“Hey, hey! Don’t think you can look down on us just ‘cause yer a Knight!”
We were waiting to exchange the materials we had gathered in the Twilight Forest for money at the Guild when we heard an angry voice ring out. Everyone who looked over could see a group of Adventurers and a party of Knights glaring angrily at each other.
…Or should I say, this was expected? There seemed to be some sort of conflict brewing between the Adventurers and the Knights.
The things that Adventurers and Knights respected, freedom and laws, contradicted each other after all. I had expected that some kind of trouble would show up after the Knights came into the Labyrinth.
“It’s not very peaceful. What’s up, you guys?”
When another adventurer asked, one member of the other Adventurer group angrily responded.
“Everybody…said that, if we had gone into the Labyrinth, we should go over there so that they can investigate us! There have been complaints about this since we left the Labyrinth!”
“Well, hold on a moment. We just said that it would be troublesome if you guys approach us too much while we’re in the middle of training for the Labyrinth Search. We also have a mission to carry out. We can’t talk about it or reveal the contents of our training to outsiders.”
Their mission. It seemed different, but this was about those sealed doors, huh?
Although Alfred had spoken of it as well, perhaps their goal was those unopenable doors with attached emblems, which had originally been intended to connect to unimplemented areas. Of course, I was referring to BFO.
“Huh? Are you trying to say that we’re snooping around? Despite coming after us, you want us to hand over a map and take you guys lower. So shameless!”
“We aren’t the ones who said that. We have a different purpose from those guys.”
The Adventurer turned red at that statement, and the young Knight who was facing him revealed some discomfort in his voice.
I didn’t understand his expression. He turned his back to me and only raised his visor.
“Hah! What about it!”
“What did you say…?”
So it was like that. It didn’t mean that I could tell who was right just from looking at them, though. Things did appear to be being stirred up from the Adventurer’s side this time.
Rather than that…reaching certain floors with maps, huh. Were there guys who could make such things?
“The pretext for dispatching the Knights is to train soldiers. That’s why such a incident wouldn’t happen. If such a thing did happen, it would probably be because of Greg’s faction. I heard that after his influence weakened, he sent some of his underlings into the Labyrinth.”
Sheila provided some helpful context.
“…So, that means that Greg is at the castle, in person, as part of the Flying Dragons?”
“Looks like it.”
They were there under the pretext of training. From the developments on the Knight’s side, even if I had thought that they were up to something in the Labyrinth, they were making such a thing official.
If the smell of money spread somewhere, people would come search for it, huh.
There was Greg’s faction, too…. Even making maps and reaching certain floors were the fruits of an Adventurer’s hard labor. If his faction demanded these to be handed over, it would probably provoke their anger.
Greg’s group had probably rushed to earn some achievements because they had realized the danger of letting their influence drop, but they provoked the Adventurers by doing this. The one who had always looked down upon the Knight’s reputation was, in fact, Greg. Nevertheless, he had projected this onto everyone else.
“I’m sorry, Theodore-san. Please wait for a moment.”
“…Understood.”
Heather, realizing that things were getting heated, appeared.
“Please calm down. It will be troublesome if there is a fight here.”
Heather began to mediate fearlessly. An Adventurer Guild receptionist like her would not be suited for the job if she hesitated at all at such a scene.
Even though she was a careless person with a lot of work and was unable to take breaks, she did her job in a positive manner, and did it flawlessly. I felt that she would become even busier as her superiors began to rely on her.
“Well then, what are you saying we should do?”
“There has been a misunderstanding between you guys. Instead of making it clear who is right or wrong here and creating a breeding ground for future problems, those who strive to prevent situations like these from happening again in the future will–”
I thought that Heather’s argument…was correct to a certain degree. This time, from my impression of these two and just from listening to their argument, it seemed that they would end up causing trouble around here.
Both sides would have an endless dispute with each other because both of them were speaking their mind, and since they relied on their ego, a conclusion would never be reached without a Magic Trial, even if they were interrogated.
“Hey! You, whose side are you on anyway!?”
…Although that was my train of thought, it appeared that the one on the Adventurer’s side didn’t think so. Even though that guy’s expression showed that he had expected to have Heather as an ally, he was enraged by her words and, after interrupting her, vigorously rushed towards her like he was going to grab her.
I decided that I should probably help Heather out here. One way or another, she was the acquaintance I had known the longest amongst the Guild staff. She accommodated us on various things and she was always in charge whenever we came here.
I moved towards the adventurers and entered their line of sight in a single leap. I drew their attention as planned, and I saw the adventurer frown at the sight of my face.
“…The Demon Killer. Aren’t ya quite arrogant when yer just a newcomer? I think ya should lower your head to yer senior?”
“…If that’s the case, would it be better if I side with the Knights who were doing research and training here earlier?”
If he was going to dispute over who had gotten there first, that that’s what I had to say about it. The Labyrinth didn’t belong to him, and I had no interesting in respecting this guy as my senior.
“What did ya say to me?”
“Hey, Jasper. Look around you…”
“Shut the hell up! Do I need to be afraid of my opponent just ‘cause he is a Demon Killer!?”
The man called Jasper swung his hands around, as if he were shaking me off, and spit was spraying out of his mouth as he yelled at me.
Even his companions, who had gotten worked up over this, ended up arguing with him. From his standpoint, he was justifying being at the Labyrinth first with words like “because we are adventurers,” instead of using reason. It appeared to be that sort of territorial mentality and group behavior.
“…Well, I apologize. I’ve learned about the misconduct that happened here. I have also received these fellows’ warnings. I apologize for our behaviour, which was apparently due to a misunderstanding.”
Although the Knight had only had his helmet visor raised, this time he took his helmet off and bowed.
Her voice was a bit husky and she was tall. Her outfit was hard to understand, since she was wearing a helmet and a surcoat.
“Yer too late to be apologizin’!”
“Jasper!”
“Shaddup!”
After being strongly warned by his companion, Jasper glared at his surrounding. Whether or not he had realized the fact that he didn’t have any allies, Jasper clicked his tongue, stomped on the ground, and hurriedly left.
“…You saved me, Theodore-san.”
“Well, it’s normal to do that, since Heather-san is always taking care of us.”
“If you say so. Haaah.”
Heather seemed to be a bit depressed, regardless of the outcome of her intervention.
She probably thought that solving these types of problems was part of her job as well.
“…I’m very sorry for the disturbance that occurred. We haven’t gotten used to the Labyrinth and don’t have the time for it. I’m called Mercedia Corbett.”
The Knight, Mercedia, bowed to the Adventurers.
“…No, we were also at fault. Certainly, I admit that we should have been trying to get along with the other groups.”
The remaining members of the Adventurer group relayed their gratitude to Mercedia and left. Well, besides Jasper, which was expected.
Depending on the circumstances, Jasper could separate himself from that Adventurer group. I didn’t feel that this would be my responsibility until that happened, and Heather appeared to think similarly.
“I’m sorry for taking up your guys’ time as well. It made it seem like you forced your way through this. Although I may not have the authority to say this, I’ll take some preventative measure so that problems with the Knights won’t happen again.”
“You helped out with this though. That man called Jasper got angry because of his face rather than his reason, didn’t he? And for the Knight’s side, instead of being your problem, it’s a problem related to Greg’s faction, right?”
“…No, well, that may be the case.”
Mercedia scratched her head in response, as if she were troubled. Perhaps it was difficult for a someone who worked for the court like her to answer that.