I don’t want to be a ‘Good guy’!

.

.

.

------------

'The training continued and eventually, it was time for lunch where Silver once again cooked for the tired girls and 3 boys.'

'This time, however, he was helped by Cassandra, Daphne, and Hestia, and although they didn't know how to cook perfectly, they were good enough to help.'

'And this would also help in making them closer to the Familia, although to be honest, Silver thoughts were unnecessary, all of the people Hestia chose were good people, so even if their personality made themselves distant from others, they would eventually be brought together.'

'And because of the overwhelming amount of girls, there were no conflicts so far and the atmosphere was rather calm and positive.'

'Their ages ranged from a whopping 13 for the youngest, to a nice 24 for the oldest and more experienced girls.'

'However, the average seemed to be around 16-18 years of age, which is normal since once again and for the last time, most of these are girls joining a Familia for the first time.'

'The ones who were having the time of their lives were the triplets that due to the fact they were small and rather cute with their bald heads, they ended up attracting the attention of most of the girls who kept playing around with them.'

'Although they made it clear they weren't interested and found it all rather annoying…'

'After everyone ate, Silver had them rest while he prepared the next course of training, a simple self study section in the library.'

'And to be honest, this was only an extension of their off time as they could do whatever they wished, be it train or just relax or even leave towards the city, however, they had to be back by the time the next training started.'

'Of course, Silver told them he would prepare a mock paper every week to test their knowledge, nothing too serious and most of it is simple knowledge from the Upper floors and basic Dungeon conduct.'

'He stayed this time to help them get the ropes of things, but starting from tomorrow, Silver would go back to his usual activities, focusing on making money and leveling up.'

'He even promised to bring Cassandra and Daphne one of these days, but not anytime soon.'

'After this study section it was the last training of the day, combat simulation.'

'Each day would have its own schedule but the combat simulation would never change. Always being at this time.'

'It was a simple mock battle between the more experienced girls and the less experienced ones to help them grow combat awareness.'

'Cassandra and Daphne would join in since they were you know… Level 2.'

'It was also because of this that Daphne started to realize that Silver was trying to put her in the Vice Captain position, but it was important to say that she wasn't exactly a fan of giving orders, as such, she decided to have a word with him about this subject when the opportunity came.'

'Cassandra on the other hand took Silver's words very seriously as she continually chanted, trying to improve her magic, even though she wasn't effectively casting the spell, it was still a bit tiresome to keep focus and recite the same thing multiple times over.'

'But what about Hestia? The little Goddess roamed around the place aimlessly, still not believing this situation, hopping around the place like a happy gazelle.'

'The mood of the Hestia Familia was at the top!'

…

/Later that day in the underground…/

'In a dark and smelly room, several people could be seen moving several cages around the place.'

'Inside those cages were chained monsters, roaring as they were moved around.'

/Splurge!/

'In the corner of the room, a man with a big pair of protective goggles and red eyes could be seen slitting the throat of a Hobgoblin with a spear.'

'His expression was one of disgust as he completed that act, but once he was done he shook his head around as he turned around, looking at his subordinates.'

"Clean this is up Gran! This one wasn't good." Said the man as he shook the blood out of his knife

'He looked around the place, the monsters were now looking at him all silent.'

'And he smiled in glee as he realized that these creatures were more delicious than he had ever imagined!'

"It was truly such a shame we only got a few, I wonder what these creatures are?" He mumbled to himself as he thought deeply

'But his thoughts were cut by a scream!'

"HEY! Problem!"

'Everyone looked at the source of the sound to see a girl running around towards the man with goggles.'

"Big problem Dix, some strange dudes appeared right outside our base and they killed everyone! They even took our merchandise!"

/SLAP!/

'Dix slapped the girl as he said:'

"What do you mean by strange dudes?! Explain that to me properly!"

Tsk! Looks like hunting special creatures also brings its own special problems…

"There were several of them and their identities were all hidden!"

"..."

They took out everyone outside no doubt, including the lookouts and guards, and the only one who was left was this girl… This means?!

/Splurge!/

'He cut the girl's neck with his dagger and turned around, saying:''

"We're leaving! Grab everything you can and retreat! Kill all of the merchandise and take any drops you see!"

Heh, if you came for them then I can't just let you right?...

However… I will remember this…

'A slaughter started as every creature in the cages were killed one after the other, and by the time their pursuers arrived, the place was empty.'

'One of them clenched their fists before he said something to the side and a group started to clean the place and investigate.'

'He took out a small crystal-like orb and talked with it before he turned around and left.'

…

/Back at the Manor…/

'Silver and Cassandra could be seen talking while the girls were fighting in the training arena.'

'The triplets could be seen fighting against one of the experienced Level 1's and they were going rather well! They at least weren't clumsy and fought while keeping each other in check.'

