Leave a comment

The chaos brought forth by the battle subsided and life returned to normal. Since there had been no lives or materials lost in the end, the city seemed to be prospering again. Maybe because all their lives had been saved, the overall mood in the city had become merrier. Work at the guild also increased, when I asked what the new listings were for, they all replied it was for escorting missions.

Merchants would come from other places to sell their wares here, and normally they would only carry as much as they could sell, but now they were trying to stuff their bags with as many items as they could, so they were looking for adventurers who could guard them.

Thanks to that the guild was busier. There were requests coming even from other cities, looking for adventurers who had barely registered to those done their fair share of fighting, there were almost too many requests for our adventurers to handle.

“…This is really good for adventurers, but it only piles up more work for us.”

“…Lapis, we agreed we wouldn’t talk about that.”

Camille, who was sitting beside me, heard my mutter and scolded me. It did not matter how busy the guild would get, the staff earnings would not change much, so my complaints were extremely justified, but apparently it was something I was not allowed to say.

My only saving grace was that I had no overtime. It did not matter how busy things got, once it was time to close my work as a receptionist was done, so as long as I could last long enough, I would be able to go home. All my days were like that, I would go from home to work, then back. Then one day when I was done with work, the guild master called me. I secretly hoped he would grant me a temporary raise for working so hard, but the topic Krieck wanted to talk about caught me completely off-guard.

“A…school?”

“Yes. It was recently decided that our guild would collaborate with the governor to build a training school. For now, we decided on former high-level adventurers who retired and guards to be instructors, but we’d like you to teach as well. It’d be nice if you could switch to work there full time, but I’d also like to respect your wishes, so I’m okay if you decide to go part-time there while remaining as a receptionist here. You will get an additional salary on top of your current one, of course.”

“…”

…It was really sudden. I was unsure how to reply, faced with such a sudden work proposal. An increased income was an alluring proposition, but it was not something I could decide so rashly. I had to know a bit more details about the conditions and type of work it entailed.

“Umm… Why is such an installation being built so suddenly?”

“Hmm… The truth is that this was decided rather quickly as a country-wide measure. Training schools will be built throughout the entire country to bolster the average skills of guards and adventurers. The earlier battle being the driving force behind all of this.”

“You mean when that Lich appeared?”

“Yes… Though well, I guess it’s fine if I tell you this, but the truth is…there’s a high chance the Demon King is being resurrected.”

A rattling sound came from the desk. When I looked down, I noticed I had instinctively jumped on my feet. The Demon King…that had been my natural enemy for the longest time. After a gruesome battle together with my comrades, we had taken it down, I remember that clearly. My sword pierced and slain its body, then we burned its corpse until only ashes remained. Afterward, just to be completely sure, the sorcerer Sorciere divided the ashes and buried parts of them in various places, and washed some of them down in rivers.

Even a vampire, the textbook example of an immortal being, would hardly be able to recover from that. Yet the Demon King was being resurrected? Was that even possible? Noticing my internal conflict, Krieck put a hand to my shoulder trying to calm me down.

“Calm down. I only said there’s a possibility. We don’t even know for sure if it’s the same Demon King the Hero defeated or if it’s a different one.”

That made sense…a new Demon King. I had not thought about that, but how was that connected to the earlier topic? Krieck seemed to read that question off my face as he nodded and continued speaking.

“We don’t have any solid proof of this, but it’s being investigated. In either case, if the existence of a Demon King is confirmed, it might be too late to prepare for war by then. I think the earlier battle made that painfully obvious, yes? Somehow we were able to survive thanks to you, but if the situation worsens, no one might survive next time.”

I nodded hesitantly. I understood exactly what he was trying to say.

“That’s where training schools come into play. If we raise everyone’s skills, when the time comes, the survival rate will increase. And stronger guards and adventurers also means that the civilians protected by them will be safer. I only had the Lich’s vague words to go by, but the governor judged it important to relay the information all the way to His Majesty the King. The King also took it seriously, and that’s why he gave the order to build training schools.”

“…I understand the situation. So this is basically a measure to decrease the difference in skill between adventurers and guards, while also making sure the populace stays safe?”

“Exactly. I really would appreciate it if you could take this job. I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but there’s not a single adventurer or guard in this city that hasn’t heard your name, there are even groups of people from other cities who have started hearing rumors as well. You’re also part of the reason why things have been so hectic here lately.”

…I had a hard time believing that. I had thought the reason had been how well things went, it never occurred to me that people would assemble just to see me. It began making me feel bad for everyone else who had to work harder now. The very least I could do was to invite Camille and Miranda to a nice meal one of these days.

“There are many people who want to follow your steps. So what’ll it be? Will you accept?”

“…Can I ask what the conditions would be before accepting? I’d like to know exactly what I’d be teaching, as well as what my salary would be.”

“Of course. This is what has been prepared for your current grade.”

Saying so, Krieck handed me a piece of paper. On it was the detailed terms of the contract as well as my salary as an instructor.

If I went to teach full-time, my salary would be close to three times as much as my current one. If I went part-time, I could choose between two times a week for 40% of the full salary, and three times a week for 60%. I would be teaching swordsmanship as well as magic.

Things like monster nomenclature and ways to harvest materials were taught by other instructors, so I was only in charge of practical training. As an added note, the teaching methods were trusted entirely to me, so I was free to be as backbreaking as I wanted, or be more lenient if I was in the mood for it. Though if I was going to teach, I would not hold back a single step.

All in all, I thought those were rather favorable terms for me. With those terms alone I would accept in a heartbeat, but when I recalled the state of the guild, I began having second guesses.

“Umm, if I were to go, the receptionists here would have a harder time…”

“Yes, I thought about that too. I know how busy things are here, and I was put in charge of building the school too after all. I’m getting a few workers transferred here from other cities, so you can rest assured about that.”

If that was the case, then it would be fine, I could accept without worrying too much. Camille and Miranda had been watching over me and taking time out of their own will to help me, so I did not want to do something that would only benefit me. So hearing Krieck was already taking care of that reassured me.

“In that case… Can I work there three times a week? It’s quite tiring being a receptionist, but it’s something I enjoy doing and I’d like to leave my mark as part of the guild.”

“Oh, thank you! I’ll make sure to respect your wishes. But seriously, for a second I was scared you’d refuse. There’s still some time left before the school is built, but I’ll be looking forward to working with you when it’s finished.”

“Same here, I’m looking forward to it.”

I firmly shook the hand he stretched out to me. The amount of work I had increased in an unexpected way. It was going to be completely different from my work as a receptionist, but since they would be relying on me, I would give it my all as well. But my priority now was to go back downstairs to the other two receptionists who were getting ready to clock out and invite them to a nice meal one of these days. They had been enduring more work than normal because of me, so treating them to a feast was the least I could do.