It was mere minutes since the two had been crying tears of joyful gratitude, but it seemed the couple had already started bickering. Kanata’s three furballs took it upon themselves to step in.
“That’s enough, both of you,” said Zag’giel.
“I know that healthy couples argue with each other, but take care not to let it turn into a real fight!” Fenrir cautioned.
“Are you quite finished with this tedious spat of yours?” asked Elizavett. “You mustn’t get so worked up, lest you harm the child in your belly.”
“I-I’m sorry...” the two of them said, bowing their heads to the balls of fluff as they delivered their lecture. It was a surreal sight, but from Kanata’s point of view, the scene got full points for cuteness.
“Oh!” the man said, seeming to suddenly remember something. “There was something else. A small thing. Honestly, it’s kind of a useless bit of information...”
“Not at all!” Melissa said, jumping at the chance for further information. “Please, tell me anything you remember, no matter how small!”
They still didn’t know what the culprit’s goals were in creating the drug. If only they knew what their intentions were with the National Fencing Tournament. Melissa was eager for even the tiniest scrap of information that might lead them to unraveling the case.
“Well, there was one thing I noticed about them...”
“Well? What was it?”
“They had really, really good hair.”
† † †
“That really was a useless bit of information...” Melissa grumbled.
Given that the perpetrator apparently hid their identity under a mask, it was likely that their hair had been a wig as well. They were unlikely to identify them based on their physical characteristics. They didn’t even know if they were looking for a man or a woman.
Kanata, however, seemed to have taken the information very seriously indeed. “Good hair...” she repeated, nodding to herself. “Soft and shiny. I see, I see...”
The man’s wife, for her part, grew jealous when she heard her husband praise someone else’s hair, and soon the couple was arguing again. Kanata, Melissa, and the furballs left them to it, and exited the hospital.
“Well, we still don’t have any leads worthy of the name,” said Melissa. “What do we do now?”
“Is there anyone else we know of who used the drug?” Kanata asked.
“There is,” said Melissa. “Quite a number of them, in fact. The damage hasn’t been spreading as much since the source of the drug dried up, but there are many people all over the land who have received treatment for the harm it’s done to their bodies.”
“In that case, we should visit them!” Kanata suggested.
“More questioning, is it?” Melissa asked. “Unfortunately, it sounds like the only one who gave us any real information was the man we just spoke to. There are some patients whose cases were less severe, who are still capable of speech, but if we question them too aggressively, word might get back to the drug’s creator. If they realize they’re being investigated they might become cautious and withdraw from the tournament...”
“No, no, not that!” said Kanata.
“Then...you don’t want to question the patients?”
“I just thought that since it looks like I can cure them after all, I should probably go cure everyone!” Kanata said the words like they were nothing.
“Indeed!” said Zag’giel. “We had a feeling you would say as much, Kanata. We are proud to call you our master.”
“That’s Lady Kanata for you!” agreed Fenrir. “Her compassion is without bounds!”
“’Tis their own fault for using the drug, I would think,” Elizavett huffed. “Still... I suppose their families are worthy of pity, like the wife of that man before...”
“Tee hee hee!” Kanata giggled at the praise. “Thank you, everyone!”
Melissa, for her part, felt a little ashamed of herself. She had been thinking only of completing the job, while Kanata was putting the well-being of the patients above all else. She really was a thoughtful girl. It was hard to believe she was only fifteen years old.
Work was important, to be sure, but it wasn’t the only thing that mattered in life. Melissa reflected that she could afford to take after Kanata’s example.
“Slurp slurp slurp slurp slurp!”
While Melissa was reflecting, Kanata had begun idly sucking at her pets’ fluff, making a horrible, filthy-sounding noise.
“K-Kanata!” Zag’giel protested. “S-Stop this!”
Some of Kanata’s traits, Melissa decided, were ones she would be better off not emulating.
† † †
“The shakes! They’re gone!”
“I don’t believe it! They told me I would never walk again!”
Patient after patient reacted with sheer astonishment at how well Kanata had been able to cure them. She spent the week leading up to the National Fencing Tournament main event visiting everyone they knew of who had become ill due to the drug, and healing every single one. Her spells were so powerful that the excess energy healed everyone else in the hospital as well. The doctors didn’t complain—they were happy to have a bit of rest.
