Around noon, I decide it’s time to go see the demon king
After saying goodbye to Iris and the others and leaving the mansion, I realize I could kill two birds with one stone if I accepted a quest to hunt monsters in the Minerva mountain range, so I stop by the adventurer guild first.
I stand in front of the board, and find a quest to hunt dire wolves. These often appear on the mountain road, so it’s perfect.
And just as I’m grabbing the written quest, Isolte calls me. She’s leaning on the second floor railing and waving.
She comes down to the first floor, and we start talking about the holy war that I also spoke about with Iris and the others this morning.
She wants me to take part in a survey quest on the twelfth day, the one with the asterisk.
“I don’t mind, but what kind of survey quest?”
“We want to investigate the Deep Remote Great Tomb again. We have arbitrators coming from Luminous, so the idea is to work with them to make sure there are no anomalies in that area. Also, since Iris and I are free that day, we are also going.”
“Sounds like we’re going to have a picnic.”
“We’re going to a cemetery.”
She says, and I smile awkwardly.
“That’s all from me. Is there anything you want to say?”
“Not really. Just that my job has been fulfilling thanks to you, and I’m glad I came to Minerva.”
“You’re really good at flattery.”
“It’s not flattery. I really do feel that way.”
“I’m also glad you came to Minerva.”
She says that last part quietly, and I don’t quite catch it.
Then she suddenly stops, and looks at the window.
“What is it?”
“Nothing, I just felt someone watching from the outside.”
“You’re popular, so I’m sure you have a lot of fans outside too.”
“Hmph, what’s so great about a woman with no sex appeal?”
She mumbles, but I think she’s wrong.
I say goodbye, and leave the adventurer guild, but it’s only a minute later that I spot a suspicious figure. A young girl wearing sunglasses, and fervently staring at the entrance to the adventurer guild from behind a tree.
She probably doesn’t realize it, but she looks really suspicious to anyone walking by.
Every person looks at her as they pass. She’s wearing a gothic style black dress, and has beautiful, lustrous black hair in two long braids that reach her waist and move with every movement of her head.
I think I’ve seen this hair and outfit before. Maybe I’ll remember if I get a closer look.
“Hm? Ahyah!? Don’t just walk next to me all of a sudden. You’ll give me a heart attack.”
I’m watching her close enough that I could touch her if I stretched my arms.
The girl is pretty shaken, and steps away from me while putting a hand on her chest and looking at me with caution.
But that voice finally reminds me of who she is.
“It’s Kuwagata!”
I’m so excited, that I yell it.
It’s Kuwagata, the girl that went to the Luminous farm on a golem.
“Who’s Kuwagata!? These are braids, not horns! How rude!”
That’s the same exact reaction as last time.
She’s the guildmaster in Luminous, while also being an alchemist. That’s pretty good, but I don’t know her name yet.
After all, I completely forgot about her until just now.
“But you didn’t tell me your name last time either, so how am I supposed to know?”
“Oh? I didn’t?”
“Yes. You disappeared before you did.”
“Come to think of it… I’m sorry for not introducing myself.”
She removes her sunglasses, revealing her beautiful facial features.
“I am Noir, the genius alchemist and guildmaster of Luminous. We have met before, but this is our first time talking, correct?”
Noir looks about my age, but if she’s an old friend of Isolte, she might be a little older.
As I squint and look at her closely, her face starts turning red.
“I will get embarrassed if you stare at me like that.”
What a cute reaction.
“Excuse me Miss Noir. I’m Loyd, an adventurer.”
“Just Noir. I’ve never been a fan of that.”
I see, fine then.
“So what have you been doing here? You’ve been staring into the building…”
“Nowa? I-I wasn’t being sneaky or anything. I just happened to come here.”
She gets flustered really quickly.
It’s clear she’s hiding something, but now that I know who she is, and that she isn’t really doing any harm, I can let it slide.
“Excuse me then, if it’s a coincidence.”
“Very well. It really was just a coincidence that brought me here, but I was thinking about handing this to Isolte.”
So that’s her real goal.
She shows me a piece of paper that’s a flier with the date and location of a fishing tournament that falls on the same day as the ‘summer harvest festival’. Said location is called Endless Infinite River Source, and it’s an hour away from Minerva.
“A fishing tournament? Sounds fun.”
“Right? It failed last time, but this time I made sure it was on the same day as the harvest festival.”
“Eh? How many people went last time?”
“Zero.”
“Ah?”
“Zero people entered last year, so I came all the way to Minerva to make sure we get ten times as many people this year.”
“Ten times zero is zero…”
Is Noir not popular? Or is she just that bad at PR? Both?
In any case, getting zero entrants is impressive. And so is her mental fortitude to go for it again.
“Hum, can I enter?”
“Of course. There’s a prize this year too. Definitely do.”
She says with a smile.
“Eh, then I want to win. Maybe I’ll try to get Iris to enter too.”
“Yes yes, couples are welcome.”
She says, again with a smile.
We’re not a couple, but Noir is really trying to get participants.
Then after talking to her for a while, I head to the Minerva mountain range.
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