The Corrupt Guildmaster, Approached by the Original Female Rival
A few days had passed since we welcomed Lizette into the guild. I was checking the stack of material-purchase documents left behind while I’d been away in the city of Delta.
Of course, being gone for more than two weeks meant the paperwork had piled up enormously… I’d been spending every night sleeping in the Guildmaster’s office to get it all done. Extra work piled on top of daily work… this really is the same as my old world.
Well, in this case, at least I’m choosing to work overtime of my own free will. It just grosses me out to leave it sitting, so I want to clear it all at once.
I send Emidia home every day. I can’t have her collapsing. If she goes down, all the regular work gets dumped on me alone.
Thinking about that, I kept reviewing documents and stamping each one as confirmed. My desk had turned into a mountain of completed paperwork.
I checked the documents first, then stamped them all together afterward. As I lost myself in the repetitive motion, my thoughts drifted inward.
It’s been a few months since I became Zilkein. I’ve gradually grown accustomed to this body. The most notable part is the integration of memories. I’d already been able to access knowledge about the guild, but now I’ve started recalling Zilkein’s memories from after he became Guildmaster—specifically, information about the guilds in the Western Nations and people connected to them.
But there are still many things I don’t understand. Why Zilkein fell into corruption. His past with the adventurers in this guild and with Emidia. The closer something is to “me,” the harder it is to recall, as if everything is shrouded in fog. Why…?
“… And, that’s the last of it.”
I finished processing every document in the backlog. When I looked at the window, it was already pitch black. Even the taverns had gone dark. The time… around two in the morning.
“I guess I should sleep. I’ll sort everything out tomorrow.”
I turned off the lights and lay down on the sofa. As I settled in, thoughts of Lizette from the past few days surfaced.
Lizette had registered as a D-rank adventurer. Right now she was paired with Fiel for simple monster exterminations. Fiel still wasn’t good at fighting monsters. Thanks to her skill she wouldn’t suffer major injuries, but the exterminations were taking too long. With the quick and agile Lizette joining, their speed had shot up.
Keeping them paired like this is one option, but after that I’d already asked Aron and the others in Red Dragon’s Wings to train Lizette. Someone with her talent is better polished in a high-level environment from the start.
Sleepiness gradually washed over me. Just as I was about to lose consciousness, the door to the Guildmaster’s office slowly opened.
… An intruder? I definitely locked up. How did someone get in?
I reached for the sword hidden under the sofa for self-defense and waited, pretending to sleep as the intruder approached my range.
“Asleep? Hehe, perfect.”
A small laugh. From that voice alone, I knew who it was. I released the sword and waited for her to come closer.
She crept toward me, quiet-footed. Her face neared mine. A shadow straddled me, leaning down. Just as her nose drew near my face, I spoke.
“Again, Lizette?”
“Wah!? You were awake!?”
Startled by my voice, Lizette rolled off the sofa. Moonlight slipped through the curtain gap, glinting off her red hair.
“You came yesterday too. Why do you always show up when I’m just about to fall asleep…?”
“W-well, I just wanted to see your sleeping face…”
“That’s a lie. If that were all, you wouldn’t need to climb on top of me.”
She’d left the guild in a fluster yesterday… Something’s been off about Lizette ever since she came here.
“Tch. I thought today would work…”
Lizette puffed out her cheeks. Looks like it’s best to question her today. I doubt she’s trying to assassinate me, at least.
“Say it. What were you planning to do?”
“Ugh… well, I thought I’d, um… take care of you at night…”
“… Take care of me?”
“D-do I seriously have to say it…!? You’re a man, right? You’ve been staying here every night so I figured you’d be… pent-up.”
Sitting on the floor, she pressed her fingertips together. Even in the dim room, I could see her cheeks reddening. And with that, I understood what she meant.
But why? Was she like this in the original story? Maybe something happened during her assassin days… No, even then, the woman feared as the Black Lightning wouldn’t do something like this.
“Ah! You’re thinking I used to do dirty things, aren’t you!? Like I’d ever do this with someone else!”
Now she was angry. Her expressions really changed rapidly.
“No, it’s just… back when I was in Owl’s Talon, the women taught me stuff. They said women who could do a lot were more useful. I didn’t want any of it, so I never did it myself, but…”
Lizette muttered with her fingers still pressed together.
(*But… with you, I felt like I wanted to try it…*)
“Hm? What was that?”
“N-no no no! Forget it! Look, uh, umm. Emidia doesn’t seem like she’d do that stuff, and Fiel’s clueless… so I figured maybe I could.”
Lizette leaned forward confidently this time.
“With me! I’ll take care of you anytime! It’d be my first time, but… I’m good at learning someone’s preferences! I’ll get good fast!”
Lizette… that is not just “skipping a step,” that’s several leaps…
I should turn her down gently so I don’t hurt her pride.
“I appreciate the offer, but I’ll decline.”
I’m a man, so of course I want that sort of thing… but forming a physical relationship risks giving me motivations other than earning and survival. It’s too soon for me—not even a year since reincarnating.
“… No waaay…”
Tears welled up in Lizette’s eyes. Honestly, I hadn’t expected her to make that face. Maybe now that she’s free from Raltos, a lot of chains have fallen away.
“I… since I did that kind of work, I don’t really know how to get close to people… With colleagues or employers I kept things strictly professional…”
Her eyes still wet, she leaned toward me again.
“I want to get close to you, Zilkein. I’ll do anything.”
This desperate look… I thought the Black Lightning was more like a cat, but is she actually the loyal-dog type?
If she’s the dependent type, that could be useful, but better to reassure her. I can’t have her work suffering.
“I told you, didn’t I? You’ll work under me for life. First learn well, get used to living as an adventurer. I’m looking forward to the day you thrive as one.”
“Really!?”
Beaming, Lizette suddenly threw her arms around me and buried her face in my neck.
“Hey.”
“It’s fine, isn’t it? This is my mark of affection… I’m serious.”
“Get off.”
“Nope. Not letting go.”
“Sigh…”
No matter how much I tried to pry her off, Lizette wouldn’t budge.
“… Zilkein, you saved me from the darkness. You held your throat to my knife and said ‘I’ll let you kill me’… Any woman would fall for that, you know…”
… That was because I’d already known she didn’t want to kill anymore. I wanted her to become an adventurer, and that move ended up hitting harder than intended.
“C’mon, let’s sleep. You’ve got an early morning, right?”
Resigned, I closed my eyes. Lizette really is like a cat.
After a while, I heard her breathing grow steady. Listening to it, I drifted to sleep as well.
…
The next morning, when Emidia arrived for work and saw the two of us, she screamed. Of course she did.
What do you think about this chapter?
