Chapter 64:
The Capital Once More
“Pardon us,” said Monika and Aureana as they entered Marcela’s room, chairs in hand.
Marcela turned her chair away from her desk, facing it toward the other two.
“I wonder how the fight with the Albarn Empire is going…” Monika said worriedly.
Marcela replied in a soothing tone. “Well, our side is going at them with overwhelming military force, so I think they should be just fine.”
Though she spoke to placate her friend, this was not a lie. Marcela had a number of connections in the palace, so any information she obtained was highly accurate. It was not as though she could find out every single detail, but in this case, she knew there was “a large-scale incident concerning the fiefdom of Ascham,” and she had gotten her sources to inform her as best they could.
Plus, none of this was actually classified information, so there was no real trouble to be had.
One could not conceal a large-scale dispatch of military forces—nor was it something that needed to be hidden. After all, they were sending out all of these troops in order to defend territories in the borderlands who faced the threat of invasion; the event had been widely propagandized. Not only was it an opportunity to appeal to their subjects’ goodwill and boast that they were a kingdom that did not abandon even its most far-flung citizens, but it was also a perfect chance to boost the name of the first prince, who had been assigned as commander of the men.
“But before we talk about that…” Marcela signaled a pause to the conversation and looked warily around the room. Then, she suddenly turned to the bed and thrust out her right arm.
“There you are!!!”
“Gaaaah!”
“Eeeeek!!!”
The air began to shimmer as a form appeared over the bed, and Monika, Aureana, and the mysterious shape all shrieked in turn.
“I thought you might be there!”
“H-h-h-h-how did you…?”
Mile trembled violently as Marcela seized her by the collar.
“I told you before, did I not?” Marcela replied, matter-of-factly, repeating the same words that she had said the last time. “Did you truly believe that yours truly would be unable to detect you, Miss Adele?”
“Aha… Aha, ahaha…”
Mile—no, Adele—began to laugh through tears.
Marcela, deep inside her heart, muttered softly. Anyway, both this time and the time before, there was a weird, butt-shaped imprint on top of the duvet…
After that, Adele and Marcela filled each other in on everything that had happened since their last meeting.
That said, Marcela’s updates were mainly limited to academy life, so there was really not very much to tell. Naturally, it was Adele who dominated the conversation.
“And so, I ended up saying those same words to Sir Juno, the commander of the Ascham military,” she continued.
“Are you a devil?!?!” the other three shrieked.
Adele, of course, abridged the part concerning her Goddess Formation exploits.
“And we sold them back the water at five silver a cup…”
“You’re all monsters!!!”
“When we gave half of the 4,000 gold pieces we earned to the count whose lands had been the most devastated, and another half of the remainder to the people of Ascham, Pauline almost completely lost her mind!”
The other three burst out laughing.
Even though she too was a merchant’s daughter, Monika had little attachment to money, but she knew that Pauline would have been scandalized at the mere mention of dividing things up in such a way, even if the money in question had not been hers.
“So then, what about the remaining 1,000?” Monika asked.
Suddenly, Adele averted her gaze.
The other three stared at her, silent.
“But yeah, anyway, so the imperial army made their retreat, without any of the soldiers deserting or turning to banditry or widespread looting to cause chaos in the kingdom. If they ever decide to commit other acts of aggression in the future, at the very least I think they’ll probably avoid Ascham.”
In her retelling, Adele explained away her transformation as “a simple disguise,” and talked of “carrying the goods stealthily” rather than spiriting them away in her inventory. Marcela could guess at the truth. However, if one could not trust one’s friends not to broach such topics, then what were friends for?
“I do suppose you’re right. After the mysterious loss of their supplies, the appearance of the goddess, and the fact that they only barely made it home thanks to the benevolence of the holy maidens… If the goddess happened to get serious, or the maidens decided to abandon them, they would have been annihilated without even getting a chance to fight. Anyway, neither side took any damages, and Ascham is at peace again, so it sounds like all is well.”
“I wonder about that…”
Marcela seemed convinced that the most favorable outcome had occurred, but Aureana appeared to think otherwise.
“The only way to be utterly certain of the fief’s future safety would have been to wipe out the weakened imperial forces while they were down… Those soldiers who made it back safe may someday return to invade some other part of our kingdom, and we can’t count on things ending without some more serious damages next time. There might be many soldiers and peasants who won’t make it out alive…”
“So, are you saying we should have exterminated those 5,000 soldiers for the sake of decreasing the chance of future battles?”
“I-I didn’t say that!”
Marcela did not seem willing to consider Aureana’s line of thinking, but for a patriotic citizen—or even just a person considering the matter from a logical standpoint—Aureana was correct, and even Marcela could see that. Still, she could not countenance the notion of slaughtering thousands of fleeing men simply because they were soldiers.
“I think that the lives of a thousand soldiers and civilians from our own country are more important than the lives of 5,000 enemy soldiers,” Monika said softly. “But if they’re willing to buy the goods that our company sells, then every life is precious, no matter who they are!”
Infected by Monika’s goofy smile, the others began to laugh as well.
Monika’s always able to break the tension between Aureana and Marcela when they get serious, just like this… It’s been over a year and a half since I left them, but they haven’t changed a bit. Oh, and come to think of it, they’ll be graduating soon, won’t they?
The next time Adele saw the trio, they would no longer be students.
As she realized this, a strange loneliness welled up inside her heart.
The four of them chatted long into the night, but if they did not head out sooner rather than later, it would be a problem; not for Adele, but for the other three, who had lessons in the morning. She hated to leave them behind, but they would see each other again soon. Adele promised them this, and then once again left Marcela’s room behind. With only herself to account for, it was easy enough for Adele to move swiftly and make a late night escape over the walls undetected.
That said, it would have been hardly any more trouble for Adele to do just the same with other people under her wing. In truth, the other members of the Crimson Vow did not want to intrude on some of the only time Adele had with her old friends.
And thus, as she vaulted over the walls of Eckland Academy, the young girl transformed once more, from Adele, back into Mile. She headed for the inn, keeping a light magic barrier up until she had made it back to their room—just in case.
Adele was the name that she used only with her classmates from the Academy.
It was that name she had received when she left her old world behind and was reborn into a new life. And then she had abandoned that name, and now she was Mile. She lived a new life in a new world with each new name.
Mile spread both of her arms wide and jumped up high.
Butter…fly!
No matter what, Mile could never take anything truly seriously.
Was that because that was truly the sort of person she was?
Or was it something else…?
As Mile gently opened the door to the room, she found a lamp still glowing over the other three who sat up talking.
“Oh, you all are still awake?”
“You would’ve been sad if we’d all been asleep when you got back, right?”
Mile could not reply.
This was the place where she belonged—where the girl named Mile belonged…
“Ah, hey! Don’t squeeze me like that! That hurts!”
Reina tried to push Mile away, a bit red in the face.
“You’re so shy, Reina,” Pauline said softly, smiling.
Mavis, meanwhile, wrung her hands peevishly, wondering why it was that Reina always got hugs from Mile, but never her.
In truth, Mile avoided hugging Mavis, knowing that doing so would land her face or neck right in the middle of Mavis’s bust. As a result, Mavis should not expect any hugs from Mile anytime soon, barring some extraordinary circumstance. It would not be until far, far later that Mavis gained any awareness of this fact.
“Time for sleep,” said Reina.
“Yep! Good night!”
***
“I think we can stop by the Guild branch and scrub a request or two pretty easily. Mile, you have a lot of stuff in your storage. Pull out something that we can use to fill a daily request. That’ll get us paid, anyway,” Reina said to the others. They had just crossed back over the border from Mile’s home country of Brandel to the country of Tils, from whence the others
hailed.
“Wh…?”
