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Even though I had been away for a month, all my coworkers happily welcomed me. I had forgotten to buy souvenirs for them, so all I did was buy as many different types of sweets as I could at the last minute. Giving some of those to everyone seemed to have done the trick in appeasing them, as no one got mad at me. Once my shift was over, I shared how I was feeling with Camille, who laughed loudly and slapped my back.

“You worry too much, Lapis. Not only here in the guild, but all adventurers know just how hardworking you are. Anyone would break having to work as receptionist and instructor at the training school, but you decided to be part of the hero’s party on top of that. No one would dare complain about someone like that, you know? And even if there was, it wouldn’t be long before I beat them silent.”
“Thanks for that.”

Seeing Camille rolling up her sleeves and flexing her arms, I finally took a deep breath and relaxed.

Even though one month was not an excessively long time, being away from work made me feel like I was experiencing something new again when I came back. I had spent a lot of time working as a member of the hero’s party as of late, so spending time without holding swords or casting spells, without hurting anyone or evading attacks, felt like very precious time to me.

But this was still the adventurer’s guild. Many of the clients were hot-blooded and quarrels happened often. Usually, the guild’s policy was to never interfere in personal disputes, but when they began causing damage to third parties or went against my morals it was different. Lately, there were drunken adventurers who would enter the guild and forcibly party up with new adventurers who looked the same age as me, which rubbed me the wrong way and I would always stop by force.

“Lapis, be careful not to overdo it.”
“I know, Camille. I’m holding back properly.”
“If you say so…”

I had noticed the perception people had of me was changing in the guild. One of the symptoms was obvious in the way Camille spoke as well. Apparently, people were starting to see me as a dangerous person who would happily waltz into whatever quarrel was happening and beat up everyone, which was a reputation I hated as someone living there. This too was the effect of the rumors spread by Barbaros, the hero of Leble. If he had never made up lies and stories about me, I would still be known as a beautiful receptionist who always acted right.

“I’m telling you I want nothing to do with either of you!”
“Go away kid, I’m talking with this lady here now! You’re ten years too young to think you can satisfy a woman!”
“You think so too, right missy? We’re far better than this child you’ve got walking around you.”
“Alright, that’s it.”

I walked behind the two drunkards pestering a party and quickly restrained them by the scruff of their necks. They tried to shake me off, and while I was too short to lift them up, I was strong enough that their efforts to escape were futile.

“T-too…strong..!”
“Let go..!”
“What kind of place do you think this is? The guild isn’t some sort of brothel, you come here to talk to adventurers, not to pick up girls.”

The other adventurers around watched and were entertained. The majority of them knew who I was and my strength, snickering to themselves, while the others watched with bulging eyes. The latter were probably adventurers visiting from another town. The drunkards tried to escape more desperately, but no matter how much they flailed they could not touch me. Eventually, the pressure around their necks turned their red faces pale, then blue, and when they were getting close to purple I let go of them, throwing them on the ground where they huddled together.

“cough..!”
“Guh..! What was that all about..?!”
“Apologize to those two. If you do it properly I’ll let you go without a penalty. Or do you want to choke again?”

I glared at them with just a little bit of bloodlust, which prompted them to quickly stand up and profusely apologize to the couple they terrorized earlier. Then they ran out of the guild with unsteady feet.

“That’s our master! Good job as always!”
“I didn’t think there were idiots out there who still tried that here. No one touches the newcomers in this guild.”
“Yeah, I guess they didn’t know our master makes sure there’s never trouble while she is around.”
“All hail the master!”

The adventurers that were watching things unfold began praising me…if that could be called praise. It felt really weird hearing such a rowdy crowd call me master… Usually, only my students at the training school called me that, but hearing it from the adventurers here made me feel like a bouncer of a tavern or some gambling den. It was definitely not the way to address a young beautiful girl like me.

“U-umm…thank you very much.”

One of the two adventurers being pestered, the girl, told me that while bowing. She was also a beautiful young girl, which explained why those drunkards were so intent on pestering her. She had wavy flaxen hair and a nicely proportioned face, which gave her a gentle and kind aura. Her voice had a relaxing quality to it as well, which truly made her seem the embodiment of a pretty girl. I smiled at her hoping it would make her feel at ease.