MV – Chapter 96: The Hunter Guild’s Direction and the Minor Villain

Previous Chapter l Next Chapter

The post-tournament feast began as dusk settled. 

To the residents, it didn’t matter whether it was a Hunter Guild tournament or any other excuse, they just wanted to have a celebration. 

In the slums, festivals were unheard of, and most people didn’t even know what a ‘festival’ was. So the chance to gather, enjoy themselves, and have fun was thrilling.

“Delicious~ This grilled chicken is delicious!”

At one of the food stalls, they were selling skewers of gadokurie chicken drizzled with chicken oil, and people were devouring them with gusto. The natural oil enhanced the flavor of the synthetic chicken several times over, and everyone was happily indulging in it.

“Puhaa~ And this cold gadokurie beer really hits the spot. Chicken and beer are the perfect combo!”

“It’s great to be able to eat this much. I’m so glad I came here.”

“We owe it all to Lanpeach-sama!”

Everyone was smiling and partying loudly. 

To be honest, gadokurie food was pretty bad compared to regular synthetic food. But to the slum dwellers who often didn’t even have enough to eat for the next day, this was a feast.

Thus, the celebration began, giving birth to a raucous culture where any excuse would turn into a festival in the Lanpeach Complex, but that’s a story for another time. Of course, it was all thanks to the minor villain that would make anything a festival.

Chihiro, Dry, Sage, Guy, and Koume sat together and watched the festivities with this minor villain while eating their meal at a slower pace.

“It’s quite the commotion, huh, Lan?” (Chihiro)

Chihiro sipped her juice while gazing at the lively crowd as though it were a dazzling spectacle. It was a sight that would have been unimaginable in their past base.

“Yeah, but festivals are fun, so it’s all good.” (Lanpeach) 

Of course, Lanpeach was also drinking, but his was gadokurie beer. However, the taste made him frown. It wasn’t so much bad as it was weak. In his previous life, he would’ve smiled and said it was great, but knowing what real beer tasted like due to his previous world, he couldn’t enjoy it the same way.

“Aah, gadokurie synthetic food is cheap, but it’s pretty lacking.” (Lanpeach) 

Is this beer used as a substitute for water? It tasted like flat soda.

“It’s what’s distributed by the Underground District to prevent the Surface District from starving, so it can’t be helped.” (Sage)

Sage said with a wry smile while holding up his own beer. Only the color resembled beer which enhanced the disappointment. 

Everything with the gadokurie label was from the Underground District. It was shockingly cheap but tasted shockingly terrible. 

If someone wanted better food, they could buy the synthetic food made in the Surface District. But the residents here couldn’t afford that, so gadokurie products were all they had.

Even Lanpeach couldn’t bring himself to eat better food in front of everyone. It might just be because he is a cowardly minor villain.

“Well, whatever. Now, as for the tournament winners, you’re all going to be officially registered as Hunters. Counting on you.” (Lanpeach)

Lanpeach didn’t want the beer, so he placed it aside and grinned mischievously at the gathered Hunters.

Time to hand out the prizes.

“In the end, only four people, including myself, managed to qualify for Hunter registration, so let’s decide on the ranks. First place goes to Koume, the Little Strategist! Her wit knows no bounds. Unfortunately, we can’t register you as a Hunter because it is too dangerous, but I expect great things from you in the future.” (Lanpeach)

“Ye! Koume will work hard!” (Koume)

Koume, who was sitting on Lanpeach’s lap, was bursting with excitement. Pumping her little fists in the air, she was overjoyed at winning two crowns in the tournament.

“As for your prize, here’s a box of manju. But don’t eat too much before dinner, okay?” (Lanpeach)

It was a whole box of manju worth 50 experience points. She got number 1, so he should splurge at least this much, right?

“Next, in second place, we have Tsurugi Touka, the Manju Eater! You’ve got some serious skills. But don’t slack off on your final exams. If you get any failing grades, you’ll definitely be sent back home.” (Lanpeach)

“Hey, give me a better title, Old Man! Something cooler, like Alien Touka!” (Touka)

“Alien means invader from space, you know? And don’t you dare try to steal Koume’s manju. That’s just cruel.” (Lanpeach)

He was pretty sure that was the right meaning. It is, right? 

Also, why is Touka holding the box of manju he just gave to Koume?

“Eh~?! ‘Alien’ doesn’t just mean ‘space being’? And I’m just opening the box for her. You know how hard it is to peel off the plastic wrap, right?” (Touka)

“Once it ish open, let’s share it with everyone!” (Koume) 

“As expected of the Number One! Number Two pledges her loyalty to you!” (Touka)

Manju Girl hugged Koume, overjoyed. Koume laughed and giggled in response.

“I told you, it’s Hunter rankings. This is not loyalty stuff. There’s no ‘Four Heavenly Kings’ or anything. By the way, about your grades…” (Lanpeach)

“It’s so tasty! I will never get tired of this!” (Touka)

“It ish yummy!” (Koume)

‘This is hopeless’ -Lanpeach sighed, giving up on the subject of failing grades.

