Mr. Mongrel the Reformer
The veteran party “Young Wands” that came from the capital city gained attention at the Legol guild.
Just having several mages in the party was enough to generate buzz, but with the added detail of being from the “capital” and “returning”, the topic became even more sensational.
However, this was mostly not in a negative way.
Having been based in Legol three years ago, they had many familiar faces, with most reacting positively like “Welcome back.” In contrast, anyone treating them as strangers was seen as boorish.
As such, a space naturally emerged at the guild’s tavern for “Young Wands” to gather…and consequently, people were displaced from their usual spots.
“What’s with these capital folks now…”
“They only return to Legol when convenient for them…”
Such grumblings could occasionally be overheard at the tavern. Well, it was gossip and jealousy.
After working steadily in Legol, seeing the returning party act entitled and occupy the guild rubbed some the wrong way.
Honestly, I don’t get what the fuss is about, but guild members can be quite territorial. They treat the town they call home like their turf…not that they’re actually yakuza or anything, just people with that kind of mentality.
Especially since “Young Wands” seems to consist mostly of mages.
No archers, just a few melee fighters. An extreme min-maxed party that relies entirely on magic from start to finish – the kind that makes you laugh at how unrealistic “but no mages are actually like that” is.
It’s like having a party of whales with pay-to-win gear crash into your steady, budget-geared progression.
You’d be hesitant to approach them, and their big-city vibe from years in the capital makes it hard to get friendly.
I can’t blame anyone for feeling dejected.
Perhaps due to this atmosphere, “Young Wands” seems rather isolated at the Legol guild.
…But still, that’s no excuse for harassment.
“Hey, you’re one of those ‘Young Wands’ mages, aren’t you?”
“Why don’t you hang out with us?”
“Where you livin’ at?”
“Um…well…”
An unsettling conversation could be heard outside the guild.
Apparently a trio of men was harassing a lone girl.
The area near the guild was supposed to be fairly safe, but they must have targeted her after leaving the building onto a less traveled street.
The men chose an ideal spot without any guards around to get away with minor mischief.
“Ain’t she a cutie?”
“Think it’s the one mentioned before?”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“Um, uhh…”
…I haven’t been around the guild much lately either, but I don’t recognize those guys.
Actually, now that I think about it, they’re probably from out of town too.
The quality of their shoes and gloves looks familiar – they must be from the neighboring town of Basin. Nice gear, cheap but good quality.
But hassling a lone girl like that is uncalled for.
“You’re a gold-ranker’s party, so you must be loaded, right?”
“Being from the capital, you probably don’t know Legol town too well. We can show you around, real cheap.”
“…Hey, don’t run! Hahaha, why the scary face?”
“A bit of roughhousing is excusable with ‘Young Wands’.”
They probably thought they could get away with a little trouble since it’s against that party. A casual attitude like that, I’d wager.
…But you know what really gets on my nerves?
Guys who make up flimsy excuses to bully the weak.
“Cut it out.”
“Huh?”
“Who’s this guy?”
“Shut it.”
I leapt out into the alley, bastard sword slung over my shoulder.
…Weird, they should be at least a bit intimidated seeing me, but they don’t flinch at all.
You guys must be new transfers since spring?
“Hey, let’s have some fun. It’ll be good, right?”
“…Please stop…”
“C’mon, it’ll be fun.”
“Even a scared face is cute.”
Wait, are they ignoring me?
That’s not cool, you don’t just ignore the cool guy making an entrance, you know?
“Hey you, from ‘Young Wands’ over there. I’ll take it from here, so go on home. Just go through this way.”
“Hey, who said you could-?! Gah!”
As I gestured to a side path, the harassed girl thankfully seized the chance to bolt and escape.
…The way she could instantly take that split-second opening to reposition, you can tell she’s a well-trained mage too.
As expected of Sally’s party.
“Hey, wait up!”
“You lot better wait it out.”
“Who the hell are you?!”
“I’m Mongrel, the strongest guildman in Legol.”
“Don’t know any graying bronze scrub like you.”
“Die, Mongrel.”
“The girl got away, so what’re you gonna do about it, huh?”
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The guys…seem to be looking down on me as a bronze despite two of them also being Bronze 3, and one a Silver 1.
But all three are armed with longswords. Confident in their skills, clearly, since they don’t show any fear towards me.
“If you want to sweet-talk a girl, how about trying one-on-one instead of ganging up three-on-one?”
