By the Grace of the Gods

After a brief greeting, the twelve delinquent adventurers waiting in front of the Adventurers' Guild lined up.

They then enthusiastically bent their bodies at a ninety-degree angle and greeted me.

Doing that in the middle of the town naturally attracted all sorts of gazes.

Feeling a bit overwhelmed by the attention, I lifted their heads and hurriedly led them toward our next destination: Mr. Darson’s shop.

“Good morning!”

“You’re here. Come on in for now.”

Calling out to Mr. Darson, who was shoveling snow outside, he stuck his tool into the snow pile, paused his work, and invited us into the shop.

“Mr. Darson, may we take a look at your merchandise?”

“Sure, feel free to look around.”

“Thank you. Everyone, please choose a weapon you are good at. Just be sure to handle the merchandise carefully.”

“Got it!”

“And keep it down.”

“Understood, Brother.”

They replied in slightly hushed voices. Yeah, that’s kind of what I expected…

While I was thinking that, Mr. Darson called out from behind the checkout counter.

“Ryoma, those guys are the delinquent adventurer group that’s been making the rounds in the rumors lately, right? I heard from Mr. Wogan, and it seems like they’re doing pretty well.”

“Is that so? Well, at least they’ve stopped resisting.”

“They used to be rebellious and stick out in a bad way, so them calming down is enough. Plus, they even call you ‘Brother,’ don’t they?”

“Honestly, I think they’re just scared of me. And about the ‘Brother’ thing—they seem to assume I’m older than them... You know, some species look like kids even when they’re adults.”

“I get it. Sometimes you act less like a kid and more like an old man.”

“Wha—!?”

Even though I’m still a lively eleven-year-old… Well, maybe that’s a bit old-fashioned to think about…

Truth is, I’m aware my mentality is more like an old man’s, so I can’t really deny it.

“But why did you buy those weapons for those guys? I thought you were going to pay for everything today?”

“The first day I was put in charge of them, I ended up destroying all their weapons.”

That day, I lured them to a place out of public view and got tangled up with them.

Following the guild master’s orders, I gave them a thorough scolding, but—

“I also provoked them quite a bit.”

At first, they attacked with their bare hands, and I drove them off, but they were more stubborn than I expected and didn’t want to admit defeat easily.

Besides, they kept making excuses like “I wasn’t using full strength yet,” so I kept casting healing magic and fought according to their excuses to break each one down.

“In the process, I let them use weapons, and they all ended up broken… Since those weapons were their personal belongings and tools of the trade, even if they started the trouble, since I provoked them into taking and destroying them, it’s only fair that I compensate for them.”

“Still, wouldn’t most people just give them money rather than come shopping with them?”

“There was something that caught my attention, too.”

“Something?”

“I had a feeling during the fight that their weapons didn’t quite fit them. For example…”

Spotting one of them who had just finished choosing a greatsword, I called him over.

“Mr. Benno.”

“Yes, Brother! What is it?”

“That greatsword looks similar to the one you used before.”

“Oh, yeah. I thought it’d be better if it resembled the one I used previously, so I picked something close to it.”

“Try holding it up. No need to swing it, just hold it ready.”

Though a bit puzzled, he obediently held the greatsword in front of him.

However, the sword tip wavered slightly under the weight of the weapon itself.

Plus, when we fought the other day, it seemed like he was being swung around by the weight of his weapon.

“I see, the weapon doesn’t match your physique. I recommend switching to a lighter greatsword, or a longsword that can be held with both hands, or a blunt weapon of similar weight. If you insist on using that one, at least train your body a bit more first.”