After listening to the testimony, Felix and I put the exhausted Noir down and walked out of the room.

　I asked Sakura to check on Noir a little longer, just in case.

　There was so much information from the testimony that it was hard to wrap my head around it.

'By the way, Felix-san. I've never heard that the mission of the brave party was actually a 'reconnaissance', but did you know that?

　Walking down the upstairs corridor of the Guildhouse, I asked Felix what was bothering him about his testimony.

'Yes, I was aware of that,'
''When we first met, you asked me about what the brave man asked me to do, and I told you that I had heard 'defeat'. Why didn't you correct me?
'That was only a question to see what information Lord Luke was being given.

　He answered that with a cool look on his face, and I couldn't say anything else.

　Indeed, Felix had neither denied nor affirmed my answer.

　I think he was just trying to wrap his head around the disparity of information.

And one more thing. It has nothing to do with Noir's testimony.

　I walked around in front of Felix and stopped to face him.

'How could you let me break the spell or something?　Maybe they were trying to settle a grudge, and maybe there was a chance that I was really the murderer of a brave man and they were trying to keep him quiet?

　Then Felix smiled softly and said, "What's the point?

''If I had wanted to, I would have done it when I discovered it. You didn't bother to [repair] the broken leg or anything.
It's possible that you could change your mind right before .......
Even so, there's no point in doing it in front of me. I can't avoid being charged with a felony for obstruction of justice, and in some cases, the minister might even use all his force to force me to say that I was obstructing him.

　It's hard to imagine that you wouldn't take that into account, Felix added with a smile.

　My purpose in the first place was to avoid being forced into an unprovoked crime.

　I'm not a frame-up anymore because I'm actually a criminal," he joked, in poor taste.

''And, if I may be so presumptuous, I thought it would be much quicker for me to wield the sword than for Luke-dono to commit some kind of murder.
You're right.
'Of course, the main reason is that Lord Luke deemed it worthy of your trust.
You wanted to be the first to say that, didn't you?

　As they were having such a conversation in a light-hearted manner, Marida, the receptionist, came running up the stairs in a great hurry.

''Ah!　There she is, Mr. Luke!　We're in big trouble!　Come here for a minute!

　I looked at him.

　It's been a rough day.
　What else could have happened?

All right, downstairs. Felix, I need you to take care of the letter.

　I left Felix for now and Marida took me to the ground floor of the guildhouse.

　It wasn't long before I realized what was going on.

　The main hall of the guild house, which doubles as a tavern, was overflowing with more people than I would normally expect, and all of these people were crowding the counter, the caretaker, Malcolm.

　And all of these people were crowding the counter and complaining loudly to Malcolm, the caretaker, about something.

　There was no coordination or anything else, everyone was so eager to convey their convenience that it was impossible to hear what was being said at all.

　Moreover, it wasn't just the adventurers here.

　Residents of Green Hollow's various industries were frantically shouting a mixture of pleading and pleading.

''Hey, hey ...... what's going on, what the hell is going on?''
Oh, Mr. Luke!　You're a lifesaver!　Please do something about this situation!
I can't quite swallow the situation before I can do something about it!

　The crowd switches the brunt of the words to me as Malcolm swoops in on me.

　But I can't hear them at all.
　It feels more like a massive wave of air vibration than words.

'Eei, don't all make a scene!　Let's start with you!　The others are quiet for once!

　First of all, he tried to somehow limit the speaker to one person.

　I couldn't silence them all, but about two-thirds of them closed their mouths, so I could finally hear the words of the appointed adventurer.

'Weaponsmith, it's not like this is going to happen!　You've got a bunch of dragons popping up!　If you can't guarantee that it's safe, I can't stay in this town anymore!

　The voices of agreement that yes, that's right, came out one after another.

　For most E-ranked adventurers, even the wyvern is a no-win existence.

　It was a different dimension than when only one of them appeared before and was instantly defeated.

　If they appeared in packs, it was only natural to consider changing their earning potential.

　Now that we've heard from the adventurers, let's hear from the non-adventurers.

If the adventurers are gone, we won't be able to survive!　Even the number of regular spa guests has gone down since it was approved as a dungeon!　The Adventurer's Guild can do something about it!

　This is a natural problem here, too.

　Of Green Hollow's major industries, except for forestry and hunting, it is dependent on people coming from outside.

　The dungeon certification has reduced the number of ordinary people's spa guests, and if the dragon fiasco results in the loss of E rank adventurers, it will be a huge blow.

''Hey, hey ......, you really can't do anything about it ......?''

　Marida whispered in my ear.

