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Right now, I’m…
Working at the front desk.
In front of me are request forms.
Ledgers.
Various application forms.
And a line of adventurers.
“…Well.”
I mutter as I scribble with my pen.
“I guess it’s only natural.”
I’m not an adventurer anymore.
My adventurer registration has expired.
I can’t accept quests.
I can’t venture into dungeons either.
When I think about it that way,
working at the reception desk was a natural progression.
That said,
there was just one thing I hadn’t anticipated.
I was good at paperwork.
I was incredibly good at it.
Because,
back when I was the Guild Master of Wings of Dawn,
I’d battled through countless documents.
Budget management.
Managing requests.
Communicating with branch offices.
Reports to the capital.
Registering new members.
Various contracts.
Before I knew it, I was buried in paperwork almost every day.
Thanks to that.
“That’s it, then.”
I stamped the final document.
The receptionists’ eyes widened.
“Huh?”
“Are you done already?”
“Hm?”
I looked up.
There stood a young receptionist.
“This is all of it, right?”
There was a fair amount of paperwork on the desk.
But.
To me, it was normal.
“Isn’t this normal?”
“It’s not normal!”
My reply was immediate.
“Huh?”
“Huh?”
For some reason, we both froze.
Then.
Another receptionist who had been nearby came over.
“Alt san”
“Hm?”
“How do we process this?”
She handed me a single document.
I looked at it.
“Ah.”
I figured it out right away.
“This doesn’t go here.”
“Huh?”
“You have to send it to the ‘Assignment Completion Report’ section first.”
“Then the material appraisal.”
“Finally, stamp it here.”
“That way, it gets processed faster.”
The receptionist’s eyes widened.
“I see…”
“I didn’t know that.”
“I used to do this all the time back in the day.”
I gave a wry smile.
Back when I was a guild master.
I was made to do it over and over.
You learn it whether you like it or not.
Then.
One after another, the receptionists began to gather around me.
“Alt-san!”
“Could you handle this one too?”
“What about this?”
“This request form is hard to understand…”
I was suddenly surrounded.
“Whoa, whoa.”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
“One at a time.”
Before I knew it, it had turned into a sort of impromptu training session.
Watching the scene.
There was someone watching from a short distance away.
It was Leona.
She had her arms crossed.
Her face was expressionless.
But.
She seemed to be in a bad mood for some reason.
The deputy guild master standing nearby tilted his head.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Is that so?”
The deputy guild master turned his gaze toward
The reception counter.
There, the receptionists were chatting happily.
At the center of it all was Alt.
“He’s quite popular, isn’t he?”
At those words,
Leona’s eyebrow twitched slightly.
“…I suppose so.”
“Everyone looks like they’re having a good time.”
“I suppose so.”
Her reply was brief.
The deputy guildmaster thought for a moment.
And then.
He realized something.
“Ah.”
“What is it?”
“Are you jealous?”
Silence.
Leona slowly looked at the Deputy Guild Master.
“Why would you think that?”
“Isn’t that the case?”
“No.”
Her answer was immediate.
But.
Right after that.
One of the receptionists grabbed Alt’s arm.
“Alt-san, you’re amazing!”
“No, it’s nothing—”
“Please teach me more!”
The moment she saw that.
Leona stood up.
“Leona-sama?”
She headed straight for the reception desk.
I had nothing but a bad feeling about this.
When Leona reached the reception counter,
As if it were the most natural thing in the world, she grabbed Alt by the shoulder.
“Hey.”
Alt turned around.
“What?”
“Don’t give me that ‘what’.”
“Get back to work.”
“I am working.”
“Not your receptionist job.”
“But that’s my job, isn’t it?”
He didn’t understand what she meant.
Leona looked at the receptionists.
They all stood up straight.
“Save your questions for later.”
Her voice was low.
The receptionists nodded in unison.
“Y-yes!”
“Why are you all so obedient?”
Alt looked dumbfounded.
Leona remained unfazed.
“Let’s go.”
“Where?”
“To another job.”
As she said that,
For some reason, she kept her hand on Alt’s shoulder and wouldn’t let go.
The receptionists exchanged glances.
Then they murmured softly.
“Guild Master.”
“Aren’t you being a little too harsh on Alt ?”
“It’s just your imagination.”
“I’m sure that’s not the case.”
That voice.
Leona pretended not to hear it.
After that.
For some reason, I found myself sparring with Leona.
At the training ground.
Adventurers surrounded us.
New recruits.
And for some reason, even the receptionists had gathered.
“…Hey.”
I slung my wooden sword over my shoulder.
“Is this part of the job, too?”
Leona stood across from me, her wooden sword at the ready.
“Yeah.”
Her answer was immediate.
“Training is part of the job.”
“That’s a convenient thing to say.”
I couldn’t help but give a wry smile.
But.
Leona wasn’t wrong.
Training is important for adventurers.
And that’s even more true if a guild staff member is instructing them.
“Well, whatever.”
I took my stance with the wooden sword.
I’m just doing this to test my skills against her.
To begin with.
When it comes to swordsmanship, Leona has always been better than me.
My skill level is just a little above average.
That’s about it.
Back in the day, I used to teach Leona how to swordfight.
But.
That was really only at the very beginning.
She surpassed me in the blink of an eye.
And before I knew it.
The strongest swordsman in the capital.
That’s what she’d come to be called.
To be honest.
I was a little curious about just how big the gap between us was now.
“Let’s go.”
Leona says.
“Yeah.”
I grip my wooden sword tighter.
The crowd falls silent.
And then.
The signal to begin rings out.
It happened in the very next instant.
“――Huh?”
Before I knew it,
the match was over.
My wooden sword was flying through the air.
High.
High.
And then,
it fell to the ground.
Clang.
A dry sound echoed.
I froze for a moment.
What just happened?
I honestly had no idea.
I definitely took my stance.
I even tried to step in.
But.
That was as far as it went.
I couldn’t see the sequence of movements.
By the time I realized it,
my sword had already been knocked away.
A murmur rose from the crowd.
“She’s the same as always…”
“Lady Leona is way too strong.”
“Did you see that just now?”
“No way.”
The new recruits were making a commotion.
But.
I felt the same way.
I couldn’t see it.
I really couldn’t see it.
“Haha…”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
I looked at Leona.
She was strong five years ago, too.
She was undoubtedly a genius.
But.
It’s different now.
There’s no comparison.
Five years.
I’ve built up a lot during that time.
The strongest in the capital.
It was a sword worthy of that title.
Leona lowered her wooden sword.
And then.
She held out her hand to me.
“Get up.”
“Yeah.”
I took her hand.
As she pulled me to my feet,
the words just slipped out.
“That’s amazing.”
Leona narrowed her eyes slightly.
“What do you mean?”
“You were amazing five years ago, too.”
“But—”
I gave a wry smile.
“Your swordsmanship now is in a league of its own.”
“To be honest, I couldn’t see a thing.”
That was how I really felt.
It wasn’t out of frustration or anything like that.
It was pure admiration.
That was all.
Leona was silent for a few seconds.
And then.
She opened her mouth slightly.
“I see.”
That was all she said.
But.
She looked somewhat pleased.
The adventurers around us were surprised.
The usual Leona would.
Remain unfazed even when praised.
But.
This time was different.
Just a little bit.
She seemed to be in a good mood.
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