Chapter 25

INTERLUDE THEATRE: ACT I The Hunt of a Lonely Girl I fretted away by myself in a corner of the Adventurers Guild, trying to be discreet as I kept one eye on the flyer I had made seeking party members. Megumin, the frie—I mean, rival I had come here with, had promptly found her own companions and gone off on a quest. Our very first day as adventurers, and I could already see the huge difference between us. Megumin was an oddball, short-tempered and always spoiling for a fight, but even so, she was surprisingly social. By comparison, I had probably talked more with my pet moss ball over the course of my life than with any other human being. For someone like me, the difficulty rating of talking to complete strangers was just too high. I had tried a few times but eventually gave up. And so I was reduced to posting a piece of paper on the board and waiting for someone to bite… “…! I saw that! That person just now—they looked at my post!!” When I next glanced at the bulletin board, I saw an adventuring party reading my post. Maybe, just maybe, they would let me into their group, but I needed something to say and I hadn’t thought of anything to say oh stupid me, start with your name and then say your class and your special skills…! The blood was already rushing to my head when I saw them point to my post and nod at one another, then look around as if searching for someone—they almost looked excited about it… When their eyes met mine, though, they shivered and looked away. The whole party seemed to shrink as they slunk out of the building. Maybe they weren’t looking for party members after all… But it was all right; I had written clearly in the post that I was an Arch-wizard. Surely, eventually, some party would come along…! But nobody did. Several more parties looked at my flyer after that, but for some reason, the moment they looked me in the eye, each of them quietly went away. …After a while, a woman with glasses came over to my table. “A-ahem… Pardon me, young lady, may I speak to you?” “Y-yes, of course! How can I help you?! My name is Yunyun, and I’m an Arch-wizard but I can still only use intermediate magic so I’m very sorry about that but it’s okay because I’ll be able to learn advanced magic very, very soon!” “D-don’t misunderstand, please—I’m a Guild employee! I’m sorry; I’m not here because of your flyer!” Oh. So she was someone on staff. “U-um, is something the matter? Is there a problem with my post…?” “N-no, although I have my questions about what you wrote there, but…we’ve had some complaints about a girl giving the evil eye to everyone who looks at the seeking-group board…” It’s not the evil eye; I was just curious! “I understand there aren’t that many adventurers worthy of working with someone from the Crimson Magic Clan, but, er, I must ask you to stop looking at everyone you don’t like with that terrifying red gleam in your eye…” It’s not that I don’t like them—that’s just what happens when a Crimson Magic Clan member feels emotional! I was so happy to think that someone might actually talk to me. “I… I’m very sorry. I’ll try to be careful…” That made the employee look relieved. It also made her go away. …I was a little shocked to discover people were afraid of me. I slumped face-first against the table, feeling depressed, when… “You say you’re thirteen?” I heard a voice from over my head and looked up. “’Sup? That’s what the kids say, right? I should know, because I’m obviously thirteen, too! You’re looking for someone to fight on the front line, right? Just leave it to me—I’m a high-level Crusader! I’ll keep you so safe!’” Despite the man’s claims, he was clearly in his forties at least—wearing heavy full-body armor, breathing too hard and talking too fast… ………………………………………………………… “…Well, all right, maybe we could start by just having a chat…” “Really?!” The man seemed surprised, even though he was the one who had started the conversation.