Fans
When I looked to see who’d grabbed my shoulder, it was Brother Gene. The one with his arm around Belle’s shoulder was Young Master Eric.
“Jo, sorry to keep you waiting. Let’s go turn in our report.”
“The counter’s over there. Let’s go, Belle.”
Brother Gene and Young Master Eric completely ignored the trio standing in front of us and just kept talking. From the outside, it definitely looked like a group of guys trying to hit on girls who already had their men with them. Normally, that would be enough to crush anyone’s spirit and send them packing, but—
“Uh, um…”
I never expected them to talk to us again, so both Belle and I froze in surprise. The one who spoke was Joey.
“Huh? You need something?”
Brother Gene sounded irritated for once—he was even leaking a bit of intimidation.
“Eeek! U-um… are you perhaps… sixth-years, Senior Lampail and Senior Adams?”
“Yeah, and what if we are?”
Even Young Master Eric’s irritation flared, and the pressure doubled.
“""Eek….""”
Despite trembling under their aura, the three somehow managed to meet each other’s eyes and nod.
“""W-we’re your fans, seniors!""”
“"""Huh?"""”
The four of us—me, Belle, Brother Gene, and Young Master Eric—just stared blankly, completely unable to process what we’d heard. Even the surrounding adventurers and receptionists had turned to watch, frozen with the same confusion.
“No way, this is amazing.”
“Seriously, can’t believe we get to talk to Senior Lampail and Senior Adams!”
“I’m totally bragging about this to my classmates!”
And that’s how we ended up drinking tea with them in the tavern next to the guild, somehow.
After listening to their story, it turned out that when Joey and his friends had called out to Belle and me that morning, it had genuinely been out of kindness. Later, they realized we were the girls who’d had lunch on the terrace with their admired seniors. They waited for us to come back so they could ask us to introduce them. Then Gene and Eric showed up, thought we were being hit on, got mad, and—well, here we are.
“Ahh, I see. Sorry about that. Thought you punks were hitting on Jo, so I might’ve gone a little overboard with the intimidation.”
“Same here. My bad.”
“N-no, no, we should be the ones apologizing. We didn’t realize you two were their fiancés.”
“"""Huh!?"""”
“No, no, that’s not it!”
All four of us froze again, but Brother Gene was the first to recover, quickly waving his hands.
“Eh? Really? From how you talked and acted, we totally thought—”
“Jo’s my little sister. And Miss Belle is Eric’s cousin.”
“Sorry about that. We don’t use our family names while adventuring.”
“S-sorry…”
“Ah, please, raise your heads. It’s fine—you just made an assumption, that’s all.”
While the boys continued their excited chatter, we girls slipped away to the counter to turn in our reports.
“… Yes, thank you for your hard work. The beach cleanup’s been approved. As for the Karkinos subjugation, we’ll confirm the parts at the dismantling area. I’ll guide you there.”
As we stepped out of the guild and started toward the dismantling yard in the back, the receptionist suddenly bowed her head deeply.
“I’m so sorry! About my little brothers!”
“""Eh? Little brothers?""”
“One of the trio you were just with—Joey—is my younger brother.”
“Really!?”
“And, um… my older brother Guts serves in the private soldiers’ corps. I apologize for the trouble both my brothers have caused you, Young Lady Joan.”
“Eh!? You’re Guts’s little sister!?”
“Yes. Four years ago, my brother caused trouble, and before I could apologize properly, now my little brother’s gone and done it again… I’m truly sorry.”
“Oh, no, please raise your head. Things were complicated with Guts back then, and Joey was just worried about us—and, well, a fan of my brother. No trouble at all.”
“But still…”
“I’m really fine, so don’t worry about it. Umm…”
“Ah, I’m Alyssa. Thank you so much. Well then, shall we head to the dismantling area?”
When we arrived, several dark-skinned, burly men were busily working.
“Boss! We need a hand!”
“Yeah, yeah!”
Answering Alyssa’s call, a man with skin darker than anyone else’s turned around with a gleaming grin, his white teeth flashing brilliantly.
Whoa, he’s practically shining.
He totally looks like that famous singer from my previous life… wonder if he’s gonna start singing “Sweet Melody of Love” or something.
“This is the boss here—Mr. Gellucci.”
(Even his name’s similar!)
“Huh? Haven’t seen you young ladies before.”
“Boss, this is Young Lady Joan, granddaughter of Lord Will, and her friend, Young Lady Belle.”
“Ahh, the young lady, huh? … Well, you’re even cuter than the rumors said.”
“Umm… rumors?”
“Huh? That you threw a bunch of big guys around until they fainted, and tamed that cranky old hag who sells dried fish.”
“""Huh?""”
What!? How did that story get so exaggerated!?
I only floored one drunk guy! And that cranky old hag’s gotta be old lady Sacchan, right!?
“No, no, those stories are way overblown.”
“Yeah? Well, either way, since you’re Lord Will and Lady Lindsay’s granddaughter, no one questioned it much.”
“""...…""”
“W-well, anyway, could you take a look at the Karkinos?”
“Ah, sure. Here’s fine?”
“Yeah, go ahead.”
Uh oh, it’s too big to take out the normal way when it’s frozen solid… guess I should warn them first.
“What’s wrong, Joan?”
“... Hm? Oh, sorry. Uh, it’s in my storage, but it’s pretty big, so please don’t be surprised. Also, the way it comes out is because my storage skill’s S-rank.”
“Huh? Don’t really get it, but sure, go ahead.”
“All right then…” Thud!
I pulled out the claw.
“"""""!!"""""”
“S-so big… Wait, could this be…? E-excuse me for a moment.”
Alyssa seemed to realize something and rushed off somewhere.
“Young lady, why’s it frozen solid?”
“Eh? To keep it fresh.”
“You’re gonna eat it?”
“Eh? You don’t?”
“In Phantasmo, seafood’s plenty. No one goes out of their way to eat Karkinos.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Still, it’s huge. Want us to buy it? It’d fetch a good price if we process it into weapons.”
“Hmm, what should we do?”
“Hold up a secoooond!!”
Just as Belle and I were about to discuss it, Alyssa came running back, out of breath.
What do you think about this chapter?
