Didn't I Say To Make My Abilities Average In The Next Life?! Volume 9

by Funa

  Plus, the Meteors had said that they would treat them, which meant that the Crimson Vow really had not the slightest reason to refuse.

  “Like I said before, we’ve got three swordsmen—including yours truly—as well as an archer and a mage, one each. I’m the leader—I use a greatsword, and I’m a vanguard-slash-tank fighter. Callack uses a rapier, and Rattle uses a shortsword.”

  The sword that Graf, the party leader, wielded was a large one or two-handed blade, comparable to what Earthlings might refer to as a bastard sword or a claymore. Normally, it would be wielded two-handed, but certain opponents might warrant the use of a shield, in which case it could be used with one hand. Of course, such a thing required an uncommon amount of physical strength.

  Then there was a rapier, which one could use to vex an enemy with quick jabs, and the shortsword, which was plain, but reliable and sturdy. The Meteors didn’t have anyone who wielded a spear, so they were strapped for melee weapons with reach, but presumably made do.

  “Then we have Kesbard, the archer-slash-dagger-wielder, and Malawenn, our mage. Malawenn is mostly a combat type, but it seems like your Pauline is a support type, so I hope you’ll be able to back all of us up.”

  Hearing this, Pauline nodded; she was indeed a support type. Her hot magic and boiling magic made it easy to forget that support and healing were supposed to be her specialty…

  “On our end we have myself, Mavis, the leader. My strength and stamina still aren’t the best, but I’m confident in my speed and technique. Then we have Reina, whose specialty is combat and fire magic, as well as Pauline, who specializes in healing magic… Though those are their specialties, that doesn’t mean that either of them is unskilled in or incapable of other types of magic as well, so both of them should be able to help out in a pinch. Then, over here, we have…Mile. She calls herself a ‘magic knight,’ which means she uses both magic and swords, but, well, I would most simply classify her as…a Mile.”

  The heck does that mean? The faces of the Blue Meteors wore perplexed expressions, and Mile herself looked less than pleased.

  Reina and Pauline, however, merely nodded.

  They went on to have a more in-depth discussion, but as the meal progressed, the Meteors’ smiles turned into grimaces as they saw the empty plates piling up. Reina and Mile would never pass up the opportunity to take advantage of a situation like this one. Unfortunately, the Meteors had taken them to a slightly more expensive place in order to show the girls a good time, so the damage to their purses was quite severe.

  Each dish ranged from around one-and-a-half to two silver a plate, but their bill was already in the dozens each for Reina and for Mile. While Mavis was not as big an eater as either of her fellow party members, she was still tall for a woman, and very active, which made for a very healthy appetite. Meanwhile, Pauline, when faced with free food, was wont to stuff herself until she nearly puked—and had an unerring eye for the priciest items.

  Their collective bill was already more than 80 silver—in other words, eight half-gold. That was the amount of one man’s pay for their entire upcoming job.

  One by one, the Meteors fell silent. The main reason they had taken this job, besides the fact that it paid well for the low level of danger, was that they would get to work alongside the Crimson Vow. In exchange for achieving that goal, eight half-gold was really a trifle.

  So they tried to tell themselves.

  And yet, they were shouting deep inside, You all really eat too much!

  ***

  “Okay, let’s head out!”

  First thing in the morning two days later, the wagon began to roll at Aetelou’s order. The cart and its driver were both a rental, hired on to carry them the half-day’s journey to the entrance of the forest and to return around noon two days later to meet them. On the ride, they talked of the investigation and the samples they would take until they arrived at the entrance of the forest around late morning.

  “Okay. Carry the stuff,” the Blue Meteors turned to Mile, demanding the moment they arrived. They clambered down from the wagon without even stopping to help unload the cart.

  “Huh?”

  “You’ve got storage magic, don’t you? We’ll leave the luggage and the samples to you. Hm? What’s that face for? You’re gonna carry everything that we hunt too, aren’t you?”

