Didn't I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?! Volume 5

by Funa

  Hearing this, Faleel looked relieved. Apparently, she was quite enamored of them.

  All according to my plan…

  As Mile silently gloated, feeling as powerful as the god of a brand-new world, she happened to look over to the inn’s guest register, which lay atop the desk. In the blank space beside their four names, there appeared to be some manner of childish scrawl. Perhaps it was Faleel’s notes for her own personal reference.

  What might she have written? Suddenly burning with curiosity, Mile read along to see…

  Mayvis: Shes tol but shes got no chest. Probly a elf.

  Rena: Shes got fangz. Shes probly got sum beestfok blood in her. Just lik me.

  Poline:I sens evil on her. Probly a deemon.

  Miel: Shes a skwirt. Probly a dworf.

  H-how rude!

  Did she think they were some kind of all-star cast of nonhumans?! Mile seethed internally, but of course, she could not reveal such a reaction to a child of only six years old.

  That said, if Reina or Pauline were to see this, things were sure to get out of hand. Mile casually flipped the page of the register to one that did not have their names written upon it.

  Still, her analysis of Pauline was spot on! A beastperson’s intuition is a fearsome thing!

  Once the bill was settled, the Crimson Vow headed to the local capital branch of the Hunters’ Guild.

  “We are the C-rank hunting party the Crimson Vow, registered in the capital of Tils Kingdom. We are currently journeying in order to gain new experiences, and we will be stationing ourselves in this city for a short period. We look forward to working with you all,” Mavis explained at the reception window, introducing the group.

  “Oh, my, my! Thank you! How courteous,” the clerk replied, smiling wide. “My name is Felicia. I’m the receptionist. The city of Shaleiraz welcomes you! If you desire, I can have one of our representatives give you information about this city, as well as the monsters and gathering spots in the surrounding areas. Would you like that?”

  “Will it cost us?” asked Pauline.

  “Ah, no. We provide information as well as local maps and other materials to anyone who has come from afar and will be operating here for some time, free of charge. It is part of our sworn duty as guild employees to provide for the security of our hunters and safeguard against any unnecessary trouble.”

  There was no sense looking a gift horse in the mouth. The four girls replied as one, “Please and thank you!”

  As the Crimson Vow sat at a nearby conference table receiving their information from the representative, a number of glances were cast their way.

  There was a slender beauty, of around seventeen or eighteen;

  A busty beauty of around sixteen or seventeen;

  And two cute little girls of around twelve or thirteen…

  And among them were two highly valuable mages.

  Normally, to have a C-rank party with that sort of composition, at least three of the members would have to be C-ranks—or else, if the two youngest were perhaps still D-ranks, then at least one, if not both, of the two who were of age would be B-rank. In a country such as this, which had nothing like the Hunters’ Prep School, a girl of twelve or thirteen who was a C-rank was almost unheard of. Honestly, even in Tils, which did have such a school, the sight was rare. For a young person to attain such a rank, she would have to have some manner of extraordinary skill or some special abilities, such as outstanding magic genius or the like…

  A beautiful girl under twenty who was already at a B-rank was an even more improbable sight. Even with as much strength and renown as the Roaring Mithrils had, only their leader, Gren, had yet to rise above a B-rank. It was not a rank that some little girl could attain easily.

  In other words, this was a group of beautiful young women, youthful in body but with the strength of hunters much their senior, with special abilities and no man in sight. Such myths were sung of in the bawdy epics of troubadours across the land, with titles like, “The Ballad of a Man’s Wet Dream.”

  Most of the hunters who were based in the capital of Tils had been present at the graduation exam. Therefore, they were already aware that the Crimson Vow had incredibly exceptional abilities for rookies. As a result, no one of lesser ability ever dared make a pass at them, and no one of greater ability tried to tangle with them either.

  Plus, they all feared what rebuke might come from their betters should anyone dare lay a hand upon the girls.

  Their betters. Including higher-ranking hunters, the guild’s upper management, or the Crown…

  And so, it had been tacitly decided that all the hunters would watch over them.

  Yet here in a foreign land, where such details were known to none, the Crimson Vow appeared a tasty morsel indeed. And now, the all-male parties who were present here in this, the capital branch of the Hunters’ Guild of the Kingdom of Vanolark, sat biding their time, waiting for the appropriate to time to speak to the Crimson Vow, silently keeping an eye on the competition.

  After the guild employee finally finished giving the girls the rundown on the area, the Crimson Vow stood and moved to check the current entries on the information board. This would have been a prime opportunity, but what they were doing was an incredibly crucial task for hunters, so much so that interrupting them now would leave a horrible first impression. The men continued to wait, no one yet daring to call out to them.

  After they were through with the information board, the Crimson Vow moved to check the job board. When they had decided upon a job and were moving to the reception window to further discuss it—that would be the moment to strike. That would be when the men could offer advice or pointers, or propose they accompany the group to the hunting grounds, as it was their first time in an unfamiliar place—or some other excuse.

