Chapter 267 – Sheep and Wolves

Chapter 267 – Sheep and Wolves

 

There were close to forty seekers gathered, from teens who had barely gotten their profession, to veterans with white beards. Given the short notice, Kai had offered one gold, hoping to get a handful of people interested. The prices of the central district made him misjudge how much the average adventurer earned.

Like Dora always told him, nothing good came from rushing things. In his urgency to leave, they’d waste more time sorting through this mess.

Hmm… You live, you learn.

Several pairs of eyes followed him, taking stock of his newly tailored clothes. Kai headed straight for Rain and Flynn to not give anyone the chance to approach him.

“The post worked!” The siren held his hands on the straps of a waxed leather backpack, an eager grin on his face. “I didn’t think we’d find so many volunteers.” His enchanted bracelet would keep their words private.

“Yeah, it went a little too well.”

“Do you want me to handle it?” Flynn offered—he had been the only one to caution him to lower the reward. “We’re in front of the Hall of Seekers. I doubt anyone will make a scene.”

Kai bit his cheek. “I put my name on the posting. I’ll deal with the initial selection.” While he might not be a social butterfly, he trusted himself to judge people—especially if he used Hallowed Intuition. “Any preference?”

Flynn scratched his neck to sneak a peek at the crowd. “If we pick a team, I’d stick with two people at most. It might become problematic to handle more.”

I should have worded the post more carefully…

Some adventurers were indeed staying close together in groups. The contract posed no limitations on the number of applicants, as long as they knew their way to Limgrell.

“You think they’d be a problem?” Rain had no qualms staring directly at the crowd, even gesturing with a smile. “The Hall will record their names in case something happens. And they look quite weak.”

“If we are willing to pay a gold piece for a guide, they might think we’re worth taking the risk,” Flynn said, keeping up with his nonchalant act for their spectators. “And you actually carry enough mesars to settle a family for ten generations. The fact we’re foreigners doesn’t help. There might not be anyone to come looking for us if something happened.”

“That’s bleak.” Rain tilted his head. “You really thought about this. Guess the surface isn’t much different from the deep.”

“Yeah, I—” The teen stared at his new boots, embarrassed. “I just want to avoid problems. We’ll still need to sleep with them around. I’d rather not watch my back every second.”

“Uh… That’s a good point.”

They briefly discussed a few more red flags to avoid. Kai examined the cluster of people with Mana Observer—no one seemed to react to his skill. There were four adventurers at early yellow: a woman with honey-colored locks, a man with flaming red hair, and a graying couple who looked to be married. A dozen more had only advanced their profession, while almost everyone had their race at the peak of Orange.

They’d be quite the force back home.

While none of them looked particularly impressive by themselves, how easily he had gathered such a crowd still impressed him.

With the siren and Hallowed Intuition on his side, Kai wasn’t particularly worried about getting mugged, though Flynn also had a point. He didn’t want to sleep with one eye open for more than a week—or be left without a guide because they thought themselves clever.

Time’s up.

Seeing the crowd grow restless, Kai walked out of the muffling bubble to address them.

A man with a deep scar carved across his upper lip stepped forward. “Are you really going to pay us a piece of gold?” he grunted. It was hard to say if he was trying to intimidate him or if it was his natural look. His question was echoed by many of the people present.

Spirits, I shouldn’t have asked Rain to suggest a reasonable amount.

“You’ll get paid as stated in the contract,” Kai said, loud enough to be heard by everyone. “If you bring us to Limgrell in less than two weeks.”

At least I wasn’t completely brainless.

The crowd of strangers turned to stare at him. Kai clenched his jaw to not squirm under the uncomfortable amount of attention. “I’m the quest giver. Since we only need one guide, I’ll have to tighten our requirements.” He’d rather sell the arrogant young master looking to make his pick, than the gullible newbie overwhelmed by the situation.

The ginger-haired man shoved his way to the front, using his grade advantage. “Hey, kid! I’m the most experienced—”

A dozen voices rose to drown his words. In seconds, half the people gathered were shouting what made them the better choice. A few adventurers even looked ready to start a fistfight.

This is going to be worse than I thought.

He vainly raised a hand to ask for silence. The crowd continued to squabble, forcing him to expand his aura to dissuade the fools who attempted to touch him.

Guess this already cuts the numbers.

He eliminated the worst offenders from the pool of candidates, focusing on the people who stayed silent. When the ruckus quietened enough to speak, Kai didn’t hide his irritation.

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“We’re in a hurry. If you can’t depart right away, leave. If you’re in a group of more than two people, leave. No!” He raised his voice to silence an objection. “These are not negotiable. If you’ve never been to Limgrell before, leave. We’ll check if you’re telling the truth. If you’ve not brought supplies…”

He quickly listed half a dozen criteria to thin out the group. Since he excluded a few people at a time, the remaining adventurers were eager to speed them along and get rid of the competition.

“You, you, and you also leave.” Kai pointed out to a trio, fully into his young master persona. “I don’t need people who shout like fish merchants.”

An adventurer with a broken nose raised his fist at him. “Who do you think you are!” Only then did he seem to realize the crowd had reduced to less than ten people, none willing to back him up. “Huh… You’ll regret it!” He stomped away, cursing under his breath.

Spirits, grant me patience.

They were free to call him an asshole. He wasn’t here to make friends, and he had no time to spare for the feelings of grown men he’d never meet again.

Seeing a more manageable number of people remaining, some of the tension drained from his shoulders. The worst was over. All the seekers at Yellow were still present, together with several half-step into the grade.

“Thank you all for coming,” he switched to the tone of a job interviewer, feeling incredibly awkward all the while. “Please make a line. We’ll ask you a few questions before making our choice.”

Kai retreated into the muffling bubble with his companions while the candidates figured out their order in a semi-civil manner.

“You did great.” Flynn clapped his back. “I was sure some people would make trouble, but you nailed them with a glare.”

“He’s right.” Rain emphatically nodded. “I can’t believe you’ve never been trained to command. You’re a natural.”

“Uhm… thanks.”

Are they saying this to make me feel better…?

It had turned out okay, though he’d be glad if he never had to do that again. Dealing with a crowd was exhausting.