CH 41

Guarding Request and Receptionist

Well, after that, along with Rishe-chan, we discussed a bit more about our plan to leave Miniera, and after I got all of their consent about this matter, we finally started our action for today.

Seems like we can’t use Leila-chan as our guide to Grandile Kingdom since her sense of direction is still as amazing as usual. Therefore I hereby grant her the title of ‘useless’. Even though she decide to follow us, but to be unable to over any aid, how pathetic of her.

Perhaps Rishe-chan hasn’t ever seen any demon, so even if seeing Leila-chan with white hair and red eyes is perhaps still acceptable, but she only looks somewhat curious without saying a word when she sees the dark miasma that is floating around Leila-chan’s. Perhaps she doesn’t notice it, or perhaps she notices it but she simply puts her trust at me.

But, well, leaving that aside, since having Leila-chan goes outside along with that miasma would be troublesome, so I ask her to retract it back, and then I lend her my gakuran in exchange. At day she’s still somewhat rational, and seems like she’s capable to do it.

Nonetheless, since she’s way closer into that one of a stalker rather than a comrade, so I won’t treat her similarly like how I treat Finia-chan and the other, but I’ll simply take her as an useful person. After all, even if she’s a demon, at least she’s still a C rank adventurer. So I have to properly use her established reputation for my sake.

Eh? Cruel? What’s so bad about it knowing that she’s someone who is after my life? No no, I might indeed look like someone who is manipulating her good favor and using her as my financial support, but that’s conditional, you know? If you’re at my position, I’m sure you’ll understand it.

“*sniff*… Kitsune-kun’s smell… ufufu, ufufufu… it’s the best….”

“….”

Someone like that is keep on following me, you know? If I do it carelessly, I might end up having her always following me from now on, you know? Someone without any good will, and would get excited and laughing just by sniffing my smell, you know? Just imagine it, that you have someone like her as your coworker or classmate, someone who is noisy and also annoying.

“Kitsune-san… are you really going to take that girl along?”

“Please bear with it, Finia-chan… trust me, I also don’t like it.”

“Ufufu, ufufufufu…..”

Even Rishe-chan and Lulu-chan are drawn aback from that C rank adventurer, Leila Vermilion. Are every strong person also like her, I wonder…. If that’s really the case then perhaps even the hero also might has such screwed personality, right?

Like, using his title as hero to makes a harem, or using his strength to do anything as he pleased. Uwah, just thinking about it makes me lost my motivation to meet him.

Well, while thinking about such a thing, we walk toward the guild.

To go to Grandile Kingdom, the only means we can take is to take a “guarding request”. Since that request could only be taken by an E rank adventurer or above, I was intending to have Finia-chan and the other to raised their rank till the required rank, but since right now we accidentally have a C rank adventurer so we can immediately take the request.

“Guarding request” was a request that was usually be issued when there was someone who was going to travel from a country into another one, usually been issued by a merchant, but sometime there was also the case when citizen issued such request, too. In exchange for guarding them along the way, they would let the adventurers to ride their cart during travelling.

Well, the reward is vary, but, in exchange for us guarding them, we don’t need to pay the transport fee, that was the source of the establishment of guarding request.

“Say, Kitsune, are we really going to go to Grandile Kingdom? To be frank, I don’t think it won’t be take too long for us increase our strength a bit more before going there, you know?”

“Well, I understand your worry knowing that that place is a country of battle junkies, but… we aren’t going there to fight, you know? As a country, it would be strange if there’s no proper person who dislike fight, after all, so we’re aiming for those people.”

Rishe-chan makes a somewhat uneasy expression, but it isn’t like fight would continuously happen day and night, right? Not to mention, I’m pretty sure that there are also merchant and normal citizen, after all.

In any case, even if you’re an adventurer, as long as you’re able to properly avoid any fight then you should be able to live peacefully. Well, if you’re unluckily got involved with the hero then perhaps it’s bound to happen that you’d have to have a fight, though.

Well, just in case, we have Finia-chan, after all, also, I don’t like it but there’s also Leila-chan. So we shouldn’t be that easily die, right? Even I, as long as it isn’t an instant death, by activating “Near-death experience” I won’t easily die, after all.

“Hmm… if that’s the case then it’s fine, though….”

“You don’t need to worry about it too much, also, we can still get stronger along the way there, you know?”

“…got it.”

It might be a bit too forceful, but it isn’t like I don’t understand her worry. It might looks a bit too rushed, but as far as I’m concerned, I want to meet the hero while he’s still at the Grandile Kingdom. If he has left on journey to defeat the demon lord, then I don’t have any means to find him, after all.

