by Funa
In truth, it wasn’t that no one ever tried to start anything with them, but it was all in good humor, so Mavis seemed to put up with it, and Mile was positively chuffed.
Watching her, Reina was stunned. Well, as long as she’s having fun, I guess that’s all right…
There were few bandits or monsters who would ever attack a caravan of this scale, assuming that they had hired the appropriate number of guards. Here, with sixteen hunters on their payroll, this group had erred on the side of caution.
A few days later, the caravan safely arrived in the royal capital of the Kingdom of Marlane without incident.
***
“Oh, Capitaaal! We’re hooome!” Mile announced, repeating her now-favored wording.
“Mile, we’ve never been here before,” Mavis replied flatly.
“Not only is this the first time you’ve been to this city, it’s the first time you’ve even been in this country.”
“Or is this just some new catchphrase of yours, Mile?”
Reina and Pauline appeared equally dumbfounded.
“Anyway, we’ll be staying here for a little while. Let’s go introduce ourselves at the guildhall, check for information, and see if there are any interesting jobs on the boards.”
Indeed, before they even found themselves an inn, it was always important to investigate these three questions. The chances were low, but it was always possible that there might be a job so enticing that they would wish to accept it on the spot and head back out immediately. When you arrived in town, you went to the Guild. That was the hunter’s way.
Ding-a-ling.
Turn…
By this point, they were used to being met with intent, appraising stares of all the local hunters whenever they walked through the doors of a new Guild branch. It wouldn’t be long before everyone’s gazes returned to where they were before…or not.
Stare…
Staaaaaaare…
These were not gazes full of malice. These were bewildered gazes, as though they had all just seen something rare or surprising. While the members of the Crimson Vow felt a bit awkward, they were not angry—just bemused, looking around themselves as they moved toward the boards.
There was nothing particularly valuable on the information board. The buzz surrounding the invasion of Brandel by the Albarn Empire seemed to have all but died down, with the only relevant posting being a Priority E notice that said “Due to some internal conflict within the Albarn Empire, those headed for the Empire should seek further information. All those heading westward are advised to travel via routes in the Kingdom of Brandel.” At the moment, there was nothing more interesting on the job board than what they had left behind back in Tils, either.
“Same as always, huh? I guess just crossing a border isn’t going to give us an especially different distribution of monsters… Should we head somewhere else?”
“Hmm, maybe. That’s probably for the best.”
“Our time as young maidens is short. We can’t sit around frittering it away!”
“Ahaha…”
As the Crimson Vow conversed, a middle-aged man, who appeared to be the guild master, approached them. It seemed someone had summoned him.
“Oh, my! It really is you, the real Crimson Vow, in the flesh!”
“What?”
The four girls spoke in unison, suspicious of his tone.
“We’ve never met before. How do you know who we are?”
“And what do you mean by the ‘real’ Crimson Vow? Has someone been impersonating us?”
Reina and Pauline asked the obvious questions.
Now that they thought about it, the way that everyone had reacted when they walked through the door did give the girls the feeling that they knew something about them.
“Ah, well, the reason that I recognize y’all is that I’ve seen you four before—I was there at the graduation exam exhibition. I usually go and watch it whenever I have the time, and I can arrange my schedule to complete any other errands I have over in Tils.”
“So what was with that reaction we got from everyone else? How do they all know us?”
“Aah… That’s ah, well, perhaps you’d come meet with me for a few minutes? There’s something I’d like y’all to see up in the reference library.”
“What?” they all asked.
The members of the Crimson Vow caught the guild master’s drift—that it was something they should see for themselves—and agreed to go with him. And so, they quietly followed him up the stairs and entered the library, only to see—
There, on display, were four very familiar items.
“The Crimson Vow figures, half-gold discount for the full set!!!!!!” they chorused.
“I’ve recounted the story of yer battles to the others again and again, while showing them these figures…”
“No way!!!!”
Promoting oneself was an important part of every rookie hunter’s job. If someone else helped you out with that, then a thank you was in order. When the guild master of a foreign Guild branch was the one helping you, then really, the only proper thing to do would be to bow your head and grovel in gratitude.
So why was it that the Crimson Vow were raging at him instead?
The guild master, who had been expecting to find himself on the receiving end of the gratitude of four beautiful young girls, froze, mouth agape.
“Wh-why are you all so angry?”
The members of the Crimson Vow exchanged looks. Now that he mentioned it, why were they complaining? They had come up with, crafted, and sold those figures all on their own, for the sake of their first-ever earnings. And to have one’s name promoted in such a way was a huge coup for any hunting party. So really, they ought to thank the guild master and perhaps even do him a favor or two…
“Like heeeeeeellll!!!”
“Eek!”
