The next morning, we walk through the grassy field and come across cattle.
“Look at all that cattle, Mister Loyd!”
Says an excited Iris while pointing.
“It’s probably the livestock that was evacuated because of the meteorite.”
There was a warning three days before the meteorite hit, so it was reported to the guild that the livestock wasn’t harmed.
I guess the owner of the farm let them loose on this grassy field.
“I see, I’m glad they’re fine. I just hope the rest of the livestock is too.”
Says Iris with a satisfied nod.
Her natural kindness really comes through in her words.
After noon, we reach our destination.
There’s rubble all around, burned grass, and scorched earth in a three kilometer radius where the meteorite hit.
There is a ten meter meteorite in the center, stuck deeply into the earth that stands out even more than the rest.
All the lighthearted chat from the adventurers has come to a stop.
“This is awful. It’s like the whole place was slashed and burned.”
Says the normally easygoing Lela, and the more sensitive adventurers cry when they see the awful state of the farm.
After several adventurers start crying, a laugh is heard that blows away the sad mood around the farm.
“Ho, hohohohoho! What kind of pathetic guildmaster doesn’t console her partners when they cry!?”
We turn towards where the voice came from, and see a five meter tall golem.
The top of its head is flat, and there is a girl on it.
She has lustrous black hair, jade green eyes, and her white skin shines under the sunlight.
She’s wearing a gothic style mini dress with her shoulders and midsection exposed, and her short skirt shows her long and healthy looking legs.
Her face is pretty cute, but her haughty attitude and crossed arms give off a kind of confident impression.
People’s eyes focus on her, and she laughs even louder.
“Hawawa, what should we do, Mars? With that mini skirt, it feels like every time the wind blows, it will reveal her underwear at that height.”
“That’s not good. I think we should start by taking you to a mental hospital.”
That’s harsh, Mars.
All the other adventurers look bewildered by this mysterious girl.
“Ho, hohohoho! Has my majestic arrival left you too surprised for words?”
“Hum, you showed up all of a sudden, but who even are you?”
I ask, and she points at me, before laughing with a daring expression.
“Good question. I am the guildmaster of Luminous, the genius alchemist No…”
Is all she manages to get out, before a sad yell echoes, feeling like it’s ripping through the ground.
“Nuaaaaaaah! I dropped it! I dropped my gigantes beetle somewhere!”
Yells a male adventurer while holding an empty bug cage.
I think the word wailing could be more appropriate here.
The girl who was interrupted clearly twists her lips, revealing her anger.
“Ah? Who cares about that? I am the genius alchemist No…”
“Gigantes beetle! My gigantes beetle! Nuaaaaaah!”
“Ah, enough already! Shut up! Someone go look for his gigantes beetle!”
The girl yells, and adventurers start crawling on the ground to look for it.
And some seconds later…
“There it is!”
Lela finds it.
She sticks her hand under a wagon, and grabs it.
“That’s my gigantes beetle! T-thank you. You’re my savior!”
“No no, these are also popular in the elven village. Don’t drop it again.”
She says while giving it back, and everyone breathes a sigh of relief as we see it back in its bug cage.
Come to think of it, I used to catch bugs too. Maybe I should go back to it, and sell rare bugs to collectors… Nah, my mindset is completely different from when I was a kid.
I turn around, and see the girl on top of the golem has been left completely alone. Everyone’s completely forgotten about her.
What was her name again? Her black hair is really beautiful.
“Hum, your name is Kuwagata, right?”
“Who’s Kuwagata!? These are braids, not horns! How rude!”
She says while angrily swinging her braids, that go down to her waist, like whips.
I guess that wasn’t it. Actually, she didn’t get to finish her name, but I’m sure it was No something.
But just as I’m about to ask, Isolte speaks, after being quiet all this time.
“What do you even want?”
She steps in front of us with a serious expression, and once the girl sees Isolte, her lips raise into a thin smile.
“Oh dear, always such a cold treatment, Isolte Von Minefort.
You can’t say even one tactful word after half a year?”
I guess they know each other.
The fact that she said that long official name characteristic of nobles without stuttering for a second is impressive to me.
“This is my natural personality. I can’t change it on a whim.”
“Hmph, fine. I’ll let it go, since we haven’t seen each other in so long.
More importantly, you are a little troubled, are you not?”
“Troubled?”
Isolte throws the question back, and No something responds while pointing at the ruins around her.
“Of course. The bumpy scorched field littered with rubble is not suitable for a farm.
