Bought? Hunted?
“Um, Count Burst. We thought we’d bring you a gift, so we hunted these on the way here. Where should we put them?”
“Hm? Bought them? Anywhere’s fine.”
“No, not bought… we defeated them. So…”
“Ah… my apologies. In that case, shall we head over to the training grounds? I’ll show you the way.”
“Ah, forgive me. I was entrusted with a letter from my father for you, Count.”
“Oh? Then I’ll leave the guiding to Belle. My wife and son should be back from their inspection soon. The private soldiers will be returning from patrol as well, and Eric and the others should be arriving.”
With the letter handed over by Brother Gene, Belle’s father left the reception room.
“This is our training grounds. They’re smaller and less well-equipped than Lampail’s, but… so? What exactly did you defeat?”
“Uh, an Owlbear and an Eel—no, a Giant Snake.”
“Eh? Two of them? Where were they?”
“Uh, on the road to the domain capital.”
“What? On the road?”
“Yep. Pearl said the two of them were fighting over territory there.”
“Ah… I see. Well, thank you for subjugating them. If any commoners had run into them, it would’ve been worse than just injuries.”
“Okay then, I’ll bring them out… here!”
I raised my hand and pictured the Owlbear and Giant Snake in my storage.
Thud. …Thud.
“Whoa, those are pretty big.”
As Belle muttered that, we heard the clattering of something dropped behind us.
When we turned, there were Burst family’s private soldiers staring.
“Y-Young Lady Belle… wh-what in the world is that…?”
“Eh? Owlbear and Giant Snake.”
“No, we can see that! I mean, how did you get them?!”
“Ah, well, Young Master Gene and Joan’s gift?”
“““““A g-gift….”””””
“Uh, nice to meet you, I’m Joan Lampail, eldest daughter of House Lampail.”
“And I’m Gene Lampail, second son.”
“Oh, thank you kindly. I am Guile, captain of this private troop. Um… you said it was a gift, but… where did you find these?”
“On the road to the domain capital.”
At that, Captain Guile excused himself, formed a circle with his men, and whispered. Soon, one soldier ran off somewhere.
“Guile? What’s going on?” Belle asked.
“Ah, forgive me, young lady, everyone. Actually, these two beasts have already caused casualties. The Adventurers’ Guild has a request out for them. Therefore, I must trouble you to accompany us to the guild, if you would.”
“Ah, I see… Sorry about that, Young Master Gene, Joan.”
“No, don’t worry about it. Um, I should put them away then, right?”
I raised my hand again and stored the two beasts back into storage.
“““““!!!”””””
“““Ah…””””
The Burst soldiers, who had never been told about Joan’s storage ability, stared wide-eyed. Joan, Gene, and Belle instantly regretted having carelessly used such an outrageous skill as usual.
“Th-th-that just now…?”
“Uh, storage?”
“No, but you only raised your hand…”
“Ah, um, I’m Storage-S rank, that’s why!”
“““““Ahh, I see.”””””
Not knowing much about skills, the private soldiers readily accepted that explanation.
“Idiot, Joan! This isn’t General’s territory!”
“Sorry…”
“Well, they didn’t catch on, so it’s fine.”
Inside the carriage trailing Captain Guile on horseback, Gene scolded me.
Since we were friends of the lord’s daughter and from a marquis house, the procedures were carried out in the guildmaster’s office.
The Burst Guild’s guildmaster was a kind-looking older man.
“… Alright. That completes the paperwork.”
He accepted our report without question, even though we’d left out Pearl’s involvement.
“Um… are you sure that’s okay?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I mean, you agreed so quickly…”
“Ah, that. Normally, if it were ordinary adventurers—especially a young lady—I might be doubtful. But you’re registered with Lampail Guild, and besides, Morgan already informed me.”
““Huh??””
It made sense to trust us for being with Lampail Guild, but why a message from our guildmaster back home?
“Oh? He didn’t tell you? Well, before the letter, I’d already heard about you from Morgan. There’s an annual guildmaster’s meeting in the capital. He told us then about a promising new recruit—your rapid promotion pace and quest completion were extraordinary.”
“Extraordinary, huh…”
At my mutter, Gene and Belle shook beside me like vibrating phones.
“Yes. But when he bragged, the other guildmasters claimed Lampail Guild was cheating, said you were exploiting the system. Morgan got furious and revealed you were the margrave’s daughter, student of Lady Lindsay Lampail herself. That shut them all up. And oh, the smug look on Morgan’s face…”
Oh, for crying out loud, Morgan.
And seriously? A smug face? Like a kid!
“Then, when he learned you’d be coming to Burst, he sent a letter via teleportation circle, saying to expect you to hunt outrageous monsters here too.”
Apparently, every guildmaster’s office has a teleportation device for letters and paperwork.
It looked like an ordinary box, with a handle. You open it, put in the letter, then enter the recipient’s name on a panel. How it worked? I hadn’t the faintest clue.
Later, Brother Gene told me the student dorms had one too. And oddly enough, so did Father’s office…
Why Father’s? When I asked him after we got home, he looked into the distance and said, “His Majesty ordered me to keep one.”
What do you think about this chapter?
