Chapter 161

Touring the Imperial Capital 2

I ended up buying a [Permanent Fountain Pen] from the magic tools shop and put it in my [Storage].

Let's have Nerune look into whether or not we can make something similar when I get back to the dungeon.

I looked at various shops after that while wandering around.

"Next is... hmm, shall we go to the Adventurer Guild? The commission rush should have settled down by now."

With Haku-san guiding us once again, we went from the commercial area to the adventurer street.

There was a huge stone building with a very large signboard—the Adventurer Guild's headquarters. It had storehouses and disassembly places next to it.

Comparing it to the Adventurer Guild in Sia... it'd be like comparing an estate to a hut, to say nothing of the doghouse branch office at our dungeon.

When we grandly walked in through the entrance, I saw that the office with cafe addition was styled and furnished with refinement. There are some adventurers that have been drinking since the morning spoiling the cafe portion's view though.

"Oh, such cute children... haven't seen them before. And a sleepy looking Nii-chan huh?"

"Hoh, aren't they gonna be some beauties later on?"

Adventurers that were nearby walked over to us.

Thinking they might be picking a fight, I got ready... Um, Haku-san, why are you hiding behind me and grinning? Rokuko, what's with that [I don't care!]-like expression? Meat, please put your knife away. Alright, keeping your hands on the handle is OK.

"Hey, boy. This is the Adventurer Guild."

A noticeably rough leader-like man spoke.

... I have the golem assist, but I don't think I'd win. What to do...?

While I was troubled over what to do, he put his hand on my shoulder with a clap.

"Relax. As their senior, you gotta protect those Ojou-chans. Here, I'll give you some candy. There's some for all of you."

"I-it's here—! Tokoi aniki's candy—! The tasty honey candy that's a hit in the mercenary group!"

"The killer technique for aniki who loves children even though they're afraid of him, the candy! As expected of aniki, who donates most of his own earnings to orphanages~!"

"He's even gotten used to kids being on guard 'cause of his scary face scaring~! We've seen kids cry from him approaching them with a smile at least a hundred times now yeah~!?"

"Oi, Kalbi, Harami, Rose, shaddup."

Somehow or another, this guy is an extremely nice person. I accepted the bag with four candies in it that he held out.

"Umm."

"... My bad, did I scare you? Ah, I-I'm no one suspicious! I'm a B-Rank adventurer, my name's pretty well known too. You can ask the guild's staff if you want."

"Ah, yeah... then, just to be safe."

When I asked a staff member to make sure, it looked like all of the things that the three others said were true. Even though the B-Rank adventurer's face is scary, he loves children and is the leader of a mercenary group.

My nervousness went away.

"You... didn't even hesitate asking the staff... no, it's alright. It's our first time meeting, so making sure was the right way to go. Fufu, it's alright, it's all good... you were just being a good guardian to protect the children, right? Hahaha. If you get in any trouble just ask."

With a voice that sounded like he was about to cry, the rough man and his group left.

"... Just who was that?"

"A famous adventurer of a certain kind that has become this guild's specialty. One of the [Useful] pawns this time. That you could meet him was fortunate... Ah, in the event you use him, please do the negotiations yourself."

When I asked Haku-san, that's how she responded.

... I see. So Haku-san also thought of the [Call adventurers in to fight on the day of the event] strategy huh. Well, a mercenary group would act for money, too. Setting aside whether or not I use them, let's remember that.

"Now then... how about I introduce you to the Guild Head here? Follow me."

"Wait, the Guild Head... isn't that Haku-san?"

"I am the Grand Master. I usually leave everything to my subordinates."

Saying that, she headed behind the counter. Not even being stopped by the staff, she went to the Guild Head's office. Haku-san knocked lightly on the door and waited.

However, there was no response even after waiting a while, so Haku-san calmly opened the office's door.

"Supyaa... supii... nyaa fufufu..."

Inside the Guild Head's room, there was a pink-cateared girl sleeping on the desk.

... The soft sunlight and warm interior of this office would be great to sleep in. I want to sleep too.

Wait, surely she's not the Guild Head?

Haku-san abruptly took out a wooden mallet and swung it downward at the sleeping cateared girl's head.

Godun.

With a dull sound coming from the painful-looking collision, the girl jumped up.

... Hitting someone when they're sleeping so peacefully? How savage.

"Pikya!? W-what—a-an enemy!? Ah, Haku-sama!"

"Good morning, Misha. How is work?"

"Ah! There are no problems whatsoever! There was a quarrel but it was no problem!"

Even though she was giving a proper salute, there were traces of saliva near her mouth and there was a puddle of it on the desk.

"Rokuko-chan, Kehma-san. As this is the first time you'll have met her, I will introduce her. This Misha, a werecat. She is one of my party members and is also a dungeon monster."

"I'm Misha! I pass as a cat beastkin in the guild but I'm a werecat!"

"What a lively cat! I'm Rokuko!"

"Kehma. Pleased to meet you?"

She looked like a cute girl with cat ears and a tail.

How exactly are cat beastkin and werecats different?

"I'm taking a human form right now. My arms would be covered with hair all the way down to my elbows if I turned back you know? I'm super soft and fluffy."

Ah, so she can do that.

Soft and fluffy, huh.

Even so, there should be a magic stone somewhere on her body since she's a demon, shouldn't there?

"Even though she looks like this, Misha is still an active A-Rank adventurer, so even just keeping her here is effective. She even has fighting strength... I can't entrust many other duties to her though."

So those were the circumstances... right person right place really is important.

"Hey! Look here, I'm useful! No matter what, I was able to solve that [Easy] question that Haku-sama had so much trouble with on my first try!"

"..."

"Ow!? Haku-sama, don't pinch meeeee!"

Ah, that riddle from the first Dungeon Battle huh. "The answer of this problem is [Easy]," in other words, a problem that a smart person would get stuck on... so this girl solved it huh.

It was a problem meant to be easily solvable so long as you didn't think about it... yep, I'm convinced.

"... As you fell asleep on the job, I'll punish you later."

"Hiii!? I-I'm sorryyy!"