Chapter 171 – Checking in (1/2)

As I walked through the door, the boisterous noise I could even hear from outside quickly died down as I felt quite a few gazes turn towards me as people noticed my presence.

”Umm...carry on. I'm just passing through.”

One of the workers stumbled on her chair as she tried to make her way towards us and say something, but stopped at the sound of my words.

While everyone did turn back to what they were doing before, their voices didn't start up again as I walked through the room to the staircase at the far end.

Alicia and Fate's pitter patters rang though the quiet room as they followed me like little ducklings.

It was only when the three of us had started climbing the stairs and gone out of line of sight that the voices started up again, but hushed.

”Mommy, everyone was acting weird.”

”Yea! Weird!”

”They're just not used to seeing us at the guild.”

I gave both of them a quick pat on the head. Their eyes squinted and the corners of their lips rose as I lightly ruffled their silvery hair under the hoods they've learned to wear at almost all times.

Seeing them being forced to wear hoods all the time didn't feel very good. I wanted to show off how cute these two bundles of joy are to the world, but like myself, the day's brightness was painful to the eyes, even when we were wearing protective enchantments on our clothes.

But as we came in the morning when things were busy, it wasn't really much of a wonder that people were surprised to see us there. But on the other hand, it being morning should in turn mean that she shouldn't be as busy at this time.

Soon enough, I knocked on the door, but there wasn't a response even after waiting for a little bit. As I did sense a presence on the other side, I went ahead and opened the door after calling out. Alicia and Fate pitter pattered after me, already used to the fact that she often didn't respond to knocks properly.

It wasn't exactly an example I wanted them to absorb, but frankly, I didn't exactly have a choice when it came to this person. Hopefully the two understood the difference though.

Somehow, in front of me, was a large wooden desk absolutely covered in paperwork. The mountain was so high that I couldn't even see the person behind it.

”Peitho?”

I tried leaning to the side, but couldn't find an angle where I could see the usually overworked elf without stepping around the desk.

Strangely, there wasn't a response. I could hear breathing, so I at least knew she was still alive. Anything else was game though.

”Hmmm...maybe it's not a good idea for me to give you this if you're still wreaking your body with work.”

I pulled out some food I had brought as a gift, but considering that it's deep fried wyvern meat, Korean chicken style, it might not be exactly the best sort of thing for someone who has such questionable life habits to consume.

But before I could decide what to do, there was a heavy clatter right before the papers exploded, exposing the sight of an airborne elf.

”Gimme!”

Raising the food as high as I could, I put a hand on the woman's face, stopping her forward momentum as gently as I could, catching her with my shadow so that she wouldn't hit the ground.

But against my expectations, she fought for the food, and as her arms were quite a bit longer than my own, it didn't take long before she managed to grab the plate and started to dig in.

”You know you're lucky that my kids can't eat solid food.”

I gave the elf an exasperated sigh while transferring her back to her seat. Now that the papers were scattered around, she simply planted the serving plate on top of it and continued to gorge herself out. The very sight of it made me sigh once again, but the way she smiled so whole-heartedly melted any expression I had into a gentle smile, reminding me why I always made things I couldn't enjoy myself.

While Peitho ate, I squatted down went to picking the papers up.

(Hmm...they're all complete?)

Every single one had been marked and stamped, for approval, correction, or rejection. I thought the mountain of paperwork and the fact that Peitho was sleeping at her desk meant that she had pulled another all-nighter to get her work done, but that normally would mean that at least some of the work wouldn't have been finished. It was possible that she had just managed to finish it all and fell asleep afterwards, but the chances of that felt low. Especially since I wasn't aware of any particular events that required extra work in the near future.

Peitho had a decent number of subordinates as well. I had made sure of that, as I liaisoned between her and many of the new immigrants. Sure, the immigrants meant there was more work on the elf's plate, but by having new subordinates that required minimal training, that extra workload should have been offloaded from her shoulders, including a lot of the extra work she had to have been doing until then as well.

There was no reason I could think of why she would have to pull any all-nighters getting her work done.

I placed the papers I had collected onto a side table, only to notice Fate placing a pile of her own. Almost immediately following her, Alicia did the same thing, though in a bit of a hurry and with a smaller stack.

Not minding the small difference, I gave the two of them a bright smile and patted them on the head. I received a pair of pure smiles back as my reward, and after basking in its warmth for a handful of seconds, we went back and finished collecting all the fallen paper before I sat down on the guest seat, placing my two babies on my lap, my fingers idly combing their hair while they played with their celestials.

