I see. Since the F and G-rank adventurers were part of the joint operation, it made sense they would be here as well.
"Yes! Thank you so much for your help yesterday!"
"Thank you for everything!"
The girl who had spoken first was followed by the rest of the group, who all shouted in unison and bowed their heads. Their display was so synchronized that the people around us turned to see what the commotion was about. I wanted to tell them to stop staring, but I knew it was a lost cause. I was already occupying a corner of the waiting area surrounded by the countless slimes that had helped with the construction; I stood out quite a bit just by existing.
"Um, what is this about...?"
I could guess the reason, but their attitude was a complete reversal from the day before.
"We wanted to thank you for saving us, and also apologize for how we acted yesterday," the girl explained.
"Well, thank you for coming over. I’m just glad you’re all safe. I’m Ryoma Takebayashi, a human. And these, as you can see, are my tamed slimes."
This was the third time I had run into them, but I didn't even know their names. Since they had come to express their gratitude, I introduced myself, and they nervously followed suit.
To my surprise, the group consisted of the following:
The boys: Beck, a thirteen-year-old Lesser Monkey-kin. Ruth, a twelve-year-old Dog-kin. Wist, an eleven-year-old Greater Monkey-kin.
The girls: Marta, a twelve-year-old half-elf. Phinia, a twelve-year-old half-dwarf. Rumir, a twelve-year-old Dog-kin.
I had assumed they were two beast-kin and four humans, but I was wrong. The two half-breeds looked entirely human, and the distinction between Greater and Lesser Monkey-kin was confusing!
As it turned out, Beck, the Lesser Monkey-kin, was the talkative one and the shortest of the bunch. Unfortunately, his height and rough way of speaking made him look like nothing more than a bratty kid, but as the oldest, he had apparently been trying to take the lead and act as a shield for the others.
Then there was Wist, the Greater Monkey-kin. Despite being the youngest, he was the largest in the group. I had assumed he was the eldest.
"T-the adults always told me my height was just... part of my race..."
On top of that, he was the literal definition of timid. He gave off a completely different impression than he had when he stood like a wall the day before. When I asked him about it, he confessed that when he was working as an adventurer—and especially yesterday—he had been forcing himself to look tough so people wouldn't look down on him. If he just stood there silently, his size did give him a certain level of intimidation for his age.
Greater Monkey-kin and Lesser Monkey-kin. Looking at them again with that knowledge, they did have a certain gorilla-like and golden-snub-nosed-monkey-like vibe to them... especially their hair colors. It would have been rude to say it out loud, but once I noticed, I couldn't unsee it.
Setting that aside for a moment...
Though they were all still children, their racial traits gave them excellent physical abilities and mana.
Ruth and Rumir possessed the sharp sense of smell and balanced athleticism of the Dog-kin, while Marta, the half-elf, was talented in magic. Beck, being a Lesser Monkey-kin, was light on his feet and could climb trees with ease. Wist and Phinia, the half-dwarf, demonstrated their surprising strength by taking turns squeezing my hand.
Comparing racial characteristics was fascinating. However...
"I’m impressed. Your physical capabilities are quite high."
"It’s... not that impressive," Phinia murmured.
"I-it was the first time I ever lost a contest of strength to someone my age, big brother," Wist added.
"I saw that... those two lost, but if we’re talking about pure strength, they aren't that far behind adult adventurers," Beck said. "We became adventurers so we could use those strengths to make a living. But even if we can move better than some adults, they still make more money... Since you looked younger than us, we assumed you were even worse off, and that’s why I said those things. I’m really sorry."
High physical ability is a definite advantage, but it doesn't guarantee success in the field. Even for a single hunt, you need to know how to track prey, where to strike, and which methods to use. These kids simply hadn't mastered those skills yet. They were suffering from a lack of experience.
"As I told you before, I’m not bothered by the things you said. But there are a few other things I’m curious about."
"Ask us anything," Beck replied. "We don't have anything to hide anymore."
Then I would take him up on that.
"I only noticed the commotion yesterday because I was feeding my slimes and happened to go after a metal slime that rolled away. But what were you all doing in a place like that?"
I knew they had been lured there by those men, but it had still been lunchtime. If they were in the square, they could have easily called for help. At my question, their expressions darkened.
"We couldn't carry all the monster corpses your party gave us in one trip," Beck explained.
"We didn't have enough bags," Phinia added.
That made sense. It might have been a bit much for just the six of them to haul away at once. They clearly didn't have access to an Item Box or Space Magic.
"So they cornered you when you went back for the rest?"
"They probably would have come for us anyway," Rumir said, looking frustrated. "Yesterday was actually the second time those guys harassed us."
