The Guild’s Cheat Receptionist

Fairies.

This race, originally called fairiel welvats, grew up to be around the size of someone’s palm at most.

Although they shared the same ancestors as the elves, also known as fairiel falverihi, the cause of their appearances were so different because of a kind of curse.

Only the elves, despite the diminishing amount of G.o.d elements in their long genetic history, by endeavoring to safeguard their knowledge concerning the crystal pillars’ protection and G.o.ds, were allowed to possess perpetual youth and longevity by the G.o.ds, maintaining their mystique.

Compared to them, the fairy ancestors were going around instigating people however they felt, blamed by that time’s people for disturbing the world’s peace.

They were deprived of all of their G.o.d elements, and so that their bodies would weaken and become unable to mate with other species, received a curse that shrank the size of their bodies.

The [Spirit] character in fairy was taken from [Deceased Spirit] as their dispositions were similar, but that was unrelated with fairies also having [Spirit Sight] which is compatible with the low rank [Mind Reading]. [Spirit Sight] was a skill that could read the mind and feeling of the person the owner was looking at. Partia, also holding the [Observation] skill, very likely understood what the branch vice manager was thinking. [1]

Although Ilya was thinking about that, so that she wouldn’t use those skills herself, she decided to hear the detailed account about it from her later.

“Ilya-ane’s hiding her claws again isn’t she.”

“Don’t say something so scandalous.”

Smiling wryly at at Partia’s persiflage, Ilya held out a small cup of black tea she had prepared for her use.

Although they had planned to talk in Ilya’s private room, since it was time for her to head to the reception desk, she guided them to the counter’s guest seats.

“But really, I didn’t expect for the ice dragon to be defeated~”

Partia laid face-down on the table.

“Didn’t you think it was weird when you saw people in the town?”

“Nnn, I thought they went mad.”

She said something that extreme so easily, but Ilya didn’t think she was too wrong.

“But really.”

Partia sat up and looked around the room, abruptly shifting topics.

“Even though this branch is so huge, there’s no one here!”

“You’re right. Even though I heard rumors of it always being full…”

The only guests in the first floor’s dining hall were Partia and Gabriel, so Ilya couldn’t do anything but smile wryly.

As for Cynthia who should have also been together with her at the reception desk, after telling the branch vice manager she was returning home because she felt ill, she was diligently working hard at making snow sculptures in front of the branch.

Furthermore, all of the dining hall’s people were outside in the courtyard.

“My one’s tail is thinner than yours!”

“Bard-kun, it’d look so much cuter if you did it like this—”

While chattering and making noise this way and that, the staff were applying themselves in making their snow sculptures.

If someone were to see only this current situation, it would look exactly like a shop that was just about to collapse.

“Have you two eaten already?

Hearing her abrupt question, the two answered while inclining their heads in sync.

“No, not yet.”

“Come to think of it, I heard the cooking here was good… but my my… it doesn’t look like I can expect much…”

Partia let out a sigh.

While thinking that she looked so adorable like that, Ilya handed the two of them menus.

“Please let me know as soon as you find something you like.”

“Will do~”

“Yeah. Got it.”

Flipping the pages one by one, their expressions slowly started changing.

To say nothing of Gabriel who loved eating and tended to be very indecisive, even Partia who usually wouldn’t have trouble deciding was captivated by the sheer diversity of sweets available.

While the two were having trouble deciding, the doors to the branch were open and Cynthia could be seen walking inside.

“I’m back~. Uuu~, moving’s great but it’s really cold!”

“Pi~!”

“Right! Work, work!”

Haku, who was outside playing with Cynthia who had come in and was taking off her anti-cold clothing, flew straight towards Ilya. While Ilya was holding Haku and petting away the snow that covered him, Rach.e.l.le, Ria, and the others returned and opened the office’s door to prepare to serve guests.

Because they’d been out in the courtyard, the little snow remaining on their heads dropped onto the floor, slightly leaving tracks on the ground behind them.

