by Funa
The other three were shocked that Mile could be so nonchalant, but as they thought about it, they realized that she was correct.
“I guess it’s true.” Reina agreed with Mile’s assessment. “We completed our job with an A-grade, and we’re getting a bonus. I’d call this a huge success—let’s just enjoy it!”
There was still something unsettling about that man, Byrnclift, but there was nothing to be done about that. No matter what had happened, in the end, the matter was out of the Crimson Vow’s hands. They would report everything they knew, including the matter of the demon, to the guild, and the rest would be for the lord to handle. There really was no more point in them worrying over it.
The man would be dealt with according to the laws of this territory. That was all there was to it.
They were laws that could far too easily be bent by someone in a position of power, but that was none of their affair.
Later that day, just before noon, the Crimson Vow arrived at the capital. They proceeded to the guildhall to process their job completion forms and report the details of their job to the guild master. They then received their payment, along with the bonus that the guild master had negotiated with the lord on their behalf. Apparently, even the lord, who always pinched pennies, was in good spirits and had been more than happy to open his purse.
After that, they excused themselves from the guild, receiving the blessings of the staff and all the hunters present, and ate their fill of luncheon at an inn, before the four of them, exhausted, went straight to bed.
The next day, they headed out toward the capital to begin the journey home.
***
“All right, it’s been a while! It’s time for another ‘Japanese Folktale’!” Mile announced, thinking that everyone could use a change of pace.
This time, however, she was strapped for material.
Hmm, hmm… What would be a good allusion to make here…?
Lobreth, Urashima Taro, bottom… stripes… huh? No no…
Lobreth, Urashima Taro, Uramima Taro… No no no no no! That’s too far away from Lobreth!
Sales Princess… Is this Comiket?!
Unbuying Lady… Is this the Handmade Bride?!
The Hard Old Man… Is there such as thing as a “Soft Old Man”? And there’s the Sleepy Old Man…
“Are you ready yet?”
“Hurry up and start, please!”
As the requests flooded in, Mile became more and more aggravated.
She was in a slump. Mile was ailing.
Dr. Slump? Ailing-chan? No no no no no no no no no!
It was five more days until they reached the capital.
Was little Lenny safely making use of the baths?
Had she turned them into some kind of black-market orphan sweatshop?
Hoping that a least a momentary peace awaited them in the capital, the four marched on, leaving the great, wide mountains to unfurl at their backs …
“Are you ready yet?”
“P-please just give me a moment!!!”
ADELE’S MAGNIFICENT ACADEMY LIFE
Story 4:
Adele’s First Date
“Next rest day will be a day off.”
“Hm? Oh, yes, of course. Rest days are a day of rest!”
“No! I’m saying that this shop is taking a day off!” said Aaron, the owner of the bakery, weary and disappointed with Adele, who, despite her usual impression of clarity, could be a bit dense now and then.
“Every once in a while, we need to take a full day to do maintenance on the ovens. It’s much less of a pain for our regulars if we do this on a rest day, rather than a weekday, when everyone is working, yeah? You need to take it easy sometimes too, Adele. Why don’t you go on a date with a boy or something? I’m sure you’d have your pick of the litter when it comes to boys, right, Adele?” he suggested at the end of Adele’s shift, as she collected her wage of two silver.
“A d-d-d-d-date, you say…?”
Adele suddenly froze up.
Including her previous life, Adele had a track record of 19 boyfriend-less years. If you included her time spent in this world before her reawakening, that was 29 years.
In her time as a singleton, AKA her entire life, she had never even held hands with a boy, let alone gone on a date.
***
“Miss Adele, you’re behaving rather strangely today. Did something happen?”
“Ah, yes, it seems that on our next rest day, I’m supposed to go on a date…” Mile answered glumly.
“Whaaaaaaaaaat?!?!”
A shout filled the classroom.
“Wha-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-wh…”
The most shaken among all of them was Marcela.
“Uh, ahh, Miss Adele, wh-what did you just…?”
“I’m asking, what should I do about my date next rest day?”
“W-with who?! Who are you going on a date with?!”
“I’m telling you, that’s the part I need to figure out first…”
“Whaaaaaaaat?!”
In order to survive in Class A, you needed to have a voice of steel.
After Marcela’s interrogation of Mile, the class finally came to understand the situation.
“In other words, the bakery is closing for the day, and the owner ordered you to go on a date or something?”
“Yes, that’s exactly it! But, I’ve never been out with a boy even once before now, so what in the world do I even do…?”
Why do you have to do anything at all?!
Her classmates interjected silently. Naturally, Marcela was thinking the same thing.
“So what you’re saying is, you’re going on a date, but you’ve yet to actually decide who you’re going with?”
“Y-yes. That’s the sum of it.” Adele replied.
Marcela rubbed her temples with her middle fingers.
