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(Well then… Considering the situation, and how long this mission might take… better get everything I need ready!)
The Ancient Underground City was incredibly vast. After this world became reality, the Ancient Underground City appeared so large that all other dungeons could fit inside it with space to spare. The difficulty of exploring it had also increased considerably, since those venturing inside could no longer log out whenever they felt inside it.
Thinking about that, Mira surveyed the rest of the entrance lobby. Such large Unions usually had plenty of stores specific for adventurers.
As she looked around, she realized that not only was the lobby really large, but also quite tall. It was easy to tell how resilient and solid the building’s stone was, and at closer inspection Mira noticed a detailed carving, which started on the columns and spread all the way to the ceiling. The ceiling looked like a fresco depicting the paradise inhabited by the Three Gods.
(Hmmm… I can’t find any.)
Mira simply thought the carving looked cool, and was done looking at it. Instead she grumbled and sighed in dejection, unable to find a single store for adventurers in the Union.
「No matter, let’s just look elsewhere.」
Mira left the corner of the Union’s lobby, where a map was fastened to the wall, and headed out to the commercial district to satisfy her need to shop. But then a man came running to Mira.
「Sorry to bother you, but I couldn’t help overhearing that you were part of the group that took down Chimera Clauzen. Could you tell me a bit more about that group? Specifically about its members.」
The man smiled friendly and stood right in front of Mira, speaking to her.
He had a notepad and pen on his hands, wore a shirt and pants that looked easy to move in, and had a large bag hanging from his shoulder. He did not appear to be an adventurer at first glance. He looked more like a journalist, or at least one from years back.
「I don’t really know what to say…」
Mira had only been helping with taking down Chimera Clauzen’s main base, so she did not really know much else. Not to mention that she only met a majority of the members after the mission was over. There was little she could say.
「Please just try, I only need to know about one person, just one. Could you tell me anything you know about the Spirit Queen? Like what her hobbies are, or what she likes to eat, anything. And right… her three sizes, if you know them. I promise I’ll reward you appropriately!」
Mira looked hesitant, so the journalist doubled down trying to convince her. She did not remember someone called the Spirit Queen, however.
(The Spirit Queen…)
A reward. Mira’s mind was swayed by that word alone, so she placed a finger to her chin as she repeated the journalist-like man’s words in her mind.
Meanwhile their surroundings seemed to go silent. Or more exactly, all the men had suddenly gone silent.
The Union was known as one of the most influential organizations in the entire continent, so not only were there many adventurers there, but there were plenty of staff as well. All the males there seemed to go silent, curious about that question the journalist-like man had made.
Tens of seconds passed in that strange silence, and eventually Mira found the correct time to speak again.
「Exactly who is this Spirit Queen?」
It was like the air froze there. Everyone had been listening with anticipation, but now they were shocked, struggling to comprehend what she had said.
「Huh? Wait wait, the Spirit Queen, you know, the Spirit Queen?!」
「That doesn’t really narrow it down. I don’t think I met anyone called that…」
The journalist-like man sounded confused, simply repeating the same name again, but Mira had no clue what that meant, tilting her head in response. Some were even starting to mutter to each other, wondering if Mira had actually lied about being in that group of adventurers.
「But if you were with that group then you must’ve seen her. Weren’t you there when the Spirit King appeared? And the Spirit Queen that called him! That unparalleled beauty that can control even the Spirit King!」
The man shouted almost in desperation as Mira still could not think of anyone. But then she realized. The Spirit King’s appearance, and the Spirit Queen that called him. That was all Mira needed to dispel her questions and everything was clear.
(Oh, they’re actually talking about me.)
That was it, the journalist-like man was talking about Mira, referring to her as the Spirit Queen. It was still strange though. She was right in front of them, but they did not seem to recognize her. Her figure had been displayed on a large screen that day, so they would have obviously seen her clearly.
「So just in case, what kind of person is this Spirit Queen you’re talking about?」
Mira was curious why that was happening, so she asked that as a test.
Hearing that sobered the man up, who coughed to clear his throat before talking with starry eyes about this Spirit Queen.
