The next day.
Breakfast at the mess hall.
My juniors, wanting to change the recent gloomy atmosphere, decided to take on the gathering request I turned down yesterday, and went around recruiting allies.
“Can’t lose to a junior!”
“Right, as a senpai, I’ll show them the difference in skill.”
Those around me started getting motivated.
“Seriously, to be pushed by our juniors.”
“Difference in skill? That’s laughable. No, I’ll endure it for the sake of training my facial muscles.”
*Twitch. Twitch twitch.*
Yerubaru disguised his almost-smiling cheeks with food and headed to the training grounds.
Lunchtime.
“Should I take on some simple request too, or will my peers tease me?” he wondered, and decided to inquire about requests at the reception desk two days later, on a day without training.
◇◇◇◇◇
Today, with no training.
I accepted a simple subjugation request and headed to the shallow part of the labyrinth (near the entrance).
A plump, short-bodied rat the size of a child.
The greedy rat (Grat rat).
Proof of subjugation is either its buck teeth or its plump, bushy tail.
For a rat, its movements are sluggish.
Its only attack is with its buck teeth.
It doesn’t attack head-on, always flanking left and right.
It evades and attacks by misjudging the timing of its assault.
It’s troublesome to cut through its bushy fur.
But it’s better than being pierced and thrashed around.
So, I shave off the fur of each individual rat.
Once the skin is exposed, I thrust my blade deep into their bones, piercing their hearts.
“Gyuupp!?”
“Die!”
Two copper coins for one subjugated rat.
It’s pocket money. It contributes to the Guild, so I’ll hunt as many as I can.
It would be more efficient to hunt them if I found their burrows.
I tracked them, looking for footprints and shed fur.
I bumped into another Guild.
“…” “…” “…” “Hello.”
“…The same prey, huh?”
Grat rat hunting.
Guild contributions.
Pocket money.
“The first one to land a hit on an individual is ours!”
After a silent stare-down, we matched our strides and reached the entrance of the Grat rat burrow.
“—HAAAAAAAAAA!”
I lured the Grat rats inside the burrow with a war cry.
“GUOOOON!!”
The Grat rats, protesting the noise, came out.
Along the way, more Guilds had joined the Grat rat hunt without us noticing.
I attacked an unharmed individual, determined not to be outdone in the number of kills.
◇◇◇◇◇
Returning to Guild [Black Sun].
I cashed in the results of my subjugation request at the material exchange window.
“Good work. Here is your payment.”
I headed to the shower hut behind the inn.
After a refreshing shower, I put the acquired reward into the safe in my shared room until dinner.
My roommate wasn’t there. Out flirting or window shopping in town, I presumed.
“There we go.”
To kill time, I silently read a novel.
When the 6 o’clock bell signaling dinner rang, I looked up from my novel.
I inserted a bookmark and headed to the mess hall.
I opened the double doors, hearing the hubbub of people complaining about the day’s spoils and actions.
“BWAAHAHAHAHAHA♪♪? Seriously♪? You got hit on 8 times in one day wearing women’s clothes♪? BYAHHAHAHAHAHA♪♪ Hey, someone give this guy some side dishes♪?”
“You give them♪!”
“That’s right, our side dishes have nothing to do with it♪!”
What are they doing?
The one dressing as a woman is one thing. Ah, surprisingly cute… cough.
Most of the brothels are closed, so they can’t get women, and they’re trying too hard, aren’t they?
Vent your frustrations on monsters. Whoever they are, those idiots who got hit on.
I received my tray at the food distribution window and sat at an empty seat as far away as possible to eat.
*Hubbub♪ Hubbub♪♪*
The topics in the mess hall had become bizarre and foolish, as if trying to outdo the topic of cross-dressing.
If I react unintentionally, I’ll inevitably be drawn into it, asking me to share something too.
I desperately maintained a poker face, savoring my dinner with a reluctant “munch munch,” radiating an aura that said “don’t involve me.”
I finished eating quickly and made a tactical retreat.
“Ooooh, found someone being a killjoy~♪///”
“Weeee~~♪///!”
I was bothered by the ones who brought their own alcohol.
Yerubaru recounted his actions of the day, and was criticized for being “Boooooring…”
“I told you it was a boring story. You have no right to complain to me when you weren’t listening to my story—”
“Ah, got it. We won’t bother you anymore~~ Tch.”
“Aiii, hey~~♪! Let us hear your story next time~~♪///!”
“Eh, M-me? Please spare meeee.”
“D-dameeeeee//////♪♪!”
