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「Now then, I’d like to talk about my background for a bit. However, it seems like you have already somewhat figured out my past from our conversation yesterday.」
「As there might be some misinterpretation from our side, we would like to hear about any information you’d be willing to talk about, regardless of how little it is.」
「Understood. Before reaching 10 years old and receiving my Job, I was at a certain noble’s place.」
「Do you know of their name or peerage?」
「Perhaps, but since I’m not completely sure about it, and for safety reasons as well, I’d like to keep it to myself. And so when I was 10 years old, I was sold to a man who seemed to be another noble. The wagon that was transporting me was attacked by a monster on the way, and I was able to escape. That’s why, there should be no one searching for me basically.」

I know that Ciel looks quite unusual, so if her name and Job becomes known and her face is seen, she’ll obviously be found out. Still, based on Duke Rispelgia’s personality, he’d probably prioritize conducting his next experiment rather than care about Ciel, a girl he threw away.

If more beings like us are made in greater numbers, the world might just get thrown into chaos. Still, I don’t really think that this would happen. If it’s easy to do, then we should have been thrown away or killed at that time when Ciel was 5 years old. I don’t think he’ll repeat a failed experiment that takes years to complete multiple times.

「In that case, the noble that bought you is already dead, correct?」
「Aah… Yes. When I escaped, other than the monster, there were only corpses nearby. So they probably don’t expect me to be alive.」
「The number of nobles that go missing or die mysteriously are not that many, but not so few as well. Therefore, I believe that there should be a low possibility of Cielmer being linked to that case. And depending on the situation, the fact that the said noble is dead might directly lead to your own safety.」

Celia covered for my slip up, but having the other party cover for me feels really complicated. It even feels like I might have just given them a hint leading directly to Duke Rispelgia instead. At this point, I have no other choice but to pray that the duke didn’t make the mistake of leaving anything that can link him to that pig man.

The fact that I’m praying for the duke is extremely infuriating but if the guild discovers Duke Rispelgia’s involvement and decides to do something about it, he might just suspect that we’re still alive.

「So what was the monster at that time?」
「The monster was the owner of this magic stone. It was a one-eyed giant that had a big club-like thing.」

Saying so, I show them the magic stone. Based on the amount of magic power stored inside it, I suspect that this might be the same type of magic stone that was used to make that black pill, but even if that’s true, I can’t do anything about it right now. It would be great if I can find a way to directly absorb the magic power from the magic stone but since I can’t control magic power I don’t own outside of Ciel’s body, I can’t do anything about it. Rather, a pill that injects another person’s —or a monster’s?— magic power into the body might actually be abnormal.

According to Carol, it was a B-Rank monster; and since I’ve already officially won against Carol, Celia wasn’t surprised even after seeing the big magic stone. Instead, she even nods to herself looking somewhat convinced about something. I assume it’s about what she said earlier, about how this might directly result to my safety.

「Judging from this magic stone and your description of the monster, what attacked you must have been a cyclops. It’s a giant one-eyed B-rank monster. Assuming that they hired, for example, C-ranked escorts, a confrontation with it would lead to certain annihilation. You could say that the one that imprisoned you was simply well prepared.」
「So you think that the noble that locked me up set this up too, right? Or rather, is there actually a way to control monsters?」
「There shouldn’t be, is what I’d like to say. In reality though, a Job for taming low-ranking monsters has already been discovered, so it wouldn’t be that strange if there is a Job that can control high-ranking monsters. Besides, if the noble have set up residence in a forest where B-rank monsters can be found, depending on their methods, they should be able to easily use them.」

I assumed that the cyclops was just lured by my song, and that might actually be the case, but even without my song, the cyclops would have attacked the caravan still. And since the result would have been the same either way, I guess what actually happened doesn’t really matter that much for both the duke and me.

「Coincidentally, what happened to the monster’s body?」
「After getting its magic stone, I burned it and buried it.」
「Really, your knowledge is quite patchy for these sorts of situations, you know?」

As I asked Carol, who just joined the conversation, 「Was the way I handled it incorrect?」 she shakes her head in reply.

「The problem here is exactly because it wasn’t. From what you just said, you were locked up for 10 years, so the fact that you know how to properly handle the situation is ridiculous.」
「Since I became 5 years old, they probably wanted some use out of me, so I was kept in a room full of books. Everything I know came from those books.」
「So you mean that your knowledge in sorcery came from there as well, right?」
「It was from the books and also from my own experience.」
「Rather, with your level of sorcery, I can’t believe that you were sold.」
「That’s because I pretended that I can’t use sorcery. Other that locking me up so I can’t escape, I was usually just left alone.」

Since he is a duke, he probably can’t stay around all day, so he probably just didn’t have too much time to spend on me. In that sense, I’m really grateful for that kind of environment.