  At the prior group discussion, they had only introduced themselves and discussed combat strategies. Mile’s storage magic had never been mentioned, but it wasn’t as though she kept it a secret, either, and word got around quickly. There was neither a hunter nor a Guild employee in town who was not well aware of it. It wasn’t strange that the Meteors knew about it despite not having been told directly.

  The issue was how the Meteors had spoken. Their tone had been incredibly matter of fact, without a hint of gratitude or so much as a “please.”

  The reason so many guards had been requested was not only for the sake of protecting the researchers but also to aid in the gathering and transportation of their findings. This had been explained to them when they first met with the clients. And yet, the Meteors seemed to have decided that they were going to leave all of the transport work to Mile’s storage, while they spent their time not on menial gathering but on hunting, the spoils of which they would have Mile carry, too.

  “Excuse me? What are you all saying? Carrying our luggage is part of your job, but if you expect these young ladies to carry your luggage as well, then that’s another thing entirely. What in the blazes are you thinking?!”

  The two researchers, who had now disembarked from the wagon, fumed at the Meteors, while the Crimson Vow looked on dumbfounded.

  “Huh? That girl’s got a crazy amount of storage magic—it’s fine to leave all the carrying to her,” Graf said calmly, apparently utterly unaware of the real problem here.

  This time, Aetelou was the one to appear shocked. “It doesn’t matter how much she can hold,” she said. “Whenever she puts something in, it takes that much more sustained magical and spiritual energy to maintain it! I might understand if we were in town, where it’s safe, but you want to impose that much of a pointless burden on someone out here in the middle of these dangerous woods?! Don’t tell me that you took this job with the intention of having a girl carry everything for you?! Not carrying your share of our luggage is a breach of your contract. If you’re going to violate the terms, we will void your employment at once.”

  “Wh…?”

  The two elves had heard nothing from the Crimson Vow at the initial meetup, so this was the first that they were hearing of Mile’s storage magic. Regardless, they were not about to let the Meteors, who appeared to have known about it already, take advantage of this. There were many elves who excelled at magic far beyond most human mages, so even this pair, who could not use storage magic, were aware of its difficulties and drawbacks…even if they were not aware that such things did not actually apply to Mile.

  The Blue Meteors had seemed like honest men at their first meeting, but perhaps they were now showing their true colors, waiting until they had gotten all the way out to the job site to start making demands of the Crimson Vow. If the Crimson Vow were to quit now, it would be a breach of contract and a failed job, and they would have to pay a penalty, leaving them little choice but to put up with their fellow hunters.

  Yet their employers were now declaring that it was the Meteors who would be in violation of contract and who would be treated as having failed the job!

  “Grngh…” Graf grumbled, his carefully laid plans in tatters.

  Apparently, the Meteors had not actually invited the Crimson Vow out for the sake of making a good impression, but simply so that they could take advantage of them later. It might have been different if this were the royal capital, but there was no chance of a young, talented party of rookies in the midst of a journey choosing to settle down in a remote border city like Mafan. As such, the Meteors probably thought that they could milk the Crimson Vow for all they were worth
while they could, with no thought to consideration, politeness, or the general maintenance of good will.

  The bulk of the Crimson Vow’s earnings and glory had been shared with the members of the Devils and the Fellowship on their two previous jobs, and yet the girls still smiled kindly upon those parties. It was all too likely, thought the Meteors, that they were a group of softhearted fools who would do exactly as their seniors told them.

  From the Blue Meteors’ perspective, the Crimson Vow themselves had never actually refused to do as they said. Their employers had merely intervened before they could do anything.

  That was what they believed.

  Incidentally, there was a saying in certain circles:

  “He who believes…will have the rug pulled out from under him.”

  They unloaded the wagon together, and the driver headed back into town. He would be back at the same spot to meet them two days later.

