Chapter 10: Beastman Adventurer 2
After confirming that the monster had breathed its last, I approached the adventurer who was sitting on the ground.
"Are you okay?"
"Ah, yeah. I'm okay. Thank you for helping me," said the adventurer, out of breath.
Until now, I couldn't tell from afar, but this adventurer... was a girl. Adventurer's appearance, or rather, their equipment varies, but female adventurers tend to be conscious of it and often wear gear that immediately identifies them as women.
However, the girl in front of me didn't seem to care about that at all and was completely dressed like an adventurer. I recognized that she was a girl only after hearing her voice.
Then, I helped her up and we moved to a safe place where we could detect any incoming monsters.
As we moved, we introduced ourselves to each other and I found out that the girl's name was Chloe.
"Hey, why were you alone in such a place? According to the guild, there are no adventurers on request around here," I asked.
"Actually, I wasn't planning on coming here either. My comrades, who I thought were my friends, used me as bait for the monsters and I ended up running away until I got here," Chloe replied.
"Bait? That's the worst thing an adventurer can do according to the code..." I said in surprise at Chloe's words.
"Yeah, I was really shocked when they used me as bait. My friends, who were laughing with me just yesterday, didn't hesitate to sacrifice me to save themselves..." Chloe said, trembling.
I didn't know what to say to Chloe as she spoke.
Afterwards, I decided to take Chloe back to the previous location to defeat the monster on the request form and return to the capital.
"Jin, you're really strong. I thought you were strong when you helped me out and defeated the monster in an instant, but I was convinced after that fight," Chloe said, her eyes sparkling.
"Thank you," I replied, honestly grateful for the compliment.
Afterwards, we returned to the capital and headed straight to the Adventurer's Guild.
"So, she just disappeared on his own accord!"
As I entered the guild, I could see a pair of adventurers arguing at the reception desk in front of us.
The receptionist attending to the adventurers noticed us standing at the entrance and exclaimed, "Chloe-san!" in surprise.
Upon hearing the receptionist's words, the arguing adventurers also turned their attention towards us, and exclaimed in surprise, "Ch-Chloe!?"
"Could it be that they are Chloe's companions?" I thought to myself.
"Yes. The receptionist attending to the argument is from the guild where I am registered as a partner," Chloe replied, confirming my suspicion.
As we made our way to the guild, Chloe and I exchanged a few words. During our conversation, I was surprised to learn that Chloe had used the "partner registration" feature, which was rare in this world, immediately after starting her career as an adventurer, just like me, who had been using it since my early days as a beginner.
"I'm sorry, Jin. They might involve me in their discussion later," Chloe said apologetically.
"It's fine. I've been thinking that would happen since I heard about the situation. Besides, having witnesses would help Chloe, right?" I replied, reassuring her.
With that, we made our way towards the receptionist who had called out Chloe's name.
"Why is Chloe here?" her former companions exclaimed.
"It's a coincidence. What's wrong? Is it so surprising that I'm still alive?" Chloe replied with a smile, looking at her former companions.
After that, Chloe informed the receptionist, who was her partner, about the incident that had occurred that day, and I provided my testimony alongside her.
During this time, her former companions were shouting something.
However, during the discussion, it became clear that the other party had been engaged in problematic behavior from the start, and we were able to gain the upper hand in the discussion thanks to the guild's intervention.
"The other party will have their adventurer's proof revoked, will be prohibited from registering as an adventurer for one year, will have to perform half a year of guild chores, and will have to hand over part of their property to Chloe. Have we recovered what we risked our lives for?"
About three hours had passed since then, and I asked Chloe, who had been restrained and had just finished the discussion.
Chloe looked a little tired and said, "I guess it arrived just in time..."
"Chloe-san, thank you so much for your hard work. And I'm sorry. I put you in danger because of my inadequate investigation."
The guild member who was Chloe's partner bowed her head and apologized, but Chloe said, "It's over now, so it's okay."
"And besides, I was stupid to trust them just because I knew them. So even if Ricola-chan doesn't feel responsible for this, it's okay."
"Chloe-san..."
The woman shed tears at Chloe's words.
Fine and I watched silently as the two of them conversed.
After they had calmed down, I reported to Fine about my request.
"Jin-san, not only did you help people, but you also completed a request normally...?"
"Well, it wasn't a difficult request."
"Let me get this straight, you claim to be weak, but you were able to fight a monster that even a copper-class adventurer would struggle to fight, am I correct?"
Chloe said, looking at me with a bewildered expression.