“Welcome back everyone. Haku, did you have fun?”

“Pi!”

“Haku dashed about everywhere, he never stopped moving~”

While saying that, Cynthia’s face broke into a grin. Haku, who had grown large enough to need two hands to carry, had gotten to the point of being able to play on his own.

“Ilya-ane, that’s…”

“Pi?”

Haku, seeing Partia speak, was immensely curious about this tiny thing that could talk.

Its intent and straightforward stare caused her to falter.

(Why is the dragon G.o.d’s child at a place like this?!)

Partia, able to see through the fact that Haku was the dragon G.o.d’s hatchling with her strong ability, figured out exactly how much time it would take to escape back to Gabriel as Haku watched her like he wanted to pounce on her.

As though just to wash away this explosive situation(?), several men and women opened the door and walked in.

“Welcome~”

“Morning Rach.e.l.le, today’s cold too huh~”

Taking off their protection against the cold while sitting down in chairs and commenting on the cold, the customers placed their hands on some stones meant to warm hands that were provided on the tables.

“Good morning. Would you like a menu?”

“It’s alright. I’ll get the usual!”

“I want soy ramen with a side of fried rice!”

“I think I’ll have some carbonara pasta. Ah, lots of peppers please!”

“Certainly.”

Saying that, Rach.e.l.le left the table.

Then, the scene that Partia and Gabrielle was seeing suddenly amped up—

“You gotta eat spicy stuff when it’s cold ya’know!?”

“Ah, then, I’ll have the mapo tofu special!” [2]

“Margherita pizza! And some stew too!” [3]

“Guess I’ll go with some soup. Soup!”

“I want some saucy katsudon! With some garnished pork soup!” [4]

“I’ll go with some hot sake. Ah, and…”

“Some meat soba please!” [5]

“How ’bout a hot pot?”

“No way. I want penne all’arrabbiata.” [6]

Seeing the hall fill up in no time flat, the two of them looked around in surprise.

“T-the heck’s this.”

“There’s so many people.”

“It looks like everyone’s been doing their best at making snow sculptures, only coming back to eat. That’s why I said to let me know as soon as you could, you know?”

The two suddenly looked back down at the menu.

But it was already too late. Rach.e.l.le and them were making their rounds in the dining hall, the kitchen in its own version of h.e.l.l. A sign saying the branch was at its capacity was hung in the window.

“Onee-chan’s a meanie!”

“But it’s so much fun~”

Although some people were surprised at seeing the fairy, most people didn’t seem to particularly mind her. Everyone was talking about the progress on their snow sculptures and asking what other groups were doing, getting excited about the snow festival.

There weren’t any problems about the division of snow to use either, so seeing how well the event was reducing their stress, Ilya let out a small sigh of relief.

The people who had come to take a rest went back out to continue working on their snow sculptures, so the next people to come were those like peddlers and guards, as well as people who completed their commissions ahead of schedule.

When all of their completion registrations were finished, it was time for receptionists to switch out. Ilya decided to take a short rest before going into the kitchen, which was her next job.

Ilya, who had taken her break time, thought that she would spend that limited time together with Partia and Gabriel in her uncrowded private room, however—

“… You two are still eating?”

Partia was eating a whipped cream and chocolate parfait topped with sweet fruits, smacking her lips at the strawberry jelly’s sweetness.

Gabriel was being Gabriel, slurping down his third bowl of miso ramen. [7]

Partia decided to leave whatever she didn’t eat to Gabriel, as Gabriel had the defect known as ‘really bad gas mileage’. Ilya, having a.s.sociated with them, also knew of it.

Even so, there was something she couldn’t overlook.

“Both of you… have money to pay with, right?”

Their hands stopped moving the instant Ilya asked the question. Realizing her hunch was right on the mark, Ilya let out a sigh.

Partia’s inquisitive nature and Gabriel’s inability to try and stop her. It seemed their eternal bad habit of running out of money hadn’t been cured.

