Chapter 4 (1) -
The weather was back to its tranquil state once the storm that was foretold in the oracle of goddess Leriel had passed, and the boat resumed its journey.
Cat Sith, the mythical beast I had picked up in the storm, roamed the boat freely wherever its whim led it to as the choker made it look like a normal kitten.
«Meow!»
"Oh, you want this? Just wait a minute!... Here."
It approached the sailors who were fishing while making a chiming sound with the bell hanging on its neck, wagging its tail left and right, and making an adorable noise, reminiscent of sweet chirping.
The sailor's expression slackened after hearing the purring sound and tossed a fish too tiny to be of any use, which he had just caught for a meal, at the kitten. The kitten caught it in mid-air, held it down with the paw, and began to eat it in delight.
"Ah一, so unfair. Even though the fish I caught is the biggest one."
Another sailor also grabbed a fish and showed it to the kitten, but the Cat Sith averted its face, putting up a show of disinterest.
Then it trotted to the side of the deck where Teto and I were performing our monitoring duty.
"Hmm? Oh, you got a fish, Kuro? Great for you."
I called out to Kuro, the name I have given to the Cat Sith, and took him into my arms. Though he instead slipped out of my embrace and got on my shoulder.
«Meow~»
"Everyone has become so fond of Kuro."
"Yeah. It's just Kuro's personal virtue...... No, it's a cat's virtue I guess."
With those words, the leader of the hired adventurer party looked at Teto, me, and Kuro, who was on my shoulder.
Kuro had attracted everyone's favorability in no time through its whimsical behavior and unpredictable movements. Though most of it was due to how he would occasionally act intimately with the adventurers or sailors, displaying his cuteness.
And it was not just limited to that. He often showed his valor by entering the ship and catching harmful animals that spoiled the food like rats. He was also quite intelligent and performed the small tricks the sailors have taught him. He also never failed in having meals and toilet breaks at only the designated places.
His virtues combined, inevitably, made him the apple of everyone's eyes in no time. However, that too was about to end soon.
"Good news, I can see the Royal Capital!"
The sailor who was on lookout duty informed us about the sighting of our goal, the Royal Capital, from the observation deck above the mast.
I made a relieved sigh as the escort request was finally about to end.
"We're finally about to reach land, huh? I just want to take a bath first."
"Teto can also finally have a bath with Majou-sama and also be able to sleep together!"
The blissful feeling baths gave was something cleanse magic was unable to give, even if it may have maintained our hygiene.
The boat gradually approached the harbor as such thoughts flashed past in my mind. We looked at the harbor that was curved in an arc.
"This is the Lovile Kingdom's royal capital, huh?"
I had investigated the floating island among the books I was carrying in my free time aboard the ship.
Just as goddess Lariel said, floating stones were a product of the deviated mana flow of the earth veins that could lift the land into the air, and its prime example was the huge floating island hovering above the sea of the Lovile kingdom. There were also other precedents like the small-scale floating island in the northern and southern parts of the continent, with common phenomena happening after that like a lake forming in the place where those floating lands once used to be.
The boat floated toward the paved harbor of the Lovile kingdom that held one such history as I was staring at the scene and eventually stopped after reaching it.
"Thank you very much for your support. This is the completion proof of the request. I have added the information about the excellent protection you provided by blocking the storm and the falling rocks with your windbreaker and the reward has been increased because of that."
"Thank you very much. I guess it's about time for us to leave. Goodbye."
"Teto had fun! Bye-bye-nanodesu!"
«Nya!»
I bowed my head, Teto energetically waved her hand, and Kuro on my shoulder chimed in with a short purr. The merchant saw us off with a reluctant expression.
The adventurers that still had contracts with him continued to protect the ship or helped out in moving the cargo while t temporarily hired adventurers dispersed earlier and headed for the royal capital's guild.
"We're finally here."
The royal castle was built on an elevated hill, and it, along with the fan-shaped road stretching wide from it, was visible from the crescent-shaped harbor.
We began to look for the guild among the buildings. Most of the buildings in the royal capital were made of stone, perhaps due to the sea breeze that affected the wood's durability.
