Chapter 205: The Special Affairs Officer Goes for an Inspection
* * *
"Oh my."
At the Adventurer's Guild headquarters on the ever-summer island of Aave, Special Affairs Officer Taiche, who had returned from her lunch break, inadvertently let out a small voice upon seeing the letter placed on her desk.
The envelope with the sender's name already written by another staff member had been discarded, but the handwriting on that letter unmistakably belonged to her grandfather.
The name of her grandfather is...... Earthcell the "Earth Sage".
He should currently be dispatched to the Zamago Forest as the New Branch Establishment Official.
(I wonder what happened. Is it a request for personnel dispatch? Or did he come crying to me that he can't take it anymore?)
Taiche started reading that letter while sipping tea and grinning.
By the way, she intends to reject both the personnel dispatch request and the resignation request.
Because Earthcell's dispatch to the Zamago Forest is a punitive personnel decision.
"Pfft!!?"
However, the contents written in that letter were neither of those!
Taiche was so surprised that she spat out her tea!
But in order not to dirty the letter, she reflexively turned to the side and spat out the tea!
The other special affairs officer next to her got covered in tea and started silently trembling with anger, but Taiche had no room to pay attention to that!
Because unbelievable contents were written in that letter!
"Foooh~~~! The branch office is done, hohoho!"
Those were the first words written in that letter.
There are many things to retort, like why there's a need to express a shout like "Foooh~~~!" in a written document or not to write colloquial expressions like "hohoho" in a sentence, but that's not the problem.
(The branch office is... done!? In just a few months!? Really!?)
Moreover, as she read further in the letter, she realized that this wasn't just a report that a simple building was made.
Her grandfather, New Branch Establishment Official Earthcell, had created a building, defensive walls, a road, established a living foundation, and even created specialty products in this demon realm within this short period of time, bringing the situation to a stage where it could be officially recognized as a branch office at any time.
"Grandpa worked hard together with my friends ohoho! So I want Taiche to come here quickly and officially recognize this as an Adventurer's Guild branch office hohoho! And if possible, I'd like to continue being the branch manager here huhuhu! Thanks in advance! Sincerely yours."
Her grandfather's letter concluded with such words.
There was no "Dear" at the beginning, but only "Sincerely yours" at the end.
No, that doesn't matter.
"Is it really...... really true......?"
Her grandfather Earthcell may be a pervert, but he's not the type of man to tell such lies.
She thought she knew that well.
However, even so, it's hard to believe.
Creating a branch office in just a few months......
(Wait, who are these "friends"......?)
Thinking that, when she lifted the letter, another sheet of paper fell onto the desk with a rustle.
It seemed to be a two-part letter.
And on that other sheet of paper, detailed information about Earthcell's "friends"...... or rather, his collaborators, was listed.
Upon seeing the names of those collaborators...... Taiche was at a loss for words.
She has an abnormally good memory.
For example, she has memorized all the personal information of currently registered adventurers.
She also never forgets names written in reports she has read once.
That's why she is a special affairs officer.
Because of that, she immediately realized.
These "friends"...... they all seem to be "troublesome".
Taiche quickly finished her current work, submitted the necessary documents, hammered various plans into her head, and then used a teleportation magic circle to fly to the Adventurer's Guild branch closest to the Zamago Forest!
* * *
And now.
"............"
On the well-maintained road cutting through the Zamago Forest, Taiche finally saw the base her grandfather had created emerging from the forest, and she opened her mouth slightly in astonishment.
Its splendid and functional magnificence that couldn't be thought to have been created in a short period of time.
Furthermore, although not many, the coming and going of people had already begun.
Even though she had grasped the facts through the letter, actually witnessing it made her freeze in surprise.
"Wow, it's quite an impressive base, isn't it!"
The woman standing next to Taiche, casually expressing a normal impression, is named Yuju.
She is an adventurer Taiche hired as a bodyguard for this inspection.
She has ordinary brown hair, ordinarily tied back in one, with her bangs ordinarily gathered to the right side and swept.
Dressed in ordinary adventurer's attire with an ordinary sword at her waist, she is an ordinary swordswoman, but her adventurer rank is an ordinarily excellent rank 1.
For an inspection by a special affairs officer, it's not a big deal to hire a rank 1 adventurer as a bodyguard using expenses.
By the way, Yuju's nickname is also "Ordinary".
Apparently, she can handle anything ordinarily, and because her own aura is ordinary, she was given this name.
It's a nickname that lacks impact, but since Yuju's motto is "Ordinary is the best", she ordinarily accepts this nickname with joy.
"Um, excuse me."
And here, there was someone who called out to the two people standing still in the middle of the road.
When Taiche turned around with a start, standing there was a woman dressed in herbalist-style robes.
She seemed to have just come out of the forest, with grass leaves and vines entangled in her robes.
And the basket on her back was filled with a large amount of medicinal herbs.
"Is something the matter? You're adventurers, right?"
The woman said with a smile.
At first glance, she looks like a neat and tidy female herbalist, but her voice is strangely hoarse from alcohol.
With just that information, Taiche figured out this woman's true identity.
This woman is related to that base.
"There's no entrance fee or anything for that base, so feel free to go in as is. Ah, if you're adventurers, please be careful. It seems that branch office there is still in the temporary operation stage, so you can exchange materials but won't earn contribution points. Please keep that in mind."
"You're Niese-san, right?"
"Huh?"
Surprised at suddenly being called by her name, the woman dressed as a priest, or rather herbalist, Niese was taken aback.
Paying no heed to Niese's reaction, Taiche handed her a business card with a graceful gesture as if dealing with an executive of some company.
"Excuse me, I am Taiche, a special affairs officer from the Adventurer's Guild headquarters, here to inspect the recognition of that base's branch office. Well, I have various other matters too, but......"
As Niese alternated between looking at the business card she had unintentionally received and Taiche's face with wide eyes, Taiche cleared her throat and said,
"For now, could you please take me to see the New Branch Establishment Official Earthcell?"
Earthcell is amazing.
Just by writing one letter, it becomes a gag.