22. Megane-kun, Goes to 「Black Swan of Dawn」"s Quarters
I urged Laila who somehow got all grudging, and she led me to the「Black Swan」"s base. I thought I have covered enough ground on the royal capital, but I"m taken to a warehouse district I have yet to go. Whatsoever, it seems like they rented a large warehouse and decorated the interior of it, and all their leading members are living in it.
「A newcomer like me lives in another place, though.」
According to Laila, famous adventurer teams and the like can be introduced to a place to live by the Adventurer"s Guild, the Commercial Guild, and many other influential people.
Putting it simply, aren"t they given a fixed place to live so it"ll be easier to get in touch with them in case of emergency? Although, I think it"s a mutual benefit since it"s also cheaper for the adventurers than staying in an inn. It"s a big family consists of 10+ people after all. If they rented an inn, the expense would be too high to be a joke.
Incidentally, Horun also lives here. As a relative, won"t they tell me not to leave my sis alone, since they have to keep eyes on her due to her problematic conduct?
「Wait a minute」
As we reached a particular warehouse, Laila left me here then entered alone. It"s a two-leaf door big enough to let a horse carriage pa.s.s through, but it"s not as heavy as it appears for Laila pushed it open quite easily.
「 …『Adventurer Black Swan of Dawn』, huh」
That is written on an old and aging board above the double door. It seems that there"s no mistake that this is their base.
And, I feel the presence of several people from within. About three people. Omitting Laila. …Un, every each of them is strong. Seemingly, all of them is as strong as Lorobel. Then, um, Two Star huh. All three of them are Two Star adventurers huh.
The top adventurer team in the royal capital it is.
…………
Nn, getting a little bit nervous like this, I"m not being me, aren"t I?
Let"s move around my jellified knees and stiffened legs, and stretch out the muscles on my upper body. Even though I believe it"s not necessary to do so, and the situation won"t turn into a fight, let"s just ease myself up so I"ll be ready to flee anytime.
As I was doing that, Laila that went in first comes back.
「Come in. —Ah, the Leader isn"t present right now, it"s okay with the vice-leader too right?」
Eh?
Yeah, well, …yeah.
…………
I hope you"d tell me 「the leader is absent」 before I get going. One foot of mine has stepped into the building now.
At the present time, I came to greet the person most inconvenienced by my sister, her leader. Even if I greeted his representative instead, it"ll be hard to convey my sincerity. It has to be conveyed to the person himself and not his representative, after all. Apology and grat.i.tude that traversed through hearsay wouldn"t contain enough eminence. It"s not like we"re n.o.bles or royalties. If they"re not here, I"m the one who has to approach them when they"re around.
…It"ll bring them nuisance instead if I retraced my step, so let"s just proceed. And, if the members" manner is virtuous, then let"s come back here again before returning to the village. Next time, I"ll greet the leader for sure.
For now, it"s the vice-leader. She most probably has caused a lot of trouble for the vice-leader too, anyway.
Though it looks like a big warehouse from the outside, it looks like an inn from the inside. As soon as I entered, a big long table and couples of chairs welcomed me. I suppose this place is for eating and relaxing. On the second floor, ascending the staircase on my left, there"s a corridor with a handrail and some doors. Those doors must be private rooms. Nearing the entrance, there"s a weapon rack. There are some indications of post-fight all around, but it"s generally peaceful inside.
And then, there are two people on the table. In the innermost part, someone… It would be the person who is right in front of me who just entered, snarling hands and waiting for me at the other end of the long table. From the sitting position, this person should be the vice-leader.
「Over here is Horun"s little brother.」
As Laila introduced me, the vice leader before me nods.
「Welcome」
It"s a woman. She"s in the middle of her twenties. She"s a beauty wearing a lightweight garment and covered with a red hood. …It"s obvious that she is strong, but I feel something else other than that from her.
Also, there"s another person seated in the middle section of the left seats. It"s an unshaved beardy ossan, with his blonde hair pulled tightly to his back in a bun. …No, is he surprisingly young? Does he look like much older due to his beard? He feels like a warrior through and through. Naturally, he"s strong also.
—Putting the observation aside.
「I"m Eil from Albat village. I heard my older sister Horun is under your care, so I come to say my greetings. Most probably, in all likelihood, beyond doubt, my sister has brought great inconvenience to everyone here, but I kindly hope of you to keep treating her well from here after.」
I bowed neatly. And that too, I do without a slight error. As if I"m showing them my skullcap.
「…………」
「…………」
「…………」
…………
…………Eh? Did they hear that? I certainly stated my greetings, right? What"s with the silent treatment?
「…Ah, eh?」
Eh?
The woman in front of me leaks a strange voice, so I involuntarily raise my head.
…She has such an awful shocked expression on her. The ossan too. And for some unknown reason, Laila that is next to me too.
「Err…… you, are you really Horun"s br-, brother? Her brother that is a member of her family? Her brother that is a member of the family that related by blood and has spent time with her since childhood? …Ah, you"re her brother that isn"t related by blood, right!? 」
…………
That reaction.
That way of recognition.
Perhaps I just betrayed their prejudice for being 「that Horun"s little brother」.
While it"s implicit how sister usually abuses this adventurer team and how she brings trouble to them, it"s vividly transmitted to me. Apparently I definitely also have to meet and greet their leader. This means she utterly, and more than I expected, has brought a great deal of inconvenience to them.
I should have brought at least souvenirs. This is an atmosphere where I could take them out. I also plan to pay her debt depending on the situation, so I haven"t prepared anything else.
「…O, ou… for the time being, take a seat.」
I"m also puzzled, but the unshaved beardy offered a seat for me.
「…Even though you can do such a proper greeting, why you didn"t do it to me…」
Laila is muttering something in a whisper, but that"s not something important so let"s just not answer her.