Chapter 134: Misadventures of the rookie adventurer, part 3
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Translator: Denryuu; Editor: Ryunakama
Upon returning to the guild, I handed Rabi her license and informed her of the rules and regulations she would have to abide by from now on.
「Got it, got it –」
Despite being in tears earlier, she was all smiles now. Seeing this made me a little worried.
「To summarise, you’re not a mage but rather a little girl who has a convenient skill and yet knows nothing of the real world. If you keep this attitude up as an F-ranked — the lowest possible — adventurer, you will only invite the displeasure of those around you. Try to keep out of trouble.」
「Mmkay. I’ll keep that in mind.」
With that, I assigned her a quest fit for an F-ranked adventurer.
「Gutter… cleaning…?」
Her displeasure was plain for all to see.
「Thanks in advance. The gutter has been clogged with trash, causing it to overflow with rainwater. I believe an F-rank has no complaints?」
「Guh… okay. Leave it to me…」
She left, and I resumed my regular duties. When the sun began to set and we approached closing time, the adventurers in the guild thinned out until there were none left.
「Roland!」, hollered Meiri, hugging her pet tsunorabi as she barged inside.
「What’s up? I didn’t give you a quest, did I?」
Five of her escorts soon followed behind her.
「You didn’t! But I came to pick you up! That’s fine, right?」
Her escorts looked at her with smiling faces. My colleagues, all able to hear the little princess, adopted the same expression.
「Meiri-chan came to pick you up. Isn’t that great?」, said Milia, looking over with a grin.
「I promised to return once I end work, so I’ll be leaving now.」
「I see. You’d better make a move, then.」
I’ve recently been doing work here to kill time while waiting for the underground guild to open. Since this guild was the first of its kind in Vadenhaag, I was never short of things to do.
Fine, I thought. Guess I have to head back without doing any extra work today. The little princess kept trying to peer over the counter to see what I was doing.
「Are you almost done?」
「Almost.」
「Will you be done faster with my help?」
「I will. Take a seat.」
「Okay!」
I left my work such that it would be easy to pick up again and shut the front door. Iris’s closing assembly marked the end of another working day.
「You’re done, right? Can we go?」
「Yes we can.」
「Yay!」
Meiri and her escorts left with me through the employees’ door. We slowly made the journey back to the castle on foot as she told me all about recent events.
「Meiri does things with you in mind a lot. She keeps track of your knockoff timings and when your next rest day is… even doing the studying that she hates, all in the name of the day on which you can next play with her」, explained Rodje.
「You’re growing up to be a fine princess」, I told Meiri.
「Really?」
「Yeah. Good job.」
I patted her head, and she squinted like she was enjoying it. While two of her escorts, Hire and Lyan, were normally at loggerheads with her, they seemed to be taking a backseat today, taking care to put some distance between us and them.
「Lyla-chan told me that you’re her ‘partner’ and you ‘won’t bother with a kid like me’. I told her that that’s not the case!」
It must have suddenly come to mind for her to say that. The Lyla in question is probably waiting at the castle.
「I’ll become of age in five years’ time. Mother said that I can make you my husband then! Will you be my husband when the time comes, Roland? Will you?」
She seemed to be trying to force the conversation in her direction. I forced a smile and inadvertently thought about what would happen in five years’ time.
「Remind me to think about it when the time comes.」
「Muu… okay. Sure.」
The little princess was clearly disappointed at my refusal to provide ready consent. Rodje nudged me with her elbow.
「Are you really that bad at reading the atmosphere!?」
「I can’t guarantee that I’ll still be alive. It’s not right of me to give her false hope.」
「You’re not wrong… but I can’t imagine you…」
Can’t imagine you dying, is what she seemed like she wanted to say. I’ll take that as her silent recognition of my strength.
The word ‘unexpected’ exists for a reason, however.
Out of all the professional assassins out there, not a single one ever believes that they could die at any given moment. When I meet my end, I doubt I’ll have had the time to prepare myself mentally. After all, it’s what I’ve been taught — when the curtain falls on your life, it will be like a passing twilight zephyr, leaving little trace of it having ever been there.
