"So, we came to this town to look for fairies. If you know anything, please let us know." (Yuna)
"Hmm. It's a dangerous thing, so I don't want you to get involved. But if it's your sister, I can't help it. The ordinance for the transfer of mana was enacted about three years ago." (Receptionist)
"It's late, but when did Prim's sister go missing? I thought it was recently." (Yuna)
Ever since I came to this town, I felt like fairies had always been there.
"My sister has only been missing recently. I think it's been about three springs." (Prim)
Those words made Noa and I scratched our heads.
"So, you were looking for your sister all that time?" (Yuna)
"Well, at first I thought, 'I haven`t seen her around lately,' but I didn't really care. So I searched around the area, but I couldn't find her. On the way, I remembered the handkerchief and looked for her, but there was a reaction from outside the fairy's forest. I went halfway, but it was very far away. I felt like I was alone, and since no one could see me, I couldn't ask about my sister. So I decided to find someone who could see me and who I could trust." (Prim)
That's why she was searching through the fairy mirror.
The same for elves, but creatures with long lives had a different sense of time than we do, which was a problem.
It had been three years. Judging from the way we met, I thought it was recently.
Noa also looked at Prim with an unbelievable expression.
"Um, would you like to continue the story?" (Receptionist)
The receptionist seemed to want to continue the conversation.
"Sorry" (Yuna)
"Then, once every few days, mana started to be taken away from the residents at night. When their mana was taken away for the first time, they felt weak, the wizards couldn't use magic, and there was an uproar in the guild. I still remember what happened." (Receptionist)
"But, the mana will recover over time, right?" (Noa)
Noa asked as if it were obvious.
Mana recovery would be resolved over time, just like physical strength.
"Yes, that's right. If you're just living a normal life, you'll be fine with just a small amount of mana. However, for a wizard who is an adventurer, it's a matter of life and death. Just when you think your mana has been recovered, your mana will be taken away again. If you fight a monster without realizing that it has not been revived and you end up lacking mana, you could die. You can't fight a monster in such a dangerous state. Therefore, the wizard leaves the city, The adventurers who were party members with the wizards also decided to leave together." (Receptionist)
I heard about it yesterday, and that was the reason.
It was true that if a wizard is robbed of his mana, he would not be able to fight monsters. If he didn't realize that only half of his mana had been recovered, his life would be at risk.
In such a state, they wouldn't be able to accept requests, and it was only natural that the wizards left the city.
"Then, a while after most of the adventurers left, those knights appeared and started subjugating monsters in place of the adventurers. Then, the remaining adventurers also left this town. They couldn't do the job, so they decided to leave." (Receptionist)
Some parties didn't have wizards. Those adventurers also left, and the only ones left were those who were in the corner.
"But why did knights come to subjugate monsters? I think it was originally to protect the city." ()
"The purpose is magic stones. Before the mana transfer ordinance was passed, the lord had bought up a large number of magic stones. At that time, there was a lot of chaos in the city. Even after that, people were told to collect magic stones. However, due to the disappearance of wizards and adventurers, they were unable to complete the number of requests and the number of magic stones decreased. Therefore, the lord himself ordered the knights to subjugate monsters. We, the Adventurer's Guild, were responsible for dismantling the monsters, and only took the magic stones with them. We processed and sold other materials and managed to manage the Adventurer's Guild. We are able to continue." (Receptionist)
That was why even though the receptionist was made fun of by the knights, she put up with it for the sake of the guild's survival.
"I’m curious about how that magic stone is being handled." (Blitz)
"Do you know how to use magic stones?" (Rosa)
The receptionist shook her head at Blitz and Rosa-san's words.
"I don't know. I asked the knights before, but they didn't tell me." (Receptionist)
What is it used for?
"If you think about it normally, is it to take away mana?" ()
"Isn’t that what Prim’s sister is doing?" ()
"In the first place, what is Prim’s sister there for?" ()
The role of the magic stone.
