Author: Suisei
Translator: Rinkage

Character page: Here

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Chapter 166 – I had to babysit

A month had passed since Yuuga’s proposal to Mikana. It was intense – unbelievably intense. Minerva was abuzz with the talk about the two of them. The fact that Yuuga had turned down every woman who had feelings for him just to win Mikana’s heart made him a symbol of admiration among women. For those rejected, though, it must’ve been a bitter pill to swallow.

In fact, there were now dark rumours circulating about Mikana. She had always been temperate, but people now started saying that she had been secretly cozying up to the hero, that she had something on him, and that she had even instructed him to propose to monopolize him. These rumours made Yuuga absolutely furious. When I was watching to see what he’d do, he started passionately proclaiming his love for Mikana in the center of Minerva. I thought it would backfire, but Yuuga also spoke about things he’d overlooked in the past. He even bought up Caius, the so-called cupid of love from Breitling, and he even mentioned me. He didn’t use my name, naturally, but he only said, “Without his help, I wouldn’t have realized my true feelings,” with a lot of passion. I just happened to be there, listening to Yuuga’s speech, but I was left speechless. In his eyes, I had probably become an irreplaceable friend.

Ultimately, Raven had to come flying in to settle the situation. Nevertheless, it seemed that heroes operated differently from normal people. This incident added another legend to Yuuga’s name.

As I reflected on all that happened, I headed to the guild. However, I noticed something unusual when I reached there: Two people were sitting at Clayman’s counter. It was surprising since it was rare for anyone other than me to approach that counter. Most adventurers would go straight to the beautiful receptionist, Sierra-san.

As I approached, I realized that the ones sitting there weren’t adventurers but kids.

“Kids, talking to Clayman? I should let Sophia-san know. Maybe Clayman’s trying to bribe them into helping him with his work.”  [Youki]

“What exactly are you planning to tell her, idiot? You’re gonna give her the wrong idea!”  [Clayman]

Clayman stopped me. I didn’t really intend to report that to Sophia-san, but still… Who were these two kids? Did they come here specifically to request Clayman?

“Hello, thank you for all you’ve done for my father and mother.” 

“Huh?”  [Youki]

One of the kids sitting on the chair turned towards me and greeted me with a polite bow. For a child, his action was very well-mannered. But did he call Clayman his father?

“My name is Quinn. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”  [Quinn]

He was a boy with a sharp and serious look who resembled Sophia-san. The other one must also be their child. However, even though Quinn greeted me politely, the other kid was slumped over the counter. Was she sleeping? Quinn-kun was gently rubbing her back, trying to wake her up.

Eventually, she sluggishly raised her head with a sleepy expression and looked my way. It was a girl who looked a lot like Clayman. It was unknown if it was because she had just woken up, but her droopy eyes that showed no motivation were an exact match. Not to mention, she was wearing a cat-ear headband. It was the same one I had secretly slipped into Clayman’s shopping bag as a prank. I really felt terrible for the chaos I caused in their household. My switch was flipped, so I did many silly things back then. I heard she liked it, but I didn’t expect that she would actually wear it.

“My name is Fiora. My hobby is lazing around with my dad.”  [Fiora]

“That’s not what you’d call a hobby. You really need to take things more seriously, Fiora.”  [Quinn]

“Well, since brainy Quinn is so serious, I can relax and be lazy.”  [Fiora]

“I’m me, and you’re you. Just because I’m responsible doesn’t mean you get to slack off. That’s a ridiculous argument.”  [Quinn]

“Can’t hear you~”  [Fiora]

It was a typical childish argument, but their personalities seemed to be in total contrast. Clayman didn’t seem to have any intention of stopping his son and daughter from arguing. He was working, or at least he looked like he was working, as he went through and sorted some documents.

“Quinn, Fiora. This isn’t a playground. I appreciate you bringing me lunch, but now that you’ve finished what you came to do, go home. I’ve got duties to attend to.”  [Clayman]

I tilted my head slightly and let out a small laugh. It was rare to see Clayman acting so competent at his job. Plus, he had mentioned before that as long as he sat at the counter, he didn’t really have to work, so having the two of them here shouldn’t be a problem.

Upon noticing my reaction, Sierra-san approached me and explained it in a whisper.

“It’s odd to you, isn’t it?”  [Sierra]

“Yeah. It seems like he’s trying to get them to leave early. The Clayman, in my mind, would have said, “Just sit around. It makes it easier without other customers”. So it was surprising.”  [Youki]

“It seems that the last time Quinn-kun came to the guild, he found it strange how many breaks the Assistant Guildmaster was taking, so he mentioned it to his mother. The rest… I’ll leave it to your imagination.”  [Sierra]

“Ah, I get it now.”  [Youki]

I could easily imagine the lecture Sophia-san gave him at that time. Clayman perhaps decided he couldn’t let his guard down in front of Quinn-kun.

I glanced over at Clayman, who was quickly sorting through the documents with a wry smile on my face. If he always worked at that pace, the guild staff would probably be much better off.

“Quinn-kun, Fiora-chan, you’re thirsty, aren’t you? I’ll get you something to drink now.”  [Sierra]

“Thank you.”  [Quinn]

“Super thirsty!”  [Fiora]

“Hey, Sierra…”  [Clayman]

Since Clayman was working diligently, Sierra-san probably wanted Quinn-kun and Fiora-chan to stick around. She planned to hand out the drinks to stretch the time, so the other guild staff silently praised her for it. Unfortunately for Clayman, it didn’t seem like he had any allies.

“Tch… Hey, Youki. Looks like you’re not busy today, right? You’re free, aren’t you? Totally free, right?”  [Clayman]

“Well, I actually came to take on a request today.”  [Youki]

“Then, here’s a request from me. Train these two for me.”  [Clayman]

He leaned over the counter, grabbing his son and daughter by their heads and forcefully making them look directly at me. Wow, that’s a pretty heavy-handed approach.

“Father, that’s way too sudden. You’re putting Youki-san in an awkward position.”  [Quinn]

Quinn-kun raised a perfectly reasonable objection to Clayman.

“I’d rather go home and laze around.”  [Fiora]

It seemed Fiora-chan wasn’t too keen on the idea either, so Clayman would probably have to give up.

“Quinn, this guy is a B-rank adventurer. Even I acknowledge his skill. If I say so, you can bet there’s no mistake. Sparring with him won’t be a waste.”  [Clayman]

Quinn-kun raised an eyebrow, his gaze piercing into me. Was he the type of kid who enjoyed that? He seemed interested now, especially after Clayman emphasized that he acknowledged my abilities. That was unnecessary, though.

“Fiora.”  [Clayman]

“What is it, dad?” [Fiora]

Fiora-chan didn’t seem the type to be interested in fighting at all. Unfortunately, I had nothing that could entice her to join in.

“If you go with him, you’ll get to enjoy some delicious tea and sweets.”  [Clayman]

“Alright, I’m going!”  [Fiora]

“Clayman, you bastard!”  [Youki]

He even factored in Cecilia’s presence.

“Youki-san, please guide us.”  [Quinn]

“I’m in!”  [Fiora]

“You’ve got to be kidding me…”  [Youki]

I couldn’t exactly ignore these eager kids now. Well, it couldn’t be helped. It wasn’t part of the plan, but I decided to drop by Cecilia’s place.

“Alright then, I’m counting on you to take care of Quinn and Fiora.”  [Clayman]

“Yeah, yeah… I’ll be expecting proper compensation for this.”  [Youki]

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