「In other words, your sorcery was already at this level by the time you received your Job, right?」
「It had only been a few days since that happened after all.」
「So, what Job did you receive?」

If I remember correctly, Carol’s question right now should be relatively problematic. Since the guild doesn’t find Job discrimination agreeable, it’s forbidden to forcibly ask what someone’s Job is. In reality, even a simple request from Carol, a higher ranked hunter, carries some authority over me as a lower ranked hunter. However, considering that Celia would have stopped her if she really went overboard, it seems like Celia is also curious about my Job as well.

Rather, since she seems to be somewhat confident in her tone, she probably already knows that I received a disappointing Job at the very least. If so, this is probably for confirmation. On the positive side, this might be so they can plan something so that I won’t get discriminated against.

However, I’m the poster child of disappointing princesses. Currently, I don’t exactly know how hated my Job is, so the risk is high. Still, by telling people who have been this kind and caring to me the truth, I should be able to learn how loathed the Job Song Princess is. In the worst case scenario, we’ll be forced to run away so… what to do.

『I’d like to tell them that I’m a Song Princess, but is it okay?』
『Song Princess? Even though they know Ain as Cielmer?』
『It’s because if people know Ciel as a Song Princess, we’ll be able to trick the duke since he only knows that you’re a Dance Princess. Once we reach B-rank and become well-known, if by some chance the duke hears of a Dance Princess named Cielmer, he’ll absolutely notice that it’s you.』
『I see. At worst, we can just run away. When that happens, let’s hide out deep in a forest somewhere, alright?』

I got Ciel’s permission, but I wonder why Ciel sounds so happy about that. Her being that optimistic definitely makes me feel less tense, so I won’t be asking her about it though. I don’t know how they see me since I went silent for a bit while discussing with Ciel, but since what they’re asking is what it is, it should have been communicated to them that my Job is hard to disclose. Though, we’ve just made our decision to say it.

「I’m a Song Princess.」
「… To think that it was Song Princess of all things.」
「Is there some kind of problem with that?」
「The guild itself doesn’t have any problems with it. However, in the case that this becomes known, we can’t guarantee that we can protect you.」
「So in other words, it’s fine as long it doesn’t get exposed, right?」
「That’s right. So please, try to refrain from telling this to other people.」
「It might be best to think that I won’t be able to stay in this town if I get exposed.」

After casually saying so, Celia quietly nods in agreement.

Now then, is this hate just limited to this town, limited to this country, or is this something worldwide? I don’t know which it is but it doesn’t seem to be a global thing. Still, it’s possible that this hate is present in multiple countries, and I’m almost sure that it’s deeply-rooted in this whole country as well. After all, a Song Princess had messed up the capital in the past. I won’t be surprised if there are some embellishments around the Job or people call you cursed for having it.

「In that case, let’s make it so that I’m an orphaned child of a mother from a country in the far east, and that I inherited a Job related to songs, is that good?」
「In some sense, this country is in the far east, you know?」
「Then west it is.」
「Random, aren’t you?」

Carol said so in an appalled tone but it seems that she doesn’t see any problem with me saying that I have a Job related to singing.

She likely knows that it’s better to mix in some truth rather than awkwardly trying to completely hide it or something. In fact, since I’m proceeding with this plan with incomplete information —rather, I’m actually doing this so I can sing if the opportunity arises— she probably knows how effective it is more than I do.

「Just to confirm, if I’m facing north, my right is east, left is west, and behind me is south, right?」
「Right, that’s right. I see. That absolutely makes sense. You definitely should have no knowledge of what’s usually common sense. Does this mean, I’ll have to teach you about this as well?」
「My barrier. Other than protection and concealment, do you know what other effect it has?」
「Of course I will. You’re my adorable little junior after all. It’s only natural to teach you everything you don’t know.」

This monocle woman, she’s quite troublesome but in some ways, easy to manage as well. Still, other than protection and concealment, all it can do is things like repelling dirt and other stuff, though. Well, I’m not really concerned about whether this would be worth Carol’s time, but since I managed to win her over, it’s all good.

