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Chapter 15: Respected employee

 

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Translator: Denryuu

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「Welcome. How may I help you today?」

Despite primarily being a librarian, I recently had to help out as a receptionist as well. I don’t know if this is ‘ordinary’ in any way, but it certainly is my daily life.

「Um, sorry, are you Argan-san?」

「…Yes, that’s me.」

Well, at least that’s what my name tag says. I hesitated while taking a moment to check — it would slip my mind from time to time.

「Oh, it’s nothing, j-just wanted to confirm, sorry about that.」, the adventurer stammered, waving both hands in front of him. Hm, was there something I was in charge of?

「Neil-senpai has told me a lot about you, sir.」

「Has he?」

「Yes. According to him, the quest you recommend for us will always be a perfect match.」

「I recommend that you take his words with a pinch of salt.」

While engaging in light banter, I examined his credentials in order to select a quest for him.

「There’s a rumour going around that the quests Argan-san picks have a high survival rate and low casualty rate.」

High survival rate? I suppose it’s because I know the topography of the quest area, as well as being familiar with the monsters involved and their various habits. For quests involving exterminating monsters, I usually gave some advice — about the necessary equipment, for example. It could also be information on the enemies or the location of nearby water points. How to escape if anything goes awry, even. As such, most adventurers returned safe and sound.

For whatever reason, I kind of liked listening to excited adventurers like that. I even found it… fun. Neil being referred to as senpai though… it’s kind of strange, but not surprising given his age and experience.

「So… please select a good quest for me!」

「As you wish.」

You know, dead people don’t report back, which kind of skews the survival rate, don’t you think? Perhaps ‘success rate’ would be a better term, seeing how every adventurer takes the casualty rate into account when being given a quest.

「I’d prefer if I don’t sustain any serious injuries… I’d lose my rice bowl if I did.」

「I am aware of that, sir.」

If you needed more than a month of two to recover, you wouldn’t have any income until you’re out and about again. This applies for any profession, but even more so as an adventurer — not being able-bodied is equivalent to being unemployed.

The adventurer, seemingly pleased with my choice of quest, left the guild quickly.

「Our receptionist has slowly gotten used to his job. There is nothing to worry about.」, said Milia at the back.

「Milia-chan, I can do that too, y’know? Easy peasy.」

「Morley-san, you’ve been doing this for at least ten years now — if it isn’t easy, that would be really bad.」

「Hey, why so mean…? I’m the senior, y’know?」

「Roland-san has been working here for about a month now. Although he says the strangest things sometimes, his work is flawless and he’s built up a considerable reputation.」

「Nah, you jest, Milia-chan～～ I also have a good reputation among adventurers, y’know?」

「This ‘good reputation’… it’s mainly from the adventurers Morley-san’s familiar with, right?」

「… Okay, okay, I’ll just go back to work. Milia-chan, move your hand aside, you’re blocking me.」

「(-_-メ)」

Calling for the next adventurer to come in, a boorish, short-haired young adventurer appeared. He sat right down on the chair with a thud, and placed both feet on the counter.

「I’ll have a good quest!」

「Very well.」

Neil appeared as well, standing in the shadows behind him.

「Adventurer-sama, taking your rank into account, we are only able to assign F-rank quests to you. Instead of hunting monsters, you can gather herbs or assist as a porter. Is that suitable for you?」

「Huh!?」

The young adventurer glared at me.

「No way in hell that’s ‘suitable’. Gimme a better quest. There’s gotta be one!」

「I’m sorry, but as adventurer-sama is an F-rank, there are only so many suitable quests. We apologise for the inconvenience. 」

「Ah? You’re calling me adventurer-sama, right? Y’all will be fucked without us, no?」

「Sir, those are two separate matters.」

「Don’t you dare talk back to me!」

Neil, who had been silently witnessing this spectacle, hurried over and gave the young adventurer a good whack on the head.

「Ow! Sen, senpai!?」

「Do. Not. Make trouble for the employees!!」

「So-sorry!」

Neil glanced at me, as if to say, right?

「Do. Not. Put your feet on the counter, you shitty brat!!」

「Okayyyy!!」

Neil glanced at me, as if to say, right?

「Without the employees, we wouldn’t even be able to accept quests, you know? Do. Not. Show off, F-rank!!」

Neil glanced at me, as if to say, right?

To be frank, his frequent glances were getting on my nerves.

