Isn"t money very important?
「Cheers to our victory!」Our ale mugs clinked together above the table.
Having successfully cleansed the Abyss safely and without taking any damage, we had just returned via carriage. Before dismissing our party, it was our custom to celebrate at our regular bar -- Orc"s Club inn.
In addition to well-chilled ale, there were many dishes lined up on the table. Most of them were meat dishes. There were thick beef steaks, pork spare ribs and sausages, roast pigeons and stewed offal. They were all greasy foods but we earned our living using our bodies so we polished off plate after plate.
Seekers are all gluttons. Not only the big, burly Walter, even the only girl, Tania, eats much more than ordinary people do.
As the meal progressed, the rate of alcohol consumption steadily increased. At first, we discussed serious topics, such as reviewing the battle, but as usual, we were tipsy and talking loudly before we realised. Especially since we made a killing on our previous job, the alcohol flowed easily.
「I have to say, a job well done this time! After all, we earned 5 million! 5 million! It"s the most we"ve raked in so far!」
It"s the fifth time Walter has said this since we started. The alcohol must be slowing his thoughts. It"s common for drunks to keep repeating themselves loudly.
Well, I can sympathize with him. If I got drunk, I"ll probably be just like Walter but I"m quite a heavyweight, just like Grandfather, so I won"t get drunk unless I drank a goodly amount.
Peeking out from the leather pouch placed grandly in the middle of the table, was our reward from subjugating the Lesser Vampire -- 50 gold coins, or 5 million Fil.
The usually graceful Tania was entranced by the unclouded glint of the coins, and even Lloyd, our typically gallant leader, couldn"t help having a slovenly look on his face.
I was happy too. Happy, but also dissatisfied.
In reality, we should have earned more than this. But we only got 5 million Fil. That fact left me in a bad mood.
「We"ve come so far...」
Tania muttered emotionally and Lloyd agreed while pushing back his burning red hair.
「Even though it hasn"t even been a year, things are going smoothly. In that case, we should aim even higher. It shouldn"t take too long before we are all B Rank.」
His confident voice showed no doubts. I held the same belief. That the members here would surely all rank up.
Each Job has its own rank up requirements. However, almost everything about the B ranks has already been revealed. According to that information, we were very close to meeting the requirements.
I"ve confirmed that there were 3 possible Jobs that I could rank up into. Of course, my intention was to rank up to a Job that will strengthen my current role. The other three had the same plan.
It"s been a year since I became a Seeker. As Lloyd said, it had been going smoothly.
However, when newcomers like us do so well, there will be a lot of jealousy.
There were several Seeker-exclusive bars in the imperial capital. They were not only places for eating and drinking, but also where you could fulfill various purposes like gathering new members and information sharing. Because of that, even though there was no formal arrangement, there were Rank and achievement requirements for each bar.
Those with C Rank Jobs would be kicked out of bars frequented by B Ranks, and even in C Rank bars, if their achievement level wasn"t high enough, they may still get thrown out. Violence that occurs because of this is usually overlooked, and it was common for newcomers who don"t know anything to receive a severe baptism.
In other words, this Ogre"s Club inn that we ate and drank in was a bar that matched our Rank and achievements. But more importantly, we were 16 to 18 year old youths who hadn"t even been active for a full year. Even with the same Rank and achievements, age and the length of career can change the value of the achievements.
Looking around the bar, parties in similar situations to ours were eating and drinking merrily, but tables with older Seekers had a dark and gloomy atmosphere. Those were the Seekers who had stagnated and were unable to rank up.
With their long track record, they at least had the qualifications to sit in this bar, but with their inflated pride that didn"t match their abilities, promising newcomers only exacerbated their jealousy.
Even now, there"s a guy who was looking at us with a hateful look. When I grew annoyed and stared back at him, he awkwardly averted his eyes and drank his alcohol.
Having to go out of my way to deal with him was a pain, but if I left him alone and let him look down on us, he might try something sneaky. That"s why I needed to keep him in check like this.
「Hey, what happened? Putting on such a scary expression」
「It"s nothing」
The red faced Walter peered at me as he drank from his mug. It"s really not a topic worth sharing. I tried to dodge the issue by biting into a sausage but Walter didn"t let it go.
「What is it, what is it~ I"ll listen to your troubles~」
「Don"t be stubborn. It"s a pain so don"t get involved」
「Could it be that you"re still holding a grudge about the reward?」
「No. It"s fine so please drink quietly」
「It"s not good to be so obsessed with money. Seekers should be men of high caliber. Your favorite Grandpa must have said the same thing as well」
「Huhh?」
I though I would just let his comments slide but I snapped when he used my respected Grandfather to conveniently make his point. Just what do you know about Grandpa and me?
I did say I was the grandson of Over Death but I sure don"t have any memory of talking about what Grandpa taught me. Don"t say stuff arbitrarily.
What my Grandfather had taught me was the complete opposite. I was told, time and time again, that a Seeker must be obsessed with money.
Money, money, money, a Seeker"s activities always require money.
You can"t do anything without money, be it buying or repairing equipment, or gathering the items you need for exploration.
However, contrary to Grandfather"s teachings and the reality of the situation, the trend among Seekers was that not worrying about money was『chic』, which gave me so much grief.
If we had negotiated when we received the request, we should have been able to increase the reward by 500,000 Fil. This was due to the recent surge in the prices of the materials obtained from the Lesser Vampire.
