Chapter 398
All Female Party
Allen and Elena, now seven years old, were quiet at the Ruven residence for a while. But as soon as the New Year arrived, they began to fuss about wanting to go out and play. So today, we decided to go to the Adventurers’ Guild to accept an easy request.
“”Guild~♪ Guild~♪””
The two were in a good mood as they sang, holding hands and skipping along.
“You guys get along so well~”
“”Is that bad~?””
“Of course not. I hope you can get along this well forever.”
“”Yeah!””
I hope they will stay good friends even when they grow up.
Or rather, I hope they will grow up as they are, because if they become rebellious or something, the damage that will cause to me will be too heavy.
“”N~?””
As soon as we entered the Adventurers’ Guild, Allen and Elena stared—Jii~… at a certain female adventurer.
“”Snake~?””
“So you noticed.”
“”Ohh~ it’s a snake!””
The woman appeared to have a white ornament on her arm, but it was not an ornament, but a white snake. Was she a tamer?
“Are you not scared?”
“”Is fine!””
“Fufu, I see. Many grown-ups are scared of snakes, you know~”
“It’s cute, though?”
“Can touch?”
“I don’t mind. Give it a pat. Oh, I’m Arya. This child is Kiltie.”
“Allen is Allen.”
“Elena is Elena!”
“Are you twins?”
“”Yea!””
Allen and Elena quickly became friends with the female adventurer.
“”Ah! Hello!””
“Yes, hello.”
“”Excuse me!””
“Fufu, what polite children you are. Here you go.”
And then, they remembered they forgot to say the greetings… so they did hurriedly, and started petting the white snake—Kiltie.
“Are you these children’s brother?”
“Ah, yes. How do you do, my name is Takumi.”
“Kiltie won’t harm anyone unnecessarily, so don’t worry.”
“Thank you very much for your kindness. I’m sorry for the sudden imposition on my children.”
“I think Kiltie is lovely, but many people say they just can’t stand her. I’m very happy to find someone that appreciates her.”
Well, I’m sure a good percentage of people are not good at dealing with reptiles.
“Is that… a Hellsnake? That’s amazing.”
The Hellsnake is a B-ranked monster, I think. It’s a small but highly venomous snake.
It should be quite difficult to capture a monster like this.
“I was lucky enough to meet this one when it was just a newborn.”
“I see. But even if it was luck at first, the reason why she’s attached so much to you is because you love her so much.”
She was very attached to her, so I don’t think it was just an imprinting.
“Arya, can I have a moment—Oh my?”
“Ah, Myra, sorry. Give me a minute.”
“Is there a problem… there doesn’t seem to be one.”
“No problems here. I’m just introducing Kiltie.”
A woman who seemed to be Arya-san’s companion looked at her and our children alternately and blinked her eyes.
“It seems that these kids aren’t afraid of Kiltie.”
“That’s right! They said that she’s cute!”
Arya-san was all smiles. She must have been very happy to hear Kiltie’s praises.
“Myra~”
“Have you found Arya-san?”
“Ellie~ Madrika, over here.”
Two more women came over.
“Oh, Niisan, these three and I are members of a party called ‘Soleil’. The one who came over first is Myra, and the two after her are Ellie and Madrika.”
Arya, perhaps seeing the inquisitive look on my face, hurriedly introduced me to her companions.
“Err, I am Takumi. These children’s older brother.”
“… Takumi? And twins… Ah! The celebrity around this Guild!”
“Euh!? What do you mean!”
Ellie-san? Madrika-san? I don’t know which one she was, but she suddenly pointed at me and said something outrageous.
“I heard the stories about the blue-haired twins led by a person named Takumi, an A-ranked adventurer! Uwah! Amazing! You really are young!”
“Oh my, Ellie-san, is that the truth?”
“It’s true, Madrika. I heard it from the adventurers who are based here!”
It seems that Ellie is the one who started the unintelligible story.
The story is… some kind of rumor? I think the adventurers were talking about me, and she overheard it… but this is the first time I’ve ever been shouted at face to face like this.
“Ellie, don’t be rude to Takumi-san. Stop pointing your finger.”
“Ah, sorry.”
“Takumi-san, I apologize for my member’s rudeness.”
“I, it’s nothing…”
I was surprised at the yelling, but perhaps more surprised at the attention I was getting, which usually was given to the children.
“I heard that you were a young A-ranker, but I got surprised to see that you were even younger than I thought.”
“Ah~ that I can understand~”
Rank is something that you have to work hard to raise, and I doubt there are many people my age who get A rank~
“Ellie, you really should be more mindful.”
“I’m sorry~ Still… I heard that your kids have a lot of gall, and I guess it’s true. Not many kids would pet Kiltie calmly like that.”
Seeing the children petting Kiltie, not only Ellie-san, but also Myra-san and Madrika-san smiled wryly.
“These children seem to like every kind of creature.”
As long as there is no hostility, there is a possibility that they will get along with any kind of creature.
Conversely, no matter how pretty someone looks, they will never get along if they show hostility.
“I assume that everyone in Soleil is from some other town?”
I don’t know all the faces of the adventurers who are based here, as this is not my base of operations either. But a party of only women would be memorable and easy to hear about, and since I had never heard of them, they must be from another town.
“Yes, we are. We are based in the Royal Capital of Crete. We are here on an escort request.”
I asked a question, and Myra-san answered on everyone’s behalf.
Looking at the exchange we had just had, I guess Myra-san, who seems to be of a firm character, is the leader of Soleil?
“Heeh~ so you are from Creta, huh.”
Speaking of the of Creta, it reminds me of the twin princes and griffons~ Come to think of it, I wonder if the griffon child that was born there is growing up well?
“Alright, Arya. It’s time to go look for another request. You’re the leader of this group, so get a grip.”
“… Huh?”
“Takumi-san, is something the matter?”
“No… I was just a little surprised because I thought… that Myra-san was the leader. I apologize.”
It seemed that Arya-san was the leader of the group.
“Oh, so it’s about that. No need to apologize. Arya is the strongest among us, so we let her be the leader. I’m more of a general manager. I’m also in charge of the purse.”
“… In charge of the purse.”
“We have an allowance system, you see.”
“That’s unusual.”
A party generally splits the rewards from the requests equally, excluding expenses.
“Otherwise, the three of them would have spent all their money immediately.”
“Everything!?”
“Indeed. Arya buys armor and magic tools, Ellie mainly eats food, and Madrika buys medicines. If they find something of interest, they buy it immediately. That being the case, I forcefully deposit their money, and hand them a portion as their pocket money.”
“……”
… That’s similar to what I do with Allen and Elena~ I couldn’t say it out loud.