...... All right. This is the kind of thing I could deal with in a heartbeat.

　Florence took a note of the requests from each of the knights I passed on and added more quick writing.

''First, I'll make it known that if we find a clue from the Demon King's army, we should report it to the branch without going deeper. I also agree with you about the cooperation with the Silver Wing Knights. I'll have to have a meeting with Sir Felix later.
Do I need to be in the room with you?
'Hmm ...... I think it's probably okay. Sir Felix is a man who knows what he's talking about, and in other words, it's a 'request for directions for the Order to investigate the dungeon'. It's not such an outrageous request.

　As expected, Florence's work ethic is a deft hand that is worthy of the title of branch leader.

　Even when I was an adventurer, I was often impressed with his skill, but I didn't think he was capable of handling the role of branch chief.

　Well, if you're talking about how you didn't think you could do that much, I'm sure Florence would want to say the same thing about me.

''As for the requests from other knights, it seems there is nothing the Guild Chapter can do to take the lead. And the matter of the Iron Dog Knights is going to be in the future for the time being.
''That's right. The green eyes are a check on wizards coming in and out of town, so it's the town hall's, and the rainbow scales are the domain of the white wolf (me) as it's a request related to Hild's research.
'If there's anything I can do to help, of course I'll help you, so don't hesitate to let me know. I'd be more than happy to drop you some money in the form of a request.

　Florence laughs jokingly and starts to clean up after this meeting.

　I can't let Florence waste her busy time, so I try to leave the office with Garnett in tow.

　Just before that, I throw out one private subject.

'Oops. How's my daughter (Lisa) doing?
Oh my. You keep your private life to yourself, but you're very curious about our private lives.

　I'm at a loss for words when she says that back to me in a mischievous manner.

　Florence chuckles at my reaction and returns the answer to her question without further impatience.

'Of course I'm fine. As you know, she's always been a sickly little girl, but lately she seems to be doing better thanks to the environment of Green Hollow.
...... Well, good for that guy.

　It was a frank relief to hear that Lisa was doing well.

　A major reason Florence was asked to become the chapter president of Green Hollow was to raise her only daughter, Lisa, in a healthy and good environment.

　To me, Florence and her now-deceased husband were my peers in the same land for a few years during my fledgling years.

　In those days, it was still barely normal to not be promoted from the E ranks, and I was young enough to try to be attracted to Florence with all my peers, including A-TSU, and that was just the way I was.

　Lisa, in my opinion, is the child born of a group of friends who spent a period of time together with many good memories.
　How could I not care about her?

It's a good thing that the guild is also concerned about me when I can't do anything for work. It's not only that, but Sakura-chan even went out of her way to take you to the town to play today.
Sakura?　That's new to me.
'Erica from that store has been paying attention to me a lot, didn't you know that?'

　I shook my head honestly because I'd never heard of it before.

It's not like I'm their guardian, you know. Of course I don't know a lot of things about what they do in their private lives. The only way I can say I know it all or something is at .......

　I was about to say that it would only be Garnett, and then I felt like I was about to say something strangely embarrassing, so I stopped it.

　When I thought about it calmly, it wasn't a strange statement to make, because from a third party's point of view, Garnett was a bodyguard who acted together at all hours of the day, so it wasn't a strange thing to say.

''That's true too. I'll have to thank you properly another time.''

　If one were to look at it from a perceptive point of view, one might think that they are doing this to curry favor with the chapter leader, but I can be sure that Sakura and the others would not be doing that.

　Sakura's goal is to hone her sword skills and gain experience so that she can use her gods' descent, and she's not really interested in improving her rank.

　As for Erika, she had nothing to do with the Adventurer's Guild, so there was no point in taking advantage of the chapter leader's moods in itself.

　At least the two of them would just genuinely love Lisa.

' ...... Oops, sorry. We've talked too much. Good luck with your work, man.
Thank you. Don't take it easy on yourself, okay? Luke is already pretty much irreplaceable.

　He accepted Florence's praise with open arms, and this time he left the chapter president's office.

　The corridor was filled with a serene silence, coincidentally timed to be unoccupied.

'You're a big deal, though, Branch Chief Florence, aren't you?

　Garnett, who had been a guard and didn't talk much earlier, opens his mouth as usual, stretching out gingerly.

''Branch leaders are busy as f*ck, right?　Especially when it's a dungeon for a reason like this. You're raising a kid at the same time, isn't that a hell of a lot better than a lousy A-ranked kid?　I don't know what the other A-rated guys are like.
'Yeah, ...... it's especially hard to believe that I'm the only parent. I mean, even Travis was surprised, and I knew he could do it, but I didn't expect him to be that good.

　I had felt the same way when I first took office, but now it's a more palpable surprise based on my actual track record of continuing to do the job.

　If it was just a matter of raising a child while continuing to earn adventurer's money, I can't think of any other examples of being the head of a chapter all by myself.

If I were the head of Florence, I'd be able to do the same thing: ......

　Garnett tried to think about something, but quickly shook his head and cancelled it.

'Without ...... yada yada yada now. I don't even want to imagine being in the same position or anything.

　It's a word that seems to be a spear, and yet is filled with deep emotion.

　What in the world did I imagine if I became the same as Florence - I decided to walk down the corridor without saying a word, without even asking the thoughts contained in that one word.