The guild master, who could not read the girls’ train of thought, was stunned to be so suddenly and loudly redressed. He could not understand what was happening at all.
The Crimson Vow sullenly left the research library behind and headed back down to the first floor, not once offering the guild master even a simple thank you. Then, they continued to walk straight out of the guildhall.
“Wh-what in the world was all that about?”
The guild master truly could not grasp why the Crimson Vow had been so displeased.
“Well, if we can get such a promising newbie party, who made such a flashy debut, to stay here a while, that oughtta be good motivation for everybody… They didn’t bother checking if there were any escort jobs heading right back to Tils, so I’m guessing they do plan to hang around. This might even be the first time they’ve visited Marlane. Well, time to rustle up some of the boys and get them to at least keep coming into town… Geehee. Gyeeheeheehee!”
For the sake of his Guild, the guild master would do anything in his power, shy of breaking the rules.
…Including being rude to another country?
No matter how friendly relations might have been between the two, and no matter how good-natured the guild master normally was, under the circumstances, it wasn’t out of the question.
“………”
The Crimson Vow walked down the avenue, silent and sulking.
Everyone looked as though they wished to speak, but no one dared say a word.
Finally, Mile decided to spark the flame.
“S-so, those figures…”
“P-please don’t say it…”
Mavis hung her head, cheeks going red.
“I didn’t think they’d really be that embarrassing… At the time, we all thought they were so cool!”
“Aaaaaagh, why did I tell you to give me such an embarrassing pose?! Idiot, idiot! I thought it was the greatest thing back then, but I couldn’t have been more wrong!!!”
“Say Mile, I don’t remember you emphasizing the bust on my figure that much…”
The three agonized fretfully.
As she listened, a
thought occurred to Mile: N-now’s my chance! For one of the entries of the Phrases that I’ve Always Wanted to Try Saying collection!
And so the words emerged from Mile’s lips:
“Heh. Seems as though you all can’t accept what you wrought in the follies of your own youth.”
Silence then spread once more throughout the group.
Everyone had taken a grave blow and fell into a deep despair. Including Mile.
“Come to think of it, how many of those did we make?” Mavis asked.
Pauline replied. “One thousand figurines.”
Once again, silence fell.
***
Three days later…
“The Crimson Vow should’ve about finished their sightseeing in the capital by now. Bet they’ll come looking for a job soon.”
Three days was more than plenty for resting-slash-sightseeing, the guild master thought with a grin.
“I’ve put a lotta good things on this board. Lots of interesting, unusual, and challenging jobs, the sort of things those young folks ought to like. I’ve made all the necessary arrangements with the staff to encourage them to take those jobs. Heheheh, I bet they’ll have a lotta fun…”
Then came the fourth day.
“They still haven’t come back, huh? Well, having fun’s an important part of life for young folks…”
Then came the fifth day.
“Okay, all right, that’s enough playing around for now! Oy, you! Go check on them!”
At the guild master’s command, one of the clerks rushed out to go and investigate at the capital’s various inns that were normally patronized by hunters. And yet…
“What? They haven’t checked in anywhere? There’s no trace of them having stayed at any inn? What’s going on here?! They haven’t taken an escort job heading back to Tils or any other jobs at all! Are they camping out to gather stuff for the daily requests or something?!”
Rage as the guild master might, there was nothing more he could do, and the clerks could only scratch their head in confusion at the guild master’s fervor.
***
“We’re pretty far from the capital now. I think this should be good,” said Pauline.
“Sounds right. If we’re this far away, there shouldn’t be anyone around who’s been into that library or who’s heard the stories from the guild master. Let’s stay a little while in the next town,” Reina agreed.
Mile and Mavis nodded in approval.
After the incident at the hall, the party had departed the royal capital of Marlane immediately and not ceased walking down the highway until dusk. They made camp night after night and continued onward, not stopping in any town or village.
For this, there was one simple reason:
There was just no way that they could stay in any town inhabited by anyone who knew of the figures and the guild master’s wild tales.
Yet at this point, they were far enough away from the capital that this should no longer be a problem. There might be those who had been to the capital—and perhaps even to the capital Guild branch—but it was unlikely that they had just so happened to go up into the library or to hear any of the guild master’s yarns.
There was nothing saying they were required to stay in every capital or to even stay in every country during the course of their travels. If there was a boring city, or a country where nothing caught their interest, then they might as well keep straight on to the next city, or the next country. Even if it was no fault of that town or country—a result of nothing but their own folly.
“Given the fact that there are few people who have the time or the leisure to travel for days just to watch the graduation exams at the Hunters’ Prep School in the capital of another country—and the fact that most of the figures were purchased by people who live in the capital, not a lot of them should have made it to other countries,” said Pauline, hoping to comfort the others. However…
“But that means most of them are circulating around the capital of Tils, so…” Mile said, realization dawning.
