My name's Gauro.
Job: guard. Age: well, I'm a middle-aged guy.
Right now I'm working as the gatekeeper for the city dungeon.
I used to be a delver, but I quit after I got a scar on my face.
Even with the dungeon closed, the gatekeeper's job stays the same.
We take shifts guarding the gate around the clock.
Even after the closure, there are still people who get in, so we can't skip our patrols.
Once a day, I also have to swap out the barrier stone affixed to the staircase leading down to the second floor.
And there's refilling the oil for the lamps that light the dungeon's first floor.
Plus patrolling the Junkyard. Taking out the occasional monster that spawns near the entrance.
Even sealed up like this, there's a lot to do.
It's tough, but there's reward in it too.
Me, I don't mind the kids, honestly.
The kids grinding for coin in the Junkyard must have it hard, but they're giving it their all.
I want to cheer them on. And plenty of them want to become delvers.
That's where things get complicated. The scar on my face throbs.
I've got no more attachment to being a delver. Not anymore.
All I can do is hope the kids don't end up like me.
Delvers can make good money, but beyond that, it's the most dangerous job there is—the one closest to death.
When you can earn, your life becomes incomparably richer.
Your life changes. When everything around you transforms, you change too.
But here's the thing. Earning money alone isn't happiness. There's more to it than that.
I figured that out. That's why I hope the kids figure it out too.
But that's not something someone else can tell you.
You have to find it yourself. All I can do is hope they stay safe.
In that regard, Wof's a weird kid.
Even among the recent bunch, he's especially different.
Normally, the kids who come to the Junkyard to earn are poor, with bloodshot eyes.
And sure, the 300 oro entry fee is steep, and they're scraping by to survive, so they get hardened.
But Wof was different.
He only came to the Junkyard about once every three days, but he'd greet us and chat.
He seemed to be enjoying himself, in a way. He was desperate too, no doubt.
But he didn't get rough, and he had this strange composure about him. His appearance wasn't shabby either.
When the dungeon shut down, he said he'd been hired by a delver as a handyman.
Good thing he wasn't scammed by Kuun Hunt — well, Wof wouldn't make that kind of mistake.
He'd said he was going dungeon delving, and honestly, I was worried.
Hired help doesn't get treated all that well.
I didn't see Wof for a while after that.
And then — he just showed up, out of nowhere.
Moreover, he went and gave me some ring he claimed he'd picked up in the dungeon.
Told me to sell it and use the money to feed the kids... the nerve.
I told him off, of course... but food money, huh? Well, I guess I'll gratefully take him up on that.
Right after work, I headed over to Arifa to get it Appraised.
But here's the thing. She said Appraising this ring would take time.
I don't know much about that sort of thing, so I just took her word for it.
If it needed that much work, the price must be worth looking forward to. I was thrilled.
I could stuff the orphanage kids full of food.
Maybe if I got permission from upstairs, I could even set up another communal meal. I was looking forward to it.
A few days passed, and then I was summoned.
"Huh? Summoned to Count Bolley's estate? Me?"
I had no idea what was going on. They said a carriage would be coming to pick me up.
The estate was in the central noble district.
I climbed into the carriage and headed for the estate. First time I'd ever set foot in the noble district.
When I stepped out of the carriage, I was escorted up to the second floor of the estate.
They told me to wait in what looked like a reception room.
"...Did I do something...?"
Reality hit me all of a sudden, and my anxiety started mounting.
I couldn't think of anything. All I'd been doing was gate guard work.
On my days off, I helped out at the orphanage. Dug through gutters and picked up trash around town.
Free meal distribution at the canteen. What they'd call volunteering these days.
The work was about as rough as gate guard duty, but it made for a genuinely fulfilling break.
Did I do something wrong there?
The only thing I could remember messing up was using the wrong seasoning in the distribution meals.
Besides... something felt off.
If you really did something, they'd normally arrest you. Toss you in a cell.
You wouldn't find out what you were charged with until the interrogation.
And now suddenly I'm at the baron's villa? Waiting in some fancy room on the second floor, no less?
This didn't feel like "you're in trouble." Hmm, I couldn't figure it out.
Then the door opened. Wait, a maid? Right, this was a noble's estate. Of course there'd be maids.
