For the next few days, I did nothing much. Just spending time at home and cooking.
My familiars bugged me about wanting to go hunting but, [3] “The Guild Master has gone to see Count Langridge to see if he could help me arrange a meeting with him. I can’t go out since I don’t know when he’ll be back.” [5]
Also, it felt really good to do nothing but relax at home.
Fer was not at all happy, of course. [2] I vaguely heard threats of “We’re definitely going to a dungeon after this’ but I decided that I had gone deaf for the day.
One day, while I was busy relaxing in the living room with a coffee…
“Brother Mukouda, you have a guest!” [3] announced Lotte-chan.
“Oh? I wonder who could it be?”
[5] “He said he’s a ‘Guild Master’.” [5]
“I see, could you please guide him here?”
“Okay!”
Lotte ran out of the living room and came back with the Guild Master [5].
“Hey, thanks for having me,”
[9] “Welcome to my home, please take a seat. Lotte, tell your mother to fetch us some tea.”
The people in this world find coffee too bitter, so I had gotten some tea to serve guests. [9] Since I was expecting an important guest like Count Langridge, I thought I should be prepared. I could practice my hospitality skills on the Guild Master for now.
“Speaking of which, this is quite a large house you bought,”
“Maa, I hadn’t expected to get something this big but one thing lead to another…”
“I heard you got yourself some slaves too but I hadn’t expected to see Tiger Fang’s Tabasa at the gate. I heard she failed a quest… [5]”
“Well,” [9] I should have known that the Guild Master would know of this city’s local B Ranker, Tabasa. “It’s fine while I’m here but I have to be responsible for the property and the commoners who take care of this place when I’m not around,” I said, feeling a little embarrassed about having to defend my decision to purchase slaves. [5]
[9] “It’s really too bad to see someone like Tabasa fall into debt like that but I guess it’s good for you since you have that issue with the Stars Company.”
[9] “Ahaha…”
[9] “Plus, you could certainly afford it after clearing two dungeons, gahahaha!”
“It’s all thanks to Fer and the others, of course.” [5]
“Speaking of which, Tabasa told me that their lives had even better compared to when they were adventurers. To be honest, you probably made their lives better.”
“Well, that’s because we’re not a black company [10].”
“Hmm? A black… what?”
“Nothing, never mind about that, I was just talking to myself.”
[9] Aiya just happened to enter with the tea. Great timing, Aiya!
[9] Once Aiya had served tea, one of the more expensive stuff that could be bought from [Net Super], I gestured towards the teacup at Willem-san and said, [3] “Please, help yourself.”
“Thank you for the tea.” As Willem-san gulped down the tea, I sighed over the aroma. Looks like Aiya managed to properly brew it just the way I like it. [5]
Once we each had our sip of tea, the Guild Master set his teacup down and said. “Well, first, let me tell you how the meeting with Count Langridge went…”
[11] “What happened to you!? Wh-what’s that thing on your head?!”
“Gahahaha! Are you surprised? You’re surprised aren’t you?”
[11] “…he was totally shocked, of course,” here, Willem-san run his fingers over his thick brown hair. “Maa, I guess it’s quite natural to be shocked…”
[11] “You must tell me your secret, is it a potion? Magic?”
“Hohoho, it’s called a hair tonic and here’s the thing. I used it just three days ago.”
“Three days?! Wait, your hair colour too. It restores hair colour!?”
“…muahahaha! The envy in his eyes!”
“… ahaha,” I could tell he really enjoyed himself. “Have you been using the tonic ever since?”
“No, it works too well. Using it every day means I have to cut my hair every day.”
“Oh, what an interesting problem.” To go from having no hair to having to trim one’s hair every day…
“Therefore, while I use the shampoo every day, I only apply the tonic once every three days to maintain my hair.”
“Maintain? What happens if you don’t use the tonic?”
“Ahem, unfortunately, the hair starts to thin out at the roots…”
“…I see,” that’s harsh. Looks like he might have to depend on the hair tonic for the rest of his life…
[9] “L-let’s put that matter aside. The count has agreed to come and visit the Guild.”
“…yes?” what was that odd stutter?
[9] “Ahem, yes, well [4] when the count saw the effectiveness of the hair tonic he wanted to see you immediately. Fortunately, he was restrained by his retainers, since… well, important people like him can’t go wherever they like, any time they like.”
[9] “…and so…” I’m sure there’s a conclusion to this. Surely Willem-san can’t be here just to brag about his hair? [5]
[9] “It’s been decided that the Count would make an official visit to the Adventurer’s Guild to meet with S Rankers in this city. That way, it would make it easier for you to meet.”
“Oh? So, he’s coming to meet me at the Guild? I don’t have to pay a courtesy visit to him?”
“Yes, he’ll be here the day after tomorrow.”
“Wow, isn’t that soon?” Counts are part of the nobility after all, and even important politicians from my previous world have to make lots of arrangements to go anywhere.
“Huhu, well, it’s only natural after seeing the effects of the hair tonic,” once again, Willem-san flicked his hair back like a shampoo commercial model. “Anyway, do come over to the Guild nice and early.”
“Alright, understood,”
After a bit more small talk, I sent the Guild Master off.
The day after tomorrow, huh?
The gift had already been decided but since it’s kind of like a first meeting gift, I should package it properly. Let’s do a bit more than just transfer the content of one thing into another and give the packaging a bit more thought.
Gumihou: I deleted… about 300 words? It’s still over 1000 words, so… hahaha…
Fer: Tch, weak.
Gumihou: What did you say?! Say that to my face, you mutt
Fer: Weak
Gumihou: You…
[1] Structural Change: Combine 2 paragraphs
[2] Structural Change: Combine 3 paragraphs
[3] Structural Change: Combine paragraph & dialogue
[4] Structural Change: Change passive sentence to dialogue
[5] Delete Repetitive or Pointless Information
[6] Additional Information for Aesthetic Purpose
[7] Add Dialogue Tag
[8] Creative Licence Taken
[9] Some Logistics issue re ‘normal interaction’
[10] Black Company – Japanese term for an exploitative sweatshop-type employment system where conditions are poor and employees are subject to large amounts of overtime work without overtime pay, verbal abuse, bullying and threats.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_company_(Japanese_term)
By the way, you can also vote for the most evil corporation of the year. ‘Winners’ are awarded the ‘Black Corporation Award’.
[11] Awkward flashback filled text with many, many repeated details of ‘oh, my hair, well look… the potion did xx, yy’ which was practically lifted from the other chapter…
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