"Why don't you both come to our village and rest for a while? Let us properly thank you."
After learning that Minami Yojuro and his group were the adventurers who defeated the Venomous Dragon, the village chief and the villagers immediately changed their earlier attitudes and began treating Yojuro with great enthusiasm.
"The Venomous Dragon was taken down by Yojuro alone, it has nothing to do with me. I was just passing by."
Hearing the villagers say they wanted to thank them for defeating the dragon, Yosuke showed a great deal of professional integrity. He assumed they were going to hand out a quest reward, so he quickly clarified that he hadn't done anything.
"Forget about entering your village. I'm worried I might get ambushed if I let my guard down.
Since you already admit you lied about the quest's difficulty, I won't waste words. For this mission's reward, you must give me an additional fifty percent.
Otherwise, not only will I report this to the Adventurers' Guild, but I'll also inform your local lord."
The old village chief didn't hesitate at all at Yojuro's demand. He immediately pulled out another small pouch of gold coins and handed it over to him.
The reason he had lied about the commission's difficulty and kept part of the money was because he thought no adventurer could defeat the Venomous Dragon. The withheld funds were meant to pay for relocating the entire village.
But now, with the dragon's corpse lying before them, and the environmental issues it had caused disappearing with its death, there was no longer any need to relocate.
After checking that the amount of gold was correct, Yojuro was about to leave. But just then, the old village chief suddenly blocked his way.
"Do you still have something else to ask?"
Normally, when an adventurer defeated a powerful monster, the nearby villages would hold a banquet in celebration. And as the hero of the moment, most adventurers wouldn't refuse such invitations.
Not only could they feast and drink for free, but they would also be praised and adored by everyone. Many adventurers thoroughly enjoyed such treatment.
But what baffled the old chief was that Yojuro was different from ordinary adventurers, completely ignoring the usual script.
He had even hinted discreetly that there were many young and pretty girls in the village who admired handsome and powerful adventurers—but Yojuro still showed no reaction.
"To tell you the truth, we have another favor to ask of you, great adventurer.
Although the Venomous Dragon has been slain, the water source it polluted cannot be restored overnight.
Without clean water for drinking or irrigation, our village is on the verge of drought, so…"
"So you want me to provide after-sales service and fix your polluted water problem too?"
Before the old chief could finish, Yojuro had already guessed his intention and interrupted: "Sorry, but I don't know any water purification magic."
"Even if I had a way to help you, that would count as another commission altogether.
The task I accepted from the Adventurers' Guild was only to slay the venom-type monster that polluted the surrounding environment, nothing more. Other matters are completely outside the scope of my work."
If Yojuro hadn't overheard the villagers' earlier words, maybe—after earning such a large sum—he would have considered helping them solve the water problem. But now, he had no intention of meddling further.
Since they regarded the lives of adventurers as worthless, why should he have any pity for them?
Seeing that Yojuro was determined to leave, the old village chief let out a heavy sigh. He also realized that their previous actions had offended him.
Frankly speaking, the fact that Yojuro didn't report their behavior was already giving them enough face. To ask him for more help really was overstepping their bounds.
"Yosuke, aren't you leaving? Don't tell me you actually plan to stay and help them solve their water problem?"
Yojuro was about to leave, but when he saw Yosuke still standing there, he froze for a moment.
"Yojuro, I think we should help them. Without a water source, this village will collapse.
Besides, there are many women and children here, most of whom don't even know what the village chief has done."
Hearing Yosuke's words, Yojuro immediately realized he had softened. This was the classic flaw of isekai protagonists. Put nicely, it was called yasashii (kind-hearted). Put bluntly, it was nothing but being a damn "saint."
Yojuro wasn't a heartless villain. From his earlier observation, though the villagers were indeed suffering from the water issue, their lives weren't in immediate danger. It was mostly the farmland that would dry up.
The Venomous Dragon that poisoned the environment was already dead. In just a few more days, the polluted water would gradually dilute until it became harmless. During that time, treating this as punishment for lying about the quest's difficulty and treating adventurers like dirt was perfectly fitting.
But now Yosuke insisted, saying he understood too well the feeling of having no drinking water and surviving only on rainfall. That's why he wanted to help the villagers.
"If that's your decision, then I'll take my leave. I hope your kindness will be repaid.
Yosuke, let me give you one last piece of advice: this is another world, not a game.
Here, everyone has their own independent will and personality. They won't treat every adventurer the same way NPCs do, and not everything you do will necessarily be rewarded.
Of course, I respect those willing to extend a hand to the weak, and I even agree with that sentiment.
But not everyone is worth helping. That's all I have to say. I hope this serves as a proper lesson for you."
Leaving those words behind, Yojuro turned and walked away. In his eyes, Yosuke was still far too naïve.
But he couldn't really blame him. After all, Yosuke was just a seventeen-year-old boy from modern society, untested by the harsh realities of the world.
Yojuro, on the other hand, had wandered the Rukongai for decades. The brutal business environment there had taught him many things—sometimes, excessive kindness wasn't a virtue.
Some people were worth saving—like the elf girl Sue from before. But others, even if you helped them, wouldn't appreciate it. Some might even take the chance to stab you in the back.
After all his experiences, Yojuro trusted his judgment of people. That old chief, arrogant at first and humble later, had treated adventurers like weeds before meeting them.
But after discovering that Yojuro and his group had slain the Venomous Dragon and realizing he needed something, he showed a completely different face.
Two-faced people like that were common in the Rukongai. To Yojuro, they weren't worth saving.
°°°
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