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It’s not because I was looking after Haku who would be something like its distant relative.

I could understand that in this world that was ruled by the law of the jungle, those who couldn’t coexist would clash, and I wasn’t going to say that killing was bad, either. In the first place, as someone who had killed the members of most races I had no right to say that.

It’s just that, I found it wrong to tip the scales of power from its original balance by joining.

As she said, I only gave advice when people were facing monsters. I never stopped them for any other commissions unless the death was all but certain.

For monsters —that only lived to kill and their death made the world less gloomy—, I readily helped, and I didn’t hesitate this much even when it came to wars between people, but…

“…Stop saying weird things and take a break. The registration for the caravan formation isn’t over yet.”
“Ugh.”
“Pii!”
“Oh, Haku, you’re so diligent like your mother.”
“Pi~”

I hope that happy cry came from the fact that Cynthia patted it.

The ice dragon that stayed at the summit of Roa Mountain Range which was nearby the capital was hard to reach for people, and yet the snowfall that the wind carried down to the capital from it was spreading the damages.

The king couldn’t restrain the nobles that fled first, and the chivalric order that was supposed to protect the people was instead made to guard the nobles. As a result of allotting the knights to the upper echelons that fled self-first, they lacked the firepower to subjugate the ice dragon, so eventually, even the royalty had to flee.

And the present situation was that the knights couldn’t operate too far from Gouraiseville as they were occupied with their protection.

Thus the guilds were rounded up instead.

They even commissioned to call the rescue unit a caravan… and the subjugation commission felt like they were just paying money and leaving everything to us. They’re really screwing around, huh. Heh.

Amateurs butting in with armchair theories would just be a bother too, though. Was this what the prime minister meant by them only caring about appearances?

Let’s just drop this.

“—Then, here is your registration card. Once the thirteenth caravan is formed, you will be tasked with rescuing the capital citizens. I pray for your safety and success.”

Cynthia heaved a sigh once she saw the representatives leave the room.

“Finally oveeer.”
“Good work. It’s a little early, but will you finish your shift for the day?”
“No way! I’m on hourly pay, so going home now would count as unfinished work.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll give you bonus pay for today’s service, and I’ll consider that you worked full shift today.”
“…no, no, no! I don’t want that! I hate such halfheartedness!”

She said he hated it but she was clearly moved by it.

“Let’s just rest for now. Wait, I’ll bring tea.”
“I’ll bring it! You just rest, Illya!”

Cynthia rushed out of the room right as she said that.

I certainly handled more cases, but I had no physical fatigue due to my cheats.

I decided to accept the offer and sat on the chair, and Haku dived into my apron as if it was waiting for it.

Now that I think about it, my cat also used to jump on my lap whenever I was using my PC. Maybe Haku’s like that too.

“So this is where you were, Illya.”

The one peeking through the door wasn’t Cynthia but Frank. I reached for Haku, intending to stand up, but Frank saw that and stopped me.

“Is the meeting over?”
“Yeah. That said, it was mostly about the ranks and formations, and we didn’t decide on a concrete plan. I wish we at least knew what kind of spells does it use.”
“There was no one who had fought with an ice dragon before, huh.”

Frank gave a wry smile at that.

“Tough nuts like that are hard to come by.”
“Are they departing tomorrow?”
“No, we’re waiting for Caron’s report. We’ll be coordinating with the other branches.”

Other than fighting the ice dragon, they also had to climb up a snowy mountain, so I suppose that was expected.

“Sorry for the wait! Huh, Frank is here… Did I interrupt?”
“Not at all.”
“You should rest too, Cynthia. You’re tired, right?”
“Th-Then I’ll take you up on that offer…”

We chatted while taking a rest and drinking Cynthia’s favorite green tea.

That said, most of it consisted of us listening to Cynthia’s idle complaints. As I took shelter by focusing on Haku, Frank started pleading with his eyes for me to help.

Sorry. It’s the superior’s job to care for their subordinates’ mental health.

And like that, we finished work for the day.

Things remained hectic even after the next day when the caravan departed, and even after the final road maintenance was done and the whole process ended, the festival that was planned after it was still delayed.

Then, two days after the caravans evacuated all the citizens to different cities.

I was called by Ector to his mansion as I was working on distributing goods to the inns.

When I was guided to the reception room, I was greeted by sorrowful-looking Ector and Frank.

According to them, the ice dragon subjugation ended in failure.

And the ice dragon descended the mountain in pursuit of the fleeing subjugation unit…

And was now heading south for Luneville.