With Parth in a state of celebration, the bars and inns were naturally flourishing. The Fairy’s Song was no exception. In fact, they were doing better than most.
“Still, everyone’s talking about Kelvin, huh?”
“Efil-chan and Lady Sera are getting married, aren’t they? And Ange-chan’s in there too... Aaagh, I’m so jealous!”
“Right...”
“Hm? You seem a bit down, Molotoy. Are you okay? We’ve been slammed with work recently, I know. But thanks to you, we were able to get through okay today. Good job, my guy!”
“And you seem to be really energetic, even though we just finished a job, oh fearless leader. Jeez, you got way too excited about work just because you became a Rank A adventurer and took too much on.”
“Yeah! Finishing quests is fine and all, but you should pay attention to your family sometimes too!”
“Meanwhile, we’re as single as always...”
In the midst of a string of successes, Parth’s second-most iconic adventurers after Kelvin—Uld’s party—visited the Fairy’s Song. They had passed their promotion exam and become Rank A adventurers, so they were filled with motivation and had been doing very well recently. All that connected to real achievements, and they were continually completing high-difficulty quests and showing off their stuff.
“You guys’re depressed again? We finally became Rank A,” said Uld. “Come on, you should be more positive.”
“You say that, but you’re just way too positive, boss.”
“Yeah! We’re stuck doing high-difficulty quests in place of Kelvin’s party, since they’re off traveling the world! I thought you’d gone crazy when you suggested that.”
“Yep. I was shocked too, honestly. Well, we’re Parth’s top adventurers if you ignore Kelvin, so I bet you were just trying to do your part.”
“You’re such a good guy, boss. Kelvin trusts you too, and you’re the only one among us who’s married. You even have a kid... Urgh, now I’m getting sad...”
“The tragedy of us not getting any more popular even though we’re Rank A now...”
The rest of the party sank into silence.
While Uld’s two party members steeped in their depression, for some reason, the third silently looked off somewhere else.
“Hm? Hey, Molotoy? Is it just me or did you look away just now?”
“N-No, I didn’t. Yeah. I definitely didn’t,” Molotoy replied.
“Something’s off. You were acting weird earlier when we were talking about Kelvin’s marriage too... Ah! I bet you found someone nice, leaving us all alone!”
“Whaaaat?! When?! When and how did you manage to meet someone?! No forgiveness!”
The two single party members raised their voices, hurt by Molotoy’s betrayal. They even started crying. They were like walking powder kegs—or maybe not, but still, Uld got in between them, desperately trying to defuse the situation.
“Hey! Calm down, you two! We should be congratulating our friend, not fighting—” he started.
“You bastard! Good for you! Don’t you dare let her go!”
“You traitor! It’s my treat today! Feel free to eat or drink anything!”
“Uuugh...thank you, everyone! I... I’ll do my best to make her happy!” Molotoy shouted.
“Between ourselves,” Uld finally finished. “Yeah, good. That’s the way. Phew, that surprised me!”
In the end, the party made up with surprising speed. It was so sudden that Uld’s shock actually showed in his voice.
“You know how dumb your face looks right now, boss? We’re Rank A already, so you gotta do a better job of keeping up appearances.”
“O-Oh, yeah. Sorry...” Uld muttered.
“Shape it up, boss. Ah, you’ve got a wife and kids to worry about, so let us cover his bill! In exchange, you should buy Clare a present sometime!”
“Uh...should I?” Uld asked.
“This might be a bit hasty, but I’m counting on you to give a speech at the wedding, boss. I know we’re about the same age, but I look up to you!” Molotoy exclaimed.
There was a pause before Uld replied, “Okay.”
Uld realized that his spirit was so weak despite his muscular looks that his three party members had to worry about him. At this point, he was often the one learning from them. People really do grow up all of a sudden, he thought. It was one of the most irreplaceable joys of being a party leader to him.
“How long are you guys going to block the entrance?! Come on, step aside already! We’re busy, you know!” Clare shouted.
“Grwfh?!” Uld and his party grunted in pain.
Naturally, no matter how moving their exchange was, they wouldn’t be allowed to stand at the entrance of the establishment, blocking traffic. Clare, the proprietress of the Fairy’s Song, kicked them to the curb, sending Uld and his party flying.
“Ahhh! Uld-san and his party were thrown so far!”
“Dang that woman is strong!”
“Huh? Aren’t those people Rank A adventurers?”
“Seriously? One blow that looked like a slap cleaned up an entire Rank A party?”
“Hey now, what kind of power was behind that hit?”
“Heh! I know because I’ve been staying here for many years. She’s stronger than any adventurer around.”
“Wow, that’s crazy!”
Seeing that feat of strength was so shocking, the bar’s patrons were still reeling.
“Owww... Clare, you realize we just got back from a job, right? Couldn’t you cut us a little slack?” Uld asked.
“W-We agree with our boss...” the other members all said in unison.
They looked surprisingly okay for having received such a blow. They’d flown several meters between the tables of the bar, but they didn’t seem particularly hurt.
“What’re you saying? I held back plenty already,” said Clare. “If you’ve got time to gripe, then get up already! And help wait the tables!”
“Wait the tables?!” The men reacted in unison immediately after getting up.
“As you can see, we’re full up,” said Clare. “I’d take anyone’s help right now, even an adventurer’s. It’s fine for you to put a lot of effort into adventuring, but why not help out your family’s business every once in a while? I’ll keep watch over all of you, so work your hearts out.”
“Hey, but...me aside, are you seriously going to make these guys work too?!” Uld shouted.
“It’s our loss, boss. Let’s just get to work. It’s not like there’s any empty seats for us anyway.”
“Yeah,” the other two party members agreed in concert.
The men were handed aprons by Clare and immediately put to work. Their apron look was a bit hard to look at, but they cleaned and dealt with drunks as ordered—it seemed they were used to the job.
“You guys still obey Clare even though you’re Rank A now, huh?” Uld commented, turning back to his wife. “Jeez, okay. I get it. But you better at least feed these guys afterward, okay?”
“I was gonna do that anyway,” Clare scoffed. “You can look forward to the food. After all, today is... Heh heh...”
That only seemed to confuse Uld, though he could tell she was hiding something.
“Okay, take these to table three please. Also, this and this.”
Suddenly, a voice came from the kitchen, and one delicious-looking dish after another came out.
“Roger!” the three party members exclaimed.
They quickly carried the plates to the waiting customers, making full use of the muscles they were so proud of. They scrambled to keep up, but then a doubt popped up.
“Wait, hmmm? Wait just a second. This is weird. You’re right there, Clare-san. So who’s in the kitchen?”
“Oh...yeah. I was just thinking that.”
“Hey...wait, I think the voice from the kitchen was really lovely. If I’m remembering right, that voice belongs to...Efil-chan?!”
“Yes?”
Efil in her maid outfit popped out of the kitchen. The men were immediately overjoyed to see her face after so long, and they raised a great shout—only to be sent flying once again by Clare.