Chapter 40. A Smile That Could Ruin You
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The crisis had been resolved. Not a single person had died. What a relief! Now it was time to throw a grand celebration!
"You must all be thinking that, right?"
Cyd picked up a few of the dropped weapons, crushed them into an iron ball, and looked maliciously at the neat row of heads on the ground.
"Wh-what! Hero, we'll compensate you!" The adventurers, buried with only their heads exposed, forced awkward smiles. "Whatever you want, we can give it to you!"
They hadn't forgotten how that iron ball had been made!
"Hah! Right now, I feel like just throwing this ball at you!" Cyd's fingers dug into the iron ball, creating a few holes. "Ever heard of bowling? Your heads will pop one by one!"
"Ahaha… Teacher, you sure know how to joke," Bell said with a helpless smile as he bent down to untie the ropes binding the scar-faced adventurer. "Are you all okay?"
"I don't think he's joking," the scar-faced adventurer muttered as he rubbed his shoulder. "Honestly, these guys were really out to kill us."
"Um… thank you!" Bell took a few steps back and bowed deeply. "Thank you for coming to save us."
"Hah?" The scar-faced adventurer raised his voice. "Who said we came to save you?"
"But… didn't you…" Bell stammered, gesturing awkwardly.
At first, he thought he must have been mistaken. When he was getting beaten up, the scar-faced adventurer and his men had sneaked over to try and rescue Lili, but they were caught and ended up getting beaten themselves.
"I was just pissed off that you could have easily beaten them, yet you let yourself get pummeled like that. Yeah! We just wanted you to cut loose and beat them down, so they could feel as frustrated as we did! Don't overthink it!" The scar-faced adventurer crossed his arms.
"Boss, why don't you just admit you wanted to save him?" The small adventurer grinned, rubbing his leg. "Otherwise, we took all those hits for nothing."
"Shut up! You all followed me without a word, didn't you?" The scar-faced adventurer jumped up as if his tail had been stepped on.
"Ahaha… wherever the boss goes, we follow," the bruised adventurers laughed, jostling each other playfully.
"Hmph! Kid, you should understand by now, the world is full of unprovoked malice. It's not just about whether you've done something wrong," the scar-faced adventurer snorted. "Changing your mindset isn't about giving up or compromising, it's just—"
"My resolve won't change," Bell said quietly. "No matter what happens, I'll stick to my choices."
"You stubborn little brat!" The scar-faced adventurer was so frustrated he wanted to punch Bell.
"Wait, wait, boss! His teacher's right there! We don't want to get buried alive!" The small adventurer clung to the scar-faced adventurer's leg.
"Because… didn't you guys come?" Bell scratched the back of his head with a silly grin. "You even warned me back then, and now you came to save me, so… I believe people can change. You're the reason I stand by my choices."
"You… I…" The scar-faced adventurer was momentarily at a loss for words. "I'm not an old man! I'm only 32!"
"Uh…" Bell froze.
"You're going to fall down many times in the future, and your teacher won't always be there to catch you," the scar-faced adventurer said, scratching his head in frustration.
"If I give in to fear, I might never get up again," Bell chuckled softly. "Maybe now I'm just following in my teacher's footsteps, but someday… someday I'll walk beside him, facing everything together."
"You…" The scar-faced adventurer sighed, then glared fiercely at Bell. "Be careful out there, you hear me?"
With that, the scar-faced adventurer yanked up the small adventurer and headed toward the street.
"Boss, what's the plan?"
"To the 19th floor."
"Eh!!! We've been stuck on the 18th floor for years! I thought you were planning to retire here, boss."
"Bang—"
A bump appeared on the small adventurer's head, and the other adventurers laughed, poking at the bump.
"Damn it! A rookie who's only been an adventurer for less than a month made it to the 18th floor, and we're just sitting around as a bunch of LV2 old-timers? Those young guys are risking their lives, falling down and getting back up to keep running, and we're just lying here?"
"So what do you want to do, boss?"
"What else do adventurers do? We go on adventures!"
Watching the grumbling group walk away, Bell couldn't help but smile.
"Bell-sama is so silly," Lili said as she rubbed the red marks left by the ropes and stood beside Bell.
"Yeah, really silly. It feels like anyone could easily trick you," Welf said as he put a hand on Bell's shoulder. "Seriously, this time we really took a hit. Not only did I lose all the magic swords I made overnight, but even Cyd's Fire Moon is gone."
"I'm sorry," Bell lowered his head.
"It's okay. Those magic swords were made for you, Bell. When I saw you staring at your teacher's sword so intently, I thought Fire Moon would suit you, so I brought it back," Welf scratched his face. "But in the end, your teacher used it up."
"Then make Bell-sama another one," Lili shrugged. "And while you're at it, make a few dozen for Lili too."
"You say that so easily!" Welf covered his face with his hand, though he couldn't help but smile. "But since we're companions, Bell, watch closely. I'll forge a magic sword that surpasses Fire Moon soon!"
"You don't have to push yourself, Welf."
"Hah! Do you know how humiliating it is for a blacksmith to see his contractor drooling over someone else's weapon? This isn't about pushing myself—it's about pride! Pride!"
"O-okay!"
"Ah~ you're so fired up~," Lili sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Looks like I'll be busy from now on."
"Seems like everything's fine now."
Cyd's lips curled into a smile, but when he looked at the adventurers on the ground, his smile faded.
"But if you guys don't satisfy me, I can promise you, there'll be trouble."
"O-okay!"
"First of all~ you're all regulars around here, right?" Cyd squatted down.
"Most of us are…"
"You've been buying the loot from high-level adventurers at black market prices, right?" Cyd narrowed his eyes. "Looks like you've made quite a profit, buying Minotaur magic stones at Goblin magic stone prices."
Actually, we're not "that" bad, it's just that we only gave that price to Bell, the hero's apprentice… but we definitely couldn't say that!
"So… let me give you some advice."
Cyd smiled.
The adventurers swallowed nervously.
It was a smile that could ruin them.