The three idiots who couldn't become heroes are preparing a man's meal today as well. - Chapter 109

Episode 109 – Airi

“Yo, long time no see.”

“Oh my, Gil-san. What brings you in today?”

Lately, I’d been busy with various things and hadn’t shown my face at the guild, so I decided to drop by.

I was greeted by Lady Airi, who looked noticeably healthier than the last time I saw her.

“I managed to get a bit of time off. Thought I’d head nearby to ‘get back into shape.’ Got any good requests? Preferably, well…”

“You want something with decent rewards, right? Got it.”

“Sorry to trouble you.”

She flipped through a stack of documents and pulled out a few jobs for me to consider.

That said, the options were a bit underwhelming.

I guess that’s what happens when you work solo as a Walker—your choices are limited.

Just as I was thinking that…

“If you’d like, shall we form a temporary party? Noin’s been wanting to go out as well. If that’s the case, I can offer you some party-recommended quests.”

Maybe she read it on my face, because she brought that up herself.

Naturally, the moment she said that, I could feel the number of eyes on me more than double.

“Ah—well, you see. I appreciate the offer, and fighting alongside ‘Hearty Eater’ Airi is definitely reassuring, but… I’m married, you know? If it were just Noin, I’d still get all those looks from the crowd…”

As I muttered that awkwardly, Lady Airi nodded in understanding.

“Kyle-saaan! Are you there? Anyone from ‘Wind of War’ around? You all seemed pretty free today, right?”

Lady Airi suddenly raised her voice energetically from behind the counter.

From a far corner, some familiar faces started making their way over.

“Yo, something good pop up?”

Kyle called out casually, followed by the rest of the ‘Wind of War’ party.

Lady Airi smiled at them and said.

“How about a little outing this afternoon? What do you think of this request?”

She handed over a request sheet with a casual tone. Kyle took it and responded with a thoughtful “Hmm.”

Then—

“If word gets out that the ‘Wind of War’ guys turned down an invite from the receptionist, they’ll call us all gutless. I’m in.”

“Captain, that’s vulgar. Show some respect—this is Airi-san we’re talking about.”

While getting kneed by Poal, Kyle let out a hearty laugh.

Seriously, what kind of quest did they just accept? I’d really like to know.

“Alright, I’m gonna go get permission too, then.”

“Wait, right now?”

I couldn’t help but blurt that out, but no one reacted. She simply turned toward the back and shouted.

“Branch Chief! Can I take a few days off starting this afternoon!?”

A moment later, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed, and the Branch Chief poked his head out with a frown.

“…How long?”

“About a week?”

“The prey? The location?”

“…A King Serpent, near a village. Also some beasts along the way.”

“Be back in three days.”

“Ehh…”

With just that, the Branch Chief shut the door with a thunk.

Man, things have really loosened up around here.

At the old guild, stuff like this was unthinkable.

That same Branch Chief assigning a deadline outside the quest’s official duration, and giving such a relaxed response after barely hearing the details—he must seriously trust her to make it back.

I’ve known him a long time, so I can tell—he really puts a lot of faith in ‘Hearty Eater’ now.

Funny how things change.

“Hatsumi-chan, can you hear me?”

Suddenly, Lady Airi called out.

A girl peeked her head out from within the shadows.

To be honest, it looked really creepy… but since I’d seen it often at the castle, I was pretty used to it by now.

“Ah, sorry! Is now a good time?”

“Yes, I was just on break. The Princess is holed up in her office right now, so there’s no danger.”

“Oh dear~”

Now that I’m back in the knight order, I’ve been seeing a lot more of the Princess—no, the Queen.

And seeing that workload up close… it does feel a bit cruel for someone her age.

Still, she’s the one at the top. “I can’t do it” just isn’t an excuse.

“I was thinking of taking Noin into the forest starting today. Could you go call her for me? And Nakajima-san too. If Noin’s gone, we’ll have a hole in the duty rotation.”

“Noa will probably want to go too, you know?”

“Yeah, I figured… Well, with Her Majesty’s recent announcement regarding the ‘Demonkin’ there shouldn’t be any issues. She’s already registered as a Walker. Would you mind calling them both?”

“Understood. I’ll see to the two of them.”

“Thanks, I’m counting on you.”

After that short exchange, Hatsumi-chan slipped back into the shadows.

Even if it has a range limit… man, that shadow title is seriously handy.

As I was thinking that…

“Airi-sama! I’d like to go outside as well!”

“Hime-sama, you are in the middle of your work.”

The nation’s leader, who had popped her head out for just a moment, was promptly pushed back into the shadows by Hatsumi-chan.

While everyone stood there with their mouths agape, we were enveloped in silence.

We probably don’t need any more people with the title of “Shadow.”

“Poal, I’ll leave the details to you! Riiri! Get to work!”

“I am working!”

As shouts echoed around, several arrows flew toward the king serpent before us.

One of them struck the serpent in the eye, and it let out a pained roar.

“Zaz! Gil!”

“I know, I know! Gil! Let’s sync up!”

“Got it!”

After exchanging a glance with old man Zaz, I ignited flames from the end of my prosthetic arm.

Zaz boosted the firepower with his magic, and I drove the sharp claws of my prosthetic into the enemy.