'If this continues, our tavern and the inn at Sylvia's place might be ruined: ......
............

　As expected, it would be hard to overlook the damage to the Spring Younger Pavilion.

　I marched out to where the crowd could hear me well and raised my voice as loud as I could.

'Don't worry!　As long as things have gone this far, support will be sent from the royal palace and the adventurer's guild!　Your safety in the dungeon is guaranteed!

　This is by no means a verbal misrepresentation.

　The former was information given directly by Felix, and the latter was the basic policy of the Adventurer's Guild.

　Some of the crowd seemed relieved to hear this, but many were still not convinced.

'But it's going to remain dangerous until those people get here, right?　A week?　Then we'd better take refuge in another town until then.
'You've got to be kidding me!　If we don't get any customers for days, the food we just stocked is wiped out!　You'll lose a whole lot of money!

　It had almost died down, but the disorderly fuss resumed.

　Once I realized that I would eventually be safe, the time lag until then became a problem.

　My White Wolf store would be fine without customers for months, thanks in part to the large sum of money the Silverwing Knights paid for the Sword of Mithril.

　However, that was not the case for the other shops.
　In some cases, a gap of a few days would be fatal.

''It's fine. The Silverwing Knights' second-in-command will put up a strong bulwark.''
You know it's a dragon. Can your human skills really hold them back for days?
I still think we should evacuate the building temporarily: ......
That's right, ...... and they say life is worth living. ......

　They tried to persuade them, but it was not very effective.

　Most of the adventurers' minds have shifted to the safety measure of 'moving their base to another town until reinforcements arrive', and the most undesirable outcome on the part of the townspeople can be seen.

　The only way to reverse this would be to present the benefits of abandoning the safety measures.



　In the first place, I might actually be the cause of the dragon's appearance on two separate occasions.

　I can't choose any means to avoid causing further trouble for Green Hollow.

　Even if it was a fox-like imitation of a tiger.

''--Attention!

　Out of the crowd, he turned only to the adventurer and raised his voice again.

''As everyone knows, I've been in the adventurer's business for fifteen years. My rank has never risen, but I plan to have many acquaintances in the same industry anyway. This time, I'm going to call on them for the sake of the town.

　Dustin the Two Spearman. Travis of Black Sword Mountain. Roy of the Hundred Beast Plain. The Dragonslayer, Theodore Beaufort--

　Every time I list the names of the high-ranking adventurers I've known over the past fifteen years, I am surprised and shocked by the adventurers.

　Some of them are on friendly terms with me, while others were blatantly dismissive of me.
　Some of them are almost in sync with me, while others have passed me by in a flash.

　But if you hear of an unexplored underground space inhabited by dragons and ruled by a demon king, these are the people who will definitely bite the bullet.

I think they will probably hire some low-ranked adventurers locally to support their work. That means you guys. It's a unique opportunity to sell your face to high-ranking adventurers and learn how they work up close and personal.

　The attitudes of the adventurers here had clearly changed.

　Being able to work with high ranks is an opportunity that you as a low-ranked adventurer should never pass up.

　They could gain experience that they normally wouldn't have, and if they were liked, they could even be invited to join a party.
　It's not a dream come true to get a recommendation to improve your rank.

But it's usually the 'ballsy guys' who get hired in those situations. Since they don't expect you to be capable, it's only natural that they prefer someone who won't be scared off when the time comes, right?

　The adventurers are exchanging glances in silence.

　If you present them with an option that has more to gain than a safe bet, their feelings will undoubtedly be swayed.

　Anyone who can't be swayed is not an adventurer to begin with.

　There are plenty of better jobs out there if all you want to do is earn a few pennies safely.

By the way, Malcolm. You said that you were going to ask adventurers in the name of the guild to do surveillance work on the fifth level until the reinforcements arrive, right?
'What?　Oh, yeah, I guess it was: ......?
''That's right. That's what every guild house does. It's also common knowledge that the guys who are willing to take on this kind of work are more likely to be introduced to high-ranking adventurers by the guildhouse.

　It's early to say so, but the adventurers are rushing towards Malcolm.

　It was quite a cunning way to do it, but this should keep the majority of the adventurers in Green Hollow.

　As I casually moved away from the crowd and sat down in a chair, Marida brought me a glass of water with a big smile on her face.

'Thanks!　Maybe this will help!　But still, you have a lot of awesome friends!
It was the last thing I'd want to do.
What? Why?
That's your ......

　He takes a gulp of water and then spits out the rest of the words sarcastically.

'...... rely on familiar faces who have risen through the ranks. You don't want to be reminded of the fact that you were an order of magnitude more pathetic, do you?