“Hisui, some things have arrived for you.”
It was early in the morning, and I was still a little fatigued from the workout I’d gotten the day before, so it took some effort to drag myself into the dining room. Claus, already seated, was there to greet me, and he lost no time jumping into conversation.
“Things? What things?” I asked, as I slid into an empty seat.
“Your permanent residency papers and a missive from the crown. The letter regarding your registration with the adventurer’s guild came quite a bit faster than I expected as well—the king must be deeply interested in you.”
“You really think so?” I’d thought Claus was just a really nice, upright guy, but I saw a different side to him now that we had received an official response from the king. He grinned broadly at me, his shoulders drawing back ever so slightly.
“I do indeed. You were granted special permission so readily, you might think the crown was trying to curry favor with you. But I have seen your strength, and... Well, although knowledge of your power has not spread far beyond us yet, it has been publicly declared and demonstrated. Owing to that, the letter states you shall be given permission to register at the adventurer’s guild. Take the missive to them, and I daresay you should be settled in immediately. Congratulations.”
When Claus finished speaking, the elderly butler—who had been quietly standing behind me all the while—extended his hand. In it was the aforementioned letter, which he placed on the table in front of me.
“If the guildmaster, any of the guild members, or other adventurers demand that you give a demonstration of your powers, return here instead. I apologize for the inconvenience, but I would like to avoid any potential fuss,” Claus cautioned.
His concern was reasonable to me. “Thank you so much for all the help, Lord Lycoris.”
“Please, you needn’t thank me! We both benefit from this arrangement.”
Claus brought his cup to his lips and took a sip of the steaming contents—probably tea, all things considered—before setting it back down with an audible clink.
“That aside, I will admit that I am terribly curious just how useful you’ll be for our country, both on a personal level as well as in my role as governor. But, I do hope you’ll take care of your own health first and foremost. While you may not think much of any injuries you might sustain, your sisters will surely be distressed by it.”
“Right. I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.”
Since I could just use godcraft to patch myself up, I doubted I’d land myself in any situation that would cause them to get upset. I guess Armeria might pick up on something if she noticed my clothes were torn... But I could just use spellcraft to mend those anyway. Everything would be just fine, and I wasn’t going to make either of them sad... Or that was what I wished I could say, but knowing that I couldn’t guarantee it—especially since I’d already made them upset before—really sucked.
“Ah, it appears our food has arrived. Let’s put the conversation aside for now and tuck in,” Claus remarked as mouthwatering dishes were brought from the kitchen one after another.
While my life at the Clematis residence had been an extremely frugal one, the Lycoris residence enjoyed an entirely opposite lifestyle. So many different dishes were served that I couldn’t help but wonder how anyone could eat this much first thing in the morning. I was still growing, so it wasn’t any trouble for me to finish my plate, but I had the feeling Armeria and Cosmos would end up leaving a lot uneaten.
I picked up the knife and fork resting on the table just as Claus did the same, and I began my morning repast.
After I finished eating, it was time to start on my daily routine. For now, I wanted to prioritize completing the construction of my house over training, but I didn’t want to skip out on practice either. Leaving the Lycoris estate, I planned to head straight to the south gate...but I ended up making a detour to the adventurer’s guild before leaving town.
“Are you going to the guild, Huey?” Bobbing in midair next to me, Fouré questioned me curiously, picking up on the fact that I’d chosen to take a different route than usual.
Taking care not to attract any attention, I whispered back to her. “Yeah. I don’t know if they’ll let me take jobs from them yet, but I need to at least get registered.”
“That would be for the best. Nothing’s better than getting chores out of the way first.” Aruna voiced her agreement with me, although I personally didn’t consider registering at the guild to be a chore. If I could become an adventurer, then I’d never hurt for work in the future, so it was a very important step to take.
Going for a casual jaunt through the cobbled streets, I arrived at the adventurer’s guild after about ten minutes of running. Because the town was so large, the streets were packed with people, and I couldn’t weave through the crowd very easily. Even short trips often took a long time.
Breathing a deep sigh, I placed my hands on the guild’s wooden double doors. Just as before, I could hear boisterous, joyful voices from inside the building as I pushed the doors open, the creaking of their hinges revealing their age as they moved. The view spreading before me was exactly what I expected from a fantasy guild.
