Better Not Die Without Paying Me Back
The next morning.
“Yes, please sign here.”
“Ah, yes……”
I scanned the confirmation form the deliveryman held out and finished signing the ledger.
“What the—again? How many times has this been today?”
Mina slithered out from behind me and asked.
I counted the boxes one by one with my finger as I answered.
“Nine, ten… twelve. This is the twelfth one.”
The front of Mina’s shop was now completely buried under a mountain of crates.
The latest wooden boxes were stamped with the vivid emblem of one of the Seven Star Guilds, Red Star Valac. Lined up beside them were the symbols of Midas, Siren, Morgana, Arcana, and the rest.
So now they’re coming at me with sheer volume?
This was the direct result of me putting their recruitment offers on hold yesterday.
A full-on bribery war to win my favor. How classy.
“Whoa…… Nixie. This is the real deal, isn’t it?”
Mina’s eyes sparkled like gold coins as she stared at the boxes.
She was probably using Appraisal.
“Why? You seeing something good?”
“Yeah. The purification potions inside—each bottle is worth at least twenty gold.”
Mina swallowed hard and reached out.
“Can I just take one? Pretty please?”
Smack!
“Ow! Why’d you hit me!”
“Don’t you dare touch a single one.”
Mina clutched the back of her hand and whined.
“But whyyy……”
“Are you seriously asking?”
I pointed at the fancy ribbons decorating the boxes.
“There’s no such thing as free in the labyrinth. The second you open one of these, they’ll slap a collar on you with some bullshit line like ‘By accepting this favor, you are deemed to have agreed to the contract.’”
“……Those dirty, two-faced bastards from the big guilds.”
Mina pouted and took a step back.
But my warning was one hundred percent accurate.
The Seven Star Guilds weren’t the type to take a loss on anything.
These “gifts” weren’t gestures of goodwill.
They were infiltration operations—straws shoved deep into my life to suck me dry. Nothing more, nothing less.
They’re really going all out, huh.
The whole thing left a sour taste in my mouth.
“……By the way.”
I turned to look at Mina.
……And at Lucia, who was currently wrapped in her arms.
“Awww… she’s so cute I’m gonna die……!”
“Huuuoooooo……!”
“Where on earth did you pick up such an adorable little thing?!”
“Hwaaaaaah……!!!”
Mina was hugging my first party member and walking time bomb, Lucia.
“……How long are you planning to keep that up?”
“But she’s just too cute!”
“Ugh……!!! Guaah……!!!!!”
Lucia was making pitiful noises.
With her face bright red, no less.
“……Don’t you think that’s enough? The poor girl can’t even breathe.”
“No way! She’s nothing like that blunt, creepy thirty-five-year-old uncle version of Nixie!”
“Shut up. Who said I’m thirty-five? My mental age is still in its prime.”
“Yeah right. If we’re going by that logic, my mental age is still nineteen, isn’t it?”
“Ugh……”
Mina ignored my grumbling and kept rubbing her cheek against Lucia’s.
Lucia clearly had no idea how to handle this bizarre display of affection.
She grabbed Mina’s hand that was squishing her face and looked at me.
“U-um…… Are you two really cousins?”
“Huh?”
“What?”
“You look completely different…… and your vibes don’t match at all……”
Our looks, huh.
Well, Mina was the tall, seductive beauty type.
While right now I was the small, delicate pretty-girl type.
More than that, the way we talked to each other was way too rough for cousins.
We fought at the drop of a hat, got sulky at the drop of a hat……
Still, it wasn’t like I hated Mina or anything.
If I was being honest, I still liked her. A lot.
Mina might act completely self-centered the moment she opened her mouth, but she actually worried about others more than anyone.
On the outside she was a lazy good-for-nothing.
But on the inside she was endlessly soft and fragile.
The more I got to know her, the more I couldn’t stop thinking about her, the more I wanted to hold her. That kind of woman.
……I even confessed to her because of that side of her, after all.
That was nine years ago now.
Even if I did get rejected.
Mina winked and whispered into Lucia’s ear.
“You’re sharp, little kitten. The truth is, that kid was picked up off the streets.”
“……Is that really true…?”
Lucia’s mouth fell open in shock.
“……Excuse me?”
While I stood there dumbfounded, Mina’s extravagant lie continued.
“She couldn’t even speak properly when she was a baby.”
“……!!!”
“If it weren’t for our uncle, she’d probably still be struggling in the gutters somewhere.”
“……Uuuu……”
Lucia’s eyes shook violently.
Tears welled up in her big round eyes.
“Miss Nixie…… that’s so sad……”
“……?”
Lucia looked at me with trembling lips.
“To think you had such a heartbreaking past…… *hic*……”
“Wait, you’re actually buying this nonsense…?”
“But…… Miss Mina’s eyes looked so sincere……”
Lucia wiped away the tears clinging to her lashes.
Mina burst out laughing so hard she could barely stay upright, clearly delighted by the reaction.
……Sigh. I really must have been out of my mind back then.
Late that night.
Explorer Guild branch manager’s office.
“I wonder if I’ll even make it home tonight……”
Gellidus stared at the mountain of paperwork.
“Just do your work. The reason it never ends is because you keep slacking off like that.”
“Tch……”
Beside him, the tired-looking receptionist was assisting.
She signed a document and spoke.
“More importantly, the Seven Star Guilds are practically drooling over her. I never expected Kamiris from Valac to move personally.”
“It just shows how valuable that girl Nixie is.”
“But you seem to be taking pretty good care of her yourself, Branch Manager. You handled the abandonment case of that D-rank priestess Lucia very decisively.”
“……”
Gellidus gazed out the dark window.
There lay Black Gate Square, the entrance to the labyrinth.