「By the way, was I right about the directions?」
「What you said was correct. Incidentally, why not just say you’re from this country?」
「It’s because the songs that I know aren’t from this country.」
「Would you mind singing for a bit?」

Since Carol asked me, I will, but what should I sing? Also, should I use the Song Princess’ power or not? Well, it’s just a problem of the language I sing in, so I suppose I don’t really need to use my Job.

After saying 「In that case」 I sing a simple song. And since I just need a simple one, I choose one that is just about 1 minute and longer. As I thought, singing with a throat is pretty nice as well. It’s a bit different from when I’m only singing for Ciel to hear.

「Certainly, I haven’t heard of those words before. It’s the first time I’ve heard a melody like that as well.」
「Still, it was a nice song that really stays in your ears.」

After the two of them stated their opinions on it, Carol asked me 「Where did you learn that?」 a question both of them are probably wondering about.

「I’ve been listening to my mother singing, so I learned it naturally. That’s the backstory.」
「I wasn’t asking about the backstory.」
「It was when I was locked up, that’s the only thing I can say.」
「Haah… Well that makes sense.」

For Cielmer, it’s actually somewhat close to the truth. And since it’s probably hard to think of anything else from Carol’s point of view, it seems like she’s convinced.

「Let’s leave it here for today, shall we? After all, we’ve already discussed about the minimum of what we need to know and we can’t really keep you here for too long.」
「Well that’s true. As for the discussion of sorcery, we can just do it anytime later, I suppose.」

Maybe because of the relaxing atmosphere, it looks like we’re done with the discussion. Nevertheless, Carol is really unshakable. As I was thinking about that, Celia suddenly asked me 「Do you have any plans for today?」

Don’t tell me, is she going to ask me to do some hunter work right now if I tell her no? Since I got a little concerned, and because it would be more convenient for us this way, I honestly told her about our plans.

「After this, I was planning to go shop for something, but do you know of a good store?」
「What are you planning to buy?」
「For now, underwear.」
「… Hold on. Are you not wearing any underwear under your dress right now?」
「When I escaped, this cloth was the only thing I was dressed in. Ah, I got this cloak from the wagon back then, but will this be a problem?」
「Errr, that cloak shouldn’t cause any problems. After all, there is a rule saying that anything left in a wagon abandoned after an attack will fall into the ownership of the one who found it.」

Since there’s no use in lying about it, I honestly told her the truth but… it really took courage to declare that I’m not wearing anything underneath. That’s why I talked about the cloak to divert the topic but Celia wouldn’t let it slide. After all, she has an indescribable look on her face right now and I even feel like her fists are trembling from the tightness of her grip.

「Yeah, I’m definitely starting to hate the noble that locked Cielmer up even more.」

Ah, her tone just changed. She’s only casual with Carol since they’re acquaintances, but she was always polite and courteous with me, probably due to our work-based relationship as well. But, well, since it’s not like she’s actually saying that to me, I should be safe.

「Let me help you with your shopping. I can’t say for sure, but Cielmer, you aren’t sure about what to buy, correct?」
「Y-yes. If possible, I’d like to buy other necessities too and not just clothes…」
「Alright, don’t worry about it. I do believe that make up is still too early for you, so I’ll teach you about skin care and some other things instead.」
「Celia, aren’t you overreacting? Normally, a guild staff doesn’t go that far to help.」
「That’s obvious. But this is only me, not a guild staff but an adult woman, helping a girl that has suffered through misfortune. Fortunately, I don’t have any important business today, so it should be absolutely acceptable for me to take half the day off.」
「Yeah, sure.」

Somehow, it has suddenly been decided that Celia would be joining but since it’s convenient for us, as the one being taken care of, I gladly go along with the situation. But still, I really think that this treatment is all because of how Ciel looks, so I’m grateful about it… That was how I thought about it this time.

Hiya~! We continue on adulting, but it seems like the guild chapter this time ended reasonably quick!

Not really much AinCiel this week, but we did have a glimpse of Ain being a bit of an airhead, which is generally good.
Also, Ciel really wants to be a Disney Princess with her own princess, huh?

C: Let’s go live in a forest then that happens, shall we? (meaningful smile)
A: (Concerned about the smile, but yeah, let’s not ask too many questions, I’m scared to know)

Carol is a bit behaved this chapter, also had some really funny reactions today, and instead, Celia was the one that actually got out of control, lol.
Understandable though, especially since Celia seems to be the really caring type to begin with.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please feel free to comment. Stay clean, stay safe, and have a nice day~!