Will I End Up As a Hero or a Demon King (WN)

Chapter 103

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Chapter 103 – Letter and Subject

The next day.

“(Aah… my head hurts…)”

Looking at the clock on the desk, it was already past 11 o’clock.

It was the first time I’d woken up this late since I was transmigrated.

Thinking that Poison Resistance wouldn’t work against alcohol, I staggered downstairs to the first floor of the inn.

I went into the courtyard to wash my face, and there I saw the innkeeper hanging out the laundry.

“Excuse me, Proprietress-san… but I overslept and missed breakfast, even though you had everything ready for me.”

“That’s unusual. Hey, boy, you look pale. Are you okay?”

“I drank alcohol for the first time yesterday. I was surprised that my body was so weak to alcohol…”

Rather than being weak to alcohol, it might be more accurate to say that my body is still too small.

I think yesterday’s drinking session was a good life experience.

As I was told, if I went to the guild after the evening bell rang, the hunters who had agreed to participate in the plan would be waiting for me.

The attendance rate was estimated to be over 120%.

For some reason, there were people there who looked like the wives or girlfriends of some of the people I’d seen at the bathing event, but I said nothing and followed everyone else, probably because I shouldn’t have to worry about such details.

The group went to a bar on one street back from the main street.

It seemed to have been reserved for the party because when we got there, there were no customers, and as soon as we entered, everyone sat down in their preferred seats.

However, it seemed that the basic seating was by party, so of course, I ended up at the counter with Alba-san, who was alone.

I also remember that a few women who weren’t hunters were also sitting at the counter looking for an empty seat.

At Alba-san’s urging, I made a brief greeting, and for some reason, Mizuru-san asked me to tell them about my personal income and expenses, so I thought it would be okay to do so, and when I announced it, most of them fell off their chairs…

I don’t really remember much after that.

The onslaught of food and alcohol was brought in.

I tilted my head to look at the contents of the jug in front of me, which looked like a small barrel when Alba-san told me it was ale.

Naturally, I was impressed.

This is the ale I’ve heard so much about, I thought.

However, I was disappointed to find that it was room temperature as soon as I put it to my lips.

I drank it with patience, but it didn’t have the smoothness of beer that goes down.

The guys around me were gulping it down happily, but I knew the taste of beer, and I couldn’t fit in with them.

It was the wife or girlfriend of someone sitting next to me who spoke to me when I was feeling down.

When I honestly told her that it didn’t taste very good, she laughed and said that was to be expected from a child but then suggested that I try some wine.

When I drank the red wine that was offered to me, it was actually quite good.

I didn’t feel that there was much difference between it and modern wine.

So I drank it. I drank it as I was encouraged to do.

Halfway through, I saw a huge barrel being wheeled in from the back of the store.

When I saw people sticking their mugs in it and drinking as much as they wanted, I thought, “There’s a way to drink like that.”

I watched with a light heart…

Well, that’s as far as I remember.

I don’t even remember how I got back to the inn after that.

I quickly fiddled with my waist, and the leather bag with the money in it was hanging in its usual place.

When I looked inside, it was a little lighter than usual, but there was still a good amount left.

So even with a group of about 40 people, it would only have cost about 200,000 to 300,000 beeke?

Well, if it was enough, that’s fine.

The wine is good enough, but the ale isn’t to my taste.

And with this body, I get drunk easily, and my memory goes.

It was a bit of an expensive lesson, but I’ll be satisfied just knowing that.

“My goodness… I bet the other hunters made you drink it, didn’t they? Go to the dining hall first! I’ll give you some cold water when I’m done drying the clothes.”

“Th-Thank you…”

I’m sorry.

It’s not because of the hunters.

I couldn’t tell the proprietress that I felt good and got drunk after someone’s girlfriend or wife poured me a drink.

▽ ▼ ▽ ▼ ▽

That afternoon, after exploring a new restaurant with Felin, we parted ways, and I went to the Hunters’ Guild.

“Amanda-san, please help me connect with Yagov-san~”

“Gilmas should be waiting in his room, so you can just follow me there.”

Since the drinking party was as planned, I had arranged to visit Yagov-san this afternoon.

I think it’s probably about leaving Bezart, but is there anything else?

“Master, Loki-kun is here.”

“Come in.”

I was told to go in, and the room I was shown was… yes, it’s the same as usual.

Or rather, I think there are more wooden boards.

I don’t think it’s my fault…

“The workload is huge because of Loki. I can’t complain though, because the profits have increased significantly.”

“I think that’s the same as complaining…”

While we were having this conversation, Amanda-san brought us tea as usual, at her usual speed.

I wonder if there’s a procedure for steeping it or letting it sit for a while? I’m a little doubtful, but it tastes perfectly fine, so I guess there’s nothing wrong with it.

I was enjoying my tea time when Yagov-san suddenly asked me a direct question.

“So when are you leaving Bezart?”

“Buhoh! Hahaha… As I thought, you can see through everything…”

“You just came back from Lulub. There’s no hunting ground that’s more accessible from this city, and you’re going to Malta next, right?”

“That’s exactly the plan. My weapons should be ready in about four days, so the day after that… about five days from now?”

“Hmm. I think the money for the weapon was about 17 million beeke, right?”

“That’s right. I think there should be enough change left over.”

“Just to confirm, are you sure you don’t want to move your base?”

“No, I have no plans to do that at the moment…”

“I see. Then it shouldn’t be a problem.”

