CH 63

Chapter 63 - The woman who came

Souya, Doga, and Seran were drinking in silence for a while without speaking, as if the heavy talk about the Red Horn had sunk them all in.

Perhaps feeling responsible for this, the one who broke the silence was Seran, who was thought to be the most reticent of the three.

“– A gloomy bastard. Well, I guess she’s right.”

Seran muttered something to himself in a mocking tone, referring to the insinuations made by Merylou last night. 

“…… Well, whether you’re gloomy or not is beside the point. I think it was an important information too …… By the way, Seran-kun. How many adventurers are there in Ilstadt that can stand up to the Red Horn?”

In response to Souya’s question, Seran closed his eyes and put his hand on his chin, pretending to be thinking.

“– We have enough platinum-class adventurers to assemble an immediate subjugation team for the Lugino Village massacre. The subjugation ended in failure, though. The ones who participated were me, the adventurer’s guild vice-chief Rand old man, the priest Siren of the supreme god Luminous, the half-elf hunter Phyllis, and the rest is ……”

“Just as Seran was about to say the last name, there was a knock at the door.”

“Doga-san, are you here?”

A woman’s voice sounded. It was a fluent voice with an inflection that Souya was familiar with.

“–That’s her. I’m sure you know her well too, Souya-san.”

When Seran muttered, Souya nodded as if he was right.

“Hmm …… I’ve got a lot of visitors today. Little girl! I’m not working today! If that’s okay with you, you can come up.”

Perhaps in response to Doga’s shout, there was the sound of the front door opening, followed by quiet footsteps from the hallway that seemed to kill any sign of life.　

The figure that appeared in the reception room was a woman of great style, dressed in a green hooded cloak. In her hand, she held a bottle of red wine that looked expensive.

Her wavy, honey-colored hair was visible through the hood.

“…… Souya-san? And even you, Seran-kun …… Did you two know each other?”

Louise, the receptionist at the Adventurer’s Guild, appeared in the reception room with a look of surprise on her face.

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“Souya-san, why are you in Doga-san’s workplace? “

Louise asked Souya as she sipped the glass of red grape wine in her hand. Maybe she knew that Doga would never accept a request from a bronze-class adventurer. If he hadn’t known Doga twenty years ago, he would have been turned down.

Or maybe it was the fact that Louise, who was supposed to be writing the letter of introduction for Doga, had not done so.

“The truth is, I’ve known Doga-san for a long time. But I heard that he’s limiting his work at the moment, so I asked to write a letter of introduction at the guild’s reception, just in case …… Uh, what did she say her name is again?”

“Charlotte?”

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When Souya blurted out and pretended to forget the name, Louise mentioned the name of the second receptionist at the Adventurers Guild.

“Yes, yes. It’s Charlotte-kun …… Well, the letter of introduction she wrote me wasn’t very effective at all, but somehow I managed to get Doga-san to remember me. That’s why we’re celebrating this reunion.”

In order to convince Louise, Souya gave a truthful explanation.

The part that says “somehow” doesn’t mention that he transformed into the Magician Rei, Souya’s young form, through the magic of shape-shifting Transform, but it’s not wrong at least.

“I see. So that’s how it is …… Well, if it’s a person as good as Souya-san, it’s no surprise.”

Louise seemed to be convinced by Souya’s argument.

“…… By the way, little girl. What are you doing here? For a job? A drink?”

The way Doga said it, Louise sounded like she sometimes came here to drink.

“No …… If Doga-san is free, I’d like to ask you to strengthen my weapons after a while. That’s what I was thinking, but …… I don’t think you can do the job at this rate.”

Louise flipped up the cloak she was wearing, revealing the hilt of a small crescent moon sword, a scimitar that was lowered to her waist belt. Unlike the longsword, which was lowered into a corner of the room for protection, she seemed to be wearing it even at such a drinking party.

She was wearing a tight red dress that glimpsed through the gap in her cloak.

“Oh, you’re wearing casual clothes? It really suits you …… No, please pardon me. I guess It’s not a good idea to sneak a peek and say something like this.”

“Oh ……”

As Soya squinted and smiled thinly, Louise shyly covered the one-piece dress that was visible and hidden through the gap with the green cloak.

“Hey, can’t you at least take off your cloak indoors. I wonder if this is some kind of maiden’s shame …… Little girl,  it’s not fit for you to act like that. You’re strong like a monster, so don’t blush. It’s disgusting.”

When Doga pointed this out with a dumbfounded look on his face, Louise’s expression changed and she glared at Doga. Souya almost laughed at the exchange and pretended to hold down his glasses to cover it up.

“…… I was thinking of leaving my weapon to you, and if Doga-san is available in the evening, I could come back and have a drink. I’m off today, after all.”

It’s not clear whether the time off is sudden or planned, but Charlotte, the second receptionist, is at the Adventurer’s Guild reception today.

I wonder if she’s thinking about her failure mediating the request to the Windbreakers. After yesterday, Louise still didn’t look as bright as she usually did, and she didn’t seem to have regained her energy.

“Louise, setting aside your request for work, you can just go to the Adventurer’s Tavern to drink. You have a home nearby, so why did you go to the trouble of visiting old man Doga?”

Serran muttered to Louise in astonishment.

“Listen, Seran-kun. That’s not how it works …… It’s a public place, after all. I have to take care of my image as a receptionist. Besides, how can you talk about others when you’re drinking in the middle of the day at Doga-san’s workplace?”

Louise pointed out something plausible in response to Seran.

“…… No, I’m sorry about that. Both Seran-kun and Louise-san must have come here today to make a request to Doga-san. I’m sorry that I ruined your plans with the reunion party. Well, my original purpose was to make a request to Doga-san too, though.”

Although the reunion with an old friend for the first time in twenty years and the Red Horn have taken him away from his original purpose, Souya went to Doga’s workplace to renew his weapon, which was destroyed by the four-armed Silver Demon.

“Ohhh, that’s right …… Souya, what kind of weapon do you want to use?”

“A single-edged saber would be helpful. It seems that the one I’ve been using is apparently from the Knights of the Royal Capital.”

“Hmm …… wait here for a sec.”

Doga left the reception table, and after a few seconds, he returned with a sword in his hand.

He drew the blade from its scabbard, revealing a beautifully shining blade.

“It’s one of those precious mithril sabers. It’s much easier to use than the one made for the Knights of the Royal Capital. It’s a masterpiece that costs less than a hundred gold coins.”

“…… I’m sorry, Doga-san, but I don’t have that kind of money. I’m running low on cash. I’ve been too generous to the young people who have come before me.”

Soya shrugged his shoulders and showed it as if he was giving up.

“…… I’ll lend it to you indefinitely for the price of the bottle today. But of course, if you lose it, you must pay for it. You can use magic to hide your tools so you don’t have to worry about them getting stolen, and since they’re made of mithril, they won’t break ……”

Twelve gold coins worth of fine whiskey and an indefinite rental of a hard mithril saber worth a hundred gold coins. If you take good care of a magical silver mithril weapon, it can be used semi-permanently. To be honest, the price was unbelievable.

Mithril is rare, stronger and more flexible than steel, and the metal itself has the ability to repair itself. That’s why it’s rare to find a craftsman who can process mithril. And Doga was one of the few blacksmiths who could do so.

“…… Oh, what a nice sword. Mithril is nice. But my sword is pretty good too. The long sword is a magical sword made from dragon fangs ……”

Louise began to talk about the sword while drinking red wine. It’s already her second glass, and her face is slightly flushed.

Souya felt a sense of déjà vu at the sight.