I couldn’t et with Ririna, so I returned to the hotel to tell Carol the bad news. Only she was out exploring and hadn’t returned yet. I sent her a ssage asking her where she was, and a while later we t up on so kind of plaza in front of a big statue. We were surrounded by all kinds of plants arranged beautifully, like a large garden.
“There you are, Carol! How’s it going? Seen anything interesting?”
“Interesting, huh…?” She rolled her eyes while thinking. “Well, this is an interesting place, isn’t it? Looks like the kind of place people pay a lot of money to go visit in our world. I wonder what’s the appeal…” Carol slowly walked over to the garden, and I followed alongside her.
She’s right… This would definitely be so kind of tourist hotspot in our world. It’s kinda interesting because no matter where we are in this garden, if the statue is in view, it always looks like the plants are intentionally positioned to fra it. Every shot is a perfect shot here. Now if only the people of this world had caras.
“Looks good from here too… I guess I can see the appeal.” Carol had so monts yesterday where she was very excited, acting like a complete tourist, but she’s much calr now. I wonder why…
“Does it make you feel nostalgic, Carol? Visiting these kinds of places.”
Carol turned her back to
to look at so flowers. “No… I don’t have much to be nostalgic about…” Ughh… Sounds like it’s a sensitive topic… It didn’t seem like sothing she wanted to talk about yesterday. Why did I have to bring it up again? Iroha, you idiot! “*Sigh!*” Then Carol turned back to . “So? How did your eting with Ririna go? Wasn’t it supposed to take a long ti? Why did you ask to et up so early?”
“Ahaha… It didn’t go great as you might imagine… I asked them if I could talk to Ririna, but they just told
to get lost. Apparently, I needed to have a eting scheduled to et up with her. But that’s dumb! She’s my friend, and she’s the one who asked
to co. Why do I need to schedule a eting?” Just thinking about it infuriates , and I pouted without even noticing. “The guy there was a total jerk! Pompous asshole with a stick up his butt! He wasn’t even listening to what I was saying!”
Carol looked confused, then then let out a short laugh. “Hah, sounds like you had it rough… A guild is a business, isn’t it? Why would they turn away a potential custor just like that?”
“I think he thought I was an adventurer because I had a sword. Adventurers aren’t rich, so he wanted nothing to do with . The way Ririna talked about them gave
a pretty bad impression of the Alchemists’ Guild. I think they care more about money than helping people and take advantage of new recruits to line their own pockets.” Ririna told
so of her ideas didn’t get the credit they deserved for dumb reasons. Ideas that were helpful for the people, but not very prestigious. “Oh, Ririna’s fine, though. She’s kind and caring and doesn’t do alchemy just for the money.”
“Okay, okay, I get it. Aren’t you a little too agitated?” Am I? She’s right… Not being able to et Ririna when I was so close got
a little riled up. “What are you gonna do about Ririna then? Do you need my help for sothing now?” Carol leaned against a fence as she asked.
“Actually, I have no idea what to do now. I’d probably get in trouble if I forced my way inside, right?”
“You would. I bet you would. YOU would, but Bea could probably do it.” Carol pointed at . “You should ask her to make so kind of decree so you can go inside.”
“I- I can’t ask her for help again… She already had soone show us the way there. It would be too shaless to ask for another favor so soon.”
“You can, trust . In exchange for your help, she promised she’d help you et with Ririna, not just show you the way. Those were her words, so if she refuses, she’d be breaking her own word.”
“S- she did say that, didn’t she…? I’m surprised you rembered… Uhmm… Are you fine with
asking her for help again? I thought you didn’t trust her.”
“That’s one thing, and this is another. I don’t think she can be trusted, but this is the perfect opportunity to find out. She promised, so if she doesn’t follow through, we’ll know for sure she’s not trustworthy.” Carol’s not only clever, she’s ruthless. Remind
to never make any half-baked promises to her… or any of the girls from the House for that matter…
“Okay, let’s try to et Bea again. Think we can just strut back into the castle?”
“I think I saw Flanne go into the city earlier… We can ask her to get us inside again.” With that in mind, we left the statue’s gardens and went back into the city to look for Flanne. Let’s see how this goes…
…
It was surprisingly easy.
“Welco back, Iroha. Good timing. I needed a break from all the paperwork. How did it go with the Alchemists’ Guild?” We’re back in Bea’s bright office. She’s sitting behind her desk with Flanne on her side, while
and Carol are on the other side, sa as last ti.
“It didn’t go. They said I couldn’t et Ririna and told
to leave.”