「…dying」, continued the elf as expected. 「It is regretful — deeply so — that you are the man Lylael-sama loves. For that simple reason, I will not allow you to die.」
「Then I am in your debt, Rodje.」
「Don’t make fun of me. I’ll say it here — I don’t like talking about my personal feelings.」
She looked in the other direction.
「But you complimented Roland, didn’t you?」, asked Meiri. 「You said he’s ‘on a different level’?」
「Meiri. Let’s not talk about –」
「And you also called him ‘coo –’」
Rodje put a hand over her mouth before she finished the sentence.
「I said nothing! Nothing at all!」
Watching the elf panic, the Pretty Girls’ Squad could barely restrain their laughter.
The first thing we did back at the castle was to eat at one of the dining halls, after which I wanted to take a bath. Though I preferred to do it alone, I yielded under Meiri’s puppy-like insistence and allowed her to join me. At the bathhouse, I stripped down to my birthday suit, then went over to the cheering Meiri and helped her take off her clothes.
「How about I join too?」, said the black cat that had somehow appeared at my feet.
I reverted her to her human form.
「That’s a lot of scars on your body」, commented Meiri.
「A lot of them are on my back.」
「Right, I’ve kept you waiting! Let’s go!」, exclaimed the Demon King as she made a beeline for the steam-covered baths.
I doubt either of us had been waiting for her, but we nevertheless followed her into the showering area. After I washed my hair, the two ladies came over to my side.
[T/N Note: As you might know from various forms of Japanese media, forbidden or otherwise, the Japanese scrub themselves while seated at a showering area before entering the bath itself.]
「I’ll scrub your back for you, Roland.」
「Hold on, Meiri. That’s my job.」
「I can do it myself, you know –」
「Then I’ll wash the front!」
「No, Meiri. You’re too young for that. You can take the back, and I’ll do the front!」
「Okay!」
In the end, I had no say in having my body washed for me.
「Heave-ho, heave-ho」, went Meiri as she scrubbed diligently.
Lyla, however, stopped scrubbing at regular intervals to glance at my crotch. Her face was red.
「You can do that part yourself!」
Isn’t that what I said?
「Roland prefers women with big titties, right? Like Lyla-chan?」
「That’s right, Meiri!」
「I never said that. Don’t go putting words in my mouth now.」
「What about tall girls?」, asked Meiri again.
「Never thought about it. Flat is justice, medium is premium and oppai is truth — every type is desirable in its own right.」
「Really?」
Washing off the last of the soap bubbles, we entered the bath at last. Lyla and Meiri, who had been scrubbing each other’s backs, soon joined me. I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve been able to relax in a bath like this.
「Listen, Meiri. If you still feel the same in five years’ time as you do now, I highly recommend making your feelings explicit to this man. Don’t beat around the bush.」
「Hmm… then I’ll leave Roland to you until then, Lyla-chan!」
「‘Leave him to me’? ‘Until then’? You can leave him to me for good. There isn’t enough space for the two of us!」, guffawed Lyla, puffing up her cheeks.
The little princess splashed water on her in response.
「Puh!?」
「Lyla-chan’s heart isn’t in the right place.」
「You have quite the gall to wage war against me. I have to give it to you for that…!」
They began to splash bathwater at each other. Sitting in between them, I was haplessly caught in the crossfire.
「Hey now…」, I started.
Feeling that something was off, the two ladies looked at me.
「Yes!?」
They began to quake.
「This impudent lass Meiri… she started it all!」
「But it was Lyla-chan who started being mean first…」
I hit the water with a little force, causing it to splash in Lyla’s direction. Instead of a splash, however, it hit her with a loud thud.
「Funya!?」
She sank below the surface.
「L-Lyla-chan…!?」
Trembling with excitement, Meiri tried to return the favour on Lyla’s behalf. But I simply repeated the same action, giving Davy Jones another visitor to entertain.
「It’s do or die, Meiri」, said Lyla after she recovered.
「That’s right!」
Apes together strong?
「Not if I can help it. Try me.」
「Uoooooh!!」, they roared in unison.
A valiant naval battle ensued between both sides.
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