Chapter 100

"Then, Mr. Ohtsuka, are you really leaving right away this time?"

"Hmm? Ah, I’m leaving right away. But let me report to the Adventurers’ Guild first. I need to return the horses."

The escort mission is over, and all that’s left is to go home, but before that, I need to register and receive the reward for the mission at the Queres Adventurers’ Guild. Also, I need to temporarily entrust the two horses I’m leading.

When I show my face at the capital’s Adventurers’ Guild, I’ll have to bring these horses back later... Can I transport them with a beacon?

"Ah, you’ll finally get to see Luna, won’t you?"

"As always, you revive quickly."

"Yes, my robustness is my strong point."

Sisba, who had stopped breathing and fallen down due to my fault, is now energetically making a fist pump. She’s in high spirits because the escort mission is over and we can finally go home.

"Wow, clerics are amazing..."

"I think Sisba is a special case..."

She seems to exceed the range of what is considered robust... Noël’s comment made it sound like all clerics are like that. Our perception of clerics is getting a bit skewed.

"Hey, big brother, I feel like we’re being watched a lot..."

"Hmm, you’re right? Is it me? Is it my fault again?"

"I think it’s partly Mr. Ohtsuka’s fault..."

"It seems like most of the gazes are directed at Estelle."

As we head to the Adventurers’ Guild, asking for directions, Estelle speaks up. Since we entered the town, I’ve felt like people who look like mages are watching us a lot. I thought it might be my usual fault, but it seems most of the gazes are on Estelle. They look away quickly when they see me...

Hmm, is there something that makes Estelle stand out? Maybe because this is the headquarters of mages, other mages are interested in her or something like that?

With that in mind, I’m a bit troubled, but we head to the Adventurers’ Guild while being watched.

●

We arrived at the Adventurers’ Guild, entrusted the horses to a nearby shed, and went inside. Since this is a magic city, I expected to see a lot of mage adventurers. However, there were no mages among the adventurers inside. Instead, the adventurers were looking at Estelle with surprised faces.

Hmm? Could it be that there are no mage adventurers in a magic city? ...Come to think of it, there are many jobs that pay better than being an adventurer, like making magic tools or working in the military.

"Excuse me."

"Yes, please wait a moment."

Since no one was at the reception, I called out to get someone’s attention. A young woman with short brown hair came running from the back.

"Sorry, who might you be?"

"Um, I’m from Shuting and it’s my first time here today..."

"Oh, you’re an adventurer. Thank you for your long journey."

When the woman who came out saw me, her expression stiffened. When I showed my plate to prove I’m an adventurer, she sighed in relief, placing her hand on her chest. ...Did she think I was a suspicious person?

"Since it’s your first time, please hand over your plate first."

"Sure, here you go."

"Wow, a B-rank! And the person behind you is a mage! Oh, I shouldn’t... Please fill out this form and wait here."

I handed over my plate as usual, and she gasped when she saw the silver plate. Then she was surprised to see Estelle. Hmm, even in the Adventurers’ Guild of a magic city, they’re surprised to see a mage. How few mages are there who become adventurers...?

The receptionist handed us the forms and went to the back with the plates. When we finished filling out the forms, she returned and handed us our plates and the forms.

"Okay, everything is fine."

"Sorry, we also completed an escort mission to Queres, so please take care of that as well."

"Sure, I understand."

I handed over the proof of the escort mission and received the 600,000G reward.

"Wow, I’ve never seen such a young mage who’s an adventurer before."

"Hehe... It’s just a coincidence..."

The receptionist is looking at Estelle with great interest. As Annelee said, it’s not just rare, but she’s never seen one before.

"By the way, are there few mages who are adventurers?"

"Ah, yes... There aren’t many. There are quite a few in Queres, though."

Hmm, maybe the mages in town were watching us because a mage girl was with adventurers? And they avoided looking at me, thinking I’m dangerous?

●

Since we figured out why we were being watched and finished our business, we left the Adventurers’ Guild.

"Since we came all this way, I wanted to take a walk, but maybe we should skip it?"

"Hmm... Yeah. We’re getting too much attention, especially me and Estelle."

It seems that when we’re in our usual outfits, Estelle stands out a lot. We’re probably tired from the escort mission, so we can explore Queres another day in casual clothes. Plus, Sisba will start causing a fuss if we don’t get back soon.

"Mr. Ohtsuka, you’re finally realizing it. At least take off that hat."

"I think if I cover my body properly with the shroud, I won’t stand out too much."

I don’t want to hear that from Noël, but I probably overdid it with the hat. I put away the petasos I was wearing and wrapped myself in the shroud so my body wasn’t visible. This is bad... With the adamant helm and the black clothes, I look like a powerful warrior! Even without the baul, I look really strong from an objective view.

"Should we buy some souvenirs for Luna before we go back? We can’t take our time, but at least we can get something."

"I agree!"

"Sure. Maybe we should get some food to bring back."

"Is that because Noël is hungry?"

"N-no, that’s not it!"

We can’t take our time, but we’ll get something for Luna. She’s been alone for a while... Even if she’s been sleeping and doesn’t realize it.

We need to use the beacon in a place where there are no people, so we moved around looking for a spot. Then, we heard people shouting from a distance. When I looked, I saw a white, poseable figure running towards us. A woman in a white coat with glasses was clinging to its back, her face turning blue as if she was about to die.

What is that... a monster?

And it’s coming this way!?

"Kyaaa! Get out of the way! Get out of the way!"

The white figure, with the crying woman, was coming towards us at a high speed. I thought about dodging, but there were people behind me, and if I dodged, someone might get hurt. Noël was about to draw her sword, but I stopped her and stepped forward. If I break it, it might cause trouble later... Here—

"Aaaaah—agh!?"

