Chapter 134.2
The Man Picked up by the Gods – Volume 3 Chapter 134: The Guild Master’s Decision (2/2)
Inside the peaceful carriage, a refreshing wind shook the carriage. Because of the all nighter last night, I was gradually getting sleepy.
“Please make him retire… Please…”
“I have psychological problems now because of you.”
“Please stop it already!”
“Don’t group me with you… Not everyone is as strong as you mentally or physically.”
…
“You’re putting me in a pinch, Takebayashi-kun. You have to look after your people better. You’re an educator, right? Don’t you understand how much effort it takes to hire people? We have to train the beginners again from the start. Do you know how much problem you’re causing us? Do you understand? Huh? Do you understand!?”
“Did you hear? That Takebayashi guy. He crushed another rookie again.”
“Puha! Again? That’s hilarious! What year does this make this? He can’t even teach his subordinates properly?”
I intended to teach them properly.
But the kids I was in charge of just came to hate me more and more.
In the end, most of them retired.
I never raised my hand.
I never yelled at them either.
I talked to them calmly and whenever there was something they didn’t understand, I would teach them.
I balanced the workload I gave them to avoid burdening them too much.
As a general rule, I only taught them during work time, so they could take a break during break time.
I tried all sorts of methods, but in the end, the results never changed.
What did I do wrong?
What am I doing wrong?
“I can see it!!” [???]
“Hmm…?” [Ryouma]
…It seems I fell asleep a little.
That was nostalgic. I saw a dream when I was still young.
Come to think of it, there was a time when I was concerned about things like that.
Dreaming something like that now… It’s as if I’ve gotten younger.
…Oh, wait. I have gotten younger.
This isn’t good. I have to wake up properly. Did I sleep that much?
When I looked around me, the position of the sun hadn’t changed that much.
But the gates of Gimuru could be seen from a distance.
“We’re finally here…” [Student 1]
“We’re back.” [Student 2]
“Thank goodness.” [Student 3]
As the students were relaxed and they let their guard down, the atmosphere softened.
“Oh? That’s a fairly big crowd gathered outside town. They don’t look like adventurers, though.” [Lucy]
“Right. They seem to be surveying something.” [Ryouma]
“I hear there are plans to expand town, so it’s probably for that.” [Roche]
Although they’re still at the planning stages, it seems progress is being steadily made.
I glanced at the people working while we passed through the southern gate and headed straight for the guild.
“Welcome back!” [Wogan]
The guild master seemed to have been waiting for us, for when we got to the guild, he was standing there ready to greet us.
“All the students that participated are to gather here! …Looks like everyone was able to come back safely. How was it? Did you learn something new from the training?” [Wogan]
He gathered the students to a corner of the guild and the students answered his questions.
“I see. Roche, I’ll leave it to you to close this class.” [Wogan]
“Alright… Students!” [Roche]
’Congratulations to everyone who participated in the training these past five days. I pray that everyone learned something that will be useful to them in the future.’
If you summarize it, that’s pretty much what he said. And then after the jobs taken by the student were reported to the guild, the training session was put to an end and everyone was dismissed.
“Good job out there, Ryouma.” [Wogan]
“Guild Master.” [Ryouma]
“How was it? Your first training.” [Wogan]
“Well… I learned a lot from Roche-san.” [Ryouma]
“That sounds like the kind of impression a student would have.” [Roche]
“There were a lot of things I learned for the first time.” [Ryouma]
“That’s true. No matter how much you know, there are always new things to learn. …Come with me for a bit.” [Roche]
The guild master invited me with a serious face.
“Guild Master, can I come too?” [Roche]
“Roche? Well, you have to report anyway. You come as well then.” [Wogan]
We were brought to the office of the guild master.
First, Roche-san reported about the events during the training, then the conversation shifted to me.
The topic was as I’d expected. It was regarding the events after the match.
“After seeing Ryouma’s face, I thought something might have happened, and it turns out to be that sort of stuff.” [Wogan]
The guild master placed his elbows to the desk and supported his head with his hands, seemingly worried.
