Vol. 9 - Ch. 451 - Let's check on Melina-sepai and Satoru-kun!

We found Melina-senpai in the ‹Variety Firm›. It turned out she was there to deal with the ‹High Mana Grass› that we had requested."My, fancy meeting you at this time, Zephyr-kun. It's rare to meet you around this hour. Is it off from the dungeon today?"

"Our guilds sub-guildmaster has just come back today so i thought to introduce her to you. ---Sierra, she's 2nd year Melina-senpai. She's also the facilitator of ‹Eden› in the ‹Variety Firm›."

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm ‹Eden› sub-guildmaster Sierra. Your help in my absence has truly been a lifesaver, thank you very much."

"Aw sheesh, that's alright~. This is what I should do as ‹Helper› and it was also worth doing it. This place truly doesn't lack interesting stuff after all. To put it again, I'm 2nd year Melina who has joined ‹Eden› as ‹Helper›. Likewise, let's get along well~."

Melina-senpai said with a wink. She truly was the perfect template for a onee-san vibe character, wasn't she?

Melina-senpai was in charge of our dealing with ‹Variety Firm›, sorting out the requests (both taking in and issuing) for ‹Eden› and also managing the inventory of ‹Arc-Arcadia›.

Well, since ‹Arc-Arcadia› was currently exploring the dungeon with us, things like inventory check was currently handled by Celestine or Maria's assistance. And now that Sierra was back, she should be one with them as well.

Sierra initially had the appraisal look in her eyes, but that soon came off and soon shifted to talk about work and all.

"Amazing. I can't believe this all has been sorted out in just one day."

"Fufu, documentation etc is ‹Secretary› forte after all~. It would be a shame if we lost combat jobs in this one as well."

"Ah, indeed so. But forte huh......maybe it's about time guild shift management to related personnel."

Sierra was also capable of accounting etc to some extent, but that was truly lukewarm compared to what actual job holders were capable of.

After seeing senpai's work, she probably has an idea over the guild's future management.

"Please take my gratitude for taking out your precious time for us. It truly had been a fruitful time."

"Your praise just means my experience was not for naught. Let's have this conversation later in detail."

"Sounds wonderful. Well then, we shall not take further of your time."

"See ya later, Melina-senpai. Also sorry for the sudden visit."

A short conversation with Senpai gave us new direction for ‹Eden› management. Sure enough, having an experienced person truly makes things easier.

I was honestly glad that Melina-senpai came to be our ‹Helper›. Hannah, too, for bringing her.

"Easy, easy~. Feel free to drop by if you have any advice to seek for~."

Even her smile is so dazzling! This scene has just been etched into my brain as an ever-reliable big sister!

Alright. I shall come to her for advice.

Sierra and I left ‹Variety Firm› together.

"Zephyr, I think you already know but come to me if you're not sure about something, alright? Also, make sure to not disturb Melina-san for trivial matters."

"O-Of course. I know that much already.------Relax. Your guildmaster knows how to do things."

"Indeed so. But it's truly great to see more and more members we can ask for advice. I probably would have still needed time to know I have my limit as a combat job holder."

The best line and smile I mustered up were all brushed away by Sierra with a light response.

Ahem, anyway, I also agreed with Sierra's opinion. The addition of Melina-senpai and Maria had truly proved to be fruitful.

"I can't wait to see the last person as well."

"............"

The last one is actually Satoru...... I was honestly unsure on how to break that news to her.

But aside from that, I mainly wanted her to judge him by herself and ultimately didn't tell her that. I think it should be already. As far as I have heard, Satoru entered his believer mode only when Lulu and Hannah were around.

Either way, there's no starting of story unless you pick up the pen so I messaged on chat group to ask for his location. 'Guild Room,' I received the reply, but somehow the sender was Celia.

......Why her?

With that, we returned to the guild room as I felt a foreboding sense. It seemed like Satoru had just arrived there when we left.

We entered the guild room.

"I'm back. ............Et-tu, What are you doing there, Celia?"

"Surveillance."

"............"

I received a very concise reply in response to my question. Sᴇaʀᴄh the NʘvᴇlFɪre.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

The ‹Hard Worker› Satoru was breaking his bone on some hard work.

I don't know where that comes from but he was currently holding his pen over the mountain of documents in a corner of the room while sitting on the work desk---again, no idea where the heck this came from---with a frantic expression.

Celia was standing by his side, staring at him with stern gaze. What in the world happened?

"Pray tell what actually happened, Celia?"

Sierra asked.

"Welcome back, Sierra-san. Oh, and don't mind this. I am just passing a judgment to this undiscerning fool."

What have you done Satoru!? Celia's eyes were literally spewing fire you know?

