“The guild will handle everything by the book regardless of any potential complaints from the House of Puri. The victory condition was discussed and agreed upon by both parties, so any disadvantages that arise due to a lack of knowledge on the part of one party are irrelevant.”
“Yeah, of course,” I said. “They agreed to the match because they thought they could win easily.”
Broze had probably agreed to the match under the assumption that he had an advantage: He had a servant who looked pretty strong, and he’d been able to designate me as Estelle’s second. But I was stronger than I looked, and Broze hadn’t been able to enter the dungeon right away, so his plan had completely backfired. He had no one but himself to blame for all the problems he’d had since the start of the match. If he’d just worked hard, he would probably have been able to achieve Rank 2 and enter the dungeon by now, assuming his servant’s rank was high enough.
“Broze doesn’t deserve any sympathy, Sai,” said Estelle. “It was his own foolishness that doomed him.”
“I quite agree with Estelle-san. It is true that the guild provides favorable treatment to high-rank adventurers, but we never provide help exclusively to one side of a match. In any case, let’s continue with the procedure to officially conclude the match. I have brought the object that was promised to the winner. Please inspect it. Do you confirm that this is the prize agreed upon?”
The guild staffer placed a wooden box, small enough to fit in the palm of a person’s hand, on the table in front of us. Handling it with caution, Estelle opened the lid and gasped. When I peeked over her shoulder, I saw a shiny bracelet inside. The color was a mixture of silver and gold. It didn’t have any fancy engravings or gems attached to it, so at first glance, it didn’t appear particularly valuable, but when I took a closer look, I saw that depending on the angle of the light, intricate patterns appeared on the surface. It had a mystical aura that was hard to describe.
“...Yes, this is the correct prize,” said Estelle.
“I see. In that case, please sign the documents here... Thank you.”
After Estelle signed the various documents on the table, the staffer handed one of them to her.
“This document attests that the guild has certified your victory. It also states that you—Estelle-san—are the owner of this bracelet. Please keep it safe.”
Estelle nodded as she accepted the certificate. “I will.”
The guild staffer gathered up the remaining documents and stood. “This concludes the paperwork and procedures pertaining to the contest facilitated by the guild. Congratulations once again. The guild wishes you the best of luck in your future endeavors.”
“Thank you very much,” we said together.
The staffer chuckled quietly and left the room. We watched him go, then looked at the bracelet again.
“So this is the heirloom that was passed down through generations of your family, Estelle?”
“Yes, it’s the bracelet my mother wore. I still can’t understand what my foolish father was thinking when he handed something this important to another household.”
Estelle was clenching her fists. She sounded genuinely angry. As a commoner, I didn’t really have much perspective on the nobility, but since this bracelet was a memento of her late mother, it seemed unforgivable for her dad to have offered it up as collateral for a debt.
And on top of that, he’d treated Estelle herself as a source of income. He was a terrible human being and a terrible parent, and considering he’d ended up in a situation where he’d needed to sell a precious family heirloom, he was obviously too incompetent to handle his responsibilities as the head of his household. It seemed like it would be important for Estelle to take the reins from her father as soon as possible.
But for now, that was all in the future.
“Well, anyway, I’m glad we managed to retrieve your family heirloom,” I said.
“Mm. I was only able to do it with your help, Sai,” said Estelle. “Thank you very much.”
She teared up as she took the bracelet out of the box, handling it as if it were very fragile.
“Don’t worry about it. I had my own reasons for helping you out, after all.”
My short-term goal had been to prevent Estelle from getting married. A secondary objective had been to make a good impression, and based on how happy and grateful she was acting, it looked like I’d succeeded.
Estelle giggled. “I seem to recall that you mentioned that before, didn’t you?”
“Yeah. It’s the truth, and I decided to be frank about it because I’m well aware that I’m not good at hiding stuff.”
I had more or less zero experience with girls, so there was no way I could hide my feelings while adventuring with a beautiful girl like Estelle. As a result, I’d assumed that it would be better for me to be frank about why I wanted to be with her, and I’d tried my best to be honest and gentlemanly.
“Well, anyway, I guess this means we can continue working as adventurers for now,” I said.
This chain of events had started with Estelle telling me she had a problem just a few days after we’d formed a party, when I was still overjoyed at my luck. At first, I’d been at a loss about what to do, but in the end, Estelle had successfully recovered her heirloom, and I had managed to get a bit closer to her. I had become stronger and leveled up as an adventurer too, so there was only one problem left to solve on my end. I took a deep breath, then turned around to meet eyes with Estelle.
“Once again, would you be willing to keep adventuring with me as a party of two, Estelle?”
“Of course, Sai. I’m looking forward to all our adventures together.”
A beaming smile appeared on Estelle’s face as she gently clutched her heirloom to her chest in both hands. Tears of joy sparkled beautifully in the corners of her eyes.