Chapter 124 - Transfer Student and Christmas [1] (1/2)

124. Transfer Student and Christmas [1]

I, Ria, and Rose, left the Sunny Land, Dagrio, on a small plane, and arrived at the Orest branch Holy Knights Association after about 2 hours of flight.

「…Somehow, it feels like it’s been a long time.」

「Fufu, yeah.」

「Well, it was a major incident, after all.」

In truth, we were only in Dagrio for a very short time, but…

We had a very tense time there, so coming back to Orest felt nostalgic.

「Well, for the time being… Shall we go meet Clown-san?」

「Yes, we have to hear the details from him, after all.」

「Aa, that’s right.」

We needed to have a small discussion with Clown-san regarding this overseas trip.

He said Dagrio was a relatively calm place and not bad as a first trip destination.

(However, that was an outright lie…)

Dagrio was a conflict zone, which was effectively controlled by the Black Organization.

In addition to that, we were sent on the very day of the decisive battle against one of the Thirteen Knights of the Oracle, Rain Glad.

Clown-san, the branch chief of the Orest branch, must have surely known about that.

(He probably had his reasons, but…)

At any rate, it is necessary to hear the details directly from him.

When we got off the small plane, we went straight to the Orest branch, to the branch chief’s office.

■

We arrived in front of the branch chief’s office after announcing ourselves at the reception desk.

When I coughed once and knocked on the door,

「Please enter.」Clown-san’s short reply returned.

「Excuse me.」

As I slowly opened the door, there was–

「Good job, everyone!」

Clown san, with a gentle smile, and…

「Ara, Allen. It’s been a while.」

Rize Dorahain, Boss of Fox Finance.

「Ri-Rize-san!?」

「Rize Dorahain…!?」

「Tsk,『Bloody Fox』…!?」

Our eyes widened in response to the unexpected person.

「Fufu, I hear you’ve been doing a great job. As expected of my favoured child!」Rize-san said, and laughed with a very gentle expression.

She seems to have already heard about the matter in Dagrio.

「T-Thank you… But why is Rize-san here?」

This is the Holy Knights Association.

A place that does not have much relation to her, who is one of『Five Wealthy Merchants』.

「Ah, Clown is an old friend. I drop by like this once in a while.」

「Ahaha. I am very indebted to Rize-san!」Clown-san said.

「I see… Is that so?」

The world sure is small.

There are connections in unexpected places.

And now that we’ve finished the simple greetings,

「By the way, Clown-san. I have something to talk about with you for a little bit.」

I decided to get down to business right away.

「Ah, aah… I suppose you do…」he scratched his cheek, with a forced smile.

As expected, he seems to have sent us after knowing about the current state of Dagrio.

And then,

「About that, I sincerely apologize.」

Clown-san took off his hat and bowed his head deeply.

The usual silly attitude was nowhere to be seen.

It was a sincere apology.

「P-Please raise your head, Clown-san!」

「He suddenly became serious…」