It's pretty big.

They say it's called King's Landing, but that's about it.

Well, we're finally here, aren't we?

　A few days after the attack on the Minotaur, we arrived in the royal city of Sting. Surrounded by walls more than twice the size of Brunne, we could see a castle-like building in the distance.
　It seems to be a much larger city than Brunne. The number of people coming and going is much larger than in Brunne.

　After getting off the carriage, we join the other passengers for a quick paperwork at the entrance to the city. After that, we were dismissed without further ado to get a permit.
　I was a little embarrassed to be thanked by the escort adventurers and other passengers before we dismissed.
　It was agreed that the Minotaur's drop item would be a shiny horn for us and an axe for the adventurers that was large enough for a human to hold.

''Well, let's get to the Adventurer's Association right away.

Oh, you're leaving.

I'm moving on anyway, so I should at least register.

　As we left Brunne, we stopped at the Adventurers' Association to say hello. That's when Myrna warned me that I would have to register at the Adventurer's Association once I arrived in Sting.
　She told me that I had to register there as well if I wanted to take a request at a place managed by another association.

'Are you all right, Nole?　If you're having a hard time, you can go ahead and go to the inn and just rest your ass off.

Don't worry, sir, we won't cause you any trouble, Okura-dono.

　Eventually it turned out that sleep magic couldn't be woken up without the use of a panacea, so I asked Nol to be patient and let her ride in the carriage. I gave her potions and rubbed her back as she was getting weaker by the day, but she seemed to be losing a lot of strength.
　She's still on a bit of a wobbly footing, which worries me.

'Hmmm. "Ah, well, you'll have this, anyway. You'll feel a little better.

Are you sure?　Thank you, thank you, thank you.

　I take the potion out of my bag and hand it to her. Apparently, the potions from Gacha are more potent than the ones sold in this world.
　I tried it too and it tasted good with an apple flavor. Just by drinking it, my physical condition subtly improves. I think I'll be fine for a while, but I'll go to the inn as soon as registration is over.

　As I was having such an exchange with Noll, I noticed Esther smiling and looking at us.

'What's wrong, Estelle?'

'Huh, I'm just a little Noll jealous. Maybe I should have been drunk too.

'Don't do that...'

●

After all, just being the royal capital makes all the difference.

It's a magnificent building, sir.

　When we arrived at the Society of Adventurers in Sting, we were greeted by a magnificent building. Is it nearly twice as big as Brunne's?
　Once inside, quite a few adventurers were crammed together in front of the bulletin board and other places. There could be dozens of them.
　There is not just one bulletin board like Brunne, but four, and all of them are covered with request documents. The number of requests is also extraordinary.

What can I do for you today?

'Yes, we're from Brunne, may I ask you to register in Sting?'

　Go to the receptionist and ask the receptionist about registration. As we were already adventurers, we were told to leave our plates with her and the registration would be over soon, and she handed us three plates.

'Yes, no problem. We'll register you, so you can start accepting requests at Schutting today.

Thank you.

　The registration is done and the plate is returned to us. That's when we started walking towards the entrance to go home.
　There is something noisy in the back of the association. I looked in that direction and saw a young man with blond hair coming towards us.
　A handsome guy with blue eyes and a well-defined face, I guess you could call him a handsome guy. It's a good thing that you're able to get a good idea of what you're looking for.
　He has well-tailored armor, a sword and a shield. Probably a warrior-type occupation, like Noor.

"Young man, may I have a moment?

　When he came to the vicinity, the young man called out to him. The person he called out to was Esther.
　You can't be an acquaintance, and what the hell do you want?

Is it me?

Oh, yeah. I'm Dius, and I'm the leader of a B-rated adventurer party. I was wondering if you'd like to join our party.　You're a mage, right?

　The words that came out of his mouth were astonishing. He's trying to pull it off proudly in front of his party members.
　He glanced at Noor and looked interested, but he looked at me for a bit and snickered and ignored me. 'This guy is a hell of a guy.

'Excuse me, but this girl is having a party with us...'

　But we can't just let them go. I decided to step in between Dius and Esther and talk to this guy instead.

''Heh, party, hey, partying with a mage at about E rank. The warrior kids over there seem to have good equipment, but what is yours?　Maybe the armor is a good thing, but it's a very shabby outfit. You're not going to tell me you're the leader of this party, are you?

　When I interrupted him, this warrior checked my equipment and plate and said something condescending.
　What the hell is this guy? The combination of the gesture and the tone of voice is very irritating, as he raises his hands to about shoulder height and shakes his head, saying, "Oh dear.
　It's true that it's a crowbar and a pot lid or some other eye-shitty equipment, but it pisses me off when it's said.

For the sake of this girl, I think you guys should stop partying, don't you?　It's too good to have a mage in a party with about E rank. If you join our party, we can give you a B-rank in a heartbeat.

　They say it's for Estelle's sake, but that's a complete construct. I can only assume it's because they want to secure a mage.
　Is this what Glynn was saying about getting involved in the ranks?

Oh, that's fascinating.

Oh, hey, Esther?

