A Bottom-Tier Adventurer Devoted to Supporting Their Idol Activities: Every Time, They Offer Rare Materials and Stir Up the Elites - Episode 28: A Baptism from the Underground Guild Members

Episode 28: A Baptism from the Underground Guild Members

I had returned to the royal capital ahead of the others from the frontier. I was slipping through the shadows of the slums under the cover of night.

Avoiding even the moonlight, I moved from building to building. I stayed hidden in the dark.

Eventually, I arrived at the basement of an old brick building. No signs marked the door. I opened it.

The same acrid smell hit my nose as always.

In the dim lighting, a wrinkled old woman was at her usual spot. She was tinkering with suspicious liquids on a lab table.

When she noticed me, she curled her lips into a smirk.

“Back already from the frontier? That was fast.”

Damn it…!! She watched the subjugation broadcast…!!

“What are you talking about? I’ve been in the capital the whole time.”

“Don’t lie to me! I’ve known you since you were a little brat, Roger!! A mask isn’t going to fool me…!!”

The old apothecary snapped at me. I couldn’t say a word back.

“…Yeah. I went to peek at Ellel-chan’s battle, got too excited, got spotted by the enemy, and ended up exposing myself fighting on a national broadcast. That was me…”

“Good boy, being honest.”

With a proud snort, she pulled a mysterious vial out of the drawer beside the lab table.

“What’s that?”

“Exactly what Roger wants. You want to change your hair color, don’t you?”

She nailed it so perfectly that my shoulders slumped. I felt like a ridiculously simple man.

“How’d you know?”

“I can see right through your thoughts. Just apply this to your hair and wait an hour—it’ll turn jet black. No one who doesn’t know your past will suspect you’re the gray-haired masked man.”

“That’s good enough. I won’t show my face at the guild anymore. And I’m not going back to the inn. I’ll just live underground in the slums.”

The old woman raised both hands and muttered, “Hopeless boy.”

She added, “Is it really that bad to be noticed?”

“How much?”

I took the hair dye and asked the price.

“It’s free.”

“Why?”

“Because that Demon King’s hand you gave me the other day brought in a fortune.”

She showed both of her hands to me. It looked like the number of jeweled rings had increased since before.

“I don’t remember ever calling it the Demon King’s hand.”

“Roger, you underestimate the people of the underground. Everyone down here knows exactly what you’re up to. So it’s okay to rely on others a bit more.”

She looked directly at me.

“Suddenly saying something like that… What am I supposed to do with that?”

“Hehehe, you really are a cute one.”

She giggled and resumed her shady experiments.

I sat down on a stool by the table and began applying the dye to my hair.

I carefully massaged it in and waited in silence.

During that time, the old woman worked in complete silence. She was focused and serious. She was repeating experiments I couldn’t even begin to understand.

#

A young woman with light blue hair, a lovely face, and ample curves came out of the Adventurers’ Guild looking dejected.

She had come to ask about a certain man. But the guild staff were too busy with post-subjugation work and wouldn’t deal with her at all.

“Hey, isn’t that Ellel from the White Orchid Magic Corps?”

Two men headed toward the guild muttered as they passed her.

Hearing her name, Ellel straightened her back and gave a polite bow.

Since she was recognized as a member of the White Orchid, she had to maintain at least some courtesy.

The two adventurers misunderstood her courtesy and approached her, excited.

“That subjugation broadcast was awesome! That spell—[Absorb], right? Amazing magic!”

“Yeah, I saw it too! What was up with that lightning mage guy, anyway?”

The flood of praise and questions made Ellel falter.

In a small voice, she gave safe, neutral answers.

“If you ever need help with anything, Ellel-chan, you can count on us anytime!”

“Yeah! We’re up-and-coming adventurers, you know!”

After thinking a moment, Ellel asked a question.

“Um… Do you know an adventurer with gray hair?”

The two tilted their heads.

“Gray hair? Never seen one like that.”

“I know an old man adventurer with white hair, though.”

“I see…”

Ellel’s eyes dimmed. And she looked down as she began walking.

“Hey, Ellel-chan! Want to grab a meal with us later?”

“Yeah, who knows? Maybe we’ll remember something about that gray-haired adventurer!”

“Sorry. I have something to do.”

Still looking down, Ellel walked away.

“Tch. Cold, huh?”

“Forget her. Just a brat anyway.”

As their jeers followed her, Ellel’s shoulders slumped.

Was it fatigue from the expedition? Or maybe just hunger?

She staggered as she walked, her steps unsteady.

“Hey, young lady. You alright?”

A man from a street food stall on the main street called out with concern.

As he grilled meat on a pan, he leaned over to look at her face.

“Ah, yes… I’m fine…”

“Want something to eat? Today’s meat is good stuff.”

The stall owner handed her a meat sandwich—juicy meat drenched in sauce. It was glistening in the light.

“Is it okay?”

“Of course! You protect this kingdom. I’m grateful to you.”

Ellel took the meat sandwich, hesitated for a moment, then gently bit into it.

“…Delicious.”

“Right? Got this through a special supplier. The guy’s an oddball adventurer who doesn’t even sell to the guild.”

While Ellel ate, the shopkeeper kept talking.

“There’s an adventurer like that?”

“Yeah. A gloomy guy with gray hair. But he’s supposedly top-tier.”

“Huh? What did you just say?”

Ellel stopped eating and perked up.

The shopkeeper smirked slightly and continued.

“Gray-haired gloomy guy. Goes by the name Roger.”

“Where is Roger-san now!?”

“Hmm… That guy’s been laying low lately. Even I don’t know where he is. But I can introduce someone who might know.”

With her eyes shining again, Ellel shouted,

“Please! Please introduce me!”

Thus, Ellel received a meat sandwich—and a map to an apothecary in the slums—from the food stall owner.