“Understood. Don’t you worry about a thing, Miss Adele. Please just be your normal self. We will handle the rest of this.”
***
It happened after class had ended and Adele had exited the classroom.
At the instructions of the girl with the chairwoman-like air, the students swiftly closed and locked the door. The windows, of course, were shut as well.
Adele alone had left the room to return to the dormitory. Everyone else remained there.
“Now then, let the Class A emergency meeting begin!”
With the chairwoman presiding, an emergency conference was taking place.
“The crisis we are currently facing should go without explanation: the incredibly dire prospect of what to do about Adele’s first date. First, we have to begin with the fundamental issue of whether we will allow this date or quash it…”
“Chairwoman, a question!” one girl interrupted, raising her hand.
“Yes, what is it?”
“Will girls be included in the pool of date candidates?”
“Whooooooooooooooooooooaaaaa!!!”
The more than half of the class that was female raised their voices in admiration, perhaps not having even conceived of such a spectacular possibility themselves. Even the chairwoman was moved by this idea, her eyes sparkling.
However, as the chairwoman, she could not allow the conference to be swayed by her own opinion. This matter had to be decided on everyone’s…
“Girls are forbidden to participate!”
The chairwoman pointed at the boy who had interjected. His hand was raised, and she nodded, allowing him to state his opinion.
Even if it was in opposition to her own, she had to allow all assenting and dissenting voices to be heard equally. The chairwoman had to uphold the rules of her position.
“It’s not that I don’t understand how the girls feel. But, as we all know, Adele hasn’t yet awakened to the world of romance. Do you really think it’s all right for her first date to be with a girl? What happens if she starts thinking that dates with girls are especially enjoyable, and that she hates boys because they’re crude and tactless? If she
starts down that path, are you all willing to take on the responsibility of explaining it to Adele’s family?”
“Er…”
“I’ll take it!! If I can be with Adele forever, then…”
Everyone pretended they hadn’t heard the chairwoman’s shout.
“Now, let us summarize today’s meeting. Point one: It is necessary for Adele to go on a date for the sake of her own personal growth, so we shall permit it. Point two: Only boys will be eligible partners for this date…”
The chairwoman ground her teeth, her eyes bloodshot.
“Point three: All eligible partners shall be examined and the final candidate appointed by a council of all the girls in Class A. Point four: If the date in question should attempt to do anything untoward to Adele then… then… I’ll kill them!”
All the girls glared directly at their male classmates.
After that, all the male students were sent back to their lodgings, and the conference continued with only the girls of Class A.
“I think we should exclude any nobles. Adele is more than likely the daughter of a noble family with some extenuating circumstances, so it would be best for her to avoid any special relations with other nobles. Plus, as cute and intelligent as she is, there are probably some idiots who would try to bring her into their own family… Adele is living her life entirely as a commoner for now, so I think it would be better not to put her in a position where she would be in danger of being spotted by the agent of some noble family, or compelled into anything strange.”
The third daughter of a baron stated this extremely sensible opinion.
Everyone thought about this earnestly.
The chairwoman was quite pleased about it.
“Which means, it has to be a commoner,” said the daughter of a merchant. “However, putting her with someone who’s too poor is also… I’m sure that Adele herself wouldn’t mind, but even so, if she got close to someone who is too poorly off in terms of money, he might use her, and that’s just as bad. Between her cute face, the social position that she probably has, and that intelligence of hers… Even though she’s strapped for money now, it’s likely that she never lived like that before she came here, so she probably knows nothing of living among the common folk. It would be so upsetting for her first date to be with some penniless beggar…”
This was a reasonable opinion as well.
“In that case, it must be a merchant’s son. Preferably the eldest. He must not yet have someone he’s betrothed to or courting, and he must be kind and chivalrous. And he must be able to protect her from enemies, even if it means putting his life on the line. That is the sort of man he must be. As for his abilities, if he is in Class A, then we can at least be certain of a minimum there.”
“Agreed!”
“Agreed!”
“Agreed!”
“If there’s a man like that, then I want him!” one girl cried out desperately, only to be shushed.
And so, the difficult selection process began.
“Huh? You want me?”
It was the day after the Class A emergency meeting.
Ignace, the eldest son of a mid-sized mercantile family, suddenly found himself surrounded by his female classmates, who informed him that he had been selected to go on the date with Adele.
“Be aware that the only reason we are allowing you to go on this date with Adele is so that she can develop some experience with courtship! It does not mean that Adele is interested in you or that she will continue to date you in the future. Don’t misconstrue this!”
“Well, I was at yesterday’s meeting too, so I am already aware of that…”
Ignace was at the school to receive an education as the heir of a merchant. He gave a rather mature reply, but was unable to conceal his surprise at being selected.
“Anyway, yes, we did select you. Handle this well!”
As he watched the girls walk away, their declaration made, Ignace muttered to himself, “Why is this happening?”