“Shut yer trap.”
Ugh. I tried to say something cool and got punched in the face for it.
“Ughh…hey, am I bleeding from the nose…?”
“This guy’s weak. Rough him up.”
“Got it.”
“We’ll teach you not to defy us.”
“Wait, no ugh-!”
So much for banter, they grabbed my collar and started wailing on me.
Completely surrounding me too, knees to the gut, body blows, not holding anything back…
“Ugh, this guy’s built…”
“We’ll really work you over, heheh…hey, look up.”
Oh great, now they’re grabbing my hair and lifting my face.
“Don’t touch the hair, jackass.”
WHUMP
Instinctively gave that one a brutal body blow for grabbing my hair like that.
Downed him in one hit, making him vomit, but that’s what you get for manhandling a grown man’s hair like that.
“Oh shit…”
“You bastard!”
“Don’t underestimate Legol guildmen, you Basin upstarts. Let me show you how tough Legol bronze can be. Free lesson.”
They haven’t drawn weapons yet, good. Maybe we can settle this as a civil scuffle then.
But if it escalates from here and they go for blades, I’ll have to end it decisively and mercilessly.
“Die, old man!”
First, I’ll take this amateur telegraphed punch to the forehead to injure his fist – or not, he just smacked me hard in the cheek, dammit that stung.
“Hah, stay down and-“
“It’s my turn now.”
WHUMPH
Sucker punched him in the gut while he was gloating. One more down and wheezing.
Man, it really is tough to fight stylishly, huh?
I have no sense for martial arts apparently…
“You son of a…!”
Oh damn, he’s going for his sword. Can’t have that.
“Sword draw cancelled!”
CRUNCH
No blades, that’d be straight-up criminal.
Consider that kick my mercy.
“Swear you’ll never pull another shady stunt in this town again. If you won’t, then get up and face me once more. I’ll take you on as many times as it takes.”
“……!”
“Haah…haah…!”
“…Gh…!”
“This ain’t a break time.”
THWACK
Kicked away the silver-rank who was eyeing me for an opening with that sharp gaze.
…That was a solid hit. Must have disrupted some kind of body reinforcement technique with my strength.
But that heavy kick seemed to make my potential clear to them.
“S-Sorry…! Won’t do anything underhanded again…or pick fights with you…”
“Please, mercy…”
“What kind of monster is this guy…”
“If you’ve got a problem with me, feel free to come at me again, all three. I haven’t gotten you back for those hits earlier. Truth is, I kinda want to mess you up a little more.”
“W-We’re done, we’re done! Let’s go, guys!”
“Really sorry about this…!”
“H-Hey, wait up! Don’t leave me!”
Properly cowed, the men scrambled to flee from the alley.
…Geez. Felt like a total hero protagonist pulling off that rescue, huh?
…I was expecting the girl I saved to come back and thank me at this point…but she doesn’t return.
Seems she took that chance to make a clean getaway instead. Pragmatic girl…but it’s better she doesn’t come back to the sketchy alley with bad guys around.
Nothing’s more pointless than a plot where the heroine unnecessarily puts herself in danger again.
It’s best to fully leave it to the rescuing hero.
“…No nosebleed at least, thank goodness.”
I peered at my reflection in my bastard sword’s dull blade, confirming my usual grinning mug, and exited the alleyway.
“Oh?”
“Huh? What are you coming back for after all?”
Only for the girl to be waiting on the main street past the alley’s exit.
So much for being a sensible heroine avoiding danger…she’s the type who runs into peril, huh? Well, her spirit is admirable, I suppose.
“Um…thank you so much. I was in trouble, so…I’m grateful you helped.”
“Don’t mention it. Just tell the leader Sally ‘Mongrel says you owe him one.'”
“Tell Sally…y-yes, I will.”
“And stick to the main roads for a while, alright?”
Kinda preachy at the end there, but oh well.
“…Truly, thank you.”
“Yup.”
“Young Wands” shouldn’t waste time on petty squabbles like this. The sooner they firm up their foothold here, the better.
Then Legol and the guild can focus on upcoming pioneer work and major projects.
That’s the first step. Use that momentum to keep developing the town further and further…draw in more people, increase production capacity.
Then we can take on Lord Chaos’s product development requests with even more workshops.
Become an ever more livable town, Legol.
Oh, and maybe increase town guard patrols too, while you’re at it…
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