“Roche. Give me a more detailed report of how the others reacted. How were the guys avoiding Ryouma like?” [Wogan]
“At first, they were scared and confused, but eventually, they calmed down. There are also those that have fixed their behavior since then. This is the case for half of the students. As for the teachers, the older ones either acknowledged Ryouma right from the start or came to terms with things this morning. The ones avoiding him are mostly the younger ones. Several young teachers like Bosco are pretty obvious about it.” [Roche]
“Bosco is still young himself. So, the others were flustered when they saw Ryouma’s strength, huh.” [Wogan]
“My deepest apologies.” [Roche]
“Don’t apologize. You had him show his abilities because you thought it would help the students, right? You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s just that the results are a little disappointing. So, Roche. What do you think of Ryouma’s abilities. Give me your honest thoughts.” [Wogan]
“Frankly, I wouldn’t be able to beat him even if I were at my peak. If I were the same age as Bosco and if I weren’t planning on retiring, I might have responded like Bosco did.” [Roche]
Roche-san thinks highly of my abilities. When the guild master heard that, he wordlessly nodded.
“I heard Ryouma won against Howard. He did use ki, right?” [Wogan]
“He definitely went all out.” [Roche]
“I see… I understand. Ryouma.” [Wogan]
“Yes.” [Ryouma]
The guild master took out a piece of parchment and started writing something on it.
“We guild masters possess the authority to restrict the activities of adventurers, but at the same time, we also possess the authority to remove certain restrictions. One of these restrictions involves ‘jobs pertaining to bandits’. These kind of jobs are often reserved to C Rankers and above due to having to fight other people. That’s why the restriction is automatically lifted upon promoting to C Rank, but… In special cases, the guild master has the right to give permission to those he has acknowledged to take on such jobs despite still being below C Rank.” [Wogan]
“Guild master?! That’s—” [Wogan]
Roche-san was about to voice out his complaints, but Wogan stopped him with his eyes.
“Roche, I understand your feelings. I’ve also thought about the things you told him. I was worried about how to handle him, but he can look after himself. That’s also why I was worried that if left alone, he will walk further and further ahead by himself. But that is Ryouma’s business. You understand this too, right?” [Wogan]
“…” [Roche]
“If a parent prepares everything, a child can grow up safely. But as a result, when one’s parents are no longer around, the child won’t be able to do anything. I have no intentions of raising him up like that as a guild master. Besides, Ryouma never needed protection ever since he joined the guild. He was already able to walk by himself when he came here.
…I left him to you to test him one last time. I wanted to know how Ryouma looked from another person’s eyes. I wanted to know how he looked from an objective perspective. I wanted to know if your opinion would match mine.” [Wogan]
“So that’s how it is.” [Roche]
“Yeah. That’s why… Even if I want to support him, I’ll only be getting in his way.” [Wogan]
As the guild master said that, he handed me the parchment and looked at me with a serious face.
“Ryouma. With the power vested into me as the guild master of the Gimuru Branch Adventurers Guild, I hereby grant you the right to accept ‘Bandit Subjugation’ jobs. On your way back, submit this along with your guild card to the receptionist. Do this and a permission will be granted to your guild card. If you use this permission, you will be one step closer to promoting to C Rank.
Just know that I am only giving you the right to take on bandit subjugation jobs, not the right to do everything by yourself. If you can form a party, then do that. And if there’s anything on your mind, be sure to come talk to me. …Don’t you ever mistake that alright?” [Wogan]
“…! Yes! I understand!” [Ryouma]
“Good. That’s a good reply.” [Wogan]
After hearing my response, he released the parchment from his hands.
“Ah… About how other people look at you. You probably won’t be able to avoid that. It’s something that more or less happens even when a normal guy is promoted. Don’t mind it too much. Just do what you want to do. Of course, as long as it’s not illegal.” [Wogan]
What I do want to do? That’s obvious.
“It’s alright. Nothing will change. I’ll just keep working as I have been until now.” [Ryouma]
It’s not as if I’m planning to isolate myself in the forest again just because people are avoiding me.
In the first place, it’s impossible for everyone I meet to like me. I may have been blessed with relationships with good people ever since coming here, but this sort of stuff will be more common as I get more opportunities to meet others. It’s not like my relationship with good people have been affected or anything, so I’ll just keep on going as I have until now.
“Nothing will change, huh. Yeah. That’s how you are. For better or for worse.” [Wogan]
“Ah, I may have said nothing will change, but I’ll think about forming a party.” [Ryouma]
After all, Roche-san and the guild master went out of their way to warn me.
It’s only unfortunate that I can’t say for sure that I’ll form a party.
“Don’t push yourself now.” [Wogan]
After the guild master said that, I was granted permission to leave his office.
The guild master looked really tired.