“Turn to ashes!”

From the tip of the prosthetic buried in its belly, a massive burst of flames erupted.

It scorched the skin and seared the flesh.

The smell of burning meat filled the air as the king serpent, its body aflame, turned its head toward us.

“Dammit! Serpents really don’t die easy, huh!”

I yanked out my arm while shouting, just in time to brace for the serpent’s counterattack—

“Hah! So light! Airi-san!”

“Hell yeah!”

As the serpent stretched its head toward us, Noin leapt forward and swatted it aside with his shield.

He didn’t block—it was a sweeping motion.

A perfectly executed move, focused solely on that single action.

Given the difference in size between his body and the king serpent, there’s no way he should’ve been able to block that hit.

And yet, he effortlessly deflected the attack.

And then—

“You lowly creature! Sink!”

The king serpent, which still felt absurdly massive to me, was being kicked squarely by the ever-smiling guild receptionist.

Then she hammered her gauntlet-clad fists into the serpent’s head with a flurry of blows, and pulled a trigger with a click.

“Explode, you overgrown scaly creature!”

ZBAM!—a loud explosion echoed as the king serpent writhed, and smoke rose from her fists.

That was her new gear.

Same type as the so-called “hobby-maxed-out equipment” those guys were talking about.

A segment of the hefty gauntlet opened, and a used magic stone popped out with a pssh! sound.

An utterly bizarre, yet stunningly beautiful “black.”

With that gauntlet equipped, the guild receptionist danced through the air with grace.

“We’re not done yet! Kyle-san! Gil-san!”

“Tch! Got it!”

“Hraaaghhh!”

As the serpent thrashed, I drove my prosthetic into its head, pinning it to the ground.

At the same time, Kyle carved a straight gash down its belly with his greatsword, like he was filleting an eel.

Blood splattered everywhere, painting the surroundings red.

“Noin! You’re late! Move without being told!”

“Sorry! I’ll break the magic stone right away!”

“I’m strengthening Noin’s buffs now!”

After the Hearty Eaters shouted, Noin the monk slammed his shield into the serpent’s heart.

Then—

“Alright, good work everyone. Noin, it’s good to keep an eye on your teammates, but don’t forget your own job. You’re always at the very front, remember? If you space out, you’ll get bitten.”

“I’m sorry…”

Not a single one of us was injured.

We had achieved a complete victory over the king serpent.

And yet, for some reason, Noin was being scolded by Lady Airi.

No no no—honestly, that was a pretty damn good performance as a Walker, okay?

Even for a unit of knights or soldiers, that kind of coordination would be above average, alright?

And just as I was thinking that—

“Noa-chan, that includes you too. You focused too much on the people shouting and your buffs on Riiri-san and Poal-san weakened, didn’t they? You have to be careful, okay? Not everyone has ‘field support’ like Minami-chan, Shiro-chan, or Nishida-san to cover for them.”

“I’m sorry… you’re absolutely right.”

The scolding continued.

The young Hearty Eaters were more focused on reflecting on what they hadn’t done well than on the joy of defeating the king serpent.

They’re… fifteen, right?

They took down a king serpent and still got scolded.

What kind of situation even is this?

“U-Um, Airi-san? We’re really fine, so maybe you could let up a little?”

Unable to bear it, Poal finally spoke up, but she responded with a bright smile and opened her mouth.

“It was just a small king serpent like earlier, so it’s fine. But if it had been something bigger—or something different—‘It went well this time’ wouldn’t cut it. If even one person had been eaten, could you still say the same thing?”

“We’re sorry. You’re absolutely right.”

The “Wind of War” members backed down instantly.

Riiri already had a frightened look on his face, and Zaz awkwardly averted his eyes.

Their leader, Kyle… was hiding in the shade of a tree, wiping the king serpent’s blood off his greatsword.

“Hey, Kyle.”

“Don’t say it. The Hearty Eaters when they’re like that are terrifying. Just listening to it is enough to wear you down.”

“I get it, but still…”

“I know… but seriously, who gives a lecture after everyone’s taken down a king serpent with no casualties? We didn’t get scolded since we’re outsiders, but if we were part of the team? Who knows what we’d be told…”

“Yeah, I get that too.”

Honestly, after a hunt this big, most Walkers would push back if they got lectured like that.

But still, everything she said was completely correct—and more than that, it was all things she said for their sake.

That’s why no one could argue, and if anyone did try to argue, it’d basically be picking a fight with the guild receptionist who holds the title of “Dragon Slayer.”

“That said, the two of you did a great job. Well done. Next time, remember what I pointed out so you can ‘hunt’ even better. It’s necessary—for eating and for protecting others. Those people would never forget teamwork or let one person push themselves too far. If they do something reckless, they do it together. They never let one person carry all the burden. Got it?”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Hearing her say that, I ended up mumbling without thinking:

“I’m pretty sure when he hurt his arm, it was ‘cause he did something reckless alone…”

That was probably the wrong thing to say.

“After his arm got blown off and healed… would you like to hear what kind of ‘discipline’ Kitayama-san received afterward?”

“N-No thank you.”

The receptionist smiled very sweetly.

But just for today, that smile looked absolutely terrifying.