  Most of the parties who were aiming for the Crimson Vow came to the same conclusion at once. And because they all knew that the others knew what they knew, a fierce and silent war broke out…

  “Oh!”

  Just then, Mile suddenly raised her voice.

  “What’s up?” asked Reina.

  Mile pointed to a single card that was pinned to the board.

  Investigation request. Reports of a group conducting suspicious activities at Golem Ridge. Members to be captured or executed pending results of the investigation.

  The four looked at the request and then looked at one another. In the back of all their minds floated the images of the beastmen operating at the ruins. News of the investigation into the beastmen had yet to make it this far, apparently. It would probably take time for those in the palace to investigate and discuss what was to be conveyed to other kingdoms.

  And so, Reina tugged the posting from the board.

  “Are you sure?” Mile asked.

  Reina shrugged her shoulders.

  “You want to do it, don’t you? Even if it wasn’t our main goal, this was one of the points of this whole journey for you, wasn’t it? I mean, this might not even have anything to do with that other incident at all. Even if it did, well, we already know that beastfolk are no big thing. And if one of those shows up again, I get the feeling that we can just bring up the names of those guys from last time in order to get them to sit down and have a conversation. Anyway, I doubt that anything that coincidental would happen here.”

  Mavis and Pauline nodded in agreement.

  This was perhaps a little overly optimistic. The last incident had been settled neatly, but there was no guarantee that things would go so smoothly the next time. Regardless, Mile wanted desperately to take this job and continue her investigation. She nodded as well.

  The pay was fairly decent, but given that the level of danger could not be easily predicted and there was no guarantee that the hunters would necessarily encounter their targets, the job seemed to have been posted there for some time without anyone choosing to take it on. Seeing that the Crimson Vow intended to accept this job, the other hunters, who had been waiting to speak to them, were c
onfused. In their confusion, they lost their chance to talk to the girls entirely.

  Things don’t always go the way one hopes they will.

  This was also true of the Crimson Vow, who assumed that the individuals they might encounter this time would also be beastmen. They had already forgotten what the elder dragons had said—namely, that they were going to check in on the beastmen and demons who they had investigating on their behalf across the land.

  “Huh? Um, this is the job you wish to take, then?” Felicia, the clerk, asked as Mavis handed her the job slip, confusion clear upon her face.

  “Um, it is. Yes?”

  “I would really recommend choosing differently…”

  Not this again!

  This was the third time now. The four were growing weary.

  “We are already fully aware that there’s a chance that this job has been left as a ‘red mark’ job, that the level of danger is unclear, and that it’s possible we might turn up empty-handed, with a failure mark. One member of our party is still underage, but we are a full-fledged C-rank party, so there is no need to worry about us. Should we happen to fail, the blame lies solely on our shoulders,” said Reina.

  As there was nothing that Felicia could do, she reluctantly processed the request. Even she was aware of what it meant that the Crimson Vow were C-ranks at such a young age. And she knew how many other parties would have set their sights on them, as well. Of course, what had put the glint in those men’s eyes was not just that the Crimson Vow had the ability of C-rankers, but also that they were a group of beautiful young girls. Had they merely been a C-rank level and nothing else, there would be much less excitement from the hunters. Yet as it stood, most of the parties who were currently present were practically drooling.

  Furthermore, their young ages meant that, even if they had talent, they would still be lacking in experience, which should have put their abilities at a firmly middling level. To become C-ranks so young, things must have been going quite favorably for them, so it was likely they had become rather conceited. This was the primary reason that talented hunters often died early deaths.

  In other words, the chances of the girls successfully completing a job that so many other hunters had avoided was slim. This was Felicia’s logical conclusion.

  They were a group of cute young girls—a rarity amongst hunters—and they were polite and courteous to the guild staff. It would weigh terribly on her conscience to have them travel all the way to this kingdom only to have get wiped out on their very first job there. With this in mind, Felicia shot a wild look at the local hunters, who had all neglected to take on this job that the Crimson Vow had just accepted. It was a look that said, “Do something!”

  There was no hunter in this capital who was foolish enough to defy Felicia’s command. Swiftly, one five-man party jumped into the fray.

  “You girls have a moment? You all just arrived in this kingdom, didn’t you? I can’t say I applaud the choice to take on a dangerous job in an unfamiliar territory with so many uncertainties. What do you say? Why don’t you pick another job? Or, if you really want to do it, why don’t we tag along with you?”

  The young man smiled, a sparkle in the flash of his pearly whites.

  The Defenders of the Covenant were a crack team of five beautiful young men, known to those at this branch as the Pretty Boy Party, but they were more than just a set of pretty faces. They were fairly skilled for a group of men still in their twenties, and except when it came to matters involving women, they were fairly sincere. As the party’s name suggested, they were men who kept their promises.

  The other parties were stomping mad that this lot—of all people—had jumped out ahead of them, but it was their own faults for hesitating to make the proposal themselves.

