When I went to collect the Horn Dogs I had brought down with Shotgun, I found sixteen carcasses scattered across the near and far sides of the field.
Many more had probably escaped. A pack that large could have wiped out the party completely.
I didn’t know the exact purchase price for a Horn Dog, but sixteen should sell for enough to buy potions.
“Amazing… how’d you even do this?”
“Look at this one—its face is completely crushed.”
“And this one’s chest is caved in and it’s puked blood.”
“You’re Leon, right? I’m Clark. I serve as the organizer for this group.”
“I haven’t even been an adventurer for two full years, so you don’t need to speak so formally.”
“Then you should speak casually too, Leon. Formal speech wastes time in a fight. Still, even if you’re younger, it feels strange to address someone stronger than us without respect.”
Even if they said that, my Japanese upbringing made it hard to drop honorifics toward someone older.
My world had once been just my family and a few people around us, so the adventurer lifestyle still hadn’t quite settled in for me.
“That’s a lot of carcasses…” “How much do you think they’ll sell for?” “Horn Dogs go for around 20,000 dara apiece.” “Then we can afford guild potions. I thought we’d have to stop working until our injuries healed.” “I was afraid we might starve, but thanks to you, Leon, we can eat.”
Wow, what a timid bunch.
On the way back, I asked about their usual work. They mostly gathered herbs and hunted small animals such as Horn Rabbits, and goblins were valuable prey by their standards. They had expected only six goblins, but four more had emerged from hiding and turned the battle against them.
They all carried short spears, but from their form, it didn’t look like they practiced much.
Just holding a weapon doesn’t make you strong—but they didn’t seem to get that.
Because one man was limping, we traveled slowly and reached Roxanne shortly before the gates closed. We went straight to the Adventurers’ Guild.
After receiving permission from the burly man at the purchasing counter, I led them toward the dismantling area. They hesitated so badly that I practically had to drag them.
“Are we even allowed back here…?”
“You have to be, otherwise I can’t hand over the monsters for you.”
“The Breeze brought in a group of nobodies.”
“Oi, this isn’t a place for you nobodies.”
“The dismantling area is where you bring hunted monsters. Try taking them to the herb counter and you’ll be the ones getting yelled at.”
“Oh, feeling arrogant now that people call you the Breeze?”
“If you’re overheated, I can cool you down with some wind—outside the city, of course.”
“You little punk—”
“Enough! If you insist on starting a fight, be ready for the consequences. He’s gathering materials for a marquis’s request. Interfere with him and I’ll make sure your next appraisal uses the lowest possible prices!”
The dismantling foreman roared at them, and their faces twisted like they’d just swallowed a handful of bitter bugs—trying to decide whether to chew through the taste or spit it out and pretend nothing happened.
“Leon, how many did you bring in?”
“Five Runner Birds and three Chikki-Chikki Birds for me. Sixteen Horn Dogs for them.”
“Then line everything up. We’re under pressure to meet the quota. Put the Horn Dogs beside the birds.”
I laid the Horn Dogs beside the birds. The foreman rapidly completed an appraisal sheet, muttering as he examined the carcasses. He frowned at the badly damaged ones, scratched his head, then said, “Close enough,” and wrote down the values.
I nudged Clark and told him to hand over his guild card. He fumbled for it, tried to give it to me, but I made him pass it to the foreman instead.
The old man laughed, took the card, wrote Clark’s name on the form, and handed it back.
“We’re under pressure to meet the quota, so bring in more soon.”
“We’re under pressure to meet the quota, so bring us more soon.”
“We’ll head out again tomorrow and do our best.” After thanking him, I led Clark’s group to the payment counter.
“So, Clark, how much did you get?”
“That appraisal was fast.”
“Yeah, I thought he’d at least squint and hum and act like he was doing math.”
“Each Horn Dog sold for 21,000 dara, so the total was 336,000.”
“Whoa.”
“We’re celebrating tonight!”
“Leon, are you sure you don’t want a cut?”
“I’ve got my own earnings from the birds. Just go buy some potions and patch yourselves up.”
My own appraisal came out to:
Runner Birds: 41,000 dara each
Chikki-Chikki Birds: 65,000 dara each
Total: 400,000 dara.
Because the items for the marquis’s request received slightly higher prices, I took my payment in gold coins and went to an adventurer’s shop to buy new boots.
＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊ ＊
When I returned to the guild wearing my new boots, there was some commotion at the front desk—but I decided not to poke the hornet’s nest and went straight to the dining hall.
