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In the middle of the introductions, for some reason, Branch Master Eraldo burned out completely white, and together with Ms. Caldina, their souls seemed to have flown off into the void. This time, they didn’t come back for quite a while.

“…When you think about it, this is a pretty crazy lineup.”
“Well, yeah, if someone dropped that on you with no prior warning, that’s how you’d react.”
“Poor things…”

Bruno, Eren, and Monika—the Consul trio—nodded to each other with expressions full of sympathy once again.

“I see no reason to get so worked up. It’s not like we’re going to eat them. A normal greeting should suffice, shouldn’t it?”
“You’re the only one who can say that so casually.”

At Cestlavie’s quip, everyone present nodded in agreement.

“Then, Lady Clara, for these walking dead, should I prepare tea and cake? Or would a fainting couch and smelling salts (ammonia) be more appropriate?”

To Coppelia’s tired-sounding question, I asked her to “prepare tea, just to be safe.”
As for cake, since I wasn’t sure about their preferences, I decided to have several varieties available to choose from.
By the way, when I lived in the Holy City, I tried to live modestly and rarely had sweets with my tea—but now that I’ve returned here, I’m spoiled for choice. I’m happy, of course, but it’s a fierce battle against calories.

As a side note, that “fainting couch” Coppelia mentioned refers to a special sofa designed for noble ladies to recline on when they faint.
Since “delicate young ladies who swoon at the slightest thing” are the default setting for nobles, most mansions are equipped with one.
We have one too, though right now it’s mostly used as Vier’s napping spot.

Anyway, once we’d prepared seats and tea with cake for the two of them, it seemed Branch Master Eraldo’s consciousness had finally returned from the heavens.

“—M-my deepest apologies! Though I was unaware, I’ve been terribly rude. C-Caldina, stop standing there dazed—get on your knees!”

Realizing the situation, he hastily dropped to one knee and bent at the waist ninety degrees.
At the same time, he grabbed Caldina by the back of the head in an iron claw and forced her down into almost a full dogeza position.

“Enough, there’s no need to be so formal. Right now, I’m merely a student visiting a friend’s home. There’s no reason to be so stiff.”
“Exactly. And we’re, after all, just royal family members with no current rank or title. You, who hold a key position in the Guild, needn’t humble yourself so much before us.”

Though both Lady Lieselotte and Viola tried to get Branch Master Eraldo to relax, it seemed quite a tall order—he was sweating profusely.

“Told you it’s impossible.”
“Adults sure have a lot of strings attached, huh?”
“Poor things… I don’t even know what to say anymore.”

The back-and-forth commentary from Bruno, Eren, and Monika was starting to wear thin.

Just then, I noticed Lana fidgeting and glancing my way, clearly wanting to say something. Her skirt also seemed oddly puffed out, as if something were stuffed in her pocket.

“…Is something the matter, Lana?”
I approached, crouching slightly to meet her eye level.

“Um, well, um…”

Her timid hesitation, wanting to speak yet too shy to, made me smile softly.

“It’s all right. Take your time, deep breath—inhale… exhale… okay, what is it?”

“U-um! It’s a bit late, but everyone and I prepared a welcome-home gift for you, Lady Jill…”

Saying that, she held out a small wooden box, about the size to fit in her palms—beautifully lacquered, like a tiny jewelry box or a music box.

“For me?”

When I asked in surprise, Lana nodded repeatedly, and beside her, Eren added:

“Monika, Lana, and I pooled our money together. Especially Lana—she even put in all the savings she’d been carefully saving up.”

“—!! Thank you, Lana. And all of you…”

Overwhelmed with emotion, I hugged Lana’s small body tightly.
Meanwhile, Coppelia was looming over her, saying, “All her savings? Reallyyy? Bet she’s got more stashed away somewhere! Come on, jump a little—jump, I said!”
Naturally, Eren and Monika smacked her at the same time.

“Auuuh… welcome home, Lady Jill.”
“Thank you. I’m home…”

Come to think of it, with all the chaos, this might be the first time I’ve properly said that.
I said it again, with all my heart: “I’ve returned home.”

And then—

Perhaps warmed by the pleasant atmosphere of the group watching us fondly, Branch Master Eraldo, who had somehow recovered from his petrified state, continued with a wry smile.

“Ah, yes, indeed. First and foremost, we should celebrate Lady Julia’s safe return. My sincerest congratulations on your homecoming.”
“Thank you. Was that the only reason you came in person?”
“Ah—well, no, I actually meant to schedule a formal appointment to discuss the reissuance of your Guild card and your future status, but—”

Here, Branch Master Eraldo’s expression suddenly turned serious.

“The truth is, almost right as we arrived through the ‘Teleporter’ near the capital, we happened to see a certain individual traveling in the opposite direction, away from the capital. We thought it might have something to do with you, Lady Julia, and so we hurried here.”

“A certain individual? Who might that be?”

Using the ‘Teleporter’ isn’t cheap, and it requires proper identification, so it must have been someone of some standing—but no name came to mind.

“Do you happen to know the man called Egmond Buyer, Guildmaster of the Cultura branch of the Aulanthia Kingdom Adventurer’s Guild?”

At that unfamiliar name, we all exchanged puzzled looks.
However, upon hearing that the Guildmaster of Cultura—whose king had just been attacked—was seen in the royal capital of Silent right afterward, we couldn’t shake the ominous feeling that some deep conspiracy was moving beneath the surface.

***

#Author’s Note:#

Fixed some typo.
Also, Viola’s first-person pronoun is ぼく not 僕
Speaking of which, Lieselotte uses 我 when speaking with people she’s close with, and 妾 besides (though sometimes I forgot about that myself). Also, Jill’s 私 is not わたし but わたくし

#Translator’s note:#
So the differences are actually quite fascinating.

僕 and ぼく are essentially the same thing, as one is just the hiragana reading of another. Except, if we want to delve into the nuances, then 僕 is used by boys (typically younger boys, or maybe “less masculine” boys compared to 俺 (ore)), while ぼく is used by boys who are even less “masculine” than those who use the kanji 僕 aka younger younger boys. But ぼくis also used by Bokukko aka girls who use masculine first pronouns, either to be quirky or because they see themselves as one of the guys.

I believe this is what the author meant.

As for Lieselotte, she uses a pretty archaic language throughout (which is honestly kind of hard to translate). Her preferred first-person pronoun is 我 amongst her friends, a pretty old pronoun by itself, but I don’t think it’s particularly gender coded. But when she’s speaking to a guest or someone out of her circle, she uses 妾, which is an archaic form of a feminine first-person pronoun. If you watch One Piece, this is what Boa Hancock uses to refer to herself.

As for the difference between わたし and わたくし, is that わたし is a neutral first-person pronoun. It can be used by anyone of any age. It’s the “vanilla” of first-person pronouns. Meanwhile, despite having the same kanji, わたくし is typically used by high-standing female speakers. Strictly speaking, it’s not specifically gender-coded, as you often find older gentlemen characters like butlers as such use this particular pronoun, but for younger speakers, わたくし is usually reserved to “high-class ladies.” Mostly because it’s the most formal first-person pronoun without being humble.

If you think this is all complicated, well, that’s Japan for you. Languages tend to evolve pretty rapidly if you’ve just opened your border 150 years ago to a fully modern world. In fact, some older ladies (50 y/o above) use 俺, the most “masculine” first-pronoun. Go figure.