According to him, the Spirit Queen was a powerful summoner, and even the Spirit King obeyed her. She was said to be the second coming of the legendary hero Forsythia, and the Three Gods’ Countries were all interested in her.
And moreover, he said raising his voice tone, the Spirit Queen was a peerless beauty with lustrous silver hair.
(Well, that’s definitely me. But why won’t he recognize me?)
That was Mira’s first thought once he was done talking. She then said, 「Huh, that sounds an awful lot like me, doesn’t it?」 twirling her silver hair in a slightly exaggerated manner and puffing her chest arrogantly. That should have been enough for them to notice.
But the journalist-looking man, and a majority of the onlookers, did not respond positively.
「You do have silver hair, but you’re not quite on… her level.」
His eyes glided down from Mira’s face to a position slightly lower as he said that. The other men did the same, looking not quite satisfied with what they were seeing, and almost looking with pity at her.
Mira finally understood the truth of the matter from that reaction. As the story reached these regions, it kept getting embellished to an unnecessary extreme. Not to mention that most of the men there were not satisfied with a tasteful size, but preferred much larger eye-catching features.
「Sorry, I didn’t know her then.」
Mira realized she would never win against them, so she ignored the journalist-looking man’s pleas for her to stay as she turned around and walked away with a gallant stride.
When it came to news about Chimera Clauzen, the name ‘Spirit Queen’ had spread way faster than just ‘Mira’. The Spirit King’s entrance had left that strong of an impact. The shock had made Mira’s earlier introduction pale so much in comparison that nearly no one remembered it.
On top of that, Mira’s cute appearance was soon overshadowed by exaggerations, transforming into a more gorgeous description. That led to her being named the Spirit Queen, a beautiful woman with magnificent proportions.
Rumors and word-of-mouth could sometimes be an unreliable form of communication. It would take some time before Mira was recognized in public.
「Such clueless men. Rather than understanding that this is the ideal body, they go and picture me with such bloated proportions.」
As Mira left the Union, she muttered while placing a hand on her chest, which she considered to be the perfect size. She decided to squish it to confirm their firmness again, before muttering 「Yes, just perfect」 as she raised her face satisfied and triumphantly stepped out to the city. Those were her preferences, and if someone disagreed it was their problem.
(…Alright, where are the shops then?)
She left the Union and walked through random streets for a while. She could not spot a single shop, so eventually she had to stop and wonder just what was going on. Gran Rings was an incredibly large city, and she had visited the place only a few times in the past, so she did not really remember the city’s layout.
There were many adventurers on the streets, but the buildings were all regular homes or just local institutions. She looked back, a large Adventurer’s Union building was there, but no shops were nearby.
All the Unions Mira had visited in the past were located in busy commercial districts, in rather convenient locations. But that did not seem to be the case here. Mira was used to finding shops near the Union, so now she was lost as to what to do.
She decided to fly high on Pegasus, where she surveyed the city and wondered if maybe it was too early to explore the commercial district, when someone spoke to her.
「Hey, what are you doing standing still in a place like this? Did you get lost?」
She turned around and saw a beautiful girl wearing male clothes.
It was a female crossdresser. Her height was neither tall nor short, and while her clothes were all those a male would usually wear, her curves still showed through clearly. Her face also looked cute, with some younger traits still present, so anyone could tell she was a woman at first sight.
Mira had just gotten annoyed at others for this, but she was currently looking at this crossdressing woman’s chest. Or rather, her eyes could not move away from there. In the end, Mira realized that she also shared a bit of the sentiment of all those men.
「Oh, I’m sorry if I startled you. I’m no one suspicious, it’s just that there’s a lot of people passing through here, so it’s a bit dangerous to just stay still like that.」
All Mira was doing was to stare at those two large alluring lumps that would take over any male’s mind, but the crossdressing woman seemed to take that as shock, so she smiled and softened her voice.
「Ah…mm…no, it’s just… I was hoping to find some stores near the Union, but I couldn’t see any. I was just a little bit perplexed.」
