#59: Chapter 59 — I Defeated the Demon King on Day One and Retired

Just because the summary trial was over didn’t mean all the procedures were done.
There were still little things left—filing the quest report, collecting the reward, and registering the new party.

And almost all of that fell under the responsibility of my and Shia’s handler, the beastkin girl—Kate.

“Just sign here, here, and here for the report. Everything else will be covered by your testimony during the trial.”

“Since the fault lies with the other side, of course the full payment will be issued. And within a few days, you’ll also get a bonus on top. You can look forward to it. I’m sure the Vice Guildmaster will be generous. And if not, I’ll wring more out of him myself.”

Her words struck me as odd. I tilted my head.

“Wring it out? You mean you wringing it out of the Vice Guildmaster?”

For reference: each district’s Guild was run by one guildmaster, three to five vice guildmasters, and executives beneath them. Even a single vice guildmaster, upon appointment or election, automatically received a baronet title—a high position.

And Kate, just a receptionist, was claiming she could wring one out?

Seeing my look, Kate’s face went “ah, I slipped,” and she glanced around nervously before whispering to me.

“Well, the truth is… the Vice Guildmaster you saw earlier, Goram Uslarn? He’s my father.”

Ah. No wonder she had more pull than a simple receptionist. This world or mine, it always came down to connections.

“So you’re a noble lady, then. Forgive me for not realizing…”

Her face flushed bright red, and she flapped her hands in protest.

“Please! Don’t call me that. I’m just the daughter of an honorary baronet, nothing more. Being called ‘lady’ is so embarrassing.”

“Funny. That brat Goldie would throw a tantrum if you didn’t call him ‘young master.’”

“And who are you comparing me to!? Anyway—off limits!”

I laughed and dropped the teasing.

“Well, in any case, that’s some impressive backing you’ve got.”

“I won’t deny it. I do take advantage of it sometimes. More importantly… this party registration form you gave me—is it real?”

“Why? Something wrong?”

“Not exactly… but let’s see—Shia, Illeia Bijou, Selan Cotin, Scala Evitz… Every member is a woman. And every one of them’s a beauty.”

“I wouldn’t know about ‘beauty’ or not… but of course it looks that way. I inherited the roster from Hank’s old party.”

“Sure, but even they had at least one male beastkin.”

“And he’s dead. What can you do?”

“You’re not thinking of recruiting new blood? Like a sturdy tank, maybe? Or perhaps a nice Aura-user girl from office work who sometimes wants to swing a weapon in the labyrinth…”

Aura-user office girl? That was oddly specific.

“Not really. I’m not the trusting type. In that sense, girls like Illeia and Selan are proven—they stayed with me in the trap, ready to die by my side.”

“Hm… but that means the only vanguard is you, Mr. Geom-shin.”

“Just me is enough. And if need be, Shia’s beast companions can serve as frontline.”

“…No matter how you look at it, this is turning into a harem party.”

“Pardon?”

“N-nothing. Anyway, fine. Honestly, even carrying a Silver rank (I bumped you up one grade) is already a gag for someone of your caliber. You should be heading deep floors, not messing around in the surface. Typical hidden-power type…”

“Hidden power, huh. That’s harsh.”

“Forget it. Anyway, let’s register it. But as your party manager, one piece of advice—no matter what, you should secure at least one or two more vanguards. In the labyrinth, anything can happen.”

“I’ll take note.”

“So? What do you want for the party name?”

“Hm… I haven’t thought about it.”

“If you don’t have one, just use the leader’s name. That’s the trend these days.”

“So it’ll be the Geom-shin Party?”

“Yeah. The pronunciation’s a bit heavy, but it should be fine.”

“Then let’s go with that. Oh, and one more favor…”

When I left the guild hall, the ones waiting outside—my new party members—hurried over.

“Um… our families…”

“Timid—no, you’re my party member now, so I should change how I call you. Selan, the Guild agreed to take care of your family issue. They said it’ll take about a week.”

“Thank you! Thank you, Master!”

There she goes again with the “Master” stuff. She was obviously pressuring me—feed me, raise me, don’t abandon me.

“What about you, Scala? Why are you so quiet?”

At my words, the girl who’d been standing stiffly with her hands folded at her stomach lifted her head slightly.

“What do you mean?”

“You said you had siblings doing chores at the lord’s castle. One boy and one girl.”

“Yes. I do.”

“Then why don’t you ask me to bring them out? Aren’t you worried?”

“Oh, of course I worry… but compared to the honor of serving you and the Master, that’s a trivial matter. Besides, both of them are spoiled even though they’re grown. If they were brought here, they’d demand so much of my time. That would interfere with attending to you and the Master. Such a thing would be unacceptable.”

“Forget it. I already told the Guild. They’ll be sent over soon. Take good care of them.”

“…!”

Scala fell silent for a moment, then bowed her head stiffly, like a creaking hinge.

“…Thank you. I’ll train them well, so that like me, they’ll devote body, mind, and soul to serving their masters.”

“…That’s terrifying. Just make sure they get suitable work and earn their keep. If they worked at the lord’s castle, they should know how to handle themselves.”

Since it was late, we spent the night in the guildtown, then set out for home early the next morning.

Riding on my shoulders, Shia tugged insistently at my hair.

“I miss home as much as you do, but is there really a need to rush like this?”

“Soon we’ll have over ten more people in the house. We need to prepare at least a little—clean up, figure out how to divide the space, that sort of thing.”