With that, he handed me a piece of… parchment?

It’s not wood; it’s precious paper!

I was so shaken that I couldn’t speak, but Yagov-san continued.

“The contents are a letter summarizing the details of Loki’s hunter status. Of course, the fact that you’re an otherworlder and a transmigrator is hidden, but it includes your current rank, the amount of money you’ve deposited with the guild, and a brief summary of your past achievements.”

When I looked at the parchment, the first thing I saw was the words “D-Rank Hunter.”

For some reason, it said “D-rank” instead of “E-rank.”

I thought, “What?” And when I rummaged through the leather pouch, the letters on my guild card were definitely E.

“You’ve hunted so many monsters in Lulub, you definitely meet the criteria for promotion to D-rank, so go get your card updated later.”

“So the rank can go up before the person is informed…”

“That doesn’t usually happen, but I think something like that happened to you in the past, right, Loki?”

“Ce-certainly!

That’s right, that’s right.

When I was promoted to F-rank, I didn’t have to go to the reception desk, and I was told by a sulking Amanda-san that I had become F-rank six days ago.

I couldn’t help it; I was busy hunting!

And then, as I continued reading, I came across a rather large amount of money written on the document: “Deposit: 39,718,800 beeke.”

This is…

“This is the total amount of money remaining after deducting the 17 million beeke for weapons and the 3 million beeke bonus for guild members from the amount including the last day of Lulub. I think you should be able to make do with what you have for now, right?”

Yagov-san looked at the leather bag hanging from my waist as he said this.

Yes, he’s right.

With this money alone, I think I can get by for about three months without any problems.

But this solves one of the problems I was worried about.

“So that means it’s written that way, right?”

“Of course. As I said before, the Hunters’ Guild is a multi-country organization. If you hand over this letter, the deposit can be taken by any guild.”

This was the part I was worried about.

If I couldn’t transfer it directly to another branch, I would have to cash in the deposit.

If that happened, I wouldn’t know when I could leave Bezart.

I was even considering just leaving the money behind, so this system is a huge help.

“As expected, you work quickly. Even people from another world would be surprised. But what’s the point of using something as valuable as parchment?”

“Because I got a bonus.”

He grinned as he said this, and when I asked Yagov-san about the usual procedure, it seemed that the guild loaded a wooden board with information about the people moving and ran a guild-only carriage at irregular intervals.

However, if you follow this procedure, it will take a reasonable amount of time, depending on the distance to the destination, for the information about the hunter to reach the destination, so there are cases where you can receive requests with a guild card, but there are also cases where there are inconveniences such as the achievements not being added during that time.

Therefore, the method of using parchment to have the hunter deliver the information to the next city is a method that is basically used by high-level hunters who have money.

Of course, there seem to be very few people at the E or D ranks who do this.

I see; it’s a great bonus effect.

“This is a great help. Then I’ll be happy to submit this to the Malta Guild.”

“That’s the thing. You have to be careful whether you want to submit it to the Malta Guild or not, you know?”

“Huh?”

“If you’re staying for a long time, that’s fine, but if you’re leaving soon, you’ll have to prepare another letter like this. It’ll cost you a lot of money, you know? If you don’t mind using the normal method, you don’t have to worry about it.”

“I see…”

“If you go to Malta, you’ll find that there is one ‘F-rank hunting ground,’ two ‘E-rank hunting grounds,’ and one ‘B-rank hunting ground’ that you can go to from there.”

“A B-rank hunting ground!”

“That’s right. Loki should have no problem with the F-rank hunting grounds in Malta, or the two E-rank hunting grounds. But a B-rank hunting ground…”

“That’s right… I’m only a D-rank hunter, so even if I use the special exception I had before, I can’t accept B-rank requests.”

“If you go further, there should be a D-rank hunting ground in a city called Lipsum. So I’ll leave it up to you to decide whether or not to use this letter in Malta.”

“As expected from Yagov-san! Thank you very much!”

I don’t know what to say about going to Malta, but I have already raised my level to a level that I can realistically raise in the E-rank hunting grounds of Lulub.

There is a high possibility that I will only go to the F- and E-rank hunting grounds to acquire skills.

And when it comes to achievements in my goal to reach C-rank, I feel that there is not much point in killing E-rank monsters no matter how many I defeat.

So I wonder, can I defeat the monsters in the B-rank hunting grounds?

No way. Definitely not.

No matter how you look at it, B-rank is too much.

This isn’t a game, so if I overdo it and die by accident, it won’t do any good.

Then, like Yagov-san said, I think it’s okay to keep this letter until I get to a place with D-rank hunting grounds.

I’m not short of money, and if I run out of money, I can always get more there.

While I was thinking about this, Yagov-san changed the subject while putting down his cup of tea.

“Well, that’s it for the letter for now.”

“Huh? For now?”

“Yes. The next thing I want to talk about is the main reason I called you here, but… when you go to Malta, I want you to take Amanda with you.”

“Huh?

What does that mean?

I’m really scared that I’ll be attacked if I travel with Amanda-san!

I looked at Amanda-san sideways, and she gave me a big smile.

“Don’t be so cautious. This is a story that will be a plus for Loki as well, you know?”

With that, Yagov-san took something out of a drawer in his desk.

“Eh? Could it be…?

It was something that had been shown to be from Earth at some point and was thought to be the most likely thing that could be reproduced.

Something resembling a ballpoint pen was placed on the low table.

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