Symbol of Terror

So, having enjoyed the food stalls, we arrived at the Royal Capital's Adventurer Guild.

The building was more impressive than Tsudon's Adventurer Guild, the one we normally used, and lively enough that the clamor carried all the way outside.

"Yo! I! Have! Arrived!"

When Alto said that and practically kicked the Adventurer Guild's door open, the guild's clamor abruptly died.

Everyone had gone quiet.

…Must be one of those features where it goes quiet so the player can talk more easily.

"Alto-shi, aren't they treating you like some kind of untouchable, yo?"

"Huh? Isn't this just how guilds are, yo?"

Yeah, no, they were just terrified of Alto. I already knew that, though. Yeah.

"No, seriously, what did you do, Alto?"

"I just registered as an adventurer like normal and did quests like normal, yo? Same deal as the food stall area. I didn't stick around long since I left to meet up with Tria, yo."

"And yet you've been seared into everyone's memory as a symbol of terror."

When I gave Alto a few smacks on the back, little shrieks went up from the people around us.

What was with those reactions? Like I just slapped a dragon on the back or something.

"Oh, I just remembered, yo! I punched out a D-Rank adventurer who came at me kinda like that, yo!"

"Ahh. The classic Adventurer Guild staple: the self-proclaimed veteran thug who picks on newcomers."

"Yeah yeah, yo. If I remember right, he ran off saying 'I'm gonna go get my big bro!' Then he got beaten to a pulp by said big bro, came back, and the big bro bowed his head begging 'please let him off,' yo."

"Mm-hm. And then you graciously let it slide."

"Yep yo, I decked his big bro and called it even, yo!"

I see… Nothing wrong with any of that.

What on earth was everyone's problem with Alto?

"Huh? Alto-shi, you punched his big bro, yo?"

"Well yeah, yo? I should've been the one beating the crap out of that thug, but his big bro went and did it first. That's kill-stealing, yo."

"Exactly. Kill-stealing isn't cool."

"No, isn't that just the family settling things internally, yo?"

"And that's exactly why his big bro took responsibility by letting me punch him. Square deal, yo."

"That's right, Penpen. If you could just sweep things under the rug with a soft family punishment, then by that logic, a robbery-murder could be forgiven just because the parents gave them a spanking. At the very least, the person in charge takes responsibility. That's being a functioning adult."

"Hmm, that logic kinda tracks and kinda doesn't…?"

Penpen tilted her head with a puzzled look.

If anything, settling it with just one solid punch to the person in charge was pretty lenient.

"Anyway, let's go report in. This was the royal event thing, right?"

"Oh, right, yo. Hey, Ms. Elf! It's me, yo! Alto, yo!"

"…Alto-sama, welcome back. I'm glad to see you're safe."

Oh, her face twitched for just a split second there before she recovered. A real pro.

"By the way, according to the message from the Tsudon Guild, only Alto-sama was supposed to be heading over after accepting the request."

"Hm, yo? It was a named request for all three of us, so all three of us came. Was that a problem, yo?"

"…I see. No, nothing is wrong at all. Not in the slightest."

The elf receptionist smiled brightly. Hmm. A real veteran.

"In that case, I'll send for the royal client, so if you wouldn't mind waiting in a room? If you have nothing particular to do, you can 'skip' the wait time. Also, I'd recommend freshening up or resting beforehand."

Apparently there were staff shower rooms and such available.

Letting adventurers use them before meeting bigwigs, like in this case, was common practice, too.

"Oh, then let's head to the room and skip until the royal shows up, yo."

"Yeah. I wanna get things moving. As for freshening up, well, might as well. We're meeting royalty, after all."

"True, yo. No reason not to, so let's skip, yo."

"The royal has arrived."

"Oh, that was quick, yo!"

"Sure was!"

"Felt like an instant, yo. Going by the sun's position, it hasn't even been an hour, yo."

Tria-chan had apparently cleaned up during the skip, because I was all freshened up.

Now then, let's have a look at this royal client's esteemed visage, shall we.

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(Congrats on 100 chapters!!!!!!)