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Nelpha, Arisa, and I all climbed up the stairs to the second floor of the adventurer’s guild. Contrasting with the open design of the first floor, there were several rooms on the second. It seemed almost as though it were constructed like an inn, but other than that they didn’t seem particularly special. Maybe the second floor was just for staff?
As I looked around, I followed Nelpha, who spearheaded our little group. After a moment, we reached the room situated the farthest from the stairs.
“This is my room—in other words, the guildmaster’s office. Come in, and feel free to make yourself at home. I don’t mind,” said Nelpha, her tone welcoming and friendly as she opened the door. But despite her invitation, it wasn’t as though I could really make myself at home—no using her sofa as a trampoline or asking her to serve me snacks or anything like that. So instead, I meekly let myself go with the flow and stiffly sat on her sofa, freezing in place like a little statue. I’d never really had much experience dealing with people, least of all people held such high office, so I was beyond nervous.
Conversing with Claus was relatively easy since I’d gotten to know him through far less conventional means; saving him and his retinue from the green dragon had opened that door. But I didn’t have any convenient means of breaking the ice with Nelpha. This was both my first time meeting her and our first real conversation. We had nothing between us, so the mood was unsurprisingly austere.
“I’m sorry for making you come all the way up here, but I didn’t think we could continue our conversation downstairs, especially not considering your circumstances,” Nelpha said before positioning herself in a seat at the farthest end of the room from the door. She rested her elbows on her desk with her chin in her hands as she leaned forward to speak to me.
“Thanks for being so considerate of me,” I replied.
“No worries. You don’t have to thank me. By the way, are you a noble child? I do notice you have awfully good manners.”
“I suppose so. I’m the youngest son of a baron in the area.”
“Hmm, I see. The nearest barony would be...Clematis, I think.”
“Oh! Yes, that’s right. You’re well-informed.”
House Clematis was of little to no importance and probably completely unknown even among their fellow noble houses. And yet, Nelpha managed to guess right in one shot. She must have been rather knowledgeable, given her role as the guildmaster.
Buuut on the other hand...anybody with a reasonable awareness of the region could’ve figured that out pretty easily. Still, this made me even more wary of her.
“It’s not much of a stretch. Clematis is right next door to Lycoris, although I can’t imagine a noble child—and an eight-year-old one at that—would be allowed to leave for an excursion so far from their lands,” Nelpha replied, as if she had read my mind. “I suppose you might be here with your parents, but considering you went out of your way to register at an adventurer’s guild in Lycoris, I’m led to believe you actually live here, not over in Clematis. If you lived there, you could simply register at the guild in Clematis, after all.”
“Clematis doesn’t support an adventurer’s guild. It’s got nothing but farms and forest,” I protested.
“Right. But the moment I saw you, before I knew you were a son of House Clematis, I immediately thought there was something strange about you. Why would you come all the way to Lycoris just to register at its adventurer’s guild if it wasn’t even your own hometown?” said Nelpha amusedly, a quiet chuckle escaping her. This inquiry was rapidly getting unpleasant.
“But it was all clear the second you said you were a child of House Clematis. You decided to become an adventurer precisely because you’re the youngest. Rest assured that it happens quite often. I think it’s wonderful you have the temerity to do so at such a young age.” I wasn’t entirely sure she was actually praising me. The cynical side of me read her words as you’re awfully reckless for a child.
“Still... One mystery remains,” said Nelpha.
“A mystery?” I repeated.
“This letter.” With a smooth wave of the hand, she showed me the letter I’d received from the king, which I had given to Arisa earlier. “I read it. The contents were quite amusing; I never would’ve guessed the king would request special permission for a child to register here. Just who are you, exactly? The letter didn’t explain that in much detail.”
I hesitated to answer. “Supposing that you didn’t like my answer to that... What would you do?”
“What would I do? Nothing. I have no reason to take any drastic measures.”
“Huh?” Her response was kind of a letdown. My shoulders drooped even before I’d had any time to mull over her words.
“I told you when we met on the first floor, didn’t I? That you could register, I mean. I’m only asking these questions purely to satisfy my own curiosity. I couldn’t contradict an order from the king even if I wanted to... Not unless I had as high a standing as the grandmaster at the adventurer’s guild in the capital.”
“Oh, huh... So you’ve got no ulterior motive at all? You’re really just asking questions for the sake of it?”
“That’s what I said, isn’t it? Just what do you take me for?” she huffed, puffing up her cheeks childishly. Was she angry? I’d gotten the impression she was an odd one from the moment we’d met, but was she actually more immature than she looked?
“I think anyone would be a little wary after being dragged off to the guildmaster’s office out of the blue and grilled about their lineage,” remarked Arisa, wou’d been patiently listening to our conversation.
“What?! W-Was I really being that imposing?” Nelpha turned toward Arisa so fast I could almost hear her neck creaking like a doll. Arisa didn’t hesitate to nod.
“Even ignoring the pressure... Honestly, anyone would get nervous being called out by the guildmaster of all people. Plus, you kept laughing even when there was nothing funny to laugh about, and you were firing off questions like this was an interrogation... He’s still only eight years old, you know.”
“Ngh!” A critical hit! Nelpha’s chin slipped from its resting place on her hands, and her head smashed into her desk. Was she okay? It had made such a loud noise that I was a little concerned.
“I-I just thought, maybe he’d feel more welcome if we got to have a casual chat. I really was doing my best to be open and approachable...” Nelpha sighed...but then her deflated tone suddenly flipped to irate. “But I’m an ex-adventurer! It’s pretty crazy to have someone like me as the guildmaster in the first place! Am I gonna have to deal with this stuff until I retire?! Find someone who can actually be a proper guildmaster!”
Nelpha’s shock only took a moment to transform into anger. Complaints kept spilling from her mouth one after another—she must have been keeping a lot bottled up inside.
“But you were the one who was like, ‘Oh, I’m so lucky that Lord Lycoris asked me to be the guildmaster! Now I can make money without lifting a finger!’” exclaimed Arisa.
“Yeah, that was before I knew being a guildmaster was so much work! I wanna slack off with the best of them, okay? That snake tricked me!” Nelpha fumed.
“You weren’t tricked. And Lord Lycoris only said he hoped you’d take the job. You’re twisting the story way out of proportion.”
“Hey! Just whose side are you on, anyway?!”
“If you’re making me pick sides, then I’m on Lord Lycoris’s.”
“What?!” Her head slipped and smashed into the desk again... Didn’t that hurt?
While listening to their comedy act, I started wondering if I could just leave. But I wasn’t done registering, which was the whole reason I’d come here in the first place, and I didn’t have the audacity to leave the room while those two were bickering. So I decided to watch them quietly instead.
“Urgh,” Nelpha groaned, stifling a sob. “You’re so cold, even though we’ve been best buddies since our adventuring days! If you were really my friend, you’d totally be down for plotting to assassinate the marquis in revenge, wouldn’t you?”
“I’m not even going to pretend to do that. Let’s end our friendship and keep things strictly professional,” responded Arisa, voice clipped.
“Nooooo!!!”
“That’s such a crazy proposal, they could hang you twice and it still wouldn’t be enough punishment! The marquis’s blood is bluer than most blue bloods, you know! And you always use your powers without considering whether it’s a good idea or not, so that joke’s even more tasteless coming from you!” Arisa admonished. “Anyway, don’t you think you should let Hisui go already? He’s been awkwardly sitting there waiting for us to finish talking.”