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「So in short, you weren’t at full force during our battle.」
「I believe we fought with everything we had at that time, but the one who was fighting wasn’t me.」
「That means fighting is Cielmer’s domain then?」
「That’s precisely the case. In times of combat, I support her.」
『You’re fine that way, Ain, because I’ll fight.』
「In other words, it was all Cielmer during the mock battle with Friere?」
「That’s right. Until then, it was me speaking.」

Ciel and I switched before the start of the mock battle. Relaying this to her, Carol’s face winced just as I expected. It’s unfair how grimacing doesn’t really make a pretty person’s face look weirder. Well, Ciel is cuter though. And I should have the same face as Ciel.

And since I didn’t have a face until recently, my awareness about it is a bit numb, or I guess weak.

「May I reiterate for confirmation?」
「Yes.」

After saying this much, Celia seemed to have understood and is asking for confirmation. I don’t really mind, so I nodded.

「Inside Cielmer’s body are the souls of both Cielmer and Ainsel, and you two can switch control freely, correct?」
「Yes. We can also converse in a way only we can hear. We can’t become two separate people.」
「And you said that the two of you have your own distinct Jobs, correct?」
「That’s right. If one’s Job dwells in the soul, it shouldn’t be strange for us to have our own individual Jobs.」
「So then it was Ainsel who was actually the Song Princess and Estoque’s house of Duke Rispelgia believes that Cielmer has a different Job?」
「They know her correct Job, after all. Since her Job was appraised right before them.」

If not for that, Ciel could have fought more boldly in the open but on the other hand, if not for that, we would have lost an opportunity to learn our Jobs. Even so, we might have been able to manage regardless but, in that case, Ciel would have been less active and our relationship would have been different. While this is not something limited to my relationship with Ciel, our current relationship was the result of our tightrope of experiences.

The happiness of being with Ciel right now. Had there been one misstep, it might have been lost forever. That’s why I’ll cherish it. So that I’ll never lose it, that’s precious and dear.

As I was lost in thought, Celia’s tone became heavier.

「In other words, people with multiple Jobs might appear resulting from Rispelgia’s experiments, yes?」
「Ah, right, it does imply that.」

I’m pretty sure that Duke Rispelgia won’t do the same experiment though. Even if he does, I don’t think the creator god would entertain him with another human soul anymore. From what the creator god said, even if he were to interact with the divine realm, the most he could do is scoop the remnants of the power drifting afloat there.

Still, as expected, I can’t talk about this to them. It’d be a stretch to expect them to believe it.

「However, Rispelgia considered us a failure, so wouldn’t it be unlikely for him to do the same thing? It was a 10-year project, after all.」
「True, that’s a valid point.」

Despite her reply, Celia still went into deep thought. It must be tough being a guild receptionist, or rather personnel. Celia likely holds an important position, so she can’t just ignore what I said.

「We were told to grant someone who has yet to appear in the Hunter’s Guild A-rank qualifications but, I see, so that’s how it is.」

『Obviously! After all, Ain and I are always together!』
『That’s right. It also makes it so that we’ve been in a party ever since.』

「About me being granted qualifications too, right? Since we exited Estoque, I don’t need to hide more than necessary anymore, you see. I believe you already know, but please don’t tell this even to Rhavelt.」
「Of course, I promise.」
「Well, yeah. Now that I think about it, you two have a higher position than the grandmaster now.」

『What’s a grandmaster?』
『I think she’s referring to Rhavelt. It’s likely someone who presides over guildmasters.』

Hearing Carol’s words, Ciel asked a question. I’m glad that “grandmaster” was correct. I just speculated that it might be the case based on titles used here, so I’m a bit happy it’s spot on.

In the hierarchy here at Central, Fiiyanamia is on the topmost and we, as her daughter, are probably right under her. Beyond that, I don’t know. It might be the leaders of the respective guilds and there seem to be aristocrat-like people too. Still, as for whether this is relevant to us or not, I’d say not really.

