Chapter 17
-Scratch, scratch.
An office with a calm atmosphere, where only the sweet scent of black tea and the sound of a snow-white quill pen scratching across paper gently spread through the silence.
-Thump, thump, thump, thump!
And then, a set of frantic footsteps completely muddied that tranquility like a thrashing loach.
"...Sigh."
The white-haired girl, who had been engrossed in document work with a serious expression, let out a small sigh at the frivolous yet familiar sound echoing from afar, and calmly set down her quill pen.
-Slam!
At the same time, the door burst open!
"Waaaah! The time has come! Fulfill the contract! Contractor!"
A girl wearing a snow-white dress shirt burst into the room with a strange shriek, her black ponytail fluttering behind her.
She loosened the black necktie that had been suffocatingly tight around her neck all day, and jumped straight toward the plush-looking leather guest sofa!
Guest use or not, she rolled around making a huge fuss as if the sofa was now entirely hers.
It was quite an interesting sight, truly reminiscent of a pig rolling around in a mud puddle.
"Waaah! I'm off work! Regina Gura is now a free woman! Offer me food immediately according to the contract! What is today's menu!? I especially want to eat something sweet today!"
"...Is that so."
Not even a minute had passed since she came face-to-face with Regina Gura, yet the girl suddenly felt dizzy and brought a hand to her forehead.
If she at least had a fever, she could have taken a day off using her health as an excuse. But her uselessly sturdy body felt perfectly normal.
'I brought this all upon myself.'
Therefore, no matter how hard it was, she had to endure it.
After all, she was the one who had unleashed that noisy demon into the Middle Realm.
"Sigh."
Another powerless sigh slipped out of habit.
However, contrary to her resigned face, her small hands were quite busy.
"I thought you might want something sweet today, so I prepared a fruit pie. I don't know if you'll like it, Gura."
Saying so, the girl laid out massive pies—the size of which a normal girl would struggle to eat just one slice—into a feeding trough....
No, onto the table reserved exclusively for Regina Gura.
Regina Gura, who had been sprawled out on the guest sofa like dried beef jerky, drooled at the tower of pies piling up like gold nuggets and let out a shout of excitement.
"Whoa! Whoooa! How on earth did you read Regina Gura's mind? As expected! My Contractor likes Regina too much! It's gross! You need to tone down your affection!"
Twitch.
In an instant, a blue vein popped out on the girl's snow-white forehead.
It was a clear sign of wrath.
But, she held it in.
Because even if she got angry, it was obvious that shameless demon would just let it go in one ear and out the other.
This is why demons are such a bother. Fear simply doesn't work on them.
'But, that only lasts until today, Gura. Because in just a little while, a new source will bloom in this world.'
A very powerful and unimaginably indescribable source at that.
Regina Gura, the clueless idiot who didn't know this fact, just happily continued her meal.
'Even a pig would eat more quietly than that. Is she even tasting the food?'
Munch, munch!
Regina Gura stuffed various pies into her mouth until her soft cheeks looked like they were going to burst.
And standing next to her, watching Regina Gura with a bored expression, was the white-haired girl.
Their days always ended like this.
Ordinary, boring, and nothing special.
However, today was slightly different.
Because the demon, who would normally wave her hand while stuffing food in her mouth before retreating to the staff quarters, had requested a face-to-face talk with an incredibly serious expression.
It wasn't particularly interesting.
Because she could already picture in her head what that demon was going to talk about.
The girl thought to herself that she was truly a simple demon.
"Contractor. I have something to say."
A heavy, sunken atmosphere, thick eyebrows drawn together, and a tightly closed mouth.
'She is needlessly resolute for an idiot.'
She looked as resolute as a rookie adventurer heading out for their first dungeon exploration.
It would have been better if she had wiped the jam smeared around her mouth before speaking, but the simple-minded and ignorant demon who only knew how to eat didn't seem to have that level of intelligence.
"Yes, go ahead and speak, Gura. I am listening."
Saying so, the girl gently swiped the sticky jam off the corner of Regina Gura's mouth with her fingertips and casually wiped it away with a snow-white napkin she pulled from her embrace.
One might wonder why she bothered cleaning her up, but the girl simply disliked seeing such an immature display on a face so similar to her own.
