Chapter 751: 751: Hilt's Apology

Fran had made a bet with Dimitris.

If Fran's performance in the tournament was better than Hilt's, Dimitris would accept the request from the Kingdom of Belioth.

Then, Fran won the bet by defeating Hilt herself.

But if Dimitris goes to Raydoss, it will be impossible for him to accept Belioth's request.

「Ahh......」

Dimitris was so focused on going to Raydoss that he completely forgot about the bet. His eyes were swimming.

「Hilt! This is my last order as master of the school! Assist Miss Fran with the full might of our school and lend her our forces!」

He just threw it all on his granddaughter's shoulders!

But Hilt shook her head, her face completely serious.

「I'm afraid not. Since I have the master's seal, I am already the master of the school, giving me the right to choose what jobs I take.」

「Nuh......」

This was probably Hilt's payback to Dimitris. She straight up refused his orders.

「...Fran, take this.」

Dimitris thought for a moment, and then he threw something at Fran. It was a small bag of items.

We glanced inside to see that it contains stuff like gold and potions.

「I'll leave this with you as an apology fee! You can do whatever you want with contents!」

「It's not about the money!」

「Consider it a debt for now! I'll pay you back for this one, I promise! I'm sorry! I'm truly sorry!」

「Dimitris!」

Fran shouted at him, but Dimitris continued flying upward into the sky.

「I'll make sure I pay you back!」

I feel like I can still hear a faint "Sooooorrrry" echoing through the sky.

「Fran, I won't lose next time.」

「......No, I'll win next time too.」

Finally, Sibylla called out to Fran before leaving. Soldiers ordered by the nobles fired a few arrows, but that was it. There was no big battle at the end.

「Dimitris...... Mrgh!」

『It's okay, don't be so sullen. Besides, we got something as an apology.』

A bag of items and plenty of gold. Honestly, I feel like we profited a ton from this. He also said he would repay us later too. It didn't end well this time, but we can get something out of him the next time we meet.

Now we just have to see if Dimitris is actually willing to pay us back......

「Fran. Please allow me to apologize on behalf of my grandfather.」

「Hilt, it's not your fault.」

「Still...... You won the bet, yet he went back on his word. I lost, and now I'm the head of the school. All of this is wrong. I promise to make my grandfather repay you for this.」

Her expression was not as hostile as it had been toward Fran. Like she said, she must truly be feeling sorry for Dimitris' behavior.

「We can lend a hand if you still need it. For example, say the current head of the Dimitris school and the top disciples were persuaded by you to accept the Belioth Kingdom's employment. How about that?」

「Really? You told Dimitris that you didn't want to.」

「That was just me getting vengeance on the troublesome old man.」

Oh, wow. You put it really bluntly.

「So, what do you think?」

「Nn. Let's do that.」

I don't know how much they will appreciate it compared to hiring Dimitris, but we do have the rank A Hilt. She's not a bad replacement.

「Well, I'm sure we'll have a lot of trouble after this......」

「That can't be helped.」

「Diaz.」

「Hilt-kun, you're not the only one who's going to be summoned by the kingdom. They'll most likely summon me too. With so many witnesses, there's no way we can cover it up.」

A buzz had returned to the audience. They were probably talking about the big event they had just witnessed. Everyone seemed excited.

「Are you going to be okay?」

Come to think of it, it's hard to take this job, isn't it? Dimitris, the head of the school, openly helped the Raydoss spies to escape, and he even went to Raydoss himself.

Hilt got left behind in a tough position. There will be a severe interrogation, right? Could they be detained for a long time, or even imprisoned?

But apparently that is unlikely.

「I doubt they'll hold you for longer than a month... You should be ready in time for Belioth's departure.」

「I think so too. The government won't be too heavy handed with us.」

「Why not?」

「Because if we resist, the damage will be too great. The most realistic settlement would be for them to call it even after we make a few concessions. Sigh...... I guess I'll be working for Kranzel for a while. It's been a long time since he's done anything this bad......」

「Long time?」

It's not the first time?

「Just look at him? This sort of thing happens every once in a while, but this time he took it a little too far.」

Once, he wiped out a knight division taking bribes from a crime syndicate, but there happened to be some nobles with royal blood among the slain. Next, he snuck into a royal palace just to fight a knight that was rumored to be strong, causing a huge panic. Also the time he got slapped with a bounty after he killed the ruling noble's son, who had been trying to have his way with a village girl. Apparently, he gets into trouble on a regular basis.

In such cases, Hilt said the disciples often pay for these incidents by taking on high level requests at a low price.

I have to wonder how his students don't all run away, but I guess they admire his strength. In fact, many people were saved by such radical actions, so several of the disciples just laughed it off. Some of them even considered it as a part of their training.

「It would be more beneficial for a country to gain favor with a world-famous group of martial artists, rather than antagonizing them.」

It was quite worrisome, but if Diaz and Hilt say they will be fine, then I guess they will.

「But first, we have to finish the closing ceremony. I guess it's my job to bow down to all the VIPs, since the lord is still sleeping.」

Apparently, the nobleman who got kicked out by Acidman was the lord. He has such little presence that even I can't remember his face!

The adventurers, under Diaz's direction, started rushing about. What a closing ceremony!

「Is Eliante okay?」

『Hmm... Not sure. She might be in trouble if she was still a member of the brigade, but I don't think they'll go after her just because she's a former member......』

(Not that.)

『Then what do you mean?』

(Eliante is going to be really mad. Will the guild in the capital be destroyed?)

『......Ah.』

I think back to Eliante's personality. She was a bit of a disappointment on the inside, despite her appearance as a competent woman. If she heard that her former comrade Neidhart had betrayed her, she might indeed lash out in anger.

『......Let's pray for the safety of our fellow adventurers in the capital. That's all we can do from here.』

(Nn.)