I slept through the entire morning and ended up waking at two in the afternoon.
「……Crap. I overslept……」
I knew I would probably sleep in, but I did not think I would sleep this late. Well, whatever. I was planning to rest for about three days anyway.
「Is Ladarion up?」
When I went from the central room to the entryway, no one was there. Maybe they were outside?
Whatever. I went to take a shower. When I got out, I downed an ice-cold beer in one go. If I died like this, heaven would probably kick me out. Worse, they would send me to some frontline battlefield.
I stopped at just one can. While I was toasting and eating two slices of bread, Miriel came back. Morning.
「Ah, Takato-san. You are up. Mishinie-san is here.」
「Mishinie is already here?」
Active adventurers really were energetic. I did not even want to move from here.
「Also, someone came to say the guild master will visit tonight.」
「The guild master is coming personally? If this is something I am not allowed to hear, I would rather not.」
Still, it was better than being summoned. If I got dragged into some matter that could not be made public, right alongside the acting lord, my stomach would not survive it.
「Where is Ladarion?」
「She is moving supplies to the new warehouse for giants.」
Ladarion really was full of energy. She should relax for once, at least today.
「Ah. I should go greet Romy’s father, too.」
Even giants could not finish something like that in ten days. He was probably still working, so I would go say hello around five.
First, I finished my bread. I brewed coffee and drank it slowly, then got ready and headed outside.
「Takato. You are finally up.」
A heavy drinker having a drink in the dining hall. Do adventurers only know how to kill time by drinking? Well, I guess I was not much different right now.
「Yeah. I slept right through it. Pathetic, honestly.」
「You are not pathetic. You just think too much. You are the type who fights with your head.」
「And this is the result, even when I do.」
I was not especially smart, either. Just imagining an enemy who was smarter than me made my stomach ache.
「From my point of view, you are smart enough to envy. When you are above me, I can work without worrying.」
「I would rather work under someone else.」
Even normal work was hard on the person in charge. If it was work where lives were on the line, the stress multiplied a hundredfold. It wore down your stomach, and then the alcohol wore it down again. The only future I could see was dying young.
「Fufu. If someone exists who can make you work for them, I would like to see it.」
「There are plenty of people like that.」
There were probably plenty of people far better than plain, average me. If Mishinie told me to join her party, I would gladly wag my tail.
「Sure, there probably are. But your position does not allow it. I heard you were sent by a god. And that the guild master and the acting lord know it too. Once people know that, no one is going to think about standing above you. At least, I could never do it.」
Neither could I. And yet I am being forced to do it anyway. I live with my stomach in knots every day. Damn it.
「I want you to let me join Sefuti Bullet officially.」
「Are you sure you are okay leaving your work as an adventurer? You are a Silver-seal adventurer, right? That is an important position.」
Mishinie had the ability of a Gold-ranked adventurer. If something serious happened, she would be the one they called. There was no way the Korel branch would let her go that easily.
「I have a disgraceful nickname.」
A disgraceful nickname?
「Ally Killer. Even if I form a party, it never lasts a year. I am always the only one left alive.」
With a nickname like that, I would expect people to hate her, but I never saw the escorts treating her that way.
「Cruel people are everywhere.」
So the escorts were decent people. Mishinie also had great people skills. Once you spent time with her, you could tell she was a good person. She was good-looking, too.
「…I do not know the details or the background, but is that not the branch’s fault for sending you on impossible jobs?」
First, the branch gave Mishinie and her team almost no information, then sent them out with a careless assumption that capable adventurers would manage somehow. Telling them to deal with whatever happened in a place where they did not even know what was going on was the real mistake. The fact that Mishinie kept surviving without making a fatal mistake was a miracle.
「If I work under you, Takato, someone who understands that, then that disgraceful nickname will disappear.」
「Well, if you want in, you are welcome. If someone as capable as you works for me long-term, it benefits me.」
We are a white organization that allows side jobs. Even though I take thirty percent off the top.
「I appreciate it.」
「Once the manor is finished, pick any room you like. Also, as an executive, help train the juniors. I will waive rent and meals.」
「What about alcohol?」
「Luxury items are on your own. I will keep some cheap stuff stocked, though.」
There was no way I could approve all-you-can-drink for a drunk. I would go bankrupt.
「Fine, I will compromise there. Your taste in wine is terrible anyway.」
Do not talk about taste when you have been drinking weak, nasty wine this whole time. If I had the money, I would buy good wine too.
「Yeah, yeah. My palate is a poor man’s palate.」
I shrugged and left the house to go greet Romy’s father.
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