Today, too, Elunheine Adventurer’s Guild was bustling as usual. However, what was not usual was the heavy atmosphere in the air. The cause of this was clear in the eyes of everyone present. It was because of the presence of the giant man who was “hiding” himself at the far end of the reception counters. Shouzou had half of his face peeking behind the counters, maintaining a steady gaze toward the office area. Although everyone knew why he was doing that, nobody would call out to him. The “don’t come near me” aura that he was clad in was too powerful for most people to bear.
The target of Shouzou’s stare was a single girl. The girl who was talking to Lalaine of the Naga race, his eldest daughter, Yuna. At the moment, she was being briefed on adventurers and quests. However, she was having difficulty settling down. The reason was a certain unnatural atmosphere. Everybody present could feel it. Naturally, so could Yuna.
(If only he would actually come in and just talk to us......)
Lately, Shouzou had been busy making frequent trips to the royal capital. Consequently, he hadn’t been able to show his face much at the guild. Today, too, he supposedly had an engagement in the morning, but he wanted to catch as many glimpses of his daughter as possible.
Yuna thought about going over to speak with him first, but Lalaine just happened to be getting into her stride, which made it hard for Yuna to stand up. Just when she was crying out in her heart for someone to do something about the situation, a hero of valor willing to brave talking to Shouzou appeared as if in answer to her prayer.
“Shouzou...... what are you doing?” It was Elizabeth, the guildmaster.
Shouzou replied with his head still half peeking out from the counter. “Is that you, President? Don’t mind me, I’m just checking in on the state of the guild.”
“Checking in on your daughter, you mean. Why are you just standing there? Just go in and talk to her directly.”
“I don’t want to get in the way of her work. And I have to go soon anyways.”
“Um, you do realize that you are already in the way, right.......?”
Shouzou finally realized all the stares directed at him. When he turned around, all the adventurers immediately turned their heads to look somewhere else.
“So, how is Yuna? Has she gotten used to the job yet?” asked Shouzou in slight discomfort.
“She is doing great. She remembers things quickly. More like, she’s too good. That girl, she remembers everything that she’s heard just once. Her lack of experience is what’s holding her back, but I’m sure that’s just a matter of time.”
“Is she fitting in with those around her? I mean...... she’s not being bullied or anything, right?”
“Of course not. Your teaching of ‘If you feel envious of someone else then just direct that energy into your work and earn more money, then you’ll be happy’ has thoroughly pervaded the guild. Well, at the start, there was some slight unease on the part of the other staff in regards to how to interact with ‘Shouzou’s daughter,’ but your daughter is actually quite socially capable, so there’s no problem at all.”
“Is that so, is that so......” Shouzou exhaled a long sigh in relief.
“So that’s why we plan to let her experience being at the counter today.”
“I-Is that so...... Isn’t that taking things a bit too fast?”
“Moko will be with her, so it’ll be fine. Why don’t you put a little more trust in your daughter? I said this just now, but that girl is quite capable, all right?”
It wasn’t that he didn’t trust her. However, being unable to stop worrying comes part and parcel with being a parent.
“More importantly, what’s your schedule for today?”
Recently, Shouzou had been busy going around making his greetings to all the nobles in the House of Lords. Every part of his acceptance into the upper echelon of the country had been a special exception. Therefore, with the hope of smoothing over as many ruffled feathers as possible, he had enlisted the help of Marquis Goldas in order to properly open up channels of communication with as many of them as he could.
“Today, I’ll be meeting your father first, then—” As Shouzou started listing out the names of the nobles that he would be meeting today, Elizabeth’s face grew increasingly fatigued.
“You’re meeting those people back to back? I wouldn’t be able to bear it if I were you.” Every single one of them were famous bigshots in the House of Lords. Not only were they in high social positions, but their long years in those positions had made them cunning and crafty beyond measure. Every single word in even a simple greeting would be read into, every facial twitch would be considered, so in that regard, there would be no room for respite.
However, Shouzou had plenty of experience making contact with politicians back when he was living in Japan. Though there might be slight differences in values between the two worlds every now and then, but Shouzou did not expect to have too hard a time.
“Then at night, I’m also going to have an audience with the king.”
“WHAT?! You even made plans for an audience?!”
“Well, it’s not a proper audience. Apparently he wanted to meet in a personal capacity.”
Elizabeth’s cheek twitched unconsciously. The current king was famous for his curiosity. No doubt Marquis Goldas putting in a word also had a part in this. However, a mere guild staff employee suddenly getting to meet with the king in a personal capacity was still almost too unbelievable.
“Mind yourself, all right? You never know, maybe there’s something going on in the shadows.”
“Well, I’ll just have to meet him and see for myself, won’t I?” With that, Shouzou stood up. “It’s time for me to go.” With brisk steps, Shouzou cut through the packed lobby, and soon disappeared from sight.
✦ ✦ ✦
★
After paying his greetings to the nobles scheduled for the day, Shouzou headed toward the royal palace with plenty of willpower to spare. Even when facing those crafty old foxes from the House of Lords, Shouzou had been so forceful that it was his opponents who withered up in the end. The face-to-face before the previous one was also a dinner banquet, so his stomach was also comfortably filled.
Shouzou caught his own loosening expression and braced himself. The very last person that he would be meeting today was none other than the person who stood in the top position of the country, the king himself. In addition, it was not an official audience, but an unofficial, closed door meeting in a private chamber. He had received no prior notice regarding the topic that would be discussed. The probability that there was something going on, just as Elizabeth had said, was very high.