"Thank you for coming today, please return the masks that you previously rented~"
When Luke and I reached the end of the stairs to the upper floor, the girl who had previously offered us masks immediately blocked our path as we arrived.
She startled me a little by appearing so suddenly, then said that we had to return these masks... Huh?
The girl simply stayed silent with a smile, merely waiting for her hand to be filled with the masks from me and Luke.
The two of us could only look at each other in confusion, because this girl never said that we had to rent them instead of buying them.
... Oh, I understand now. Being in a place like this, I should have been more cautious about things like this.
Plop.
I removed the mask covering my face and handed it to the girl, and Luke did the same.
If I tried to argue that these masks belonged to the buyers, the situation would definitely become more chaotic, and I might end up getting caught in this place's trickery.
So yeah... for now, the only thing we can do is go along with this game.
I immediately left the room, then arrived at the restaurant that serves as a disguise for what lies beneath it.
There were only a few people still here, most of them were girls working as staff, still cleaning the floors and tables.
The rest... maybe just an elderly couple enjoying their drinks at the table at the very end.
When I tried to look outside through the window, it was already dark outside. The streetlights had started to turn on, and only a few people were passing by at this hour.
Seriously? Luke and I were in that trading place until night? I didn't expect we had been there for that long.
—
After that, several staff members approached us to ask whether we wanted to order something here.
They insisted several times before I finally managed to convince them that Luke and I did not need any service from them.
When we arrived at Vol-san's residence, at first I thought someone would be waiting for us behind the door with an annoyed expression.
Click.
... Eh? There was no one in the living room, and I couldn't even hear any sound from anywhere.
"Luke, you go upstairs first. Try checking whether Vol-san is still in his study," I said.
Luke simply grunted before climbing the stairs to the top floor to do as I asked.
There was a reason why I didn't go with him, even though there was a safer option, yet I chose the more risky one instead.
I entered the room where we usually gather, and this time my guess was right—it was almost like I had seen the future the moment I saw it.
Oh right, now that I think about it... Luke is rarely ever scolded by the two of them. Well, he is the newest member after all.
If only we had been together back in Necvalion, maybe the way they treated Luke would have been almost the same as how they treat me.
Yuu-chan wasn't here, maybe she had some business or was even helping Vol-san upstairs.
Only Hime was there, sitting alone on the sofa, with a pile of papers stacked high on the table in front of her.
The pile wasn't that tall, but there were probably hundreds of sheets she had to work on.
These past few days, ever since we arrived here, she and Yuu-chan had always had some business outside that I didn't know about.
And if it were something light, Hime should have been able to handle it alone, yet she had to go together with Yuu-chan, which means they were dealing with something quite heavy.
As proof, there was a stamp used for signing placed beside that terrifying pile of papers.
I moved away from the doorway after closing the door slowly, trying as much as possible not to make too much noise.
Hime didn't seem to realize that I had returned yet, she looked very focused on the paper in her hand. Could it be that she had become a temporary secretary in this group?
Hime picked up the stamp and marked the bottom right corner of the paper, then placed it in a stack beside where she was sitting.
There was already a small pile there, which meant she had finished quite a lot of papers before I got here.
I sat on the sofa on the other side of the table, before taking the paper at the very top of the stack.
My hand almost touched hers—I took the paper she was about to grab, which finally made Hime notice me.
I read the paper quickly. Even though I didn't read it in detail, I understood the main point being discussed.
I took the stamp, marked it, and handed it back to Hime.
"Yukito-san? I'm sorry, I didn't realize you had already come back. But... what are you doing?" Hime asked while arranging the paper I had just given her.
"Can't you see for yourself? If you do this alone, how long will it take before this table is empty again?"
"Also, I got something today. How about you guys?" I asked back.
Normally, Hime wouldn't be surprised if I suddenly helped her. Maybe she was too focused or working too hard that her behavior changed.
Hime shook her head a few times, perhaps trying to keep herself conscious.
"As you can see, this is the matter that Yuu-chan and I have been handling since Vol-san agreed to help our party," Hime replied while continuing her work as before, now with my help.
"Because we'll be dealing with this for an uncertain period of time, I decided to register the four of us into this group."
"So if we want to do something or start some kind of activity, we'll have a background as members of an anti-kingdom group."
"Honestly... this method is very complicated. I had to go to several places to get permission from the kingdom's government, and this is the task that needs to be handled."
"There are so many requests coming here, and I have to check them one by one, then pass them to the secretary at the palace."
—
Hime had taken a very good step, while Luke and I had only managed to gather a few rumors...
Maybe I should apologize to Hime for not doing a good job.
"By the way, how about you guys? You both went out all day too, right? Vol-san told me about it."
"Y-yeah, I got quite a lot of things, but there's one thing I want to tell you..." I replied while scratching my cheek with my index finger.
Yeah, there's no reason for me not to tell her. Maybe I should keep reporting like this to Hime from now on.