"Mighty in splendor, graceful in righteousness. His powerful hand stretches outward as he saves those in need from distress..."
...Blah! Blah! Blah!
Asa, Gu, and Liebert continued by singing praises to my name.
They even started reciting whatever stories they were told about 'The Hero' from their upbringing.
Their voices overlapped, and the praises were too much that they burned my heart.
'Cringe! Too cringe!!!'
If I wasn't too careful, these Adventurers would waste my time and I would not be able to obtain the items by the time they were done.
'I have no choice. I have to bring up the topic!'
"I know why the three of you are here." My voice calmly interrupted their chants of praises, or whatever.
"A-ah...?!"
"As expected of the Hero!"
"A-awesome..."
As expected, their eyes glimmered in more reverence.
However, this feeling soon died out, and a heavy atmosphere took over the room. The Adventurers who addressed me with great energy and splendor suddenly had dull faces.
'Ah, here comes the terrible news. They're about to give me their sob story.' I nearly rolled my eyes.
Asa seemed to be the Party Leader, so the other two were dead silent—waiting for her to spill the beans, no doubt.
I waited to hear whatever tall tale they would tell me. I knew I needed to exercise patience, but if it was one random excuse, then—
"I-I shouldn't be surprised that you know already... the trouble that has befallen Dulum..." Asa began, now breaking down.
Her body suddenly quivered with what appeared to be sorrow, and tears formed in her eyes.
'Oh? Her acting is good.'
I didn't expect her to be in on the corruption of the Adventurers City. Weren't people like Asa pure and kind?
'I'm disappointed, young lady...'
To think she too would stand in my way of obtaining what was rightfully mine.
"Everything happened so suddenly, but Vice Guildmaster Zabdel said you must have already seen it coming..."
I knew it! Zabdel was the mastermind behind this whole thing.
'I really didn't expect him to be a sly fox, but I guess you can't trust people.'
The only issue now was how to handle the situation.
The way Asa was sniffing, and the whole narrative they had would probably put me in a tight spot—especially since I was the Hero.
'But I can't forget my weapons, can I? Damn, this is hard...' My eyes went back to Asa.
She was still sobbing, and the other two were comforting her.
As I watched them pat her back, I felt the hypocrisy from where I stood. They were all trying to gain my sympathy, weren't they?
'Bunch of sycophants!'
"W-we need your help, Legendary Dragon Slayer... I mean, Hero. Please, help us!"
'How shameless! Not only would they deprive me of my stuff, but they now sought my aid?'
Things were already spinning out of control. Evidence of that was Asa already calling me 'Hero'. They were obviously trying to take advantage of me.
[System Response]
<These Three Are In Character List!>
<They Do Not Mean Any Harm!>
<They Are Not Enemies!>
'A-ah... I nearly forgot about that.'
"... But, they won't be enough."
'Y-you...!' Asa's eyes kept shifting as I stared at her intensely.
So I was right, after all!
They wanted my resources to settle their debts.
'Just how much is it anyway? Earth Dragon Weapons will be freaking expensive. How deep a mess could they be in?'
"This is serious..." My lips parted and a grave tone poured out.
Asa and the other Adventurers nodded, now pretending to be completely at my mercy.
I was trapped!
'To think I wanted to use Dulum to reach out to the Merchants. If they're so deep in debt, that's nothing short of a pipe dream. Shit...'
As I pondered on what to do, Asa groveled even further and pleaded.
'Urgh! What more do you—?'
"P-please save us from the Demon Invasion!"
For a moment, my mind went blank.
But, once it finally got restored, only one thought could manifest. It was a simple thought, but it conveyed a lot of meaning—at least to me.
'E-eh...?'
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel