Translator: Denryuu; Editor: Ryunakama
「Ah, Roland-san! I was wondering whether you had returned to the castle」, said Milia pleasantly when she saw us. 「I see you went to receive her Highness?」
It was too troublesome to explain the situation to the employees, so I simply pretended that Almeria was here for a routine inspection.
「Yes. Thanks to the ‘Gate’, the round trip took no time at all.」
Almeria’s strength was well-known throughout the land, and she would have no problem at all becoming an adventurer. I decided that she would only start taking up quests after Frank arrived — until then, I would ensure that her recently-dulled reflexes regained their past sharpness.
With everyone’s eyes trained on her, the princess strolled around the guild with apparent interest. Whenever she passed by an employee, that employee tensed up. Even Iris, the branch chief, was on tenterhooks. At this rate, I thought, her presence will get in the way of official business. I should bring her somewhere else, but where…?
A sudden exclamation came from the door, interrupting my train of thought.
「It’s Roland! He’s here!」
Meiri and Rodje entered with a black cat, followed by the Pretty Girls’ Squad. The little princess skipped over to the counter and did a little hop on the spot.
「Where’d you go? You didn’t come back the whole night!」
「I informed someone beforehand that I wouldn’t be returning.」
Rodje sighed in exasperation.
「I went to Ferland to escort their princess」, I continued. 「She’ll be staying here for a while.」
I pointed behind me, and Meiri’s eyes sparkled.
「The Heroine…!」
Oh yeah… Almeria’s a role model for many children all over the world. Unlike Meiri, however, Rodje reacted by pouting to express her displeasure.
「Control yourself, Rodje.」
「I-I know, Lylael-sama.」
While master and servant conversed in soft whispers, Hire stood silently, observing Almeria in awe. Lyan and Sans had the same reaction as Meiri.
「Roland-sama… you went all the way to Ferland to escort the Heroine?」, asked Hire.
「Yeah. She’ll be with us for a while to inspect the guild, I believe.」
「Roland-sama’s awesome! I mean, I knew that already, but for you to have ties with both Princess Vadenhaag and Princess Ferland… wow!」, said Sue.
I suddenly remembered something after hearing Sue speak.
「Oi, Almeria…」, I started, then corrected myself. 「Almeria-sama.」
「What?」
「This is Alias-sama, the princess of this country. Most of us call her Meiri.」
Almeria bent her knees to match Meiri at eye level.
「Hello, Alias-sama.」
「H-Hello, Heroine-sama!」, replied the little princess as ecstatically as ever.
I suppose Almeria required no introduction.
Though they differed in nationality, they stood on equal footing. Their meeting was a good opportunity for them to befriend each other.
「While I’m working, do you mind… I mean, would you be so kind as to operate together with Meiri and the others as a unit?」
「Sure. Seems like I’m a burden to have around anyway.」
Listening intently, Rodje continued pouting.
「Is it really okay, Lylael-sama?」, she asked.
「Why not? She’s a friend of mine.」
「A friend!?」
Rodje squinted at Almeria, who looked back in her direction.
「Hm? That voice just now… could it be?」
「Mhm, that’s right, lass. It’s me.」
「Wow, it’s really you, Master Moggy!」
Rodje gnashed her teeth.
「How dare you refer to Lylael-sama in such a nonchalant manner!」, she snarled as if on cue.
「What’s with this elf?」, retorted the princess. 「This has nothing to do with you, unless… you’re looking for a scrap?」
「No, no, I’m not!」
At least she recognised the difference in their strength.
「Lyla-chan’s friends with the Heroine?」, asked Meiri innocently.
「Mhm. She’s come to my home before.」
「Wow!」
「Lyla-chan?」, questioned Almeria.
I told her that the ‘Master Moggy’ she had met at Somarille Coast and the ‘Lyla’ who had lost her wallet at the royal capital were one and the same.
