That's not right. Absolutely ridiculous.


　The guild's reception counter was sparsely populated as the sun was setting. In one corner, Liddell muttered, wrinkling his brow.

　A face that she would never show to her colleagues, let alone adventurers.

　To the extent that such a face would unconsciously appear, the current Liddell was struck by a strong anxiety.


''Senpai!　I've made you a cup of tea.　You look like you moved the chest of drawers and a dead cockroach came out, right?

"...please don't use that metaphor. Especially when you're serving food and drink.

Oh, I see, you're a metropolitan girl, right? In the countryside, they're just like insects, so I don't really care about them.

I don't care. I don't want to know about that thing's rural life. Anyway, Parfait, what's going on with the werewolves in the Attendance Pass?

'Oh, yes, we just got confirmation. Defeat is complete!　The Gryphon on Mount Skim, the Banshee in the communal cemetery, Scylla on Lake Toya, and today, the Warwolf in the Athenian Pass!　The pending issues that were the source of my headache are being cleared up one by one! As a matter of fact, I've just received a compliment from the guild master, bui!


　Liddell is slightly annoyed with the junior who tries to piece it together with both hands in a cute way.

　But she quickly reminded herself that it was no wonder her junior was floating.

　The credit for clearing up the pesky salting request belongs to the adventurer, of course. But at the same time, the receptionist who arranged the job for the adventurer also got a lot of credit.

　One of the most important skills of the receptionist is to get adventurers to verbally accept troublesome requests. The completion of a salted request is highly valued in this regard.

　That was four in a row. That's more than ten if you include small requests, just the big ones. That's how many salted requests were cleared up in a short period of time. It was natural for Parfait to be in a good mood.




　The good-looking receptionists were the flower of the Adventurer's Guild, but their job was not an easy one.

　There is no such thing as just taking orders for requests chosen by adventurers and handing out rewards when they're done - even if you make a mistake.



　It is also the role of the receptionist to assess whether or not the client's request is achievable and to secure the appropriate compensation.

　If you don't have money, you can't accept a request. The farmer who tearfully pleads for help because his family has been kidnapped by goblins refuses to accept a request for this amount of money - every receptionist has had that experience.

　She chides and sometimes scolds newcomers who choose to make requests that are out of their league and is disliked. Sometimes they flatter a prideful veteran and ask him to take on a troublesome case.

　Sometimes the rookie party they sent out to see that there was no danger was wiped out. I've been severely blamed by adventurers who lost their friends because of incorrect information about their clients.



　It's a department like that, so no matter how good they are, sensitive people will quit sooner or later. Or they would ask to be transferred to a different department.

　The guild's receptionists are often laughed at for having as much guts as seasoned (and experienced) adventurers, but it's a tough place to work if you don't have a lot of guts.



　In that sense, not to mention Liddell, who has been working at the reception desk for more than five years, Parfait, who has been working there for a year now, is also a woman of great guts.

　It's a good thing that you're not going to have to worry about the fact that you're not going to have to worry about the fact that you're not going to have to worry about the fact that you're not going to have to worry about the fact that you're not going to have to worry about the fact that you're not going to have to worry about the fact that you're not going to have to worry about it.

　The usual Liddell would have just laughed and said, "The more brazen you are, the longer you'll last," but with the current situation, he couldn't say that.

　Those who existed in the shadow of Parfait's growing reputation. Liddell felt bad about them.



'So, which request did you recommend to Luna Maria-san next?

'The thing is, listen to me, senpai!　Up until now, you've had to deal with a lot of hard work, and all of your requests have been fruitless. That's why I've decided to introduce a large number of requests from the nobility. You know, the one where the Countess heard about the Gryphon's extermination and wanted a stuffed copy of it, so she asked for her own.

Yeah, Master said to give her priority.

Yes. So I turned it around as you told me, and wow!　I easily turned down this delicious request that would have connected me to the Countess, Lunamaria!

Yeah.

I'm surprised. I was wondering what you were going to take. You know that request we got from the poorhouse a while back? You know that request from the poorhouse a while back, the one asking you to go to the forest of Titis and find some aldo grass? They accepted that one.


　The reward is five copper coins. That's the amount of money that would disappear if you put a sausage between bread and milk at a stall. This is the domain of a volunteer rather than a request.

　Normally this type of request must be played at the acceptance stage, but as a special exception, it is stipulated that requests from orphanages and relief homes will not be turned down.

　They are put up on the bulletin board in the hope that the adventurers will have good intentions. Occasionally, an adventurer with a free hand will laughingly accept a request as a way to pass the time.


　However, the Aldo grass does not grow on the periphery of the forest, but in a very secluded area. It was hard to imagine that we could go there as volunteers.

