After the Emerald Princess left, Kei and his group arrived at the Sabertooth Guild and went inside, finding the receptionist at the front desk.
"Hello, I'd like to ask if you have two Dragon Slayer Wizards here?" Kei asked.
"You must be talking about Sting and Rogue, right? They're currently out on a mission. If you want to issue a request, you can leave it here, and I'll pass it on to them when they return."
The receptionist assumed Kei and his group were looking to assign a special request, specifically seeking out famous wizards to complete the task. This wasn't uncommon.
This kind of practice even led to various methods to promote the guild's strong wizards.
"I can leave a deposit first. When they come back, please notify me. I'm staying at the XX Inn."
Kei took out some money and paid a small mission deposit before continuing.
"Understood. Once they return, I'll inform you. You can explain the mission details then."
"But I must tell you in advance, hiring specific individuals for a mission will be more expensive than regular ones."
The receptionist accepted the money, recorded the details in a notebook, and then handed Kei a blank task form, keeping a record for herself.
"Got it."
Kei put the task form away in his pocket and then left the Sabertooth Guild with Wendy and the others.
Outside—
"I heard Sabertooth Guild's reputation is pretty bad, but from what I've seen, they seem decent. The receptionist was quite polite." Juvia remarked.
She had always heard that Sabertooth members were incredibly arrogant and overbearing. If they accepted a task, they wouldn't allow anyone else to take it.
If someone tried to compete for the same mission, they would ruthlessly cripple their opponents.
"You can't compare guild members with receptionists. The receptionists' job is to greet people; they have to maintain a pleasant demeanor."
"But guild members go on missions. They speak with their fists."
Kei explained briefly to Juvia and then said, "Alright, since we have nothing else to do for now, let's explore the Royal City."
"Yay!"
"Charle, I'll take you to eat some delicious desserts!"
The moment they heard the word 'explore,' Wendy and the others were instantly excited. They immediately followed the pre-planned route and began their tour around the Royal City.
…
Meanwhile, in the world of Konosuba.
"Miss Aqua, I'll say it again. The quest you want to issue is something we simply cannot accept. Please give up on it!"
Luna glared at the blue-haired idiot in front of her, her smile practically radiating murderous intent. If she weren't a receptionist, she would have already drawn her blade and dealt with this fool.
"Eh! Why?! I clearly have a reward and a mission! Why won't you accept my request? Are you looking down on me, a goddess?!"
Aqua felt it was incredibly unreasonable. Why could other people's quests be accepted but not hers?
Wasn't this discrimination against poor adventurers?
"Miss Aqua, I'll say it one more time! Defeating the Demon King is not something we, Axel's beginner city, can handle!"
"And you're offering a rusty iron sword as the quest reward. That's completely unreasonable!"
Luna was about to lose it. Why were the adventurers here such fools? She really wanted to apply for a transfer away from this city full of idiots.
"Oh, is that so?"
Aqua put away the second-hand iron sword she got from Satou and, in an arrogant tone, declared:
"Fine then, I'll change the reward to my divine favor! Whoever defeats the Demon King will earn the blessing of this goddess!"
"Miss Aqua, that's still impossible. Please stop trying! I'm about to finish my shift!"
"No, no! I insist on issuing this quest!"
"Boom!"
Satou suddenly struck Aqua hard from behind, grabbed her by the collar, and dragged her away while apologizing:
"Sorry, Miss Luna. Our idiot has been causing you trouble. We're really sorry!"
"It's fine, just please take Miss Aqua away! I really need to get off work and eat dinner!"
Luna sighed in relief when she saw Satou. Although he was unreliable, he was still much easier to deal with than that useless goddess!
"Seriously, stop making weird requests! And give me my weapon back!"
"But Kazuma, don't you want to go home? If we defeat the Demon King, we can go back!"
Satou ignored the struggling Aqua and forcefully dragged her away.
After all that ruckus, the two of them went to the construction site outside the city. Today, their job was to repair the pits outside.
"I really don't know who keeps blasting so many holes out here! With strength like that, why not use it for proper quests?"
"What's the point of making craters outside the city every day? How bored do you have to be?"
Satou grumbled as he worked.
"Hey, Kazuko, what's that red patch of grass over there? I have a bad feeling about it."
It was Aqua's first time at this place, and she noticed a patch of blood-red ground in the distance, where the grass was all crimson.
"Over there… I heard the boss say that's where the Sword Saint once battled a dragon and severed its head."
"The legend says that the blood of the Red Dragon stained the land red, and its vengeful soul is forever imprisoned there."
"Anyone who enters that blood-red forbidden area will be cursed by the dragon's soul!"
Kazuko suddenly turned around to try and scare Aqua, but then he saw her pointing straight at the area.
"So that's the cursed dragon soul? And who's that person holding a sword? His whole body is glowing so brightly it's making me dizzy."
Aqua tilted her head, her face full of confusion.
"Aqua, you… don't joke around like that! Alright, let's get going. The boss is waiting for us to deliver the soil!"
Kazuko suddenly felt a chill down his spine. When he looked at the blood-red area, it was as if something was truly watching him.
He thought to himself: Aqua is a goddess, not an ordinary person. Maybe she really can see things others can't!
Realizing this, he immediately dragged Aqua away! He was terrified that if they stayed any longer, they would be devoured by the cursed dragon soul!
Aqua was confused. Although she saw something strange, she didn't feel the presence of any undead.
What she saw didn't seem like an undead creature. Was it possible it was really a ghost?!
[Azure-Wisdom Goddess: "I think I just saw a ghost. But it wasn't the creepy type; it was more like a blindingly radiant one."]
[Diligent Slacker: "Oh? Undead that can glow? Never seen that before."]
Kei thought about it for a moment. Oh, there actually were glowing undead—those he slayed and sent to the afterlife would glow.
(End of Chapter)
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