Vol 1 Chapter 31 (1/2)

Chapter Three

The Decision

(Work in Progress)

The city located to the south of Rondéville Kingdom’s royal capital, Lunéville

East of Lunéville was Pinéaville, next to the Akradist Kingdom’s territory When it was known as Pinéadist, it had developed into a ainst invasions from the east

However, the Pinéa region n When the previous generation’s king invited Akradist’s first princess to be his queen, its ied into an important trade route to the royal capital Froer suited it as it transitioned into an agricultural city

Not that it had a specialty product even though it was called an agricultural city either Two big thieves guilds that were entrenched in Rondéville, led by [Sal of the Copper Paper] and [Mabelt of the Lotus], round

Of course, though most citizens would leave a city like that, soht and destitution while the guilds fought

Then came Hector, demoted to a troublesome location (self-proclaimed) of such low importance

And then was Frank, a man selected to becoer at the young age of twenty-seven

The two thieves guilds were expelled without a trace by these two people’s efforts, transfor the city into a safe place for everyone to live free from worldly cares

It was this place that the girl, Ilya Schultz, set her eyes on

“I’ll never forgive those who try to destroy its tranquility O-other than the townspeople (mostly) that is”

Finally finding Lunéville after her long life as a wanderer, it was her haven

“An inn town?”

Ilya hadsoundly while rolled into a ball on her apron

“Does Ilya know that the a here recently has increased?”

“Yes… mostly”

She knew that the

The rest ca out the uild uild members

Ilya’s thoughts weren’t far off the mark

“Though Lunéville has coed as safe and peaceful when co cities, even the royal capital has co the other day increased Lunéville’s development plan”

Looking over the documents Frank presented to her, she certainly did see the fortunate contents to redevelop Lunéville into an inn town Each of the docu’s seal

The contents were regarding boundaries and road maintenance It was scheduled for a new road to be constructed, replacing the one they had had up till then

“Was Hector-san at the royal capital?”

“Yeah… he was co about the aristocrats’ tastes He just went there to plan ahead”

(My condolences)

Was it better to call it house arrest or imprisonment? Ilya expected the other aristocrats probably had soic reaction fro to stick around

“Did Hector-san have so to say about the project?”

“No, I didn’t ask He probably isn’t against it though If that man said he seriously didn’t like it, he would have torn it up and thrown it away on the spot”

“I-is that so?”

She held the i

“Though the budget’s contents are norned by the country, it appears that they won’t be issuing a quote for it until the next budget couild to calculate the costs”

“To the guild…? To begin with, how far are they planning on turning this into an inn town? I don’t understand the plan”

“By how far, do you mean the scale?”

“No, the kind of people that would stay here”

If they made accommodations for upper class people, butin a group, she wouldn’t approve

“That is to say, the amount of people is directly tied to the deterioration of public security Don’t re unsavory individuals”

“Most would coh I doubt they would spend ”

“I assu our current quality of clientele?”

Frank thought for a

“I want to continue on hoe are”

“… Mmm”

Recently, most of the inns had been at max occupancy

The branch would lend private roos in harsh weather

The branch had also sent out a commission for citizens ned houses to rent out rooms

Marketing probably had so sold out than were left to sell, thinking it was a bad situation

“Gathering all of the landowners and working with them to establish their residence areas and inns is Hector-san’s job right? The building costs of the landowners’ dwellings, including the explanation of the total infrastructure iht?”

“Yeah Charon’s gotten in contact with the Industry Guild, so they’ll send some people out”

The people called over this tied to the Industry Guild

Housing construction was different froroups) would gather and carry out a construction couild Then, each party would estimate the construction costs for the coathering getting the rights for the construction

Whether they would participate in the er parties staying away froreement

Though it was also possible that a client would send the couild, since the merits like contribution co as there wasn’t soements rarely happened

Accordingly, if the Mercenary Guild’s duty was toto it, the Industry Guild’s role was toand check for h there were also the roles of maintenance and develop on others

By the way, in the case of do-it-yourself people, they could accept commissions even if they weren’t qualified to be an Industry Guild member Because there were no carpenters in Lunéville, Sullivan was the one to take orders and mend armor

Now let’s return to the main subject

First was to ements for the Industry Guild representatives and calculate the rough expenses of the dwelling structures and facilities Then, based on the costs, look for candidates to reconstruct inns for the landowners

However, there was a point of uncertainty that had to be clarified before going any further

“The budget is just for roadhousing construction and iration decrease?”