  Indeed, the proposal that the Defenders had made was a right and just one. Felicia nodded heartily, satisfied. At least, until the Crimson Vow replied.

  “We don’t need any extra burdens.”

  “I’m pretty sure you all wouldn’t be able to keep up with us…”

  “That’d make our cuts of the pay go down!”

  “Ahaha…”

  “Wha…?”

  The leader of the Defenders was speechless at their replies. Felicia was slack-jawed as well.

  “Y-you’re being a bit hasty there, aren’t you?” the leader managed to get out, still forcing a grin, though his cheeks were twitching.

  However, as far as the Crimson Vow were concerned, their affairs were very clearly none of his business. Just as they said, the men would be nothing but a burden, and besides, they had certain battle techniques that they were not prepared to reveal to others.

  They did not enjoy making fools of other hunters, but if they did not assert themselves now, more and more parties would try to come cozying up to them later on. So, reluctantly, the Crimson Vow decided to make this into a demonstration.

  As always, Reina gave the direction.

  “Mavis, do the thing.”

  “On it. Excuse me, could someone please take out a copper coin and toss it up in the air?” Mavis asked, urging the others around her to move away and clear the space for safety’s sake.

  “Sure, I’ll do it,” one of the hunters offered, intrigued.

  And so, the coin was thrown.

  Shing!

  Swish!

  Snap.

  There, before everyone’s eyes, were two freshly cut halves of a copper coin atop Mavis’s outstretched palm.

  Yes, once again, it was the copper-cutting trick.

  She cut the coin, snatched it with her left hand, then sheathed her sword with her right. She had practiced this so very many times that it was no longer even useful as a training device and had been relegated to nothing more than a party trick.

  “Wha…?”

  The hunters and the guild staff were wide-eyed in shock. The leader of the Defenders of the Covenant was wide-eyed as well, but he was yet undeterred.

  “A-are you a B-rank?” he stammered. “Well, even if you have one B-ranker, the rest of your party is still made up of only a mage and two underage D-rankers. You won’t be able to get enough done. You need to team up with us—we’ve got a full front line.”

  Mavis cocked her head, confused.

  “I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about. Everyone in this party is a C-rank, and if you wanted to know who among us was the weakest, I… No, never mind.”

  Even though Mavis herself was the one who was about to say it, she was a little bit depressed at the prospect.

  Reina then placed her next order.

  “Mile!”

  “Okay! Pardon me, another coin, please!”

  At Mile’s request, the hunter who had thrown the previous coin pulled out another from his purse.

  Shing!

  Swsh!

  Snap.

  Just as in the previous display, Mile snatched back, and then held out her left hand.

  Unlike the last time, the coin atop her palm was cleaved not in two parts but into four.

  “………”

  This time, even the leader could not speak.

  All of the frontline fighters in the building were completely silent, but from somewhere in the room, someone who sounded like a backline mage raised their voice.

  “Might we see the mages’ skills, too?”

  While the coin-cutting trick was nothing more than a simple demonstration, when you watched a mage use magic, it revealed a number of things about the range of their skills. Even if you faked it a bit, anyone watching could make a fair guess at your abilities based on your specialty, your casting speed, and your efficiency. It was probably only an urban legend that you could determine a tank’s effectiveness from watching it fire a single round, but there had to be at least a grain of truth to it.

  And so, in response to that question, Pauline replied as follows:

  “We could certainly show you, but if we do, could we request that any ruined buildings be restored or any deceased
persons brought back from the dead? We can destroy things on our own, but unfortunately we can’t restore anything or resurrect anyone.”

  There was not a being alive who could do such a thing—except perhaps the gods.

  “………”

  At this, the mages in the room fell silent, too.

  “Now then, if you’ll excuse us,” Pauline said to Felicia, tipping her head slightly, and the Crimson Vow, having finished their job-acceptance paperwork, left the guildhall behind.

  When Felicia finally returned to her senses, she looked toward the B-rank party, the Silver Fangs, who had been sitting at a table in the corner watching the commotion, and flicked her chin.

  Signal received, the five men slowly stood.

  There were two swordsmen, one lancer, and two mages. Every one of them, front line to back, wore bright silver breastplates atop their leather armor, which was clearly how the party got its name. Seeing that they were B-rank, they were financially stable, and all of them were in what could be said to be the prime of their lives, so they had no interest in clamoring after some little girls. And so, they had merely sat and watched the preceding circus with a smile—even if they, too, were stunned at the copper-cutting display.

  But now, at that chin signal from “No-Hope Felicia,” one that clearly said, “Follow them,” they hurriedly stood.

  “No-Hope.”

  This was a shortened version of, “Anyone she glares at better abandon all hope.” Not even the Silver Fangs would be so bold as to defy a signal from her. Not in the slightest.

  The Silver Fangs, who had already been thinking of going away for a while, had made all their necessary preparations and simply popped into the guild one last time to give their regards before heading out. Therefore, they were ready to leave at a moment’s notice. Felicia knew this, of course, and it was why she had chosen them.