"Then… can I register?" the Counter Miss asked timidly.
"Ah! Yes."
Iri was puzzled why the Counter Miss was so respectful to her. She remembered that when Ainz's father came, he wasn't treated like this, right?
"Here's the map, please… please take it." After the Counter Miss finished registering, she handed over a map.
Seeing the map, Iri breathed a sigh of relief. With a map, she wouldn't have to humble herself and ask where to find the so-called Giant Stone Poison Lizard.
This…
However, after taking it and unfolding it, Iri was dumbfounded again. This map seemed to be quite different from the map she knew.
Shouldn't a normal map have detailed place names (though she couldn't understand them anyway) and mission locations?
However, the map in Iri's hand only had very simple drawings. Although she could tell where E-Rantel was, where were the mission locations? Were they not marked?
Although there were a few places on the map with circles and some unreadable text, these circled areas were all very far apart. Did this mean that the lizard was active within these ranges?
This would be a bit difficult to find!
Still couldn't understand… still couldn't understand…
If she really judged that those circles were the activity range of that lizard, it would take too much time for her to search alone!
"Um… Lady Iri, is there… is there anything else?" The Counter Miss probably saw Iri still standing foolishly in front of the counter, looking at the map with a serious expression, and thought something else had gone wrong.
"No, no problem." Iri replied, complaining in her heart again… Why the honorifics? She should be a Bronze-level Adventurer, right? There's no need to be so respectful to her, is there?
Never mind, this isn't a big problem. She should just humble herself again and ask the Counter Miss how to read this map!
Just as Iri was about to ask the Counter Miss for guidance again.
"If you don't mind, may I accompany you?" Iri heard such a voice behind her. She turned around and saw it was the Adventurer who had just helped her tear the quest.
"Hey, hey! He's really going for it!"
"Isn't that kid also just Iron-level? That's a Giant Stone Poison Lizard that's difficult even for Mithril-level Adventurers. Is that kid tired of living?"
This time, Iri clearly heard the other Adventurers' whispers. Ainz's father could kill those lizards with one strike, so what's the big deal? Thinking about it, they were locals after all, so it was understandable that they would be afraid of such things.
"You want to go with me? Uh…" Iri hesitated. This guy was Iron-level, right? Anyone with a brain wouldn't team up with an overconfident Bronze-level Adventurer to take on a quest that only Mithril-level Adventurers could accept, right?
Hmm? Wait a moment.
Iri noticed something at this point. She remembered that when Ainz's father came, he was warned that he couldn't take quests beyond his rank… even if he was strong, there were no exceptions.
But why was cross-leveling allowed now? Or was it because Ainz's father was active as an Adventurer that this condition was canceled? It's possible. Who cares, as long as she can earn money.
"Oh, right! Miss, how much is the reward for this quest?" Iri remembered she hadn't confirmed the reward yet.
"10… 10 gold coins." The Counter Miss replied.
Oh!! 10! And gold coins!! This is more than enough for travel expenses to the Empire.
Iri was a little happy with the reply. She turned her head to look at the Adventurer who was still waiting for her answer. What about him?
It's rare for someone to come up and ask to team up. If she agreed to team up, the reward would have to be split. So, it's better to refuse. Besides, if she had companions, there wouldn't be a team penalty preventing her from getting experience, right? And what was an Iron-level Adventurer doing trying to join in on the fun?
"Hey! Xiumu, are you tired of living?!" Just as Iri was about to refuse him, another Adventurer walked out and pulled him back.
"Dean, you know… my life." The Adventurer who approached Iri replied with a serious expression, though Iri completely didn't understand what he meant. What about your life? Don't just say half of it!
"Alright! Little sister, can I join too?"
The Adventurer who was supposed to dissuade the one who first approached, why was he also asking to join?
This made Iri feel very strange. She looked at his neck and saw he was also Iron-level. Do Iron-level Adventurers have such guts now? It seems they were all influenced by Ainz's father, the Jet-Black Hero!
"Dean, you don't have to accompany me!" The first Adventurer seemed quite unwilling for his companion to follow.
"What are you talking about? If you hadn't blocked that attack for me back then, you wouldn't have been so severely injured." The Adventurer named Dean replied.
"Blocking damage for a teammate is what a vanguard should do! So you don't have to blame yourself for it." That Adventurer continued to try and stop his companion.
Iri was getting a bit impatient. If you want to show brotherly love, go act it out somewhere else, don't hinder me from earning travel expenses!
Hmm? Wait a minute, they are Adventurers! Iron-level Adventurers, they should be able to read maps, right? They should be familiar with the nearby roads, right? They should be able to lead her to that lizard, right?
"You two!" Iri spoke up, interrupting their argument.
"You can join me, but!" Iri put one hand on her hip, then puffed out her chest confidently (in her opinion) and pointed into the air.
"You are only responsible for leading the way! The combat part is entirely up to me! Also… regarding the reward… uh… let me think." Iri started to think at this point. 10 gold coins. If they were only responsible for leading the way, giving them one gold coin each would be enough, but would that be too stingy? Then three? Three gold coins wouldn't be easy to split between two people, right? Then four it is, to avoid people talking behind her back about her being stingy or petty.
"I'll split four gold coins for your reward, any objections?!" Iri said, but after saying it, Iri realized that wasn't she a disgraced maid who had been kicked out of her home? (In her imagined setting) Why was she speaking to people so arrogantly?
Uh… It's indeed a bad 'habit' inherited from Nazarick and Ainz's father. She needs to pay attention to it in the future, but now it's too late to take it back.
Perhaps these two would dislike her because of this and refuse her! Two good guides gone. Never mind, she'd better just honestly ask the Counter Miss.
"You… you are willing to give us four gold coins? Just for asking us to lead the way?" The Adventurer named Dean looked at Iri in surprise and asked.
"Yes… yes." Because she had previously realized her attitude seemed a bit problematic, Iri's reply this time was much more restrained.
After hearing Iri's reply, the Adventurers in the hall began to whisper again.
"Four gold coins just for leading the way! I knew I should have gone and approached her."
"Would you be willing to sell your life for four gold coins?"
"That's true!"
What's wrong?! Are you looking down on me?! Is that lizard really that scary?! Iri felt a bit unconvinced after hearing these words. If she wasn't in disguise, she would definitely make them kneel again.
"Then please guide us, I am Scout Dean, and this is Xiumu, our vanguard, Little Sister Iri… Miss." Dean saw that Iri seemed a bit unhappy and thought Iri was bothered by the 'little sister' address, so he immediately corrected himself.
"Oh! Then let's depart immediately! Gogogo!!!" But in a blink of an eye, this "Miss" Iri was saying incomprehensible words and showing a very innocent smile again.
Hmph! There's no need to bother with Adventurers who are afraid of lizards that can be killed with one strike. Iri thought of this, and her mood brightened again. Depart, depart!
After watching Iri and the two Adventurers accompanying her "to their deaths" leave, the Adventurers in the hall finally breathed a sigh of relief. In fact, they didn't doubt at all whether this little sister could deal with the Giant Stone Poison Lizard. Instead, they were more worried about whether this little sister would turn her anger on them if she got upset. So, what they feared was not the lizard, but Iri herself.
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