"I told you, I can't do it."

"And I heard that, I just told you to give it a try at least for the first month, during this time one of the girls may rise up to be suitable for this job. I won't ask you to lead them in battle for now, but instead, I only need you to help them for now."

'Cassandra let out a sigh while her head dropped, interestingly enough, she seemed a bit more relaxed than yesterday, perhaps her sealed personality is finally starting to surface?'

"Fine, but only for this one month, I won't accept no matter what you tell me when this month passes okay?" She asked while she looked at him

'Silver had a big smile on his face.'

"Loud and clear ma'am."

"Don't 'ma'am' me!"

"Understood your highness, lady Daphne."

'She dropped her head once more, this time with a thin smile.'

"Is that a smile I see?"

'Her smile disappeared as she raised her head with a serious look.'

"You are mistaken, you may need to check your eyes."

"Thank you but I am not in need of glasses."

"Are you sure?"

"Will you keep doubting my words? That's a no-go, I will have you in detention!"

'Daphne turned around and waved him off saying:'

"Okay okay…"

"Ho? You think I am a pushover?"

"How could I? You are our strong and capable Captain right?"

'Silver continued to argue with her as she made her way down the hallway, and he eventually stopped when she disappeared out of her sight, of course, Silver would make sure to give her a surprise when she went to sleep…'

'Daphne is very afraid of rats after all…'

'She on the other hand continued to walk down the corridor with a happy face, she didn't have a smile per se, but the mood around her had considerably improved.'

…

/The Next day…/

'Silver, fully equipped with a mix of light and medium armor, well… If you could even call it that as he had shoulders, elbow, and knee pads made out of leather, and a chest armor made out of some sort of metal, but that was pretty much all.'

'The rest were his clothes he was using underneath but most people would think that is some sort of special more resistant cloth, but they are wrong, those were just his discardable clothes he bought at an inexpensive store, they are comfortable enough and even if they tear apart, it doesn't matter.'

'However, Silver made sure to at least look good and not like a goofy newbie as he looked quite dashing with his clothes as he made his way across the street,  he would get a few eyes and people whispering, but since his clothes weren't anything unique most people just ended up ignoring him.'

'They would probably think he is either a supporter or a low-ranking damage dealer considering the halberd on his back. Remember it was fully black and its inscriptions were really hard to see under the strong light of the sun. Not only that, they were tiny.'

'He also had a medium-sized backpack on his back since every solo adventurer needs one. Although solo adventurers are already a rare thing to begin with.'

'He made his way to the Guild and said hello to his friend…'

"Why the grumpy face?"

'Loiju looked at Silver with disdain before he replied:'

"I heard someone made a Harem?"

"?????"

'Silver eyebrows twitched, but he still asked:'

"Since when? I am also curious about this Harem."

'Loiju continued checking his books before he said:'

"I heard all members of your Familia were girls, lucky bastard."

"Wait wait wait… There is something really serious about this, and second, how did information about the new members travel so quickly?"

'Loiju shrugged.'

"How am I supposed to know? I just heard it from a few adventurers that were talking, but now that you pointed it out, I think they failed a test or something, would you know about that?"

'Silver frowned.'

The guys that didn't pass my assessment? But that doesn't make sense since they passed Hestia's first tests… So they must be the adventurers that failed Hestia's test.

How did they learn about the internal situation of the Familia so quickly? Did they stay all night observing us?

'Of course, Silver forgot, but Leto did have a guy… A young and wronged man… And in any case, girls can also joke about this too, right? A joke turns into gossip that turns into the truth, gets distorted and exaggerated…'

"Look, I don't have a Harem, I would be very happy if I had one but I don't..."

'But someone interfered:'

"Heehhh? You would?"

'Silver recognized the voice, he remained steady but he let a word slip…'

"... fuck…"

"What did you say?!"

'Silver turned around and saw a cute bear girl in a nice dress, it was Nicc, looking at him with scary eyes.'

"Me? I didn't say anything, it was Loiju."

"Don't bring me into this! I'm out!" Said Loiju as he left towards the back of the Guild with a distorted smile

Hehehe! Suffer! Lucky bastards should go die…

Now… To get some commissions… What are the most annoying things to do?

Collect fruits from the hollow trees on the 10th floor? That's brutal…

Hunt down Almirajs? Those annoying things are an interesting choice

Go to the 18th floor and bring back a chair?! This one is fucking amazing…

…

'Silver eventually left the Guild with her, he would come back later and get his commissions as always, Loiju would certainly get them for him.'

'He led her to one of the coffee shops she liked nearby and sat down to talk.'

"..."

"..."

'Silver gazed at Nicc and she gazed at his face.'

"The rumors are false, I do not have a Harem, they are just colleagues… It wasn't me who selected them."

