The Hero of Roses and the Guild Receptionist
“Welcome home, Makoto!”
As I walked into the guild, Mary greeted me with a flying hug.
“It’s good to be back,” I told her.
“I was so lonely...”
“It hasn’t even been a week.”
“I was still lonely! Come on, tell me about Cameron.” She pulled me over to a food stall near the entrance. “Here.” That word was accompanied by the massive thud of a huge tankard slamming onto the table.
“Um...what?” She’s still on duty, right?
“I’m in charge of you, so entertaining is part of my job,” she said with a wink. It was cute, but she’d already chugged half of her ale. Drinking while on duty was... Oh, the guild master was letting it go. Really?
“Um, well first, I had a meeting with the priestess...” I began.
“Mmhmm, mhmm. And then?”
“Then I met up with Princess Noelle and Sak—the Hero of Light.”
“What?! Tell me everything!”
Surprisingly, she was actually pretty serious about getting a full report.
◇
“Now that you’ve relayed the report, it’s time to have some fun!”
“Don’t you still have to work this afternoon?” I asked.
“I took time off.”
“Well...okay then.”
She pulled me out of the guild and dragged me around town. If I’d been new to the town (like Furiae was) then it wouldn’t have seemed so strange, but I’d lived in Macallan for quite a while now, so I certainly knew my way around.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“Any preferences?”
“Hmm, I’d like to take it easy. Cameron was hectic.”
“Something relaxing, then... What about that?” she asked, pointing.
It was a place hiring out boats for the canals.
◇
“Need a rower?” the attendant asked.
“No, we’ll be fine on our own.”
“Sure. It’ll be a thousand for the day. Bring it back here when you’re done.”
“Got it.”
I paid and then offered a hand to Mary as we got in. As soon as we were on board, the boat set off.
“H-Huh...? It’s moving on its own?”
“I’m using water magic,” I explained.
“Oh, wow! Won’t that get tiring, though?”
“I could do this all day,” I assured her. “Actually, this doesn’t even count as training. Let’s up the ante a bit.”
“What? H-Hold on!”
And Mary did exactly that as she panicked, grabbing on to me.
“Water Magic: Flow.”
Instantly, the boat sped up by a lot.
“Ahhhhhh!” Mary screamed as it skipped along the water like a speed boat.
◇
“Ma. Ko. Tooooo.”
“Sorry,” I murmured. I’d had too much fun and now she was angry.
The twists and turns had made her seasick, so she was currently curled up with her head in my lap. We were now on Lake Chimay, near the town. There wasn’t any wind, and the atmosphere was peaceful, so we just talked for a while.
“It’s tough keeping up with you...” she admitted eventually.
“Really? I actually had a lot of fun.”
At that, she giggled. “I did too. Should we head back now?”
Just as I opened my mouth to respond, she sat up and quickly brought her lips to mine for a brief kiss.
Dumbfounded, I asked, “Mary?”
“This counts as entertainment for work too.”
“I’m pretty sure it doesn’t.”
“Anyway...let’s go.” She paused for a moment, then said, “Oh?”
It looked like she’d seen something in the distance, so I glanced in the same direction. Floating through the air was a giant bird made entirely of fire.
Was that? Well, there wasn’t anyone else who’d cast that spell...
“Lucy and Aya are glaring at us,” Mary informed me.
“Then...let’s not go back just yet.”
“Nope!” exclaimed Mary. “Come on, back to the guild!”
That was the end of our date...and the rest of the night was spent under heavy interrogation by Lucy and Sasa.
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