Project GB is an official initiative by Re:Library.

She answered in a low volume only after checking her surroundings. Perhaps she can’t speak too loudly about factional issues.

In that case, I’ll take the chance to ask in more detail. After all, Sheleight herself has confirmed that there aren’t any people nearby, and she was willing to answer. In truth, there is actually someone observing us, but I’ve put up soundproofing.

「Is there a faction of the church that doesn’t acknowledge Misfortunate Jobs?」
「… That’s right. Jobs were granted by the gods for the betterment of people’s lives. So they believe people with Jobs that can’t fight monsters or directly aid in people’s daily lives are people forsaken by the gods.」

I’m not sure if she’s supposed to share this much, but maybe it’s actually a popular belief that I just don’t know.

Actions made by that portion of the church could be part of why Disappointing Jobs are looked down upon. Anyway, this should be enough inquiry. If we continue talking, she might assume that we’ve gotten closer, which isn’t a welcome development.

「Thank you for the fruitful discussion. It’s about time for me to leave, so I shall excuse myself.」
「In that case—」
「Please keep up the good work. Now if you’d excuse me.」

Since we both live in the student dormitory, there’s a chance that she might want to return with us, so I quickly shut her down.
I don’t know how she took it, but Sheleight didn’t continue her previous statement but instead said, 「About helping people―」 Since Ciel only gave vague responses earlier, she probably wants confirmation. Well, I’m not giving her that, though.

「I’ll consider it.」

With a swift response, I left the temple. On the way back to the dorm, Ciel asked, 『Will you really?』 and I replied, 『It’s better not to lie, you know?』 With us becoming closer to Palra and Belltina recently, it might be a good opportunity to reassess how we should interact with them.

◇◇◇

「To think such a thing happened… I should have come along.」
「The plan was to move around as Ainsel today, so there was no helping it.」
「I fully understand that, but still…」

While being cared for by Mia, I reflected on today’s happenings.

Mia is generally Ciel’s conversation partner, but since Ciel has also been talking with other people recently, I’ve also started talking to her more. We randomly switch things up to maintain impartiality. In general, it’s based on who is outside longer?

「If Mia is around even when we’re acting as Ainsel, then there might be people who would find it suspicious.」
「I understand that very well, but still―」

While she’s not expressing it explicitly, Mia must be feeling some discontent since we haven’t had much time with her ever since the start of classes.

I’m sure she’s bored during the day, and from our conversations, it seems like she doesn’t do hunter activities in her free time. While my first thought was, *’Then why not just go for it?’* it might still be difficult for Mia to complete requests by herself. She has a habit of getting tunnel vision when focused on a task, so considering that, it’s normal that she doesn’t act on her own.

『Ciel, about tomorrow…』
『Tomorrow’s a day off too, right?』
『Yes. For that reason, why don’t we do hunter activities with Mia tomorrow? In the end, we weren’t able to go out of the capital today.』
『Yeah, that sounds good to me.』

「With that said, why don’t we go do hunter work together tomorrow?」
「Is it truly alright?」
「We weren’t able to do any today. Since Mia will be coming along, we can’t really go as Ainsel, but we’re still free to take a look at the A-rank requests. Accompany Ciel in her hunter activities.」
「Affirmative.」

I spoke in a commanding tone so that she can’t refuse, but, well, I just can’t get used to it. Ciel is just better with this sort of thing, so maybe I should have switched with her. Anyway, we’ll be doing hunter activities―moreover, as low-ranked hunters, which makes it more likely for us to bump into other people―so I want to take some time to think over what we were discussing before heading home.

Since Ciel and I tend to have a biased way of thinking―or rather, we’re out of step with common sense―maybe it’s a good idea to have Mia, who still has the typical mindset, give her opinion as well.

「Mia, if there is someone in need of help, what do you think should be done?」
「Is it about what happened at the temple? Wouldn’t it depend on the circumstances?」
「Fair point.」

Helping everyone who may be in trouble really is a fool’s errand, and I personally would rather not get involved. I don’t need thanks or appreciation; I just want to live in peace.

「What you two―Lady Ainsel is most apprehensive about is the trouble that might follow after helping others, correct?」
「Generally, yes. There was an incident where we helped a carriage under monster attack, only to nearly be sold into slavery as a reward.」
「I don’t think I could ever forgive someone capable of that… but in that case, why not help only when you can do so discreetly, or when you believe it’s truly deserved?」
「That’s more lenient than I expected.」
「If you try to help everyone simply because you can, there will never be an end to it. That said, it’s probably best to intervene in situations involving life and death. If you turn a blind eye to those too often, others will come to see you as cold-hearted.」

With the way Mia said it, I can’t help but think that that should be good enough. Since we’ve decided to blend in with human society, we also need to meet other people halfway.

『So, in short, we help when it won’t be a burden on us—or when it’s someone we don’t mind being burdened for… I think?』
『That sounds reasonable, but can’t we also just not worry about things that don’t really involve us? Or is helping others something we actually need to do?』
『Ah… that’s a fair point. As long as we follow this country’s rules, we’re not doing anything that deserves criticism, and we’re not truly obligated to help anyone either. I suppose we can just decide when the situation arises.』
『And when it does, we can mull about what to do together! Yes, let’s do that!』

Putting aside why Ciel is so excited for now, it’s a fact that we aren’t obligated to help people. While helping would leave a good impression on the other party, it’s not absolutely necessary for us to help others.

That’s why we should just help those that we want to help and leave alone those that we don’t. That should be good enough. If Palra and Belltina are at risk of dying, we can help them out, but if they’re just having difficulty in completing a request they’ve chosen, we probably won’t help. After hearing Mia’s opinion on this, she said that it’s acceptable, so we’ll go with this line of thought.