Chapter 7
Chapter 7: Receiving My First Reward!
Suddenly, my mind went completely blank after Gralock disappeared from sight,
— I’m screwed.
No, It should still be fine.
It’s totally fine…right?
He was guilty from the moment he tried to lay a finger on my angel Nasha.
I did say that I won’t go back on the spur of the moment but now, I really can't go back.
I was suddenly jolted awake from my nonsensical train of thought.
“A-amazing! You’re so amazing Eric-san! How incredible!”
Nasha was almost in tears as hugged me tightly.
I could see the genuine concern laced beneath those eyes filled with tears.
Suzette stood beside Nasha with a forehead dripping with sweat, leaning against the silver coloured gun that seemed way bigger than she was.
“Seriously, you went toe-to-toe with a higher class of the demon and even drove him back… and you are still alive… Oh Lord Shuwa, thank you!”
Louise put her fists on her hips.
“In the end, even if I fought with all my strength, the difference was still so big... we would have failed this mission if it wasn't for Eric."
Her battered fists along with the village that was in shambles proved the intensity of the battle we just had.
“... Hero-sama…”
Led by their old village chief, the people in the Dorgo village came up to the members of Deared.
All the villagers who were hurt and frightened until a few minutes ago, now wore bright smiles on their faces.
“Just how can I thank you enough for coming to this small village to help us…and even chasing away the demons––“
The old woman's tear ducts seemed to be malfunctioning as the tears were flooding her entire face. Nasha simply smiled seeing her face.
“No, no, there’s no need for that! It made us even more happier to see you all smile like this! Right Suzette? Louise?!”
“—Agreed.”
“Indeed, yes.”
Hearing the words of the leader of the Deared and witnessing the smiles of the party members, everyone in the village started to shed tears again.
“So what do you say, new guy? This is our party. If you’re fine with us, then you’re welcome to join any time. Wait, why does it feel like you’re the one interviewing us now?”
“No, not like that Louise. Eric-san, you seemed to be a seasoned fighter on the front-lines and since you’re highly experienced in dealing with the demons, I would like to kindly request you to join us— is what I would like to say but…”
Suzette tiled her head as she said so, causing her silvery short hair to fall off her shoulders.
“I think a talent like you would be sought after by any sort of assault squad. From well-versed combat movements to steady flow of mana, honestly all of these skills are first-class—”
“It’s fine, that really doesn’t matter” I interrupted Suzette’s monologue and shifted my gaze towards Nasha.
“... I mean, there won’t be much overtime here right? And you guys pay for it too.”
“Fwahahaha! You always go back to that! You must’ve been in a really bad place! Ahahahaha!”
“Lou-Lousise… this is not a laughing matter… but pffft, well it is kind of weird to see a hero like this.”
“I think it’s more weird to be that strong without ever fighting on the front-lines though?”
Hearing those two laugh so hard, made me laugh along with them.
This party almost never fought on the front-lines.
Had they been veterans, they would have immediately recognized the elements of the destruction magic I had used earlier.
In that sense, it must have been fate that led me up to joining this party.
Lately, the times where I would genuinely laugh, had gotten less and less.
How long has it really been since I last laughed so hard?
“The reward for this commission is 10 gold coins. With this, we can stay at a pretty good inn for several days. When was the last time we got this much for a reward…!”
“It’s been so long since I had a good feast! We've been eating nothing but cheap frog meat for a while now!”
“W-well it couldn't be helped. Then, one gold coin will be offered to Lord Shuwa. Everyone will receive two gold coins each, and the rest will go to the party savings––“
“Uhehe~ Two gold coins huh? Now what kind of delicacies should I spend these on~”
While Louise was busy drooled over her share of the gold coins, Suzette swiftly distributed the reward we received from the old village chief before keeping records.
I also received the same amount of two gold coins as my very first stipend. My sight became blurry as my eyes were tearing up… I couldn’t even remember how long it has been since I last received a decent salary like this.
