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Luna exerted herself fully and took out the grip of the greatsword from her inventory, only to put it back again.

Currently, the bald guy was conversing with Adela.

“Receptionist. What happened to the adventurer who’s supposed to go to the ant den with us?”

“Mr. Luke, standing behind, has decided to join us.”

“What? You’re telling me to take that little brat along? Am I some kind of babysitter?”

“I don’t want to either, you bald bastard.”

“That bastard is still…!”

The bald guy placed his hand on the axe’s grip.

“Mr. Baldwin. I believe if you cause a scene again, you’ll be stripped of your adventurer qualifications.”

“Tch… I got it.”

I don’t remember the extras, but I do recall that he’s the only bald guy among so many people.

He was the one who tried to start something with me last time and ran off with his tail between his legs out of fear.

He was bragging, and it turned out he was just D-Rank?

And didn’t he just mention something about being stripped of his adventurer qualifications?

‘If I provoke that bald guy and we get into a fight, wouldn’t I make one person unemployed?’

“It’s on.”

“Please, Mr. Luke…”

“What? He started it first.”

Looking at him, he seemed like he’d eventually become a demon, and maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to kill him now.

“No matter how you look at it, he’s still E-Rank! This is life or death!”

“This is all because of Mr. Baldwin’s usual behavior that the recruitment isn’t going well.”

“I think it’s because he’s a short-tempered bald guy that people don’t want to party with him.”

If he were a pretty woman, they might endure the bad personality and party up with him.

“Still, you need some level of skill!”

“That’s right, Adela. You have to do party with people; how can you be a ‘person’ without two legs?”

A human is not an animal; a human has two hands and two legs, and that one has no legs at all. How is that a person?

Saying yesterday’s pig is more realistic as a person.

“You bastard…!”

“Mr. Luke, please tone it down…”

“Yeah.”

“Even though Mr. Luke is E-Rank, he has recently defeated a named monster, so I can vouch for his skills.”

“Yeah… I’ve changed my mind. Let’s go together.”

Just a moment ago, he was boasting, and now out of nowhere, he’s turning around and asking to shake hands with me.

“Let’s do well during this quest.”

“Spit.”

-Whack.

I could see the veins popping on his forehead.

“Oh no! My mistake! My hands were dirty, so I did it absentmindedly.”

“Haha… That can happen.”

Feeling awkward, the bald guy wiped his hands and left the Adventurer’s Guild.

Adela, who had been watching that scene, called me aside to cautiously warn me.

“Mr. Luke. I hate to say this now, but please be careful of Mr. Baldwin.”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t give me half-hearted answers; listen properly.”

What should I eat for dinner? I’m getting tired of just meat; isn’t there a place nearby that serves rice? Even though it’s another world, it’s a bit much for the staple food to be meat.

“Mr. Baldwin is a combative adventurer, but he’s not the type to fight if he thinks he will lose.”

When I get older, I can’t be chewing my dentures and complaining, ‘The meat is too tough!’

“This time, he backed down so easily, but who knows what he might be plotting behind the scenes.”

Otherwise, maybe I should try drinking. What makes medieval beer so different?

“Did you understand that?”

“Yeah.”

“What did I just say?”

“Who knows?”

“…Hah. Luna, please take care of him.”

“Understood.”

“Yeah.”

*

After having a little preparation time before departure, Luna and I joined the bald guy at the agreed meeting place.

“…Why are you so late?”

“Your head was too dazzling, and I lost my way.”

“……”

There was a slight tardiness issue, but—

“I’ll do things my way, so you all just watch and don’t interfere.”

He had insisted that I do just that before we set off.

“Okay.”

So, I just went along with it.

‘He told us to just watch, so I’ll really just watch.’

Today’s quest is to eradicate the giant ant den.

Well, it’s clear from the name that it’s just a gigantic version of an ant’s nest.

It resides between the territories of goblins and war wolves, hiding in underground dens, as Adela had explained.

But contrary to ants’ known sweet tooth, they are omnivorous, and if they invade their territory, they eat monsters too.

In other words, that means they can eat humans as well.

They are a terrifying monster that can crush a human skull with their large mandibles.

‘But it’s still just an ant.’

Of course, the journey was not smooth.

-Keek!!

While they dig between the territories of goblins and war wolves, there were a few battles along the way.

Those bastards are exceptionally vile; when you’re looking for them, they don’t show up, but when you’re not looking, they come out.

“Hup!”

The bald guy, surprisingly, used earth attribute magic.

He slammed his two-edged axe into the ground, and the earth bulged, stabbing through the goblin’s body from all sides, killing it.

‘I thought he would use light attribute magic to reflect light from his head and blind the enemies.’

He can’t use Solar Strike, a technique meant for the chosen ones.

It’s a universally applicable oppressive technique that should work, regardless of the opponent’s fighting power.

Unlike Saitama, who lost all his hair but gained strength, I now even feel some pity for this guy.

