IGTL Chapter 48

Chapter 48 – Payback Comes Double by Default, Right? (2)

A beam shot into the head of Antlion Neo, the boss monster of Desert Cradle, and just like that, Antlion Neo sank back into the ground.

“Ah!? Crap, I hadn’t even used ‘Rare Drop Rate +500%’ yet…”

I had completely forgotten.

Still, Yuuki and the others were fully passed out cold.

Well, it should have been fine.

For now, I pulled out “Rare Drop Rate +500%” from Item Storage and used it, then grabbed the feet of the gloriously unconscious Yuuki and his crew and dragged them over in front of the Transfer Gate “Yggdrasil.”

Right now, only one Salamander (Fire Elemental) is handling Antlion Neo.

No matter how strong Elementals were, even one of them should have had a rough time taking on an advanced-dungeon boss monster by itself.

I had already lumped Yuuki’s group together, so leaving one Elemental behind to watch over them should have been enough.

“Sylph and Undine, go back up Salamander. Gnome, guard me.”

The Elementals flashed brightly, then all but Gnome headed toward Antlion Neo.

Good. That should have done it…

With three Elementals on the job, there should have been no problem.

The only issue left was…

I turned my eyes toward the still-unconscious Yuuki and the others.

I could have just left these idiots here and gone home, but having them die would have left a bad taste in my dreams. Besides, I was worried about what the “Transfer Group” would do next.

So what should I do…?

I could have made them wear cursed equipment like Kyle and AAAA, but if they used that to power up in some weird way, that would have been a pain too.

As the Elementals continued beating up Antlion Neo, I stood there going, “Mmm…” and thinking it over, until a brilliant idea hit me.

Right. I should assign them guards.

I selected “Elemental Acquisition Ticket” from Item Storage, confirmed how many I wanted to use, and tapped “Use Item.”

Then three Elementals appeared in front of me.

The three that appeared were Volt, the Spirit of Lightning, Celsius, the Spirit of Ice, and Harmonium, the Spirit of Sound.

Since I had only just obtained them, they were still small and weak-looking.

It was basically just three softly floating balls of pale light, yellow, aqua, and rainbow-colored.

“Ooh, lightning, ice, and sound spirits, huh.”

Elemental Acquisition Ticket.

A paid item used to obtain spirits of the various elements who supported the player.

Apparently there were no duplicates.

To strengthen the Elementals I’d just acquired, I selected the maximum number of “Elemental Enhancement Tickets” in Item Storage, then tapped “Use Item.”

The soft balls of light immediately took on much clearer colors.

After circling me once, the three orbs stopped around shoulder level.

“All right then, Volt, Celsius, Harmonium, I want you guys to keep watch over these idiots. If they say anything that puts me at a disadvantage or try to harm me, give them a light punishment. But don’t kill them, okay? That’d make for bad dreams.”

The moment I spoke to the newly acquired Elementals like that, they flashed brightly and perched on Yuuki and the others’ shoulders.

“Oh, and one more thing. You don’t have to protect them, so Volt, Celsius, and Harmonium, all I need from you is surveillance and punishment. Keep watch on them for one month, and if you decide they’re fine, come back to me. When you do, I’ll treat you to Peroperosaurus TKG at the Adventurers’ Guild tavern.”

At my words, the Elementals suddenly became very lively.

As expected of Elementals. They could never resist Peroperosaurus TKG (rice with raw egg).

When they returned after finishing their mission, I’d prepare enough TKG that they wouldn’t be able to eat it all.

“All right then, I’m counting on you to watch them.”

Now I’d be able to keep track of Yuuki and the rest of the “Transfer Group” indirectly.

And after that…

I looked down at the feet of the Elementals, who were currently beating the hell out of Antlion Neo, the boss monster of Desert Cradle.

“After that, I just have to collect the drop items before those idiots wake up, huh…”

As expected of an advanced-dungeon boss monster, the drops lying around were pretty amazing.

There was an Elixir, Advanced Recovery Potions, a limited-use Move Yggdrasil, plus Antlion Carapace and even an Antlion Heart for weapon enhancement.

While the Elementals continued joyfully brutalizing Antlion Neo, I started collecting the drop items by myself.

“I-I’m beat…”

As expected of a desert dungeon.

The sand kept grabbing at my feet.

And on top of that, all the antlion pits left behind by the Antlions were still there.

Back in the game, they disappeared on their own. Real life really was real life.

I had no idea how many times I got caught in those pits while collecting the drops.

That said, I was done collecting everything.

All that remained was to leave the “Transfer Group” idiots behind and go home.

I’d already killed most of the monsters around here, and they probably wouldn’t respawn for a while.

“Volt, Celsius, Harmonium. I’m leaving these guys to you.”

Leaving behind Volt, the Spirit of Lightning, Celsius, the Spirit of Ice, and Harmonium, the Spirit of Sound, the three new Elementals I had obtained with “Elemental Acquisition Ticket,” I waved at them, then passed through the Transfer Gate “Yggdrasil” with the other Elementals and returned to the royal capital.

When I got back to the royal capital, I spotted the receptionist frantically searching around for someone.

On reflex, I hid behind the Transfer Gate, but she found me anyway.

“Y-You! There you are! I finally found you. You there, Mob-Fenrir. Stop right there!”

