When Mile and the others returned, there was a figure in front of the inn. It was a good-looking middle-aged woman and a boy around 12 or 13 years old.
"Pauline!"
"Mom! Alan!"
It was Pauline's mother and younger brother.
Because of her position as the mistress of the guild master, she had been questioned as a possible accomplice. To prevent collusion, all the employees and related parties were isolated and monitored, and were questioned one by one, which is why it took so long for them to be released.
However, since Terezia and Santos, who knew the situation, were present during part of the questioning, everyone wasn't too worried. Now, they were finally free. Until the official recognition of the guild's rights was completed, they would temporarily manage the guild's operations.
Despite putting on a brave front, Pauline was still a 15-year-old girl. Even though 15 was considered the age of adulthood, the days had been too harsh for her. Her naturally gentle and kind heart had been darkened by the darkness, and she had to coat herself in something thick and sticky just to endure it...
But that was over now.
Leaving Pauline, who clung to her mother and cried, Mile and the others quietly entered the inn.
"Well, what should we do...?"
"What should we do...?"
"What should we do...?"
Mavis, Reina, and Mile were pondering.
Pauline had just calmed down and came with her family, thanked them with her mother, and left for her mother's house, saying she would spend the night with her family.
"I think we should head back to the capital as soon as possible since our business here is done..."
Mavis suggested.
For Mavis, who had become too conspicuous, staying in this town had been too difficult. Even the short time between leaving the arena and returning to the inn was filled with hunters trying to recruit her and girls following her around. It was impossible to walk around the town. It was only a matter of time before people started asking Mavis to introduce them to her master, saying things like, "Who is this Masked Evening Dress?" or "Please be my mentor!" or "No, join our party!"
"That seems to be the only option..."
"Right..."
Reina and Mile agreed, and they decided to leave the inn first thing the next morning.
When they informed Terezia, Santos, and the inn staff about their departure the next day during dinner, Terezia kindly offered, "I'll look for a carriage for you." Santos, of course, would be leaving the next day with the escort carriage, so he would be taking a different route. It was a bit harsh to have the carriage that just arrived leave the next day, but their schedule wouldn't change. Since they didn't want to travel with the nobles, it was convenient for Mile and the others.
After dinner, the three of them discussed their future plans again.
"Without Pauline, it's going to be tough with just three of us. Should we recruit new members?"
"That's probably the only option. Fortunately, Mile is versatile, so we can recruit a wide range of roles... Which role should we recruit, though?"
As Mavis said, they had a wide range of options.
If Mile fought as a backline mage or slingshot user, they could recruit a frontline fighter. Alternatively, they could recruit a midline or backline archer or mage, and Mile could continue to fight in the frontline position. Since Mile could also use healing and support magic, they didn't have to limit themselves to recruiting a mage like Pauline.
Mile was a very convenient wild card.
However, they were all worried.
Would those who knew about Mile's convenience... no, his talent, be driven by greed?
Would the three of them, who were just beginners, be crushed or have strange ideas after realizing the gap between their abilities and his?
Was it okay to casually teach Mile's "magic improvement method" to someone they didn't know well?
On the other hand, they couldn't exclude someone and leave them out of the group.
"Umm..."
The three of them were deep in thought.
Then, Mile suddenly had an idea.
"What about reaching out to our classmates from the Hunter Training School?"
"Ahh..."
Indeed, there were a few of Mile's classmates from the Hunter Training School living in the capital.
Most of the classmates had returned to their hometowns, as they had left their families and loved ones behind. The country's policy was to distribute young, skilled hunters evenly across the nation, not to keep them in the capital. However, those who were originally from the capital or had no family or connections in the provinces stayed in the capital.
Since they had spent half a year together with just 40 people, they knew each other well. They could exclude those they didn't want to team up with and approach those who seemed okay. Some of the classmates they occasionally saw at the guild were not foolishly trying to start their own parties like Mile and the others but had joined senior parties. Among them, there were those who were treated like apprentices and received a very small share of the loot. However, since the seniors in those parties had probably been treated the same way when they were young, it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. It was just the party's policy. However, those classmates might be happy to transfer to "Red Oath" if they were approached. It might not be fun for the parties they were leaving, but since they were being treated poorly, it couldn't be helped.
"But, we're a bit worried about not having someone like Pauline who knows about money, business, and transactions. If we had a crafty merchant as a companion, we wouldn't have to worry about being cheated, and it would be reassuring..."
"Ahh..."
At that moment, a certain person's face came to mind for all of them, including Mile.
A 10-year-old girl who looked cute but was quite calculating and had a bit of a dark side.
She could probably replace Pauline as the "chest handler" in a few years.
"No, no, no, no, that's not an option!"
After all, the girl had no combat ability and was already working at her family's inn.
The next morning, the three of them checked out of the inn and headed to the Hunter's Guild with Terezia.