“Isn’t she impressive?”
He put his pipe in his mouth.
“At that young age, she charged into the labyrinth all by herself. She doesn’t even bat an eye at pressure from the Seven Star Guilds.”
He gave a lonely smile.
“Who knows? She might become the monster who changes the entire power structure of this rotten city one day.”
“……Rotten city, you say.”
The receptionist looked at Gellidus and murmured quietly.
Gellidus shrugged and picked up the seal engraved with his name.
“Well, the only thing we can do in this rotten city is this.”
Every time the stamp thudded down, another red mark piled onto the documents.
“……And above all, she’s just so cute.”
“……Cute?”
“Yeah. It feels like I’m looking at my own daughter.”
The receptionist’s face instantly soured.
“Ugh…… You’re not even married. That’s seriously gross, Branch Manager. Think about your age.”
“N-no! I didn’t mean it like that! It’s paternal affection!”
“Be quiet and look at the next document.”
The receptionist flipped the page coldly.
“The Labyrinth Flood is right around the corner. I heard there’s even been territorial fighting on the fourth floor this time.”
Gellidus’s eyes sharpened in an instant.
He quietly ran his finger over the report on his desk.
1st Floor: Harpy original species sighted
2nd Floor: Venom Ant mutation confirmed
3rd Floor: Multiple Praying Statues appearing
4th Floor: Mordraine’s territory shift detected
“This flood……”
Gellidus exhaled a deep plume of smoke and muttered.
“Might be very different from the usual ones.”
The next morning.
Mina and I sat across from each other at the old table in the back of the appraisal shop, going over the recruitment letters from the Seven Star Guilds once again.
Mina rested her chin on one hand, fiddling with her teacup.
“So. Which guild are you planning to join? Valac? Or Midas with all their money?”
Rip—
I tore off the corner of one of the letters.
Pretty decent as a toothpick.
“Tsk…… I’m still thinking about it.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. About how to legally, safely, and thoroughly suck the marrow out of their spines.”
“Of course you are.”
She tapped the Arcana proposal.
“Just looking at it, it’s packed with clauses that would make you flip out. Especially this ‘Protective Isolation Measure’ part.”
“I’m a free spirit, you know. Being locked up anywhere is my worst nightmare.”
Mina’s lips curved upward.
“Free spirit? Who was that D-rank fossil crying in front of the guild bulletin board because she desperately wanted a party ten years ago?”
“Hey! That was because I was broke and starving!”
“So you’re not struggling anymore, Miss Nixie?”
“Ugh……”
After that, a long stream of pointless chatter flew back and forth between us.
Memories of stepping into the labyrinth together fifteen years ago.
The huge fight ten years ago that kept us from speaking for a whole month.
The time six years ago when I co-signed for her.
Those little everyday memories.
……Same old pattern today, huh.
But strangely, my heart felt at ease.
Whether I had a man’s body or this current pretty-girl one.
Mina treated me exactly the same as before.
I couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle.
“What? Why are you laughing all of a sudden?”
“Nothing. Just… I’m really grateful today, that’s all.”
“……”
Mina slightly avoided my gaze and mumbled.
“……What the heck, out of nowhere……”
Her face turned beet red.
Even after fifteen years, I never got tired of seeing her like that.
“Heh heh. What, are you getting butterflies again after all this time?”
“What are you saying?! Want to die?!”
Mina set her teacup down and stared at me quietly.
“……Anyway, what’s your schedule today? Busy?”
“Nope. I’m planning to take it easy for a while. Gotta train Lucia a bit too.”
“Training, huh……”
Mina’s gaze lingered on the leather belt and dagger wrapped around my thigh.
“No matter how many times I hear it, I still can’t believe that little kid ripped a Venom Ant to shreds with her bare fists.”
“Tell me about it. She’s supposed to be a priestess, but I thought I was watching a berserker. I seriously thought I was going to die.”
I frowned deeply.
“If I don’t come back from the next expedition, make sure you give me a really expensive funeral.”
For a moment, Mina’s expression froze over.
The air in the room seemed to solidify.
“……Don’t say things like that so casually. Even as a joke, it’s extremely unpleasant.”
Her voice had sunk strangely low.
I grinned mischievously and leaned closer to her.
“Why? Are you worried I might die?”
Mina reflexively turned her head away.
The tips of her ears were bright red.
“……Hah, please. It’s just that it would be inconvenient if you died without paying me back. Do you have any idea how much you owe me on my books?”
“You know your ears turn red every time you lie, right?”
Mina jumped and touched her earlobe.
“R-really?!”
“Nope.”
“……You little……”
She turned her head away again, thoroughly embarrassed.
I burst out laughing at the sight.
“Pwahaha! A thirty-two-year-old acting all shy like this!”
…….
“Oh, right.”
Mina’s eyes changed completely.
“……Nix Grave.”
The way she said my old name—so soft and heavy.
The voice was filled with clear killing intent.
“I’m sorry. Please forgive me.”
I instinctively backed away.
Like a cat sensing mortal danger, I moved fast.
Whoosh!
But Mina’s hand was just a little faster as it snatched my wrist.
“I’m sorry!!! I’m really sorry!!!”
“You said you didn’t have any plans today, right?”
She smiled terrifyingly.
“Then help out at the shop. I’ll work you until your bones creak.”
“Nooooooo!!!!!”
A little while later.
Mina’s room.
“You’re seriously telling me to wear this…?”
“Yep♡ Doesn’t it look perfect on you?”
Mina clapped her hands together with an expression like she was about to get a nosebleed.
I looked at the extravagant dress in front of me and sighed.
“I’m…… a man……”
“But right now you’re a girl, aren’t you? Right, Miss Nixie♡”
“………”