“Here you are,” Melissa said, handing over the cookies.
“Well, what have we here?!” Lily said as she accepted the present. “These are the famous cookies everyone’s been talking about, aren’t they?!” Blacksmithing was rugged, manly work, but Lily was nonetheless a girl. She was well aware of the latest fads in the realm of sweets. Lily brought out a plate for the cookies and began heating up a kettle of water for tea.
“How has your work been lately?” Melissa asked.
“Not bad, not bad,” Lily said. “The customers we lost when my old man died have been coming back too. I guess that bastard Vigo must have been doing something to drive them off after all.”
Vigo had been the senior disciple of Lily’s father’s old master back when he had been a student himself. After Lily’ father’s death, however, he turned to villainy in an attempt to get his hands on the magic furnace in Lily’s smithy. Melissa thwarted his plans and Kanata broke his spirit, and now he was hard at work making amends for his crimes. It was as if whatever evil spirit had been animating him had vanished completely. It seemed he had even sent Lily a letter of apology.
“I’m glad to hear it,” Melissa said. “I would have liked to check in on you sooner, but I’ve been so busy with work. I haven’t had time to come visit...”
“They really do keep you busy, don’t they?” Lily commiserated. “At this rate you’ll have the adventurers thinking you’re in line to be the next guildmaster...”
“Please, Lily... Not you too!” Melissa’s dearest wish was to retire from guild work as soon as possible and return to being a simple adventurer, working when she liked and resting when she liked. She hadn’t appreciated it at the time, but for all that she risked her life as an adventurer, her happy-go-lucky lifestyle was far more comfortable than the way she was living now.
Promotion was no joke.
And yet, if she were to succeed at seeing this request to its resolution, her standing in the guild would only increase. Melissa wondered if the guildmasters were punishing her for her impertinence—if she had managed to earn their ire. The truth, however, couldn’t have been further away. Those crafty old men and women loved Melissa. The path for her advancement was wide open whether she liked it or not. Indeed, it was poised to swallow her whole.
“I guess Kanata’s been good for both of our careers, huh!” said Lily.
“I suppose,” said Melissa. “If a promotion I never wanted counts as ‘good’...” The topic, however, reminded her of her task at hand. “Speaking of which, Lily, has Miss Kanata been by your shop lately?”
“Kanata?” Lily said. “She teleports in for tea from time to time, but I haven’t seen her in a while, no. I wonder if we’re due for another visit soon! I tell you, that teleportation spell of hers is way too convenient. She’s supposed to be off traveling in some far-flung land, but I keep forgetting she doesn’t live right next door.” Kanata’s teleportation spell was a lost, superadvanced magic from the ancient past. It wasn’t the sort of spell you could ordinarily use on a regular basis to casually pop in for tea, but Kanata made it look easy.
Speak of the devil, however, and she will appear. Suddenly, there was a brilliant light outside the smithy window. It was a light Melissa recognized. She had seen it many times working at the guild. Usually it was followed by a particular adventurer taking on huge quantities of requests all at once, to return later with news of their full completion. The juggernaut of a novice adventurer Melissa had somehow found herself responsible for had arrived.
“Miss Kanata!” she said. “Excellent. Actually, there’s something I need to...talk...” But when she opened the smithy door, the words died in Melissa’s throat. Zag’giel, for some reason, was clinging to the girl’s face, covering it up entirely.
“Huff...puff...” breathed Kanata through Zag’giel’s fluff.
“Miss Melissa,” Zag’giel greeted the guild receptionist. “It has been too long. Or, actually, it hasn’t been long at all, has it?”
“I...” Melissa began, uncertain how to broach the topic. “What in the world?”
“Hmph,” scoffed Zag’giel. “Is it not obvious?”
He was stretching his four stubby little legs out as far as they could reach, holding tight to Kanata’s face. Needless to say, there was nothing obvious about why Kanata was wearing this furball like some kind of mask.
“This...” he began, pausing dramatically.
“This?” Melissa asked.
“This...is training!”
“T-Training...?” It was all Melissa could do to parrot Zag’giel’s words back to him in the form of a question.
Kindly enough, the benevolent Zag’giel saw fit to explain things to the slow-witted receptionist. “Indeed,” he said. “We can see how one might not understand the purpose of this exercise at a glance.”
“Huff...puff...” Kanata breathed.
“However, one must merely try it to understand. We assure you, great thought has been put into this method!”
“Huff...puff...”
“By striving to maintain our grip with our four limbs as Kanata’s ticklish breath robs us of our concentration, we can train our body and mind alike most efficaciously! This is a flawless method of training devised by Kanata herself!”
“Huff...puff...”
Kanata gave no indication at all of whether this explanation was correct. She did nothing but take one deep breath after another. And with Zag’giel covering her face, it was impossible to tell what expression she was making either.
“If I may, Mister Zag’giel...” Melissa ventured. “I think Miss Kanata might just want you there so she can smell you while she walks around...”
“Hah,” Zag’giel laughed. “Perhaps it is too much for a callow amateur like yourself to understand...”
“Perhaps...” said Melissa. Privately, however, she wondered whether the one misunderstanding the situation was Zag’giel himself. On the other hand, if he thought about it too deeply, his ego might collapse. Melissa decided not to press the matter any further.
“Hey!” piped up Fenrir. “It’s my turn! Hurry up!”
“’Twas your turn last time!” objected Elizavett. “I am to go next!”
To Melissa’s surprise, it seemed like the furballs actually enjoyed this. They were acting like small children pestering their parent to play with them next.
“Well...” said Lily, unable to bear this bizarre situation any longer. “Anyway, why don’t you come inside? I don’t want anyone spreading rumors about suspicious individuals loitering in front of my shop...”
“Huff...puff...” Kanata breathed.
“Don’t just stand there puffing!” snapped Melissa. “Use your words!”