And, while having such conversation, we finally arrived at the guild. Opening the door, we enter the building, and the adventurer’s gazes are gathered at us.

And then, upon seeing my face, everyone averted their faces again. There are people who restart their conversation again, looking for a request, or continue their meal. But there’s one common thing among them, they look at our direction again with a surprised expression.

Perhaps, the reason is the white haired and red eyed Leila-chan who wears my gakuran, and the just grown Lulu-chan, right? Their transformation are too eye catching, after all.

“Her hair is white, but… is that, Leila Vermilion?”

“Why does she wear Kitsune’s clothes?”

“That beast-kin girl, did she has reached her secondary growth… how lovely!”

“You’re right, she becomes such a pretty girl, wahaha!”

The adventurers become noisy. Their reaction for Leila-chan and Lulu-chan sure are quite extreme. They bear doubt and bewilderment toward Leila-chan, while they give blessing and laugh toward Lulu-chan.

Even so, is beast-kin’s growth a common sense here? Since these adventurers are laughing happily toward her growth, after all.

Hearing that, Lulu-chan’s face is a bit blushed, but when I gently pat her head, she bashfully act as if in shy. Yup, cute.

“Kitsune-san! Here is a guarding request toward Grandile Kingdom!”

“Yes, thank you, Finia-chan.”

And then, Finia-chan comes while bringing along a request she took beforehand. When I ask her to read it, it’s a request from a merchant who is planning to go to Grandile Kingdom.

The recruited adventurers are eight people, with us, then there would be three more persons, right? I think it’s a good request so I take it to Mia-chan’s place.

“Mia-chan, please let us take it.”

“Yes… wait, you’re going to go to Grandile kingdom?”

“Yes.”

“Umm… but… are you sure? It is a country with the law of the jungle, you know?”

“Even so, I have my own reason that makes me have to go there, after all.”

Seems like Mia-chan is also worried similarly like Rishe-chan. At our first meeting, she called me as a pervert, but she sure has considerably changed. As far as I’m concerned, it isn’t like I’ve given up on groping that boobs of her— yup, not in the slightest.

“You’re staring at my chest too much.”

“I’m not looking at your chest, but your boobs.”

“That’s same, pervert-sama.”

Oops, seems like I stared at it too much. Mia-chan hides her boobs with both of her hands. Well, even so, the scene where her boobs changes its shape looks erotic, though.

If I do anything further, I don’t know what Finia-chan and Leila-chan might do so let’s stop it here.

“Ufufufufu…..”

She laughs with a low tone, after all, she’s still smiling while sniffing my gakuran, though. Even Mia-chan is taken aback, I really don’t want to be considered as her comrade… I want to act as if a stranger of her.

“…why is Leila-sama’s hair changed into white?”

“She suddenly grown old overnight, you see.”

“Why are her eyes red?”

“It’s because of lack of sleep, you see.”

“Why is she wearing your clothes?”

“Even I want her to return it soon, you know.”

Mia-chan is looking at Leila-chan with a somewhat astonished eyes. And then, looking at me, perhaps she doesn’t consent with my explanation, she lets out a sigh. Mia-chan is intelligent, after all, I’m sure she understand the reason why I didn’t want to explain it.

But, even she acts like a pervert, she’s still a C rank adventurer, her ability is not something to be laughed at. Perhaps that’s why Mia-chan quickly finished the request procedure, and after put a sign at it, she hand over the request application to me.

“Please give it to the guild at Grandile kingdom, with that you’ll complete the request. Also, since you won’t receive your reward if you forget to ask for the merchant-sama who issued this request to sign this request application, so please be careful.”

“Yes, thank you.”

“The departure is tomorrow morning. Since the gathering location is at Miniera’s gate, I think would be better if you go there as early as possible and deepen your connection with the other adventurers first.”

Ah, there are also three other people, right? That’s indeed right. Teamwork is important, after all. Well, it sure would be troublesome if they’re people with utterly high pride, but when the time comes to it, I’d simply activate my “Eerie Constitution”. Such people won’t understand it unless they experience painful experience first, after all.

“Well then, Mia-chan, for taking care of me up until now, thank you very much.”

I say so to Mia-chan, and float a faint smile.

Honestly speaking, I’m pretty indebted toward her, after all, so I have to properly give her my gratitude.

In doing so, Mia-chan floats a somewhat surprised expression, and blanking for a while before replying at me.

“Eh? Ah… yes, for me, it was also a fun time, the guild when you were around. Please be— have a nice trip.”