The role of Prim's older sister.
There were so many things I didn't understand.
"First of all, just to confirm, can fairies take away mana or give it to them? Since they call themselves fairy knights, there is a high possibility that they are given power by fairies, right?" (Rosa)
Rosa's words attracted Prim's attention.
"I can take it away, or rather, I can take it in. The reason everyone can see me is because I've taken in Yuna's mana." (Prim)
Although the words were different, "taking away" and "taking in" mean the same thing in the sense that mana is transferred from a person to a fairy.
"Then what do you mean by giving?" ()
"I don't know about that. I can't give people power and make them stronger, and I've never heard of it." (Prim)
Give. It's difficult to judge.
I also channeled mana into my body to teach Noa and Fina about the flow of mana, but I didn't think they had become stronger.
In manga and novels, we saw scenes where knights received mana from their companions and released powerful magic, but this meant that knights gained power for a few days.
There was also the question of whether it was possible to store the mana of others.
But this was a different world, and what I knew wasn't everything. It wouldn't be strange if there was some way.
"We learned a lot of things, but in the end, the lord is the most suspicious." ()
A lord who stole mana from the city's residents, gave orders to fairy knights, and might be capturing Prim's older sister.
"What kind of person is that lord?" (Yuna)
"Several years ago, the previous lord, Zenora-sama (ゼノーラ), passed away, and his son, Berngu-sama (ベルング), took over, but he has lived in the capital since he was a child, so I don’t know much about it either." (Receptionist)
Ever since I was a child, I left my parents and lived in the capital.
Shia was with her mother, Ellelaura-san, but if Ellelaura-san wasn't in the royal capital, she would have been in the royal capital by herself since she was a child. If we thought about it that way, it was not a strange story.
"How old is he?" (Yuna)
"I think he was about 25 years old?" (Receptionist)
He was young for a feudal lord.
"In the end, what are we going to do now? Are we going to investigate the lord?" (Blitz)
Blitz asked about the next moves.
"That's difficult. We, the Adventurer's Guild, tried to find out, but we couldn't get much information. Now, we're just harassed by people by asking us to subdue monsters." (Receptionist)
"When it comes to subjugating monsters, there are no adventurers." ()
"There's one person. The guild master of this adventurer's guild." (Receptionist)
Come to think of it, I forgot about the guildmaster.
If possible, I would like to hear from the guildmaster as well.
"Is that guildmaster subjugating monsters?" (Yuna)
Just as I asked, the door to the room suddenly opened.
"Carla (カーラ), is it true that you brought a handsome man into your room?" (Guildmaster)
A grumpy old man in his 40s comes in through the door and said something like that.
"Guildmaster!" (Receptionist, will now be Carla)
"There are not only good-looking men, but also beautiful women." (Guildmaster)
The man called guildmaster looked at Rosa-san and the others.
This grumpy old man was the guildmaster of this town.
It had a good physique and was on par with the guildmaster from Crimonia.
"Also, there's a young lady dressed as a bear who seems to have a promising future. Maybe this handsome man brought them all in?" (Guildmaster)
The guildmaster said while looking at Blitz.
Looking at it again, I saw Noa, Rosa-san, Ran, Glimos, and the receptionist. Among the women, there was one male Blitz. It might be unavoidable to think that way.
"I'm Blitz. I'm an adventurer who has party members with these three. Those two are my friends." (Blitz)
It was surprising that people said they were friends instead of acquaintances.
Furthermore, it was amazing how he didn't get angry and answered calmly.
"So, what were you planning in a room like this? Add me in too." (Guildmaster)
The guildmaster laughed.
"Let me introduce you again. This is the guild master of the adventurer's guild..." (Carla the Receptionist)
"This is Bork. Nice to meet you. A handsome brother and a beautiful young lady. Also, a young lady dressed as a cute bear and a cute little lady." (Guildmaster, will now be Bork)
The receptionist tried to say his name, but the guildmaster himself said his name.