‘Well, in this world, there are only two people with light attributes.’

The clueless protagonist and the saintess revered now, who is attending another academy, the heroine.

The author can be quite cruel. They give all opportunities to the sweet potato maker but not to the one who can best use light attributes.

-Auuuuu!!!

As the bald guy continued to deal with the charging goblins, it soon sounded like the war wolves were announcing their turn.

Before long, a pack of war wolves leaped out from between the trees, rushing towards the bald guy.

Even though they’re D-Rank, he seems to be holding his own well by himself, but it was plain to see that his stamina was diminishing from the previous battles.

Clearly, back when I was fighting goblins and war wolves, he wasn’t this exhausted, but maybe his head, looking like a Chupa Chups lollipop, was attracting their attention excessively.

“What do you think, Mr. Luke?”

Luna, who was watching that scene from afar, asked me.

“What about?”

“About that adventurer named Baldwin. Do you really think he can manage by himself?”

“Do you think so?”

If he could handle it by himself, would Adela have sent us along?

People who say “I’ll handle it on my own” usually fall into two categories.

Either they’re extraordinary helpers capable of managing everything alone or just a flag-raising idiot who gets himself killed.

In my view, it’s obvious he’s the latter, but since he told us to just watch, even if he dies, I’ll just stand and watch.

The so-called peak observer meta.

Even that cocky guy, when faced with being outnumbered, perhaps his heart changed suddenly, as he spun around and yelled at us.

“Bastard! If you’ve come, do something!”

When he said to just watch, all of a sudden he’s telling us to do something because he’s losing.

Who would do that?

When you say don’t do something, you want to do it more, and when you beg for help, you want to do it even less—that’s just human nature.

“I don’t want to!”

“What!?”

The bald guy, swinging his axe and decapitating a goblin, retorted back at me.

“I don’t obey the orders of someone weaker than me!”

“W-Wait, that crazy bastard…!”

“If you pay me, I might consider it!”

In any RPG or AOS game, whether it’s a carry or a ride, nothing in this world is free.

If you want help, you have to pay! Huh?! Where’s the free stuff in this world?

While joking around for a moment, more monsters swarmed.

The moment he let his guard down, the tides shifted in favor of the monsters.

“Ugh! I’ll give you money! I’ll give it to you, so help me out!!!”

It seems sadly the world was on my side, not the bald guy.

He’s even offering a chance to earn some free money.

“Advance payment!”

“How can I give it to you in this situation!!”

“That’s your problem!!”

I purposely threw popcorn from behind to bait him.

Honestly, if I could catch that in the midst of all that chaos, I would have been inclined to help.

But unfortunately, I couldn’t get him to catch it, and the popcorn I threw just slid off his sparkling head and missed.

The bald guy glared at me while gritting his teeth, eyes filled with a desire to kill me instead of the monsters.

But that wouldn’t change anything.

Whether I was just watching or later went to the Adventurer’s Guild to complain or take revenge, I had to survive.

“Here! Take it!”

In that situation, he managed to throw me money.

“Alright! I got it!”

“Then hurry up and help me!!”

“I don’t want to!”

“You just took the money, you bastard!!”

“I said I would think about it, not that I would help!”

I said it very clearly.

I’ll consider it if you pay me.

With this level of misunderstanding, I’d be lucky to get a zero on my national language score.

“Mr. Luke. I think we should prepare too.”

“Huh?”

I was so caught up watching the bald guy getting hunted that I had forgotten we couldn’t ignore our own issues.

-Growl━━.-Kieek!!!

Goblins and war wolves began to gather around Luna and me.

“Isn’t this a great opportunity to test out your newly made sword?”

“It’s too good to use on mere goblins and war wolves.”

“…It’s a sword you made to use, right?”

“That’s true.”

What good does it do to save it?

I pulled out the long, thick grip of my Dragon Slayer from my inventory, holding it with both hands.

My big, lengthy, and thick Dragon Slayer.

I immediately closed my eyes.

“Mr. Luke…? What are you doing?”

“Shh. Don’t talk. This is an important moment.”

Before using a greatsword, there’s an essential process.

That is prayer.

“God, Buddha, Allah, please let me hit my target.”

At this moment, I am the most faithful believer.

How earnest is my prayer? I wonder if my prayer reaches the sky.

That will determine the accuracy of this weapon.

-Clang!!

-Kieek!!!

Just as my prayer wrapped up, the monsters charged at me all at once.

“Here I go━━━━!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

I swung the sword wide horizontally.

One blow, two divided.

The goblins that had charged in two were split into their upper and lower parts, while the war wolf that had recklessly opened its mouth towards me had its mouth ripped off and its body sliced in half along the sword’s length.

Blood splattered like it was from a spray bottle.

“That’s amazing…”

“Indeed.”

It became easier to hunt with just a change of weapon.

“Help me, please!!!”

Of course, there were those who didn’t feel that way.

 

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