c14 (1/2)
CHAPTER 14: THE assESSMENT IS A BATTLE… OF COURSE IT IS…
Sui been instructed by the receptionist that he was to undergo an assess to the inner halls of the adventurer’s guild
A lantern di him with a deep sense of deja vu
—The feeling of a hospital at night
As Sui so unrelated to this world, while sitting sternly on the chair with his back straight, a staff irl with fluffy, tawny hair, dressed in the sauild uniform the receptionist had worn
Before long, the girl had reached his side, and inclining her head, asked, “—Uht?”
“Yes, that’s me”
Suientle smile touched her lips as she introduced herself
“Sorry about that My na new recruits Pleased to meet you”
“Ah It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance”
With this girl, both respectful and amiable, he maintained the polite tone he’d used with the receptionist earlier
There was a world of difference between the way she treated him and the way he’d been treated outside As Suimei reflected on the contrast, Dorothea sain
“Oh, there’s no need for such fore, so it’s fine”
“…Is that okay? Wouldn’t that be rude?”
“It’s fine, it’s fine~ This is easier on me too, not to mention it’s my job to make it easier on nervous new recruits worried about the assessh, I have to say, it doesn’t really look like that last part applies to you, Suimei-san”
“Haha… Alright then It’s nice to meet you”
“Nice to reat enthusiasreed to her request
“Let’s go for a walk,” she continued, leading the way down the hall with Sui closely
She suddenly turned to face hiht
“Oh, the foristration fore, and one with both fire and wind properties, right?”
“Oh, yeah More or less”
” ‘More or less’ is it? You sure are ic without an incantation or even a keyword and send Roha-san flying? You e?”
“No, no, nothing like that I was in a bit of crisis, so I did it unconsciously It’s so that only happens on occasion,” Sui her own
The afore man from earlier, huh He’d beaten hie his abilities; perhaps he was actually a person of so to draw too much attention, he’d attempted to hide behind a facade of modesty, but it seemed his actions had been misunderstood
“H as temperamental as you make it sound…”
She frowned as she thought hard What Suimei had said seemed off to her Her words deic
In that case, what should he say to dispel her doubts? He didn’t want to leave a bad impression on her, so he decided a suitable explanation arranted
“…Incantations aside, it’s possible to activate ic I used wasn’t anything a”
“Really?”
“It’s coe, you know?”
This would likely prevent further inquiries Rather than appear a suspicious individual as clearly hiding secrets, it was better to give what appeared to be a plausible explanation
Dorothea wasn’t likely to dig deeper than that, and indeed she did not Instead, she changed the topic
“Suiic —Do you ? If not by incantation, then how else can ic be activated?”
“That’s a secret”
“Hy, Suimei-san”
“Are there really people that expose their secrets so easily?” Sui
Dorothea seemed to accept that answer
“I guess that’s true,” she said, before switching topics yet again “…I have to say, though… While Roha-san is definitely a rather impulsive person, but sudden incidents like the one earlier sure have been happening a lot more lately”
Dorothea’s remark seemed intended to alleviate souild staff This led Suimei to ask a question of his own
“…There are really that many people who play pranks?”
“Yeah, there really are There are those who approach the receptiondrea the least bit of combat ability, as well as uild ht be due to the Hero’s appearance, but starting froo, there’s been a lot more of them”
It seeuild staff, causing Dorothea to sigh heavily as they walked For humanity, disheartened as it was in the wake of the fall of Noxeas at the hands of the de of the Hero had been like a shot in the arht of the Hero, but if their feelings were anything like those in the city, then lack of evidence notwithstanding, they likely viewed his existence as the symbol of their victory Indeed, they had likely been inspired to think that with a little effort, they could do anything For that reason, a number of people had likely been “infected” to the point that they’d lost sight of reality and begun to think that will could take the place of ability
It had been this rabid enthusiasm that had caused the incident earlier
“Does that ?”
In his ether
“Nope You’re the last person left to be evaluated today Everyone else has finished already”
“…I see”
“Soe about that?”
“…No, it’s nothing Nothing at all”
Sui her to change the topic yet again
“Oh, that re the parade?”
“Well, I guess you could say that…”
Or rather, the sight of that face had been a daily occurrence for hi that ought not be shared
Dorothea see
“Reiji-saht? He really has just this indescribable aura to him, as expected of one called Hero Froeneration of Hero seee and justice”
As she spoke, she suddenly stopped and closed her eyes, an expression of yearning on her face Shethe moment of the parade
Within the figure of the Hero that had burned itself into her memory, had she found hope? Since Suimei had spent his days by Reiji and Mizuki’s side, he’d had no such feeling, but perhaps things weren’t the same for Dorothea and others like her
Suimei asked another question of her, whose attitude toward the Hero was perhaps representative of the people
“Dorothea, do you really think the Hero will destroy the Maou and his armies?”