“What? Don’t look so surprised. We’re still bound by a minimum term of duty in service to this country, in exchange for the free education we received at the Prep School. So we get some easy job out of the way to let everyone know that we’re back in town, show some results, and get a bit of a head start on the, ‘Hey look, we’re working here,’ thing.”
“Ah…” said the other three.
That was Reina for you. The other three were aware of their unofficial contract with the kingdom, but they had not really given it much thought.
“Plus, if it’s an extermination job, then just producing parts from monsters that we’ve hunted on the side as trophies for verification would count as fraud. The only thing we can give them in good faith would be herbs, raw materials, or edible meat.”
“Y-you’re actually pretty sharp, aren’t you, Reina?”
“You little—!!”
A vein bulged in Reina’s forehead.
“Mile, you’re one to talk!” Pauline scolded.
There was no doubt Mile was in the wrong here. She quickly apologized.
At the first town with a guildhall that they came across, Mile produced five edible jackalopes from storage, and they turned them in, marking a safe and proper start to their return tour.
Incidentally, when one was on an escort mission upon leaving the country, all of the time spent until that job was completed counted as working within the country as well—even when you traveled beyond the country’s borders. As a result, they were planning on inflating their completion time just a bit.
It was a bit underhanded, but if you piled up enough trash you could build a mountain. It was only natural for a hunter to want to free themselves from unnecessary obligations as quickly as they could. Of course, Tils was still home for Mavis and Pauline, and they both had families they loved and cherished there, so for as long as the two of them remained in the party, it only made sense for them to call Tils their home base. Because of that, their debt to the country didn’t matter so much.
At any rate, now that they had made their presence within the country known once again, the Crimson Vow proceeded lazily towards the kingdom’s capital.
They hunted small prey and gathered other raw materials along the way, but all of those things would fetch a better price in the capital, so there was no reason to sell them off piecemeal at every guildhall they passed. Since they wished to keep moving forward, they did not take on any extermination requests. There was no point in them hunting anything other than a monster that needed killing, no matter where they were in the kingdom.
With the heaps of goods that were already stored away within Mile’s so-called “storage,” they could easily deceive anyone they wished, but the four of them were not the type to take advantage of such a thing—not even Pauline.
Speaking of Pauline, she had been in something of a foul mood for the past several days. Or at the very least, there was something off about her.
This was, of course, because of their charity work—primarily the fact that they had given away the bulk of the money that they had swindled from the soldiers to the people of Ascham and Cesdole.
“Three thousand… Three thousand gold pieces…” she muttered deliriously every now and then.
“Ugh! Enough! Pauline, I know you’re upset about the money, but for the four of us to keep that amount of cash all to ourselves would be utterly indecent! Taking even a thousand gold as our cut is plenty!”
One thousand gold pieces. For a citizen of modern Japan, that would be the same as having 100,000,000 yen. It was more than enough. Besides, to anyone else, it would look as though they had given away all of their money. Assuming that no one found out about the rest, of course.
Even so, Pauline was as good as heartbroken.
“You have to give it up already, Pauline,” said Mavis. “It’s not like we can go take back all the money that we gave away. Plus, thanks to Mile’s weird storage magic, where the stuff inside never deteriorates, we have way more earning potential than other hunters. We’ll make that money back before you know it, by honest means!”
“B-but still … With all that money, I would be one step closer to my goals…” Pauline muttered.
Reina raised an eyebrow. “ Your goals? Don’t you mean our goals?”
“Uh…” both Mavis and Pauline spoke without thinking. Mavis looked dumbfounded, and Pauline’s face bore an expression that said, Oh no .
“Pauline, you—”
Pauline only averted her gaze, silent.
“Wh…?”
Beside them, Mile had her hand clapped over her mouth in shock. This time, however, it was not the childish, overly deliberate pose that she normally took—she appeared to be genuinely stunned.
“M-M-M-M-Mavis, what are you talking about? I have perfectly normal storage magic, I just use ice magic inside of it…” Mile babbled, desperately trying to play it off.
Reina, however, looked at her wearily, and then smugly replied, “Mile, are you still seriously trying to keep up that act? The jig is up. The meat that you say you’re cooling down with ice magic isn’t frozen when you take it out. It isn’t even cold . Vegetables in there never lose their flavor, and herbs keep all their potency. Do you really expect us to believe that you can achieve all that just by cooling things down with ice?”
“H-how long have you known?”
“Since around the time we first hunted the rock lizards, I think.”
“That was about when I figured it out, too,” said Mavis.
“Me too,” agreed Pauline.
“So, pretty much since the beginning?!?!”
Mile, who had worked so hard to keep the trick of her storage a secret until now, hung her head in disbelief.
“A-all my pain and suffering…was for nothing…”
Still, this means that now there’s hardly any secrets that I have to keep from them—save for the story of my reincarnation, which no one is ever going to hear—and the secrets of the fundamentals of magic, including the nanos…
Well, I mean, I guess if you consider that I told Marcela and the others about the fundamentals of magic, but not the trick of my inventory, then both sides’ knowledge about me are about at the same level now.
On the one hand, Mile couldn’t help but feel a bit bad. But on the other hand, she felt somewhat pleased as well.
Well, it’s all right…
She wasn’t going to let the little things bother her. In fact, not letting even the fairly big things bother her was just the Mile way.
Next time, we’re going to head in the opposite direction from the way we went this time, so I guess that means we’ll be heading east. Come to think of it, wasn’t it something to the east that those men who kidnapped Faleel were talking about?
Indeed, they had mentioned a country that lay far to the east. The men had said that was the place where their mysterious religion, and its mysterious teachings, originated. There was no rush to get there, of course, but Mile was dying to know what was out there that would give even the nanomachines pause…
If it was something that would disturb the nanomachines, who seemed to have no particular interest in the lives and deaths of most human beings, it had to be a matter of global proportions. Such harrowing phrases as, “this world has been destroyed and rebirthed numerous times,” and “the cause of the destruction of civilization,” came to mind. More than likely, it was something related to the elder dragons’ mysterious actions, which was what had spurred Mile to go on a journey in the first place.
Mile thought deep and hard, and then…
“‘While Mile still lived as Adele, to the east of the Kingdom of Tils, a mysteriously cultish religion began to take root…’ Wait, is this the cult of the Golden Eye God?! Or could it be the Manji Clan, searching for the Diamond Bell?!?!”
As Mile carried on her one-woman comedy act, the other three looked on wearily.
***
“Oh, Capitaaal! We’re hooome!” Mile shouted as they approached the city gates. The other party members, assuming she was once again pulling a quote from some fairy tale, ignored her.
The first place they headed was their old inn. They could stop by other places after, but if they didn’t get into the inn straight away it might get late before they knew it, and then, they’d end up split between different rooms. Plus, if there was anywhere that they should be showing their faces first, it was there.
“We’re home!!!”
“Welcome ba—ohhhh! Oh my goodness, you’re back!”
Lenny came flying out from behind the reception desk.
As always, there she was: Lenny, the ten-year-old—or perhaps she was eleven now, as her birthday would have already passed—poster child of the inn, full of pep, her hair in the familiar short braids, her eyes looking a bit damp.
“I-I’m so glad you made it home safe!”
It was not strange for hunters to turn up dead, at any time, in any place. As a result, even in her relatively few years, Lenny had seen many patrons who, once they left on a journey, never returned again. Whenever she said a word of parting to a guest who was a departing for a trip, she prepared herself ahead of time for just such an outcome.
This alone was enough to make Lenny overjoyed when there were those who not only returned home safely but chose to frequent her inn again. Especially when those guests were ones that she could put to great use…
And so, Lenny faced the four with a great smile, and said, “Welcome home!”
Such was Lenny the Penny-pincher for you.
Once the four had taken a room, they headed on to the Hunters’ Guild—an obvious next stop, of course.
“We’re back!” Mavis announced as they walked through the guildhall door.
The clerks and the other Guild staff all sat straight up and shouted, “It’s the Storage Girls!!!”
“We’re the Crimson Vow!!!” the party rebutted.
Apparently, the others had been giving them strange names behind their backs.
Truthfully though, Mile’s storage magic—or at least the ability that she disguised as such— was the Crimson Vow’s most distinct feature. They were fairly skilled in battle, but as far as anyone in the Guild was aware, they were certainly not A or S-rank level. By and large, the Guild’s evaluation of the Crimson Vow as a C-rank party with abilities on par with B-ranks; the strength that they possessed was really not all that unusual. It certainly was not enough that they could have won against the Roaring Mithrils—if they were fighting at full strength, at any rate.
Of course, that would be the evaluation of someone who knew nothing about the fight against the elder dragons, or Mile’s true power, or Mavis’s doping exploits, or Pauline’s hot magic…
And then, there was the fact that they were a group comprised entirely of cute, young girls. The fact that they possessed such abilities while still being beautiful young ladies, rather than wizened grandpas or old crones, granted them an unfathomable added value—and as they continued to grow from their experiences, opened up great prospects for the future, as well.
That said, the truth remained that what had most drawn the eye of all of the hunters and Guild affiliates within the capital was that (so-called) storage magic. With a power like that, you could carry several times—maybe even ten times—more when out hunting, or gathering, or delivering things. Really, the fact that Mile’s chest measurements were still a bit lacking in their capacity was the only thing keeping some of the men in check.
Thus, at some point or other, their peculiar nickname had begun to spread.
“W-well I mean, that’s really just another name for Mile, right? Th-that has nothing to do with the rest of us,” said Mavis, not wishing to be affiliated with such an awkward title.
“What’s that supposed to mean?!?!” Mile raged at the betrayal.
“N-now, now…”
“Oh, it really is you all!”
As Pauline attempted to comfort Mile, the guild master descended from the second floor, greeting them.
“You’re back much sooner than I expected. Still, what’s most important is that you’re all safe. You’ll be working in this country again for a little while now, I suspect? Well, I won’t ask you to say. I know that you young folks are always wanting to go here and there and everywhere. As long as you stay safe, and you remember to come back home, it’s good to get out and broaden your horizons now and then. That’s what being a hunter is all about, after all.”
Compared to his treatment of them upon their departure, the guild master seemed quite a bit more understanding. Reina and Pauline eyed him a bit suspiciously, but Mavis and Mile were filled with a simple-hearted joy that someone seemed to understand their feelings.
The guild master had gone off on his own such journeys in his youth, and so it was not surprising that he would be able to understand them. Judging by his speech, they thought, it should be smooth sailing for them the next time they decided to travel.
“Until the next time you feel like setting out again, you all should work hard and focus on training yourselves, earning money, and racking up contribution points!”
With that, the guild master cheerfully returned to the second floor.
The members of the Crimson Vow watched him silently as he departed.
The guild master probably had no idea that they had over a thousand gold pieces in savings nor that they had already accumulated more than sufficient points for promotion and were merely waiting for the minimum required time spent as C-ranks to pass. Similarly, he would likely be surprised to learn that they already possessed skills on a level with B-rank hunters.
Of course, the reports of their achievements from the foreign Guild branches had probably already gone out in the Guild post, but such reports were only delivered once a month, and including travel time, it would be a few weeks at best, and possibly a month or more, before word traveled this far. Indeed, it might be some time still before this branch, where the Crimson Vow were registered, received word of their accomplishments abroad.
After greeting all of the Guild staff and the hunters who happened to be present, the members of the Crimson Vow retired to their inn once more.
“Has the Crimson Vow gone home yet?” asked the guild master.
“Ah, yes—just after you went back upstairs, sir,” said the female clerk who had prepared his tea.
“All right, I’m going out for a few. I’m going to stop by the palace after I drop in at Count Christopher’s, so I might be a little while.”
With that, the guild master stood and began making preparations to go out. There was an unusually gleeful smile upon his face.
“The guild master seemed to be in a weirdly good mood. And he seemed to think that we would be staying in town for a little while…”
“Come to think of it, you’re right. Even though we’re only stopping by here for a little while because it happens to be on our way. There’s no way we could finish a training journey that quickly, after all. Well, I guess we will be staying in town for about a week, at least.”
As Pauline listened to Mile and Reina’s exchange and thought back on the guild master’s manner, a wicked grin spread across her face. Seeing this, a shiver ran suddenly down Mavis’s spine…
***
“Oh, the Crimson Vow has returned, have they? They must have come to realize that our kingdom is the most comfortable place for them to live in, after all.”
“They’re back much sooner than I thought they would be. There are a lot of barriers to a party of four girls making a living in an unfamiliar land, after all. Without any men in the party, they must face a number of hardships…”
His Majesty the king was delighted at the thought that the Crimson Vow would have deemed their kingdom the easiest in which to live, a fact that he expressed to Count Christopher, master of the blade, the former-hunter-turned-noble who had himself gone on a lengthy training journey in his youth.
“Still, I am thankful that they made it home safely without getting caught up in some other country or entangled with any strange men. That ought to cool their cabin fevers for a bit, which will give them time to form all sorts of bonds here in this country—and perhaps even find themselves some worthy spouses…”
Seeing the king and Count Christopher smiling, the guild master, who had come to give his report, relaxed as well. If they could keep reinforcing the idea of expanding and improving the status of the Hunters’ Prep School, it meant a bright future not only for the Hunters’ Guild but for all hunters.
Plus, thanks to the influence of the Crimson Vow, the number of aspiring female hunters had begun to increase, meaning that the number of promising young hunters who quit the profession because their spouses begged them to do so would likely decrease accordingly. Yes, if two hunters married one another that it was likely that they would continue working as hunters even after the wedding, with far fewer partners pestering their spouses to find a safer job closer to home.
“Bwahaha…”
“Ahaha!””
“Wahahahahahahaha!”
The room was filled with hearty laughter. Each of the three men in the king’s private offices were imagining the possibility that the futures they had envisioned only in their dreams might one day become a reality.
***
“So, you all are fine with us just staying here a week, right?”
“Yep.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Ten-four.”
Sure enough, the members of the Vow had already completed more or less everything that they wished to do in the city. Really, the fact that they had stopped back here at all after departing on their westward journey was sheer coincidence, a result of their unexpected return to the neighboring Kingdom of Brandel. They had no intention of heading west again after this. Next, they would travel eastward.
When Reina had proposed this plan to the group, Mile had heartily approved, so it was decided then and there. At that time, Mile had also said, “It’s a planned journey heading to the east… A Touhou Projec t !” but, as usual, she was the only one who was excited about this.
“Starting tomorrow, we’ll stay in the capital for six days. We’ll find some merchant caravan who needs an escort and leave on the morning of the seventh day. If there are no jobs that match what we’re looking for on that day, we might leave a couple days before or after. That sound good?” Reina proposed.
“No objections here!” agreed the others.
Given that none of the group had any special attachment to this city, they could just as easily take it or leave it. As they really did not mind one way or the other, they had no reason to object to Reina’s plan.
“All right then, from tomorrow until the day we leave, the Crimson Vow is officially on break! Everybody go and do whatever you need to do—and take it easy, all right?”
At that, the four girls nestled into bed, safe in their old, familiar inn.
***
At first, a week with nothing to do felt like an eternity, but in reality it passed in the blink of an eye.
Unfortunately, there was not enough time for Pauline to travel home to check in on her mother and brother. Even by carriage, the round trip would take eight days, and their stay did not line up with the days that the passenger carriages set out, meaning there was no way she could hope to manage the trip within the time allotted.
Mavis was in the same boat, and even if she were to travel back home alone, her family would probably try and force her into another arranged marriage situation—or find some other way to prevent her from returning to the capital.