Partia waved her hands buzzingly seeing Ilya spontaneously sending them an astonished look.

“That’s not it! We still had some when we were in Filéamis!”

“We pa.s.sed the inspection, but I didn’t think it would cost so much money…”

Hearing their attempts at an explanation, Ilya felt her strength completely drain away.

“You are both members of the mercenary guild. You know that you could have pa.s.sed free of charge if you had accepted a commission from Rondéville, right?”

“That’s, uhh…”

“We were in a hurry.”

Taking Partia’s place in answering because she couldn’t find a good way to respond, Gabriel answered as lackadaisically as ever.

As she’d guessed, they heard about the ice dragon appearing nearby. If they’d stopped by a branch somewhere, they likely would have noticed the ice dragon’s subjugation commission being taken down, but it didn’t seem like they did even that.

“Really… Come to think of it, what did you intend to do for lodging?”

“U-umm…”

“Ilya, can’t we crash at your place?”

Sighing a single time, Ilya smiled back at them.

“No good.”

Setting aside Partia, even Gabriel seemed disappointed by her response.

“We’re fine with the floo—”

“No good. Even if it’s you Gabriel, wouldn’t you start eating Haku’s tail, half asleep?”

“H-here then? A private room, one with a bed?”

“That’s even more no good. It is prohibited to use the branch for private reasons. I can’t make exceptions.”

“Well, alright.”

While Partia opened and shut her mouth, unable to speak, Gabriel merely shrugged.

“Onee-chan’s stingy!!”

“I don’t mind being stingy. Please obediently handle a commission.”

And so the two people had decided to lodge in Lunéville in order to earn travelling expenses.

Even so, Ilya believed there may be various problems if she allowed them to do as they pleased, so she suggested for the two of them to refrain from using Gnome. Although it was true that it would be troubling if they managed to somehow destroy the highway that had been constructed at great pains, she herself also had a task for that great spirit.

Not really having any reason to object, the two accepted her suggestion.

“Well, Gnome, I’d like you to house-sit for a little.”

[I hear and obey.]

“Just the two of us… just the two of us…”

Despite hearing that sort of remark, Ilya hadn’t done this for Gabriel and Partia to be alone, but since she didn’t have the hobby of looking a gift horse in the mouth, she said nothing.

And so when those two had left for a commission, Ilya looked at the great earth spirit in a private room.

At first Haku was staring at it fixedly in curiosity, but since he roughly understood before long, he rolled into a ball on Ilya’s lap as usual.

[Then, Miko-sama. What did you wish to talk about?]

[Gnomido. Have you not felt anything unusual?]

Gnomido. Contrasting Gnome being for his male form, this great spirit’s name in its female form was Gnomido.

Similar to Undine, the great spirit changed into a feminine form that had no whiskers to speak of and that had a j.a.panese single-braid, matching Ilya’s preferences. Gnomido knit her brows and tilted her head to the side slightly from Ilya’s inquiry.

[Nothing worth mentioning… Same with the earth vein, sensing the world tree from here, there have been no phenomena in particular.]

[Then from the time of our last meeting, in that meaning as well?]

[Indeed. Miko-sama’s existence, each and every move brings about an influence on the world.]

Although she nonchalantly laughed it off, it was nothing but a black history for Ilya.

It was similar to old ladies related to you teasing you time to time with things like, ‘You were a rascal back then weren’t you~’

At any rate, even if it just concerned the earth elements, getting the opinion from a spirit’s point of view was huge.

(Rather, it was because the great spirit is deeply connected with the earth elements.)

The thing most concerning Ilya was an evil G.o.d’s revival.

The one that had the highest probability was the existence called the eldest evil G.o.d, the one she had killed. That person was an existence that could influence the earth elements enough to match with a great earth spirit.

[I am relieved to hear that.]

[If I was of some help to Miko-sama, that would be the most supreme honor. Please, tell me if you have any need.]

With the great spirit’s innocent and entirely unselfish smile, a smile also inadvertently found its way onto Ilya’s face.