「Still, being Mistress Fiiyanamia’s daughter is going to be tough.」
「Is that so?」
「Mistress Fiiyanamia’s policy is “strength above all”, after all. She’s said that if anyone wants to be the top of Central, they just have to defeat her. You two might get dragged into it.」
「Nothing like that has happened here in a long time, though.」

Celia supplemented Carol’s statement. Fiiyanamia would definitely say that. The issue would be who can defeat Fiiyanamia. Or rather, wouldn’t the lands of Central get destroyed first before she gets defeated? Seems like it would be a similar case as when defeating Ciel– or rather me.

「Besides, even if you two do get involved, I can’t think of anyone that can deal with you. That barrier that endured Friere’s blue hellfire, that’s not your best, right?」
「Right. This barrier was made with the intention of probably being able to block an A-rank monster’s attack. The most toughest one is active even now.」
「Yeah, I know. The barrier that lets you nap regardless if you’re outside town, right?」

It’s not wrong, but it sounds weird describing it that way.

『Not only naps but full sleep. Ain’s barrier is amazing, amazing you know!』
『Yes, I’m always protecting Ciel, after all.』
『Fufu, not only while sleeping, right? Thank you for always, Ain.』

Uh-hm, it’s not a nap-use barrier, it’s for protecting Ciel. As long as Ciel understands that, I guess I don’t mind if Carol doesn’t. More importantly, let me confirm something that came up in the conversation here and there.

「Come to think of it, Carol, you’ve reached A-rank, right? Congratulations.」
「Do I take that as praise?」
「Rather than praise, it’s a gesture of celebration?」
「You don’t seem very interested though.」
「Ranks for us were only a means to escape from Estoque, after all. Even now, it’s just handy for achieving a different goal. Since our status as Mother Fii’s daughter is at the forefront, there might be clamoring for every move we make.」

For the amount of trouble they’ve cost us, I intend to make good use of our rank. We just need to work occasionally after all. As I was thinking that, Carol who had been disgruntled a moment ago suddenly started grinning.

「Mother… huh.」
「What, do you have something to say about that?」
「Not really? I just thought that you’re acting like a proper daughter.」

I’m not doing anything wrong at all but, I don’t know, why does it make me feel embarrassed? Mother Fii… Right, I can’t deny that saying it feels a bit weird, but I think it’s better than just Fii. And mommy… doesn’t fit either.

Ciel giggling in my head is another factor adding into the embarrassment. Mnnh… She did say that seeing me troubled makes her happy, but is this what she meant?

As I was stuck contemplating, I suddenly felt a hand on my head.

「What is it?」
「Nothing in particular.」

When I asked with a pouty face, Carol curtly replied and lifted her hand away. What was that all about? I don’t get it at all, but 「Oh, right.」 Carol then shifted the topic.

「You two becoming Mistress Fiiyanamia’s daughters is a big problem in of itself, so be careful, alright?」
「That’s right. It might be best to communicate that in advance.」
「What does that mean? It’s different from the previous issue, right?」
「Being Mistress Fiiyanamia’s child, there’s a likely chance you will be seen as a successor and there are people who’d become agitated just from that. These are only rumors, but there seems to be people already unhappy about this.」
「Well, I don’t think you two would get killed, though.」

Aah… That does sound troublesome. For some reason, what Fiiyanamia told us on the way home yesterday went through my mind, but I want to believe it’s unrelated. Fiiyanamia likely knows most of everything but still… actually, if there are rumors now, then she definitely has an understanding of the situation already. In that case, the rumors are either groundless, or she’s intentionally leaving it be.

It might be fortunate that we’re at least in a position where if something happens and we have to use force, we’ll be forgiven. At worst, I suppose I could ask Liessyl a favor. Shifting my gaze to her, our eyes met and she waved at me, so I smiled in reply.

… Ah, I’ve been out for a bit too long. Opportunities for Ciel to converse with people other than me are invaluable, after all. So I was about to tell Ciel that we’re switching, but then I remembered that I was in the middle of a conversation with Celia at the Hunter Guild.

