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A month passed since I started working at the guild. Following Camille and Miranda’s advice, I was able to work properly in those days. Miranda was a charming girl of around the same age as Ciel, with red hair and a well defined slender body. She also was proficient as an adventurer fighting with a short sword, but she was not retired yet, she was only working at the guild while she raised her children, so in two or three years she would start adventuring again, her dream being that of traveling around together with her children. When I heard about her plans, I found it interesting how every person has different ways to live.

“Lapis, it’s payday today. Is there anything you’re planning to buy?”
“Let’s see… First I want to buy presents for Ciel and Karin that helped me so much until now, then I’ll save the rest. I want to eventually start renting my own room after all.”

That was my reply to Camille. The guild paid quite a lot more than the average income throughout the city, and I was aware of that since I began working there. If I remember correctly, it was around twice as much as a regular servant would earn. Miranda explained to me why that was when I asked about it.

Working in the guild meant dealing with a lot of hot-headed adventurers, so it was physically and mentally exhausting, so if they paid any less, no one would take up the job. Such a reason made sense to me, during the first two weeks I was there, I also encountered many adventurers that would threaten me as well, though their number decreased later. I could understand regular people being afraid of having to deal with that kind of adventurer.

But that also meant that I would be able to leave Ciel’s room faster than I anticipated. She kept telling me that I could stay for as long as I wanted, but I simply could not imagine staying as a freeloader at her place for the rest of my life. It might be okay for now, but she would eventually find someone in the future as well, and I did not want to be a nuisance when that time would come.

I offered to pay for rent and food expenses, but she refused it flat out. After some convincing, I managed to get her to accept money for food, but that was it. That meant that once I deduct my earnings for food, I was free to stash the rest away and save it. If I saved for three months or so, I would be able to rent a cheap room without problems, but before that, I wanted to use my first paycheck to give back to the two girls that helped me so much… Though after spending so many years in seclusion, I had no idea what would make a good present for them, so I decided to ask my experienced seniors for advice.

“Err…I’ve never really given presents before, so do you know of any stores I could check out?”

“Maybe we should go look through some stores during break then? I know some general stores that sell things a girl would like. I’ll take you there.”

“Really? I’d appreciate it a lot!”

Miranda was close in age to Ciel, so I could trust in her judgment to find something good. Reassured on that matter, I heaved a sigh of relief, but Miranda kept looking at me with a complicated expression.

“Is something wrong?”

“Not really… It’s just that I thought someone like you would get heaps of presents from guys, but now it feels like I was completely wrong. It’s a bit unexpected, but I can tell when someone receives a lot of gifts.”

She had a point. With my current appearance, it made sense that a lot of men would pursue me. When I started working, there were a lot of people who called me, but I would always remain silent and just glare at them. After some time no one approached me unless it was while I was working.

“Well, I did grow up in the countryside. Everyone around me was just old people, and all the young ones would leave for other cities early on, so I never had that sort of experience.”

“That’s a shame. If I was a guy I’d definitely go after you.”

Saying that, Miranda broke into loud laughter. My story was completely made up though, there were no old or stupid people around me at all.

“I’ll go with you during lunch break then.”
“Leave it to me! I’ll make sure to choose something they will like.”

She confidently pumped her chest as she replied. It should be fine if I relied on her…probably.

§　§　§

We quickly ate lunch and began strolling through various stores Miranda recommended. She had said they were general stores, but they all had something they focused on, going from some that sold regular toiletries to others that sold small accessories and the like. The store I was being taken to next was one that mainly sold girly accessories.

“Welcome.”

A store worker at the door greeted us with a smile. Nodding in return, we entered the store. Even though it was still lunchtime, many girls were in the store, merrily taking and comparing things with each other. I began hesitating as I was still not used to being in places like this, but Miranda took my hand and charged into the group of girls with me.

“Lapis, what do you think about this? Don’t you think it would fit Ciel’s hair really well? And this one would be perfect for Karin.”

“Err…”

She began showing me hairpins and bracelets, but I could not really tell the difference between the ones she showed me. They all looked pretty much the same… But that was what she was there to help with, so I decided to trust her decisions and began looking for other things myself.

In contrast to how I chose stuff, the other girls in the store would constantly try it on themselves before starting another wave of excited cries. They probably were buying things they would use themselves and not presents like I was. I tried imagining how Ciel and Karin would look wearing the things I was picking up, but I could not see them acting as excited as the girls in the store.

“It seems nothing really clicks with you. Do you want to go check some clothes out then? They are way more expensive than accessories, but I think they would appreciate it even more.”

“That’s true. Let’s go check some out then.”