[In that case, could you please stop calling me ‘Miko’?]

[That is impossible.]

(Tch.)

It was as obstinate on that strange point as always.

While thinking about how it’d likely escape if she tried to push her point, Ilya turned her gaze towards the outside to distract her feelings about it. Around this time, those two would probably be running about complaining about the cold.

[Partia still hasn’t managed to complete the slab, has she?]

The fairy monarch’s slate.

It was a treasured item with the method for fairies to become fairiel described on it. Generations of fairy monarchs personally established trials across the world for obtaining permission to read the slate.

After the current fairy monarch ascended to his position, the amount of fairies that completed the trial and reported to the fairy monarch to become fairiels weren’t few.

However, the majority drowned in greed from their desperation in the end, reaching a state where they moved away from the honest path. Then those who would point their fangs against the fairy monarch and collude with humans appeared, so the fairy monarch broke the slab into small pieces, scattering the broken pieces in all kinds of labyrinths and unexplored abysses to conceal it.

Moreover, they were impossible to reach with some kind of half-hearted power. By testing the bonds between several comrades by utilizing bewitching and the like through the use of installed devices, the end result was something closer to many numerous methods of torture that merely borrowed the name of a trial.

Despite most fairy’s motive for removing the curse being to take away the problem concerning love-making by removing the disparity in their body size, hers was to supersede her father’s decision to carefully choose her marriage partner, her stubborn father resembling the Moon Princess’. [8]

[After coming to move separately from Miko-sama, her collection speed slowed remarkably. One of her reasons for coming to the ice dragon’s subjugation was so that, if circ.u.mstances permitted, she could request for Miko-sama’s aid in collecting the slate.]

The great spirit nonchalantly spoke exposed the girl’s ulterior motive.

Similar to Undine, it took the stance of placing Ilya above its contractor.

Likely misunderstanding something about Ilya’s wry smile, Gnomido panicked.

[T-those two really did miss Miko-sama!]

The child’s bearing faded away somewhere as it started panicking. Ilya smiled, fixing the position of Gnomido’s cap that had slipped.

[Those two will save people in need even if they don’t mean to, it’s fine for them to be a bit more selfish.]

[… That isn’t so persuasive when Miko-sama says it.]

[I’m properly living how I want to you know?]

If she had to bring up what she could immediately think of, it would be the demons and the nine evil G.o.ds that should still exist left running loose.

Even though they were all lumped into being called evil G.o.ds, they had various characters. As for the oldest evil G.o.ds that she had killed, it was the evil G.o.d that stood out as the comparatively worst, regularly eating sacrificial women. Meanwhile, there was even an evil G.o.d that raised children to turn them into sacrifices.

Therefore, even if they were existences that would eventually cause damage, she didn’t want to be related to them until they showed their true characters.

She didn’t believe a person like her, thinking in that way, was something that moved to help others.

At any rate, she decided that those two were more important than worrying about how the evil G.o.d was connected to the ice dragon for now.

[Gnomido, I have one more question that I absolutely need to ask.]

[Please say whatever you wish.]

[Partia’s way of speaking, is it…]

Thoughtfully c.o.c.king its head to the side at Ilya’s question, the great spirit suddenly guessed the question and smiled.

[It’s an imitation of Miko-sama.]

(I thought that might be it, but still…)

Thinking that her previous guess couldn’t have been right, Ilya started worrying.

[She started a little while after separating from Miko-sama… Pa.s.sionately shouting that she would, ‘Become like Onee-chan!’ This is the result.]

[Haah…]

It was shocking that she had seemed so domineering like that in those days, but now that she had caused adverse effects by it, she felt like running away and hiding.

She was the source of that somewhat excited and angry tone coming from her mouth, but in those days when they’d traveled together she remembered her being an innocent child with an adorable disposition.

For now, she had but one wish.

(Please don’t let this turn into her black history.)

Would that wish be fulfilled or not?

That was something only Partia would know.