A maid outfit on... a wolf-people girl. From the looks of her, roughly Wof's age or a bit younger.
"Oh, um, sir guest. Thank you so much for waiting. You'll be meeting with him now."
"I-Is that Baron Volley?"
"Oh, um, no. That's not right."
"Not right?"
"Yes. He's this way."
Not Baron Volley, then. So who was it?
I followed along behind the meek-looking maid girl, question marks floating above my head.
The fact that she showed zero reaction upon seeing my face — that was the mark of someone who served nobility, alright.
She led me to a corner room. The maid girl knocked.
"Um, excuse me. Deputy Acting Lord. I've brought your guest. May I come in?"
"Ah, yeah. You made it? Come on in."
"Huh?"
The maid opened the door.
Inside were two beautiful women.
One stood by the window with red curtains, behind an ebony desk.
A dark-skinned woman with long silver hair and pointed ears.
She wore a white suit without a single crease, and over her green left eye—
a monocle—
was perched.
Pointed ears. An elf? Even among the many elf beauties, she was stunningly gorgeous—like ice.
The one sitting on the sofa had short, wild blond hair with eye-catching red highlights.
Black horns. Sharp blue eyes. But with small, delicate features—still a beauty.
Three piercings in each ear, right and left.
A reddish-black shirt and tattered pants here and there. Distressed style, maybe?
And a chain wrapped around her waist.
She sat with her legs crossed in an uncouth manner, feet propped up on the table.
The vibe was straight-up thug bodyguard. Two swords lay beside the sofa.
A longsword and a sabre. Double-edged and single-edged. An unusual combination.
The wild beauty's prey?
Suddenly, the silver-haired beauty of an elf looked at me and spoke.
This elf. She reminds me of someone. Who was it again?
"Well then, I'll take my leave."
She gave a small bow, and the maid girl quietly left the room. The door was shut behind her.
"Ah, yes. Please, make yourself comfortable on the sofa."
"Did I do something?"
"No, it's nothing like that."
"Just sit down already!"
The fierce beauty slammed her heel against the table with a thud.
In response, the silver-haired beauty of an elf glared at her.
"Shesh. That's rather unrefined."
"Tch. Sit down, old man."
"...Fine."
I obediently sat down on the sofa.
These two drop-dead gorgeous women. What on earth was going on here?
"Ah, yes. Let me start with introductions, shall we? Dova is Dova Tassan. And this rough one here is Dova's younger sister and bodyguard, Shesh Tassan."
"Heh... Yeah, that's right."
"Tassan!? Marquis Tassan...!? I'm Gauro. I work as a guard at the gate."
Wasn't she basically the third most powerful person in this country? I swallowed hard.
"Ah, yes. Dova is currently visiting Hydrangea in the capacity of acting lord representative of the Tassan domain."
"What business does Marquis Tassan... have with a lowly commoner like me...?"
Seriously. What could she possibly want?
"It's about the ring."
"The ring...?"
"The bronze ring. Don't you remember?"
"Oh, that one. What about it?"
"That ring is something precious to the people of House Tassan."
"That ring is... is that so. I see."
Arifa. So that's why her Appraisal took so long.
I didn't know how she'd managed it, but she'd gotten word to them. She wasn't wrong, though.
"Ah, yes. So, Sheshu. Please hand that over to this person."
"Sure, sure. Here you go."
The rough-and-tumble beauty Sheshu slammed a pure white silk bag onto the table.
It made a heavy thud. Oh boy.
"Sheshu. You really have no manners."
"Tch, give it a rest. Hey. Old man. Take it."
"What's this?"
"Payment for the ring."
"...This much?"
Despite the luxurious feel of the silk, it was heavy. How much was in there?
"Please, feel free to check the contents."
"...W-wicked..."
No way. Gold coins... and there were even royal coins mixed in.
"Yeah, well. That ring was worth about that much to the Tassan Marquis family."
"Tch, that's seriously insane money. Hey. Old man. What are you planning to do with this cash?"
"Huh?"
Suddenly, the rough beauty broke into a wicked grin. Sheshu pressed the question.
Quickly, the elven beauty spoke up. Dova.
