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Several days after Ciel and Tur had fun playing, we were called to the Hunter Guild, so we left the manor before noon.
Actually, we were contacted yesterday, so we could have also left earlier, but the Hunter Guild is so crowded in the morning.
There’s the usual competition for well-paying requests, after all.

While great requests don’t really get posted often, there’s still a significant number of people who would never allow themselves to miss a good request.
Besides, if you get a profitable request, that would provide you the financial leeway to rest, train, and repair or replace your equipment.
In short, it directly leads to increased combat capacity.

And with that increase in strength, you can accept better requests, leading to better rewards and a greater increase in experience. It’s highly sought-after if you want to rise in your career as a hunter.
Even if you’re not that ambitious, there are sure to be those who just want a large reward so that they can work for less time.

Either way, it’s better to have money than the alternative.

If you only want to rank up, then it’s probably better to focus on the untouched pickled requests, but most of them don’t pay well enough.
With both Ciel and I being sorcerers, as well as me being focused on defense, we can complete most requests of that level even if we have nothing on ourselves.

However, an average hunter would have to take into account the exhaustion and wear on their supplies and equipment.

And that’s why there are a lot of people in the morning.
However, as most are focused on the request board, there’s a low chance of anyone picking a fight with us despite the large crowd.
That said, that also means that the reception counter is busy in the morning, which is why we decided to leave at this time.
There’s unlikely to be anyone trying to mess with Ciel in Central, after all.

And if there were, we’d just fend them off.
We’ve already received permission to do so from Rhavelt.
Well, that might not be quite exact, but there shouldn’t be any complaints as long as we take care not to kill.

『There’s something they want to hand over to us, was it?』
『They didn’t elaborate on what it is, but that’s about the gist of it.』
『Could it be something relating to the golden spider?』
『That’s the first thing that comes to mind… but I can’t think of what they’d want to give us. I’d rather not have that fang back, too.』
『We certainly don’t need that.』
『It was a shame that it didn’t turn to ash.』
『True, so true.』

I honestly would have preferred that it burned to ash. I wanted even the smallest evidence that such a disgusting thing ever existed erased from this world.
The good news is that there likely won’t be any other spider-type artificial divine messengers.
I don’t believe Rispelgia would make multiples of the same thing. Or at least, that’s what I want to believe. If I’m wrong, then I’ll have the next one’s fang turned to ash for sure.

The topic of the golden spider aside, what could it be that they want to give?
Limiting the possibilities, it could be the possessions of the people killed by the golden spider or some sort of reward from those who were saved.
I heard that the survivors managed to reach the surface safely.

Among those we saved, no one died.
There were some who suffered malnutrition, but apparently everyone managed to return on their own two feet.

『Anyhow, there’s no point mulling about it now.』
『We’ll just have to go, right? Though it looks like we’re already there.』

As we were talking, Ciel arrived at the doors of the Hunter Guild.
The whole thing about what it could be was just one of the many topics we had, so neither of us were actually concerned about getting an answer.
After all, we’ll know once we get there anyway.

Ciel vigorously opened the doors and went inside the building.
There are several groups of hunters inside, and upon seeing Ciel, some started whispering amongst themselves while the others went silent.
I guess information about Ciel has been circulating.

After telling a receptionist that we were summoned, Ciel was guided to the back room.
As Ciel went inside, I heard voices of disappointment and cheers, so maybe they had some sort of bet around Ciel?
Ciel does get led to the back room a lot, so is she perhaps seen as a troublemaker for that?

Even if that’s the case, Ciel probably won’t be bothered by it.

At the room we were led to, Rhavelt was already waiting there as usual.

「Forgive us for having you come here. Normally, we would have had a courier deliver to you and be done with it, but there are slightly complicated circumstances for this case.」
「I don’t mind.」
「I greatly appreciate hearing that.」

Now that he mentioned it, there actually isn’t any need for Ciel to go to the Hunter Guild for this.
Even if what they want to give us is difficult to transport due to its sheer number or size, the Hunter Guild has their own magic pouches. It’s also bad publicity for them to summon Ciel to pick something up.

In that case, what they’ll be giving to us must be valuable or important. I have absolutely no idea what it could be, though.

「So, where’s the thing?」
「Before that, may I confirm one thing first?」
「What?」
「Do you know anything about a black-haired girl during yesterday’s den incident?」
「……?」
『Isn’t that likely to be me? We did switch a few times within the den.』
『That’s true.』

After tilting her head, Ciel fell silent and as a result, Rhavelt is a bit perplexed. It doesn’t show on his face, but that’s the impression I have.
Because of that, I instructed Ciel to just try continuing the conversation for now.

「Why are you asking that?」
「A certain esteemed personage requested that we deliver this letter to the black-haired girl who saved him.
However, as far as we are aware, the only people who could have saved anyone are you, Lady Cielmer, and the A-rank hunter Carol.
Neither of you have black hair, and I have been told that Carol turned back partway. In other words, the most plausible answer would be that the girl must be you, only mistaken for someone else. However, we also cannot risk the slim chance of accidentally giving it to the wrong person.」

In other words, someone among the people we saved wanted to give me a letter. This is starting to feel like it could be troublesome.

「I have an idea of who it is. I’ll pass it on her.」
「I’m very sorry, but we can’t allow that.」
「Why?」
「The sender of this letter is royalty.」

It no longer has a possibility of being troublesome; it’s just straight up troublesome.
Why was there royalty inside the den? And why were they captured by the spider?
I feel like letting out a loud sigh, but I understand that this must be a bigger headache for Rhavelt.

He’s not saying it outright, but Rhavelt likely has to witness the letter reaching its recipient with his own two eyes.

Seems like our protagonists have something fishy on their plate this time! Close encounter with royalty nao!

I don’t know why, but I really found it funny how Ciel was ??? when asked about the black-haired girl, when Ain has a visible spectral body now. Maybe she’s just so used to having people not see Ain, lol. And in the first half, we are once again reminded of how useful it is to be a spell caster for money reasons. Low maintenance for equipment. Plain yet potent advantage, gotta nerf that on the next patch to balance for the warriors.

Also, has to suck being Rhavelt right now. Stuck between a letter from royalty of another country and the unsociable daughter of the neigh omniscient ruler of your area. Whatever the contents of that letter is, I’m sure he didn’t sign up to be the grandmaster for this.

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