And, of course, Reina, who had lost both her family and her former companions—and had no idea where her parents were even from—had no homeland to return to nor family, friends, or relatives to meet up with.
As a result, the three of them spent their days loitering about the inn and meeting up with the few acquaintances they had in town—chiefly the shopkeepers with whom they had grown friendly and their fellow classmates from the Prep School who were still around the city. They also spent time at the guildhall, petitioning more senior hunters for their advice and otherwise taking it easy. Mavis and Pauline did spend some of their nights penning letters to their families as well.
Naturally, there were times when the whole party went out together. Spending some time by themselves didn’t mean that they were required to spend the entire week apart, after all.
Hunting was not typically a profession where one was expected to have one’s nose to the grindstone every single day. Jobs that required a lot of exertion could leave you wiped out, and sickness and injury were always a consideration. Trying to work when you were not in peak condition was a foolish move that put not only your own life but also the lives of all of your fellow party members at risk. Therefore, it was only natural to take breaks between jobs, and even some prolonged holidays now and then.
In fact, for a party that had just returned from as long of a journey as theirs, a one-week break was probably on the short side. The Crimson Vow already did way more work than they ever needed to in the first place, considering how much more money they earned than other parties.
…And then, there was Mile.
“Long time no see!”
“Oh, Miss Satodele, you’ve returned from your travels! We really appreciate your continuing to send in manuscripts while you were out on your research trip. Your books are our shop’s lifeblood, after all!”
“Oh, please, they aren’t all that…”
Mile was in the office of Orpheus Publishing, the firm that held the monopoly on the comedic novels penned by popular author Miami Satodele. The man to whom she was speaking was Melsacus, the shrewd owner of the company, a young man still in his early thirties.
“Will you be settling down in the capital and focusing on your writing now?” asked Melsacus.
“No, I’m only here for six days. Then I’m heading out again.”
“What?!” he cried unthinkingly but soon calmed down again. He had long since grown accustomed to authors’ eccentricities—their drafting, and article writing, and travel journals, and horseback riding…
“So, where are my manuscripts?”
“They’re with the Guild post, as always.”
“And what of my royalties?”
“The standard percentage. All of your earnings so far have been deposited in your account at the Merchants’ Guild—I’ve made sure of it.”
“Ohoho! You Orpheus fellows are a wicked bunch…”
“As are you, Lady Satodele!”
“Bwahahahahaha!” they laughed.
For Mile, or rather, Miss Satodele, Melsacus, whom she could always count on to appreciate her “Fairy Tale Improv,” was a valuable asset… He had read every single one of her works after all, and they had even planned some out together.
Mile was indeed happy to finally find someone who truly understood her.
After going to her favorite restaurant, Mile proceeded to the orphanage and the shacks where the orphans of the slums resided, where she handed out the food items that she had brought back as souvenirs. Then, cloaking herself in light magic, Mile snuck into the academy.
August Academy, that was.
Just as the capital of Mile’s home country of Brandel had two academies, Ardleigh and Eckland, the royal capital of Tils had two academies as well, of which August was one. And, just like Eckland, Mile’s (or rather, Adele’s) alma mater, August was attended by the children of lower-ranking nobles who were not in line for inheritance and by commoners. In other words, it was the lower-ranking school.
This boarding academy was the school attended by Mariette, the girl she had once tutored as a side gig on a previous party break. Worried about how Mariette might be doing now, she thought that she might slip in at least once to check in on her.
“I hope you’re doing well, Miss Mariette…”
A few hours later, Mile exited the academy, still invisible, and utterly disappointed.
“I shouldn’t have gone…”
In this world and any other, it was not advisable to overdo things.
This was something that Mile had come to realize.
***
“So, what are those girls doing now?”
“Well, it seems like they’re taking a break after their journey. They’ve been stopping in at the guildhall to check the information board but not taking jobs. Instead, they’ve been reuniting with old friends, going to the library, and making other outings, as well as loitering around the inn and idling about.”
“Well, I suppose everyone needs to take some time for that, now and then.”
In the king’s private offices, his Majesty and Count Christopher carried on a pleasant conversation.
“So then, what of the search for a suitable suitor for Lady Mavis?”
“Well, we’re currently considering the sons of counts, as well as the second and third sons of various marquis’ lines. Should we find someone of good quality and character, we plan to introduce him to Lady Mavis directly.”
“Very good. We can’t force it upon her—we have to let them be introduced to one another naturally. Those sorts of people value things like destiny and romance, and revile being forced into anything, after all.”
“By your will.”
And yet, the pair were trying to decide on a suitable partner for Mavis, the girl’s own opinions be damned!
“I’ve got it! Why don’t we invite the girls to the palace? We can make up some reason for the marriage candidates to be present as well, and we can have them all mingle. If they at least know each other’s faces, then next time, when they ‘chance’ to meet, they can say, ‘Ah, you’re that one from the palace…’ and have a place to begin their conversation. Besides, I would love to meet her myself. If one had the chance to meet with one’s ruler face-to-face, would that not elevate the love for one’s own country beyond one’s interest in any other?”
“I see… As the girls were previously involved in helping to unmask a certain lord’s criminal actions, it wouldn’t be so peculiar to use that as an excuse to invite them. I should certainly like to be present for that as well.”
“Yes. You are, after all, their greatest role model as a hunter—the brave Count Christopher, living legend—the hunter who became a noble. I think your attendance should have just the right effect. That’s it! I’ll have my children attend also. There are two girls of about twelve or thirteen amongst the Crimson Vow, yes? The prince and princess are both close to them in age, and if they should all grow close, why that should raise their loyalty to and affinity for the royal family sevenfold—no doubt about it!”
“Oh, that’s a splendid idea! I shall go drum up some candidates at once, and we’ll send invitations to the girls a few days from now!”
And so, the king and the count set about their plans gleefully.
It is true, after all, that the days before one goes on a trip—when one spends one’s time cooking up all sorts of different tricks, planning for this and that eventuality, can be some of the most enjoyable. Thus, the pair were currently having the time of their lives.
Regardless of how the day of the actual event might unfold…
***
“What? You’re leaving again already?”
Lenny’s eyes opened wide at the news of the Crimson Vow’s sudden departure, only one short week after their return. Still, she had been the daughter of innkeepers since the day she was born. No matter how fond she grew of some of their guests, she was well accustomed to saying goodbye.
“I-I-I-I see,” she stammered. “Well, since you dug that well for us, we’re able to get the water for the baths, a-and I’m sure you’ll be able to come back and see us again soon…”
Even so, being accustomed to goodbyes and being all right with them were two separate matters.
Last time, she had been prepared for the fact that the Crimson Vow might be leaving, and so she had been able to put on a brave face in front of them. This time, however, she had been struck by a surprise blow, thinking that they would be able to spend more time together now that the girls had finally returned. Much as she may have been a level-headed person, Lenny was still a child of ten—or rather, eleven—years old.
“Well, of course. Tils is where Mavis and Pauline were born, and where both of their families live, and we still have over four years left on our minimum term of service with the kingdom. We may leave the country from time to time, but I think this will always be our base of operations in the end… We’ll never change our registrations to another country’s Guild, anyway. Don’t think of it as us leaving for another journey just as soon as we got back—consider this as a stopover, with us just popping in to say hello in the midst of our original journey. If we finished up our self-improvement trip and came running back home this quickly, we’d be the laughingstocks of the Guild, after all…”
Of course, all they had to do, if they wished to be exempt from their obligations, would be to pay back all the money that had gone towards their educations. But even though they were now in a position to pay back that money easily, they still intended to carry out their obligations dutifully—except, perhaps, if a situation arose that required them to get away immediately. Trying to pay back honor and kindness with money was against their policies.
Plus, there was one among their number who was firm in her insistence: “In any case, we have no plans to relocate to another country within the next five years, nor any reason to. It’s a useless expenditure and a waste of money. I forbid it!!!”