"Ah, there it is."
There were two adventurer guilds here, one on the eastern side of the harbor town and the other one on the west deep inside the city. We entered the eastern guild, which was nearer to us.
"It's here, huh? And the counter is一一"
I headed over to the request counter and spoke to the receptionist to receive our reward for completing the escort request.
"Excuse me."
"Yes? Oh, are you lost, Young Miss? This is the counter where we disburse the request rewards."
We may look like young girls but we're far older than you...... Or so I thought but I didn't say it out loud and we just handed over our guild cards and the proof of request completion while smiling wryly internally.
"What is it? Are you here for your father's errand....... Eh? P-please forgive my rudeness «Flying Carpet» Chise-sama, Teto-sama!"
"Calm down, it's fine. It's just another day for us."
Kuro, who was on my shoulder, pressed his paw on my face as if to say "tend to me", he was probably bored. Teto reached out her hand from behind and pulled him off of me while saying it was impolite to interfere with work.
"You can confirm our request completion proof and reward. Also, we're going to stay in the capital for a while so if you know which housing properties here are suitable for rent, please recommend them to us."
"R, right away!"
Recently, I'm feeling sorry for the mental state of the guild staff who start by treating us high-ranking adventurers as kids due to our appearance and then suddenly get flustered upon realizing their mistake.
I patted Kuro in Teto's arms as I waited, and the receptionist soon called out to us.
"Excuse me, the grand master has called you into the reception room."
"...... Fine."
Grand Master, the coordinator of the royal capital guild and also all the guilds nationwide.
The Guild Master of the Iska Kingdom's royal capital who I saw during the A-rank promotion exam concurrently held the seat of the Grand Master.
We were mostly living a life of a shut-in in the «Empty Wilderness» in the Gard Beastkin Nation, so our area of activity was basically the guild in the frontier town. Though I had met with the Grand Master of the Gard Beastkin Nation in its royal capital during their A-rank promotion exam or when I served as his escort during the guild's countermeasures meeting.
As for the grand master of the Lovile kingdom一一
"Excuse me! I have brought the «Flying Carpet», these two esteemed adventurers!"
"Thank you, serve our guests tea."
A man wearing well-tailored clothes was waiting for us in the reception room.
"So you're the «Flying Carpet» party. I had been waiting for you ever since Doulgu contacted me, saying he has endorsed you two to move here."
"Nice to meet you, I'm Magician Chise from the «Flying Carpet»."
"Nice to meet you, I'm swordsman Teto! And this kitty is Kuro!"
«Nya~»
A wry smile appeared on the face of the Grand Master while looking at the Kuro, who was camouflaged as a normal kitten, who lifted both his forelegs in greeting from Teto's arms.
"This is my first time meeting you. I'm Zericch Lovile, serving as the grand master of the Lovile Kingdom's Adventurer Guild."
"By Lovile, are you perhaps royalty?"
"I have been given the rank of Duke as a prince, though I have also worked as a diplomat."
I slightly lost myself in thought in contrast to the middle-aged man in front of me who smiled.
The Adventurer Guild claimed that they were neutral, though it was simply impossible to take a neutral stand when they had to put their building on the respective nations' lands.
Periodic monitoring was usually done by each nation or the feudal lord in whose land the guild was, for these were hubs for strong warriors at the very least. Then there was also the fact that aristocrats were usually VIP clients who threw a good amount of money, so they obviously couldn't be handled lightly as well.
The guild was also a place of employment for the sons of aristocrats that were fourth rank and below as the royal capital was where royalties and titled nobility resided.
A dismissal system has been established through the agreement of each region's guild master to obstruct the relation between the guild and the nation from becoming too deep and as such, there was a rule where an individual with an aristocratic origin and another with an adventurer origin were to serve in the position of Grand Master alternately at a fixed interval. There were also some other settings like this through which they safeguarded their own personal interests.
And now, the Great Duke who was this time's Grand Master was now talking to us.
"I remember seeing you guys once in the past. Well, that wasn't a direct meeting though."