  The group began making preparations to eat. It would be midday soon, and though it was a bit early, it was better to eat now rather than delve into the dangerous woods and then pause for a meal. Also, none of them were foolish enough to eat a big breakfast before a several-hour cart ride, which would leave their backsides sore and their guts jostled.

  Riding along a road from a provincial town out into the forest, which was not maintained to the standards of a main thoroughfare, could be exhausting. Part of the purpose of their stopping to eat was to regain their stamina, and so there was no reason to rush. There was plenty of time to build a fire and make a proper meal rather than just nibbling on preserved rations.

  Of course, “proper” had a fairly loose meaning when you were dining in the rough. For those accustomed to working in the wilds, even a simple meal of soup made from hot water, soup base, and dried vegetables, along with bread and meat warmed by flame, was fairly luxurious. Since a wagon would not be accompanying them throughout their travels, the hunters’ employers did not have the ability to provide meals for their hired help. After all, it would be ridiculous to hire even more hunters just to carry food for them. As a result, there were many contracts for this sort of job that specified that hunters must provide for themselves in terms of food.

  Thankfully, there were plenty of mages to go around, including their employers, so there was no worry about securing hot water. The two elves were able to provide soup for everyone. For the rest of their meal, the elves and each of the parties broke up into their own groups.

  “Miss Aetelou, Miss Sharalir, would you care for another?”

  Mile had produced a simple stove and frying pan from storage, along with pre-processed blocks of orc meat. When she offered the pair a plate of roast orc sandwiches garnished with pickles that she had whipped up, the two gladly accepted. Just like Dr. Clairia, the fact that they were elves did not automatically mean that they were vegetarian. Indeed, they were healthy, red-blooded carnivores.

  “This is delicious!” exclaimed Aetelou.

  “What is this spice you added?” asked Sharalir. “You managed to cut down the fat, so you can really taste the savory orc meat. And the bread, after it’s absorbed all the juices—it’s moist on the tongue and brushes gently against the gums…”

  “Are you some kind of food writer?!” Mile exclaimed.

  “Hey, gimme a big chunk o’ that meat,” said one of the Meteors.

  “I’ll take two!” said another.

  “Me too!”

  “I’ll have three!”

  “Just one’s good for me. But make it extra meaty!”

  The Crimson Vow were lost for words.

  “Huh?”

  “Why are you putting away your stove and saucepan?”

  “Huh? What?”

  Pauline turned to the frantic Meteors and mercilessly declared, “I believe it was decided that each party would take care of their own meal prep, wasn’t it? We all heard that at the initial meeting.”

  “Uh…”

  The Meteors were stunned. Sure enough, that had indeed been part of the contract. And of course, the Meteors had brought their own food: hardtack, jerky, and dried fruit—the three basic food groups for hunters on the go. However, this was something they had packed away for a worst-case scenario. There was more than a zero percent chance that their storage-magic-user would be killed or carried off by monsters, after all.

  And that storage girl should have had plenty of food on her for them to enjoy—and at worst, they could always hunt something along the way. Surely, she would be willing to share at a low cost, or perhaps even for free.

  Of course, these assumptions were based on what they had heard from the local soldiers and merchants. The Crimson Vow did not go out of their way to hide Mile’s storage magic, and most folks, once sufficiently liquored up, deemed it appropriate to discuss at least that much. The Meteors, likewise, had assumed that since the Crimson Vow did not hide Mile’s skill, it was not a problem if the Meteors knew about it.

  “How much?”

  If all they wanted was a few half-silver, the Meteors would pay it. So thought Graf. However…

  “No, well, I mean—our trip has just started, so we need to economize and make sure that we don’t run out of ingredients for ourselves… Please go ahead and eat the food that you brought for yourselves. You shouldn’t be thinking about stealing other parties’ provisions,” said Mile, her refusal swift and direct.

