I, reincarnate as the leader of the villainous knight order

Chapter 83: Adventurers Guild

“Summon the Guild Master.”

As soon as I entered the Adventurers Guild, I called out, causing the guild to fall into silence.

“Y-Yes! Please wait a moment!”

After a few seconds, a guild staff member hurried into a back room. The guild quickly regained its buzz. Well, even though the overall reputation of the Third Knight Order had improved to some extent, my personal reputation wouldn’t change so suddenly.

“Hey, isn’t that the captain of the Third Knight Order?”

“You don’t think they’re trying to force us to help them, do you?”

“No joke. Facing a horde of monsters like that, you’d never have enough lives.”

If adventurers living in the forested territories were here, they would have rushed out of the guild as if prey had arrived. It was almost laughable how low the quality of adventurers in the capital city was. The adventurers noticed this and became frightened, but their attention was drawn to the Guild Master who emerged from the back room.

“Well, well, if it isn’t Commander Vandière. What business brings you to this humble place?”

An elderly man, a former adventurer, spoke across the counter with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

“If I’ve come, it’s for one thing: to have the monsters dismantled and their materials bought. Since all the monsters have been dispatched by the knight order alone, there are plenty to bring in… Even if they don’t contribute to the fight, they can at least do that much, right? And if there are any rascals bringing in monsters they didn’t slay, I’ll make sure they receive the same injuries as the ones they brought in, so they better report honestly.”

At my words, the adventurers who had been about to sneak out of the guild stopped in their tracks. They probably intended to go pick up the monsters the knights had defeated.

“Well, even if you say that, without self-reporting, there’s no way to confirm who killed the monsters and when. If someone lies, there’s nothing we can do.”

The Guild Master shrugged apologetically. But I just laughed at his attitude.

“Hmph. Are the guild staff here so incompetent that they can’t confirm when and by whom the monsters were defeated just by seeing and touching them?”

“W-Well…”

“Besides, the knight order keeps a record of the number of monsters they’ve defeated. I suggest you advise the adventurers not to be foolish.”

As I stared down the Guild Master, the adventurers and guild staff in the guild watched in silence. At that moment, the door at the guild entrance opened.

“Justin, are you done yet?”

Peeking in with just his face was Jest. It seemed he had been waiting with Eleanor, but seeing that I didn’t come out immediately, he came to check on me.

“No, I’ve finished what I came for, so I’ll be right out.”

“Got it! Then I’ll wait with Eleanor, so hurry up!”

“Yeah.”

With Jest’s head retreating and the door closing, the adventurers and guild staff began whispering. The topic that faintly reached my ears was about my smile. It was inevitable to smile reflexively when you saw Jest; pretending not to hear, I continued the conversation.

“Well then, I’ve requested the dismantling of the monsters brought in by the knights.”

“Y-Yes… Ah, understood!”

The Guild Master, who had been absentmindedly nodding, snapped back to attention midway through. It seemed like he had reflexively responded, but for now, I had managed to get a verbal agreement. As I stepped outside, Jest was talking to Eleanor.

“After this, we’re going to the slums in the poor district. Can you hold on a little longer?”

“Jest, sorry to keep you waiting. Were you talking to Eleanor?”

“Yeah! She prefer being with us over staying in the stable, so she can hold on a little longer!”

“Is that so? Thanks, Eleanor. But still, Jest really understands Eleanor’s feelings, huh?”

“Yeah! Hehe, Justin is amazing after all. Ernest asked too, but it seems like Justin already knew.”

I ruffled Jest’s head, who looked up at me with sparkling eyes. I almost laughed at Jest calling Ernest by his name without honorifics, but then again, would a dragon like Jest use honorifics when addressing humans? Besides, when it’s just Jest and me, I also call him Ernest.

“Well… you’ve been talking a lot before, and Eleanor seemed to listen to Jest’s words well. Now, let’s go check on the safety of the slums in the poor district. We don’t have to rush anymore, so I’ll let you ride in front.”

“Yay!”

I mounted Eleanor first, then picked up Jest, who was bouncing around eagerly, and placed him in front of me. It seemed like the Second Knight Order had already checked the commoner districts, but they probably hadn’t checked for injured people in the slums.

The Grand Temple and the slums were on the opposite side of the capital city, but they weren’t too far from the guild. Jest might be surprised since he had only seen the clean streets of the capital city so far, but I couldn’t just show him the beautiful places.

Unlike the Adventurers Guild located just off the main street, the further you went from the main street into the slums, the worse the buildings and security became. When I had just become a squire, my family had come to the capital city, and out of curiosity, we had ventured into the slums. Back then, it was like a lawless wasteland, but now it wasn’t too dangerous during the day.

“There are many broken houses around here. I wonder if nobody lives in them? But I can sense something… maybe they were destroyed by monsters.”

Jest tilted his head in wonder.

“Many houses around here are fragile. But even if they break, many of the people here don’t have the money to repair them. Most of them come from the countryside seeking work, but they can’t read or write, so they can’t get decent jobs.”

As I explained to Jest, a stone suddenly flew towards my face. I caught it with one hand, and with slow applause, a one-eyed young man appeared.

“As expected, you’re quick. It’s been a while, Boss. You haven’t shown up for so long, I thought you forgot about us.”

“You’re the boss, aren’t you? The Third Knight Order can handle the organizing just fine. Let’s exchange information about this incident.”

The young man who called me “Boss” with a cynical smile was the one who currently controlled this slum.