There's like, zero instance, when she acts like that......unless it's something related to Lulu.

The story continues.

"Can you believe it, this man presented Lulu a plushie and tried to sweet-talk with her."

"I-It's truly a misunderstanding!"

"Silence, you fool. Anyone can see your black-belliness. It was my lapse in judgment that I left Lulu alone for a while and, and that happened!"

Celia replied with a tone oozing with bitterness.

For real? Damn you Satoru, so you're not just Hannah believer but even a lolicon!?

Satoru tried to explain but Celia didn't let him continue.

I looked around the guild room and noticed Lulu was currently holding an unfamiliar plushie over her lap and patting it.

"This plushie is so cute! Lulu can't believe it's actually the work of ‹Heavenly Plushie Artisan - Fulala›! Lulu is truly happy!"

So the 'and that happened' in Celia's words was Lulu apparently taking a liking to that plushie huh. Oh goddess, I hope only this is the truth.

But speaking of ‹Heavenly Plushie Artisan - Fulala›, I believe this was the person who made extra-size ‹Mochiko› Mochi-Mochi plushie---or also referred to as Mochi-chan.

It was the plushie that Rika had gotten into trouble with. Well, the craftsman of it was truly exquisite and Rika also never fails in showing every morning just to get her fill of Mochi-chan. It also served as the excellent protection charm for ‹Sachineko-sama› with that voluminous size so I was completely grateful.

Anyway, the plushie in Lulu's hand was a work far eclipsing others. Naturally, the high popularity mean it was hard to get one into your hand and I had even heard rumors that it's currently sold for a steep price among other fans (←The source of said rumors is Rika and Lulu).

Hot damn, where the hell did you manage to get one in your hand, Satoru? And presenting it of all things...even I would have to believe things were pretty deep in water.....

"Zephyr?"

"W-Well, let's not jump on the gun and hear Satoru's side of the story, Sierra. We can talk about that."

"......Make sense."

I swiftly proceeded to the situation as Sierra gave me 'is that man truly safe?'

"T-Thankkk youuuu Zephyr-saaan! I can see god in your!"

O' for god sake, hold on your horse, Mr. Believer. Let Hannah be the sole god.

Anyway, I asked him to stop handling the document that Celia bought from who knows knowhere and asked him to continue.

"Actually, Lulu-sama has helped me just as much Hannah-sama has. When I was down from the incident of ‹Wolf› almost chewing me out, Lulu-sama mercifully gave me a chocolate to cheer up. She even helped me take back my items---if hero had a face, then definitely had to be Lulu-sama back then. I wasn;t content with just thanking her for the help so I had been always wanted to properly show my appreciation."

Ah, was it just me or was Satoru caught up in his own flashback? But there's one thing I would like to say, Satoru...you truly seemed to have become the damsel in distress in this story huh? Even now, I have to interject in order to save your day.

Anyway, according to his story---it seemed like some kind of accident in the dungeon led to ‹Wolf› snatching away his cherished pendant. He met Lulu when searching for that pendant who then decided to search together with him, and even disposed of any monster that come their way with a simple swing of her hand. He apparently managed to secure the pendant once again with her help but due to some kind of incident, he couldn't thank her properly and this had been his source of unending remorse.

But now that he finally got the chance, he presented Lulu a plushie that would be to her liking and he was also about to treat her for lunch when the devil's luck struck him and Celia happened to witness that. Skipping this or that or that scene, that was how we came to the present scene.

No, even I don't get what they mean by this or that or that.

"He was definitely making advances toward her! I have never heard someone saying 'What do you think about t-that for dinner? It's my treat.' when treating someone! Nothing except the capital punishment is enough for this transgression of making a move on Lulu!"

"I-I was just too nervous at that time so I lisped them. I-I am telling the truth."

Hmm, it's tough. It's really tough to make a decision.

We asked Lulu and she remembered about helping to search the stolen pendant but she didn't remember Satoru himself. Satoru almost fainted when he heard that. Yeah, no need to mind him for now.

In the end, this matter came to a close with lack of evidence from both sides and Satoru gaining the doubt of being a lolicon. Unfortunately, Sierra and I found no concrete reason to stop Celia who decided to keep an eye on him.

"Don't be down. The doubt would soon be cleared if you only meant to show your appreciation."

I tried to cheer up Satoru.

Speaking of the mountain of documents Celia had imposed on him as punishment, Satoru had sorted them out in just one day. I honestly was speechless, that was truly a huge pile you know....... Truly a ha-hard worker he was, wasn't he?

He was seen in a new light seeing him after he cleared his punishment single-mindedly, so Sierra decided to save her judgment for later until she sees his conduct and later work.