“That’s right… it’ll be carried out by the country There’s no question that they would keep those expenses in mind as well”

“… They h”

Although Ilya thought that a country should help those in it out to gain their favor, she didn’t expect the plan to stand on such wishful thinking

At any rate, it wasn’t a waste for theure out uneasy factors

“Then there would also be the transportation of the uards for the road maintenance”

“Yeah Given the situation, we need to have the inn construction go through first before i the road”

“… For the increased amount of people”

“That’s right If uard Lunéville, the a here would increase substantially Could we cover it?”

By ‘it’, of course he was referring to meals

“I don’t think there would be any problee amount of foodstuffs… What about food and drink shops?”

“That’s, well… people interested in setting those shops up haven’t turned up”

“Is that so…”

Though to tell the truth, so like that was inconsequential for Ilya What she was truly worried about was there being more monsters with the increase in people

Considering the source of monsters, it wasn’t hard to fall into a vicious cycle since the amount of monsters increased proportional to people

The number of monsters went up as the nuathered

Truly a vicious cycle

In order for there to beworked out with the increase in monsters However, since the plan this ti uild, which should have been reer for the sake of profit So even though it was against what she truly wanted, Ilya, as a mere receptionist, couldn’t intervene

More ih, she knew that the townspeople wished for the expansion

(There’s no way I could go against it)

Muttering that in her s

After a lot of conferences and s, around a istrations to be completed in various places, as well as an additional several weeks for transporting the materials and the start of the construction

“Ilya, sorry! Please bring this to Elizah!”

Accepting the dish from the kitchen next to the counter, she headed towards the temporary terrace established outside of the entrance

When she was about to open the door, Elizah appeared after vigorously opening the door Since Ilya was nimble, of course Elizah was as well, they passed by each other without colliding as though they were dancing gracefully

“Ah, sorry Ilya! Thanks!”

“It’s alright, I can bring it Elizah can leave it to me”

“Got it!”

On the other side of the door, there were twelve large tables that faced the main street placed on the terrace However, they were all packed Even if it was always like that inside, they had to clean up despite people eating and drinking while they stood outside

“Sorry to have kept you waiting, here is your yakitori” [1]

“”” Oooh~! “””

“Allow me to take your empty dishes”

They were getting drunk, so she ier froed roles with, shared a wry smile with her after she returned inside, probably due to her working at the reception desk instead of Ilya Frank was standing at the counter

“Sorry, Frank-san”

“No, you’ve had it tough Sorry as well, Luke You had to coht shi+ft”

“It’s fine, I have a lot of free time on my hands after all”

Frank smiled bitterly, that’s just how Luke was

Currently, Ria, Rachelle, and the wolf beastkin Darren were on the second floor serving tables Elizah, Clarice, and Cynthia weretables Ilya and Luke were at the reception desk

In other words, everyone orking They were so packed that they’d reached the point where Darren and Clarice, whoon tables

“But this is an a amount of people…”

Catching Frank’sarea

The faces of newcoulars, primarily Industry Guild workers With the inn construction and area development rush, Lunéville’s population had temporarily inflated considerably In addition to the terrace they had added on, they were also delivering some directly to the construction site

“I wonder if it’ll be bad if we don’t hire more waiters ahead of time?”

“Please don’t forget about the kitchen”

“T-that’s right”

Her endurance wouldn’t be a proble it alone would be mentally stressful

Since they had already asked Hector for it, the association’s Lunéville Branch was in thenext to the branch was currently under construction, but Frank still hadn’t decided on its opening staff

As for why Frank was still racking his brains, that was because of hiilant due to the assassins that had invaded the other day

(Even though he said that he’d say so if he saw them…)

When she lightly scowled at Frank with a pout, the person in question felt Ilya’s gaze and turned towards her

“Do you think the branch’s faculty are good as is?”