The figure was right in front of me. The woman clinging to its back had a terrified expression, as if she was thinking, "It’s over... I’m done for..."

Just before it hit me, I extended my hand and grabbed the figure’s head. I felt a slight impact in my arm, but it didn’t hurt at all.

Even though I stopped it, the figure didn’t stop moving. It was still running, swinging its arms and kicking its legs. When I grabbed it, the woman on its back fell off, so I lifted the figure to stop it from moving further.

Wow... I’m impressed with myself. This must be thanks to my level and equipment. I’ve experienced things like Smither’s charge, so this was no problem. I wouldn’t have thought about stopping a figure like this before.

"Mr. Ohtsuka, are you okay?"

"Yeah, but is that woman okay?"

I left the struggling figure hanging in the air and checked on the woman who had fallen to the ground. She was lying there, looking in pain.

"Are you okay, ma’am?"

"It hurts... I, I’m okay—ew, you’re holding it up with one hand!?"

Estelle squatted down and poked the woman with her fingertips, and she finally sat up. She had long brown hair tied back like Noël, and she was wearing glasses. She rubbed her waist, which looked painful, and adjusted her glasses with her finger. Then she finally looked up and saw me holding the figure, and she gasped.

"Oh, you’re injured. I’ll touch you for a moment."

"Oh... the injury healed instantly..."

The woman’s hand was bleeding, and her clothes were torn and tattered. She must have been hit and bruised while clinging to the figure.

Sisba noticed and touched her shoulder, casting a healing spell. The woman’s injuries healed instantly.

Wow, Sisba is doing her job as a cleric!

"What should we do with this?"

"Oh, it looks like a doll. The magic is out of control. Hmm... Here, let me try."

The woman’s injuries were healed, and the commotion had calmed down. I asked what to do with the figure. Before she could answer, Estelle put her hand on her cheek and thought for a moment. Then she tapped the figure lightly with her staff, and it stopped moving, lowering its hands.

"It stopped."

"What, the malfunction stopped..."

The woman was stunned.

Oh, this is a bad pattern...

"Um, I’ll just leave this here. Let’s go."

I placed the stopped figure in front of the woman, signaled to Noël and the others to follow, and quickly left the scene.

"That was close..."

"Why did you suddenly panic?"

"Well, it smelled like trouble... I just wanted to get out of there quickly."

"Right. We can’t delay our reunion with Luna any longer!"

We stopped the figure and healed the woman’s injuries, so it would have been fine to leave. If we had stayed, it would have definitely turned into a hassle. Estelle said the magic was out of control, so it was probably a magic-related item. If we had stopped it easily, Estelle would have been bombarded with questions. It was good to escape while she was stunned.

"The magic city lives up to its name. To have something like that..."

"Exactly. It was malfunctioning, but if it wasn’t us, someone might have been seriously injured."

To have something like that... The magic city lives up to its name. It’s probably a golem-like thing powered by magic. It should be kept from running around outside... There are probably many interesting things here, but let’s go home today.

●

"Luna! My beloved Sisba is back!"

When we returned from Queres, Sisba shouted and ran to the back. "My beloved Sisba"... How high is her energy?

"Really... She’s too excited."

"It’s been a while, so it can’t be helped. She must be really happy."

"Oh, I’ll go get Muffet too!"

Noël, who was also excited to see Muffet, went back to her room. But she soon returned with her shoulders slumped.

"Mr. Ohtsuka... Muffet isn’t there..."

"What, really?"

"Sisba hasn’t come back either, has she? Is Luna not there either?"

It seems Muffet wasn’t in the room. Sisba ran there first but hasn’t returned. What’s going on... Let’s check on Sisba too.

When we entered the extended corridor where Luna’s room is, Sisba was standing in front of the door with her hands clasped in front of her mouth.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"Shh! You’ll wake Luna up!"

When I called out, she put her finger to her lips and told me to be quiet. I peeked into the room and saw that the lights were on, unlike the last time I was there. On the bed, Muffet and Luna were sleeping together. Muffet was lying on a towel next to Luna’s head, her legs stretched out.

"Oh, they’re sleeping together."

"Ugh... I’m so envious..."

Noël was fidgeting. So, Noël hasn’t slept with Muffet before.

"Mmm, who is it..."

"Oh, did we wake her up?"

While we were watching the sleeping Luna, she seemed to notice our presence and sat up, rubbing her eyes and looking at us sleepily.

"...Sisba?"

"Yes, it’s Sisba."

"Is that so..."

She got up and came over, stopping in front of Sisba, who was at the front. She looked up at Sisba and then suddenly buried her face in Sisba’s stomach and hugged her.

"L-Luna! Luna is hugging, hugging... gah, gaa..."

"Hey?"

Sisba was overjoyed at being hugged. But her back gradually bent into a C-shape, and she started to make pained sounds while still smiling. Oh, what kind of strength is she using to hug her...

"Luna, wake up!"

"Mmm...? Noël?"

Realizing it was dangerous, Noël grabbed Luna’s shoulder and shook her. Luna finally seemed to regain her consciousness and lifted her face from Sisba’s body.

"Why am I hugging you!"

"L-Luna, you hugged me first..."

When Luna realized she was hugging Sisba, she quickly jumped back. Sisba, who was released, collapsed on the floor. Oh, this is too tragic...

"Are you okay?"

"Hehe... Being hugged by Luna is what I wanted."

"She looks so content..."

When I approached to check on her, Sisba was smiling happily, her face contorted. Sisba... You’re amazing. Is this what true love is? Thinking about it, it does seem cleric-like...

I’ve posted the activity report with character designs. I’d be happy if you could take a look.