「Master Moggy… Lyla… hold on, this is confusing! You mean you’re the one who told me about all those lewd experiences…?」
She looked at Lyla, then at me, then back at the Demon King.
「I have to meet you in this form for personal reasons. But anyway, enjoy your stay here.」
「I’m looking forward to it.」
She shook Lyla’s front paw.
I winked at Lyla, who nodded just a little to indicate that she understood. With Rodje, Lyla and the Pretty Girls’ Squad around her, I could afford to take my eyes off her in the day. She’s much stronger than the rest, but regardless of whether she would be the one being protected or the one doing the protecting, having the numbers was good enough for me.
「I know nothing besides what an adventurer is. Could you teach me what I should be doing as one, Alias-sama?」
「O-Of course!」, agreed Meiri, puffing up her cheeks.
「Remember that you’re E-ranked from now on, Meiri」, I reminded her.
「That’s right! I want a quest that will let me beat up lots of monsters!」
It felt like she wanted to look cool in front of her idol.
「I’ll give you a suitable quest.」
Looking at their party lineup, they shouldn’t have the slightest trouble with any monsters that do appear, but I decided to assign them a safer quest — herb foraging — instead.
「We’ll be back!」, exclaimed Meiri, waving a hand as they left.
A wave of relief washed over the guild now that the girls had set off. The title of ‘Heroine’ is held in such high prestige that Almeria could make anyone nervously put on their best behaviour just by looking at them. With her gone, I could focus on other work too.
Iris handed me a familiarly-designed envelope.
「It’s addressed to you, Roland.」
Giving her my thanks, I confirmed that the sender was indeed Lord Amstel, former Guild Master of Welger & Co. How many times have I interacted with this guy, I wondered as I read through the letter.
It was regarding what we should do about the current Master of said association.
He had previously requested for an investigation into the current state of Welger & Co., which I had made into a quest and sent Dee and Rabi to conduct. They had been told to obtain information about every facet of the association. Even if we were unable to fulfil the request, Amstel was still hoping to take the helm of the association as Guild Master once again.
From his perspective, he probably couldn’t bear to see the association that he had built from scratch being used to perform shady deeds.
「We’re back, Roland-sama!」
「Yoo-hoo, Roland!」
Seeing that Dee and Rabi had returned, I inquired of their findings.
「How’s the association like nowadays? Just like before, or…?」, I asked, gesturing for them to sit at the counter.
「Nothing much seems to have changed. But now that they’ve lost Barbatos, it appears that they’re struggling to gather funding.」
Were both to have succeeded, they would have effectively controlled two kingdoms from the shadows. And if either had reached their goal first, they would have offered great support to the other party…
The fall of the baron, however, has caused a great mental strain on the association.
「They’re much sloppier these days」, Dee continued. 「Many of those working there were loose-lipped good-for-nothings, and I had no trouble extracting information from them. Thanks to Bale-kun, I was also able to find the people holding relevant information easily.」
They were still dabbling in poaching and illegal trading, but had begun to shy away from their surface-level business as well. Poor Amstel — he’ll have a massive headache when he learns that they’re focusing even more on underground operations now.
「Nice work. You can have a good rest today.」
I gave them their respective commissions.
「Wait, we’re getting so much!?」, gawked Rabi.
An entire million to be split between two people — we could all tell that Amstel wasn’t fooling around.
「Roland-sama likes to give me difficult quests」, explained Dee. 「Unusual quests like this one too. I always get a handsome reward for these.」
「I’m sticking with Dee, then!」, said Rabi, hugging Dee tightly.
「Ara-ara.」
Ufufu, chuckled the vampire. Since the sun’s rays weakened her, having Rabi the defensive specialist around would make things easier. It seemed like a good combination of offense and defence.
I wrote Amstel a report detailing their findings, and included the following line:
『If everything seems futile, submit an assassination request to the underground guild.』
I’ll pay that guild a visit soon.
Once the tumour begins to metastasise throughout the country, it will be too late.
