So, after persuading them who were reluctant to bring an amateur little girl into danger (me bringing Vier somehow convinced them), I participated in their subjugation under the guise of helping them out. It was a relief to know that I was more useful than I had expected.
“Oh man, it’s a real shame that you can’t register in the guild, Jill! We would welcome you into our party right away if you could!”
“Indeed. Magicians are rare enough already, especially one as experienced in real battle as you, any adventurer group would fight over you.”
“Say, once you’re 13 and register as an adventurer, why don’t you come and join our party?”
“Yeah! What he said! You are most welcome!”
Being recruited even before the time like this made a wry smile escape me.
“I appreciate the offer, but I still don’t even know who I am…err, who I want to be, so I can’t make any promises about what I will do in the future. Of course, considering my experience with you today, I will also see the option of becoming an adventurer.”
Jesse and Eleanor were visibly disappointed by my answer. Laika, however, nodded emphatically and encouraged.
“Yup. That sounds good to me. Go and experience a lot, then find what you really want to be. You’re at that age, after all.”
“Yes. For now, however, let me do my best to assist you with this job.”
Hearing my answer, Laika made a wide grin. “That’s the spirit! Now, let’s move on to the next herd. The more we defeat, the more we get paid.” With a swing of her beloved mace, she turned her feet again towards the marshes.
“She’s right. At this rate, we might even defeat 40 of them by the end of the day.”
“Since each one defeated is seven silver coins, so…uhh…”
“280 silver coins, or a bit over 9 gold coins.” Seeing that Jesse was struggling to count by his fingers, I gave him the answer I reached by mental arithmetic. Incidentally, one silver coin translated to around 1,000 yen. So, while it was a four-person work, if I consider that the daily payment was about 280,000 yen, it was still a profitable line of work. I’m still not sold, however, as there is a high risk of serious injury and even death depending on the situation.
“Whoa! So much?!” Honestly excited at the prospect, Jesse and Eleanor followed Laika into the marshes. As planned, they would once again herd Slime Toads to this clearing.
“Go and help them, Vier.”
“Woof!”
Vier wagged her tail and disappeared into the trees.
And then—
Ultimately, it took us until nearly evening to kill 44 Slime Toads.
♢♦♢♦♢
After bringing Slime Toads’ nuclei to the Adventurer Guild and redeeming them on the spot, Jesse offered me a small division of the coins they earned. “Here, it’s your share, Jill.”
“No… I can’t accept this money. I was only taking the liberty of helping you as a token of gratitude for your hospitality.”
I was adamantly refusing it, but Laika already took my hand and forced the leather bag of coins into it.
“No. We’ve received your sentiment in spades already. …But, it is too much, and we achieved six times what we got yesterday. That’s why, well, just consider this as a reward from a professional adventurer, as well as a companion who fought together.”
“She’s right. We wouldn’t have made such a killing without you, Jill! Really, I hope you can join us since we don’t need Jesse anyway!”
“What the hell?!”
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The three of them were honest with their words, leaving me hesitating for a moment… before I held the leather bag carefully to my chest. “…Thank you very much. This is the first time I’m being paid for my work and not for assisting my mentor. I won’t forget this day and all of you.”
“Yeah. I’ve had fun too!”
“Come to us if you need anything. We’re staying at Akashia Pavilion on the south street.”
“Yup. You’re basically one of us already. Come anytime.”
That was how I parted with the three good people, shaking their hands for the last time. They continued to wave at me until I turned down the street, so I bowed to them before Vier and I followed the direction they gave me towards Ms. Christy’s residence that Regina wrote in her letter. As I was looking out over the bustling streets of the Imperial Capital, crowded with people shopping in the evening, I took my time to my destination slowly.
For some reason, even this strange and foreign city that I woke up to this morning… felt a little bit more familiar to me.
♢♦♢♦♢
Conwallis, the imperial capital of the Graviol Empire, was roughly divided into three urban areas. The Old Town, centered on the Graviol Palace, where the nobility lived. The New Town, where the wealthy and middle-class citizens lived. And the Neo-Urban, the ever-expanding part of the city where ordinary citizens live. Strictly speaking, there are also the slums on the outskirts of the city, where exiles and the unregistered poor lived, but the state doesn’t recognize its existence officially, so it was being treated as nonexistent.
In a corner of the bar of the Akashia Pavilion, a tavern-c̲u̲m̲-inn that was established in the Neo-Urban area not far from the slums, three young adventurers occupying a table to themselves merrily clinked their mugs of ale, despite it was still early in the evening.
“To our earning of the day!”
“To our biggest killing in two months!”
“““CHEERS—!!”””
Spewing random, somewhat transitory nonsense, the three of them chugged their drinks.
“Still, we sure made a killing today. That was ten days of hard work, in half a day!”
“Would be great if it’s like this every day.”
“Might as well go to Jill and ask her to help us tomorrow too.”
Eleanor made the suggestion, her tone sounded like she was almost not joking, as she cut up the sauteed white fish.
“Nope, no can do. We were spoiled by her goodwill today, but if we force her to do something for us, we’re just imposing ourselves on her. Being reliant is different from being spoiled.”
“She’s right. It was our own problem, we should have looked for the solution ourselves. Forcing her to join us is not good.”
Rebuked by Laika and Jesse, Eleanor pressed her forehead and groaned. “Ugh, you’re right. Sorry. We earned so much today, it got to my head.”
After nodding to see her teammate was remorseful, Laika took a swig of the ale and wiped her mouth vigorously, then sighed. “Yeah, so much magic and skill at that age… moreover, that outstanding looks she got, anyone would want her for themselves.”
Laika then ordered a refill from the waiter.
“Looks…? Well, I mean, I guess she’s on the cuter side?” Leaning towards her jug, Eleanor eventually craned her neck.
“…You guess? To be honest, I’ve never seen anyone as beautiful looking as that one.” Laika looked doubtful, and one of her eyebrows rose.
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“Hm, well, everyone’s got their own sense of beauty, methinks. Right, Jesse? What do you think?”
“Isn’t she just normally cute?”
“Right? Just normal, right?”
Knowing that Jesse agreed with her, Eleanor nodded broadly.
“Hmm…” Laika genuinely questioned if her teammates had their eyes rotten, but she decided to stir up her refilled ale instead.
Soon, the topic of conversation turned to “Man, I still want a magician in the party,” and as they all dived deeper into their mugs, the question was long forgotten by Laika.
Thanks to her experience, good observation, and latent magician blood, Laika was able to see through the cognitive inhibition spell (also partly because she already spotted Jill as a noblewoman by her mannerisms, speech, and behavior).
I don’t know why Laika’s adventuring experience is treated as some kind of convenient deus ex machina.