There was no deeper meaning than that.
Chomp. Munch, munch.
Despite taking the time to wipe it clean, Regina Gura couldn't hold back and was already getting her mouth dirty again.
The corners of the girl's eyes twitched slightly at the sight, but whether she noticed or not, Regina Gura just kept chewing on her pie and lightly snapped her finger.
-Click!
Along with a crisp sound, a black curtain spread outward, centered around the girl and Regina Gura.
Seeing this, the corners of the girl's mouth rose ever so slightly.
'A Sound-Eating Barrier. You must be quite terrified of him, Gura.'
As if confirming the girl's thoughts, Regina Gura continued speaking with an unusually dark expression.
Exaggerated gestures like those of a bard were a bonus.
Though in the girl's eyes, it just looked like the flapping of a chick's wings.
"Today at lunch, Regina Gura faced a super, suuuper! dangerous entity and barely survived! Not a single bit of Regina Gura's authority worked on it! It was exactly as if the system was giving it protection!"
'She is unexpectedly sharp at times like this for an idiot.'
However, there was no way that glutton would ever reach the truth.
Because information regarding him was the strictest of secrets, only permitted for the Sub-Administrator rank.
Even though Regina Gura was excitedly flapping her hands and vividly laying out the story of what she experienced today, the girl wasn't really looking at her.
She simply savored the bittersweet aroma of her black tea, giving half-hearted responses just so she wouldn't sulk.
"I see. That must have been very scary."
"It was so scary! All the adventurers in the guild were totally frozen stiff in fear!"
"Oh my, that must have been a really big deal."
"It wasn't just a big deal! It was the greatest crisis of my demon life!"
"Is that so...."
A repetition of empty, formal empathy.
Even so, Regina Gura just kept whining, as if a lot of stress had piled up over the day.
"Haa."
The girl was starting to get tired. She couldn't help but think of her as a truly bothersome demon.
Sighhhh.
The girl let out a long sigh and downed the rest of her black tea.
As the soft, light-red liquid slid down her throat, a cozy warmth spread throughout her body, making her dull, gray world full of work seem a little more bearable.
Right when the girl was immersed in that sweet afterglow.
She heard something a bit bothersome.
"The adventurer who was with it thinks it's a normal demon, but from Regina Gura's perspective, it's absolutely not! It is definitely a new type of Phantom! ■■... no, it seems the dungeon is playing tricks to raise 'hostility' again like during the storybook incident. We have to call the Executioner and eliminate it as soon as possible! Otherwise, Bastion really might get destroyed this time!"
Eliminating 'him'... huh.
I'm sorry, but that's out of the question.
"Hmm. That's a bit troublesome."
"Why! Has the Contractor finally become a corrupt official?"
"That's not it. Actually, it's...."
"Actually?"
"...Hmm."
The girl slightly opened her mouth as if to say something right then, but quickly closed it tightly again.
Regina Gura, who had been silently watching this for a few minutes, suddenly threw the pie she was eating with a swoosh! and grabbed her head, screaming.
"Aaaah! Here we go again! If you open your mouth, please finish your sentence! This is a hundred times more infuriating than the unfunny puns from the guys in Wrath!"
Stopping mid-sentence, the very thing that angers a demon the most.
Unable to suppress the fiery rage boiling up from her stomach at such an unforgivable atrocity, Regina Gura lunged fiercely at the pure white girl, no, the 'White Dragon' Lily.
"Waaaaah! Hurry up and tell me! What were you going to say! I feel like I'm going crazy from curiosity! Tell me right now, Contractooor!!!"
"Hmm~"
Regardless, Lily dodged Regina Gura this way and that with mysterious footwork, merely offering a small smile while swallowing her remaining words inwardly.
'Because he is a guest the Administrator personally stepped forward to invite.'
A very special guest at that.
***
"Heh? Looks like we have a very special guest? No, not special, peculiar maybe? So. What is the crow head guest going to eat? A rotting corpse? Or should I give you some oat soup? Wow! But. The more I look, the more really, reeeally! weird you look! Is that your real face? Pfft. Ah, sorry. I didn't mean to laugh. But seeing such a stupidly shaped crow head just made me laugh automatically, you know? Who told you to look so stupid? You ugly crow♡"
Why are you doing this to me.
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