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「Here.」
「Right, we’ve received the goods. This will be your request completion reward.」

Receiving two pouches from the doll-like, white-haired, and blue-eyed girl, I hand her a previously prepared pouch.
The pouches the girl handed over were magic pouches provided by the Hunter Guild.
The pouch she received is also a magic pouch of the Hunter Guild.

Two of the three are cheaper ones that only have little storage capacity, but at this very moment, three magic pouches —items considered to be quite expensive— have just been moved.

It’s not unheard of for a hunter who just had a large kill to hand their magic pouch over at the reception table, and it isn’t uncommon to see the transfer of multiple magic pouches either. However, it’s not normal for both things to happen simultaneously.
It’s also not normal for all of the magic pouches involved to be from the Hunter Guild’s provision, and most of all, I know that the contents are also abnormal.
After all, within the pouches I just received are multiple remains of A-rank monsters.

「Phew…」

As the girl left, I let out a sigh as I waited for the next person.
After all, the girl just now was the most abnormal one in this situation. Well, saying that out loud would result in me having to leave Central.
Regarding her special treatment, almost every hunter and Hunter Guild staff understand it and are in agreement with it.
It also serves as a show of apology from the Hunter Guild. The one who gets the most out of this is still the Hunter Guild, though, so it’s probably more for the upper executives’ self-gratification than anything.

Well, those higher-up matters are none of my business.
As long as the Hunter Guild doesn’t suddenly cease to exist, I’ll just keep to myself and continue working.

As for my sigh, regular receptionists are not normally in a position to receive her, you see.
Haa… that was nerve-wracking.

「Hey.」
「Yes, what might it be?」

As someone spoke to me, I responded with a smile.
But in my head, I heaved a heavy sigh.
This establishment in Central is the headquarters of the Hunter Guild, an organization that’s spread across nations.
So consequently —which isn’t probably the best way to put it— the people who come here are limited.

On the topic of hunters, only those B-rank and above can travel between borders. I heard it was originally only a requirement for entering Central, but the practice became widespread.
Becoming a B-rank hunter requires not only competence but also good behavior and contributions to the guild, so the typical ruffian that most think of when imagining hunters practically never rises to B-rank.

There are a few that do, but that’s not important right now.

Some might think that there should be many reasonable hunters here because those of B-rank and above gather at the Central Hunter Guild, but that’s not actually the case.
Rather, it’s not like the B-rank hunters move into Central for permanent residency; a number of them actually come here to sight-see.

For that reason, most of the hunters in Central are those that became one locally.
And these ones have many ‘hunter-like’ hunters among them.
Moreover, just because they’re Central hunters, they have a tendency to believe that they’re better than hunters in other regions.

If you ask me, the hunters that come from outside are far more favorable. Like that girl from earlier.
But now isn’t the time to muse about this. I must deal with this Central hunter.

「That was a magic pouch you gave the brat just now, wasn’t it?
Lend me one, too.」
「Then may I see your card?」

As I asked, he reluctantly gave me his card.
Mr. Ghain, D-rank, aged 22. His rank is fitting for his age, I suppose? He seems to be a solo hunter, so he should be relatively capable as he reached this rank by himself.
However, it looks like there’s still a long road ahead before he gets to C-rank.

… Honestly, I can’t understand why he dares to call her a brat.
Considering the many times she has been summoned by the guild.
People who don’t understand the value of information are sure to get into danger in the near future. It could lead to death in the worst case, but that’s the life of a hunter.

If receptionists were to be concerned about every average hunter’s survival, their spirit wouldn’t last.
Having a lively youth who set out the other day return as a gruesome corpse is something I’ve already experienced far too many times.

Anyhow, I took note of this before returning Mr. Ghain’s card.

「I’m very sorry, but we cannot lend you one at this rank.」
「Why the hell not? You gave one to that brat, didn’t you!!」

Saying that, Mister Ghain turned around. To be more precise, he turned to one of the tables at the communal rest area.
Sitting there alone was the girl from earlier.
Perhaps something is on her mind, as she has a bright smile. Extremely adorable.
She’s always expressionless, like a doll, so this is a quite rare sight.　

I can brag about this to the others.

The girl suddenly returned to being expressionless, stood from her seat, and left the Hunter Guild.
While it is nerve-wracking to interact with her, she’s a really good kid when I see her from afar.
Frankly, I’m a fan of hers.

Now then, I need to respond.

「And is there any problem with that?」
「Like hell there isn’t any!」
「Then please work hard to become an A-rank hunter.」

Hearing my words, Mr-, no, Ghain’s eyes went wide open.
I understand how he feels, but he noticed far too late.

「That brat? A-rank? Are you kidding me?」

Folks of this sort are, for some reason, extremely stubborn.
If I have to say something good about him, I do commend him for not directly going at Lady Cielmer.
Had Ghain aired out his gripes to Lady Cielmer, I’m sure it would have ended badly for him. Still, having to trouble Lady Cielmer even more is not something the Hunter Guild would want.