“Don’t say it!!!”
As always, Mile had failed to read the room.
***
Ding-a-ling.
The doorbell of the guildhall made the same sound as it did in every other branch, as though there was some standardized bell they were all required to use.
Again, the scene unfolded just as it always did when they entered a new guildhall in a new town: all of the gazes in the room turned to fix on the Crimson Vow. Some evaluated, some glared; some looked disdainful, some looked dumbstruck, some looked intrigued, and some looked as though they were already scheming to make trouble.
After a long moment, about half the hunters returned to whatever they had been doing previously. The other half watched the Crimson Vow carefully as they proceeded to the counter. Yes, it was just as it always went down at a new guildhall.
“We are the Crimson Vow, registered Guild members of the Capital branch of the Hunters’ Guild in the Kingdom of Tils. We are currently on a training journey, and we will be staying in this town for a short while.”
As usual, Mavis was the one to announce the group to the clerk at the counter. This was in part because she was the party leader but also because having Mavis do the talking always seemed to get the best reaction from the young ladies on the staff. This was not surprising. If a clerk were approached by a cheeky and youthful-looking pipsqueak—or a somewhat daft and equally youthful-looking pipsqueak—or a young woman whose assets were more prominent than their own—then they might grow a bit petty and say something curt. Until the party got to know the clerks, having Mavis do all the talking was the safest, surest bet.
“My, you’ve come far!” the clerk replied cheerily. “Welcome! We’re glad to have you. Please pardon all the strange stares. It’s almost unheard of to have a party of all young ladies around these parts. In fact, it’s always like this when women come in. That’s honestly a typical reaction for those fellows. Please forgive them, as they don’t mean anything by it!”
“No problem! We don’t mind at all!!!” the Crimson Vow chorused.
“C-come again?”
The clerk was baffled at their enthusiastic response.
Yes, when a party of strange women came in, that was the typical reaction.
Typical. A typical reaction…
“Typical is just fine with us!!!”
Suddenly, the entire party sounded an awful lot like Mile…
Chapter 65:
The Frontier City
The city was a small frontier town in the eastern reaches of the Kingdom of Marlane. Though it was comparatively small, it was in fact a town of middling size, home to branches of both the Hunters’ Guild and the Merchants’ Guild. It was the sort of place that, while perhaps two or three ranks lower than a metropolis like the royal capital, would be referred to by the citizens of the countryside as a big city, the sort of place to which all the grandmas and grandpas of the countryside might go on a once-yearly outing with their sons and daughters and grandchildren.
For the common folk of these remote lands, who would never think to run off and forsake their home turf, the kingdom’s capital was a place you might only visit once in a lifetime, unless you were a merchant or something of the like. So, in terms of the common person’s reality, this place was as close to a city as one got.
Such was the nature of the frontier city, Mafan. If all you wanted was simple living—not too rural, not too metropolitan—alongside a river that never dried up even in the worst drought, then it was not at all a bad place to live. It was situated close to the border with the neighboring country, and while relations with that country were not especially good, they were not so bad that a war was likely to break out anytime soon, so this wasn’t too much of a problem. In addition, Mafan offered an ideal stopping point for the trade routes that ran through the area, which was quite the advantage for a small city such as this.
“This seems like a town where you could really take it easy,
” Mile said cheerfully.
“We don’t have time to ‘take it easy’ on a training mission!” Reina scolded.
Currently, the members of the Crimson Vow were in the room they had taken at one of the inns. As always, they had chosen their lodgings after first carefully investigating all the inns in town and asking around about them… Though of course, if they didn’t like the place they first chose, they could just switch to another one.
The price, rooms, amenities, cleanliness, and the food and such were all all just fine…
Only, there was no catgirl.
This place had no catgirls…
There was the married couple who owned the place, a chef of about thirty, and a young woman of around seventeen who worked as a waitress and did odd jobs. All of the owners’ children had married and moved off to the royal capital to make a name for themselves, so the chef and the waitress both appeared to be regular salaried employees.
When Mile asked whether the owners did any cooking at all, the two immediately looked at her askance.
Everyone in the world has one or two things that they don’t ever wish to talk about. Therefore, when Mile saw their reaction, she enquired no further.
Even though there were no children here for Mile to fawn over, the waitress, Mitella, was a bit of a flirt. She was red-haired and freckled, with charming looks and a strong will…which was to say, she would have perfectly fit the part of a waitress in a saloon.
Perhaps because she was roughly the same age as Mavis—who, her birthday having passed, was now eighteen—she seemed to be fond of teasing her, though not in an ill-natured manner. Rather, she dragged her shopping on her days off or followed her around for no particular reason, all of which left Mavis nonplussed.