Even I am not sure where to start with this.”
“Yes, there is a lot to do, but grumbling won’t solve it. We just need to take it one thing at a time, and be careful about accidents.”
“Hmph, an overly straight answer, just like you. But everyone in Minerva will be troubled unless this is done quickly.
It’s important to follow a procedure, but you need to accept the help of a genius alchemist rival when the time calls for it, don’t you agree?”
She says while hiding a giggle behind her sleeve.
“So you want to help the guildmaster?”
I ask, summarizing it.
“Wha!? N-no, not at all!
I came here because I should, as a guildmaster, not for Isolte! Why would I need to help her!? It’s not like I care about her at all!!”
She says very fast with her face turning bright red, and then she turns around and snorts.
Even just looking at the side of her face, I can still tell she’s red all the way to her ears.
And then Lela walks over to me with a big smile on her face, and whispers into my ear.
“That’s a classic tsundere. That type always falls when you catch them off guard, so we have a chance now, Loyd.”
“It’d be bad if she fell from that height.”
The golem isn’t that big, but that’s still five meters. It’s like the second floor of a building.
“This boy doesn’t get it. Just keep misunderstanding it your whole life.”
Lela smacks her lips. Why is she mad at me? It doesn’t make any sense.
I really don’t get what brings her to a boiling point.
“Don’t worry about what Lela is saying. It’s just one of her fits.”
Mars says with an awkward smile.
Anyway, what the girl says makes sense.
It would be easy for us if we just followed Isolte’s orders and didn’t think about it, but it can’t be easy for Isolte to direct everyone.
Also, the more this goes on for, the worse it will be for families and industry in Minerva. But wouldn’t Luminous, that’s under the girl’s jurisdiction, be more affected than Minerva?
Luminous.
According to the map, it’s a small town on the other side of the mountain.
Much like how Minerva is a town that centers around its adventurer guild, Luminous is about its alchemy.
I’ve never been there, so all I have is what I’ve heard, but apparently it’s smaller than Minerva.
I’ve been living in Minerva for half a year now, so I’ve noticed that its scale is closer to being a remote city rather than a town, but I think that’s down to its fine infrastructure that comes from Isolte being great.
And now, that same Isolte is dealing with this important case.
How is Luminous dealing with it? The girl then starts explaining her plan, as if answering my questions.
“It’s very simple. We let most of the cattle on the plain, and moved some of it to temporary facilities in Luminous.
Luminous isn’t as big as Minerva, so a few cows will be enough for us.”
She’s using her head. I didn’t know a guildmaster had this kind of power, but I guess an alchemist has all kinds of connections.
An alchemist… It’s not her fault, but being reminded of Ruby isn’t making me feel happy.
“So as I said, we are not too troubled. It’s mostly just you in Minerva.
It must suck to have an unreliable guildmaster. Ho, hohohohoho!”
She laughs loudly, as if celebrating her victory.
“But if you insist, I guess I will lend you a hand. If we use a soil healing chemical called hyper energy I finished this morning, the ruined land should easily…”
But then…
“Everyone, listen!”
Iris yells suddenly, and everyone’s eyes focus on her. She overwhelms her surroundings with an imposing air around her.
“Eh? H-hum…”
“This situation can’t be said to be good. You could call it a disaster even.
But it will be all right! If we all work together, we can fix it right away.
Don’t worry about the ruined soil, because I can use my holy magic to its full power to fix it! And more importantly, we have the wise and great Isolte with us, so don’t give up!”
Those fiery words rouse everyone’s hearts.
“Yes! We have Miss Isolte and Miss Iris!”
“Miss Isolte’s the best!”
“All cheer the saint of Minerva!”
The adventurers all cheer, and when I turn back to the girl that was talking, I see she’s clenching her fists, and trembling with anger and tears welling up in her eyes.
“Isolte Von Minefort! I concede this time, but you won’t be so lucky next time!”
She points to Isolte, almost crying, and leaves after spitting that out at Isolte.
“Why was she even here…”
Whispers Isolte as the girl gets further and further away.
No kidding. I have no idea what she wanted.
“Forget about it… Listen, everyone!”
The adventurers all turn to Isolte.
“We have gotten a little off track, but what we must do stays the same. We need to restore the Luminous farm within a month. That is all.
We need to turn this wasteland and mountains of debris back into what it once was.
It might be very difficult, but I’m sure you can do it. I believe in each and every one of you, as your guildmaster!”
Everyone claps at Isolte’s speech, and the work to rebuild the farm commences.
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