Mana Conversion

"The Saintess has fled?"

Demon Castle Kutranux.

Demon ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠King Bercella sat perched upon her throne, conversing with Xavier through a spell of Spatial Projection.

"That is so. Worry not, however. We have already ascertained her whereabouts."

"Isn't this actually for the better? The Saintess vanished of her own accord, so we can simply appoint a new one."

Bercella did not seem particularly concerned. Whether the Saintess was killed off or ran away, the result was the same: the position would sit vacant. What mattered to Bercella was finding the Hero. The reason she had ordered the Saintess killed in the first place was that her patience had run dry after the woman failed to locate him quickly enough.

"As you say... yet there is a slight problem."

"A problem?"

"The other churches, having learned of this affair, appear intent on excluding the Freya Diocese from the forthcoming regular assembly."

"And why is that a problem?"

"It would eliminate any possibility of a Saintess being chosen from our diocese."

Xavier reported the matter honestly. That the previous Saintess had been selected from the Freya Diocese under his management had been partly luck — but his reputation as a bishop had played its part as well. For long years he had lived hidden among humans, performing the life of a bishop to perfection.

The original plan had been to kill the Saintess on Bercella's orders and replace her with the next one. That plan had gone awry. And it was a problem that would have arisen even if the Saintess had died on schedule instead of fleeing.

Bercella's head was growing complicated. The truth was, she was not particularly bright. At first it had been a simple matter of securing the Saintess in order to find the HeroHero quickly. But once the plan had gone this far off the rails, her mind could no longer keep up.

"Ugh... then what am I supposed to do?!"

"Should a Saintess emerge from another diocese..."

"I don't know! I said I don't know!"

"Lady Bercella..."

Bewilderment began to show on Xavier's face. She had little experience as Demon King, and was on the younger side among demonkind, and so she would sometimes let emotion override reason in her decisions. Ordering the Saintess killed had been one such instance. Xavier had wanted to wait until her remaining term was fully served rather than take her life, but the Demon King's command was absolute. He was tense now, unable to predict what order she would issue this time.

"Even should you command it so..."

"Aaaagh! I don't know! You idiot! Just figure it out somehow!"

With Bercella's cry, the Spatial Projection magic that had been carrying their conversation cut off with a snap.

"Haa... my Demon King..."

In the silent, dimly lit chamber, Xavier sighed, longing for the previous Demon King.

Having finally completed my adventurer registration at the guild, I was waiting for Tina, who worked as a receptionist, to get off work.

"Phew, my shift's over."

A short while later, Tina emerged from the guild having changed from her receptionist uniform into ordinary clothes, and came over to where I stood. The reason I had specifically called her out after work was because I had a favor to ask — namely, the matter of Meruru.

Now that I had started my life as an adventurer, I figured it would be difficult to look after Meruru properly from here on. I wasn't going to be gathering medicinal herbs using her specialty anymore, and I wanted to earn money the proper way, through adventuring work. Of course, I could have kept bringing her along and selling herbs for profit. But she had her own reasons for coming here, even stowing away to do it. Now that I had become an adventurer, I didn't think it was right to keep using Meruru as a means of making money. Besides, if that kind of income kept rolling in, there was a real risk I would grow weak-willed and settle into that comfortable reality.

But I also couldn't just send Meruru off alone without any plan, given how naive she was about the ways of the world. So what I had come up with was asking Tina for help. The kindness and generosity she had shown me back when she was the Saintess still seemed to hold true. And since she worked at the guild, where information from every corner of the world gathered, she might even be able to find leads on Meruru's older sister. If it was Tina, wouldn't she know a way to help her?

"Meruru, say hello. This is Tina. She helped me out a while back."

Meruru stared at Tina, her thick pickled-radish eyebrows twitching.

"Oh my, what a cute young lady. Nice to meet you. I'm Tina."

Seeing this, Tina smiled brightly first and greeted Meruru. Once I figured they had finished introducing themselves, I explained Meruru's situation to her — from how I had first met Meruru, to why she had come to the continent. How she had had no choice but to hide her ears and tail because of her distinctive beastkin appearance. How we had gone gathering medicinal herbs using her special talent, and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the incident with the slime. And even why I was uneasy about leaving Meruru on her own.

"...I see. A beastkin from Helvetica Island. They are certainly rare around here."