Even if they did try to pay their way out of their obligations, people would suspect that it was because they intended to leave the country, and things would become bothersome as a result. In order to avoid such an outcome, the optimal choice was simply for them to maintain the status quo.
Hearing Mile’s explanation, Lenny was a bit relieved. Normally when a group of hunters said that they were going off on such a journey, they usually came back in half a year at the earliest, and some of them took a few years or more. Of course, there were many among those who never came back at all. Perhaps they were still on their journeys, or had found a new place to call home along the way and settled down there, or else…
No, there was nothing at all strange about a hunter meeting a spouse and wishing to settle down in the place where that person lived. That was what happened to all of those who vanished, surely. There were plenty of other reasons why they wouldn’t return, too, like if they had earned some great renown and been granted a title, or saved a village and won the hand of the village elder’s daughter in marriage, or some such.
Little Lenny clung to such possibilities, even though deep in her heart she herself did not truly believe such fancies. However, without fantasies, the hardships of reality would be too much for a young girl to bear.
“Well then, next time you’re back, please come stay with us again!”
“Hmm, I mean, I guess we could…”
“What?”
At Mile’s reply, Lenny froze up. She had expected to hear an enthusiastic, “Of course!”
“Oh, um, I mean, it’s not that we’re unhappy here. It’s just that I was thinking we might like to get an actual home of our own, sooner or later…”
“Ah…”
Hunters who were always traveling to hither and yon, only staying in the capital for a short while, naturally took rooms at inns. Renting a room or leasing a house was a waste of money, as they would be spending only a few nights there, and most of their time staying at inns or camping out in other locations… However, that was only the lifestyle of hunters who were single and hurting for money.
Anyone who was married would take a house. The same was true for those who were not strapped for coin, even if they lived alone. With a house, you could leave all of your belongings in one place, and there was no need to secure lodging every night, so there was no worry of finding a place to sleep if you returned to the city late. If you were alone, you might rent a room, or join forces with friends to rent a small house, which became the party’s collective residence.
“Have you four been earning much money?”
“Well, a fair bit, at least…”
“It’s that storage magic of yours!”
That was Lenny for you. As much as Mile had tried to deceive her, Lenny had seen right through her act. They always seemed to have some catch of theirs on hand as a souvenir, so she knew that Mile’s storage capacity must be quite big. With acumen like Lenny’s, such conclusions were not difficult to draw.
“B-but your ability to draw in customers…” Lenny began. However, the fact was that the inn was not hurting in that regard. After the Crimson Vow left town, other all-female parties had taken the fact that the Vow had stayed there as a good sign and begun frequenting the establishment.
Inevitably, as their reputation as an inn where female guests felt comfortable grew, other women who were not hunters began to stay, too. And then, once they became known as an inn that was popular with women—and an inn where you might be able to mingle with all-female parties, their male clientele began to increase in number as well. The whole thing had unfolded exactly according to Lenny’s plans.
Of course, being an inn where female guests can feel safe, as well as an inn where male guests looking to find women gather was a clear contradiction, but the men were, for the most part, quite genuine in simply wishing to get to know the women guests—there was no rudeness or violence, and no attempts at anything untoward. If anyone did try such a thing, there was always that .
The perfect chance.
If a man wished to prove himself to a woman, there was no better opportunity than to be her gallant savior in such a time of need. Men who sought to show themselves as allies of justice, as heroes who defended women, would come flocking—some perhaps even forcing others aside.
If a man so much as began to bother a woman, a sudden glint would appear in the eyes of at least ten others, and they would surround the offender with glee…which was probably quite terrifying. Thus, all of the men who stopped by the inn were perfect gentlemen.
The members of the Crimson Vow had become aware of this on the first day that they returned to town. While none of the male hunters who knew of the Crimson Vow came around to make passes at them, they were vexed to find that the female hunters seemed to be following just a little too closely, poking or brushing past them now and then, “for good luck.”
“We really do need to find our own place soon…” Reina grumbled, getting fed up with being lumped in with Mile and treated like a child as a result.
Lenny, however, protested, “Oh c-come on… You all are still greenhorns, aren’t you? It’s too soon for you to be settling down in a house!”
“Exactly!”
“P-Pauline!”
Reinforcements had appeared, from the most unexpected quarter.
“A house is a luxury that you shouldn’t even consider until you have at least 80,000 gold pieces saved up!”
“Th-that’s right! That’s exactly right!!!” Lenny agreed, fired up by the support of her new ally.
Of course, if that amount were truly what was required to own a home, then there was not a single hunter in the entire world who would ever be able to afford it.
“Well, there’s no point in us discussing this right now. We’ll consider it when the time comes. We have no idea how our situation will change in the future.”
“Y-yes, that’s right!”
This time, it was Mile who backed up Reina, for even she seemed to have realized that it was her words that had so disturbed Lenny in the first place.
“Anyway, even if we didn’t stay here anymore, you’ll always be our friend, Lenny…”
“I-I already know that!” Lenny shouted, her cheeks going red as she promptly retreated to the kitchen.
Seeing this, Mile muttered down inside her heart,
Ts-Tsunderenny…
After a few more days in this vein, the Crimson Vow finally ended their short break by accepting a job: escorting a merchant caravan bound for the Kingdom of Marlane, which bordered Tils to the east. Brandel—Mile, or rather, Adele’s home country, which lay to the west—was a kingdom with which Tils maintained typical, friendly political relations, but Marlane, to the east, was a kingdom with which Tils was on even closer terms.
The princess of one kingdom, popular among their people, had married into the other’s family, and in times of famine they always sent supplies to one another’s aid. Similarly, if either kingdom should be threatened with war, the other would send masses of their soldiers to the border in order to send the message that, “If you threaten a friend of our kingdom, you’ll have to deal with us, too.” In short, the two kingdoms were close allies.
Naturally, the flow of commerce between the two was great—which also meant that there were plenty of bandits to contend with. As a result, the route between the two kingdoms was also popular with hunters who were skilled in real combat. Though guard jobs often went in one direction, there were just as many that would take merchants back the opposite way, so there was no need to waste time on an unpaid return trip. To have such a steady source of income, rather than relying on the uncertainties of hunting or extermination jobs, was the stuff of most hunters’ dreams.
Indeed, it was a perfect job for a C-rank party confident in their skills, a job with no twists or peculiarities. Thus, when the party went to the reception desk to accept their duties, even the clerk had no objections to raise.
“We already have permission to leave the country, and we were only stopping by for a little while along our way, so we don’t need to stop in to say goodbye again before we leave, do we?” Reina asked, grinning.
“Oh, of course not. After all, it would be rude to take up any of the guild master’s time unnecessarily.” Pauline replied, a similarly broad smile on her face.
Mavis, however, grimaced and said, “I do wonder… Well, for better or worse, we’re just going to quietly make our exit…”
“Ahaha…”
***
Then came the day of their departure.
“We baked you some puddings and pies as a snack. Please take them with you…” Lenny said when the party came to say their farewells, handing them two bundles.
“Did you make these, Lenny?”
“Yeah…”
The pudding referred to here was not the same as the sort of pudding sold in Japan, of course. It was a much more shelf-stable food, like the Christmas puddings that are sold in other countries on modern-day Earth. The pie was mincemeat, which, likewise, would not go bad too quickly… Though once it was stored within Mile’s inventory, nothing would ever go bad at all.
“Thank you! We’ll be heading out now!”
And thus the Vow departed to meet up with the merchant caravan.
Just then, however, Mile’s head was in another place, another time.
Pudding and pie…
Unconsciously, she opened her mouth and out came a single phrase.
“…Kissed the girls and made them cry!”
Hearing this, the other three halted and stared at Mile.
“M-Mile, what are you…?”
