CH 25

The new morning came.

After the receptionist told them that Wight Labyrinth would take three days to reset, the Brave’s party had to discuss what they were going to do to kill the time.

“There is no other choice than to train in the inn.” The strangely serious hero announced this to his comrades.

“I will investigate the city of Warren. There are a few things I’d like to ask the thief guild here.” This kind of decisive action plan was put forward by the party’s thief Gise.

There were three non-serious actions as well.

“I’m going to try out this Lily Garden that I heard about.” The magician Peach declared as such.

It seems that Lily Garden’s name as a “garden of women” was getting around to the neighboring cities. It was already becoming the type of place that is said that all women should visit at least once in their lives.

The warrior Dams and priest Cliff laughed together upon Peach’s declaration.

“We will also go to Lily Garden.”

The two obviously had a vulgar interest at the sound of “garden of women.”

In this way, the five were divided into three groups, and each one took action.

◊

At Ellis’s mansion, as Ellis had declared the night before, today was a free day for everyone to spend their time however they wished.

On such a day, Ellis and Claire were still working.

While walking from the river along the waterway, they were checking to see if there were any issues with the contamination prevention fences. They were both wearing matching boiler suits. These were jumpsuit-like clothes that Claire had ordered to work in while she was at her workshop. For the record, Ellis’s was pink while Claire’s was a sky blue color.

“There doesn’t seem to be any problems with the waterway or the heating device.”

“It may be a good idea to leave the running water amount where it is.”

While checking the equipment and sharing their opinions with each other, Ellis noticed a strange sight. It was near one of the ventilation shafts next to Lily Garden’s back door. There were two men trying to hide in the grass squirming along like worms.

“Do you see anything, Cliff?”

“Give me one moment Dams.”

“Do it quick! I want my turn!”

It seems that Cliff and Dams were trying to take a look inside the bathroom using the ventilation shaft.

Ellis and Claire shared a look between each other before quietly approaching the duo from behind. In succession, they both activated the Sleep rings they had on their fingers.

“Awesome! All of their equipment are magic tools!” Ellis examined and admired every piece of equipment she stripped off the sleeping duo.

“Yeah! As expected of the Brave party.” Claire was half impressed, half disappointed as she took notes on all the items Ellis appraised.

Usually these items would be carried to the adventurer guild and sold to them, but then this equipment would just end up in weapon and armor shops through the guild. Then the Brave party could just buy all these magic tools back since they probably have a large financial backing. That would be so boring.

“Fufufufuu.”

Ellis turned to Claire when she came up with a wonderful idea.

“Ehehehehe.”

Claire leaked a chuckle on hearing Ellis’s proposal.

Claire’s behavior has recently begun to resemble Ellis’s.

It took awhile, but Ellis and Claire were eventually able to finish their preparations. Just in time too, as the carriage had just returned on its second trip with ladies on board.

“Oh….We have laundry out hanging pretty early today.”

The female driver saw the tied up men as she pulled up in front of Lily Garden. As the carriage came to a stop, she called back to her passengers inside the carriage.

“You ladies are lucky. This is one of our garden’s specialties, the Scarlet Laundry.” The driver was almost like a tour guide helping the tourists watch for whales.

The ladies observed the suspended men while pointing and laughing.

Then the driver realized, “Oh, it’s a rare item today.”

After making sure that the ladies had adequately enjoyed the laundry, she hooked the men up to the carriage and placed a special bag next to them.

Once she returned to the adventurer guild, she shouted out, “Laundry has arrived! Please help me out!”

At the driver’s request, men from inside the adventurer’s guild came out to help. As soon as they did, they noticed that these were two of the men involved in the incident with Helen the day before.

And another thing.

The ribbon on the men wasn’t just black. It was a double ribbon of gold and black which is considered super rare.

The adventurer guild’s workers laughed and carried the naked men to a newly installed clothes stand. When Lily Garden first opened, men were released shortly after arriving at the guild, but since the number of villains needing punishment never went down, it became necessary to strengthen the effect of the discipline. Not only that, but the requests to see the infamous Scarlet Laundry were on the rise as well. So the rules for the laundry were changed to, “Leave them to dry on the clothes stand until a guarantor comes to pick them up.”

Continuing into the guild, the men talk to the receptionist as usual while carrying in the luggage.

“This time it’s black and gold.”

Helen, the receptionist, nodded to the report, and she quickly opened the bag to begin pricing. Right on top of the bundled items; there was a letter.

“Pfft!”

Helen casually opened the letter, and she spewed laughter as soon as she read its contents.

“What’s wrong Helen?”

