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A Time Bomb at the Border and Worries of the Adventurers Guild Receptionist – Part 01

“Wh-What is this?”

Hikaru’s party was in an upscale residential area situated within the vast and enormous capital of Ponsonia. Reserved for the elite, it featured luxurious apartments reaching up to five stories high.

“No way…”

Well-maintained roads, a pristine cityscape, and an elegant entrance greeted them.

Though climbing up to the fifth floor by stairs was a bit cumbersome, Hikaru had anticipated that the view from a building towering over its surroundings would be spectacular. That expectation was shattered upon entering the apartment owned by the Four Eastern Stars.

“This place is a dump!” he screamed.

Upon opening the door with the key the girls gave them, they were met with a blouse lying on the floor, as if its owner had vanished on the spot. The right sleeve was pointed towards them. Beyond that was a crumpled skirt, pantyhose, and a pump shoe.

A houseplant blocking half of the hallway was withering, and bags were stacked in a pyramid shape in a way that suggested intention.

The narrowed hallway was, of course, cluttered with clothes, leaving no space to step.

Hikaru carefully navigated the hallway to avoid stepping on the clothes. “What happened here? A burglary?”

“I don’t think so. Look.” Lavia, entering after him, pointed at a necklace hanging on the wall near the entrance. There were three of them, gleaming, each made of genuine gold.

“…”

If a burglar had broken in, they wouldn’t have overlooked precious metals displayed by the entrance. In short, this deplorable state was the result of the Four Eastern Stars’ actions.

“They really asked us to look after this place.”

Faced with this grim reality, anger surged within Hikaru. He wanted to just abandon the place and head home, but the apartment’s location in the central part of the capital offered convenient access to various facilities.

It was near the shopping district where the café and restaurant he liked were located. It was a 15-minute walk to the Adventurers Guild. Above all, it was close to Lavia’s beloved library. And with the rent being free, Hikaru was willing to overlook a few issues. But it didn’t feel right having to clean up the mess left by the Four Eastern Stars.

Various thoughts crossed Hikaru’s mind.

“Ugh…”

Hikaru proceeded down the corridor and into the living room, where he let out yet another tired sigh.

The living room was spacious, with a sunken area that featured couches surrounding a large low table. The massive glass leading to the balcony was a luxury item in this world, though currently covered by curtains. The grand and solid fireplace, likely magical, ensured no risk of fire. Large and magnificent landscape paintings hung on the wall, and the beautiful magic chandelier in the center of the room cast light to every corner of the expansive space.

However…

The curtains were slightly dirty, numerous liquor bottles lay strewn on the table, and there was another stack of bags, piled up so high they hid the paintings. Trousers were even hanging from the magic chandelier for some reason.

“Are those idiots for real?” Hikaru growled.

Even a stupid student club’s room wouldn’t be this bad. Towels and food wrappers were scattered across the floor, leaving no space to walk.

“Strange,” Lavia remarked. “Despite all this mess, it doesn’t smell bad.”

“I think Lady Sophie used purification magic for that,” Paula said. “There are spells that can delay decomposition.”

“What a waste of magic!” Hikaru barked. “Whatever. I don’t even care anymore.”

Disregarding anything on the floor, Hikaru boldly walked forward and pulled open the curtains. Sunlight poured in from the capital’s sky.

“We’re cleaning this whole place up! Get rid of everything that’s not impor…”

Before him was the balcony, piled with a massive amount of garbage.

“…”

It was quite dirty, drenched in rain, blown by the wind.

“Those idiots!” Hikaru yelled.

Later, Lavia would recount: there were only a few instances when Hikaru raised his voice, and the one he let out at the Four Eastern Stars’ apartment was the most tragic.

---

Cleaning took an incredibly long time.

Hikaru, with 2 points in his Soul Board’s Strength, took out the garbage, while Lavia and Paula worked on organizing the apartment. Hikaru had reservations about touching a woman’s stuff, but with all the clutter, he felt no particular emotions.