"What I'd like you not to get the wrong idea about is that this money is already yours. So you're free to spend it however you want. Sheshu only asked because she has terrible taste."
"Tch, drop the terrible-taste part. So, Scarface. What are you gonna use it for?"
"...With this much — I could renovate the orphanage."
"Huh? The orphanage?"
"Yeah. I can do it. Easily."
"And before that, I can stuff the kids full of food and put together a huge soup kitchen."
Load it up with plenty of meat. Don't forget the vegetables either.
The kids. They'd go crazy with joy. I was getting excited just thinking about it.
Then Sheshu slammed her heel on the table again. Here we go again.
"...You're not pulling our leg, are you?"
"Sheshu. What are you doing, lying in front of a noble? There's such a thing as perjury, you know."
She got a ferocious glare and some intimidating words thrown at her.
Plus these guys. That's not how nobles act. Some kind of mafia. Well, I guess they're about the same thing.
They're suspicious of me? Can't blame 'em. I don't exactly have a friendly face.
Tiny kids take one look at me and start bawling. But still.
"I'm not lying. I was an orphan. I'm living a decent life now, but that's all just luck."
"Oh yeah? Luck, with that scar on your face?"
"Sheshu!"
"Yeah, I'm alive. But still. There are kids who die without ever growing up. Kids who get into crime. Kids who end up with nowhere to go. And it's not just one or two of 'em. I want to help those kids, even if it's just me. The orphanage gets some support from the city, but it's not enough. The city's sanitation is understaffed. The free kitchen, the relief soup kitchens — none of it's running properly. You wouldn't get it. Other cities might be worse off, but even here there are people who sleep on the streets and die. Right here in Hydrangea, too. I know you nobles have that Noblesse Oblige or whatever. That's not a bad ideal. But you don't understand what's really going on."
"——You've got some nerve, talking back to a noble."
Sheshu glared at me even harder.
Yeah, I knew that. But so what.
If you're gonna be a noble, act like one. I feel like I'm talking to someone from the slums.
Dova sighed.
"Sheshu. That's enough. What are you planning to do with him?"
"Tch, nothing. Hey. Old man. Your name?"
"I told you already?"
"Huh? I wasn't listening."
"…Gauro."
"Huh. Gauro. You like kids?"
"What? Why would you even ask that?"
"Huh? Shut up! There's no reason!"
I got yelled at. What the hell was that about.
Dowa gave a wry smile.
"Ah, yeah. That's right. There's just one more thing I'd like to ask."
"What might that be?"
"Where did you find the ring?"
"I got it as a gift, actually. Some meddlesome little brat gave it to me and told me to use it toward the kids' food costs."
"A brat?"
"Yeah. Go on."
"The kid — said his name was Wof, and apparently he'd been hired as help during a dungeon exploration before. Found the ring during that, or so he told me."
"A hired kid, huh..."
"I see. That should wrap things up on our end. Thank you for your time. Gauro-san — is there anything you'd like to ask Dowa and the others?"
"Are you going to do anything to Wof?"
"Ah, yeah. Rest assured. We simply wanted to hear the details from someone knowledgeable and show our gratitude, same as you. We have no intention of doing anything."
"See?"
"...Got it. That's all I needed to know."
"Well then, Gauro-san — thank you for your time. Please head home. Take a carriage on the way back as well."
"Yeah, thanks."
I bowed and left the room with the money.
The werewolf girl maid from earlier escorted us back.
Man, that turned into something crazy.
The door closed, and shortly after Gauro left the room, Dova glared at Sheshu.
"Sheshu. Why did you go and ask something like that? We already knew all about him from the preliminary investigation. That's exactly why"
"it"
"was"
"that"
"much"
"money."
"Huh? There was no deeper meaning or anything. I asked because I wanted to know. That's all there was to it."
"Sheshu. You are Dova's bodyguard. Please refrain from running your mouth."
"Tch, I know that. Don't need you to tell me."
"Ah, yes. But it is rather unusual. You asking someone's name, I mean."
"Huh? Shut up, will you? It's no big deal. So what if I ask someone a name."
"Is it because you like children? You're fond of children yourself, after all."
"What the hell are you going on about. Tch."
Sheshu shot Dova a glare and clicked her tongue.
"What"
"a"
"brat of a little sister."