While I’d come here blissfully unaware of the rules and procedures before and had been summarily refused, this time I had an ace that would guarantee my registration. My heart began to inadvertently race as I glanced around the room on my way to the reception that sat at the very front of the building. Luckily for me, no one was lining up there, so I was served immediately.
“Welcome to the adventurer’s guild—wait, hold on. Aren’t you the boy who came here earlier?”
“Huh? You remember me?”
Of the three receptionists lined up behind the desk, I spoke to the lady right in the middle. I’d spoken to her on my first attempt to register with the guild. I recalled her name was Arisa or something like that. She seemed to remember me as well, and she looked at me rather kindly.
“Children hardly ever come to the guild. Adventurers come off as rather rough and rugged, right? Since most of their jobs involve exterminating monsters, most people find them intimidating. But you, on the other hand, are adorable! Besides, the color of your hair really stands out.”
“Oh, I guess that makes sense.” Now that she mentioned it, the people milling about who looked like adventurers were all doing something that made them feel really hard to approach—some of them were built like tanks, some of them were glaring around the room while armed to the teeth, and some of them were wearing hardly anything at all.
Not that I stood out from the crowd any less than they did—since the moment I’d set foot in the guild, people had been unabashedly staring at me.
“So, what business do you have with the guild today? Come to register again, you silly duck?” She said, teasingly.
“Actually, yes. I found a way to get around the age restriction,” I replied, not missing a beat.
“What?! There’s really just no way we can let a child your age be an adventurer...”
“Please have a look at this.” What faster way to validate myself was there than showing proof? I pulled out the letter I’d received from Claus earlier and handed it to Arisa. She slowly read through it, and then a moment later...
“F-From the king?! What?!” Arisa practically shrieked, voice shaking. Looked like my letter from the king had shot straight through her comprehension with ease. She turned pale, face blanching within seconds.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
Taking a long moment to compose herself, she finally managed to respond. “Um... I-I’ll...get this checked out right away! On the double!” Her shout tore its way out of her throat, the high pitch ringing in my ears. With my letter in hand, Arisa dashed up to the second floor in a panic and was gone in a flash.
“I-Is she just leaving me here?” As she abandoned me at the reception, the responsibility for dealing with the situation she’d left behind was dumped entirely on my shoulders. The guild staff and adventurers were all completely focused on me, their uncomfortable stares clearly showing that they were all wondering what I’d done to the poor woman.
Well, it’s not like I’d asked to be left with an awkward, mood-killing atmosphere like this. Praying that Arisa would return sooner rather than later, I sat down in the closest chair I saw.
What was up on the second floor of the adventurer’s guild, anyway? Maybe the guildmaster was up there? At least, I hadn’t ever seen anyone on the first floor who looked like they might be in charge here.
To kill my growing boredom, I idly speculated in this vein. After about twenty whole minutes of me wondering what was upstairs, Arisa finally returned. Behind her trailed a woman with gorgeous light-blue hair that was tied back into a ponytail—one that was long and flowing enough to reach to her waist.
The woman fixed her gaze on me. “A child with green hair who isn’t even ten years of age... Ah, you must be Hisui.”
“Um, yes. That’s me. Who are you?” I asked. She looked to be in her twenties and wore a monocle over her left eye, giving her a distinctly intellectual look. She quietly studied me with eyes the same aqua color as her hair. Even her voice had a refreshingly cool tone.
“I’m Nelpha, guildmaster of the Lycoris branch of the adventurer’s guild. Might I have a moment to speak with you?”
“Guildmaster?” I asked, thinking. “What might someone so important need from me?” This clearly had something to do with the letter from the king that I’d handed off to Arisa a moment ago. Otherwise, there was no way someone as busy as the guildmaster would make the time to speak with a mere child.
Seeing how tense and guarded I was, Nelpha smiled at me gently before she spoke. “Don’t worry—I won’t bite. I only want to ask you a few questions regarding the letter you gave Arisa. Do you mind giving me some of your time? It would help make the registration process go smoothly.”
I hesitantly acquiesced. “All right, if it’s only for a little while.”
“Thank you. Let’s go up to the second floor, then. All these eyes on us down here are annoying.”
The guildmaster Nelpha turned on her heel, hair fluttering as she went, and leisurely strode back the way she came. I followed right behind her. Considering that I already stood out a great deal, this exchange gave me the sense that the other adventurers were paying even more attention to me—in a bad way, of course.
I just hoped they weren’t going to start a brawl or anything...