Chapter 15

“I-I’m exhausted…”

Finally, it was over… Did that woman mistake me for some kind of toy?

Still feeling more drained than I had in a long time, I forced my overworked legs to move as I headed for the guild.

After the job was done, Lady Marie had simply told me, “I’ll be counting on you again tomorrow,” before returning to her room.

As for Lady Uros… she apologized to me. She looked genuinely sorry, so for some reason, I actually felt bad for her.

Well… in that case, I couldn’t help thinking she should’ve just not put up the request in the first place. But I supposed asking her that would be rather tactless.

As I walked along, thinking about House Clivus, I eventually arrived at the guild. Before I knew it, I was already standing right in front of it.

“I-I should report in quickly and head home…”

I felt bad for Sister Felicia and the others, but I didn’t think I’d be able to bring them dinner today… Ah, no. I couldn’t do that. I could already imagine how disappointed they’d look.

With a sigh, I opened the door as usual.

Just as always, the guild was bustling with activity. Since it was getting close to evening and nighttime, there seemed to be quite a few adventurers returning for the day.

Standing around waiting didn’t sound very appealing, so I decided to sit down for a little while.

I took an empty seat and watched the reception area until I had settled down.

Miss Lilina was working hard… She was still serving everyone with a smile today. Miss Imilia looked busy, too… They must have had a tough day.

(Ah…? Wait, why am I getting sleepy…?)

Perhaps all the fatigue had caught up with me the moment I sat down. I gave in to the drowsiness, and my consciousness gradually drifted away.

“…ex… Mr. Rex…”

Hmm…? What was that? I could hear someone’s voice…

“…Mr. Rex. Mr. Rex!”

“…Huh? M-Miss Lilina…?”

Standing before me was Miss Lilina. Her face was supposed to be expressionless, but somehow, I could tell she was desperately trying to get my attention.

O-Oh no… Had I fallen asleep without realizing it?

“W-What time is it…?”

I raised and stretched the arm I’d been using as a pillow, trying to loosen up my body after sleeping in such an awkward position. It had gone completely numb.

“It’s already eight. How did you manage to sleep for so long?”

“…Huh?”

N-No way! I looked toward the window. The view outside was so dark that there was practically no light at all.

O-Oh no! I hadn’t even made dinner yet! I-I needed to get today’s request sorted out quickly… Wait, huh?

“Here is your payment for today’s request. Please accept it.”

“Ah. Th-Thank you, Miss Lilina…”

Apparently, she’d taken care of several things while I was asleep.

I thanked Miss Lilina in my heart as I accepted the pouch containing my reward… or tried to accept it…

“…Um, Miss Lilina? It hurts when you grab my hand that tightly.”

The moment I reached for the pouch, Miss Lilina’s hand clamped down on mine with tremendous force.

To be honest, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say it really, really hurt. On top of that, her expression seemed even sterner than usual.

“…Mr. Rex.”

“Y-Yes?”

“One of the requests you accepted today… was from House Clivus, wasn’t it?”

“Ah, yes. I happened to see it, so I thought I’d give it a try while I was at it… Well, things turned out like this, though.”

I gave an awkward laugh, but Miss Lilina’s expression and the atmosphere around her didn’t change in the slightest.

W-Why was she so angry? Well, I supposed it was only natural for her to treat me coldly, but…

“…Mr. Rex.”

“Y-Yes!”

“I am merely an ordinary receptionist at the guild, so I shouldn’t really be saying something like this, but… Please don’t accept any more requests from House Clivus.”

“Huh? B-But I’ve already accepted one… And I think Lady Marie has taken a liking to me, too…”

“—! …Then I’ll personally speak to Lady Uros and Lady Marie, so you don’t need to worry.”

“N-No, but…”

“Is that clear?”

“…Y-Yes.”

I instinctively felt that going against her right now would be a terrible idea. As though obeying some primal instinct, I simply nodded.

“Good. Well then, thank you for your hard work today.”

“Y-Yes… Thank you for yours, too.”

After exchanging those final words with Miss Lilina, whose presence carried an overwhelming pressure, I hurried home.

“…No. That won’t do.”

At the guild, Lilina muttered those words as she looked at the request Rex had accepted earlier.

“No… That won’t do… Rex…”

“Rex leaving this town… That must never happen.”

She had seen many adventurers accept this very same request before. And every single one of them had eventually… left Miltia.

If Rex were to leave the town because of Marie’s outrageous behavior… Lilina felt as though something inside her would fall apart.

“…I won’t let that happen. Without Rex, I… I might go crazy.”

If Imilia heard such a heavy declaration, she would probably be taken aback. Fortunately, no one else was around right now.

Despite the late hour, Lilina began making preparations to visit House Clivus.

All for the sake of the boy she loved dearly… She set her plan into motion.