?"What do you mean you don''t know where the serpent is?" ude asked.


    "It''s a trap, the real enemy is the snake-like old man."


    "No, no, dear adventurers. That is not the case."


    "Why did you ask for our equipment then? Huh!?"


    ude''s ears perked up at Elric''s words. That made sense. Why did these bastards ask for their equipment in the first ce? That wasn''t normal.


    "It''s totally normal! You''re dressed worse than our farm boys!" The old man snapped back.


    "Oh…"


    ude looked down at his clothes. Well, maybe wearing sandals all the way to the vige was slightly bad.


    "Ok fine. Now exin, why do you not know where the serpent is?"


    "That…" the vige chief slightly lowered his head. "We are sorry for withholding information. We are not sure if it even is a Rammer Serpent."


    Tsk.


    All that book hunting and reading gone to waste.


    "Why?" ude asked, heaving an annoyed sigh.


    The old man hesitated, like a child nervously asking its parents for money to buy some ice cream. It was a disgusting sight. After a bit, he finally spoke up. "The serpent was seen and identified by all the vigers. We tried to confront it, but it was too terrifying…


    "Still, our numbers seemed to have worked as it got scared and… ran away underground."


    "Underground…" Elric repeated his words as he ced a hand on his chin and covered his face. The vige chief seemed to have received an idea of him being quite the intellectual from Elric''s pose and strained eyes. Little did he know the boy was only trying his best to suppress a yawn.


    Right then, the doors of the room rammed open once more.


    "Vige chief!"


    pαndα`noν?1--сoМ Elric and ude turned to their backs and saw a group of other vigers standing at the door. The one at the forefront wiped the sweat on his head and the bits of dark mud as he tried to catch his breath.


    "You people…" The old vige chief''s voice lowered. "I am sorry… I had to tell them everything. These young ones are just kids."


    "Chief…" The people at the door lowered their heads, so did that one guy who had met them at the front that Elric had forgotten the position of.


    "You didn''t tell us jack yet," ude clicked his tongue and said.


    It was clear they had something to be guilty of, and Elric wasn''t going to pass it by. He strode over to the desk of the vige chief and pulled back the chair before slumping down on it. His feet rose, with a bit of effort, and he mmed them on top of the desk. ude seemed impressed for a split second before he grabbed another chair and sat down on it as well.


    "Exin," Elric said, raising his chin. Calling them appalled wouldn''t be the beginning of it, but the people of the vige still held their tongues and tried to exin, the guilt in their eyes still strong.


    Their match wasn''t considerate of that stuff though.


    Before they could begin speaking, Elric snapped his fingers and pointed at one of the people standing at the back. "You, I am parched. Something to drink would go well."


    Exasperation colored the faces of the vigers, but they weren''t going to call the kettle ck now. They soon took to the front of the desk and started exining the situation.


    Elric almost nodded off right as they began, but pinched himself to stay awake and hear whatever they said. Soon enough, the man he had sent away came back with some tea and snacks for everyone in the room, which Elric dived right into.


    "Sho bashically," he said with his mouth stuffed. "Yho din''t hab enough mhoney?"<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    ude pped the back of Elric''s head and thetter gulped down everything in his mouth. "You didn''t have enough money to hire a higher rank adventurer and were nning to use a freebie from the guild? Since if the adventurers die or get injured the guild would send a higher-ranked one for free?"


    The vigers lowered their gaze with guilt.


    "Hmm…" ude hummed, crossing his legs with a hand on his chin.


    "I-it''s a very desperate situation…" the one that had barged in first groaned. He was clenching his fist hard enough to turn them white as the ones behind him patted his shoulders with pitying gazes.


    "You guys can go back and report it to the guild…" the vige chief pitched in. "We''re sorry. We were mistaken, and should face the consequences."


    "Vige chief…"


    "Chief…"


    Elric pursed his lips in annoyance. He turned his gaze to meet ude''s and pumped his eyebrows. ude thought for a few seconds before raising his chin, earning a smirk and a shrug from Elric.


    "Fine," ude said. "We might not seem it, but we''re pretty crazy strong. We''ll handle the snake."


    "W-what!?"


    "You, it''s not something C Ranked adventurers can handle… There''s no need to go out of your way—"


    "Shush it. We said we''ll do it, so we''ll do it."


    The vigers exchanged nces, and then nodded. "Fine," the one at the front said. "It''s toote today, though, so rest for now and go at it tomorrow. Please, don''t do anything reckless."


    ***


    "So, how much do you think they''re hiding?"


    ude pulled the desk from a side of the room and ced it right in front of the door, blocking it shut.


    "A lotaahm…" Elric slumped down on the couch, and yawned as he spoke. His eyes moved to the sides as themps around the room flickered from left to right, tinting the wood around in an orange glow. "It was a simple y on pride. They wanted us to go in, didn''t even look guilty or discuss it at the end there."


    "They did look guilty, didn''t they?" A final check over everything. ude''s eyes swerved over the room as he looked for ces one could barge in from, they were all blocked, including the windows, except one.


    "Being guilty about what ''could'' have happened won''t make you that amodating towards strangers. It was all a ploy, a ruse."


    "Hm," ude walked over to the couch as well and sat across from Elric. "That''s why you pushed their buttons, huh?"


    "No? I just wanted tea."


    For some reason, ude did not doubt that at all.


    "Then, if that was the case. Why bother with the whole higher-ranked adventurer bit? I am also confused about how they know the capabilities of a C-Ranked adventurer in the first ce. I don''t imagine they hire many with the money they have."


    "That bit confuses me too…" Elric''s voice lost strength as he snuggled on the couch, going deeper into its cushion. "Something''s fishy…"


    ude crossed his legs and started thinking again. "Sleep for now," His voice naturally came out. "I''ll take the first wa—"


    "Zzz…"


    "Bastard."