Protagonist Knows Everything

“What are you talking about?”

“See the party sitting over there? They just came in.”

Dirk looked towards me and nodded.

“Kate and… I don’t know the other one.”

That’s pretty good. Kate was a C-class adventurer. The fact that a big-shot like Dirk memorized the name of a C-class adventurer meant he was somewhat competent. In a way.

I nodded and said.

“The other one is called Eris.”

“People believe they share a strong bond, like a family.”

Dirk’s eyes narrowed. He seemed to think that I was treating him as a child, maybe that displeased him.

After a while, he spoke.

“I remember hearing that.”

“I think it’s a lie.”

“Lie?”,

Look, you don’t have talent, unlike Sain or me.

“Then there’s no harm in trying.”

“Fine.”

“Kate keeps partying with Eris even though she’s dead weight, why do you think she does that?”

“Of course, to receive high-level quests.”

“When adventurers organize a party, they can receive high-level quests, higher than their average rank will allow.

“However, if that were her only motive then there’s no need to play all nice with Eris.

“There was another thing Kate was aiming for.”

“…”

“Exclusive contract.”

Adventurers are freelancers.

However, if they go up to class B or even higher, they will achieve the basic conditions for signing an exclusive contract with a guild.

The guild pays money each month in the form of a monthly salary and binds them to quests exclusive to their guild because the number of adventurers B-rank or higher is really low.

That fixed salary. That must’ve been Kate’s motive.

“Please offer Kate an exclusive contract.”

“……”

“And say it’s only for Kate.”

“……”

“If Kate abandons Eris and accepts the offer, wouldn’t it be proven? That the relationship between the two wasn’t as strong as the rumors suggested.”

Dirk pondered for a moment, I am a man of my word the only thing is that…

“She is still a C-class.”

“You can say that there was an error later, right?”

“No, the guild’s reputation will be tarnished.

“What’s in it for me though?”

“If Kate says she won’t accept the contract without Eris, then for sure I’ll admit that your skills are way superior and voluntarily join the Wyvern Guild.”

Dirk laughed.

“Why would I go that far to hire a general receptionist?”

“It’s not just me. I come with a good gift.”

“A good gift?”

“You have a nephew, right? I’ll buy you a congratulatory gift.”

Dirk tilted his head, not understanding what I was saying.

In the meantime, I checked his information.

[Family Relations: Sister-Luna Wilson. Nephew-Keira Wilson (born 2 weeks ago)]

Huh!

Dirk suddenly got up. His face was hardened with surprise.

“How did you know?”

“That’s none of your concern.”

“My younger sister married a feudal lord.

“Their place is 2 weeks from here on the carriage.”

“……”

“She was in critical condition while giving birth. It’s only this morning that I was delivered the news about my nephew! How do you know about it?!”

I said that as a fluke but coincidentally he actually had a nephew.

I shrugged once and answered.

“You need a good intelligence network to perform such feats.”

“……”

“I have confidential information regarding the Hagnut Guild. If I lose the bet, I will bring that in as a congratulatory gift.”

Dirk seemed a bit overwhelmed. I don’t know why but this guy, or maybe the Wyvern Guild, was very wary of the Hagnut Guild. Wary enough to scout me, as a new employee.

After a while, Dirk spoke.

“Taylor Mason.”

“Don’t call me by my full name. It feels weird.”

“A month ago, when the two of them took a quest from our guild, I was next to them.”

He spoke in a confident tone.

“That quest failed. I heard that Eris made a mistake. As always.”

“Hmm.”

“Do you know what the first thing was that Kate did after reporting the quest failure?”

“…”

“She said sorry to Eris. As the party leader, she was apologizing for failing the quest.”

Okay. That’s great. But I don’t think you were curious about Eris’s mistake. This was a well-known trick.

When a team member makes a mistake, the leader apologizes in their stead, then the leader is highly praised for his generosity and a strong sense of responsibility… This is a technique often used by people in corporate jobs.

Then Dirk said, “I accept the bet.”

With a serious tone, I replied, “If I win, you’ll have to answer my questions.”

Dirk replied, frowning.

“What do you want to know?”

“Why is your guild so cautious about the Hagnut guild?”

“……”

“It’s weird, no matter how you look at it, the Wyvern guild shouldn’t be this cautious of a small guild such as the Hagnut guild.”

Dirk nodded with hesitation.

“Good. I’ll tell you as much as I can.”

“Fair enough.”

Dirk slowly got up from his seat. Then he began approaching Kate and Eris’s table.

Meanwhile, the waiter put my order on the table.

“I couldn’t even serve food, the atmosphere was so tense. What happened?”

I grabbed my drink and muttered, “No popcorn?”