She says the usual word when she sends me out, but this time, I feel a somewhat deeper meaning in it.

◇　◇　◇

Today, I felt like the sight was slightly different.

It was only been several years ever since I started working as a receptionist in this guild. Day by day, I’d used to smile to every adventurers-sama whenever they took a request, processed the procedure and finally sent them off. I never thought such daily as a boring life. The salary was also considerably good, my coworkers and juniors were also all good people.

However, even amidst such daily life, as expected there was something I couldn’t get used to.

Adventurer was, a job that put their lives on the line to fought against magical beast, therefore, the amount of adventurers who accepted a request but got killed in the process and didn’t returned wasn’t small.

Among them, the time when the adventurers who accepted the request through me were dead, as expected it felt a bit hard for me. It was hard to accept the fact that the people who still alive and had a chat with me just a few days ago were suddenly died. There were also receptionists who resigned when they experienced such feeling, after all.

That was why, the moment Kitsune-sama started to work as an adventurer at this guild, I thought that there was no adventurer who could put me at relief as he did.

Because he was an H rank, he couldn’t take any dangerous request. I thought that with that he wouldn’t suddenly die. He even didn’t have any intention to raise his rank, I had a great relive knowing that he didn’t have any attachment toward status.

However, someday, Kitsune-sama suddenly decided to take a subjugation request. Because Finia-sama had become an F rank adventurer. Their targets were nothing but small fries, but, since there was also the case about “Red Night”, so the sense of anxiety that I never felt about him before was painting over my sense of security about him.

Because I was a receptionist, I had to propose a rank up trial to him. Because I had an obligation to propose it to any adventurers who I deemed their ability were above their current rank, after all. And when I proposed it while hoping that he’d refuse it, he casually refused it.

Just a bit, my sense of security was returned.

However, around a week after he first defeated those small fries, he went on subjugating an E rank magical beast, “Arachne”. At that time, from the bottom of my heart, I felt that I didn’t want him to go. Or, he could go, but please don’t die, or so I thought.

I never thought such a thing even once to any adventurers who came and talked to me. If they died then I’d only think that it couldn’t be helped, because I’d always sent them off with a half resignation, after all.

Perhaps, that was why, I came to an awareness that Kitsune-sama was someone who was a bit special for me.

That day, while doing my work, I kept on praying for Kitsune-sama’s safety. Perhaps I looked absent-minded, so some adventurers came and calling out to me with a somewhat worried expression, but I didn’t remember how I answered them in return.

And then, the moment I saw Kitsune-sama returned safely while floating his usual faint smile, I felt a great relief at my heart. I was somewhat surprised that the C rank adventurer, Leila Vermilion, was together with him, so I tried to act as usual to hide my surprise, but I was really happy that Kitsune-sama returned safely.

And then, that day, while sending off Kitsune-sama went home, I understood it. Perhaps, for me, he was someone akin to a little brother. I thought him as a little brother who tended to cause worry to me.

Compared to any other adventurers, his body was small, baby-faced, and having such childish personality, perhaps that was why I thought him as such. At least, I was sure that it wasn’t a romantic feeling.

That was why, at the next day when Kitsune-sama accepted a guarding request to left this country, I couldn’t completely accept that reality. No, perhaps pretending to didn’t notice it would be more precise.

Looking at his usual faint smile, I exchanged a conversation with him as I usually did. Rather than the fact that Leila-sama hair was changed into white and her eyes into red, I felt a bit more irritated upon looking her wearing Kitsune-sama’s clothes delightfully.

It felt like the little brother I cherished suddenly brought back a girlfriend.

And then, when I finished the request acceptance procedure and sending him off, he said such.

“Well then, Mia-chan, for taking care of me up until now, thank you very much.”

At that word, I finally realized it. The fact that Kitsune-sama would disappear from my daily life. I spontaneously got dumbfounded, for a moment my head went blank.

However,

I was a receptionist, sending off adventurer was my job. It was still the same even if it was Kitsune-sama whom I was arbitrarily thought as my little brother. Even if his destination was the survival of the fittest country, Grandile kingdom, I couldn’t stop him.

Thinking so, I swallowed that thought down again. And then, I was somehow able to squeeze out some words.

Please, please don’t die, please stay safe, while wishing so.

“…yes, for me, it was also a fun time, the guild when you were around. Please be— have a nice trip.”

The usual sending off word. But, I felt like today’s ‘have a nice trip’ was filled with a feeling that it never had before.

Have a nice trip, I prayed for his safety so that he could return here again.

At that time, I felt like I sent him off while floating a genuine smile at my face.