The Aristocrat's Rescue Party

Now then, about that aristocrat from the other day who got locked in—or rather, locked himself in.

There's been some progress.

… Unfortunately, it hasn't gotten to the point of them killing each other yet. Though things are getting pretty tense since they're running out of food.

The progress wasn't inside the dungeon, but outside of it. A search party has arrived.

Ten of them. I think that's a reasonable number. Or rather, it's an awkward number to comment on.

This self-proclaimed Imperial Guard Knight rescue squad, all wearing matching breastplates, seems to be composed of E-Rank to C-Rank adventurers since they need to dive into the dungeon. The DP looks good… That's about the only good thing I can find about them, though.

Yeah, these guys had absolutely terrible manners.

 

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When they came to the inn, the first thing they did was surround the counter with all ten of them as if trying to intimidate us.

On the other hand, Ichika at the reception desk was grinning carelessly. Like this was nothing at all. She didn't live a life that led to becoming a slave for nothing—she's got guts. If it were me, I might have wet myself.

(According to Ichika, being surrounded by debt collectors is way scarier.)

"Welcome～. Welcome to [Dancing Doll's Pavilion]～."

"We are the Leech family's Third Imperial Guard Knight Order. We shall borrow this inn's rooms, be grateful."

The mere search party captain said this while puffing his chest out arrogantly.

Ichika just let it slide and explained the rates.

"Sure sure, 50 copper per person, meals separate. I guarantee the food's delicious though～?"

"Haah?! 50 copper per person, and meals are extra?! … We are the Leech family's Third Imperial Guard Knight Order!"

"Hmm, so what?"

"Wha—… I said we are the Leech family's Third Imperial Guard Knight Order!"

Is this [Leech Family's Third Imperial Guard Knight Order] really that impressive? Or does saying that name get you a discount somewhere like some kind of coupon?

Well, it has absolutely no effect at an inn run by us otherworlders anyway.

Good thing we made it prepaid. These guys seem like the type who'd underpay and run if it were postpaid.

"The Leech family's Third Imperial Guard Knight Order, huh～. I'll ask about you at the Adventurer Guild branch office right in front of us later～."

"Guh… Fine, food at a cheap inn like this would be terrible anyway! We don't need food!"

"Okie dokie, then that's… one, two, three… ten people. That'll be five silver coins."

Ichika kept them in check by implying she'd tattle to the Adventurer Guild. Good job.

Even if it's for a rescue, they're still adventurers diving into a dungeon, so it's super effective.

Then the search party captain put down four silver coins and 50 copper. How petty.

"That's 50 copper short, yeah? Third Imperial Guard Knight Order of the Leech family～?"

"Tch, Pavera folk really are greedy…"

He bitterly put down another 50 copper… Doesn't lodging count as travel expenses? The Leech family is pretty stingy too.

"Hey woman, come to my room later. I'll have some fun with you."

"Ah, we don't offer that kind of service. If it's between guests, I won't stop you, so go ahead～."

"… You do know we're the Leech family's Third Imperial Guard Knight Order?"

I seriously don't know who that knight order is.

No, I'm glad I had a bad feeling and put Ichika on reception. A newbie couldn't have handled this.

Wait, "between guests"… Ichika-san, what are you saying?

Giving up after Ichika brushed off everything he said, he quietly took five keys for double rooms and the knight order went to their rooms. Finally a break.

Then, after that. When mealtime came.

Even though he said he didn't need food, he came to the dining room at mealtime.

Niku was the one who dealt with him there.

"Oi, give us food. I paid."

No you didn't!

I almost stood up to retort on reflex. I'd happened to come to the dining room to eat as well.

Actually, we have a meal ticket system here. Meals are given in exchange for meal tickets, so there's no way we'd serve food without a ticket.

Same goes if you somehow lose your meal ticket. We explain it properly when you buy a meal ticket at reception, and so far no one's been dumb enough to miss that.

