“Mukohda! It’s been far, far too long! I just arrived in the capital a moment ago, and here you are, exactly where I was hoping I’d find you! I can’t believe I ran into you this quickly! It really must be destiny at work!” Elrand declared with a beaming smile.
“First, please stop talking like that—it’s weirding me out—and second, we both know that isn’t true. You were looking forward to seeing Gon and Dora-chan, not me,” I countered.
《Oh no. The freak’s finally found us!》 Dora-chan bitterly moaned. He said it telepathically, of course, so Elrand couldn’t hear him, but if the elf had been able to hear it, I had a feeling he would’ve broken down in tears.
《Ugh. I see his penchant for incessant blather hasn’t changed at all,》 Gon groaned. He spoke telepathically as well, presumably since he was afraid that speaking out loud would mean that Elrand would talk to him next.
Elrand, completely oblivious to the dragon duo’s telepathic ribbing, was as hyped as I’d ever seen him. He looked like he might start dancing a jig at any second.
“Oh, well, I guess I can’t deny it! Heh heh heh. I nearly succumbed to despair at the thought that I wouldn’t get to see them for the longest time, but then fortune fell upon me like a bolt from the blue! And to think that opportunity came in the form of a leviathan! You actually remembered what I told you, didn’t you, Mukohda?!” Elrand said, grinning from ear to ear as he grabbed my hand and shook it altogether too vigorously.
You have no idea how lucky you are to not hear what those dragons are saying about you right now. If only you knew how much they hated you. “I mean, not to burst your bubble, but it’s really not like we went out and found a leviathan specifically for you. Also, can you let go of my hand now?” I asked, uncomfortably aware of how strained my own expression was starting to look.
Elrand ignored me. “Oh, you, ever the jokester!” he said. “Of course you remembered! You can’t possibly expect me to believe you stumbled across a leviathan and slew it by chance, now, can you?”
“No, seriously, that’s actually what happened! You’re totally off base!” How many times do I have to repeat myself before you believe that I didn’t do this for you?! We decided to go into a dungeon on a whim and just happened to find one that Gon finished off for me!
“Oh, I’m sure, I’m sure!” Elrand said, still smiling as brightly as ever, even in the face of my complete and unambiguous denial.
Nope. It’s hopeless. His brain is protected by an impenetrable shell of positivity.
Then, as I shook my head with exasperation...
“Stop! Right! Theeere! Don’t you dare run off on me ever again!”
...an old woman came bursting onto the scene, bellowing at full volume and charging in our direction with a look of pure fury on her face!
“Ahhh!” Elrand yelped. His grin and his boundless reserves of manic energy vanished in the blink of an eye.
The old woman rushed over to us, then paused to gasp and heave for a few seconds. I could see now that she was also an elf, and that she’d probably been quite the beauty when she was younger. “You... You imbecile! Why would you sprint off to who knows where without a word of warning?!” the elven woman raged. “You’ve got some nerve to try to slip away from your supervisor!”
“N-No, that wasn’t my intention in the slightest!” Elrand frantically stammered.
“Hmph! I don’t believe a word of it—and conveniently enough, the guild authorities who dispatched me to watch over you are all within arm’s reach at this very moment. I’m sure they’ll be very interested in hearing all about this little stunt of yours! In fact, they might even be so impressed by your behavior that they’ll ask me to keep you company for even longer!”
“N-Nooooooooo!” Elrand wailed, falling to his knees on the spot.
“Hmph! A punishment well earned,” the elven woman said as she shot him a very chilly glare.
Okay, I think I’m getting the picture. She must be the person who Ugohl said got sent to watch over Elrand. I think he said her name was Moira?
“I take it you would be Mukohda?” the elven woman asked.
“Y-Yes, I am,” I replied.
“Then you have my apologies for the trouble that this feckless idiot has caused you. My name is Moira, and I’ve been entrusted with the task of supervising him. If he ever does anything untoward again, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.”
“Understood. I’ll do that, thanks,” I said. It seemed I’d gained a powerful ally in the battle against Elrand’s worst impulses. I’d most definitely be taking her up on her offer the next time he pulled some stupid stunt or another.
“Wait—Mukohda?!” Elrand yelped.
“Quiet, you,” Moira snapped, punctuating her order with a sharp slap to Elrand’s head.
Yup! Moira’s a toughie, all right!
“I can’t believe it! You hit me,” Elrand whined.
“Hmph!” Moira indignantly snorted. “You’ve no one but yourself to blame! You should have long since learned how to behave in a way that doesn’t earn you that sort of punishment. Have you forgotten why you’re here in the first place?”
“Of course I haven’t! I’m here to butcher the leviathan and to see Gon and Dora-chan, of course!”
I winced. The look on Elrand’s face made it pretty clear he thought that was the obvious answer, and I had a feeling he was about to regret not giving it just a little more consideration.
“You’re here for the leviathan and only the leviathan, you dullard!” Moira shouted, slapping Elrand upside the head once again.
“Ow! Stop hitting me, please!”
“I’ll be glad to, as soon as you stop spouting your idiocy! Come along—we have somewhere to be!”
“Wait, where?”
“Surely you can guess. You don’t think you could cause that much trouble for the guild’s administration and not pay its leaders a visit when you find yourself in the capital?”
“Huh? No, I, err—”
“No excuses! Go on, move!”
Moira grabbed Elrand by one of his lengthy ears and dragged him off into the distance. “O-Ow! That hurts! Moira, stooop!” he wailed.