“Hm? Oh, uh, that was just a line from a song in a story…”
“So, Miley, you really are into younger girls…”
“Th-th-th-th-that’s not it! That’s not it at all!!!”
“I swear, Mile…”
“I’m telling you, that’s not it! I’m being framed, I tell you! Framed!!!”
Yes indeed, it was a typical day for the Crimson Vow…
***
“Are the Crimson Vow here?”
“Who’s asking?”
“I’m looking for the members of the Crimson Vow.”
“And I’m asking who you are.”
No inn staffer worth their salt would ever willingly give up information about a female guest to a strange man who had suddenly appeared at their door, so Lenny stood firm.
“I’m the guild master of the Capital branch of the Hunters’ Guild. I need to speak with…”
“And have you any proof of your position? I’m not just going to turn over information about a group of young ladies to some strange man.”
Indeed, while there was no hunter in the capital to whom the guild master would be unfamiliar, it was not as though he had gone around making his name and face known to every little girl who worked at every inn in town.
“Er…”
The guild master knit his brows, but the girl did have a point. The children in town knew nothing about him, and in terms of business ethics, her argument was sound. The staff of the Guild and other young hunters could stand to follow her example.
“Hey, help me out here.”
At the guild master’s beckoning, a man who was waiting behind him came to the guild master’s side.
“I am the submaster of the Hunters’ Guild,” the man said. “I can confirm for you that this man is most certainly the guild master of the Hunters’ Guild branch of the royal capital of Tils. I give you my word.”
The guild master looked smug, as though that solved everything, but Lenny grinned and replied, “Okay then, do you have any proof of your position?”
“Uh…”
Naturally, if most of the common folk of the town had no idea who the guild master was, then there was no reason that they would know who the submaster was, either.
“W-well then, you can ask any hunter who’s staying here. They can tell you…”
“Okay, who would you like me to call? Even if you tell me that anyone will do, we won’t be giving out the names of any of our guests, and even then , if we can prove that you are with the Guild, we don’t intend to offer up information about the whereabouts or plans of a certain group of young ladies to two visitors who have no right to that information without the permission of those ladies themselves!”
“Er…”
Once more, she had a point.
They could not simply scream at a ten-year-old inn employee and get her to talk, either. Doing such a thing would drag the Guild’s reputation through the mud. Furthermore, the girl was absolutely in the right. An inn could not simply give out information about its guests without having obtained permission from those guests beforehand, and if this young girl would not permit such a thing, then it was almost certain that the master and matron of the establishment would not permit it either.
That said, the Crimson Vow were not currently present—that much they knew. From what the girl implied, if they were to name a particular person with whom they wished to speak, she would call for that someone. Given that she had not done so, they could extrapolate that the Crimson Vow were not there.
“Might I leave a message?”
“If I relay it verbally something might get miscommunicated, so if it’s important, you’d better write it down in a letter.”
“I’ll do that, then. Mind if I borrow a chair?”
With that, the guild master took a seat at one of the dining tables and began to write a letter. He was allowed to borrow a writing implement free of charge, but there was still a fee to deliver the message. The paper was not free, either, for while the paper used on this continent was not as costly as parchment, it was still fairly expensive.
“Please give this to those girls when they return.”
“Very well, we shall. As soon as the Crimson Vow returns to this inn, I will hand over your letter to them.”
Of course, she had no idea how many months it might be before she had a chance to do so, but Lenny was not about to tell the guild master that.
And so, the men headed back to the Guild.
Given that the Crimson Vow had just returned from a lengthy journey and were now resting up, the guild master assumed that they probably would not be taking any new jobs for a while. Furthermore, it had been so long since they had been in the capital that when they started working again, they were likely to take a job that was closer, rather than farther away, to allow them to get the lay of the land again. With this in mind, the guild master had not thought to confirm whether, in the several times that the Crimson Vow had stopped by the guildhall during their wanderings of the capital, they had taken on any escort requests. No matter how noteworthy a party they were, the clerk, who could not read the guild master’s thoughts, could hardly be expected to inform him every single time a mere C-rank party took on some garden variety job.
And so, the result of all this was…
“Why hasn’t the Crimson Vow shown up?!”
The next evening, the guild master appeared at the front door of the inn once again. This time, he seemed to be alone.
“I mean, I don’t know what to tell you… And we’re kind of busy with dinner right now, so…” Lenny replied, looking hassled.
The guests and diners all stared at the guild master. The guild master, who seemed to be in quite a foul mood, ignored their gazes and continued speaking. “You gave them the letter, didn’t you?! The fact that I haven’t seen them yet means…”
“Actually, I haven’t given it to them yet.”
“What?”
For a moment, the guild master stared dumbly, as though unable to comprehend Lenny’s reply.
“Wh-what are you saying?! I told you to be sure to give it to them!”
“Yes, of course. You told me to give it to them when they came back to the inn, correct? Well, I still haven’t had the chance to do so.”
“Huh?”
“Is there something wrong?”
“What?! Then, what you’re saying is…”
“Exactly. They haven’t come back to the inn yet.”
The guild master was getting flustered. “S-so, when are they coming back?!”
“I don’t know. And even if I did know, that information is not mine to share. Even if you tried to torture it out of me, I’d bite my tongue before you could make me talk!”
“Whoooooooooooaaaaa!!!”
At Lenny’s insistence in the face of the intimidating guild master, a cry of admiration rose from the inn patrons. Hearing these dangerous and biting words, Lenny’s father also came running out from the kitchen—the knife that he had just been using to slice meat gripped in his hand.
This was bad.
The guild master could see that this situation was turning out incredibly poorly for him. He bore absolutely no ill intentions, and yet here he was, looking like a villain. In front of all of these hunters and traveling merchants… This was bad—very, very bad.
“Pardon me.”
And with those words of parting, the guild master fled back home at top speed.
After the guild master left, the mood inside the inn was one of elation. The patrons fell all the more in love with the inn after seeing the dejection of the guild master, who was normally so self-assured, and the courage of a small girl willing to risk her own safety just to protect the inn’s guests. As a result, the orders for food and drink began to roll in.
“Little Lenny, come over here a minute! You’re such a brave girl—let your big sisters treat you to a feast!”
“No, no, come over here! I’ll buy you the most expensive juice on the menu!”
That juice was something that was too expensive for her to even be allowed to drink on the job. Lenny’s heart began to flutter.
“Come over here, Lenny! You can sit on my la…gwah!!”
Somewhere, a male patron was struck by a female guest and sent flying.
Out of nowhere, Lenny’s mother appeared, advising her, “Don’t you worry about keeping an eye on the desk, Lenny. Go ahead and enjoy yourself all you like.”
Then, she said to her in a quiet voice, “And while you’re at it, order the most expensive things you can. It’ll be a huge help to us.”
After all, she was Lenny’s mother…
“Oy! What’s the last job that the Crimson Vow accepted?!” the guild master roared at the night clerks the moment he returned to the guildhall.
One employee rushed to the register to confirm and then reported, “Well, it looks like they took a job guarding a merchant caravan headed for the Kingdom of Marlane. They’ve already departed.”
“What?! Damn it, then that was all for nothing! That little girl should have just said so from the start!”
Guarding merchants heading for Marlane was a fairly standard job for this branch. If he just waited a bit, then would take a similar job from Marlane bound back for Tils, and they would be back in the capital. He had made a complete fool of himself for absolutely no reason.
That said, if he had just checked in with his staff before he had even gone to the inn, then this whole thing could have been avoided. He was the one who had assumed, of his own accord, that the Crimson Vow were still taking a break. The fact that he had failed to take even the simplest of steps to confirm whether or not this was true meant that he had been the agent of his own unmaking here. He had no one to blame but himself.
“Damn it.”
Looking as though he had just swallowed a bug, the guild master scrunched up his face and stalked up to the second floor.