“Third place goes to Dry of the Ice. Let’s work a bit harder, okay? And fourth place is Guy.” (Lanpeach)

“I thought I had gotten stronger, but I still lost. Why, Peach-oniichan?” (Dry)

Dry looked frustrated, having worked hard to level up, only to still lose. She even felt confused about it.

“There wasn’t a match to decide third place, was there, Lanpeach-don?” (Guy) 

“Third-place matches are determined by popular vote, so just let it go. Honestly, third-place matches don’t really get the crowd excited, and you can’t set up betting in advance either.” (Lanpeach)

‘There’s no point in doing a match where gold doesn’t move’ -Lanpeach said with a calm face. 

Guy sighed and easily gave up. For someone pretending to be a clueless country boy, he gave up way too easily. He should’ve thrown a fit, whined with ‘why only me~?’, and gotten smacked for it.

“Anyway, the reason Dry is weak is that she doesn’t know how to properly use mana. Have you ever had formal training?” (Lanpeach)

“Yeah, Dry-chan is terrible at managing her mana. She’s too brute-force. Guy-san was doing much better. Didn’t you teach her anything, Old Man?” (Touka) 

Touka said while munching on some manju.

She was probably referring to how Dry didn’t know how to concentrate mana properly for attacks or defense in instant responses and the managing of the mana. Dry can’t do those at all.

“I am the type that goes by feel, so I can’t teach it. I just move instinctively, you know? I guess you could call me a genius type?” (Lanpeach) 

That’s a lie.

He could technically teach it, but the amount of information he had was too overwhelming to explain. He just instinctively managed his mana as naturally as breathing.

The minor villain Lanpeach can only move as programmed.

“Oh yeah, I’ve heard geniuses can be like that. I’m not great at teaching either.” (Touka) 

Touka proudly called herself a genius. To be fair, her martial arts skills were top-notch. So it is not like it is unfounded, but it seems like she doesn’t know humility.

“Ya should enroll in the Magic Academy. Ya can learn the basics properly there. I could train ya, but it’d probably be a half-baked effort. It’s better for young people to receive proper training if they want to aim higher.” (Guy) 

“That’s right… You could take the entrance exam for the academy as long as you pay the fee. It’s not unusual for talented children from the slums to enroll. With your current skills, Dry-san, you could easily afford the admission exam fees.” (Sage) 

Guy said something decent and Sage nodded.

“Hmm… What do you think, Peach-oniichan?” (Dry) 

“Sure, why not? But if any terrorists or monsters attack the academy, let me know. I’ll come and clear the quest.” (Lanpeach)

(There’s always an event where the academy gets attacked after all. Be sure to call me.) (Lanpeach)

“But what about the Hunter Guild? If Dry leaves, it’ll just be you, Touka, and Guy, right?” (Chihiro) 

With only three members, the Hunter Guild was practically a micro-guild.

“We did make the guild, but…” (Lanpeach)

Lanpeach glanced at the open door. Beyond the hallway was an automatic door leading to the waiting room and reception area, where requests were displayed on a monitor. At the reception was a rabbit.

So far, it was empty. There were no hunters. Lanpeach had raised his Base Defense Knowledge to level 6 to establish the Hunter Guild, though he had never used it before. Even in the game, he hadn’t bothered setting it up, since there was the Explorer Guild anyways. But he still knew the mechanics of how it worked.

Hunter registration was easy. You just had to pass the tutorial exam, which required defeating virtual monsters.

However, only Lanpeach, Dry, Touka, and Guy had managed to defeat them.

…The virtual monsters were pretty tough. Probably equivalent to a Star 3 in the Explorer Guild. 

Why were the standards so high? Makes no sense. Well, he knew the reason though. It was because of the Lanpeach difficulty.

“Well, we’ll need to install a teleport portal to the Spirit Ward first. So go train at the magic academy until that’s ready.” (Lanpeach)

Every Hunter Guild had a teleport portal for material farming in the Spirit Ward. If you established your own guild, you had to supply your own portal.

“Didn’t you just casually say something strange…?” (Chihiro)

For some reason, Chihiro and the others were looking at him with disbelief. ‘Did I say something weird?’ -Lanpeach wondered.

“Hn, fine! I’ll go to school and graduate in six months!” (Dry) 

“That’s the spirit! Sage, can you handle the school entrance procedures?” (Lanpeach)

“Understood. I’ll take care of it.” 

Dry had a face filled with determination and Sage responded with a nod and a smile. 

(I graduated in three months in the game, so this should be fine… right?) (Lanpeach)

“So, we’ll be operating in the shadows for a while. Sound good?” (Lanpeach) 

“Well… Yeah, it’s fine, but ain’t really…” (Guy) 

“Hmm? What’s the issue?” (Lanpeach) 

“Did I ever explain why I came here to ya, Lanpeach-don?” (Guy)

“You ditched your old partner, right?” (Lanpeach)

“That makes it sound bad. Actually, my partner tried to get the top-tier casino prize…to upgrade that armor… and ended up bankrupt.” (Guy)

Guy said awkwardly, revealing a shocking truth.

(Haha~n, they must’ve tried to use the sure-kill strategy, huh?) (Lanpeach)

“Tell me more, my friend.” (Lanpeach) 

There’s obviously no way Lanpeach would ignore such an amusing event.

Previous Chapter l Next Chapter