"So, what about those handsome brothers over there?" (Bork the Guildmaster)
"Please stop saying handsome brother. I'm Blitz." (Blitz)
"Oh, that was my bad." (Bork)
"I'm Rosa" (Rosa)
"Ran." (Ran)
"Glimos" (Glimos)
Blitz and others gave their names, so Noa and I also said our names.
"I'm Yuna." (Yuna)
"It's Noire." (Noa)
"Also, the black bear is Kumayuru, and the white bear is Kumakyu." (Yuna)
Just in case, I would like to introduce him to Kumayuru and Kumakyu, who were being held.
"Come to think of it, I didn't say my name either. I'm Carla, nice to meet you." (Carla the receptionist)
Finally, the receptionist said her name.
Each of them finished their self-introductions, but the guildmaster looked at Noa. It was Noa's pochette to be exact.
"So, there's no introduction to the fairy hiding there?" (Bork)
The moment guildmaster entered, Prim hid herself and hid inside Noa's pochette.
"Guildmaster, she won't come out if you look like that." (Yuna)
"You mean she'd be embarrassed to be seen by such a handsome man?" (Bork)
The guildmaster laughed out loud.
Maybe it was the fault of the cool old man, not the handsome one.
"Well, he has this kind of personality, but he's someone you can trust. I'll leave the judgment up to you, but I'm sure he'll be of help." (Carla)
We looked at each other.
Now, if guildmaster was connected to a lord or knight, information might leak out. If that happened, the search for Prim's sister might be hindered.
There was far too little information.
If something happened, I could use the bear's transfer gate to escape, or if he was hostile, I could fight.
But it was true that the guildmaster would be saved if the Adventurer's Guild helped out.
"Prim, I'll protect you if anything happens." (Yuna)
When I said that, Prim came out of Noa's pochette.
"This is my first time seeing a fairy, but is it a fairy that is on the rumored lord’s side?" (Bork)
The guildmaster looked at Prim with a glare.
As expected, he didn't seem to have any good feelings toward fairies.
"She's not, so could you please not look at her like that?" (Yuna)
I glared at the guildmaster as if to protect Prim.
"Is that wrong? That's bad." (Bork)
The guildmaster laughed and pretended.
Indeed, those eyes looked like he held a grudge against the fairy.
"But I can't say for certain that it's unrelated. The fairy next to that lord might be this child's older sister." (Yuna)
We explained to the guildmaster that we came to this town to look for Prim's sister.
"If that's the case, I'll lend you a hand." (Bork)
"Is it okay?" (Yuna)
"If the fairies disappear from the lord's hands, we will benefit as well." (Bork)
"Even if she disappears, I won’t kill her." (Yuna)
"You can take them anywhere, even the fairy's forest. They don't need anything to do with this town." (Bork)
The guildmaser said with a serious expression.
"I promise. I'll take my sister back to the fairy's forest." (Prim)
"Oh, that's a promise. Fairy girl." (Bork)
We made guildmaster our friend.
Author's Note
* The receptionist's name is not mentioned. I checked it, but I feel like I wrote it. I apologize if I have already written it. When I have free time, I tend to forget things, which is a problem.
[Notice]
As I mentioned last week, I had a job to revise a book.
Furthermore, I have a reservation for my third dose of the coronavirus vaccine (I had some side effects with the first and second doses, so I'm wondering if I'll get it again this time).
Furthermore, I have a lot of work to do, so I don't think it would be possible to take a week off.
I would like to take a break for about two weeks. (Sorry if it's been 3 weeks. It's possible.)
I wonder why my schedule and work are fixed.
I get to do anime-related work once a week, no matter how big or small.
I finished checking and writing the new comic version last month, so I'm glad.
That means I have to do some work in advance when I have the time. However, when I have free time, I end up playing games or reading manga or novels.
* Thank you to everyone who reports typos.
Please note that some kanji have been revised to match the book, so some may not have been revised.