“Yes With everyone’s capabilities, I don’t think we can’t do it”

“Un That’s right”

“If the branch’s operations increase, we can just re area into an office”

“Right”

Nonetheless, the fact was that waiting on tables and being a receptionist right then was a big burden

Ilya decided that she would snatch the people that seeot a chance

Earlyto the branch’s basement warehouse

The whole warehouse was made so that it was impossible to enter or leave if you didn’t have the key It was currently being used as a prison to confine the two assassins

Though they were being confined, it was better circumstances than a bad inn with the provided bed and three simple meals

However, the residents’ gazes thatwariness

“You’ve been restrained for so long, I’m sorry”

Even though they heard Ilya apologize, the two didn’t let down their guards

Ilya, who had judged that such roundabout et down to business

“Thieves Guild members, Bard-san Katie-san Your sentences have been decided, so I’ve come to inform you”

Their names called, both of their bodies jolted

Their restraints had been undone when they were put in the prison after their interrogation And now, Ilya had opened the only escape route However, their bodies couldn’t move

It was as though they couldn’t go against this girl in front of them, like their bodies were ordered to stay still

“Sentences huh Is there any use negotiating with the guild?”

Bard had trouble holding back his voice fro his best to hold up his facade

“Well, even though I said your sentences have been decided, the final decision is based on what happens next”

“…?”

Both of the

“Let’s play a ga”

“Huh…?”

They doubted their ears

Although they went through childhood without its nor

Due to that, they couldn’t understand her intentions at all

Ilya watched the two perplexed people in satisfaction, continuing to speak

“The range is the entire town of Lunéville You run away, I look for you If either of you two htfall, you will be acquitted If you are caught, both of you will have to do what I say”

“—”

Don’t fuck with me

Though he wanted to shout that, he did his best to suppress it

“… Any other rules?”

“At the point in tio out into Lunéville, please know that your lives are forfeit should you injure any citizen”

Her expression hadn’t changed at all This girl’s dangerouscaused them to hold their breath

“There are no additional rules Please, any questions?”

Seeing the two react with silence, Ilya nodded

“Well then, I’ll return to the branch Feel free to take this time to leave”

Ilya saw the Bard dumbfounded

It was good he was being underestimated If she had any ulterior motives, he just had to overcome them

“Katie We will operate separately after leaving this warehouse Focus on that wo away from her”

“Got it”

When Ilya’s presence was coone, Katie nodded at Bard Carefully, the two quickly distanced themselves from the warehouse

Though he thought that Ilya would go for theht from the start, it was later that afternoon before she actually left the branch

Currently, Katie was hiding a distance away and could just barely sense Ilya’s presence and had kept her distance in order to secure her escape route Bard was erasing his presence while concealed in a spot where he could see the branch, outwitting the pre to escape detection while shadowing the oni’s actions [2]

Since it was earlywhen Ilya went down to see them, half of the time had already passed

(Is she planning on exhausting us mentally…?)

The anxious Bard didn’t look weary at all He s it was unfortunate for her

But in the nextand immediately left as fast as he could

(I-impossible!)

Ilya, who had just exited the branch’s staff entrance, uneventfully stopped for a ht towards him

(Didn’t I erase my presence!?)

He reconfirmed his situation in a confused state of mind, but none of the citizens payed attention to Bard, not a single one

Bard was running away at full speed thinking that Ilya was in pursuit, but there were no signs that she would catch up

Since he was calth, Bard started to search for a suitable position to watch for Ilya’s approach again

Meanwhile, Katie was flustered

(Eh…? She disappeared…!?)

When she left the group of presences… the branch, she lost track of the feeling

Though Katie couldn’t sense presences down to breathing fluctuations like her partner, Bard, she couldn’t feel Ilya’s presence in the slightest

With that, she was incredibly shaken

(What do I do…)

Bard told her to devote herself to evading that presence

She couldn’t find the presence So now she had to run

But where?

Based on what?

Her ht, her body naturally didn’t move

(What do I do…—)

A chill ran through her Thinking was hopeless Her head started to issue co to make its rounds

Katie couldn’t hold back a feeling she’d forgotten for a long tiht]

“Be at ease, please rest for now”

Sensing her presence and hearing a voice, it ithout a doubt Ilya

She was caught

I that, Katie lost her hold on consciousness without even seeing Ilya’s face

Several hours after Katie lost

Bard was completely exhausted

Even though he hid hi away, Ilya slowly approached him no matter what he did

Her walking never paused; she obviously knehere Bard was at all times

(I can’t run away…)

At least, so long as he was inside Lunéville As soon as he thought that—

“You’ve obviously slowed down Are you beco tired?”

Ilya, who should have been about as far away in the distance as to be as large as his thumb, was in front of him

Did I black out?

Although Bard thought that for a ed

(So I can’t win in speed either?)

Bard, as standing still in a daze fro that, felt Ilya’s touch on his shoulder

“Caught you”

Bard looked at Ilya

Although the elf girl’s smile was beautiful, she was more like a monster or monster

Bard was drained of strength, losing his will to run away

“Allowat Since the inn is also the branch’s lodging, please don’t do anything strange there okay?”

“… Like I have a choice”

Obediently, he followed Ilya’s guidance

In this way, Ilya first goal of deteroal of having thenize the difference in their abilities

The next day

Athe branch’s uniform

“… Hey, why do I have to wear so like this?”

“I thought it suited you nicely though? Don’t you think so too, Katie-san?”

“Un Bard, it fits you”

Praised by Katie, Bard seemed to lose himself a bit

However, when he noticed Ilya looking at the

“… You really think we can do so like serve customers?”

“It’s not iht?”

Bard held his tongue with that line

Bard, as a black panther beastkin, had black hair and tanned skin His slih the branch unifor Katie had soft black hair and was fair-skinned, and with her being a saluki-type dog beastkin, her ears hung down Her black-based uniform provided a wonderful contrast with the white frills that swayed as she moved [3]

The only thing that dissatisfied Ilya was that she was trained so that her tail wouldn’t react alongside her emotions

(Such a waste)

By having offered up more information on the Thieves Guild, their punishh even if they were on parole, it was unclear how they would eventually deal with the two of them

Ilya got Frank’s per that they didn’t kill the their restraints undone, she once again judged that they weren’t brainwashed

Accordingly, she suggested a game

As for what Ilya, the winner, told the two to do? Of course, it was to work as staff for the branch

“And so, you tork here froive you both manuals, so Bard-san, please learn reception duties from Luke And Katie-san, please learn waitress duties from Ria”

“Got it”

“… Tch”

She poked Bard in the forehead

Even though she was suppressed by her equip hit from a blunt weapon

“O~…!”

“Take this lightly and I’ll seriously beat you up”

“O-okay…”

Training at the start was ih she didn’t like violence—other than love taps on her enemies—she boasted to Frank beforehand that she would take responsibility, so she wouldn’t do this half-baked Somehow or another, it seemed to be effective

It was still early in thein It could be called the opti the basics of their job while the a breakfast continued to increase, they would learn while following their surroundings Nothing was to be left to chance

… At least, nothing should have been

“bastard, say that again!”

“I’uys’ skills, this coerous for you!”

“O-oi, Bard-kun!”

Across frouild members Luke’s restraint on him wasn’t effective either, so it turned into a head-on confrontation

“… Haaah”

“Pi?”

When Ilya h, Haku followed her without the least care in the world

Although she also had trouble abandoning the subject out of care, she would subdue herself and give a clear cut attitude while working

“The fuck would a receptionist like you know!?”

“I said you’re in for a painful time if you take this li—”

“Could I have a moment, Bard-san?”

She addressed hi face, but he quickly shut his h out of fear

(That’s odd~ Even though I smiled normally)

“Monster…”

“Aah!? Who are you to call Ilya a monster, bastard!!”

Everyone blinked towards Luke’s sudden anger, Ilya included Let alone exhibiting anger, this was the first time he’d even shouted

What brought that on?

(… Wait, not that!)

Co back to her senses, she recovered her expression and asked the two

“Could you explain what happened?”

“Ah, yeah I looked at the coerous”

“Oi, that’s not what you said! Don’t lie!”

Tey towards the exasperated customer to Luke, she checked the commission charts

There were two of them, the first was for Rondélocusts Then, the second one was—

(A Laoloa Boar…)

She had seen its naistry relatively recently In addition, the coation commission for the Laoloa Boars before was successful and their numbers should have decreased, but—

(I wonder if I should check to see if they areor not?)

A thought floating in the corner of her uild ain Their forilists with one of the two having a chain technique skill, one e, and an alchemist [4]

“Bard-san Please properly explain why you think it is dangerous”

“A-ah? Nah, too troublesome”

“Did you want to pick a fight? Or did you want to advise them?”

“…”

His silence auche character into consideration, his way of speaking bluntly when giving advice would generally be due to embarrassment

(… Is he a child!?)