“That’s true. Hm. But if we have servants, that means… I won’t have to eat food cooked by you anymore, doesn’t it?”

“Complaining now, after freeloading all this time? You looking to die?”

My murderous glare made Shia flinch and kick her legs nervously.

“That’s not what I meant! In the name of the North Demon King, the food was fine. Just that the repertoire was a bit… lacking.”

Well, fair point. I only had about five dishes to cycle through. I wasn’t a chef, after all. Cooking with just the ingredients here had its limits.

But still—

“Shouldn’t you at least once have said something like, ‘You must be tired. I’ll cook today~’ before complaining? Do you want me to peel off those chewy cheeks of yours and make dumplings out of them, you glutton?”

“Ayaaya—ah, it hurts! Pwa, pwaardon, pwease…!”

And so, after an hour and a half of bickering, crossing rivers and hills, we finally arrived back home…

Only to find an unbelievable sight.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Scrape! Scrape! Creak!!

Crash! Clatter!!

“Hey! Hold it steady! You’re losing balance!”

“Yes, boss!”

“Damn it, stop leaving tool marks! What if one of the nobles gets scratched later? You gonna take responsibility!?”

“Timber! Timber’s coming down!”

“Plenty of good wood here, eh? No need to haul it all from guildtown.”

“Move it if you’ve eaten! We’ve only got two weeks to finish this, or we’ll be paying penalties! You want to see the Carpenter’s Guild and Builder’s Guild both raise hell!?”

I stared, dumbstruck.

Somehow, in just a few days, nearly a hundred laborers were shouting and hammering away, raising structures across the basin in front of the mansion.

Illeia muttered, bewildered.

“Um… didn’t you say the mansion was empty? Then who are all these people…?”

“I—I don’t know. I’m just as confused as you. What is this…?”

And it wasn’t just laborers.

Villagers had scrambled up the mountain to watch the grand construction. Fifty soldiers stood in formation, guarding the mansion grounds. Knights prowled about, chuckling and whispering. Maids and attendants scurried everywhere, hauling things in and out of the mansion.

Even Shia’s voice trembled as she gripped my hair tight.

“…My dear, what is the meaning of this? Who are these people? What has become of our home?”

Well, no wonder. Shia had been far more attached to our “first home” than I ever was. Of course the shock hit her harder.

“I don’t know. If you don’t know, how the hell should I?”

“…I see. Then what you’re saying is—they’re filthy intruders daring to set foot in our home without permission.”

Immediately, one of her icy gears clattered to the ground and in a flash, Hosik appeared with a growl.

Thud!

“Hey. What do you think you’re doing?”

“…Planning to feed them all to Hosik. After that, I’ll ask his belly what he found.”

“Scary. You really do sound like a former Demon King.”

“Then are you saying we should just forgive them!?”

Her words dripped frost, and while I agreed we couldn’t just let it go, I grabbed Hosik by the scruff before he could charge off.

“Hold on. Let’s check first. If we kill the wrong people, you’ll have nightmares about it later.”

“Tch… then hurry and find out.”

I left the others behind, snatched a hammer lying around, and slipped into the construction site.

First thing was to figure out what the hell was going on. Only then could I decide—kill them, bury them, dump them in the lake, or toss them off a cliff.

After about five minutes of eavesdropping, the situation began to make sense.

“Honestly, I’m glad for the work, but… isn’t this that mansion folks said was haunted? Is this really okay?”

“Hm? When’d you join the job?”

“This morning. Went to the Carpenter’s Guild looking for work, and they shoved me out saying, ‘Shut up and go, you’ll find out when you get there.’”

“Ah, that explains it. I only caught bits and pieces myself, but I overheard some knights saying the noble who owns this place hired people to get rid of all the ghosts.”

“For real? But the ghosts were so strong even the Guild wouldn’t touch it. I saw the warning signs posted myself.”

“Well, obviously he handled it somehow. If the ghosts were still here, would he really be calling in his kids and attendants?”

“Guess you’re right.”

“Crap, knights coming. If they catch us talking, we’re screwed. Move!”

“Damn it, they’re not even helping with construction—why are they strutting around?”

“They want it done fast, clearly. Must really like this villa. Quit whining and work before they see you.”

“Fine, fine.”

‘So… the one behind this circus is none other than the mansion’s original owner, the same bastard who begged me to clear out the spirits? Baron Alphonse, or whatever? That piece of trash…’

Now that I knew the culprit, I lurked a bit longer, hoping for more details.

That’s when I noticed one knight slipping off, looking very much like a man in search of a tree to relieve himself.

Perfect.

I crept up behind him just as he was untying his pants and smashed his skull with the hammer.

Clang!!

Ah, what a satisfying sound.

Thud.

He wasn’t even a proper Aura User—barely scraped into Mana User territory at best. I dragged his limp body into the forest outside the basin and soon roused him for questioning.

“…Hey. I’ve got a few questions.”

“Wh-who are you!?”

“I’m the owner here. But answering a question with a question? That’s bad manners.”

Clang!! Thud.

“Whoa, don’t fall asleep out here. You’ll catch cold. Here—healing.”

With one good crack and a healing spell, his eyes rolled back and then snapped open again.

“Ugh…”

“Unless you want more, shut up and answer what I ask.”

“Y-you cur! I serve House Alphonse—”

Clang!! Thud.

“I said don’t sleep. Healing.”

“Huff… huff… You bastard!”