Thus, the day that the guild master and the scheming noble pair learned the truth came just a little too late.
***
“ Where is the Crimson Vow?!”
A few days later, someone new appeared at the inn. This time, it was a young girl.
Not again…
Lenny was beginning to grow a bit fed up with this. The usual exchange unfolded.
“N-no way! I traveled all the way to Vanolark, in the west, before I lost their trail. Just when I thought I’d found them again, and I was certain they had turned around and were heading back to Brandel, I got all mixed up in the confusion of that invasion business, and after I found out that they were heading back here, I came all the way back myself. When will they be back, at least?”
The exchange proceeded in Lenny’s usual manner.
“Come on, you can tell me at least! So untrusting!”
The last time they had met, Dr. Clairia had been quite moved at how splendidly Lenny comported herself in the presence of adults, but this time, the professor seemed to even forget that she was an adult herself, behaving instead like a spoiled child. Clearly, she was at the utter limits of her emotional stamina.
Yet Lenny would not be budged.
Seeing that this conversation would get her absolutely nowhere, Dr. Clairia dragged her feet off to the Hunters’ Guild once more.
***
“Gosh, I mean, we’d heard rumors, but this is really…”
The merchants were in excellent spirits during their campground dinner, eating their fill of high-class cooking, the likes of which should have been impossible for any traveling merchant in the midst of a journey.
The drivers and other guards ate equally well. On the battlefield, when armies came together for meals, everyone ate the same things—officers and foot soldiers alike. It promoted a feeling of solidarity, above all else.
Yet on a journey such as this, where normally all one had to eat was easily preserved foods, like hardtack, dried meat, and rehydrated vegetables, how was it that they were dining on such a luxurious meal?
“Now, now, this is only possible thanks to your allowing us to step away from our duties for a bit to hunt. It’s thanks to your flexibility that we can enjoy a fresh, proper meal as well.”
Indeed, as Mile said, the merchants who had hired the Crimson Vow had given them permission to leave the caravan behind for a short while in order to do a little bit of hunting and gathering…using Mile’s location magic.
After a short while, they had returned, toting deer and vegetables and fruit, as well as freshwater fish caught from a nearby stream. In terms of Japanese cuisine, these fish would have been equivalent to something like river salmon and char.
Mile and Mavis did the prepping, and then Mile and Pauline did the cooking, while Reina oversaw the process as a whole. In this way, a meal came to be, much to the pleasure of the entire assembly. It was still the usual rustic style of cooking favored by most hunters, but with a few extra touches inspired by the delicate presentation of Japanese cuisine. They used plenty of flavoring, and the cookware and tableware were of the kind that you might use at home—no leaf plates and twig forks in sight.
The merchants had offered to give them some extra pay in return for this service, but as always, they declined. It would have been one thing if the meal had been prepared from the ingredients that Mile already had in her inventory, but as everything they used had been caught while they were already on the job, it would feel wrong to accept twice the money for doing the same amount of work. Even Pauline insisted on this. Apparently, doing such a thing would sully the coin, or so she implied.
Of course, the merchants were more than aware of this. Even so, they had to at least make the offer. The merchants had their own code as well and prided themselves on the policy of rewarding extra work with extra pay.
Judging by what the merchants had said, it seemed word had begun to spread throughout the Guild that if you hired the Crimson Vow as guards, you got to eat delicious food along the way, so when the Vow had applied to work as their guard, they had leapt at the chance. Naturally, they knew of Mile’s storage magic as well and had asked for her to store a few of their valuables and easily damaged items, too.
This time, the caravan was not the hodgepodge sort cobbled together from many different companies, but a mid-sized assemblage of twenty-six wagons, all in the employ of a single firm. The merchant in charge was not the head of the company, but the man who was in charge of the company’s shipments. Along with him were several subordinates, the drivers, and sixteen guards, including the Crimson Vow, who made up the rest of the convoy.
Because this caravan had departed directly from the capital, there was not a hunter present who did not already know of the Crimson Vow. So rather than belittling them or trying to pull anything funny, they simply struck up random conversation with the girls. Even this was rather annoying. Reina and Pauline warded off the chattiest members of the group with their coldest gazes, and as a result, there were no injuries. However, the softhearted Mavis and chatty Mile had their ears talked off.
In truth, it wasn’t that no one ever tried to start anything with them, but it was all in good humor, so Mavis seemed to put up with it, and Mile was positively chuffed.
Watching her, Reina was stunned. Well, as long as she’s having fun, I guess that’s all right…
There were few bandits or monsters who would ever attack a caravan of this scale, assuming that they had hired the appropriate number of guards. Here, with sixteen hunters on their payroll, this group had erred on the side of caution.
A few days later, the caravan safely arrived in the royal capital of the Kingdom of Marlane without incident.
***
“Oh, Capitaaal! We’re hooome!” Mile announced, repeating her now-favored wording.
“Mile, we’ve never been here before,” Mavis replied flatly.
“Not only is this the first time you’ve been to this city, it’s the first time you’ve even been in this country .”
“Or is this just some new catchphrase of yours, Mile?”
Reina and Pauline appeared equally dumbfounded.
“Anyway, we’ll be staying here for a little while. Let’s go introduce ourselves at the guildhall, check for information, and see if there are any interesting jobs on the boards.”
Indeed, before they even found themselves an inn, it was always important to investigate these three questions. The chances were low, but it was always possible that there might be a job so enticing that they would wish to accept it on the spot and head back out immediately. When you arrived in town, you went to the Guild. That was the hunter’s way.
Ding-a-ling.
Turn…
By this point, they were used to being met with intent, appraising stares of all the local hunters whenever they walked through the doors of a new Guild branch. It wouldn’t be long before everyone’s gazes returned to where they were before… or not .
Stare…
Staaaaaaare…
These were not gazes full of malice. These were bewildered gazes, as though they had all just seen something rare or surprising. While the members of the Crimson Vow felt a bit awkward, they were not angry—just bemused, looking around themselves as they moved toward the boards.
There was nothing particularly valuable on the information board. The buzz surrounding the invasion of Brandel by the Albarn Empire seemed to have all but died down, with the only relevant posting being a Priority E notice that said “Due to some internal conflict within the Albarn Empire, those headed for the Empire should seek further information. All those heading westward are advised to travel via routes in the Kingdom of Brandel.” At the moment, there was nothing more interesting on the job board than what they had left behind back in Tils, either.
“Same as always, huh? I guess just crossing a border isn’t going to give us an especially different distribution of monsters… Should we head somewhere else?”
“Hmm, maybe. That’s probably for the best.”
“Our time as young maidens is short. We can’t sit around frittering it away!”
“Ahaha…”
As the Crimson Vow conversed, a middle-aged man, who appeared to be the guild master, approached them. It seemed someone had summoned him.
“Oh, my! It really is you, the real Crimson Vow, in the flesh!”
“What?”
The four girls spoke in unison, suspicious of his tone.
“We’ve never met before. How do you know who we are?”
“And what do you mean by the ‘real’ Crimson Vow? Has someone been impersonating us?”
Reina and Pauline asked the obvious questions.
Now that they thought about it, the way that everyone had reacted when they walked through the door did give the girls the feeling that they knew something about them.
“Ah, well, the reason that I recognize y’all is that I’ve seen you four before—I was there at the graduation exam exhibition. I usually go and watch it whenever I have the time, and I can arrange my schedule to complete any other errands I have over in Tils.”
“So what was with that reaction we got from everyone else? How do they all know us?”
“Aah… That’s ah, well, perhaps you’d come meet with me for a few minutes? There’s something I’d like y’all to see up in the reference library.”
“What?” they all asked.
The members of the Crimson Vow caught the guild master’s drift—that it was something they should see for themselves—and agreed to go with him. And so, they quietly followed him up the stairs and entered the library, only to see—
There, on display, were four very familiar items.
