“M-My hair?” he asked.
“I knew from the moment I set eyes on it!” Kanata said. “You could never get such a luster through conventional means! What kind of shampoo do you use?!”
“O-Oh!” Claude hesitated. “It’s just something I put together myself...”
“I knew it!” Kanata exclaimed, shaking Claude’s hand. “Your shampoo is the best ever! Please, I would very much appreciate it if you might share some with me!”
“Y-You mean to say...you acknowledge my technique?” Claude asked.
“Of course!” Kanata said. “Only you could have created such a wonderful shampoo!”
“F-For you to say such a thing...” Claude said, tears welling up in his eyes from sheer gratitude. “You’re the first person to ever acknowledge me!”
Afterward, Kanata treated Claude, restoring his disfigured body to normal, and he went quietly to his imprisonment. He was sure to receive a long sentence, but his change of heart, at least, appeared to be sincere. From then on, he held his head high when he walked. He was a master Alchemist of shampoo.
“All’s well that ends well...” Zag’giel said. “Or...is it?” Claude seemed happy, at least, so that was probably good enough.
The National Fencing Tournament was suspended due to the commotion Claude had caused. Furthermore, with more than half of the participants found to be using the illegal drug, the result of the tournament was declared void. The tournament staff apologized profusely to Melissa, who by rights should have been the winner, but Melissa was just as happy not to be saddled with the title of winner of the National Fencing Tournament.
Guildmasters from all over the land, however, had been in attendance during that match. There was no way Melissa was going to escape rising in their estimation after a performance like that. Perhaps it was already too late for her to avoid being promoted.
With the tournament suspended, all bets were void as well, and Lily, who should have been due for a big payout after betting everything on Melissa, was left with nothing but a refund of her initial wager. She seemed absolutely devastated. It was a pitiful enough sight that Melissa, who had been planning on giving her an earful about reckless gambling, decided to hold off for some other time.
Losing out on her dreams of making it big may have broken Lily’s spirit, but Melissa’s performance with her magic sword had raised the reputation of her smithy considerably. She began to get order after order from adventurers, but it would be a while before she worked up the energy to fill any of them.
And so, the morning of the day after came, and the request was turned in and marked successfully completed.
“And that concludes my report,” finished Melissa. “As the drug was produced without the use of Alchemist Profession Abilities, the royal laboratories’ verdict is that it is not reproducible by other Alchemists. There does not seem to be a need to worry about its rediscovery.”
“I see, I see!” the guildmaster said. “Wow, Melissa! Well done! You resolved the incident perfectly! I must say, your reputation within the guild has risen considerably as well!”
“On the contrary,” said Melissa, “all I did was perform the tasks assigned to me. It was Miss Kanata who saw the incident to its successful resolution.”
“And Kanata will get her reward, of course, and a little extra to boot! There’s no need to worry about her rank, of course. She has enough achievements already to be raised to S-Rank in the next meeting regardless. But I’m not going to overlook the contribution of my own subordinate! Melissa, your performance merits remark!”
“There is no need, I assure you.”
“So, how do you feel about the title vice guildmaster?”
“I refuse.”
“Don’t say that!”
“I refuse!”
“No matter what?” the guildmaster pleaded.
“No! Matter! What!” Melissa shouted back.
“There must be something!”
“There is not! Furthermore, you’ll find that I put in a request for a long vacation! I don’t suppose you’ll deny me that, will you?!”
“No, of course not, leave it to us!” the guildmaster replied. “The staff you trained are first-class! They’ll be more than able to fill the void while you’re gone! It seems like we’ve all been leaving a bit too much in your hands lately. This was a learning experience for us too.”
Melissa’s junior Bella was, right now, curled up in a ball underneath her desk crying her eyes out on a stack of paperwork. All she could do was apologize in her heart to the perpetually exhausted Melissa for having ever taken her work for granted.
“In that case, I will be taking my leave,” Melissa said.
“Of course! And we’ll be waiting! That vice guildmaster seat will be ready the moment you come back.”
“If you do that, I really will quit,” Melissa said, shutting the door to the overbearing guildmaster’s office behind her.
“Hah... I really am tired...” she said when she was alone. For a while, she just wanted to think about anything other than work. She needed to spread her wings—take a leisurely journey to who-knows-where and try to recover her spirits. For the first time in a while, Melissa’s heart beat with something like excitement.
She would end up embroiled in a tremendous incident on that journey—one that would make her name known all over the world. But that is a story for another time.
† † †
“Mistress! Look! Look!” Elizavett posed for Kanata, looking stunningly beautiful with her red eyes and golden hair. “See the luster of my blonde locks? ’Tis beautiful, no?”
“Oh,” said Kanata, sounding completely uninterested. “Yeah, uh-huh...”
Upon completing the request, Kanata had obtained not only a considerable sum of reward money but also a good portion of shampoo from the newly reformed Claude. She’d had a wonderful time washing the three fluffballs in the bath, but then Elizavett had released her transformation and returned to her original form. Kanata was not amused. She had been planning on spending the time hugging and cuddling her three fluffballs, enjoying the sensation of their softer-than-ever fur. Now if she wanted to do that she would have to change Elizavett back.
Elizavett, however, had no idea what Kanata was thinking.
“Kee hee hee!” She laughed, excitedly waving her hair about. “I knew this would have even you swooning for me, Mistress! Now, come! Make love to me to your heart’s content! We can do it on the floor if you— Gwrf?!”
Kanata interrupted the vampire’s proposition, sticking a finger in her mouth to force-feed her more of her blood. Before she knew it, Elizavett had transformed right back into a furball.
“M-Mistress! Why?!”
“Oh my gooooosh!!!” Kanata said, enjoying Elizavett’s shampooed and softer-than-ever fluff to its very fullest. “I-I’m swoooooooning!”
“G-Godspeed, O ancient vampire...” said Zag’giel, watching from a safe distance as Elizavett was fluffed and fluffed.
“W-We’re with you in spirit!” added Fenrir, who was sitting beside him.
If the two had hoped to avoid Kanata’s affections, though, it was no use. Soon they were captured, and fluffed all together.
“Nghaaa!” cried Zag’giel. “K-Kanata! Not theeeeere!”
“Lady Kanata, stop! Noooooo!” protested Fenrir.
“Why won’t you do this when I’m in my human foooooorm?!” demanded Elizavett.
“Ahhhhhhhhhh!” Kanata sighed. “I’m so so soooooooo happy!!!”
Cries of joy and distress mingled in the room.
The quest for fluff, however, was far from over.