　Estelle steps in front of me and replies as if she's going to take this guy's story.
　I'm confused by that. I don't think she's going to get into a story like that at all, but no way........

'Right?　Then I'll get right to it.

But I have to decline. I'm not interested in you. I'm just being an adventurer with your brothers.

　The young man's face, full of anticipation that he would agree to it, froze at her reply. I knew it was Esther, I knew it, I believed it.
　It was kind of scary. You're happy to say that you're with me or something.

'Besides, these two are stronger than you two. Why would I bother moving to a weaker party?

"Hey, hey, don't make a fuss about it!　I'm sorry, I'm sorry, she has a bad mouth...

　The next thing you do is make a provocative statement about your opponent. Hey, what are you doing when you were about to say no and yes, it's over?
　The young man's face is a little tight with a frozen smile upon hearing that.

I'm not going to be able to say that I'm not going to be able to do that. I don't like him.''

　The momentum was building, and Esther was on him.
　This can't be good, I'll have to shut him up sooner rather than later. It's going to be irreversible if I don't do this.

''Ha, you have a funny way of saying that, my dear. So how about this?　You'll play us, and if we win, you'll join the party. If you guys win, I'll do one thing you say.

Yeah, yeah--

Esther, I need you to shut up for a minute.

Well ... but ...

Just do it, okay?

　Before she could finish, I interrupted her statement and lowered Esther, who was directly in front of Dius, behind me.
　It was a close call. Estelle is a valued companion. There's no way I'm going to bet on her.
　I was about to respond to the "anything" part, but doing a favor for a bastard and a beautiful girl or one beautiful girl is not a good match no matter how you look at it, and I'd say no, even if there was 10 billion g's on offer.

I'm really sorry. Please don't try to pull my friends out of this.

"Hmm... Well, you can let bygones be bygones when it comes to girl's nonsense. But I have a reputation to uphold. It's a bit of a stretch to get away with it after being told that much.

　Very reluctantly, I bow to the bastard. I guess I'll manage to avoid betting on Esther.
　But still, he doesn't seem to have any intention of making it all go away. I want to put a crowbar in this guy's face as he says it in a very sarcastic manner.
　Anyway, let's check his status for now.

　------
Dius Race:Human
　Level: 50
　HP: 1300
　MP:150
　Attack Power: 410
　Defensive power 350.
　Agility: 60
　Magic Resistance:10
　Unique Abilities Warrior's Pride
　Skill Sonic Blade Reuse Time: 1 minute
------

　Mmm, this guy is as strong as he says he is. I'm losing on my own stats........ It may not look like much, but I'm probably better equipped for it.
　The pride of a warrior, an inherent ability, should have been the ability to increase attack power when HP falls below half. The sonic blade of the skill was a sword wielding shockwave that sent a shockwave flying, right?
　Yeah, this would be safe in a match.

'Then let's do this. How about we bet a million g on each other to win?

Haha, keep the jokes to your face, do you guys have a million g's worth of money for an E rank?

　He laughed his head off when I suggested a million g's to win.
　How far does this bastard have to go to mock me to make me feel better? Sure, sure, I'm not sure about my face, but....
　As for the money itself, I already have about 3 million g's, so losing it would be painful, but it's far better than losing Esther. I'm not going to lose, though.

''Yes, it's here.

'Ho ... okay, fine. Let's bet a million g's on each other then!　In case you're wondering, you shouldn't think about running away. The adventurers have a pretty wide network of information.

　I'm going to take ten gold coins and some from my bag and show this guy. The moment I saw the gold coins, he agreed with a grin on his face.
　I say it in a loud voice so the adventurers around me can hear it. I wonder if they plan to make it impossible for us to do adventurers by making it so that if we run away with this, rumors will spread about us being cowards or something. That's definitely what they intend to do when they threaten adventurers with a wide network of information or something like that.
　I don't know who's going to run away. I can't let this guy get away with it.

I'll never forgive him.

　The game was eventually decided at a later date. Dueling among adventurers is forbidden, and in the event of such a dispute, it is said that the winner will be decided by a competition using demons.

I'm sorry, brother. I.........

Don't worry about it. I was pretty pissed off too, so I understand how you feel. But don't try to tell me you're going to bet yourself on it. It's a heart attack.

　Esther has been very quiet since then. All she does is turn her head down and limp along with us. There is not a trace of the usual teasing.
　It seems that she feels responsible for getting emotional and agitating her opponent, which led to a game.

''Brother!''

　He finally started crying and jumped into my chest, so I patted him on the back for now to comfort him. Honestly, the bastard was pissing me off, so it felt good that she was giving that guy a whack.

'But still, Okura-dono. I'm surprised you didn't get angry. To be honest, I was also annoyed by your disgrace to Okura-dono," he said. I wanted to cut him in half.

'What?　You're not angry?　I'm not kidding, that son of a b*tc*. I'm going to stick some magic dynamite up his a**h*le and explode him. Listen, I'm going to win my match with that guy, I swear it, I swear it.

You're making some pretty disturbing comments...

　Just remembering it makes me angry. I will never forgive that handsome bastard.