Dagger and Brad
After the start of the second term, I was still spending my free periods and after-school hours at the Adventurers’ Guild with Belle and Pearl, same as always.
There are three Adventurers’ Guild branches in the royal capital, each with its own distinct character. The one in the East, near the noble district, is dazzlingly ornate — or, put bluntly, a monument to wasteful spending. It’s notorious for “selling” ranks to anyone who can pay enough, which has really tarnished the reputation of the capital’s guilds as a whole.
The West branch, located in the commoners’ quarter, is known for being fair and honest in its work.
And the one I go to is the South branch, the closest to the academy. Since many students use it, it’s always crowded with them on weekdays.
This afternoon, I was supposed to have Martial Arts class, but the teachers had a schedule conflict, so class was canceled. I changed out of my uniform in the dorm and headed out with Belle, Pearl, and Rosso toward the guild — only to run into Dagger and Brad.
Dagger’s a commoner from the capital. He’s got short dark-green hair styled in a soft mohawk, sharp gray eyes with a clear double crease, and he’s tall for his age — so tall my neck hurts if we talk too long face to face. Brad has orange wolf-cut hair, narrow upturned brown eyes, and he’s about a head taller than me.
Even though we’d had a bit of drama during the end-of-term exams, after that incident, the boys in the Martial Arts class started to respect Belle and me — to the point where they’d sometimes come to us for advice.
“Ah, there you are! Joan! Belle!”
Dagger spotted us coming out of the girls’ dorm and waved.
“Huh? Dagger, Brad… what’s this? You two stalking us?”
““Who’re you calling stalkers?!””
“Ahaha, I’m kidding, I’m kidding. Sorry, sorry. So, what’s up?”
“Well, we had a favor to ask and went by Class A, but they said you’d already left. So we figured if we waited, we might catch you.”
““A favor?””
“Yeah, but we can’t just stand here talking… Have you eaten lunch yet?”
“Nope, not yet. We were thinking of grabbing some skewers from a food stall.”
“We haven’t eaten either. Mind if we join you?”
“Sure, go ahead! Oh, and you can treat us if you want.”
“Huh? Why would we do that?”
“Eh? Because we’re ladies?”
““Hah? Since when?””
“C’mon, just look at us?”
““Pfft—ahahaha! Yeah, right!””
Unbelievable.
Laughing so hard their stomachs hurt — how rude can they get?
— Well, you can’t blame them. You don’t really look like a lady.
— Hey, Pearl, not you too…
— But you totally look like an adventurer. Besides, you’re you, Joan.
Did she really need to say that telepathically?
By the time Dagger and Brad finished laughing, someone called out from behind us.
“Hey! What’re you guys doing?”
Souya and Riki were coming over from the boys’ dorm.
“Oh? You two heading to the guild too?”
“Yeah. Gonna grab something to eat first, though. What’s going on?”
“Ah, we’ve got a little favor to ask Joan and the others… and if you two are free, maybe help out too.”
““Huh?””
The six of us each bought whatever we wanted from the central market and met up at a nearby park.
“So? What’s this favor?”
I bit into an orc skewer from the stall Gene-nii-sama once recommended, washed it down with juice from a fruit stand, and looked at Dagger and Brad.
“Well, uh… sorry to drop this on you, but could you help us out at an orphanage?”
““““Huh?””””
“See, we took a job before to fix the roof and clean up at the orphanage in the west district. We got close with the kids and the sisters there, but now both the head sister and the director have caught a bad cold…”
“Ah, so that’s why you need help?”
“Yeah. Our moms have been going over at mealtimes to cook for them, but… they caught the cold too.”
“So you want help with cleaning and stuff, since cooking’s out?”
“Right. We can’t handle everything ourselves.”
“If your moms are down sick too, what about your meals?”
“They’ve been eating out, apparently. I only know ‘cause my little sister told me — I stay in the dorms. The orphanage has some bread stocked up, but still…”
“Has anyone reported the situation? The orphanages are managed by local lords, right? There should be someone responsible.”
In the capital, there are two government-run orphanages, one in the west and one in the north.
“No… since the director’s sick too, we didn’t know who to tell…”
“All right, I’ll report it then.”
I held out my hand and summoned a mini pegasus, picturing the letter in my mind.
The message was addressed to Amy— that is, Her Majesty the Queen.
When the little pegasus vanished from my palm, I knew it had flown off safely.
“... Joan, who’d you report it to?” Brad asked, puzzled.
“Oh, probably the one managing the orphanage? Anyway, we should go there first! Ah, but before that, we’ll need to buy some ingredients at the market.”
“But wait, there’s no one there who can cook, right?” Riki said.
“Eh? I can cook.”
““““What? You can?””””
“Yep. Actually, I’m pretty good at it.”
“Wait, so that lunch you always pull out of your storage and eat on the terrace— you made that yourself?”
“Huh? Oh, you knew about that, Souya? Yeah, that’s mine.”
““““……””””
For some reason, everyone went silent after my answer.
“Hm?”
I tilted my head, and Belle quietly explained the reason.
“Joan, generally speaking, noble ladies don’t cook.”
“Oh, right. So, I guess Belle and I aren’t exactly typical.”
“Eh? You can cook too, Belle?”
“I’m not as good as Joan, though.”
““““Seriously…?””””
“Well anyway, let’s go shopping.”
After that, we split into two groups.
Me — with Pearl and Rosso, of course — plus Dagger and Souya, went to the butcher and greengrocer.
Belle, Brad, and Riki headed to the bakery and dairy shop.
I covered the cost for everyone, and we agreed to meet up at the orphanage once shopping was done.
What do you think about this chapter?
