She totally made it out like this was the cheaper option, but now we are stuck with it!

“Well, sorry but nobody ever asks right away! Whenever we see an angry adventurer that we recognize we always duck out on a break! It’s not my fault! I don’t set the prices!” The lady behind the counter begins to belt out in defense

Sigh.

Is this a good development or a bad one? I certainly can’t have a card that has my true stats on it, but this one, for all intents and purposes, seems like a pain in the neck as well. It would be nice if I had an ability as convenient as one that could mask my true strength.

“I don’t want to argue any further about this, but I’m not going to keep my mouth shut for free,” I say with a devious look

“What?!” The woman behind the counter yells out

When she does, the people from the other counters look in our direction. Noticing this, she seems to shrink down and becomes more quiet.

“You are going to get in serious trouble if I tell your boss about this, aren’t you? My guess is that the punishment will be even worse, considering I’m a sponsored fighter.” I continue

From what I’ve heard, sponsored fighters are those brought in by various nobles of the country. They must have some amount of status attached to them as well if the nobles aren’t allowed a pinch hitter.

“Listen, I hardly have any money and my boss is the only one who can hand out anything from the guild. If you need something to keep your dirty little mouth shut though I can let you in on something.” She says with an irritated look

She motions with her finger to come in closer to the window. When I do she begins to whisper.

“You are going to need to get a singles registration card before the tournament if you want to participate. It’s how they are going to identify and confirm that you are a real fighter. Seeing as you don’t have the money to make our little mistake disappear I might have something to help with that. There is a quest that we are deliberating about putting on the board. It’s so dangerous that the only people who could stand a chance are tournament fighters and mages. Since it’s not likely a mage will pick up the quest, we don’t want to put it up there and risk injuring one of the tournament fighters. Though… if someone were to happen by this quest and complete it by accident, then we wouldn’t need to put it up and that person would be compensated well enough to, say, cover registration fees.” She explains while looking around occasionally to make sure that no one is listening

“Perfect, tell me what it is,” I say with the same devious smile

I was hoping that she would give me some kind of discount or privilege a newbie shouldn’t receive, but this serves the same purpose. Now she is keeping two things secret from the guild, and keeping her own hide safe is a good motivation not to rat out how weird my circumstances are. I’m still not going to have much of a chance to keep her quiet if she see’s my real stats so I desperately need to find a solution.

“There is an Orc in the northern forest causing a bit of a ruckus, you see. The guild had been asked to do something about it. If you take care of it, then I’m sure we can work something out.” She says in a low whisper

“Consider it done. Let’s go, Kiel, I want to take care of this before it becomes dark.” I say as I turn to leave

“Ah! Don’t forget this! Like it or not, that card is your guild membership for now. If you lose it you won’t be able to disband it or get a new one.” The guild lady says as she reaches through the bars to hand us our card

“Thanks,” I say simply as I take the card from her hand and begin to leave again

This card has become a whole new source of irritation.

“Huh?!” I let out in audible surprise as I decide to look at the card

Party leader: Mano

Party size: 2

ATK:999999

DEF:999999

MAG:999999

SPD:999999

DEX:999999

These numbers… can’t possibly be right. Did the card actually break? I suppose that is even better for me. If the numbers are in such an obviously broken state then she won’t even bother remembering the values. What is that “MAG” stat though? It seems to be in place of Intelligence and Wisdom, so is it perhaps a “Magic” stat?

MURMUR MURMUR MURMUR

While I am still deep in thought about my new card, the level of background noise suddenly becomes higher. Everybody seems to be talking excitedly all at once. When I look around I notice that a large group of people have clumped together near the entrance.

“I wonder what that’s about,” Kiel says with a curious look as he moves his head around to try to see past the crowd

“We still have time, might as well enjoy a little sideshow that we aren’t a part of, for once,” I say with the same curiosity

“Shall we then?” Kiel says as he dashes ahead to see what it is before the crowd grows larger

I try to keep up with him, but inevitably the crowding people block my path. As I get closer to whatever people are crowding around, we become further and further apart until finally, I can’t see him anymore. Eventually, I reach an impassable wall of people.

Sigh.

I suppose it’s a matter of course, that you need to be quick on your feet for something like this.

“Hey, what are you doing? You’re going to want to see this.” I hear Kiel’s voice say out of nowhere

Before I have time to identify the source, a hand grabs my arm and begins to pull me. It feels like a surreal flash as the hand dexterously pulls me through the crowd of people while hardly nudging a single person. When we emerge on the other side, I notice that the hand attached to my arm was Kiel’s. I stare in disbelief for a moment as my head tries to organize what just happened.

“What are you looking at me for! Look!” He says when he notices and points towards the center of the crowd

…Dang it.

“Look! It’s the Masked Lightning!”

“I thought people were calling him the Kind Bandit?”

“That’s the mysterious guy that’s been zipping through the town?”

“Who is that girl with him?” I hear the constant murmurs say

Of course, they would draw a crowd.

Gero and Mana are standing in the middle of the crowd holding hands.

“Please let me through.” Gero is politely asking people

His requests fall on deaf ears, however. None of the people standing in front of him are even able to hear his words past the questions and murmuring of those around them.

I bet the Yuusha gets to relax occasionally…