to tell ya, some of the adventurers who were making waves back in my day have joined the party. So things’re gonna get pretty interesting.”
“Back in my day”? That reminds me, Druid did say his mentor had sent word to some of his old friends. So they actually came here. Wow, that’s good.
“So they made it here okay? I guess they must be pretty strong adventurers.”
They’d have to be strong to make it through the gurbar-infested forest. I’m impressed.
“They ain’t as strong as me. Still, if all they’ve got to deal with is berserk gurbars, they can push through with a little teamwork. Actually killing the gurbars is another matter, though…”
I see. I’d assumed nobody would dare to come to this town after its veteran adventurers were killed. They’d have to be at least as strong as Druid’s old mentor.
“Those veteran adventurers only died because they were asking for it.”
“Huh?! They were asking for it, sir?” I gasped.
Druid looked just as confused as I was. “What exactly happened to them?”
The old mentor shrugged his shoulders theatrically. “Those idiots underestimated how serious this is. They had a little squabble over leadership on their way into the forest. What were those jackasses thinking?!”
Druid and I both fell silent. Yeah, I guess they kind of were asking for trouble, then…
“If they’d each stayed in their own lane, they’d have escaped easily. But those fools just had to try and be heroes and get all the glory.”
“They probably got ambitious,” Druid suggested. “Since a lot of their rival veteran adventurers were taken in by the human trafficking organization and suddenly knocked out of the running.”
Being ambitious is usually a good thing. It can take you to greater heights…but not always. I felt bad for the adventurers who had died, but their deaths could possibly lead to even more victims. We needed to figure out what our top priority should be in solving the problem.
“Yeah, there’s some ambitious adventurers in the group, hungry to be at the top. But they’re a liability when they get riled up. We have to do something about them.”
Any party that ventured into the forest would need to have excellent teamwork. If somebody threatened that balance, it would make the mission much more dangerous.
“If you’re not satisfied with some of the adventurers, can’t you just remove them from the party?”
“I would, but we need all the people we can get.”
Some of the adventurers were hungry to be at the top. Was there some way we could cool them off a little? Should we give them each a turn at the top so they could see for themselves just how hard that position could be? If one of them turned out to be a good leader, we could always have them keep that position… Wait, huh? What does the person at the top do anyway? Do they lead monster-hunting parties like Bolorda did?
“Um, when you say hungry to be at the top, do you mean they aim to be the leader of a monster-hunting party?”
“Partially, yeah, but there’s more to it than that. A top adventurer is like the guild master’s right hand. Their job is to observe the other adventurers from up close and make important judgments about ’em. And to counter that, their powers are restricted to an extent.”
So they’ve actually got a pretty important role, then. This isn’t a decision we can take lightly. What sort of person could be a top adventurer that everyone would accept?
“Um, what are the minimum requirements for the top adventurer?” Is there some way we can easily sift out the unqualified?
“Requirements, eh?” Druid paused thoughtfully. “Well, you definitely need to be strong. You also need the ability to lead. Sometimes you’ll need to keep your subordinates in line, but you can’t be a closed-minded dictator, either. You also need critical thinking skills to determine what is and isn’t needed. If you mess up your priorities, you might get your comrades killed.”
It sounded like strength was the most important factor. Then leadership…which was probably a difficult trait to judge. Besides, sometimes when you’re in a position of leadership, your followers can make you stronger. Then, you also needed the ability to keep your subordinates in line, but you couldn’t be a dictator about it. And you also needed a critical mind… In a way, that almost seemed like the most important trait. It could be the difference between life and death.
“Ivy, do you have any ideas? I suggested we start by asking around and seeing who wanted to be the top adventurer. But since this quest is just too dangerous, they turned me down.”
Oh, he was thinking the same thing I was! But it was no good, huh? Too bad. I guess strength is the easiest requirement by which we could weed out the unqualified. Strength… Strength, huh… Oh! Well, if strength is what we need, then…
“Why don’t we determine the top adventurer by fistfight?”
“Well…that was the last suggestion I expected to hear.” The old mentor gave me a shocked look. Why was that?
“Ivy, that just won’t work.” Druid was also looking at me in shock.
Um…why not? “But, uh, it sounds like strength is the most important quality to have. And since we’re short on time, I figured a bunch of fistfights would be the fastest way to eliminate the unqualified people. And that way, we’d also get rid of the reckless ones, too…but it won’t work?” My voice got quieter and quieter toward the end. Eeep, yeah, I guess my idea was a little too extreme.
“But we don’t want our pool of adventurers to get wounded. I doubt they’d hold back in the fistfights.”
Druid was absolutely right. That was a pretty reckless suggestion I’d given, since we needed all the people we could get.
“Sorry, sir, I didn’t think about people getting hurt. You’re right. That idea won’t work this time.”
“Ivy…that idea won’t work any time.”
Hm? Oh, right. If we weren’t pressed for time, we’d be able to slow down and think of better methods. We wouldn’t have to resort to fistfights.
“Ha ha ha. Sorry, sir. Nix the fistfights.”
“Ha ha! You’re a funny kid, Ivy.”
Oh, great. I made the old mentor laugh.
“A fistfight, eh? Ya know, in a way, that’s not a bad idea. It is the fastest way to see who’s strongest.”
“Master. No.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. Anybody who tries to fight their way to the top doesn’t have what it takes to be a top adventurer anyway.”
Eeep…well, I guess since I tried to make the trial-by-fistfight happen, that means I don’t have what it takes to be a top adventurer. Well, it sounds like a really difficult job anyway, so I probably shouldn’t think about it.
“AHA!”
“AHA!”
Hm? Why did Druid and his old mentor cry out at the same time? Did they get a good idea or something?
“Ivy. That’s it. That’s it!”
“Ivy, ya really are an enigma!”
Um…what do they mean? How am I an enigma? The two men ignored the confused stare on my face and talked in hushed tones, like it was something important.
“We will hold a fistfight.”
Huh?! But didn’t they say we shouldn’t? People will get hurt…
“Yeah, we’ll have everyone who’s interested sign up. And whoever signs up fails the test.”
What do they mean? Why would they disqualify everyone who signed up? Um…if they have a fistfight, the people who participate might get hurt… Oh! So that was their way of telling who had a critical mind—who could determine what was needed the most right then. And anyone who agreed to participate in a fistfight when we needed all the able-bodied fighters we could get would be particularly bad for the cause at that moment. We couldn’t entrust people’s lives to anyone who would prioritize their own lust for power.
“This will be an easy way for us to see who’s quick to do the wrong thing. And if the guild master or party leader make the wrong decision, we can see what they have to say about it.”
Apparently, there were more benefits to the plan than I originally thought.
“Thanks, Ivy. Is it okay if we go with your fistfight idea?”
“Of course, sir,” I answered, lowering my tone to match theirs. “I wish you the best of luck with it.” Not like they needed my permission to have a fistfight.
“I think we’re gonna have a lot of fun tomorrow.”
“Master…just don’t go too far, okay?”
I looked at Druid’s mentor…and he had a huge smile on his face. He was definitely going to try something.
“Oh, don’t worry. Well…if anyone does throw a fit, I am gonna quiet ’em down.”
There was an indescribable quality to the old man’s smile. Druid sighed heavily in defeat. And I didn’t blame him—I didn’t think anybody could stop his old mentor now that he had his mind set on it.
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