I Formed a Party with a Girl via an Adventurer Matching App - Chapter 30

 Let’s Head to the Guild!

It happened one fine day. An official messenger from the Adventurers’ Guild arrived at the party base where Cordelia and I had recently begun living together.

According to the envoy, the funds for our successful subjugation of the Violet Dragon and our conquest of the Death Golem Dungeon were finally secured. We were requested to report to the Guild headquarters to collect our payout. Because both achievements involved extremely high-difficulty monster hunting and top-tier quest progression, the combined payout amounted to an astronomical sum. Consequently, the Adventurers’ Guild hadn't been able to produce the liquid capital immediately, requesting that we grant them some time to get the finances in order.

And so, overflowing with pure, unbridled excitement, the two of us set off toward the bustling heart of the city where the Adventurers’ Guild loomed.

"Hmm-hmm-mm-fumn♪"

"My, my. Aren't we in an exceptionally radiant mood, Kent? You're even treating me to a thoroughly atrocious attempt at humming. Honestly, just being forced to listen to it makes me feel embarrassed on your behalf."

"Heh-heh. My spirits are entirely too high today, Cordelia. Your casual insults are simply sliding right off my back."

"Where did you even unearth that melody anyway? Hm? Is it the debut solo track of one of those projection-style, magic-crystal-streamed Virtual Bards that have taken the world by storm lately? Because it didn't sound a single bit like it. I was under the impression it was the strangled wheezing of a sleepwalking wolf."

"…………Like I said! My spirits are entirely too high today, so your casual insults are simply sliding right off my back!"

I mean, the massive windfall we had been desperately waiting for was finally about to line our pockets. If Cordelia’s sharp-tongued commentary was firing on even more cylinders than usual, it was undoubtedly because she was secretly riding a wave of internal euphoria herself. I had to convince myself that was the case, otherwise my ego would never survive the walk.

"Even so…… the subjugation of a Violet Dragon paired with the absolute conquest of the Death Golem Dungeon. It truly is a military exploit that defies realistic belief."

The voice murmured from exactly half a step behind us. It belonged to Susie, who was dutifully trailing in our wake. She used the tip of her finger to give her round spectacles—fitted with pristine, flawlessly transparent lenses—a sharp, disciplined upward nudge.

Today, just like every other day, her deep blue hair was styled into an immaculate chignon without a single stray strand out of place. Her walking posture was perfectly straight, her spine so rigidly aligned it looked as though she were suspended from the heavens by an invisible thread. Beneath the hem of her long black skirt, her completely unadorned loafers peeked out with every step, pressing against the cobblestones without generating a single molecule of sound.

Susie had originally served as a dedicated housemaid at Cordelia’s ancestral estate. She had initially tracked us down with the strict mandate of dragging the young lady back home, but after a series of intense trials, she had ultimately recognized our combined strength. Following that revelation, one would have naturally assumed she would return to the Salisbury mansion to report her findings—yet, for reasons entirely beyond me, she had simply moved into our base and made herself permanently at home.

To be completely fair, having Susie around meant the rooms were flawlessly cleaned, the meals were beautifully prepared, the laundry was meticulously washed, and every single facet of our daily chores was handled with absolute perfection. Her presence wasn't a burden in the slightest…… in fact, she was a colossal, life-saving blessing.

There was, however, one minor catch: Susie fiercely maintained that her loyalty belonged strictly and exclusively to Cordelia. Consequently, she flatly refused to wash a single piece of my clothing.

Take this morning, for instance—she didn't even bother to allocate a portion of breakfast for me. While I sat there awkwardly watching Cordelia elegantly dissect some manner of exquisitely prepared morning meunière with a proper knife and fork, I turned to Susie and asked, "Hey, where's my food?" She responded by casually tossing a single mandarin orange in my direction, leaving me to peel it in silent tears.

……With that being said, there was one highly specific, exceptional category of personal care she was perfectly willing to handle: my downstairs business.

Earlier this morning, while I was miserably peeling the skin off my solitary orange, she had dropped to her knees right at my feet and enthusiastically vacuumed my dick with absolute relish. She couldn't be bothered to prepare an actual breakfast for me, yet she had the absolute audacity to demand that I surrender my morning cock-milk to her as a personal wake-up snack. Talk about total tyranny. For a girl who had spent the previous day screaming about how I was a godforsaken nobody and a barbaric stallion, she had acclimated to her new routine with terrifying speed.

"With a military exploit of that staggering magnitude, I presume the financial compensation must be correspondingly monumental?" Susie inquired, her tone so completely poised it suggested she had entirely forgotten her depraved, unhinged behavior from a few hours prior.

"Well, yeah. If I recall correctly, the bounty for the Violet Dragon alone was set at a cool 100 million Norgle," I replied.

"And the completion reward for the Death Golem Dungeon was supposed to be 80 million Norgle," Cordelia added from the side, recalling the specific figures.

Combined, that brought the total to a staggering 180 million Norgle. To an average, everyday adventurer, a sum of that caliber was enough to make their eyes pop entirely out of their sockets.

With that much cash on the horizon, a guy has every right to hum a little tune, even if his rendition sounds like a dying animal.

And so, riding a wave of magnificent, high-octane optimism, the three of us strode into the Adventurers’ Guild.

Except……

"……Huh? Wait, that’s it?"

I stared blankly like a complete idiot, the stunned whisper escaping my throat before I could stop it.

Standing directly across the counter from us was a female Guild receptionist, her hair parted in a meticulously sharp, dead-centered split. She was the exact same official who had handled our administrative processing when Cordelia and I were first matched as partners. Utilizing her fully exposed, blindingly smooth, and radiant forehead to cast a metaphorical spotlight over our group, she systematically flipped through her ledger and offered a firm nod.

"Yes. The final compensation package allocated to your party from the Guild treasury is precisely what is displayed on the document before you."

I genuinely doubted the structural integrity of my own eyeballs.

180 million Norgle. That was the absolute minimum amount that was supposed to be flowing directly into our bank accounts.

Yet, looking at the figure currently presented on the official invoice the receptionist had slid across the desk, any trace of that legendary fortune had been completely eradicated. The remaining number was a pathetic, microscopic drop in the bucket—a mere pittance.

"O-Objection!"

"Overruled!"

"Why the hell did you say that so fast?!"

"Apologies, it was mere reflex."

"Don't shoot down an official protest on mere reflex!"

Driven by a wave of righteous indignation, I brought my palm down with a loud thud against the wooden reception desk. While it certainly wasn't the most polite or commendable display of etiquette, within the walls of an Adventurers' Guild—a chaotic hub where the roughest, most volatile mercenaries gathered—such outbursts were a routine, everyday occurrence. The receptionist simply blinked her long, perfectly curled eyelashes without a single trace of panic, effortlessly deflecting my hostility.

Observing that I was still completely, profoundly unsatisfied with the outcome (and honestly, who could blame me?), the receptionist let out a quiet, controlled sigh.

"Lord Kent O'Brien."

"What is it?"

"Tell me, are you familiar with the administrative framework known as the 'Deduction Payout System'?"

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