The patients thanked Kanata profusely, proclaiming her to be a Saint before she dispelled that notion by demonstrating that she was, in fact, a Beast Tamer.
And, of course, she never neglected to use the opportunity to spread word of the fluff. “The thing I want is fluff!” she told them. “If you see any good fluff, let me know!”
Alas, nobody understood what she meant. “Fluff” had become a holy word used by followers of Fluffism, the new religion from the Holy City, and everyone simply assumed that Kanata was one of the fluffy faithful.
In the end they weren’t able to find any new clues, but with the users of the drug all healed, the only remaining problem was finding the creator and bringing them to justice.
And at last, the day of the tournament arrived. If their information was to be trusted, their target would be somewhere among the competition...
† † †
As the National Fencing Tournament began, the announcer introduced the assembled contestants. Although the tournament had the word “fencing” in its name, its scope had been greatly expanded in recent years, and many of the fighters came wielding axes or hammers in lieu of the traditional sword.
Nonetheless, it had been a sword fighter who had won every tournament thus far, so perhaps it wasn’t wrong to keep on calling it a fencing tournament after all.
“And last, but not least,” the announcer intoned, “blasting through the infamously difficult final preliminaries in the Royal Capital, the world’s strongest receptionist, Melissa Strauuuuuuud!”
“Ha ha...” Melissa laughed dryly as she waved to the crowd.
She was met by an enormous cheer, so loud that it felt like the arena itself might collapse. The stands were full of people who had witnessed her prowess in the preliminaries—her brand-new die-hard fans.
“How did I end up here, I wonder...” she said, suddenly gripped by anxiety at the eleventh hour.
The plan originally had been for Kanata to appear in the tournament, with Melissa herself playing the role of support and investigating from behind the scenes. Instead, she’d found herself in the spotlight. She had stood out so much that she was beginning to worry about whether it was going to impact her work as a receptionist in the future.
Actually, maybe it would be for the best if it got in the way of her work. She might finally get demoted instead of moving up in the world for a change. Such thoughts could be dangerous, though. She still needed to investigate the roster for anyone who might be suspicious. Melissa forced herself back to reality.
Kanata, Melissa’s second, was watching from the window in the waiting room. Melissa looked back over her shoulder just to make sure.
Miss Kanata... she thought, trying to signal her partner with just her eyes. Please be on the lookout for anyone suspicious in the lineup...
Kanata began gesticulating rapidly in response, sending Melissa silent signals of her own.
Their fluff scores are all pretty high for a bunch of humans! she was saying. From right to left, I’d give them thirty points, then fifty-three points, then sixty-two... Oh! That person’s fluff is amazing! Eighty points for sure!
“Miss Kanata...” Melissa sighed.
It was just as she had feared—the two of them had their roles reversed from what they should have been. She was beginning to feel distinctly uneasy. Her first bout, however, was going to be starting just as soon as they finished the opening ceremony. She wouldn’t even have time to stop by the waiting room first.
Of all the luck, she had to end up in the very first match of the tournament. Her opponent was a giant of a man wielding a pair of enormous greataxes—one in each hand.
“Hur hur hur...” the man laughed. “Let’s see how you fare against my Rocksplitter Dance!”
“I don’t suppose you might go easy on me...” Melissa said.
In terms of the Adventurers’ Guild ranking system, this man’s strength would put him easily above A-Rank. Somehow, though, Melissa felt strangely calm. Ever since meeting Kanata, she had found herself facing one difficult opponent after another, and somehow making it through each and every time.
“Match number one!” the referee declared. “Begin!”
Melissa stood her ground as the enormous man bore down on her, brandishing his twin axes. Each one was so big and hefty it looked like it would take two grown men to carry.
“Take this!” he bellowed, swinging his axes in a wild tempest of steel. One hit from that attack would be enough to take Melissa out of action, and this man was chaining one strike into another with all the speed of a whirlwind. “Rock! Splitter! D-Dance?!”
Melissa dodged each strike with ease. She slipped inside the man’s reach through the gaps in his blows and launched herself straight up in the air, nailing the giant man with a ferocious jumping-knee strike to the chin.