「Celia, continuing our talk at the Hunter Guild, what sort of activities do the Central hunters perform?」
「Oh right, we were talking about that. Here at Central, there is a place with many monsters called a Den. Dens are cave-like areas that expand deeper and deeper underground. These were discovered to have, for whatever reason, monsters that are weaker in the shallower parts and stronger as you go deeper, and they inexplicably don’t travel between floors. There, a hunter’s main work is to hunt monsters for materials and bring them back.」
「What a mysterious place that is. Are there treasure chests too?」
「…? No, there are only monsters from what I hear. Carol, have you heard about anything like those?」
「Nope. But, well, there seems to be some people who call deceased hunters treasure chests.」

I thought that it’s one of the famed dungeons, but it seems to be different. It does sound dungeon-ish, though, only without treasure chests. As for why these exist… I have a hunch Fiiyanamia and the creator god would probably have the answer, but will they tell me?

「Carol, you’ve gone there before, right?」
「Going to the den is the easiest way to live here as a hunter after all. While it doesn’t pay as much as requests do, you can earn a considerate amount there if you’re B or A-ranked.」
「As for the Hunter Guild, they sell the materials to the Merchant Guild wholesale. The Merchant Guild then sells these to other countries. After all, with the existence of monsters, there is an unending demand for weapons.」

Just as Celia said, they’d probably sell as many weapons as they could. A stampede just happened at one certain country too, so it won’t be weird for other countries to be on high alert. Besides, there’s probably demand here within Central itself as well.

「Ainsel… and I guess Cielmer too, do you two intend to delve in?」
「Who knows? We don’t have a need for money, after all. So I suppose we might go out of curiosity?」

『Ain, do you want to go?』
『I’m a bit interested about it.』

Although I intended to part from it, my past life interests still remain. Dungeon –or rather dens– are common in game settings, so I’d love to go there and sightsee. Still, would it be fine to go there with Ciel for sightseeing?

For whether we should go or not, I’ll decide with Ciel later. More importantly, I just remembered why we went back to the Hunter Guild.

「Come to think of it, we called for Rhavelt. Was it really alright that we just left?」
「The grandmaster…」
「It’s fine. It was because Friere asked you for a fight, after all. Rather, you’re greater than him in status now, so no need to care about it that much, don’t you think?」
「That may be true, but I still can’t help caring.」

I forgot about it until now, though, so I can’t really say that I cared that much about it. But still, if it’s fine, then good. Once we finish here, I’ll show my face there.

『Now then, I’ll return your body now, Ciel.』
『No.』
『Umm… Right, I’ll switch with you now, Ciel.』
『Understood!』

While thinking about how adorable this side of Ciel is, I returned control to her.

Heya~! Today’s chapter is quite a treat, more Ain being cute~! Ciel is adorable most of the time, and she was this time as well, but it’s rarer for Ain since she’s putting up the “I’m older so I have to be more responsible/stoic” front, so…

Anyways, this chapter is a bit of a refresher in general, since our two allies are putting together our protagonist’s main conflict in the first part. Still, it’s really nice that Carol and Celia are shown here to come to their own conclusions from the information they just got. Carol does this more, since Ain left more crumbs for her, but now it’s Celia’s time to puzzle it out now! And we can finally feel better for her since she’s not out of the loop anymore, yay! We also learn about “dens” today, the story’s equivalent of a dungeon it seems. No treasures except from those that came and failed before you though.

Carol-Ain interactions are really fun in general because of Ain being somewhat sassy with her, but this time it’s really great. We got the usual Ain-Carol dynamic of Carol being mostly irked or in disbelief of Ain not acting her appearance, but we also got Carol teasing Ain and patting her in the head! Despite how much they appear somewhat more distanced from each other, compared to Celia’s more friendly approach, Carol does care for Ain and Ain does think of her as somewhat like a collage friend. Really nice. Also, Ciel giggling at Ain being embarrassed and refusing to switch with Ain because she was talking like they don’t share the body was also cute. Ciel is just plain cute, cheery or pouty.

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