Finally, Peitho finished eating. The large plate of fried chicken had somehow halved in size despite the thing supposed to have been enough to feed six.

”So...care to explain?”

I tossed something from my dimensional pocket, which the elf deftly caught without looking; proof that she really did have the stats to match her station. And in a single motion, from catching the object, she went on to use it.

That was, to wipe her mouth and fingers with the wet napkin I had provided.

”Well, I don't know what to say. It's as you can see.”

I looked around, but all I saw was finished paperwork. A massive amount of it, but still just that. There really was only one conclusion I could come up with once circumstantial evidence was added to the list.

”Did you run from Aelfdane again?”

”Erk!”

”Haaa. Seriously?”

Aelfdane was the demon maid I had hired to take care of Peitho's home. As Peitho was a pathological workaholic, it was quite common for her to neglect taking care of herself, and even more evidently, her home. As I provided the elf with a house and a new job, I also took it upon myself to hire a maid to handle all the household chores.

The demon elder Frigg was the one who introduced her to me, and even though she had little experience working as a maid, she was a quick learner. As she gained proficiency cleaning and maintaining Peitho's house, her duties expanded. From shopping for daily necessities to cooking, and eventually making sure that the regularly overworked elf's body and mind was well maintained.

”It...it's not my fault! Aelfdane, she...she...”

”She what?”

”She's such a nag!”

”...”

”She tears me from my comfy bed whenever I ask for five more minutes, she makes me take a bath every day, she won't let me go to work until I finish my meals properly. She even refuses to make my favourite foods just because they're not healthy!”

”Umm...err...that's her job though.”

To take care of Peitho and her home. If anything, it sounded like Aelfdane had become quite the super maid. The only thing she was lacking was the powers of a ninja or something, and she'd be ranked up there amongst the greatest of fictional maids.

(Maybe I should give her a tour of the dungeon so she could gain a few levels?)

The temptation was quite real, as it wouldn't take much time away from the other things I had to do if I did it right.

Bang!

”I know it's her job! But still! Even still!”

The desperation in Peitho's expression really made me think that maybe maybe Aelfdane might have been taking things a bit too far. If that was the case, I would have to give her a bit of a talk to.

”Telling me to come home before six every day?! That work can wait until the next day?! No snacking in between meals?! Sleep when the sun's down and wake up when it rises?! How as I supposed to live like that?!”

Peitho passionately ranted, but frankly...her words didn't really resonate with me in the slightest.

”Alicia, Fate.”

””Yes Mommy?””

Their voices rang out clearly, one in one ear and the other in the other.

”People like this are the sort you make sure never to copy, alright?”

””Okay Mommy!””

”Huh, wait, that's mean!”

But I ignored the disappointing elf as I smiled at my adorable daughters' bright response.

It really was weird. Her work ethics on one side, and her sloppiness in everything else on the other. She was just way too lop-sided.

But then again, if she wasn't like that, then I wouldn't have been able to steal her away from her old employer.

Giving Alicia and Fate's bottoms a quick tap, they got off my lap so I could stand up.

”Anyways, I came here to see how you've been doing, but it looks like you'll be fine as long as I go see Aelfdane afterwards.”

”Wait!”

”No way. I hired her so that you wouldn't ruin your body from this sort of thing, and yet you make excuses to avoid Aelfdane anyways? All this paperwork, they've been done for days, haven't they?”

”!!!”

The nervous gulp that Peithos did was so heavy that I could practically hear it.

”Haaa. You already have a babysitter. Stop making me into your second one.”

I turned and opened the door.

”Waaah! Mercy! Mercy!”

”I think I gave you enough mercy by serving you breakfast, didn't I?”

I gave the elf guild master a thousand watt smile, but the smile that I got back was crooked as her cheek twitched and her face grew pale.

After making a short trip to Peitho's house and informing the maid Aelfdane what I had discovered and seeing her off dashing towards the hunter's guild building, I myself took my twins over to the dungeon for the next people to check up on.

Along the way, I scattered around some mana treats for the little fluffballs that were dancing around me as they oft were to do.

Years ago, the number of spirits blotted out the skies over the fairy settlement, but that was about as far as they went. Lately, I could hardly see the skies on the dark settlement as well. While I did enjoy the company, I've also started to miss the sight of the starry sky that I used to enjoy almost every night.