Titles Like That Sound so Cool
“Ah, and also, Missy. That white one over there… don’t tell me… is that a Fenrir?”
“Huh? Guildmaster, you can tell?”
“Well, it’s not like I can tell exactly… it’s just the aura, or rather, its presence isn’t that of a dog. I am an S-ranker here, you know.”
“Ah, I guess people who know, really do know. Yeah. This is my familiar, Fenrir—Pearl. Pearl? Say hello.”
(I’m Pearl. Nice to meet you.)
““““It talked!?””””
“Ah, after contracting with me, she became able to talk.”
“But I always imagined Fenrirs to be huge and scary. Doesn’t look much different from a dog.”
Said Jackal.
“Ah, well. This is her city form. Want to show them your true form, Pearl?”
(Okaaay.)
““““Wha—!!!””””
The four of them were stunned as Pearl grew to a size larger than a lion. And just then, misfortune struck—Lily came back into the room.
“I got the plate—kyahhh!!”
“““““Ah…””””” (Oops.)
Seeing Lily collapsed again—
“I’m sorry, Lily. She’s mine, so there’s no need to worry. Pearl!”
Pearl returned from lion size to puppy size and toddled over to Lily.
(Whiiine… sorry for scaring you.)
“So, so cute!!”
Still collapsed, Lily petted Pearl enthusiastically.
Afterward, Lily—now smitten with Pearl—handed over the iron plate, and I slid it onto the silver chain Gene gave me.
“But still… I’d heard the rumors, but I didn’t expect you to be this far outside the norm~”
The Guildmaster muttered, leaning on the desk with his cheek in hand.
“Rumors?”
“Yeah. There’s this fruitless girl who rides a Pegasus and makes amazing food. Also does emergency treatment and whatnot. I heard about the Direwolf incident the other day.”
“Oh, that time. Hm? Fruitless girl?”
“Ah—sorry. You didn’t know? Fruitless is a nickname people use to poke fun at people with the Null attribute.”
“Oh, I see. So ‘fruitless’—null (nashi)—is a play on the word for pear, nashi.”
“Doesn’t that bother you, Missy? Being mocked like that…”
“Me? Not really? I don’t have any trouble being Null. Oh, and Kodak, that whole ‘missy’ thing bothers me, so could you stop? Here, everything runs on merit, right? So just call me by name—drop the honorifics.”
“Uh… right, then. Uh… Joan? But like, doesn’t not having an attribute make it hard to attack and stuff?”
“Hmm… well, Pearl has both Lightning and Water, and she’s strong… so even if I don’t have any myself, I think it’s fine?”
“““Seriously…?”””
“But what if you’re out camping and don’t have access to water or fire for cooking?”
Jackal asked.
“Camping, huh… Hmm, I think I’ll be fine? I’ve got storage.”
“No, no, even with storage, food won’t last for days in there, right?”
“Oh, my storage is S-rank, so it’s fine.”
““““WHAAAT!?””””
“S-rank storage… so that’s how you kept pulling out those trick weapons and one-handed swords during the test earlier… Wait, but you weren’t chanting anything, were you?”
Jackal looked confused.
“Nope, chantless. Like this…”
As I said that, I summoned a one-handed sword into my right hand.
““““WHA—!!””””
That’s right! As you noticed, recently I’ve been able to just imagine something in storage, and it pops right into my hand! And I can store it away just as instantly. Isn’t that amazing?
To outsiders, it probably looks just like magic.
Yup, like ta-da~! Magic kitty!
“… Missy, what else are you hiding?”
“Excuse me? Hiding?”
“I’m talking about all the outrageous stuff! You’re Null, but have S-rank storage, familiars that are Pegasus AND a Fenrir… What else?!”
“Hmm… not sure if I can say much more, so can we leave that for next time? Oh, and about the familiars—it’s Pegasus, Pegasus, and Fenrir.”
“Why’d you say Pegasus twice?”
Geese asked.
“Eh? Because I have two of them. Oh, and this part I can probably tell you.”
“What is it?”
“I have nine skills.”
““““NIIINE!?!””””
Oh my, what a synchronized reaction. You’re all such good friends. If only you’d harmonized better—shame, really.
Oh, and… there’s one more thing I should say.
“But actually, I might not have been allowed to say all that either, so… please keep it to yourselves. If anyone lets it slip…”
“What happens if we do?”
Kodak asked.
“Grandmother, who’s currently home for the holidays, and Nancy might come here…”
““““EEEK.””””
“P-Please no. Hey, you guys—don’t say a word!”
“““Okay!!!”””
Knock knock knock.
““““UWAAH!!””””
Aren’t you all overreacting? It’s just a knock.
“Guildmaster? Someone’s here to pick up Miss Joan. Should I let them in?”
Lily asked, peeking her head through the door with a puzzled look.
“Y-Yeah, sure. Let them in.”
“Excuse me.”
The person who entered was Noel, my older brother. The four relaxed seeing him—but then froze again when they saw who came in after him.
“““Iceflower Demon!!!”””
“Nancy!?” Thud.
The Guildmaster stood up so suddenly he smacked his knee into the desk.
Seeing that, Brother Noel and I smiled wryly.
“You were taking a while to come back, so we came to check on you. Originally, Nancy said she’d go alone, but I ended up tagging along.”
“Ehehe. Thank you, Brother Noel. And thank you too, Nancy.”
“You’re welcome. By the way… what’s this Iceflower Devil thing?”
“““““……”””””
"Whoa~ Brother Noel just dropped a bomb~"
In response, Guildmaster and the others silently avert their eyes—! Nancy was glaring at them with murderous intent~ And thanks to Nancy's anger, the room temperature is dropping—!!
"Uh... Apparently, that's one of Nancy's epithets. Pretty cool, right, Brother Noel?"
"Heh~ it really is cool. As expected of you, Nancy."
"O-oh, thank you. But that’s all in the past now."
Nancy’s embarrassed reaction makes the room temperature return to normal, and Guildmaster and the others let out relieved expressions.
"Well then, shall we head back? Father and the others must be waiting eagerly."
"Yes. Oh, Guildmaster and everyone—about earlier, please handle it."
"Ah, y-yeah, of course. Right, guys?"
“”"Yes."””
"Then, we’ll take our leave."
What do you think about this chapter?
