Chapter 62: The Spoiled Girl
“Ah, there’s Shifa-chan and the others! Perfect timing!”
Canaria, the receptionist at the Adventurers’ Guild, spotted the group of adventurers who had recently been the talk of the town. She rose from her seat immediately, her expression bright with purpose.
“Sorry to interrupt your conversation, but could I have a moment?”
Though they seemed engrossed in their discussion, she approached without hesitation and spoke up.
Four heads turned toward her. Immediately, Canaria noticed that there was one extra person among them.
“Isn’t that Sarassa-chan? You’re back! Welcome home,” she said warmly.
“Y-yes… I’m back…”
Sarassa was a mage who had been away from the city for some time due to certain circumstances. It seemed she had returned safely.
(But… she looks rather down, doesn’t she? She’s always had a shadowy aura, but this seems heavier than usual…)
Canaria’s keen eyes, trained for reading people as a receptionist, quickly detected the subtle change in Sarassa’s demeanor.
“What’s wrong? You don’t seem very cheerful… Did something happen?”
“…I was just… wondering if I’m even necessary… if it’d be okay if I weren’t here… hehe…”
“What happened!?”
Anii offered a wry smile as she explained.
“Apparently, while Sarassa was away, some newcomers joined and achieved results that far surpassed what she had done before. It seems she was quite shocked by it.”
“I-I see…”
Indeed, the astonishing feats of the team had all occurred after Sarassa temporarily stepped away.
Sarassa was a B-rank adventurer on par with Shifa, practically the backbone of the party. Normally, her absence would have meant a significant drop in combat strength. Filling her role should have been impossible for any newcomer.
Even Canaria had never imagined that the group could conquer two of the most dangerous areas without Sarassa.
“B-but now, with Sarassa-chan back in the party, we won’t just be swinging clubs at trolls! We’ll be able to take on even higher-difficulty quests! And that’s why… I have a mission I absolutely want you all to take!”
Her smile was warm, professional, and utterly persuasive. The youngest girl in the group, however, seemed to wrinkle her nose ever so slightly, as if sensing some unpleasant premonition.
◇ ◇ ◇
“Nooo! I don’t wanna goooo!”
Sena shouted dramatically, flopping onto the floor and flailing her arms and legs like a tiny tempest.
“…Are you five years old?”
I sighed in exasperation.
For context, this was Shifa-san’s room. She had come to my house earlier, saying she needed to talk, and I had been brought here. Waiting inside was my little sister, acting as if she were a defiant child.
Honestly, I had hoped this would be a serious conversation… but apparently, the topic was about dealing with this hopelessly stubborn sister of mine.
…And that was supposed to be my job? I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“Um… what happened?”
Feeling a twinge of embarrassment at my family member’s antics, I decided to try to get to the bottom of things. Even for Sena, her current level of tantrum was unusual.
“I was asked by the Adventurers’ Guild to take on a certain mission,” she said.
“What kind of mission?” I asked.
“Apparently, the village of Moria is being troubled by wyverns. The adventurers’ guild in the nearby town can’t handle it alone, so they’ve requested reinforcements.”
Wyverns, sometimes called semi-dragons, weren’t quite as powerful as dragons, but they were still formidable creatures. At least B-rank adventurers were needed for a proper hunt.
But that didn’t seem to be the reason Sena was so resistant.
“I’ve never even heard of Moria… How long would it take?”
“About a week round-trip.”
“A week…”
Ah, now it made sense. I fully understood why my sister was throwing a fit.
“I could barely handle the two-night, three-day trip before! A week is impossible! I’ll die! I’m gonna die! Diiiiieee!”
I groaned as my sister screamed at the top of her lungs.
“Uh… couldn’t another party handle it?” I asked cautiously.
“It seems several parties have already turned it down,” Anii replied, shrugging slightly.
“Right now, thanks to some other parties, dungeon exploration is unusually popular. Nobody wants to spend a whole week traveling to a rural guild for backup.”
So that explained why the request had ended up with Shifa and the others.
“We should have just refused…” Sena muttered resentfully. She had clearly already accepted the mission.
“Canaria-san has helped us in so many ways, though. And when she asks like that, it’s hard to say no.”
“Pff…”
Sena pouted, lips sticking out as she grumbled.
“…Then you three go…”
“Three?”
Her words made me pause. The party should have only three members… right?
“Sena, don’t worry. I have a good idea,” Shifa said, speaking to her difficult little sister without a hint of annoyance. She was truly admirable.
“A good idea…?”
Anii tilted her head in curiosity along with Sena, clearly in the dark about what was coming.
“That’s why I brought Geo.”
“Me…?”
“But before that, there’s someone I want you to meet, Geo. —Sarassa.”
Called into the room by Shifa, a girl with blue hair stepped inside.
“Ah… the one from before…”
I immediately remembered her — the suspicious girl peering into the workshop that day.
“Do you know her?”
“Not really… I just happened to see her before. Um, who is she?”
“Sarassa. She’s the mage in our party.”
“Ah, I see…”
So that’s why Shifa had said three people.
I had heard rumors about her, but seeing her in person was a surprise. I had assumed she would look older — after all, I’d been told she was the eldest in the party.
“Believe it or not, she’s twenty-three,” she said matter-of-factly.
“Ugh… I’ll always just look like a kid, won’t I…”
Indeed, she appeared far younger than her age, though not quite as small as a popit.
…Though there was one aspect in which she was undeniably adult, but I wisely decided not to dwell on that.
Lost in these thoughts, I was snapped back to reality by Anii’s glare.
“Uh… so, this good idea of yours…?” I asked, trying to steer the conversation back.
Shifa’s answer was unexpected:
“We’ll use Geo’s Gift.”