The carriage Terezia had arranged was not a shared carriage or a rented one but a merchant's cargo carriage... with the cargo loaded.
"The shared carriage's schedule didn't match, and the rented one was too expensive. Fortunately, a merchant who was waiting to depart jumped at the chance when I said 'Red Blood is Good!' would be the escort."
For a merchant who was waiting to form a caravan to save on escort fees and increase safety, the opportunity to leave immediately and hire the equivalent of ten fighters for the price of four was too good to pass up. They had seen the swordsman's strength with their own eyes, and the other members, being part of the same party as the swordsman and his master, were surely not ordinary. ...And they were right.
Besides, if there were spies from the bandits in the town, they wouldn't be attacked. That was certain.
Terezia, being a guild staff member, felt it was inappropriate to take the job herself, so she only made a verbal agreement the previous night and planned to have Mavis officially take the job that day. That's why they went to the Hunter's Guild first.
After the group completed the job acceptance process at the Hunter's Guild without any issues, they headed to the Commercial Guild where the merchant was waiting.
When they arrived at the Commercial Guild, three cargo carriages were parked in the waiting area. Three merchants were talking nearby. It seemed they were all small-scale merchants, each with one carriage.
"Ah, those are probably them. Let's go and meet them right away. We can continue the discussion about recruiting a replacement for Pauline after we leave..."
*Grip!*
"Eh..."
*Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch...*
"It, it hurts, ouch!"
It wasn't really painful, but Mile let out a scream, feeling a phantom pain or a mental shock.
"What do you mean 'replacement for Pauline,' what do you mean!"
Mile, who turned around in a panic, saw Pauline with a vein popping on her forehead.
"Why are you leaving me behind!"
Mile, trembling at her wrathful face, could only open and close his mouth without making a sound.
Mavis quickly came to his rescue.
"N-no, Pauline, weren't you going to rebuild the shop with your mother and brother..."
However, Pauline answered with a frown.
"The shop will be fine with my mother, who managed it with my father. The assistants who stayed to help my mother and those who left but are willing to come back are there. Now that the bad people from the former guild master have been eliminated, it will be easier to run the shop.
Besides, since I'm the one who reclaimed the shop, my presence is causing problems. People are already trying to interfere, saying I should take over the shop or suggesting a son-in-law... "
"Wow..."
The three of them turned pale at the thought of how scary merchants could be.
"That's why it's better for me not to be there. If I stay, it will weaken my brother's position as the successor. I can be a mysterious girl who appears out of nowhere to eliminate evil and her cheerful companions, providing a deterrent effect from a distance."
"..."
They didn't know if everything Pauline said was true or if she was exaggerating a bit. However,
"Let's go then. We, 'Red Oath,' will continue on this path together for a while longer."
Reina's words were met with a chorus of agreement.
"Ooh!"
As the caravan started moving, before they even left the town, Austin Earl and his two sons arrived, out of breath.
"Wait, wait, Mavis!"
The four of them frowned, anticipating more trouble.
The merchants couldn't ignore a noble's call and stopped the carriages. Reluctantly, the four members of "Red Oath" got off the carriages to deal with the earl.
"What is it, Father? We already talked this out..."
"I, I understand that. I don't want to understand or forgive it, but there's nothing I can do. I won't complain now. This is a different matter.
Please, introduce me to your master officially!"
"Wh-what?"
"Your master is strong. But, he hasn't learned proper techniques, his skills don't match his physical abilities. It's a waste, a real waste! That's why I want to invite him to our house and exchange knowledge.
We can teach him techniques, and in return, he can teach us the training methods that gave him those physical abilities. Then, we can both become many times stronger!
Besides, I hear he's a pure human. He must be young. If he could form a bond with one of our family members, our Austin family's future would be secure! You would be happy too if he became family. What do you think? It's a good idea, right? Please, give me his contact information!"
"Please, Mavis!"
"Just an introduction is enough!"
Weilin and Ewan also bowed. Indeed, their master's physique matched the preferences of the Austin family's men.
"Wh-what?"
Mavis and the others were surprised.
They understood what the earl was saying, but whether they could accept it was another matter.
From the earl's perspective, his idea wasn't unreasonable. In fact, it was a natural thought for a noble family that formed a faction of warriors.
What surprised Mavis and the others was something else.
(How can they not recognize 'Masked Evening Dress' when Mile is right in front of them!)
Of course, the mask at the time didn't have any recognition-blocking magic.
And Mile thought,
(Could this be the 'will of the world'? The 'world's enforcement' or 'preordained harmony' that the god mentioned!)
Of course, that wasn't the case.
It was simply that they were dense.
That was all...
This is Chapter 76.
Exceeding the 75 chapters of the previous work, this has set a new record in both the number of chapters and the number of words.
The book release is just 5 days away.
I'll continue to work at my own pace, taking it easy.