　Aldo grass is a medicinal herb for fever. Probably some people were sick in the poorhouse, but it would be too late to treat them. Of course, that point should have been properly explained to him when he accepted the request, but even so, the client did not back down.

　They were still hoping that someone would accept their request.

　As it turned out, that hope was likely to be fulfilled.

　Parfait nodded his head.


''You've suddenly become more active since you left the 'Sword of the Falcon', haven't you, Lunamaria? When we were at the party before, you were smiling and following behind Lars-san and the others, but now you're moving on your own... No, it's probably the 'parasite' behind the scenes that's really active, though...'



　The 'Falcon Sword' had made a name for itself as a spirited young party. If one of them came in and out of the guild with a slave collar around his neck, he would stand out even if he didn't want to.

　As a result, the circumstances surrounding Lunamaria and the 'Falcon's Sword' had already become known to many guild members.

　Even a child could understand that Sora, the 'master', was behind the current Lunamaria.

　Liddell crosses his arms and opens his mouth.


'Lunamaria and the other girl, Seal, have hardly left Ishka. That would mean that the defeat of the Gryphon and the others was the work of Sora-san. It's not something a level 1 person can do. No, in the first place, there's no way a level one person can completely defeat Lars-san one-on-one.

'Oh, that's it!　I wish I could have seen it too. I mean, since I'm the one in charge of the 'Sword of the Falcon', shouldn't you call me rather than my seniors!

'I was there in charge of the receptionist. Anyway, it's strange how Lunamaria and the others are acting right now. I wouldn't want to wave the request around too much if I could, but...


　Parfait laughed off Liddell's fears without hesitation.


'I don't think you need to worry about it so much. He's willing to take care of the salting requests that no one else is willing to do. I'm very grateful for that. I think the parasite is probably desperate to get back to the guild, don't you think?

''I can't believe that someone who rejected outright when Master tried to welcome him as a ninth level adventurer would do that now.

I think you had to let your emotions get the better of you and reject the proposal, but you regretted it later.　I can't say I want to go back to being an adventurer after all, before I rebuffed myself once. That's why I'm doing my best to promote my usefulness via Luna Maria-san. If you think about it that way, he's probably a cute person than you might think.

''Well I don't think he's that simple.


　Liddell said negatively, but looking at Parfait, it was clear that he had no intention of listening to our words.

　As for Parfait, who lost the Falcon Sword, which was in charge and was also a powerful hand, no matter what Lunamaria and Sora are planning to do, as long as they get rid of the request and improve their own reputation, they must be in a state of mind that they don't mind.

　That idea is not a mistake. Rather, it's a correct answer. It's a fact that the requests that Lunamaria is taking on are generally those that the guild can't afford to have.

　Their actions over there are beneficial to the guild, to their clients, and to the city of Ishka. It was Liddell who should have been blamed for attempting to curtail their movements without any hard evidence.



''Those who belong to our guild, whether adventurers or staff, are obligated to work for Ishka,''



　I am reminded of what I told Sola when I handed down the expulsion more than two months ago.

　Now it is Sola who is working for Ishqa, and Liddell who wants to prevent it from happening out of suspicion.

　The situation is brilliantly reversed.

　I'm not sure that they are working to create this situation, but Sora's actions show a glimpse of an intention to taunt the guild.



　An adventurer who was expelled from the guild is cleaning up the requests that the guild can't have. Not only that, they are slaying the Gryphon, destroying the Banshee, exterminating Scylla, and defeating the War Wolf.

　It's as if he's saying that you guys who cut me off were wrong.



　After all, is this an appropriation against the guild?　Is she just laughing at the sightless Liddell and his friends and taking pleasure in them?

　If you ask me, I heard that Sora, who returned to the Blue Little Bird Pavilion, is giving a large amount of tips to father and daughter every day as if it were an act of charity.

　The same thing is being done to the guild, which makes a certain amount of sense.

　It does make sense, however, Liddell was certain that it was not the only thing he was doing.

　Even though there were various circumstances, a person who would drag his former comrades into slavery and divide the party would not be satisfied with just guessing.



　

　On this day, Lunamaria submitted a notice of withdrawal from the guild and formally renounced her status as a sixth-level adventurer.

　At the same time as this withdrawal, several clients applied to the Adventurer's Guild to withdraw their requests. They were fed up with the request that was not progressing at any time, and to request another one.

　It is a party of adventurers who do not belong to the Adventurer's Guild. A new clan led by the one who defeated the Gryphon, killed Scylla, and defeated the War Wolf.

　Its name was called The Sword of Blood and Smoke.