Master of the Tower Dreaming of What Lies Beyond (2)
Lunch wasn't bad. The tips I'd given her last time on seasoning seemed to have worked wonders. Still, it was greasy as ever. Man, if only I had some ramen with kimchi right now... that'd hit the spot.
"Ahem..."
As I smacked my lips to myself, Celestine politely covered her mouth and cleared her throat.
"What's up?"
"Oh, nothing... it's nothing."
What the heck was that about? I carried the dishes to the kitchen for washing and casually asked Leana, "Hey, Leana. Isn't it tough handling kitchen duty on top of everything else?"
"It is tough. But it's fine. It's better for us to send you two out on jobs—that brings in way more money."
Leana already had a ton on her plate. She spent more time at the guild than Celestine or I did, so cooking was just her pitching in. She wasn't a professional chef or anything, and certainly not the guild master.
Should Celestine and I take turns? Nah, no way Celestine had ever cooked before. That'd leave just me, and if I stuck around the guild whipping up meals, who'd handle the requests? Maybe hire a guild servant? They could run errands, clean, do laundry, cook—the works. One servant would make things so much smoother for all three of us.
"Hey, Leana."
"Why~?"
"Should we hire a servant?"
"No way."
"Why not?"
"We need to save every penny for their salary."
"Fair point. Be perfect if we could snag one for free."
"Haha, like there's some lunatic out there who'd work for nothing?"
Leana shook her head like I was the lunatic and disappeared into the kitchen. Hmm, free labor? Other than slaves, that is.
"Guess I might have to make a slave after all..."
I muttered while wiping the table, and Celestine—who was stacking chairs—went wide-eyed and started hiccuping.
"W-what did you say?!"
"Huh? Oh, nothing. Just talking to myself. Don't worry about it."
"O-oh, okay..."
She trailed off and scurried upstairs. What was her deal?
Celestine rushed into her room and leaned against the closed door.
What in the world is going on?
To think the clerk has those kinds of feelings for me... Back at lunch, he was smacking his lips while staring at me, and now he says he needs to make me his slave? Does that mean he brought me into the guild to turn me into a sex slave? Sigh, so that's why the guild master gave me those condoms? In case the clerk tries to jump me? This is bad, really bad...}
Clutching her chest in anxiety, Celestine sank into worry. Should she run away now...? But where would she even go? Officially, she was dead—killed by a demon. The church had her listed as a death row inmate. Fleeing would just force her into the shadows, and as the clerk had warned, that meant risking human trafficking or worse.
So she had no choice but to stay. If it was going to happen anyway, better with the kind and gentle clerk than...
"Hey, Celestine!"
"Eek!?"
Leonar's voice from outside made her jump and shrink back.
"Come down! Time to train!"
"Y-yes! Coming right now!"
Celestine knelt by the bed, yanked out her bag, and checked the condoms. One, two, three, four, five... She tore open one and shoved it deep into her pants pocket.
Stay calm, Celestine... Stay calm...
"Hurry up and get down here!"
"Yeees!!"
Celestine and I headed to the open lot behind the guild. It had an outdoor bath, a simple shed, and a straw dummy. The dummy was a thick log post riddled with sword and spear marks from past training.
"We'll do it here."
"How exactly?"
"You're becoming a combat healer. Use your holy power to smash that dummy."
"The dummy? With holy power? Hmm..."
Celestine chewed her lip, nodding uncertainly, clearly baffled.
"The clerk told me to, so I'll try... But holy power isn't meant for that..."
"No, you can do it. Just follow my instructions."
I explained a few things—tips from the game forums, complete with GIF proofs. Basically, use the barrier like a shield. A riot shield, specifically: slam with the edge.
She'd half-made a barrier that tripped those horses last time; she could definitely pull this off.
"Ehh... So, make the barrier from the top down... and when it spreads to the right angle, cut off the holy power...?"
"Exactly. Like throwing a spear. Holy power is your hand, barrier's the spear. Cut the power mid-spread, and it'll fly off in that shape."
"Hmm... I dunno..."
She nodded blankly, still lost. I'd expected as much, so I broke it down simpler: do this like that, that like this—bam.
"Ah, got it..."
Celestine scratched her head with an awkward smile. Whew, tough crowd.
"Okay, let's try this. Remember that half-barrier from before? Make it again."
"Got it."
Her hands glowed gold, and a circular barrier sprouted from the ground around us. I timed it and told her to cut the power—it stopped perfectly at waist height. Normally, it'd keep rising to form a full dome.
"Good. Can you make it rise faster from the ground?"
"I'll try."
She dispelled it and went again, faster this time.
"Nice. You catch on quick."
It was just encouragement, but her face flushed, and she beamed.
"It's a full circle now, right? Defense all around. Can you do a rectangular one, front-facing only?"
"Yeah, I can."
A rectangular barrier popped up in front of us.
"Good. Narrow it to about a third width."
She adjusted—it became a tall, narrow rectangle, shorter base than sides.
"Now make it shoot up from under the dummy. As fast as you can."
"Y-yes...!"
Pumped from the praise, she lit up her hands with fierce determination.
Shrrrip!!
"Eek!?"
The barrier sliced the dummy clean in half, and Celestine yelped, stumbling back.
"Wh-what?! Clerk! What was that?!"
"Perfect. You used the barrier's edge like a blade."
"They never taught this at the church—how do you know?!"
"Demon hunter gigs take you places, hear all sorts of things."
I brushed it off.
"Practice this. A hundred times. Got it?"
"Y-yes... Got it...!"
I left her to it and headed back inside. Leana looked up from scribbling at the reception desk.
"Where's Celestine?"
"Practicing barriers out back. Dangerous, so stay away. Any requests to handle?"
"Here. Start with the short deadlines."
"On it."
I returned to the guild as the sun fully set and stars peeked out. I'd investigated demon-suspected incidents with Blind Vision and Hunting Dog's Mark, confirming it was just a wild bear. But bears raiding homes was serious, so I tracked and killed it to close the job.
"I'm back."
"Welcome home—great work!"
Leana came scampering from the kitchen to greet me.
"Celestine?"
"Still at the training ground. Want me to call her?"
"Nah, I'll go."
I stepped out the back door. In the dark lot, Celestine flashed golden holy power repeatedly.
Shrip! Shrrrip!
Narrow, razor-sharp barriers erupted viciously from the ground. Nice. Good enough for now. Not sure about using it on people yet, but she'd gotten the knack.
"Celestine!"
"C-clerk."
Sweat-soaked from head to toe, she turned with a smile. Up close, the air was thick with perfume.
"When'd you get back?"
"Just now. You're amazing—mastered it this quick?"
"Hehe..."
She wiped sweat from her chin, grinning ear to ear.
"You taught me so well..."
"You nailed it. You're the best. I can take you anywhere now, no worries."
"Aw, you don't have to say that much..."
Her face turned beet red as she squirmed.
"Heheeng~."
Her halo blinked like a neon sign—guess the praise hit hard. She's weaker to compliments than I thought.
"Let's head in and eat."
"Yeees~."
Hmm, that perfume. Even inside, Celestine grinned goofily, giggling, until Leana snapped at her.
"Don't make that defenseless face, or guys'll eat you up!"
"Heheeng, got it~..."
"What's with her?"
"No clue."
