And then Reina started walking again.
The other members who had stopped to wait for Reina also started walking along with her.
"Wait, listen to me!" (Chief)
The village chief regained his composure and repeated the same words, but someone who looked down on hunters or underestimated them, and forced them to take on unreasonable requests could not be trusted.
The fee had already been deposited with the guild, but that too would be troublesome if they didn't sign the request completion report.
Still, once the facts are known, full payment would probably ultimately be made.
However, they'd appreciate it if they could spare the hassle.
…In that case, all they had to do was stop accepting requests.
If no monetary transaction was involved, the order was simply cancelled at the client's expense, which made the troublesome exchange with the guild much easier.
Well, as compensation for the inconvenience, the daily allowance for the time it took to travel to and from the village, plus the penalty fee, would have to be taken from the deposit...
In a case like this, based on past examples, it was likely that almost the entire deposit would be paid.
This was not because the Crimson Vow was greedy, but rather because it was the hunter's duty to grab as much money as possible so as to prevent a similar mistake from happening again and to set an example for the surrounding villages.
And the deposit, where the reward money for a request was paid to the guild in advance, was a system in place for times like that.
If this incident was reported, there would be no hunters willing to accept requests from that village, and the guild would likely never again be able to persuade or mediate with the hunters to accept requests.
This was a common occurrence in rural villages where people underestimated the Hunters and the Hunter Guild.
"I don’t know. I’ve already heard the story, and since the content of the story was beyond our acceptable range and we couldn’t accept it, the negotiations broke down and the contract was terminated with the client at fault. What’s the point of going on about it any further? You underestimated us just because we're young women, tried to deceive us and pick fights with us, and then when things didn't go as planned, you said, 'Not now!' and started the conversation over again? Who do you think would trust those guys? And even at this point, you still say, 'It can't be helped' or 'Let's lower the conditions a bit'? ...Are you stupid? If this was a party of intimidating old men who had accepted the order, you would have had a sensible discussion from the start, right?" (Reina)
There was no way for Reina to respond as she cut off the village chief's plea.
But even so, Reina might be a bit naive, since she stopped again and replied like that.
Normally, one would just walk away without replying, or leave a curse or parting remark.
Only a fool would negotiate or negotiate with a scoundrel who could not be trusted.
But…….
"Please, please!!" (Chief)
Crimson Vow seemed uncomfortable after being made to dogeza by the village chief and all the other village officials present... it was slightly different from the Japanese style, but there was no room for misunderstanding, and it was clear that it had the same meaning.
...Well, if you couldn't stand it, you should just leave.
Even though they thought that, the Crimson Vow couldn't leave...
"...So, does that mean we should hunt as many wolves as we can that claim that forest as our territory? The minimum requirement is to hunt at least 30 animals, and that includes the big white one that is the leader of the pack... And even if the number of individuals is low or some escape, and the number of kills does not reach 30, if we defeat the boss and destroy the herd, the request will be fulfilled, right?" (Reina)
The village chief nodded in response to Reina's final confirmation.
If the total number of members in the herd is 29 or lest, or if the herd disintegrated and scattered, and you were told "Request failed, no payment" Reina made sure to plug any loopholes in the conditions.
…In the end, despite all the fuss, Crimson Vow ended up listening to the village chiefs' story, and for some reason ended up accepting the request.
They had purposely accepted the request on the basis that it was a "Possibly dangerous case." To begin with, Reina and her group were not the type to be cold towards villagers in trouble, so even they thought they were being a bit too lenient, they had no choice.
"Then please write a note to that effect." (Pauline)
Then Pauline gave the order to the village chief from the side.
As expected, Pauline was cautious and did not easily trust someone who had already tried to deceive them once.
If they refused, Crimson Vow would never trust anyone in this village.
Knowing this, the village chief readily agreed.
"Well, if you bow your head properly and make a request under the right conditions, I won’t complain. …If possible, it would be helpful if you could do that from the beginning…"
After hearing a detailed explanation about the Forbidden Forest from the village chiefs, the Crimson Vow set off immediately.
Although it was an awkward time, it would be much better to walk until dark and camp somewhere suitable than to stay at the home of the village chief, who they couldn't trust very much.
So, as Mavis was talking about this while walking down a village path...
Gobble! (Impact SFX)
"……eh?" (Mavis)
Mavis was shocked and stunned by the sudden impact.
A pebble had been thrown at her body.
Normally, if attacked, one would immediately assume a defensive posture, endeavor to grasp the location and number of attackers, as well as the enemy's fighting power, and immediately launch a counterattack... Not just the attacked person, but all the members.
At the very least, it's impossible for them to just stand there defenseless.
…And that didn't mean all the members…
However, this time it couldn't be helped.
After all, the person who attacked with the pebble was only a child of about 7 or 8 years old.
"Wh-why..." (Mavis)
It's no wonder Mavis muttered that.
Certainly, mid-level or lower C-rank Hunters were a low-level occupation, including idiots and violent people.
For this reason, they might be disliked by young women who were easily approached, but for children, especially orphans and children from the countryside, being a hunter was a dream job that could make them rich overnight, and it was a job that they could relatively easy to obtain, so they were not so disliked.
On the other hand, when children saw Hunters dashingly completing monster extermination requests issued by the village, they might even be seen as heroes, a coveted profession that only the strong can attain.
What's more, Crimson Vow was a party made up entirely of beautiful women, and they've come all the way from the port town to help the village in its time of need, so they should be grateful.
So why did the children get stones thrown at them?
…And they didn’t throw it half-jokingly or with a laugh; they threw it in earnest, with eyes full of hatred…
Since it hit Mavis on her armor, it wasn't a big deal, but if it had hit her head or limbs, which were not protected by armor, or if it had hit Reina or Pauline, who were not even wearing enough armor...
What was even more puzzling was that the woman who appeared to be the mother of the child who threw the stone hurriedly picked up the child and took him inside the house, as if to protect him from the intruders.
Normally, one would scold the child and make the other person apologize.
However, the child's actions themselves were not the problem, and he acted as if he was simply afraid of retaliation from the other person and was only thinking about running away from it.
Then every member of the Crimson Vow looked everyone around...
Just like the child and his mother earlier, the hatred and fear were evident, and their eyes were glared at the Crimson Vow.
Their eyes seemed to say, "I'm counting on you," and were expecting Crimson Vow to complete its request.
…Clearly, the people were divided into two groups.
"......" (All CV)
Mile and her group felt that the village chiefs still had something to hide...
Author's Note
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