“Oh crap…”

For a second, I thought about making a run for it, then reconsidered.

When I thought about it calmly, there was absolutely no need for me to run.

Because I had absolutely nothing to feel guilty about.

“Hah… hah… hah… hah… I’ve been looking for you. I’m not letting you get away this time…”

The look in the receptionist’s eyes as she wiped away sweat and caught her breath was kind of terrifying.

Back at the Adventurers’ Guild, she had been as meek as a borrowed cat, but apparently that had only been a temporary form.

Still, I had absolutely nothing to feel guilty about.

So I put on a completely innocent face and played dumb with everything I had.

“…Why were you in such a hurry? The Adventurers’ Guild was still open, right?”

Maybe my attitude got under her skin, because wrinkles formed between her brows, and a vein popped on her forehead.

“W-What mouth did you use to say that…? Who do you think made me go through all this!?”

“Hmmm. No idea. Who was it that made you this furious, Miss Receptionist??”

Of course, every word of it was delivered in a deadpan monotone.

I definitely wasn’t provoking her.

I’d say it as many times as it took, but I had absolutely nothing to feel guilty about.

Which meant there had to be some other reason she was so furious. Yes, definitely some other reason.

“Y-You…!”

Right in front of me, the receptionist clenched her fists and trembled.

Yikes.

This was getting scary.

She looked like she might actually swing at me if I said one wrong thing.

“Um, if you don’t need anything, can I go now? I’m kind of in the mood to enjoy a nice solo afternoon tea.”

The moment I said that casually, the receptionist swung at me.

I dodged, and she glared at me like I was her sworn enemy.

“Why did you dodge!?”

Come on now, don’t ask the impossible.

Because it’d hurt, obviously.

Well, maybe it wouldn’t have hurt, since I was over level 150, but better safe than sorry, so I dodged anyway.

“Because if I got punched, it would hurt, obviously. So what was that about? Why’d you suddenly take a swing at me??”

The moment I asked that, the receptionist’s face went blank.

That was terrifying.

W-What kind of expression was that…?

I had no idea how I was supposed to deal with a receptionist who suddenly erased all emotion from her face.

Then, all of a sudden, she grabbed my tail.

“Huh? What were you grabbing my tail for…?”

Then she yanked on it as hard as she could and, without a word, tried to drag me off somewhere.

But maybe because of the massive stat difference between us, she couldn’t move me at all.

I only weighed fifty kilos. It’s not like I was heavy.

I’ll say it again. It’s not like I was heavy.

So I just stood there and watched, and eventually the receptionist’s face turned bright red and she collapsed to the ground.

Apparently she had finally realized dragging me anywhere was impossible.

Just as I sighed, thinking she’d finally given up, the receptionist started muttering a curse toward the ground.

“I’m gonna kill Mob-Fenrir. I’m gonna kill Mob-Fenrir. I’m gonna kill Mob-Fenrir. I’m gonna kill Mob-Fenrir. I’m gonna kill Mob-Fenrir. I’m gonna kill Mob-Fenrir. I’m gonna kill Mob-Fenrir. I’m gonna kill Mob-Fenrir. I’m gonna kill Mob-Fenrir. I’m gonna kill Mob-Fenrir. I’m gonna kill Mob-Fenrir. I’m gonna kill Mob-Fenrir. I’m gonna kill Mob-Fenrir. I’m gonna kill Mob-Fenrir. I’m gonna kill Mob-Fenrir. I’m gonna kill Mob-Fenrir. I’m gonna kill Mob-Fenrir. I’m gonna kill Mob-Fenrir. I’m gonna kill Mob-Fenrir. I’m gonna kill Mob-Fenrir. I’m gonna kill Mob-Fenrir. I’m gonna kill Mob-Fenrir. I’m gonna kill Mob-Fenrir. I’m gonna kill Mob-Fenrir. I’m gonna kill Mob-Fenrir. I’m gonna kill Mob-Fenrir. I’m gonna kill Mob-Fenrir. I’m gonna kill Mob-Fenrir. I’m gonna kill Mob-Fenrir. I’m gonna kill Mob-Fenrir. I’m gonna kill Mob-Fenrir. I’m gonna kill Mob-Fenrir.”

S-Scary…

This was a kind of fear I had never felt before.

Even the Elementals were hiding behind my back and refusing to come out in front of the receptionist’s bizarre aura.

This was…

No good.

I couldn’t see any way to solve this.

So there had been a monster like this working the reception desk at the Adventurers’ Guild…

I didn’t feel like even the Elementals could defeat her.

More than that… even if they did beat her, it felt like I’d get cursed.

The receptionist’s curse.

Saying this while she was literally muttering curses at the ground felt a little on the nose, but if I got hit by her curse here, I felt like I’d be mistreated by the Adventurers’ Guild for the rest of my life.

Well, that part I could live with, but getting cursed was terrifying.

And yeah, I knew I was the guy who made Kyle and AAAA carry cursed gear, but still, this was terrifying.

“Haaah…”

I let out a sigh and lightly placed a hand on the receptionist’s shoulder.

“You win…”

“…I’ll sue you for sexual harassment, you bastard.”

I had absolutely nothing to say to that.

Who knew the concept of sexual harassment existed in a game world…?

And all I did was put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her…

Suddenly cornered, I pulled my hand off the receptionist’s shoulder and looked up at the sky.