Musou Slime 6

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6. Guild Staff Sierra-san

As the guild approached, my heart gradually became unsettled.

It's still early, so I think it'll be okay, but... Dan isn't here. Given what happened yesterday, it's honestly awkward. I hope we don't run into each other unexpectedly...

"Ar-kun?"

"Whoa! Don't startle me like that, Sierra-san!"

The voice that called me from behind belonged to Sierra-san, a guild staff member.

"No need to be so surprised. I just called out because you were acting all sneaky."

Sierra-san, with her long navy-blue hair, exuded a calm aura. Vibrant lipstick adorned her lips, and she wore a black suit. Two years older than me, she was undeniably an attractive woman.

Since we often crossed paths when taking on quests, we had become acquaintances who exchanged small talk upon meeting.

"Hey, I heard you got kicked out of the party?"

"Shh! What if Dan hears you!"

"It's okay. Brutal Edge left for a quest this morning and won't be back today."

Sierra-san smirked mischievously. I felt relieved. Sierra-san was probably the only person in the guild who stood by me.

"So, Ar-kun, are you continuing as an adventurer? Well, I can probably tell by your demeanor."

I nodded. Of course, I planned to become stronger and surpass Dan.

"Being expelled means you're solo now, right? Shall I introduce you to some parties?"

Sierra-san was very kind. She was trying to help me find a party that would hire me through recruitment.

However, my feelings remained unchanged.

"No, I plan to continue solo for a while."

"I see. But, isn't solo tough at your level, Ar-kun?"

I was waiting for that question!

"It's fine! I have an 'evolving skill'!"

"An evolving... skill?"

A subtle tension filled the air between Sierra-san and me. After a moment of silence, Sierra-san burst into laughter.

"Hahaha! What's that? Skills evolve?"

"Don't laugh! It's true!"

"I've never heard such a thing. But I'm looking forward to it, so do your best, okay?"

Oh, she doesn't believe me. Well, it's fine. Eventually, she'll believe me when I level up and become stronger.

"So, Ar-kun, a quest now?"

"No, I just finished one. I was planning to report the quest completion."

"Already finished? Then let's go through the procedures."

Following Sierra-san, I stood at the reception to report the completion of the quest.

"'Defeat 10 slimes,' right? So, submit 10 slime cores, please."

I took 10 slime cores from the pouch and placed them on the tray at the reception. It's common sense to show the dropped items from monsters when reporting quest completion.

Sierra-san opened the mouth of the pouch, counted the coin-sized spheres to ten, and nodded deeply.

"Yes, confirmed. Also, if you have additional monster drops, I'll take them, but for Ar-kun, it's a bit later, right?"

"No, I have more."

"Huh?"

I took another large pouch from my pocket, different from the one with the ten standard cores. This one was for additional items.

"It looks quite inflated, but what's inside that!?"

"Probably over 100 slime cores. And one goblin skin."

"W-Wait, what!?"

After a moment of bewilderment, Sierra-san stared at me intently.

"W-What are you looking at?"

Her emerald-colored eyes were so transparent and captivating. Despite the odd stare, it made my heart pound a bit.

"Ar-kun, are you up to something bad?"

"I'm not! Really!"

"Well, yeah, I know. I know you're a serious guy who wouldn't do such things. But seriously, what happened? Did you go slime hunting since last night?"

"No, I gathered them in about four hours."

"Four hours!?"

Sierra-san was surprised again. Well, she didn't know about my rapid growth.

"Ar-kun, you've always been a bit mysterious, but today is especially..."

After closing the pouch, Sierra-san handed me a piece of paper.

"I'll go exchange this; in the meantime, I'll look at the purchase agreement. If you agree, sign it."

With a dissatisfied expression, Sierra-san said only that and went into the back room.

After this, a tremendous amount of money would be in my hands.