With an ale and a bowl of stew in hand, I made for an open seat—only for a filthy foot to stick out in front of me.
I gracefully stepped right on it and kept walking, sitting down and taking a hearty gulp of ale.
“Hey, brat! You’ve got some nerve stepping on my foot and pretending nothing happened!”
So that’s directed at me, huh?
Actually… yeah, I might’ve stepped on something.
“Huh? Did I step on your foot?”
From around us came muffled laughs and whispers: “Did you hear that?” “Guy’s got guts.”
“Sorry, but I don’t recall stepping on anyone’s foot. The floor’s a bit uneven, though—maybe that bump was your foot? Oops, my bad!”
The room burst out laughing, and someone heckled,
“Hey, Goblin Rampage! The Breeze just made a fool of you!”
On closer inspection, he was the same man who had mouthed off in the dismantling area.
“‘Oops, my bad,’ huh?”
“You stomp on my foot, make a joke out of it, and now you’re laughing? You’ve got a death wish, kid!”
“What do you mean? I walked straight between the tables, so no one’s foot should have been in the way. Since you insist I stepped on yours and I’m a timid person, I apologized anyway. By the way, Goblin Rampage is a lovely party name.”
“You hear that? He said it’s a lovely name.”
“That’s what you get for giving your party some ridiculous name — now the kid’s mocking you.”
“Well, they’re skilled enough to rampage through goblins, so the name isn’t inaccurate.”
“You don’t actually respect their skills at all, do you?”
“Hey, if you’re going to talk like that, then accept a mock battle with us!”
“Eh? No thanks, I’m weak, that’s why I apologized in the first place.”
“We can’t accept that kind of apology.”
“If you’re going to apologize, do it properly.”
“You made three or four hundred thousand dara from those birds. If you’re that capable, carry our equipment for a while as your apology.”
“Carry your gear? I don’t mind, but you’ll die, you know.”
“What’s that supposed to mean, you trying to kill us with your ‘Breeze’ magic?”
“Now that’s a funny little punk.”
“Hey, Jorm, didn’t you see what happened earlier?”
“Huh? Oh, Wise, what are you talking about?”
“That man brought in sixteen Horn Dogs as well as the birds. The people with him were low-ranked herb gatherers. If you make him carry your baggage, your party will be wiped out within two or three days. He even hunts with Strongarm. You’re the ones who should apologize.”
〈Sixteen Horn Dogs, did you hear that?〉 〈Impossible. Isn’t he a solo adventurer?〉 〈I heard Olga invited him into the forest with Strongarm.〉 〈The dismantlers say he’s handling the Runner Bird and Chikki-Chikki Bird request.〉 〈I thought “the Breeze” was only a mocking nickname, but perhaps not.〉 〈Remember that wandering fire mage? He said he would give Leon a title and called him “Leon the Breeze.”〉 〈Leon’s response was brutal.〉 〈Right. He exposed the self-proclaimed fire mage as a loudmouth and named him “Marco the Bluff.” It was hilarious.〉
Good grief. I had already become famous. What was the point of being well known in a town I was only passing through?
I drained my ale, stood up with the empty mug, and the man called Jorm and his friends flinched.
Pathetic — just hearing some gossip about me and they’re already scared.
I walked toward the counter for a refill — this time, no feet in the way.
With a fresh mug in hand, I walked back toward them and decided to tease them a little. As I passed, I quietly dropped a tiny [Whirlwind!] into their mugs and sprayed the ale everywhere.
〈Whoa!〉
〈Wha— wh-what the—〉
〈Uwahhh!〉
〈Cold! It’s freezing!〉
I immediately dispelled the magic and erased the traces, then sat down innocently and sipped my drink.
The man called Wise glanced at their panicked faces, then at me, chuckled, and walked off.
“You bastard! What the hell did you do?!”
“Oh dear, you’re soaked. Ale is for drinking, not wearing.”
“You’ve got guts, kid. Better watch your back out on the plains.”
“Perfect. I’ll leave through the east gate tomorrow morning to hunt, so I’ll be waiting for you.”
〈He accepted without hesitation!〉 〈He has a gift for buying fights at premium prices.〉 〈Maybe he has a skill called High-Priced Provocation.〉
〈Goblin Rampage, we’ll be watching tomorrow!〉 〈Can a goblin horde defeat the Breeze? Place your bets!〉 〈There’s no contest if a mere glare makes them lose.〉 〈Then I’ll take the long shot!〉 〈Wait, who are you betting on?〉 〈The Breeze, obviously. Olga invited him into the forest with Strongarm.〉
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