Now I’m going to have a nice meal, sleep on a fluffy bed and wake up with the sunrise!
Finishing off the paperwork at the dead of the night and nibbling on a crusty piece of bread right out of the refrigerator before lining up three chairs in the office room to build myself a makeshift bed to rest for a few hours. And what welcomed me at the break of the dawn was another pile of documents to work on... Let me bid my farewells to that slave life!!
All these emotions made tears fall from my eyes.
Meanwhile, Nasha, who had also received her portion of the reward, stared into the distance.
The scattered uneven ground alongside the tattered tree stumps. And the fields ravaged by the Cerberus lay before her very eyes.
The villagers stood stunned at the tragedy of it all.
Nasha took in all the sights before her, held her small hands in front of her chest and suddenly sped off towards the villagers.
“Uh, umm, everyone!”
Going up to a villager who was staring at the fields with an empty gaze, Nasha smiled. She said without any hesitation in her voice,
“Well if it’s alright, please use this to rebuild the village!”
Nasha offered her portion of the reward to the villager.
When they realized what her hands held, villagers' eyes turned into saucers.
“No, but…This is hero-sama’s reward…”
"Yes! And I want to help this village with my money! So please take it!"
“... Is that… really okay?”
“Of course! So please show me a beautiful village by next time I come here to visit!”
Seeing Nasha’s carefree smile, Suzette and Louise who stood behind her, also smiled along, albeit wryly.
“Ah, dammit. Why does she always have to be so soft hearted? I swear, one of these days, she’s going to get scammed by some idiot for sure.”
“And we're the fools that always go along with her.”
Even while grumbling, Louise handed over her two gold coins to the villagers as well.
Suzette also followed the suit with a smile.
“Well, this should be enough to rebuild the village. Hire some good carpenters from Odel Knights and quickly fix everything. A-after all… I was the one who messed up most of these things.”
“…I-I missed a few shots too, you know.”
Both of them scratched their cheeks, looking rather embarrassed.
After watching them both, I also handed the gold coins I held in my hand to the villagers.
W-well, all of this happened because of someone I know, so…
And it’s not like the demon army will make up for it… I mean, how do I say this…if I were to take this, I wouldn’t be able to sleep well at night…
“Eric-san, is that… really okay?”
Nahsa’s teary eyes turned towards me.
“Yeah. I think it would be nice to have this place all fixed up when we visit this place again.”
I mumbled out some excuses while scratching my cheeks. Nasha came up to me with her teary eyes, suddenly opened her arms wide and hugged me!?
“Thank you so much, Eric-saaaaaaaaan!”
“Na-Nasha, that— I’m happy that you hugged me but—”
I was already satisfied enough with just seeing her smile.
〇〇〇
“— Am I the only one who thinks we really messed up this time?”
“Even if you say that now, you also went up ahead to give them all your coins too, Louise.”
“I'm happy enough that I got to see everyone in the village smiling.”
“I‘m sorry Eric, this is your first meal after completing the mission and yet… I thought I could let you taste some of my favorite food…”
“Ah, ahaha… We can always try them next time Louise. And besides, it’s been some time since I had a nice meal like this.”
“E-Eric-san, just what have you been eating up until now?... Even for a front-liner that’s just…”
After returning back to the guild, we sat around a desk in the guild hall.
On top of that desk, laid a single plate filled with a heap of bread crusts.
Louise lazily popped pieces of crumbs into her mouth while Suzette quietly plucked them piece by piece. And Nasha, who was still full of energy.
While looking at the appearances of these three very different people, I quietly bit into a piece of bread as well.
It was dry, bland and pretty much tasteless.
But still, for some reason—
“It’s not that bad. In fact, it’s rather delicious”
The bread crusts that I ate together with everyone, felt more delicious than any meal I’ve ever had in the demon army––.
They’re pretty f*kin dumb - Tobi
Indeed - SoShy
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