Translator: Denryuu; Editor: Ryunakama
「Ah, Roland-san! I was wondering whether you had returned to the castle」, said Milia pleasantly when she saw us. 「I see you went to receive her Highness?」
It was too troublesome to explain the situation to the employees, so I simply pretended that Almeria was here for a routine inspection.
「Yes. Thanks to the ‘Gate’, the round trip took no time at all.」
Almeria’s strength was well-known throughout the land, and she would have no problem at all becoming an adventurer. I decided that she would only start taking up quests after Frank arrived — until then, I would ensure that her recently-dulled reflexes regained their past sharpness.
With everyone’s eyes trained on her, the princess strolled around the guild with apparent interest. Whenever she passed by an employee, that employee tensed up. Even Iris, the branch chief, was on tenterhooks. At this rate, I thought, her presence will get in the way of official business. I should bring her somewhere else, but where…?
A sudden exclamation came from the door, interrupting my train of thought.
「It’s Roland! He’s here!」
Meiri and Rodje entered with a black cat, followed by the Pretty Girls’ Squad. The little princess skipped over to the counter and did a little hop on the spot.
「Where’d you go? You didn’t come back the whole night!」
「I informed someone beforehand that I wouldn’t be returning.」
Rodje sighed in exasperation.
「I went to Ferland to escort their princess」, I continued. 「She’ll be staying here for a while.」
I pointed behind me, and Meiri’s eyes sparkled.
「The Heroine…!」
Oh yeah… Almeria’s a role model for many children all over the world. Unlike Meiri, however, Rodje reacted by pouting to express her displeasure.
「Control yourself, Rodje.」
「I-I know, Lylael-sama.」
While master and servant conversed in soft whispers, Hire stood silently, observing Almeria in awe. Lyan and Sans had the same reaction as Meiri.
「Roland-sama… you went all the way to Ferland to escort the Heroine?」, asked Hire.
「Yeah. She’ll be with us for a while to inspect the guild, I believe.」
「Roland-sama’s awesome! I mean, I knew that already, but for you to have ties with both Princess Vadenhaag and Princess Ferland… wow!」, said Sue.
I suddenly remembered something after hearing Sue speak.
「Oi, Almeria…」, I started, then corrected myself. 「Almeria-sama.」
「What?」
「This is Alias-sama, the princess of this country. Most of us call her Meiri.」
Almeria bent her knees to match Meiri at eye level.
「Hello, Alias-sama.」
「H-Hello, Heroine-sama!」, replied the little princess as ecstatically as ever.
I suppose Almeria required no introduction.
Though they differed in nationality, they stood on equal footing. Their meeting was a good opportunity for them to befriend each other.
「While I’m working, do you mind… I mean, would you be so kind as to operate together with Meiri and the others as a unit?」
「Sure. Seems like I’m a burden to have around anyway.」
Listening intently, Rodje continued pouting.
「Is it really okay, Lylael-sama?」, she asked.
「Why not? She’s a friend of mine.」
「A friend!?」
Rodje squinted at Almeria, who looked back in her direction.
「Hm? That voice just now… could it be?」
「Mhm, that’s right, lass. It’s me.」
「Wow, it’s really you, Master Moggy!」
Rodje gnashed her teeth.
「How dare you refer to Lylael-sama in such a nonchalant manner!」, she snarled as if on cue.
「What’s with this elf?」, retorted the princess. 「This has nothing to do with you, unless… you’re looking for a scrap?」
「No, no, I’m not!」
At least she recognised the difference in their strength.
「Lyla-chan’s friends with the Heroine?」, asked Meiri innocently.
「Mhm. She’s come to my home before.」
「Wow!」
「Lyla-chan?」, questioned Almeria.
I told her that the ‘Master Moggy’ she had met at Somarille Coast and the ‘Lyla’ who had lost her wallet at the royal capital were one and the same.