Seeing the guild master give her a strange expression after her sudden reaction, Helen coughed and worked to bring herself back to normal.

“What is it Helen?”

“Master. It’s this.”

Helen motioned for Theseus to come closer to the counter, and she pointed to the letter that was in with the equipment. She could then hold it back no longer and started laughing again.

“What’s this?”

After watching Helen’s reaction, Theseus also read over the letter.

“Pfft!”

Urged by the contents of the letter, Theseus began to laugh harder than he had ever laughed before.

Watching the guild master and Helen, other adventurer guild employees started to gather around.

“Us too. Please tell us as well.”

On behalf of everyone there, Theseus raised his hand to quiet everyone down. “Okay then. Helen, can you read it?” Theseus handed the letter back to Helen and then added, “As elegantly as possible?”

“Well then.

Helen took a deep breath to recover from her laughing fit, and she worked herself up into her most business-like attitude.

“Dear Adventurer Guild Master Theseus. We, Gold Ellis and Black Claire, are always in your care. The scary people who bullied us yesterday came to the garden today. We were really scared, but we did our best to capture them. We got lucky, and we barely managed to subdue them. But when we caught them, we found out that they have some amazing equipment. They must also have a lot of money. I must be honest, we are really terrified of these people, and we worry about what they could do with such dangerous tools. So we would like your help to spread the magic tools out so that these awful men can’t just buy it all back with their money.

P.S. I have already noted the appraisal results and each item’s command word on every tool.

Thank you. ”

The inside of the guild hall was filled with laughter.

Among the ruckus of laughter and merriment, Theseus stood on top of the counter and started to shout out his instructions.

“Tonight is an emergency bingo tournament! Call every member who is on assignment to gather here in the evening. And do not forget to invite Ellis and Claire!”

◊

Back in Lily Garden.

Peach had fully enjoyed the bathhouse, but when she came out, she realized that Dams and Cliff were nowhere to be found.

“Did they go home early?”

Peach did not particularly care about them, and she decided to just enjoy the other facilities in this “Hundred Gardens” by herself.

◊

After receiving a direct summons from Theseus, Ellis and Claire prepared themselves to head over to the adventurer guild that evening. According to the message, they would prepare dinner.

“Will it be only us three?”

When Ellis invited the other three to join them, only Katie raised her hand. Apparently Reeve doesn’t like such gatherings, and Frau wants to avoid meeting with her father as much as possible.

“Then we’re off!”

Reeve and Frau looked at each other after seeing Ellis, Claire, and Katie off.

“We can occasionally drink some alcohol together.”

“That sounds fine.”

Reeve and Frau are actually two people who can drink, but because Ellis is around, they try to refrain. Tonight, though, they decided to visit the restaurant that was attached to Lily Garden and enjoy a late lunch.

“Would you ladies like a seat?”

Upon hearing a woman’s invitation, Frau noticed a familiar face. “Oh Maria, hello.”

That woman was the merchant guild master Maria.

“Thank you for all you help running the facility.” Reeve gave a business-like response as Maria urged them both to take a seat.

“It’s no trouble at all… By the way, what is Ellis doing?”

“The other three went to the party at the adventurer guild.”

“So us two decided to stretch our wings here.”

Reeve and Frau enjoyed an amazing afternoon making conversation and drinking liquor with the merchant guild master.

After a few shots, Reeve started to feel a bit tipsy and started to sing a little song. Maria heard the melody and brought it up.

“My my, that song is Requiem for the Deceased Princess isn’t it?”

“Yes, you know it?” Reeve nodded to Maria’s question with a smile she wouldn’t normally show, and she started to sing in a louder voice.

Maria listened intently to the song with her eyes closed.

Frau listened to the song while resting her cheek on her elbow.

Ladies who were sitting near the table and making conversation overheard the song and quieted down to listen to the tune.

“Fuu”

After finishing her song, Reeve let out a sigh.

“I’m sorry that I soiled your ears.”

For the humble Reeve, Maria shook her head and excitedly praised her.

“Yes. Since that song is paired, I just need to change my voice a little.”

Maria continued to pressure Reeve.

“Could you please sing it?”

However, Reeve shook her head while looking slightly troubled.

“I’m sorry, but that song would be a little loud for this place.”

Although it was just like Reeve to hold back, it was true that she was happy to be praised for her singing. But Maria wouldn’t take no for an answer, so she rose from her chair and addressed the other tables.

“Everyone! I would like to have a friend of mine sing Ballad of the Fallen King. Is everyone okay with that?”

The surrounding ladies answered Maria’s proposal with applause.

