Momon, the Dark Warrior, a name the locals had given him upon seeing his obsidian armor, looked down at the child he had knocked to the ground.
Through the red glow of his helmet visor, his gaze shifted from the girl to the man who had caught her.
He hadn't seen either of them in the city before. Granted, Momon had only been in E-Rantel for a day, having registered just yesterday. He was currently returning from a rather dull quest, collecting herbs, because the Guild's strict policy forced Copper Plates to grind through low-level chores before they could take on anything remotely challenging.
His eyes analyzed them quickly.
'A kid and a man,' Momon thought. 'The man is dressed like a knight and called the girl "Lady." Is she a noble? Are they undercover? If so, they are terrible at it. That white uniform stands out more than my armor.'
Beside him, Narberal Gamma, currently disguised as the adventurer "Nabe", narrowed her eyes. She radiated hostility. To her, a lowly human daring to bump into the Supreme One was an offense punishable by death.
"Watch where you are going, you ins..." Nabe started to mutter, her hand twitching toward her sword. She caught herself just in time, remembering her master's orders. "...commoner."
Momon glanced at her sharply, silently warning her to stand down. He didn't want a scene.
"Are you okay?" Momon asked, his deep voice resonating from the helmet. "I apologize. I didn't… see you."
To anyone watching, it seemed like a genuine apology from a massive warrior who simply hadn't noticed a tiny girl.
Felt, however, wasn't one to be intimidated by size. She rubbed her arm, glaring up at the dark giant.
"Yeah, I'm not okay!" she snapped. "Watch where you're going next time, you big lump of metal! Or are those eyes inside your helmet just for decoration?"
Nabe's expression twisted into fury. She ground her teeth, stepping forward.
Momon immediately placed his armored arm in front of Nabe, blocking her path. "I apologize for that," he said smoothly, though his internal voice was screaming in panic.
Calm down, Nabe! Don't kill the child over something like this!
"But you are also at fault here. You should also be aware of your surroundings and not run through doors blindly."
Reinhard stepped in smoothly. He bowed his head slightly, his tone apologetic.
"I apologize for my Lady's harsh words," he said, his voice calm and soothing. "She did not mean any of them or any offense at all."
"I meant every w, " Felt started to shout.
Reinhard's hand moved faster than the eye could track, gently covering her mouth.
"Mmph!"
Momon looked at the man. He didn't want to escalate this any further. He had a reputation to build, and getting into a brawl with a kid noble and the kid bodyguard over a bump wasn't part of anything at all.
"It is fine," Momon said. "Just be careful next time. Let's go, Nabe."
"Yes, si... Momon," Nabe replied stiffly. She cast one last glare at Felt, a look that promised murder, before following her master into the Guild hall.
As the heavy doors closed behind the dark duo, Reinhard removed his hand from Felt's mouth.
"What were you doing?!" Felt exploded, spinning around to face him. "Shutting me up like that! That metal lump could have killed me if I wasn't fast! He walked right over me!"
"Please, Lady Felt," Reinhard sighed, though a small smile played on his lips. "You bumped into him, not the other way around. And we should not be making hostile interactions with fellow adventurers. We will likely be seeing them daily."
Felt crossed her arms, huffing. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Let's just go complete these stupid quests and get paid. And remember: we're hunting big things on the way back."
Reinhard nodded dutifully, following his master. As he adjusted the Dragon Sword at his hip, he felt the sword move…
….
Three Hours Later:-
The sun was beginning to set, casting long orange shadows over the plains surrounding E-Rantel.
Two figures were approaching the city's main gate. This, in itself, was not strange. Adventurers came and went constantly.
What was strange, so strange that the gate guards rubbed their eyes to make sure they weren't hallucinating, was what they were bringing with them.
A small blonde girl walked in front, whistling a cheerful tune. Behind her walked a handsome red-haired knight.
And behind the knight, tied with thick ropes, was a literal mountain of meat.
Reinhard was dragging fifteen massive Ogres.
Each Ogre was larger than a horse, weighing hundreds of pounds. Yet Reinhard was pulling the entire cluster of fifteen corpses with one hand, the ropes over his shoulder, walking with the casual gait of a man carrying a light backpack. He wasn't sweating. He wasn't straining. He looked like he was taking a pleasant evening stroll.
If the knights of Lugnica could see this, they would faint. The Sword Saint, the strongest weapon of the Kingdom, reduced to a pack mule.
The guards at the gate stared, their mouths hanging open.
"Halt!" one guard shouted, his voice cracking. "Stop right there!"
Reinhard stopped instantly. The mountain of dead Ogres slid to a halt behind him with a wet thud.
"What... exactly do you think you are doing?" the guard stammered, gesturing at the carnage. "Why are you dragging dead Ogres into the city? And... how are you even pulling them?"
Felt stepped forward, hands on her hips. "We were on an escort mission when they attacked us. We dealt with them. As for why we dragged them here? Proof."
She jerked a thumb at Reinhard. "And he's pretty strong. That's why he can pull them."
The guard looked at the Copper Plate hanging around Reinhard's neck. Then he looked at the fifteen dead Ogres. Then he looked back at the Copper Plate.
"You... you do know you only have to cut off their ears, right?" the guard said, bewildered. "Or a recognizable body part? You don't bring the whole corpse." He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Did you two really kill them? You're Copper Plates."
"Exactly!" Felt exclaimed, pointing a finger at him. "That's exactly why we brought the whole thing! If we just brought ears, you guys would say we bought them, or stole them, or found them dead. Who would believe two Copper Plates killed a horde of Ogres?"
She kicked the leg of the lead Ogre. "But you can't deny this. Fresh kills. Whole bodies. We also dealt with about seventy goblins, but we just took the ears for those. Too messy to carry."
The guard was speechless.
She was... kind of right. If a Copper Plate walked in with fifty goblin ears and fifteen pairs of Ogre ears, the Guild would immediately investigate them for fraud. They would assume they looted a battlefield.
But dragging fifteen fresh corpses to the front gate? That was undeniably insane, but undeniably authentic. No fraudster would go to this much physical effort.
"Seventy goblins... and fifteen Ogres..." the guard muttered, his brain struggling to process the information. "Just the two of you?"
"Yep," Felt grinned.
The guard looked at Reinhard, who offered a polite, innocent smile, as if dragging several tons of monster flesh was a normal Tuesday activity.
"I... I can't let you drag those inside," the guard decided, rubbing his temples. "It's a health hazard. And it'll block the street."
He signaled to one of his subordinates.
Guard did not know what to do in this situation. The conclusion was to call an official from the guild to check them here, since they could not drag all these dead ogres into the city. The guild would handle the rest.
"Go get someone from the Guild. Tell them to come to the gate for this proof and assessment. Tell them... tell them about this whole thing too."
….
A/N: Don't forget to comment and power stones…