「Master Moggy… Lyla… hold on, this is confusing! You mean you’re the one who told me about all those lewd experiences…?」
She looked at Lyla, then at me, then back at the Demon King.
「I have to meet you in this form for personal reasons. But anyway, enjoy your stay here.」
「I’m looking forward to it.」
She shook Lyla’s front paw.
I winked at Lyla, who nodded just a little to indicate that she understood. With Rodje, Lyla and the Pretty Girls’ Squad around her, I could afford to take my eyes off her in the day. She’s much stronger than the rest, but regardless of whether she would be the one being protected or the one doing the protecting, having the numbers was good enough for me.
「I know nothing besides what an adventurer is. Could you teach me what I should be doing as one, Alias-sama?」
「O-Of course!」, agreed Meiri, puffing up her cheeks.
「Remember that you’re E-ranked from now on, Meiri」, I reminded her.
「That’s right! I want a quest that will let me beat up lots of monsters!」
It felt like she wanted to look cool in front of her idol.
「I’ll give you a suitable quest.」
Looking at their party lineup, they shouldn’t have the slightest trouble with any monsters that do appear, but I decided to assign them a safer quest — herb foraging — instead.
「We’ll be back!」, exclaimed Meiri, waving a hand as they left.
A wave of relief washed over the guild now that the girls had set off. The title of ‘Heroine’ is held in such high prestige that Almeria could make anyone nervously put on their best behaviour just by looking at them. With her gone, I could focus on other work too.
Iris handed me a familiarly-designed envelope.
「It’s addressed to you, Roland.」
Giving her my thanks, I confirmed that the sender was indeed Lord Amstel, former Guild Master of Welger & Co. How many times have I interacted with this guy, I wondered as I read through the letter.
It was regarding what we should do about the current Master of said association.
He had previously requested for an investigation into the current state of Welger & Co., which I had made into a quest and sent Dee and Rabi to conduct. They had been told to obtain information about every facet of the association. Even if we were unable to fulfil the request, Amstel was still hoping to take the helm of the association as Guild Master once again.
From his perspective, he probably couldn’t bear to see the association that he had built from scratch being used to perform shady deeds.
「We’re back, Roland-sama!」
「Yoo-hoo, Roland!」
Seeing that Dee and Rabi had returned, I inquired of their findings.
「How’s the association like nowadays? Just like before, or…?」, I asked, gesturing for them to sit at the counter.
「Nothing much seems to have changed. But now that they’ve lost Barbatos, it appears that they’re struggling to gather funding.」
Were both to have succeeded, they would have effectively controlled two kingdoms from the shadows. And if either had reached their goal first, they would have offered great support to the other party…
The fall of the baron, however, has caused a great mental strain on the association.
「They’re much sloppier these days」, Dee continued. 「Many of those working there were loose-lipped good-for-nothings, and I had no trouble extracting information from them. Thanks to Bale-kun, I was also able to find the people holding relevant information easily.」
They were still dabbling in poaching and illegal trading, but had begun to shy away from their surface-level business as well. Poor Amstel — he’ll have a massive headache when he learns that they’re focusing even more on underground operations now.
「Nice work. You can have a good rest today.」
I gave them their respective commissions.
「Wait, we’re getting so much!?」, gawked Rabi.
An entire million to be split between two people — we could all tell that Amstel wasn’t fooling around.
「Roland-sama likes to give me difficult quests」, explained Dee. 「Unusual quests like this one too. I always get a handsome reward for these.」
「I’m sticking with Dee, then!」, said Rabi, hugging Dee tightly.
「Ara-ara.」
Ufufu, chuckled the vampire. Since the sun’s rays weakened her, having Rabi the defensive specialist around would make things easier. It seemed like a good combination of offense and defence.
I wrote Amstel a report detailing their findings, and included the following line:
『If everything seems futile, submit an assassination request to the underground guild.』
I’ll pay that guild a visit soon.
Once the tumour begins to metastasise throughout the country, it will be too late.