“Oh… Really…?” Bea had a tired look on her face, like she had dealt with this before. “Did they at least give you a reason why?”
“Kinda, they said every eting had to be scheduled ahead of ti. Apparently, they’re not taking requests directly from people anymore.”
“I see… I should have seen that coming.” Bea pinched the bridge of her nose.
“You should have?”
“Yeah, I should. Let
explain a bit more about the current situation here in the capital. You see, we’ve learned that a group of demons infiltrated the capital a while ago. They have so kind of plan they’re trying to execute, and they’ve been harassing us since they got here to try and create an opportunity for themselves. I set up a team of soldiers to be ready to launch an attack on the demons as soon as they try sothing, and so far, they haven’t done anything directly.” Bea looked over at Flanne, who continued the explanation.
“Because our team can be deployed at any ti, the demons have been trying to find a way to distract our forces by any ans necessary, going as far as causing trouble in Rocky Ridges to divert so of our forces there.” So that’s what’s going on. Even now, there’s a large number of soldiers back in Rocky Ridges to clean up the ss.
“Like Flanne said, they’re trying to get us to deploy our special team so they can start their plan. But the flipside is that they can’t act until they get us to deploy. Simply put, they’re trying to get us to waste our trump card. We only have one chance to get them, and if our team is deployed incorrectly, they’ll win. This ans we have to wait until we’re absolutely sure of where they’re located, how many there are, and what exactly it is that they’re planning.”
I see… The princess and the demons are keeping each other in check. And whoever moves first loses. If the demons try to start whatever their plan is, Bea can stop them. And if Bea deploys her forces incorrectly, the demons can execute their plan while the soldiers are distracted. “And what does this have to do with the Alchemists’ Guild turning
away?”
“You know how I said they’ve been harassing us even though they haven’t done anything directly? The demons have managed to bribe a variety of nobles, guild representatives, and other important figures into supporting them. We don’t have any proof, but the Alchemists’ Guild is one that beca hard to reason with around a year ago. They weren’t turning people away like that before, so that must an sothing changed recently. They’re trying to hide sothing.” Hiding sothing…
The Alchemists’ Guild is really suspicious… Everything
and Ririna had to go through in Rocky Ridges is technically their fault. They were the ones who accepted the job to make that weird magical dirt, then assigned it to Ririna. Did they know it would attract monsters? Did they intentionally give the job to Ririna to fra her?
“Can’t you do sothing about it? You have a way to help Iroha get into the guild to find Ririna, don’t you? Since you’re the princess, they still have to obey you, right?” Carol spoke up, making demands without reservation. “I rember you promised you’d help Iroha et Ririna.”
“Of course. Even if they’re trying to act rebellious, they can’t just ignore a letter from the castle. I think now’s ti to put our alliance into play.” Bea answered Carol’s demands with a smile.
“Ehh? What do you an?” I don’t really understand what she’s getting at. Our alliance? Wasn’t I just supposed to keep an eye out for demons?
“It’s simple, Iroha. I’ll give you a letter that grants you permission to enter the Alchemists’ Guild on my behalf. You can et Ririna that way, and in return, you’ll tell
everything you see there. If you can find any evidence linking them to the demons, it would be a huge help.”
“I don’t mind. That doesn’t sound too hard. I’m happy as long as I get to et Ririna.”
“Good, let
get a letter ready for you then.” Bea grabbed a piece of paper and started writing sothing down on it. Without lifting her head, she then said to . “And be careful, Iroha. So of the higher-ups there are a bit unsavory. If you end up speaking with one of them, don’t fall for their lies.”
“Thanks… I’ll keep it in mind.” Bea signed the paper, then rolled it up into a scroll before handing it to . “I’ll get going then. Thanks for the help, Bea!” Finally! I’ll finally be able to see Ririna again! Why did this have to be so complicated?
…
“You again? You sure are persistent. Didn’t I say you were a nuisance? Go away.” The mustached man stopped
at the entrance again.
“I don’t think so. I’m not going anywhere. This ti, you’re gonna let
in.”
“Oh…? Am I?” The man had his nose turned up and didn’t even notice
pulling out the scroll. “I don’t think so. The only thing that’s going to happen is you getting taken in for disturbing our-”
“You’re gonna let
in because I have this!” With my chest puffed up, I shoved the scroll right into his nose.
“Hmm? This is…” He looked at the paper with an arrogant look, only for it to quickly turn into a cold sweat. “F- from the castle?! Signed by… Her Highness!?” Hehehe… Let’s see you turn
away now…
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