Prologue - We are the Golden Bounty!

The newly anointed Hero approached the table where six lovely ladies of different races and standing sat and spoke to each other as they waited for one person. These ladies were known both for their unmatched loveliness as well as their skills as adventurers and perfect teamwork in the Adventurers Guild of the Grand Duchy of Hidalgo. If the Hero could recruit all six of them, he would no doubt earn a powerful team of adventurers as well as a potential harem for himself…

But, when the Hero spoke of his intentions of wanting to recruit them for his mission to find and defeat the Demon Lord, the six ladies answered in unison:

“No, thanks.”

“Huh? What!? All six of you are refusing me!? B-But why? Why do you reject my invitation so quickly?” The Hero  felt humiliated by the ease in which he was being dismissed.

“Seriously? You don’t really look like a Hero to me, kid. More like a guy who’s wearing the armor and carrying the sword of one, but you don’t look like you’ve been in a real fight. Besides, all of us already belong to an adventuring party.” Nelia, the red haired woman of amazonian physique and a warrior’s poise, waved her hand in dismissal to the Hero, clearly not impressed by the boy’s words. She then looked at her twin sister with a smirk.

“My sister is right. Even in the stories we heard as children, the Hero is the paragon of virtue, strength and honor. A True Hero wouldn’t be making grand gestures or putting flair to his words when he talked. He’d be more focused on ‘doing’ rather than ‘talking’.” Nalia, who shared the same red hair as her sister Nelia but was softer in her build and wore the clothes of a healer, said those words which were met with a mutual nod from the other ladies.

“Indeed. Even in my hometown we heard the legends of the Yuusha who could command the earth, wind and skies to become his allies and smite the darkness from the world. Childish fantasies in the end. More than likely overly inflated stories created for children.” Kitsuko, the team’s sorceress and proud member of the Fox clan of the Beastfolk, spoke out with her usual sharp and icy tone of voice.

“My own grandfather spoke of the ancient Heroes of old and he always mentioned that they were faithful allies of the Elves thanks to their humble nature and respect for our traditions. In fact, some mentioned that one of the ancient Heroes married an Elven princess and their children went on to become renown paragons on their own.” Serena, the lovely High Elf Ranger, was idly playing with her long golden hair while she smiled fondly as she remembered those old stories.

“I can’t really say I believe in Heroes or such things. When there are so many things that could be happening right now in the world, I find it difficult to believe that only one Hero could be able to fix everything. I mean, can the Hero be everywhere at any time? That’s just not possible.” Tanya, the blue haired Sniper, kept her usual pensive expression while she talked, which made her look both cute and also mature.

The Hero was feeling incensed by all the noted rejections he was getting from the ladies, even pointing out the fact that the Hero is, from a logical standpoint, an impossible concept to achieve given the limitations only one person had.

“I’d think the Hero woulda been someone like my Papa!” Lily’s comment made the other five swoon at the thought of the Hero being like Lily’s Papa. They all knew that the Beastgirl of the Wolf clan was deeply attached to her father. “Papa’s tough as nails, can kick anybody’s butt no problem and doesn’t go around braggin’ about it! But even so, who needs a Hero these days?”

Once again, the ladies nodded in agreement to the comments being said. So when they turned their attention towards the Hero again, he felt himself shrinking under their judgmental eyes.

“So, regrettably, young Hero, we won’t be joining you. Do take care of yourself though! It can be dangerous outside the walls.” Tanya smiled warmly at the Hero who couldn’t figure out if she was being genuinely friendly or if she was looking down on him.

Having become fed up with all these rejections, insults and humiliations, the Hero grabbed the hilt of his sword and pointed with his free hand at the ladies. This sudden action left every person stunned except for the six women who were now looking at him with contempt.

“You talk big for a bunch of women who probably haven’t even seen a monster in their lives! Fine! I don’t need you! I’ll just find that top group in this city, this Golden Bounty group and ask them to join me! I’m sure they’ll recognize an opportunity to become much more famous by joining me in my quest for world salvation!” When he finished his rant, the ladies looked at each other with confusion and then laughed loudly. This only inflamed the rage of the young Hero. He raised his sword in the air with the intention of intimidating them.

“Hey! What the hell do you think you’re doing, rookie? You got some balls coming into this Guild and draw your sword in here.”

The voice of a man was heard drawing the attention of everyone. To the ladies' visible delight, it was the one person they were waiting for. The man had the look of a veteran adventurer who’d survived thousands of encounters. His bounty hunter outfit looked freshly repaired and gave him an imposing look, especially with the bounty hunter hat he wore that cast a dim shadow over his eyes. His right hand was close to a holstered revolver, ready to spring into action if violence ensued. He stared at the boy with cold gray eyes as he approached him. Intimidated by the sudden appearance of the man, the Hero was frozen in place.

“You’re about to let your hot blood get you in a world of trouble, rookie. Put your sword away and back away from the ladies. Guild rules state you’ll get banned from adventuring in this city if you draw steel trying to hurt people.” The scary look the bounty hunter was giving him made the Hero shake with mild fear. Although he was told that as the Hero he would never know fear from an inferior foe, he felt it while being stared down by this man. He put his sword away and took a couple of steps back. “Smart move, rookie. If you threaten MY posse again, I'll kill you with my bare hands.”

The Hero was shocked to hear these words! This man just threatened him, the Hero! He was about to answer when the six ladies went over to the Bounty Hunter. The wolf girl jumped from her seat into the arms of this man while laughing, which prompted the bounty hunter to laugh. The others moved in and shared a kiss with the rough man. That’s when the Hero understood that these ladies were all a part of THIS guy’s party!

“W-Wait a second! Who the hell are you, people?” The Hero asked loudly towards the group.

The six ladies stood at both sides of the bounty hunter who placed a cigarette to his lips and lit it, taking a long pull from it. His hands went to his holstered revolvers and stared back at the Hero menacingly…

“My name’s Richard Wolf, and we’re the Golden Bounty Group. If you got some business with us, show some manners, rookie.”