Chapter 12: Debt 12 - An Encounter with the Duke?

Whether Ryan’s party considered it luck or not to stumble upon the S-rank sky dungeon,

it was an undeniable fact that their group had changed because of it.

Mirian and Helen had managed to reach S-Rank.

And even though it was due to the "bug" in Ryan’s character that he was able to level up in the dungeon,

at the very least, he didn’t feel helpless knowing he could fight and defend himself.

But now that they had finally returned to the guild,

they had Sophia trying to charge them compensation for the lost client and for failing the mission.

Even though Sophia offered them a solution, it might not be all that comforting.

"..."

Helen brought her clenched fist down onto the reception counter.

"Are you insane? You’re sending us to fight against the demon king?!"

"Helen, calm down. I didn’t say you would be fighting the demon king; your rank isn’t suitable for that, it would be ridiculous. What I meant is, you need to go to the borders."

Mirian took a deep breath.

Then she interjected.

"If I remember correctly, Ehres Valley is on the border of the demon king’s domain. And that village was destroyed by demons, wasn’t it?"

"That’s right, but it was also rebuilt. The S-class heroes repelled the demons, and for now, they have reconstructed the town," Sophia affirmed as she dropped a map onto the table, pointing out the village’s location to them.

Ryan leaned closer to the map.

"But isn’t it just a matter of time before they attack again?"

"No, the town is packed with adventurers and the town’s survivors. Truth be told, there were no casualties in that attack. The demons only wanted to seal the portal that opened there."

"So they sealed that portal?" Ryan asked.

"Yes, though we in the guild don’t have information on how to seal portals. The point is, you can go without fearing a clash with demons, I think."

"That doesn’t sound very reassuring," Mirian grumbled.

"Fufufu, but you’re forgetting something very important," Helen laughed proudly, placing a hand on her chest.

"You see, Sophia, we are S-rank now."

"What are you talking about? Stop joking around."

"I’m not lying. Use Inspect."

"Fine, I will."

"Inspect."

"..."

"How is this possible! Since when are you S-rank?!" Sophia’s shout alerted the other adventurers in the area, who quickly gathered around them.

The crowd began to murmur among themselves.

"Are they really S-rank?"

"That’s impossible, just a month ago they were barely..."

"That trio of useless losers is S-rank now? Don’t make me laugh," said a man so large he could easily pass for an ogre.

And as he stepped closer, pushing his way through the adventurers,

Helen sent him flying with a single punch, blasting him right through the guild’s front door.

"Is anyone else going to say we’re a trio of useless losers?" Helen directed her gaze to the rest of the adventurers, with fire in her eyes.

They backed away, intimidated.

Mirian approached, placing a hand on Helen’s shoulder.

"Oh Helen, you’re so easy to provoke."

Ryan sighed.

’And they just keep causing trouble.’

Sophia stood watching them for a little while longer,

stunned.

"The inspection doesn’t lie, they really are S-rank..." Sophia squeezed her cheeks hard, trying to snap herself out of it.

Then she added,

"It’s true, you really are S-rank. Though you omitted that from the report... we’ll leave that for after you complete this mission. By the way... I’m adding that door to your debt as well."

...

Sophia told them she would give them the details of the mission at dawn.

So Ryan returned to his home with Helen and Mirian.

In reality, he just followed them, since he wasn’t even aware that they had a house they shared as a party.

Upon entering the house,

the tables were covered in dust, as was the floor.

It was normal, since no one had opened the doors to that place for a month.

"I can’t believe the mission that was supposed to pay us 50k crones ended up charging us half a million crones instead," Helen complained as she drew the shape of a sad face with her finger on the dust-covered table.

"I think it’s just extortion. I mean, we were gone for an entire month, weren’t we?" Ryan replied.

Mirian walked to the center of the room.

"Well, if we finish it, there won’t be a debt anyway."

"Don’t think about that anymore, at least we’re S-rank," Helen said with a smile.

"You just want to solve everything by reminding everyone that you’re S-rank," Ryan grumbled as he walked to the center of the living room and sat on the edge of a piece of wooden furniture.

Then he added,

"You need to learn to control yourselves, in everything. You’re reckless, troublesome, and irresponsible."

"Hmm. Where is this coming from, Ryan? Why are you angry with us?" Mirian asked.

"Yeah, plus you share some of the blame too, right Mirian?"

’Now they’re making me an accomplice?’

"But more importantly, we’re not the only S-ranks. Ryan became incredibly strong; I don’t think there’s a single support member out there with his kind of strength," Mirian commented, quickly shifting the tension in the room.

"True, but how did you do it? Did you dump your points into Strength?"

"Don’t be silly, Helen. Can’t you see his support magic is even stronger now? He used his points properly."

"But even so... that still doesn’t make sense."

"Calm down, it’s due to the attributes of these gauntlets, they’re very useful. Plus, I earned the Wolf Hunter title by beating the boss. Heh, heh."

Helen’s eyes lit up.

"You seriously have that title now? How cool!"

Then Mirian approached Ryan, sizing him up.

"Well, that explains why he became so strong."

’Those things helped, sure, but it’s actually because of the debt system.’

They spent some time talking about their experience in the dungeon, and how pleasant it was to meet the elves, considering they treated them very well despite them being the ones who brought the proud dragon that was tracking their trail.

But afterward they retired to sleep, as the journey had left them exhausted—the kind of mental fatigue that healing magic couldn’t cure.

Ryan fell like a stone onto the bed and didn’t get up until the sun streamed through the window and woke him.

Upon stepping out of the room, Helen and Mirian were eating breakfast.

They invited him to eat, and then they headed over to the guild to speak with Sophia, who would hand over their new mission.

While on their way to the guild, they began to notice how people looked at them with curiosity and then whispered among themselves, though they couldn’t quite make out what they were saying.

But since they were in a hurry, they didn’t pay it much mind and continued on their way to the guild.

Ryan pushed open the guild’s doors.

Sophia was there with five men dressed in typical guard attire.

"What’s going on here so early? What kind of trouble did you get into, Sophia? Haha," Helen commented mockingly.

’How reckless...’

"Actually, they are here for you," Sophia said, approaching Ryan’s party along with the guards.

"What! And why is that? We haven’t done anything!"

"Calm down," the man in the guard uniform said as he stepped forward.

"You are not under arrest, but... I have orders to bring you before the King’s right hand. Duke August Halberg III."