'Nicc looked at him as she bit her cookie that came with her coffee and asked:'

"Is it true that most of your Familia are girls?"

"Yeah, it ended up happening, to be honest, it was not my fault, I was not the one behind the interviews." Said Silver honestly

"Heehh…" She said as she looked at him

"Sigh, are you jealous of some kids perhaps? Come on."

'Nicc's expression got a bit red as she replied seriously.'

"What if I am?!"

'Silver's expression changed, this was the last response he expected.'

'Looking at his expression she smiled.'

"You make a pretty interesting face when you are surprised, did you know that?"

"I didn't, thank you for informing me about something I didn't know. Can we get serious now?"

"A pleasure."

And I am serious…

'Silence again, so Silver said:'

"So? What will today's commissions be?"

'Nicc smiled once again as she took the coffee mug out of her mouth.'

"Simple, your commission is… Me."

"..."

'Silver's face blackened.'

"It was supposed to be a surprise, but I will tell you now since there is no better chance, but I decided to become a full-fledged adventurer, yay!"

'Silver face did not change.'

"I thought you were one already? Just that you didn't have the time to go to the Dungeon due to your hard work and studies."

'Nicc shook her head.'

"What I meant to say is that I finally decided to become a proper adventurer… Previously I was just too focused on my studies as you saw, and I noticed that I might be losing too much if I were to remain… Well, normal."

"There are many people like me who would receive a blessing from a God but not go into the Dungeon, I've been one of these people for years already, but I think it's time for me to get strong enough so that I can at least do something."

"So, I need you to accompany me for now… I'll pay."

'She looked rather pitiful as she looked at him with puppy eyes.'

'Silver ended up scratching the back of his head.'

"Since when did you learn how to look like that?"

'His lack of reaction bothered her.'

"No reactions? Are you even Human?" She asked as she moved her bear ears cutely

"I do think you're pretty cute but the problem is that I won't be staying in the Upper section of the Middle floors this time as I plan to dive into the Lower Middle floors. Even if just for sightseeing."

"Then take me with you, simple." She said with a smile, her face still a bit red

"I guess you missed a few of my words, I am going to the Lo-wer Middle floors. If it was the Upper Middle floors I would bring you like I did last time when we went to the 10th floor to look for a flower."

(Upper Middle 13th-17th)

(Lower Middle 19th 24th)

"That won't be a problem if I just go as a Supporter."

'She looked at him with a smile and said:'

"You'll protect me right? Like last time."

'Silver let out a long sigh.'

"I would prefer if you were never in danger, to begin with…  But with one condition. If you don't have them, I won't bring you… So? Would you mind if I asked what your statuses are?"

'Nicc suddenly grew embarrassed as she held her body.'

"So that was your target all this time? What about our relationship?!"

"Don't play around, I'm being serious here."

'Nicc thought for a moment before she replied:'

"Strength 342; Vitality 521; Dexterity 113; Agility 210; Magic… Flat 0."

'Silver almost dropped his cup.'

"Isn't that abnormally high?"

'Nicc smiled proudly.'

"I've stayed many days without sleep in order to get such good Vitality! I also do a morning run every day to and from the Guild! Need I to say that I am also a master at skipping lunch and dinner?"

"Wow… Sooo good…"

And pitiful!

"Are you mocking me?!"

'She picked a straw and started to launch paper balls at him, but Silver grabbed all of them in the air.'

"Tell me, how long have you been Level 1?"

'Nicc suddenly went silent.'

'Silver pressed.'

"H-o-w l-o-n-g?..."

"... n Years." She mumbled to herself

"Can you repeat that?"

"... 10 years."

'Silver facepalmed hard, it was explained, even if she did nothing, just working out every day for 10 years would be enough to reach that level, no, she would've gotten much more if she had done that for 10 years.'

'Nicc is around 19 years old and this means she has been an adventurer since she was very young, but as she said, she never actually went to the Dungeon until many years later.'

'This is actually quite rare as not everyone has the means of receiving a blessing from such an early age, only a minority can be like her.'

'And Nicc was a girl that would spend multiple nights awake in order to study, now it makes sense how she can stand such things.'

"Well, look at you, a bit more and you'll level up! Why don't you try reading 100 books within a week without sleeping and eating? I think you can Level up that way."

'He smiled and said:'

"From bookworm to bookrat… Arg! Why did you kick me?"

"You're annoying."

'But she stayed silent this time.'

'Seeing her face, Silver smiled again and said:'

"Fine, I'll bring you with me this time, I wasn't planning on going too deep today anyway, but still, I will ask for your absolute attention and…"

'But Nicc did not listen to him as she hugged him tightly.'

"Thank you… You truly are… A good guy."

'Silver felt annoyed.'

"I don't want to be a Good guy okay, don't put the good guy stamp on me!"

.

.

.

Notes