Chapter 100

The Genius in the Smoking Room

We walked through the current of Adventurers, asking guards for directions while sometimes bumping into people, as we made our way to the guild.

“There are so many people here… We might get separated.”

“Do you want me to hold your hand?”

“Don’t be stupid, I’m not a child.”

Damn it…I glare as Daniela laughs mockingly at me.

“Ah, but maybe I am close to a child, considering your age.”

“I ought to punch you for that.”

It was a surprisingly short trip, as long as you followed the main road and didn’t take any detours. We looked up at the giant building in front of us and saw a sign that read: Grand Guild.

I suppose it meant that this was not just any guild. Perhaps it was an elite facility with welfare and other benefits. Even the gate was extravagant with its double doors. Each side was draped with a hanging banner with an insignia on it. A dragon, sword and shield and…was that a shoe? Did they represent the grand guild then? Fighting, protecting, and exploring?

“Well, let’s go in.”

“Even I am feeling a little nervous now…”

“So you still get nervous even when you’ve lived so long.”

“You should not tease me too much. My revenge will come at night, and you will cry in defeat.”

“You better not. I’m not a fan of anything painful.”

We joked as I opened the doors.

“Ahh…it’s big.”

It was large, like a hotel you would find in the city. The ceiling was open all the way to the third floor, and a giant magic illumination device was hanging in the center. I stared up with a stupefied look. Daniela suddenly jabbed me in the ribs.

Oh, right. First impressions were important. We couldn’t let others take us for fools.

I looked at the front to see that there was a row of counters. The resting rooms and dining hall were on the left and right. We could hear pleasant laughter and music coming from the dining hall. And a number of Adventurers were talking in the resting area. Hmm, the atmosphere here was nice. As was fitting for a place named the Grand Guild, there was a notable absence of Adventurers with bad behavior. Their management was competent or the instructors were. But if the later was the case, we would probably be hearing from the guild master at some point.

The counters had the usual signs reading: Registration, Accept Quest, Rewards, Questions and Other, plus two new ones: Request and Convert.

Requests were usually done at Other, so they must have separated them to decrease the workload. As for Convert, it was apparently to convert materials from monsters into money.

There were quite a lot of people lined up at that counter, but each counter here had two lines with two guild workers, which made things move faster.

“Alright, we better update these status cards first.”

“I suppose we should go to ‘Other’ then?”

“Well, it’s ‘Questions’ as well, so we’ll find out something either way.”

“That is true. We should go then.”

And so we took our positions in the ‘Questions and Other’ line. No one tried to cut in or bother Daniela. It really was peaceful. But kind of boring, to be honest. Encountering trouble gave you something to talk about. Matsumoto was hogging all of it with his protagonist qualities. Poor guy.

“You two are next.”

Oh, the person in front of us was finished. Daniela and I took out our status cards and walked up to the counter.

“Excuse me, we would like to have our status cards updated.”

“Yes, very good. Please hand them over.”

“Here.”

We put the two cards on the tray.

“Asagi and Daniela. It will be finished in ten minutes, so please wait in the room over there.”

We were politely directed over to a room that had a sign reading ‘Waiting Room.’ The walls were made of glass so you could see inside. It was just like a smoking room.

“Alright. Thank you.”

The guild worker bowed slowly and Daniela and I headed for the smoking…the Waiting Room. We could see that there were several other Adventurers waiting inside. Oh, someone would definitely try to talk to us. Yeah, right. Haha. I’m not Matsumoto.

“Excuse me.”

“…”

We opened the door with a word so it wouldn’t be awkward. The Adventurers who were sitting looked up to see who we were, but they quickly looked away without much interest. The floor was apparently much more engaging. All of the chairs were occupied, so I would not be able to join them in their stare-down with the floor. And so we leaned against the wall and waited for the time to pass.

It really was boring. Daniela was wearing her mask and staying very still. She usually put on her mask when we first arrive in a new town. But she also tended to take it off the next today, so it might have been some kind of defensive instinct of hers. I kind of wanted a mask like that for myself… Oh, but then I could just wear the hood on this poncho. And so I tried putting the hood on. Deep over my eyes.

“…”

“…Hey, you. It’s stuffy enough here without you doing that.”

“…Oh, sorry.”

Another Adventurer who was killing time next to me complained. Damn it, this was embarrassing. I shouldn’t have bothered.

Were ten minutes always this long? Daniela was so still, and no one else was talking. Was there another rule besides having to stare at the floor? I never heard about having to keep quiet as well.

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

It was no use, I can’t bear it. To kill the time and for a little practice, I begin to play with a little water magic on the palm of my hand. And then I tried making it into an ice statue that looked like Daniela. First, I carved the finer details out with magic, then added the clothes with a different layer. It was a highly detailed figure. Even the mask could be taken off. Her eyes underneath were tightly shut in a sage expression.

Hmm, it came out quite nice. I could probably sell this if it wasn’t made of ice… I thought as placed the completed figure at Daniela’s feet and smiled. If I had more time, I would make more and line them up so they became progressively smaller.

And then I leaned back on the wall and looked up. Everyone was now looking at me with wide eyes.

“…Wh-what is it?”

“You, did you make that with magic…?”

“Yes…I was bored…”

“Are you serious…”

Those who had been staring at the floor were now looking back and forth at Daniela and the figure with the same intensity. That looked painful for their necks…

“So, so you can use ice magic?”

“I’m pretty good with it, I think…but I’m a fighter in training, not a magician.”

“So you can fight close-quarters as well…”

Hey, you. Would you want to form a party?”

The Adventurers suddenly gathered around me with invitations of their own. Was I really that capable?

“I’ll pay you! Would you go with me to the dungeons?”

“My party is trying to hunt the lord of the lake. It would be awfully helpful to have ice magic.”

“Uh, I, umm…”

Desperate faces crowded around me. This was such an unexpected development, that I didn’t know how to respond.

“Hey.”

And she raised her voice. My favorite elf, who had been still as a statue a moment ago. The Adventurers looked shocked, as if the furniture had suddenly started talking. Daniela continued flatly.

“That is my partner. And I have no intention of losing him.”

Damn, she was cool…My heart skipped a beat.

“I see, sorry.”

“It was ill-mannered of me. Beg your pardon.”

Perhaps they were better disciplined here, because the Adventurers backed off quickly. That was a relief, but at the same time, I had no idea that I was considered to be valuable personnel. I was pretty capable, apparently.

I had unexpectedly discovered my worth and fallen a little harder for Daniela. The rest of the ten minutes passed quickly, and we left the smoking room to go back to the counter.