As I was contemplating what to do, “If you have nothing else to do, could you do everyone a favor and leave?” someone chided Ghain.

「The hell. If you want to complain, tell it to the receptionist here.」

As he turned around, Ghain was faced with Miss Carol, known to many as the Ice Witch.
She’s a young ace hunter who reached A-rank at an early age. Her known rival, Miss Friere, is also speculated to reach A-rank in the near future, and us guild personnel are silently excited about it behind the scenes.
After all, as a staff member, having someone from your hometown become an A-rank hunter is something to be celebrated.

Since Miss Carol’s promotion was highly celebrated, unlike with Lady Cielmer’s —since the context around how it happened wasn’t really something to be celebrated— it seems like even this Ghain knows about her. He clicks his tongue and walks away from the reception table.
However, he bumped into something and stumbled.

Perhaps embarrassed by this, “The hell.” he cursed towards whatever it was.

And what met his gaze was a black-haired girl. Somehow, she seemed familiar to me, but I don’t remember knowing black-haired child.
It’s quite an unusual hair color, and her eyes are also the same mesmerizing deep black. I’m sure I would never forget such a color had I ever seen it before.
The girl appeared to be accompanied by Miss Carol, so I’m almost sure that she’s no regular girl.

「You just bumped me, didn’t you?」
「Haa? Want a fight?」
「Wow, starting a fight with an A-ranker? You sure have guts.」
「I’m not talking to you…」
「That girl is an A-rank hunter.」

Miss Carol said with a smirk, but I don’t think there’s anyone else other than Lady Cielmer who has reached A-rank at such an early age.
As I thought that, something felt amiss.
Inspecting the black-haired girl again, she looks very similar to Lady Cielmer.
Like two peas in a pod.

「Ha? What the hell? Is this a damn trend or something? If you’re really A-rank, then prove it. You’ll promote me to A-rank if I win here, right?」

Ghain looked at me as he said that, but that’s not how it works.
If winning against an A-rank could allow a D-rank to be promoted to the rank they won against, then Lady Cielmer would have risen to B-rank as early as two years ago.
Anyhow, it appears that Ghain wishes to fight with this young girl… but as I looked her way, she had a troubled expression, which quickly turned into a fabricated look of displeasure.

「I won’t fight you. It’ll just be a chore. Regardless of what you say, I am an A-rank hunter. If you have any complaints, forward it to the Hunter Guild.」
「Damn it, all of you treating me like a fool!」

Ghain then raised his fist against the girl. Fights like this happen occasionally, and I’m no stranger to these occurrences. However, I couldn’t help but turn away this time.
I likely felt a level of guilt for not being able to stop Ghain’s violence.
I slowly turned my eyes back to them, and what I saw was Ghain’s fist stuck in the air while the girl had a knife pressed against his neck.
Looking closely, there’s blood dripping from Ghain’s neck.

As Ghain was stunned silent, the girl spoke with a freezing tone.

「I can’t believe you dared to belittle Ciel when you’re this weak.」

That honestly gave me some chills. Is that really a voice a kid her age can make?
Hearing that, Ghain cursed as he scrambled away.
Hah, that serves him right. Still, now’s not the time to feel gratified.

「Thank you for waiting. What might be your business with us today?」
「To give my greetings, I suppose? Could I request you to call Rhavelt… the Grandmaster? He should understand if you tell him that Ainsel came by.」
「The Grandmaster? Umm…」

Should I really tell the Grandmaster? This girl, who looks similar to Lady Cielmer, did come with Miss Carol and appears to be an A-rank hunter, so it should be alright. Still…

「Don’t worry about it; go ahead and speak with the Grandmaster. I’ll take over from here.」
「Miss Celia!? Right, understood!」

Miss Celia suddenly appeared behind me, so I decided to leave it in her hands and head to the Grandmaster.
As I turned around, I heard Miss Celia say, ”I see it’s Lady Ainsel who came today.” Is she perhaps acquainted with the young girl?

And that ends our second non-AinCiel POV chapter of this arc! Praise be the random receptionist and her slightly sassy takes!

This time we have a completely unknown character giving her own POV and it’s honestly one of my favorite kinds of POVs. The lack of context just gives an extra flavor, for some reason. For example, at first the receptionist seems a bit negative to neutral when it comes to the girls, but was just mostly her being “Why me? I’m not qualified for this”, lol. Moreover, the personal opinions in the middle of all the professional narration. “She’s smiling. Cute. I can brag about this.” “Don’t care, it’s upper management politics. I’m just here for my paycheck.” It’s always fun.

Meanwhile, we also have pissed off Ain, lol. And Ciel looking like she’s talking to an imaginary friend. Both cute.

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