「You’re right! S-sorryyyy!!」

「You think apologising to me will do any good?」

「Yes, yes, I know!!」

The young adventurer, looking completely deflated, lowered his head slightly.

「My, my bad…」

「What do you mean, ‘my bad’!? Shouldn’t it be ‘I deeply apologise for making a scene’?」

「I d-deeply apologise for making a scene!」

Neil bowed even more than his lackey.

「I apologise on behalf of my junior, Aniki. He’s an acquaintance from around here… I’ll explain the rest afterwards.」

「A-aniki…?」

The young adventurer stared at me, eyes wide open.

「Eh, could it be the Aniki that senpai always talks about!? The legend that defeated a red wolf as a four-man party? I-I’ve heard the story many times! I’ve always wanted to be an adventurer like that! Without Aniki-san, everyone would have died…」

「Who are you to call him Aniki!?」

Hey, who allowed you to call me Aniki?

「And why’re you sitting down? Stand up, for the love of god! You really think you’re on the same level as Aniki?」

「S-sorry!!」

… It’s easier to get things done while he’s sitting down, though.

The young adventurer stooped, placing his hands on both knees, nodding profusely while listening to me explaining the quest.

「Roger that! Leave it to me!」

「Aniki, he’s kind of an idiot, but please take good care of him.」

Neil bowed cleanly, and the young adventurer followed suit.

「I’ll take my leave, then.」

「M-me too.」

It had slipped my mind until now. I stopped Neil just before he went out of earshot.

「Neil-san!」

「Yes?」

「Congratulations on your promotion to C-rank.」

He had completed the quest I recommended to him yesterday and ranked up. I hadn’t had the chance to congratulate him as he hadn’t reported back to me directly.

「Thank you! It was only possible because of you! I’ll continue to be a good disciple!」

「Best of luck to you too.」

Bowing once again, the duo made their leave. When my shift was up, I let Milia take over. At that moment, Iris, who had just left her office, called out to me.

「The adventurers you’re mentoring have gotten stronger, haven’t they?」

「When gradually exposed to increasingly harder quests, they become bolder and improve very quickly.」

‘Boldness’ stems from fighting spirit. When met with success, they become more confident — this in turn results in greater strength. Repeating this day after day is the basis of my mentorship.

「It’s extremely difficult to be certain of an adventurer’s strength. And if you give them quests that are slightly above their power level, wouldn’t it be catastrophic if they weren’t as good as you made them out to be?」

「You’re absolutely right. Therefore, doing so requires knowledge and experience.」

「Fuu. As expected of you.」

Giving me a smile, she left in an elegant fashion. Murmuring erupted among the other employees.

「She… directly complimented her subordinate!?」

「I’ve always thought that she was allergic to giving compliments or something…」

「And yet, she’s so cold to us…」

「She really does fawn over that newcomer Roland-kun, huh? I wonder why?」

The hours flew by as I focused on arranging books. Before long, it was closing time. Milia made her way over and placed an envelope on my desk.

「Are you free tonight? Would you like to go for a meal together?」

「I’m sorry, but I’m not really in the mood today.」, I said after thinking for a while.

Milia sighed, but had no choice other than to accept it. Not long after, I met Iris in the corridor.

「Roland, do you have any plans for tonight?」

「I have to look after my cat. My apologies.」

「Seriously, that cat again…!?」

Lyla didn’t come to work with me today.

「You really have the gall to reject a superior’s invitation… oh, right, I wanted to talk about some work-related stuff too. I’ve already reserved an elegant and luxurious restaurant — how about discussing it over some wine?」

「I’m sorry, but I have to leave now. I’d prefer only to discuss work-related matters during office hours.」

「Ugh, this guy is so uptight!」

I sidestepped a fuming Iris and headed home. Lyla was waiting for me. Having nothing to do all day, she’d been learning to cook. I’m not particularly fussy about food, so I usually say that it’s nice and just leave it at that. For the past few days, she had been preparing dinner and then waiting for me to return.

When I reached home, she welcomed me at the porch, a smug expression written all over her face.

「Fufufu, listen up, you! I can’t possibly have gone wrong with today’s dinner!」

Lyla shut her eyes as if expecting something. I kissed her on the lips. We’d do it for longer if she wanted, but it was just a short one today. After that, dinner. Eating what she’d cooked. Bathing and sleeping, cuddling Lyla from time to time. When morning arrives, I go to work.

I don’t know if this is ‘ordinary’ in any way, but it certainly is my daily life.

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