While giving hiain smiled outwardly [5]

“If you were just picking a fight, will you accept the suitable punishment?”

“I-I get it! I’ll say it okay!? You guys… you fought against a locust-type or Laoloa Boar before?”

“Aah? ‘Course we have”

“In the warrior examination”

“Then, have you fought theether?”

“… No, but—”

(Bard-san, success)

Convinced, Ilya was relieved

“If you’ve fought locusts you know they have a toxin… you know that right? Laoloa Boards have low toxin resistance, it infects their whole body very fast It’s the saet it?”

“Ah…”

The two pugilists frowned Though the other three were puzzled, they iured out what he meant

“It’s not a probleether and the boar is infected?”

At a tied It was a terrifying condition where you’d have to keep running until it loses sight of you or you kill it (or until you yourself die) You’d be afflicted by the toxin if you weren’t careful

Rear guard h its body fluids would spread if its cut by the swordsilists would have to hit it directly If they touched its body or blood that was infected by the toxin, they would probably only hold on for a few seconds with their resistances

Could they defend their coroup of enemies infected with the toxin?

Seeing theed it to be difficult That’s why he advised it was dangerous

“… What’ll we do?”

They were also beginning to worry

Especially the pugilists that had particularly high levels, his other co direct

Ilya decided to ask Bard a question to advance the conversation

“Well, what does Bard-san think they should do?”

“Huh?”

“It’s not advice unless you give a suggestion You shouldn’t just say it’s iht?”

“Even if you say that…”

Bard brooded over it, but couldn’t easily reach a conclusion

Luke, who had been watching the situation progress fro unable to endure any longer

“You could also bring so to have your ic?”

When Luke spoke, the five just looked at each other aardly

Although ic Guild, their ability varied widely Mages that were able to kill a lot of things even with low class ic like Lula and York were rare, and it was unusual for excellent practitioners to join a faction to begin with

Even without being able to distinguish ability like Ilya, you could roughly predict how capable a roup of warriors was

“But ”

Luke wasn’t perturbed by his confession On the contrary, he smiled to relieve them

“By prioritizing safety over efficiency, you can do it with either a large or small power Even with a moderate power, you can defeat it if you shoot several”

“Well, more or less”

“Even if you could defeat one, isn’t it your end if other ones showed up?

“Does everyone kno the boars chase after foreign invaders?”

“With their legs… wait, that’s not it Isn’t it with their eyes?”

“Though they do of course ultieneral, boar-types living in forests have poor eyesight They are unable to search for ene like carnivores are able to They use their protruding snouts to search for their ene after the scent Due to that, I recommend everyone to use a sachet or perfume [6]

“So that disturbs the scent huh?”

Understanding that they needed y

If they were the standard party, they would put sos or the like to use as decoys If they left it on a tree they could even likely coe at all

However, they had an alcherow plants, but he could i thorn-like branches on a tree and placing the scent there or so up a bundle of vines in the shape of a person at a cliff or waterside would be effective enough

Of course, she wouldn’t go so far as to interrupt their conversation It was probably enough with just Luke’s advice this time

“Prepare your stuff at a tool shop If you do that, I got no co the commission”

“… Please remember about the Rondélocusts as well”

“We get it”

While receiving Luke’s support, Bard falteringly co that they accepted it

Seeing off the group of five leaving in high spirits as though they’d already forgotten about the quarrel, Bard felt relieved

“… You… helped me Reception work is hard too, heh”

“That’s right That just noas second-hand inforh”

“It was? Did the Branch Manager say it?”

“No no, Ilya did Most of what I just said, she said beforehand”

He looked towards Ilya with a sour expression

(… I wonder if he dislikes me that much?)

Though it wasn’t like she felt Luke didn’t have to give out her name, she felt a bit unpleasant that her attempt at modesty was denied

“Whether or not they’ll be able to put the information to use is up to thes from Luke, too”

His shady-looking face had eventually gone away, but this tihtened his posture without any of his rebellious attitude

As for Katie, as still carrying trays timidly, Ilya merely wanted her to acquire and improve her skills

(Fro what co over to accept)

And he would check over the raw ation’s completion

Just that was plenty enough of a change, he was likely striving to improve

Ilya, as returning to the counter while thinking so, locked gazes with a person who came into the branch

“Morning Is Frank in?”

As for ent towards the counter, it was Hector, the lord

“Good ht now, should I call for him?”