  “Honestly, just how much were you hoping to rely on those girls?” asked Aetelou, looking at the Blue Meteors with contempt.

  “What unbelievable creatures you are!” added Sharalir.

  The two elves were not aware of the true capacity of Mile’s storage and thought the Meteors were trying to steal away the finite amount of food that the girls had prepared for themselves—an unforgivable sin. As for themselves, Aetelou and Sharalir had had only one serving each and assumed that the girls had merely happened to cook a bit too much and were sharing their leftovers, which meant that their partaking was not a problem. If it should happen that the girls ran low on their stores because of their generosity, the elves were more than willing to share their own supplies. Even if food became a concern, they could still go a few days on water alone without much discomfort. Elves had slower metabolisms than humans, and since this pair was no exception to the general rule of elven magical proficiency, water was not a worry. Even if they lost all of their food supplies, they could survive for a week without trouble.

  “Seriously? Wait, do you all just hate us?” asked Graf.

  The Crimson Vow and the elves were silent.

  The Meteors appeared to be truly stunned. Reina, equally surprised, asked, “Do you all really not understand why someone might hate you, when you talk to people like this?! It would be way weirder for someone not to hate you with the way you’ve been acting!”

  The other five women nodded emphatically.

  “B-but we treated you! You all stuffed your faces on our dime, didn’t you?!”

  Mavis quickly brushed Graf’s gripe aside. “Weren’t you the ones who extended the invitation to take us out?”

  “But given how much you ate at that dinner, you should at least share a little of your food now! In exchange, we’ll even give you some of the rations that we brought!”

  “The exchange rates for food in the forest aren’t the same as they are in town. Out here, we’re using the outdoor rate, which is essentially 100-to-1,” said Mile, summarily dismissing Callack’s offer.

  “Of course, we are all allies here,” said Pauline with a grin, “So we’ll provide you with as much water as you need. So, Mr. Malawenn, you can reserve your magic for battle. That’s a special service, just for you all.”

  “Though you did underestimate and belittle us, I suppose it’s not like you’re traitors or criminals. You just tried to take us for fools because we’re a group of newbies. So, we’ll still uphold our duties as a joint force. We’ll support you in battle, provide healing, and complete all of the functions of our job diligently… But don’t expect u
s to do anything out of the kindness of our hearts!” said Reina, landing the finishing blow.

  “What?! C’mon! What we’ve done isn’t any different from how the Devils’ Paradise and the Fellowship of Flame treated you guys. You let them take your glory, your spoils, and your pay—and you let them eat your food, didn’t you? That’s what the soldiers and the merchants said.”

  “That’s right. But those men treated us as equals! They would have used their own bodies to shield us if they had to. Plus, they took that very first job of chasing back the monsters just out of concern for our safety, even when it wasn’t worth the pay. Do you really think that the five of you, who came gunning right for Mile’s storage and tried to catch a free ride on our coattails, deserve the same treatment as those other men? Ha!”

  It was a full-frontal verbal attack. The men collapsed in despair.

  “Of course,” Pauline continued, “It seems there are some loose-lipped soldiers and merchants back in Mafan. When we get back into town, hm… Say, Graf, won’t you tell me the names of those men who decided to go blabbing to you?”

  She was terrifying. The eerie smile upon her face sent a shudder down their spines.

  However, even they still had their pride as hunters.

  “Sorry, can’t reveal our sources!”

  “Ohoho…”

  “Ohoho…”

  “Ohoho…”

  “Ohohoho! Ohohohohohoho!”

  “You’re creepy! And what the hell was with that last laugh?!”

  ***

  The two elves and nine hunters proceeded into the forest.

  “We are now reaching the boundaries of the area where humans typically tread,” Aetelou explained.

  The guards nodded silently. The fact that this land was “untrodden” did not mean that it was uncharted territory or that it was home to dangerous monsters. It merely meant that no one came here because it was not worthwhile for anyone to do so. That was all.