Tina nodded as if she understood, looking at Meruru.

"So I thought perhaps you might have a way to help her..."

More than anything, I couldn't protect Meruru as I was now. Now that I had started adventuring, I would inevitably keep running into dangerous situations. She had already been put in danger once because of me, and I didn't want to put her through that again.

"Meruru, would you mind taking off that hood for a moment?"

After a thoughtful pause, Tina made the request. I pulled the hood off for the bewildered Meruru in her place. The moment it came away, a pair of large, fox-like ears sprang out with a flutter.

"I... I feel uneasy, so I do."

Meruru pressed her ears down with both hands, bothered by Tina's gaze.

"It's okay. She's not a slave trader."

I stroked Meruru's head to reassure her. Ever since we had talked about slave traders aboard the Achbari, she had been afraid of showing her beastkin features to other humans.

"Hmm. Kubel doesn't have anyone of Meruru's particular race, but other demihumans do visit from time to time."

"Is that so? I haven't seen any yet."

"You see them occasionally if you work at the guild."

Tina continued, carefully studying Meruru's face now that the hood was off.

"Honestly, I don't think slave traders are a major concern for her. Slave traders don't typically go after people who look well-kept, or who belong somewhere."

Well, even if I were a slave trader, I would probably target scruffy kids with nowhere to go — like Meruru when I had first ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠met her. But now I had bought her a new robe, and traveling with me had washed away that ragged, unkempt look. Looking like this, people might stare out of curiosity, but she wouldn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠immediately become a slave trader's target.

"Still, there are a lot of reasons I'm uneasy about leaving Meruru alone."

I said it looking at her with worried eyes.

"Then how about Meruru working at the guild as well?"

Tina made an unexpected proposal.

"Would that be all right?"

If she could work at the guild, every problem would be solved at once. She would have a stable livelihood, and through the information that gathered there, she might even collect leads on her sister's whereabouts. But... Meruru? Could she really do it?

"I mentioned earlier that demihumans occasionally visit the guild, didn't I? The thing is, even if their races are different, those people tend to feel more at ease being received by a fellow demihuman rather than humans like us."

"Ah... I suppose that could be true."

"In human society, after all, they're all lumped together as demihumans regardless of their actual race. When receiving those visitors, I think it would be more comfortable if Meruru stepped forward as a receptionist."

I felt like I could understand that. In Kubel, where humans were the overwhelming majority, demihumans were treated as just two categories: "not human" and "human." Whether beastkin, lizardfolk, or whatever else, here they would all feel like the same kind of alien presence. And because of that subtle social isolation, demihumans might actually form a sense of solidarity with each other. In that sense, Tina's proposal felt entirely reasonable. I would be visiting the guild often as an adventurer going forward, and I also kind of wanted to see Meruru working in a receptionist uniform.

"Yunoaaaa! Are you throwing Meruru away?! I don't like it, so I don't! I'm scaaared, so I aaam!"

"Whoa!"

Just then, Meruru, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, latched onto me like a cicada, whining at the top of her lungs.

"Oh my."

Tina watched the scene with one hand on her cheek. I barely managed to peel off Meruru, who was clinging to me for dear life, and stroked her head to calm her down.

"Meruru, you have something you need to do too, don't you? You said you have to find your sister. If you follow Tina and work at the guild, you won't have to worry about going hungry every day, and since information from all over gathers there, you might even find a lead on her."

"Ugh..."

"Or have you given up on finding her?"

"I have to find my sister, so I do..."

Meruru's ears drooped on both sides.

"And if you're at the guild, I'll get to see you often too."

"Uuuu... I understand, so I do..."

After persuading Meruru, I spoke politely to Tina once more.

"Then I'll be counting on you to look after Meruru from now on. I keep receiving nothing but help from you."

"I'll speak to the Guild Master about it. You can come to the guild first thing tomorrow morning."

And so, thanks to Tina's consideration, Meruru was hired at the Kubel Adventurers Guild as a receptionist specializing in demihumans. I felt nothing but gratitude toward her. If the day ever came when Tina needed my help, I would surely repay the debtdebt. And for that, I myself would have to grow as an adventurer.

No, Narration.

Read the room, please.

I was in the middle of steeling my resolve.

...

...

...I am kind of curious, though.