"Ple-pleaase!!" (Chief)
The village chief said this and got down on the ground and begged, but...
"I can't pretend I didn't know about it...
If you were to cover up such a serious incident involving an ancient dragon and it were to be discovered later, you would face beheading, but if you did something like this and let it go unpunished, word would spread among the villages around here that 'No matter what evil you do, you can get away with it if you kneel down and apologize' or 'Even if you deceive the Hunter Guild, you won't be punished if you apologize,' and that would be a terrible thing...
The secret will definitely get out, and the kids will brag about it everywhere like it's a village tale of heroism, and besides, if we show any softness now, your kids will just repeat the same thing in the future...
Furthermore, we need to report the agreement and the ancient dragon and have that recorded in the town records, and we also have an obligation to accurately report the outcome of this request to the guild. This is an obligation that we must absolutely uphold as hunters.
Therefore, I need to properly report the truth to the guild..." (Mile)
Then, following Mile, Pauline gave additional explanation.
"If this had been a request to ‘eliminate monsters in the forest’ then there wouldn’t have been a problem, but when it’s a request to ‘subjugate something that’s attacking the village’s livestock’ that doesn’t even exist, then you’ve deceived the Hunters’ Guild with a false request using something that doesn’t exist as bait, and exposed the Hunters to the danger of fighting monsters they weren’t even expecting…" (Pauline)
The villagers swallowed hard at Pauline's words.
"And then, I wonder what will happen?" (Mavis)
Pauline answers Mavis' question with an eerie grin.
Of course, that was explained to her when she came to this continent and registered as a hunter, so Mavis already knew that much.
This was just a procedural step for the villagers to hear.
"If a Hunter's life is intentionally put at risk through a false request... it will be deemed a first-class act of hostility against the Hunter's Guild, and all guilds on the continent... not just the Hunter's Guild, but the mercenary guild, commercial guild, artisan guild, shipping guild, medical guild, and all other guilds will become hostile towards the perpetrators.
Even if guilds are usually at odds with each other, if someone appears who picks a fight with the organization and system known as the guild, they will be treated as the enemy of all guilds. In order to protect the authority of the guild, and to prevent fools from imitating it...
If this village was deemed an enemy of the organization, system, and structure known as the guild, then hunters, traveling merchants, traveling doctors and pharmacists, herbal sellers, traveling knife sharpeners, tinkerers, and so on would never again come to the village.
Even if you bring farm produce or meat from hunted monsters to the port town, no one in the guild will buy it, and no inn will let you stay there.
...That's what happens when you make the guild your enemy..." (Pauline)
"......" (Villagers)
The pale villagers.
"…We are the clients! You are in our employ! Therefore, you should act as we instruct you!
Not exterminating the wolves is a breach of contract! I'll report this to the guild, and tell them they tried to threaten the village and extort a large sum of money from us with some ridiculous excuse that an ancient dragon had appeared, and when we refused they started asking nonsensical questions!
Testimony from four rookie hunters and the village chief and all the other villagers. Who will the guild believe?
If you simply withdraw, I'll sign the request completion report.
Since the request has been fulfilled, you can receive the reward as originally planned without doing anything, and it will be an achievement for completing the request, so it's not a bad deal!" (Chief)
"Ah, you still say that..." (Mavis)
"You're not good at giving up..." (Reina)
Mavis and Reina look dumbfounded at the village chief's desperate efforts.
And…….
"Yes, we are the Hunters who received the request, so of course we will do the job as stated in the request. It's only natural!" (Mile)
Saying this, Mile smiled brightly, and Reina and the others also smiled upon hearing it.
"And the request is to ‘subjugate those attacking livestock’, so that means the ones who were harming and killing livestock, in other words, the village chief’s gang, are to be subjugated, right?" (Mile)
"……huh? Whaat?" (Chief)
"Whaaaaaaaat?!" (Villagers)
The villagers were stunned by Mile's outrageous interpretation.
And…….
Zap...
Thinking it was a monster stampede, many of the men who had gathered in the square were holding hoes and sickles as weapons.
The men surrounded Mile and her group with frightening looks on their faces, clutching the farm tools they were using as weapons.
And…….
"There's no other way. Then you'll have to die here.
The young, female hunters, all of whom lacked the necessary skills, accepted a mission that was beyond their capabilities, failed, and never returned from the forest.
Of course, we can't upset the Ancient Dragon-sama, so we can't interfere with the forest, but the Ancient Dragon-sama won't know if you're gone, and he probably doesn't care much about humans. We can just say that you failed at work somewhere and died..." (Chief)
Ah~~…… (All CV)
This time, the villagers did not see the Crimson Vow battle.
They simply went to the forest and came back with the wolves.
...In other words, they just happened to meet the wolves and the ancient dragons who had come to check on the people in the forest, talked to them, and returned together.
There were no battles, and no episodes showcasing the power of Crimson Vow.
However, the young girls were lucky enough to encounter a gentle and understanding ancient dragon, and things progressed smoothly.
…Then, if the difference in numbers was only this much, then...
Moreover, compared to the villagers who were muscular and strong from daily farm work, cutting down trees, fetching water, hunting, and other things, a young hunter with barely any muscle buildup was a bit of a twist.
Maybe it was inevitable to think that way.
"...Don't kill them. Injuries are fine!" (Reina)
With Mile and Pauline by their side, it didn't matter if they broke a bone or have a few damaged organs.
It's no problem if they make those who tried to kill them suffer a little. They hoped they would be grateful if they didn't kill them. ...They'd heal their injuries later with healing magic.
"Roger that!" (Other 3)
The three of them responded enthusiastically to Reina's instructions.
"...Kill them!" (Chief)
Then, at the village chief's command, the villagers attacked.
"Well, of course, this is what happens..." (Mile)
As Mile muttered this, a scene of hell unfolded before her eyes.
The adults of the village were lying in the square with broken bones and bruises.
Of course, this was not everyone, just the dozen or so who had attacked Crimson Vow.
"Should we take them back to town? I can't remember everyone's faces, so if we just leave them here and go back to town, they'll end up blending in with the villagers, and we won't be able to tell later who was trying to kill us with their own hands.
If that were to happen, the entire village would be tried as 'Part of the attempted murderers,' so I can't help but feel sorry for those who weren't involved in the attack..." (Reina)
The other villagers hurriedly nodded in response to Reina's words.
…It seemed they cared more about their own safety than their comrades who had resorted to force.
Farmers were cunning people who took advantage of others to survive tenaciously.
Yes, like a weed...
Author's Note
The second volume of the comic reboot of "Didn't I say to make my abilities average in the next life?" (Square Enix) is now on sale!
Please feel free to contact us in either paper or electronic form, whichever you prefer! (^^)/