"Do you have a meal ticket? If not, please purchase one at the reception desk."

"You brat! Cheeky for a filthy beastkin!"

The self-proclaimed knight captain snapped at Niku, who had given the template response exactly as the manual instructed.

Filthy? Niku is way cleaner than you lot. She smells sweet and nice when I hug her as a body pillow to sleep.

"Come here, I'll educate you!"

"I refuse."

The self-proclaimed knight captain tried to grab Niku's arm but was easily dodged. Very uncool.

Apparently realizing how pathetic he looked, he tried again to grab her, only to be gracefully dodged again.

Her dodging was so splendid that the other customers who'd come to eat whistled and cheered.

"Guh, you'd defy me even though you're just a beastkin?! Do you know who we are?! The Leech family's Third Imperial Guard Knight Order?!"

"I do not."

Yeah, I don't know either so I couldn't tell Niku. Could they please explain already just how great they are?

"An inn like this, the Leech family could easily crush, you know?"

"Is that so."

I'd told Niku to just ignore whatever they said.

Besides, even if the Leech family could crush the inn, you're just working for them. Why's he acting like it's his own power?

"But well… right, you're reasonably well-groomed, I suppose that'll do. Rejoice, if you offer yourself to me, I won't have this inn crushed."

What are you saying to a little girl, oi. Have you no standards?

"I refuse."

"… So you don't care what happens to this inn then?"

… He's getting on my nerves. The other customers are getting pretty irritated too.

So I stood up as if to shield Niku and spoke to the self-proclaimed knight captain.

"Hey, you. Knock it off."

"Aaah?! Who the hell are you, listen, we are—-"

"This inn's backer is the A-Rank adventurer, [White-Winged Goddess]. If you keep saying such thoughtless things, it might cause quite a bit of trouble for that Leech family, you know?"

He froze for a moment.

"… I-is that true? [White-Winged Goddess] is backing an inn like this?"

"Yeah, she stays here often. It's not a lie, you can ask at the guild right in front of us if you want. It's not a secret so they'll tell you right away… So, you understand it'd be bad to cause problems, right? Will that Leech family protect you if you make an enemy of an A-Rank adventurer?"

The color drained from his face. The title of A-Rank adventurer really is effective.

"Th-thank you for the information… Ahem, I-I just remembered I have some business to attend to, so I'll be going."

And with that, he quickly withdrew.

I returned to my seat while receiving warm but teasing remarks from the customers like "Good job," "You should've helped sooner," and "Aren't you embarrassed relying on the goddess～?" while patting Niku's head.

"Goshujin-sama, thank you very much."

"It's nothing, it was my job to begin with… Hopefully this will make them behave…"

"Hyah, y-yes… that's right."

While I rubbed and petted Niku's dog ears with my fingers, I had a feeling things probably wouldn't work out that way.

 

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… And.

Really, it would have been nice if they'd just behaved themselves, but since the self-proclaimed knight captain holed up in his room right after leaving the dining hall, his subordinates did whatever they pleased.

In particular, they didn't use [Purify] when entering the bath, started swimming around, made noise and bothered others, and scattered food all over the lounge floor after getting out.

In the game room too, they banged on the slots and tried to steal the playing cards. Seriously.

When you're in the hospitality business, you get people like this, I guess. I could barely tolerate that much.

What I couldn't tolerate was when they tried to secretly take the beds home without permission.

Something that big would obviously get noticed.

But they did put some thought into it, I suppose.

They tried to cut the beds in half and divide them up to take home.

Ichika happened to be there cleaning the hallway and stopped them just before they could cut—but these guys, even without their self-proclaimed knight captain, tried to force their way through by saying, "We are the Leech family's Third Imperial Guard Knight Order!"

The self-proclaimed knight captain stopped them with a pale face, but yeah. That's it. They've crossed a line I cannot forgive.

They actually tried to cut up and steal my beds. There's no way I can forgive that, right?

So I decided to welcome them into the dungeon.