When I asked for more details, the six of them looked increasingly bitter.
"Last week, we all took a medicinal herb gathering quest in the Northern Forest," Marta explained. "Those five men were working there too. They started shouting at us, claiming we were scaring off their prey just by being near them. I think that’s when they decided to target us."
"Were you all right then?"
"We’d made a few mistakes ourselves back then, and we didn't want to start a fight," Beck said. "Besides, the demand wasn't as crazy as the one they made yesterday, so we just paid them. That guy Satch happened to walk by and 'calculated' things for us. He told us how much they’d lost because their bait was wasted, and what the penalty for failing their quest would be... We had no idea he was one of them. Looking back, they must have been working together from the start."
So they played the "good cop" and "bad cop" to extort money.
"But with so many people in their group, the amount each person got must have been tiny."
"They told us that even our small earnings would be enough to cover their drinks for the night," Phinia whispered.
Were they satisfied with petty change, or were they running this scam on multiple victims? Well, the guild would sort that out. More importantly...
"My next question then... from what I’ve heard, it sounds like you’re capable of at least some hunting."
I judged that they could at least handle cave bats or small rats. The six of them nodded in agreement.
"If that’s the case, why were you resorting to scavenging other people’s kills?"
"...Because we thought we could make more money that way," Beck muttered.
"We started out doing normal subjugations," Marta added, bowing her head again. "But it took so long. Then we saw adult adventurers throwing away kills because they were too much trouble to carry, and... we're so sorry."
I wasn't looking for another apology.
"I asked the wrong way. What I really want to know is why you need money so desperately. Was it just the struggle of daily life, or was there another reason?"
"Life was hard, yeah, but the main reason was the Resident Tax," Ruth answered.
I hadn't expected that.
"The Resident Tax. Just to be clear, you mean the tax you pay to the city you live in?"
"What else would it be?" Beck snapped. "If you want to live in the city, you have to pay it."
In this world, the Resident Tax was used for maintaining the city walls, paying the guards, and various other public expenses. By paying it, residents gained the right to be protected from monsters and bandits. Since I had lived in the forest, I had never paid it, but once you established a residence in town, the obligation began. Their explanation was perfectly sound.
Still, I couldn't help but feel surprised that they were so diligent about paying their taxes.
"I’m sorry. I’m not very familiar with the city’s tax system. Is it really that expensive in Gimul?"
"It’s 400 Suut per person," Beck said. "I’ve never lived anywhere else, so I don't know if that’s high or not, but we have to pay it regardless. If we don't, we can't stay in the city."
2,400 Suut for the six of them. It was a sum I could pay without a second thought, but for children living on the edge, it was a massive amount of money.
"But how did you manage to pay it before?"
I didn't know if they had parents, but they must have had some way to earn money while living in the city.
"We worked cleaning toilets," Beck said.
"...You mean the cesspools?"
"You know about that? We could get money from the town office for cleaning them. But the pay kept getting lower and lower, and the adults in the slums told us to stop because we were just going to get sick. That’s when we decided to become adventurers."
"Ah, I see..."
A wave of exhaustion washed over me. I hadn't been particularly angry with them to begin with, but after hearing the whole story, I didn't even have the energy for irritation.
"...Hey, did I say something wrong?" Beck asked, looking worried.
"I-I don't know... is he mad...?" Wist whispered.
I realized I was making them anxious.
"I’m not mad. Don't worry. Um... about that Resident Tax, isn't there some kind of relief system?"
As far as I knew, failing to pay didn't result in immediate exile.
"I also heard there was work available at the mines."
"Relief system? If you mean what happens when we can't pay, I heard they sometimes let people work it off for free... but those jobs are handed out by the same people who stopped paying us in the first place! We can't trust them, and since everyone else who lost the toilet cleaning work is in the same boat, those jobs are hard to get anyway."
Beck continued, "And they won't hire kids at the mines. Someone decided that a long time ago. They said that even if we have the strength, there are plenty of adults looking for work, and they won't break the 'custom' just for us. They just turned us away."
So the fallout from the cesspool situation had reached even these kids...
"Well, I’ve heard what I wanted to hear. Thank you."
"O-oh? Sure."
The six of them looked baffled by my sudden gratitude. I told them it was nothing and then informed them that the adventurer guild was now in charge of managing the cesspool cleaning work. When I told them the pay wouldn't be cheated, they asked with intense seriousness if it was true. They seemed genuinely willing to work hard.
I suppose I’ll limit my scavenger slimes' cleaning to when they’re short on food, or for cases of absolute necessity.