“ The Crimson Vow figures, half-gold discount for the full set!!!!!!” they chorused.
“I’ve recounted the story of yer battles to the others again and again, while showing them these figures…”
“No way!!!!”
Promoting oneself was an important part of every rookie hunter’s job. If someone else helped you out with that, then a thank you was in order. When the guild master of a foreign Guild branch was the one helping you, then really, the only proper thing to do would be to bow your head and grovel in gratitude.
So why was it that the Crimson Vow were raging at him instead?
The guild master, who had been expecting to find himself on the receiving end of the gratitude of four beautiful young girls, froze, mouth agape.
“Wh-why are you all so angry?”
The members of the Crimson Vow exchanged looks. Now that he mentioned it, why were they complaining? They had come up with, crafted, and sold those figures all on their own, for the sake of their first-ever earnings. And to have one’s name promoted in such a way was a huge coup for any hunting party. So really, they ought to thank the guild master and perhaps even do him a favor or two…
“Like heeeeeeellll!!!”
“Eek!”
The guild master, who could not read the girls’ train of thought, was stunned to be so suddenly and loudly redressed. He could not understand what was happening at all.
The Crimson Vow sullenly left the research library behind and headed back down to the first floor, not once offering the guild master even a simple thank you. Then, they continued to walk straight out of the guildhall.
“Wh-what in the world was all that about?”
The guild master truly could not grasp why the Crimson Vow had been so displeased.
“Well, if we can get such a promising newbie party, who made such a flashy debut, to stay here a while, that oughtta be good motivation for everybody… They didn’t bother checking if there were any escort jobs heading right back to Tils, so I’m guessing they do plan to hang around. This might even be the first time they’ve visited Marlane. Well, time to rustle up some of the boys and get them to at least keep coming into town… Geehee. Gyeeheeheehee!”
For the sake of his Guild, the guild master would do anything in his power, shy of breaking the rules.
…Including being rude to another country?
No matter how friendly relations might have been between the two, and no matter how good-natured the guild master normally was, under the circumstances, it wasn’t out of the question.
“………”
The Crimson Vow walked down the avenue, silent and sulking.
Everyone looked as though they wished to speak, but no one dared say a word.
Finally, Mile decided to spark the flame.
“S-so, those figures…”
“P-please don’t say it…”
Mavis hung her head, cheeks going red.
“I didn’t think they’d really be that embarrassing… At the time, we all thought they were so cool!”
“Aaaaaagh, why did I tell you to give me such an embarrassing pose?! Idiot, idiot! I thought it was the greatest thing back then, but I couldn’t have been more wrong!!!”
“Say Mile, I don’t remember you emphasizing the bust on my figure that much…”
The three agonized fretfully.
As she listened, a thought occurred to Mile: N-now’s my chance! For one of the entries of the Phrases that I’ve Always Wanted to Try Saying collection!
And so the words emerged from Mile’s lips:
“Heh. Seems as though you all can’t accept what you wrought in the follies of your own youth.”
Silence then spread once more throughout the group.
Everyone had taken a grave blow and fell into a deep despair. Including Mile.
“Come to think of it, how many of those did we make?” Mavis asked.
Pauline replied. “One thousand figurines.”
Once again, silence fell.
***
Three days later…
“The Crimson Vow should’ve about finished their sightseeing in the capital by now. Bet they’ll come looking for a job soon.”
Three days was more than plenty for resting-slash-sightseeing, the guild master thought with a grin.
“I’ve put a lotta good things on this board. Lots of interesting, unusual, and challenging jobs, the sort of things those young folks ought to like. I’ve made all the necessary arrangements with the staff to encourage them to take those jobs. Heheheh, I bet they’ll have a lotta fun…”
Then came the fourth day.
“They still haven’t come back, huh? Well, having fun’s an important part of life for young folks…”
Then came the fifth day.
“Okay, all right, that’s enough playing around for now! Oy, you! Go check on them!”
At the guild master’s command, one of the clerks rushed out to go and investigate at the capital’s various inns that were normally patronized by hunters. And yet…
“What? They haven’t checked in anywhere? There’s no trace of them having stayed at any inn? What’s going on here?! They haven’t taken an escort job heading back to Tils or any other jobs at all! Are they camping out to gather stuff for the daily requests or something?!”
Rage as the guild master might, there was nothing more he could do, and the clerks could only scratch their head in confusion at the guild master’s fervor.
***
“We’re pretty far from the capital now. I think this should be good,” said Pauline.
“Sounds right. If we’re this far away, there shouldn’t be anyone around who’s been into that library or who’s heard the stories from the guild master. Let’s stay a little while in the next town,” Reina agreed.
Mile and Mavis nodded in approval.
After the incident at the hall, the party had departed the royal capital of Marlane immediately and not ceased walking down the highway until dusk. They made camp night after night and continued onward, not stopping in any town or village.
For this, there was one simple reason:
There was just no way that they could stay in any town inhabited by anyone who knew of the figures and the guild master’s wild tales.
Yet at this point, they were far enough away from the capital that this should no longer be a problem. There might be those who had been to the capital—and perhaps even to the capital Guild branch—but it was unlikely that they had just so happened to go up into the library or to hear any of the guild master’s yarns.
There was nothing saying they were required to stay in every capital or to even stay in every country during the course of their travels. If there was a boring city, or a country where nothing caught their interest, then they might as well keep straight on to the next city, or the next country. Even if it was no fault of that town or country—a result of nothing but their own folly.
“Given the fact that there are few people who have the time or the leisure to travel for days just to watch the graduation exams at the Hunters’ Prep School in the capital of another country—and the fact that most of the figures were purchased by people who live in the capital, not a lot of them should have made it to other countries,” said Pauline, hoping to comfort the others. However…
“But that means most of them are circulating around the capital of Tils, so…” Mile said, realization dawning.
“ Don’t say it!!! ”
As always, Mile had failed to read the room.
***
Ding-a-ling.
The doorbell of the guildhall made the same sound as it did in every other branch, as though there was some standardized bell they were all required to use.
Again, the scene unfolded just as it always did when they entered a new guildhall in a new town: all of the gazes in the room turned to fix on the Crimson Vow. Some evaluated, some glared; some looked disdainful, some looked dumbstruck, some looked intrigued, and some looked as though they were already scheming to make trouble.
After a long moment, about half the hunters returned to whatever they had been doing previously. The other half watched the Crimson Vow carefully as they proceeded to the counter. Yes, it was just as it always went down at a new guildhall.
“We are the Crimson Vow, registered Guild members of the Capital branch of the Hunters’ Guild in the Kingdom of Tils. We are currently on a training journey, and we will be staying in this town for a short while.”
As usual, Mavis was the one to announce the group to the clerk at the counter. This was in part because she was the party leader but also because having Mavis do the talking always seemed to get the best reaction from the young ladies on the staff. This was not surprising. If a clerk were approached by a cheeky and youthful-looking pipsqueak—or a somewhat daft and equally youthful-looking pipsqueak—or a young woman whose assets were more prominent than their own—then they might grow a bit petty and say something curt. Until the party got to know the clerks, having Mavis do all the talking was the safest, surest bet.
“My, you’ve come far!” the clerk replied cheerily. “Welcome! We’re glad to have you. Please pardon all the strange stares. It’s almost unheard of to have a party of all young ladies around these parts. In fact, it’s always like this when women come in. That’s honestly a typical reaction for those fellows. Please forgive them, as they don’t mean anything by it!”
“No problem! We don’t mind at all!!!” the Crimson Vow chorused.
“C-come again?”
The clerk was baffled at their enthusiastic response.
Yes, when a party of strange women came in, that was the typical reaction.
Typical . A typical reaction…
“Typical is just fine with us!!!”
Suddenly, the entire party sounded an awful lot like Mile…
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