“Huh?”

“Nothing.”

An interesting situation is about to unfold, let’s pay attention. The show was spectacular.

Shortly after Dirk approached Kate’s table, the base acting began.

“Leave Eris?!”

Eris rolled her eyes in anxiety.

Dirk asked one more time as a courtesy.

“I may seem rude, but Ms.Eris is not eligible to accept the contract.”

“If you can’t, then I won’t force you. Both of you are a family after all. If you don’t want to accept then that’s fine”

Perhaps Dirk thought he won. He turned confidently.

And the next moment Kate grabbed his sleeve.

“Okay, wait. Why did you turn around so quickly?”

“Huh? You just said that you’ve been together for years and are a family now.”

“That’s just…”

Kate looked at Eris for a moment and said.

“I will accept it.”

Dirk’s expression changed.

They got busy in a conversation, but I kept looking at Eris rather than the leading actors.

No. In a way…the main character.

Dirk said in a surprised voice.

“You are accepting it? Eris is not allowed to accept the contract you know?.”

“I know.”

“But you’ve been together for so long.”

“But I can’t handle it anymore!”

She looked straight at Eris and spoke in a harsh tone.

“Do you know how much this child has troubled me?”

“……”

“She can do nothing right! Even in quests, she keeps making mistakes!”

With that tears began to form in Eris’ eyes.

“Ka.., Ms. Kate. I am…”

“Staying with you was the most uncomfortable time of my life.”

“……”

“The only reason I stayed with you was to get an exclusive contract.”

Kate said that with an expression full of relief.

“I’m going to accept it on my own. Leaving you is a benefit.”

“Ms. Kate……”

“It’s only rational to cut-off the deadweight”

Eris couldn’t stand it and covered her face, as she started sobbing.

While biting her lips, she said in a trembling voice.

“Kate. I’ll do better. Please don’t leave me.”

“Shut up. I have already decided.”

“Ms. Kate……”

“Mr. Dirk. When should I sign the contract?”

Kate had already lost interest in Eris.

When asked, Dirk responded with great embarrassment.

“Well, um. So… wait a minute.”

He stepped back and came toward me as if he was running away. And he said in a child-like voice.

“I lost.”

But after that, his tone came back.

‘Nothing is better than the hopeless face of your enemy.’

Of course, I had to pretend to be sad, so I replied with a sad voice.

“Actually, I was also doubtful. I’m sorry for this.”

“Don’t lie. What’s so doubtful about them?”

“……”

“Because the two are famous among the adventurers, I got fooled. How did you know?”

I just smiled.

As long as I’m the winner, I don’t need to answer any of your questions.

Now as we agreed.

“Keep your promise. Why is the Wyvern Guild so interested in the Hagnut Guild?”

“……I will tell you later. First of all, I have to clear the situation”

“Just wait, I don’t go back on my word.”

Dirk said while nodding his head.

“You might not have noticed but we have a lot of eyes looking at us.”

“……”

“First of all, I’ll take Kate to the Wyvern Guild as it is. After that, I’ll figure something out. You please comfort Ms. Eris.”

She buried her face on the table while sobbing.

I replied.

“Yeah. I’ll take care of her.”

“Well then. See you later.”

Dirk turned and approached Kate, and they started to whisper something.

Kate’s face lit up at once, he must’ve asked her to go to the Wyvern Guild to sign her contract.

Kate got up and said, “I’ll go. Bye.”

Eris was still sobbing.

“Eris, you have no talent to be an adventurer, take my advice and find a different job.”

‘Coming here was worthwhile.’

Dirk and Kate exited the adventurer’s bar together.

After that, the adventurers around us who had been holding their breaths relaxed a bit.

Then their discussion started.

“Wow. I saw a really rare scene today.”

“So that’s how it was? Those two.”

“Kate, I haven’t seen her like that before…”

“Poor Ms. Eris, someone go and talk to her.”

Oops.

‘You can’t. No one is allowed to interrupt us.’

Now then, the time I was waiting for. I got up and approached Eris. She didn’t even know I was approaching, and she was still crying with her head on the table.

I sat down across her and whispered.

“Pretending to cry is hard, right? Ms. Eris.”

After that, all of a sudden, her weeping stopped.

Did I startle you with my reaction?

I was hoping for a fresh response, but her next move was well within my expectations.

With her resentful eyes, she held her head up and hissed at me.

“It’s you!!”

“……”

“I saw you with Mr. Dirk earlier. Because of you two, Ms. Kate changed so much. Why did you do that?”

I replied while laughing.

“For fun.”

“What part of it was so funny?”

“Your acting. Mr. Eris.”

Or should I say…

“A-class adventurer, Ms. Kasha Flame.”