Maria hurries Reeve along. “Please do, Reeve.”

In truth, Reeve loves to sing. She held herself back until now, but when there is an audience impatiently waiting for her, how can she say no?

“Well then…I will most likely soil your ears.”

When Reeve stood up, she began to sing a cappella acoustically. The song she sang was famous in society, for it was considered an extremely difficult song that had to be sang by a woman using a bass that normally only men could reach. Such a difficult song was sung by Reeve flawlessly.

After she was finished, Reeve bowed to her audience, and the restaurant was filled with applause. Many of the audience member’s had to wipe the tears that had begun to form out of their eyes.

“Did you learn that from somewhere?” Maria had suddenly felt herself becoming shy after watching that performance.

“My grandfather was a hobbyist, and I learned somehow.”

By the way, this grandfather was the principal reason why Reeve’s family fell, and they had to start marrying away their daughters.

Meanwhile Peach, who had a previous occupation as a songstress, had taken great interest in the song she had just heard.

No way. I never expected to hear such a difficult song in this country restaurant. Moreover, it was so beautifully sung…..

Her pride would not allow her to back down here, so she beckoned a nearby waitress to come over.

“Is it okay for people to sing freely at this shop?”

Peach’s annoyed voice reached Maria, and when she heard it, she turned toward Peach and bowed her head. “I’m sorry. I made the request, please forgive me.”

Peach did not withdraw. “Please don’t apologize, but I also wanted to sing a song. May I?”

Although she was asking Maria for permission, Peach was also a customer of this store. Neither Maria nor the waitress had any authority to refuse her.

“Well then, please do.”

Emboldened by Maria’s words, Peach moved to the front of the store and addressed her audience.

“My name is Peach, and I am a songstress from the Kingdom Sky Castle.”

Peach started singing after giving a bow.

Extravagant voice.

Enticing vibrato.

Sensual gestures.

Her performance was beautiful.

Peach, however, didn’t understand her customers. The song she sang was one that played to men. A song about seeking a man and finding love.

The ladies here, however, have all come to Lily Garden and this restaurant to enjoy liberation from men. The lyrics of the song Peach sings, reverses the feelings of those ladies.

“I’m done.”

When Peach finished her song, there was no applause, and no one spoke out. Peach misunderstood this attitude from the audience as them being so awed by her singing that they couldn’t say anything. So she decided to start singing a second song.

The one most annoyed by Peach’s song was the mischievous Reeve. She quietly left her seat in the restaurant and returned to her house. Then she returned to her original seat.

Maria, who had been listening to the song with a bitter taste in her mouth, saw the serious look in Reeve’s eyes after she changed clothes.

Peach’s second song finished, and once again nobody moved.

A momentary silence filled the room.

And so Reeve stood up.

She was wearing a men’s ceremonial black suit decorated with gold and silver embroidering. Without saying anything, she began to sing.

The name of the song was Corset Woman. 

It was the tale of a woman who became a female knight to protect women from the men who preyed upon them.

A few ladies start to tear up right as the song begins.

Reeve sings.

Clearly.

Indiscriminately.

Powerfully.

Until it abruptly ends.

Once the song was finished and Reeve gave a bow, the audience rose to give her a standing ovation.

Peach couldn’t handle the atmosphere that was choking her, so she secretly escaped.

“Don’t you feel popular?”

When Reeve retook her seat, Maria gently placed her hand on Reeve’s knee. Her cheeks were dyed a deep red, and she was shaking her head as she tried to wipe away the tears that wouldn’t stop.

“Ms. Reeve, I was really impressed…..”

At this moment, the “Reeve fan club” was born. The leader of that club was the merchant guild master Maria.

◊

Meanwhile at the special bingo venue at the adventurer guild.

“First of all is Claire’s signed plate armor. It is an excellent piece of equipment that reduces damage by 2!”

While moderating the event, the master was turning the Bingo wheel.

“No. 35!”

“YOSH! BINGO!!”

Strangely, the first person to win a prize was the man who had helped bring in the items in the first place.

Ellis threw her arms in the air, and Claire acted as a presenter and brought out the plate armor to the winning member.

“Congratulations! And thank you for all your help!” The crew member’s face flushed red as he received the plate armor from Claire.

“Next is Ellis’s autographed Flying Swallow long sword. Let’s keep this game going!”

The master flew through the bingo tournament.

And just like that, magic tools and mage equipment with a market price of almost 300 million ril were given away as prizes for free.

The expensive equipment worn by Dams and Cliff was thus scattered so far apart that it would be impossible to recover.