“I didn’t expect Selyse to live in these conditions,” Hikaru said. “She gives the impression of a neat freak.”

“I don’t think she lived here,” Lavia said.

“What?”

“There were empty rooms. Only two rooms had clear signs of being used.”

Hikaru could easily picture Selyse, disgusted by the mess, swiftly leaving.

“Two rooms. So there’s one more who didn’t stay here?”

“That’s probably Sophie,” Paula chimed in. “I didn’t see any scriptures or habits that you would find in a nun’s room. Churches have living quarters, so she probably stayed there.”

“So, the ones who made this mess are…”

“I think it was Sara and Serika.”

“Unbelievable…”

Hikaru found it absurd to see liquor bottles lying around, considering most of them were underage. However, in this world, the concept of being underage did not exist. Arguing about Japanese laws was pointless.

With such a lavish lifestyle, Hikaru wondered if Serika should have returned to Japan. Then again, the last time he checked, they seemed to be enjoying life.

“By the way, Hikaru, the magic stone in the chandelier is dying.”

The light from the magic chandelier was flickering, on the verge of going out.

“Yeah. We need a replacement. I’ll go buy one.”

“Take care.”

As Hikaru stepped outside, he noticed the sun beginning to set, so he hurried to the magic item shop on the main street of the capital.

“Welcome.”

The spacious store was well-lit, showcasing various magical tools. There were magic items for daily life, such as indoor lights, clocks, water heaters, as well as gigantic wheels and mortars whose purpose wasn’t clear.

Consumable magic stones—elemental magic stones and magic rocks—were displayed at the back. Due to recent inflation, the prices were quite high.

Hmm, it’s expensive. Sorcery using the Four Elementals Unification Theory could provide a large amount of mana cheaply, but it’s not practical yet.

Hikaru, checking the magical energy inside the magic stones with his Mana Detection, drew strange looks from the staff. He dressed reasonably well, which only attracted attention. The store clerk would know if he was an Artificer’s errand boy, but Hikaru wasn’t, and he looked too neat to be a magic researcher.

“How’s business? Everywhere you go, it’s dungeons this, dungeons that, so you must be very busy.”

“Indeed, we are. Hopefully, this will give a little boost to the economy in the capital.”

Snippets of a conversation reached Hikaru’s ears. One was an employee of the store, and the other, wearing the Adventurers Guild’s uniform, must be a staff member. Despite his older age, Hikaru didn’t think the man was the guildmaster. Hikaru had visited the guild a few times, but he didn’t recognize the face, so he assumed it was a staff member who worked behind the scenes.

“We’re running low on elemental magic stones,” the employee said.

“We’re aware. The guildmaster ordered to get them to the market as soon as we receive supplies.”

“That would be appreciated. It’ll really help us out.”

Just your typical conversation, Hikaru thought.

He paid for the elemental magic stones he had chosen. As he put them in his pocket, he saw a few people entering the shop.

That blue uniform… the Royal Institute of Sorcery?

There was hardly any difference between male and female uniforms that it might as well be unisex. Hikaru couldn’t possibly forget the face he glimpsed between the shelves.

“I heard commercially available mana measuring devices have significantly improved.”

“We don’t mind verifying that, but is it really worth allocating a budget for it?”

“I agree. Our budget is limited. So is our time.”

Two stern-looking individuals entered with her.

In the middle was Ivy F. Taylor. Daughter of Baron Taylor, she was currently working as a researcher at the Royal Institute of Sorcery. However, Hikaru still firmly believed that she was a he—Isaac, Ivy’s twin brother.

Isaac… I didn’t expect to see him in a place like this. I’m glad to see him fitting in with the researchers.

Ivy had never seen Hikaru without his mask, so he didn’t have to worry about being recognized. He had no interest in secretly observing her, anyway.