TENKEN 433 (1508 words)

Swamp of Works 

仕事という沼

We spent five minutes waiting in line at the Adventurer's Guild counter. It was finally Fran and Colbert's turn.

「Oh, Black Lightning Princess and Iron Claw, what's up?」

「I have something to do with Guild Master, is she available? It's an urgent matter」

「Well, she's here...but I don't know if she can't meet you now」

(TLN: ギルマス girumasu shorts for guild master)

Stellia looks at Fran with indescribable eyes. What's wrong?

(TLN: ステリア suteria)

「Well, she's in the office. Why don't you go there by yourself? You already know where it is, don't you?」

「Can we go without permission?」

「Even if I tried to call her myself, she'd probably reject me in her current state. Is your business so important?」

「Nn」

「If that's the case, you'd better take the matter up with her directly. Just don't irritate her too much, because there's a lot at stake here」

「Is she in a pinch? Oh, are you mean she's busy managing the auctions?」

「Idiot! Idiot Iron claw! It's not that simple! Don't do anything to make her angry, okay? You'll get us all in trouble too!」

「O-o okay, okay」

It seems that Eliante has been overwhelmed with work. The last time we came here, she seemed to be overwhelmed with paperwork, but I guess it's getting worse.

At Stellia's request, we were allowed to enter Guild Master's office. There, I found Eliante buried under a pile of papers, moaning.

Her eyes look dead. Seeing Eliante like that reminded me of the time when I was still an office worker on Earth. She has the same face as I did that day when I missed the last train of the day and stayed up all night making documents for the end of the fiscal year, only to find out that the documents I had used as a basis were from last year and I was in despair.

「Uh- Who...?」

「Gu-guild Master? Are you okay?」

「Colbert? What do you want? As you can see, I don't have time for idle chat, right?」

「Well, I'm here to report something.....He-hey miss Fran, you want to talk to Guild Master too, right?」

Oh, this guy! He got spooked by Eliante's presence and threw her to Fran!

「Fran...?」

「Nn」

Eliante's eyes turned to Fran. Immediately after that, her expression changed drastically. Her eyes snapped open and he stood up vigorously on the spot.

「Fran! Fran you..! you said i can count on you!」

She slammed her hand on the desk and shouted. Her bloodshot eyes were scary.

「Nn?」

「I asked you not to make a scene like that!」

Oh no. This time, she broke down crying on the spot. Her emotions seem unstable now!

No, I know exactly how she feel. But she soon will realize that crying won't lessen her works. Well, Eliante doesn't seem to have reached that point yet.

「Not making a scene」

『Yeah, we didn't making any trouble ourselves』

We was involved in the incident, though. Maybe Eliante has information that Fran was at the scene.

「The first is the underpass! There was something going on in the underpass! There were a lot of people hurt, it was a big mess!」

「Nn. Attacked in the underpass」

「I knew it! Then what about the inn? What about the incident in the inn you were supposed to stay in burned in flames? What about it?」

「That too, I got attacked, just like the one in the underpass」

「Aah! I knew it, you are related in it!」

It's related, but Fran is the victim. It's not like she willingly caused the trouble, though.

「By any chance, are you related with the incident in a park in the noble's district too? The plants are dying, and there's a commotion about this too!」

「Nn. Got attacked too」

「I knew it! Why are they attacking you! Because of you, my work is doubled! Stacked with that 3 cases too!」

That's unreasonable. I don't know why we are being attacked too. Well, I don't think the current Eliante is capable of making a sane decision right now, and I think she's just directing her anger indiscriminately. People who are stuck in the swamp of work, usually don't have any normal thinking ability left.

「The number of urgent requests is doubling, we're getting a lot of  protests against adventurers, and why should we be the one to be offended about something that has nothing to do with the Adventurers Guild? If it's a problem about the royal capital, complain to the Knights!」

Eliante shouts while half-crying.

「So, what on earth does the walking troublemaker, Black Lightning Princess want?」

「We were attacked in the noble's district」

「A-Again! another one! Whyy~!」

Ah, She is already started crying completely. She must have imagined a future with even more work. Colbert also felt that we couldn't go on like this, so he opened his mouth again.

「Ah, you know. There's been quite a lot of damage there. I'd like to hire some adventurers to replenish our forces, if you don't mind?」

「Was there that big of a battle happen?」

「Aaah, actually――」

Colbert gave a brief explanation of what had happened. Then Eliante's expression tightened. As expected, she was indeed the guild master, even if she was in a temper.

(TLN: テンパ tenpa)

「In other words, Count Bailleys' villa was attacked by that idiot Ashtner. So, in order to fight back at them, you're going to use the investigation of Count Olmes' villa as an excuse to beat up that idiot Ashtner as well?」

「Well, yeah. That's what my Lords are after. Ostensibly, it's an on-site investigation into Count Olmes' residence. However, it will surely become a battle with Marquis Ashtner 」

「And while we're at it, we'll also rescue Master Gallus and Count Bailleys' daughter....」

「I'm sure you have your own feelings about Marquis Ashtner as well. He thinks adventurers are nothing more than disposable tools. I once had to pay them a commission for a job that He didn't want to pay」

「Of course! How many adventurers do you think have suffered because of them....Serdio Receps too has ruined our reputation....So we've finally reached the end of that fucking Marquis huh?」

Eliante show a dark smile on her face. She must be imagining for Marquis Ashtner being captured.

「A-ah, So what do you say? I'd like to make a secret request to the adventurers」

「Hmm. That's fine, but how many people would you take? Is it fine to set up something against a marquis family? And if we can't gather them openly, you'll just have to talk to the high rankers in secret」

「I know. That's why the request reward is high. And also――Miss Fran」

「Nn」

Under Colbert's gaze, Fran takes out the bodies of the swordsmen who attacked the Count's mansion, who were thought to be adventurers. Seeing this, Eliante's reaction was swift.

「That is! That's our missing adventurers!」

「He was a part of the assailants」

「It seems that the Marquis Ashtner have the tools to brainwash and manipulate people. In addition to these guys, some of Count Bailleys’ men also became a part of the assailants too.」

「....Would you like to hear more about it? About this sword and the details of our opponent....」

It seems that Eliante has decided to listen to us. She had already agreed with Colbert to hand over the adventurer's body here.

The guilds would certainly cooperate if they knew that the adventurers under their command were being captured and manipulated. In some cases, some of their higher-ups might even accept the request for the purpose of revenge.

After listening to Colbert's story, Eliante has an angry look on her face.

「Fine with me...I'll let that Ashtner know who he sold the fight to! By when should I gather the adventurers?」

「In two hours, I will pick them up here」

「All right, then. I'll gather our forces before then. Count Bailleys is famous for his fondness for adventurers, and if I mention his name, I'm sure we'll attract a certain number of people」

「I'll be counting on you」

「Well, you can count on me」

「It's my pleasure」

Fran and Colbert shook hands with Eliante and were about to leave the room. However, Eliante called out to them.

「Wait a minute, you need a fighting force, right? I have an idea」

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