Of course, it was not that Ignace was totally unhappy about this occurrence.
On the contrary, he was thrilled.
Adele was incredibly cute. She wasn’t a dazzling, elegant maiden like the daughters of high-ranking nobles were, but she had the sort of cuteness that endeared one to her, and made one wish to protect her. Plus, just looking at her gave one a sense of peace and calm.
Also, she was extremely talented.
She was top of the class in intelligence, and could use combat magic, and was so strong in sports that even Kelvin had never once beaten her.
However, even with all of that, it was clear that she was holding back.
For some reason, no matter how much time passed, Adele’s tea never seemed to grow cold.
She always used incantations for her magic, but when she was spacing out or flustered, she tended to use powerful, silently cast spells.
Most unmistakably, she lost on purpose to everyone but Kelvin during sparring bouts.
And then there was the bread and other items that suddenly appeared in her hands when she hadn’t been holding anything moments prior.
Even if she could fool their teachers, who only saw her during class time, her classmates were always with her and saw everything. However, they were also kind, so they never revealed this to anyone.
Should I do it?
Indeed, Ignace was rather lazy, but this did not mean he lacked an interest in girls.
He was going to inherit his family’s shop.
In order to do this, he could not allow any stupid girl or gold-digger to sink their claws into him. To avoid such a fate, the optimal course of action was to be a feminist, being kind to all girls and playing the role of a laid-back fellow who would never lay a hand on a woman.
By birth, Ignace was a commoner, so there was quite a low bar, should he wish to offer his hand to any girls in need. Therefore, he affected a progressive demeanor. If he were slavering over girls all the time, they were certain to doubt him when he did offer his assistance, and that would make things much more difficult.
Such was Ignace’s way. But when it came to Adele…
She was cute. Being with her put him at ease. She was good-natured and clear-headed. Her magical skills and physical ability were far beyond the average. She had storage magic, which, for a merchant, was the dream of a lifetime. With that, you could smuggle as much as you wanted… Ahem!
If they worked together, they could safely transport high-priced goods and wouldn’t need a guard. Plus, there was a chance that any children or grandchildren might inherit those exceptional abilities of hers.
Though they were still four or five years away from even considering marriage, the day was going to come sooner than they knew it.
He wouldn’t be at all surprised if a prize catch like Adele had been betrothed since her infancy. That she might have been up for grabs this entire time would be the more surprising thing.
Even if this were the case, it had nothing to do with him. It wasn’t as though he were looking to gain any connections to Adele’s family, after all. What he wanted was Adele, and Adele alone.
Well, even if they had to disclose the circumstances of her birth when it came time to marry, it wouldn’t be a problem if he ended up being part of a noble family’s line. Absolutely, thoroughly, not a problem. Such an un-problem that his parents and grandparents would be dancing with joy.
All right, I’ll do it! And I’ll give it my all!!
The girls who had so carefully selected him had completely missed the mark.
At least Ignace wasn’t entirely a bad guy…?
***
“I-I hope we have a nice time today!”
It was the next rest day, just around the second morning bell at 9 AM Ignace bowed his head to Adele, who was jittery with nerves.
“Same here! So, anyway, I was thinking that first we would do some shopping, and then some sightseeing at Riverside Park, where we could have our lunch. What do you think?”
&n
bsp; “Y-yes! That sounds good!”
Even counting her previous life, this was Adele’s first date ever.
Her first time holding hands with a boy or even going out alone with one, to say nothing of having a boyfriend.
Though at least here she was already doing better than in her previous life, in which she’d hardly ever had anything more than a two-line exchange with any man besides her father…
The reason that Adele’s teeth were chattering was not that she was embarrassed or excited, but merely because she was “not used to boys”—and because this was her first date!
Really, she was twenty-nine years old, if you included her previous life. Even if you excluded the ten years before her reawakening, she was still nineteen. She was absolutely uninterested in some ten or eleven-year-old child. No matter how much one might say that “The body influences the mind,” or “It’s all a matter of circumstances!” these things had their limits.
Still, in Ignace’s eyes, this was how things appeared:
She’s a novice, nervous about her first date. So cute!
Ignace and Adele toured the capital’s shopping district, wandering around in the various shops.
Adele always worked on rest days, and without money, she had zero interest in buying anything, so she was hesitant to enter these establishments, and had never really seen the inside of them. So, her very first time window-shopping was quite a bit of fun. At least as far as it allowed her to confirm the production levels and variations in goods that were present in this world.
Seeing Adele earnestly checking the selection and quality of the merchandise, and investigating the prices of goods that she never even intended to buy, Ignace was stunned. No, he thought, I don’t think you’re supposed to do this sort of thing on a date. She should be all, “Ooh,” and “Teeheehee”…Or not.
Rather, he observed the way Adele was acting, and thought: