“…….”
“…….”
Hmm?
It’s suddenly quiet around me.
I look around and see that the mercenaries and Rake have strange looks on their faces.
What’s that look?
“What’s wrong, Rake?”
“Well, lady.”
Rake opened his mouth with difficulty and mumbled something.
“For a moment, I felt like Gabriel or Noah…….”
“What, Rake, we’re siblings, of course, we look alike.”
I said.
Feeling better, I grinned broadly.
“It’s nice to hear I look like my brothers, though! Thanks for the compliment.”
“Oh, yeah…….”
Rake nodded nervously.
“Captain, no matter how you look at it, that doesn’t seem like the face of someone giving compliments.”
“That’s right, Captain. No matter how you look at it, that knight seems to have a face of shock and fear.”
“……Hmm, hmm.”
The sound of the mercenaries chattering made me snap out of it.
“That’s right, now that we’ve chased away the intruders, it’s time to work.”
Whirl!
I spun around to face the mercenaries.
“Okay, guys.”
The mercenaries flinched at the sight of my smiling face and jumped to their feet.
“Why don’t we start by introducing ourselves? My name is Diana Cartier.”
A man with bushy brown hair stepped forward quickly.
“Good evening, young lady. We’re the Black Swan Mercenaries, and I’m Kane, our captain.”
“Yes, I know.”
Aldamada.
You’re a pretty important character in the original novel.
You’re one of Linus’s henchmen, or rather, subordinates, as he grew up.
“I hope you don’t mind if I borrow a bit from you and let you go before you become one of Linus’ men.
Until you become a Linus henchman, this mercenary army suffers.
I can’t eat.
I can’t eat.
I can’t even eat…….
‘Poor guy. I’ll take care of their food.
I looked at the mercenaries with sad eyes.
Seeing me like that, the mercenary captain, Kane, made a strange face.
“What? You know, you know me?”
“Hey, hey. Was our captain such a famous mercenary?”
“I’d rather think our company commander is more famous.”
The mercenaries giggled behind Kane.
“Of course, I know who Kane is, and I know all about why your mercenaries were kicked out of the mercenary guild!
But instead of telling them this, I nodded.
“I was originally going to go find you guys.”
“Us?”
“I wasn’t lying when I said earlier that I wanted to hire you.”
“…We’ve been kicked out of the mercenary guilds in this country, so if you want to hire us, you’ll have to find someone else.”
Kane mumbles to himself.
“I mean, I know and I’ve found them.
“It doesn’t matter. Kicked out of the mercenary guild or not, I need you. The Black Swan Mercenaries will get the job done, no matter what.”
“……!”
In my words, the faces of the Black Swan Mercenaries all change.
They look at me with serious faces.
“What kind of request does …… wish to make?”
I smirk at Kane, who asks cautiously.
“I would like to ask all of you to handle the transportation of the spirit stones.”
I’ll hire you to be my slave, nay, a personal worker!
* * *
“Mmmm, mmmm, mmmm♬”
A spontaneous hum.
“Hee hee. It’s a really bad day, isn’t it, Rake?”
A giggle.
I walked down the street excitedly, shaking my little fist back and forth.
Rake, walking behind me, looked up at the cloud-filled sky.
“It looks like it’s going to rain…….”
He spoke carefully.
Of course I didn’t care.
“huh! “It’s nice because it’s cool!”
If it were me a few hours ago, I would have been angry and thought, ‘It’s raining again!?’
Now I was okay with the thunder rumbling in the sky.
“Well, miss, may I ask why you’re in such a good mood, I’m sure the mercenaries turned down your offer earlier-.”
“Your lunch was delicious today!”
“Oh, because the rice was delicious…….”
“Yes, the crusty bread was delicious, and the grilled meat with sweet and sour sauce was delicious.”
Ah. Now that I think about it, my mouth is watering again…….
My mouth was watering again, I said.
“And dessert! Ice cream with frozen tropical fruits, that was delicious. I bet our chef can make that, right?”
“Well, he’s a good cook, so I think he can.”
“I know, right? I want to eat that when we get home! With my elder brother.”
For some reason, Rake’s lips curl at my words.
I wonder if she’s thinking of something funny.
“…I’m sure Gabriel would be very happy to have you spend time with him like that.”
“Yeah. My brother has no sense of humor, so I have to play with him.”
Of course, I had a lot of other things to do besides play with my brother.
But family time is so important.
“When Noah comes back, I’m going to have to play with him again, so I’m going to be super busy. Ew.”
“Well, yeah… Yes, you’re going to be very busy.”
I said seriously, and Rake’s expression became even funnier.
He must have thought of something really funny.
“Oh, and.”
I said with a smile.
“The Black Swan Mercenaries won’t be able to refuse my offer.”
“What?”
Rake looked puzzled by the sudden change of subject.
Turning to him, I said.
“I’m sure their commander will come to reject the offer, but I’m going to turn that rejection into an acceptance.”
“What? How are you going to do that?”
“I’m going to get some help where we’re going.”
“Where we’re going right now is-.”
“Aah, wait! Rake, stop!”
Stopping Rake, who was about to ask something, I looked around.
“Let’s see. It must be around here.”
Over there is a hat shop… Ooh, that hat is cute. Does it have a flower on it, no!
Now is not the time to look at flowers.
“That’s a candy store… The candy looks delicious… Oh, is that a shoe store? It must be popular. Lots of people coming in and out, ah!”
There it is!
<Centra Branch of the Summa Federation
“Were you looking for a alchemist?”
Rake asks, puzzled by the sign I spotted.
“Yes!”
“Why would you want to meet with an alchemist?”
“I want to talk to him about the sale of the alchemy, and I want him to put me in touch with the Union Leader.”
“Why don’t you leave that to the mine’s operating agent, so that the young lady doesn’t have to take the trouble to…….”
“What are you talking about, Rake? It’s my chore, of course, I should take care of it.”
Tegent is a skilled trader, and he’s an operational agent.
But that doesn’t mean I’m going to leave it all to him.
“I’m going to make a lot of money, and I’m going to raise your salary.”
“…….”
I patted the back of his hand.
Leaving him dazed for some reason, I headed for the building entrance.
“Okay, this doorknob is in just the right place.
My mind flashed back to the unexpected embarrassment at Jen’s shop.
But that wasn’t going to happen today, so I confidently opened the door-! Lizzie isn’t there? Why?!
“Ugh, why won’t the door open……!”
I grunted and pushed and pulled and pushed at the door, but it wouldn’t open…….
“Was I that weak?!
I’m sure it’s not that bad, but why the hell won’t the door open……!
Drrrrr-.
“…….”
“……breath, lady, mmmmm…….”
Oh, you had to open the door sideways……?
I’ve been pushing and pulling at it, haven’t I?
“……Thanks, Rake.”
I hid my burning cheeks and stepped through the door with a bang.
And as soon as I stepped inside, what was in front of me was-.
“……Hmm. So this is what the Magical Association offices look like?”
An ordinary scene.
“It’s the office of people who do magic and alchemy, so I thought there would be something really weird.
It was just as ordinary as I expected.
A few items are for sale, either hanging on the wall or inside a clear glass window.
A few magical books on the bookshelves.
‘This isn’t what I expected….’
Looking around, I was a little disappointed.
What the hell was I expecting-.
“…It would have been interesting if there was some sort of illusion spell hanging there, showing the guests a cool illusion when they walked in, or a cat walking on two legs to greet them.”
I looked around wistfully.
And then…….
“Rake?”
I looked up to see Rake staring blankly into space.
“What, what, is there something out there?”
Like him, I looked into space.
But I couldn’t see anything.
Puzzled, I looked at him again, and he was still staring into space.
” Rake?”
I called, so hard that he couldn’t hear me.
Or if I looked very hard with squinty-eyed, could I see something in the dust?
Just as I was about to squint and stare into thin air.
“Squee!”
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