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Chapter 41

She sprayed the coffee she had been drinking all over the place.

*Cough! *Cough!… *Cough! *Cough *Cough *Cough!

For a while, the receptionist was coughing.
No, it wasn’t just coughing

—it was more like a life-threatening spasm, or something along those lines.

It seemed that coffee had either gone into her windpipe or up her nostrils.

Gasping for breath, she gradually regained her composure.
Finally, free from the difficulty of breathing, she shouted with a pale expression.

「Th-this is a m-m-measurement error! Th-this can’t be happening!」

Lilith asked, puzzled, as she stared at the receptionist, who was now a far cry from her composed self.

「…Measurement error?」

「Yes! Yes, it’s a measurement error!」

The receptionist had completely regained her composure by now.
It seemed she had realized the situation but was still trying to deny it.
She clenched her teeth and her face turned blue.

「I don’t know what kind of trickery you’ve used, but falsifying your status information in public institutions or quasi-public organizations like the guild is a serious crime!」

She pointed at Lilith with an arrogant expression, clearly satisfied with herself.
Her stubborn nature prevented her from considering any other possibilities.

「What about you?」

「Hmm? Me?」

「You, too, try touching the crystal orb.」

Apparently, the guild receptionists were subject to significant restrictions concerning the disclosure of personal information.
Rumor had it that they were under a curse of instant death if they broke the rules, or perhaps a curse of memory loss.

In any case, some level of constraint was definitely imposed.
After all, I had never heard of any incidents where information had been leaked.

That’s why guild-registered adventurers like me and Lilith can easily disclose our status information, which is like critical data.

「Hurry up and touch the crystal orb.」

With an annoyed expression, I reached out to the crystal orb.
I glanced at the plate, and the receptionist began to laugh.

「Hehe… Hahaha!」

「What’s so funny?」

「Because… Hahaha! Hahahahaha!」

「What’s the matter?」

「Hahaha! Hahaha! Hahahaha! It’s no good… My stomach hurts… Hahaha!」

The receptionist began laughing while clutching her stomach.

「So what’s going on?」

With tears of laughter at the corners of her eyes, she continued to laugh.

「Hahahahahaha! It’s no good… My stomach hurts… Hahaha! Falsification… even if you’re going to do that… Haha! Make it a bit more realistic… Haha! How dumb can you be? Haha! Hahaha! Hahahahahaha!」

The receptionist gestured for me to come closer.

「Hehe… Ah… It’s been a while since I laughed. Even if it’s a falsification, personal information is still personal information, you know? I’ll tell you some detailed information quietly, so tilt your face this way.」

A few tens of centimeters separated us across the counter. I leaned in, and she brought her mouth closer to my ear. In a hushed voice that no one else could hear, she whispered,

「Even for an S-rank adventurer, such stats are impossible. Really… What a foolish way to falsify things, as if you’re completely ignorant of how things work.」

Well, it was only natural since my stats easily surpassed S-rank level.
Then, with a triumphant expression, she pointed at me and Lilith once more, opening her mouth wide.

「I’m going to call the guards now… for this criminal!」

Lilith and I exchanged glances, both realizing that this situation was getting out of hand.
We looked towards the interior of the reception area.

「These two are criminals! Please call the guards immediately!」

Next, the receptionist raised her voice to address the other adventurers in the guild hall.

「Everyoneeee! These individuals are criminals! Feel free to rough them up a bit! We can’t offer any monetary rewards, but it’s a chance to increase your reputation with the guild! Do it for the guild, please!」

The booming voice echoed through the hall, and Lute-san and I found ourselves surrounded.

「…What do we do?」

Lilith-san asked, her expression halfway between a smile and something more serious.
Typically, Lilith-san had an emotionless demeanor, and even when she smiled, her eyes remained devoid of humor.

Oh boy, she’s really pissed off…
I sighed.
Her current expression was genuinely frightening.

「Whatever we do…」

I was genuinely at a loss.
I didn’t mind taking on these adventurers here, but drawing too much attention wasn’t ideal either.

On the other hand, surrendering quietly was out of the question.

As I pondered our options, a burly man appeared from the back of the reception area.
He had a bearded face and short brown hair, and his muscular physique reminded me somewhat of the personified version of the Red Dragon.

「What’s going on here? I heard something about criminals…」

The receptionist took a seat and elegantly held a coffee cup in her hand.

「Hehe? Aren’t you done for? Since the guild master, who was originally an A-rank adventurer, has appeared… there’s absolutely no way you can escape, you know? Hehe…! Hahaha! Hahaha!」

Our eyes met, the guild master’s and mine.
He froze and his mouth opened and closed repeatedly.

「Ah… Ah… Ah… You… You’re… L-Lu… Lute-san, right?」

Oh right, now I remember…
I’d met this guy a few times while I was doing some adventurer stuff to make money during my training.

I think the first time I saw him was… when was it?

It was around the time when I had roughly S-rank level abilities, so probably before the battle with the Evil Dragon Amantha.
At that time, I think this guy was also an adventurer… and if I recall correctly, he was part of a party that got thoroughly beaten by the magical beast Fenrir.

I think I helped them out.
Come to think of it, when this guy ranked up from B-rank to A-rank, most of the achievements credited to him for defeating various magical beasts were… probably caused by me.

But then again, most of the achievements credited when this old man ranked up from B-rank to A-rank were due to me.

「Hey, long time no see, old man.」

「W-What brings you here today?」

The old man lowered his head humbly.
He’s always been quite humble.

「Well, I’m thinking of registering as an adventurer with your guild.」

「Lute-san, are you finally walking the path of an adventurer?」

「Yeah, I just want to raise my guild rank a bit.」

「Actually… Thank you!」

「Huh? Why are you suddenly thanking me?」

「Because having someone of your caliber join our guild would greatly benefit us. It would enhance the guild’s reputation to have high-ranking adventurers, and completing high-ranking requests would bring in more fees. It’s a real lifesaver for us.」

「Actually, don’t make it so obvious… Could we discuss these matters when no one’s around?」

Ah, right, the old man nodded, and then he spoke softly to me.

「You’ve always disliked standing out, Lute-san, I understand.」

I also responded quietly to him,

「Yeah, please stop that.」

Then the two of us shook hands firmly.

「Well, still… It’s really appreciated that you’ve chosen our guild.」

「But…,」

I shrugged helplessly,

「Someone actually rejected my guild membership earlier.」

「Huh? Rejected? It’s true that you’re quite young, and you might not make the best impression at first glance, but during guild registration, it’s mandatory to disclose your stats… I haven’t seen your stats, but… well, I can tell something unusual is going on. And after seeing that, someone treated you like that? I really don’t understand.」

「Yeah, I don’t get it either. They even treated me like a criminal.」

「A criminal? Lute-san? But if someone treated you that way, as a guild master, I can’t just ignore it. They should be punished. Could you please tell me the details?」

Ah… I nodded and looked back at the elf receptionist, and she…
…once again sprayed her coffee all over the place.