And yet, when I proposed negotiating, the three of them argued that『Even though we"re already getting 5 million Fil, it"s disgraceful to be greedy and ask for another 500,000 Fil』. As I wasn"t the party leader, I had no choice but to give up on the negotiations.
But 500,000 Fil was not a small amount. It was actually a lot of money. We could have done any number of things with that money. Nevertheless, the reason why they thought that the amount was not worth negotiating for, was because when these three people were faced with the 5 million, it had warped their sense of money.
In short, they weren"t particular when dealing with things. That"s why they weren"t mindful of the market for Beasts materials and the thought of negotiating for a bigger reward never crossed their mind.
It"s such a frustrating story. But I understood that there wasn"t any point in making myself more irritated by continuing to think about it.
「...I"m not holding a grudge. That"s something which has been settled already」
I sighed as I swallowed my anger together with my ale. It"s annoying to be looked down on but he was drunk. It"ll only be a waste of effort to argue with him.
「That"s right, the one who keeps bringing that up is Walter. Sure, Noel was obsessed with the reward but he went along with us in the end. Right?」
Tania, who was trying to mediate between us, looked to me for agreement but it was hard for me to accept her words. I didn"t go along because I agreed with them. I simply gave up because I knew it was meaningless for me to keep insisting. It"s troublesome that they misunderstood me on that point.
So I could only return an ambiguous smile but that seemed to have gotten on Walter"s nerves. He threw his mug onto the table and started yelling.
「Wipe that foolish smile off your face! I"m angry with you!」
「Huh?」
「If you are stingy, it"ll affect the reputation of our Blue Beyond! Reflect on your actions!」
「What nonsense! You"re the one who been getting carried away, shouting 5 million, 5 million. What are you saying while playing the innocent?」
「It"s only natural to be happy about our just rewards! Unlike you, I didn"t greedily try to jack up the reward!」
He"s quibbling like a kid despite his huge figure. With that said, there"s no point in trying to reason with a drunk. There are appropriate methods of dealing with drunks. Let"s handle this in a well-mannered and gentlemenly way.
「Oh, that"s right. Everything is my fault. Mister Walter is always right. There is absolutely no room for objection. How impressive」
「What"s with that att.i.tude !? I"m two years older than you!」
I gave Walter an icy stare as he got more and more agitated.
「What has age got to do with anything here? Are you going to be obedient to anyone, as long as they are older than you? Don"t make me laugh, ability is everything for a Seeker. Aren"t you pretty easy-going, to use your age as a shield but let it pa.s.s for yourself, young Walter?」
「Y... Yo... Yoo... YOU...」
Walter was so angry at my words that several blood vessels on his forehead popped out and looked like they were going to spurt blood. He stood up, kicking his chair aside and fixed me with a ferocious glare.
「Don"t mess with me, Noel! Even though the only thing you can do is to issue instructions from the back! Someone taking it easy in a safe place shouldn"t get carried away!」
「Yes, yes, it"s all thanks to Mister Walter that I always have an easy time. Wow, I really appreciate it. The way you fight, you"re like a fierce G.o.d! It"s so different from an incompetent person like me who can only issue instructions! Yo, Seeker among Seekers! Hyuu~ You"re so cool!」
As I egged him on with my whistling, Walter got so angry and mortified that he ground his teeth so hard that I thought they would break. He was trembling like a newborn fawn.
「...Noel, you"ve prepared yourself right?」
「Hey, hey, what"s this? Is your caliber so small that you can"t accept my praise? Weren"t Seekers supposed to be men of high caliber? Do you want me to give you a pat on the head? Or maybe sing a lullaby for you? Only your body grew big but you"re still a pampered child, little Walter」
「I..I"ll... I"ll kill you!」
Walter was at the limit of his patience. I smirked as things had gone exactly as I intended.
Bring it on! Even if you"re a vanguard, don"t think you can win a fight while drunk. I had been peeved off by this guy"s insensitivity for a while now. I"m going to make a good sandbag out of him.
As I stood up and prepared to throw Walter who was charging straight at me, Lloyd who had been observing silently, stepped between us.
「Both of you! That"s enough!」
We"ve made him angry. Even though I finally had a good opportunity to beat down on Walter. It"s a pity, but that"s it for this fun fight once the leader has stepped in.
With a click of his tongue, Walter went back to his seat and threw up his arms as he sat down.
「Both of you, acting so foolishly...」
Tania sighed as Lloyd put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her. The two of them were lovers. I don"t really think there should be romance within the party but it"s not my place to say anything.
By the way, Walter had also fallen for Tania. But Tania chose the suave Lloyd, rather than the stern-looking Walter.
There"s nothing more awkward than a love triangle.
「It"s about time to start splitting the reward.」
Lloyd gave a refreshing smile as he took command of the situation. Comparing Lloyd"s pretty boy smile to Walter"s dissatisfied face, I thought that I would have chosen Lloyd too if I was Tania.
TN Afterword:
Has there ever been a time when someone says they"re going to be well-behaved and gentlemanly and it doesn"t end up in a childish squabble? ʅ（◞‿◟）ʃ But I like that MC has a childish side to remind us that he"s still really young.
Also some good news, the author had been on break due to personal issues but has returned and is writing again. Fingers crossed that this novel will retake the number one spot it lost during his break. (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)