“If the fabled power of the legendary Hero is real, then I don’t think that should be a problem”
“What do the stories say?”
His follow-up question prompted a look of surprise from Dorothea, and her eyes opened wide
“You don’t know yourself, Suimei-san?”
“Unfortunately not, I’m sorry to say”
This wasn’t so that Suietic tone was the right one to take for the ti co Dorothea’s reaction, Suimei felt that perhaps the stories of the Hero were as near to the hearts of the people as the legends and fairytales of his own
“…How unexpected,” she replied, her sentith of the one called Hero is so that can be found both in the history books as well as the legends passed down ahout history, there have been a number of times when the world has faced a dire crisis, and the people of the world have responded by suht The stories include tales of past Heroes cutting giants as tall as ic to chase afterdown the black, beast-like Maou with a holy sword”
“Haa—”
Her words piqued his interest, not just for their own sake, but because they also spoke so of Reiji and Mizuki’s situation It was only natural that he would be interested, really He would have to investigate hly later on
“And what do you think, Suimei-san?”
“Hmm?”
The sudden question had caught hi that it was his turn to speak, she continued
“About the Hero and the Maou suppression force Do you think they can do it, Suimei-san?”
“…That’s a good question If the current Hero is really like those in the stories you mentioned, then it should be possible The problem is whether or not that matches the current reality”
“Do you think they can do it?” my ass Reiji and the others definitely can’t do those kinds of things, so there’s no way things will go as smoothly as they do in those stories
“Oh, you don’t agree?”
“No, it’s not that More specifically, I think it’s naive to presume that victory will come simply because the Hero exists Whether or not they will succeed is not so anyone can know for certain…”
Sui of the current situation, was rather uneasy If one truly believed that receiving an enoruarantee victory, that only served to demonstrate how little one truly knew about battle
Suimei’s eyes narrowed in worry
“Such thoughts are best left unsaid when you’re outside If the believers of the Church of Salvation, who hold the heroes to be the emissaries of the Goddess Arshuna, were to hear you, you’d be in for quite the sermon”
“Haha… I’ll be careful”
This again Lefille had said the sa It seemed that to the people of this world, ser to be feared to the point that they presented as a tangible threat For the sake of what his goals, he’d have to be very careful from now on
Dorothea’s expression changed Her look of reprireement
“That said, what you said is certainly true, Suiuild isn’t nearly that optimistic Either way, it’s a truth that the Hero’s radiant appearance has affected things greatly It’s not just the knights or foot soldiers that have seen a rapid increase in applications to join their ranks, over the last few days, we’ve received several times more applicants than normal”
“And so the receptionist tried to get ht?”
“Right Suiic staff with you Even those unqualified applicants of late have brought appropriate equipuild like yourself It’s completely unheard of”
“Sorry for that, really I’ on my actions”
If actions had si, but this tis, a rather serious oversight
His head hung as he sighed inwardly Dorothea stuck out her chest and spoke
“It’s fine if you understand It’s not like it was that big a deal anyway”
Unexpectedly, this girl had quite an insensitive side to her
“—Even if you say that, that was a pretty violent way just to get someone to leave, wasn’t it?”
This was so that Suimei had been concerned about the entire ti, the way they’d gone about it had been overhasty, to say the least Perhaps this was simply because Suimei was too accustomed to the polite service mentality of his oorld, but even then, as the deal with this world?
“You’re referring to the way the guild staff acted?”
“Yes Doing things this way could really hurt your guys’ reputation If others like me were to receive the sauild could ht?”
Unexpectedly, she replied indifferently, “If so like that, then we have no interest anyway It’s not like we’re hurting for numbers”
Her response had been clear cut and unhesitating Responding to the other issue he’d raised, she added, “Also, bad ruuild is the norm”
“Because of the successes of the Twilight Pavilion?”
“Yes”
Her tone suggested she wasn’t bothered in the least
“Any other questions?”
Of course he did About that which he could not avoid—
“So what exactly does the assessment involve?”
He directly bared his concern In those novels that Mizuki was so fond of, guild registration for people fro your hand on so to that effect This world, it seemed, was the same
As if she’d been awaiting this question the entire tietic indeed
“With a battle, of course!”
“Of course!” my ass!