Chapter 540: Charon

「Hey…」

「Nn?」

Someone called out to Fran when she came back to the lobby. It was Charon, the blonde drill girl from earlier. Her face seemed to be somewhat tense.

「I apologize for what I did earlier. I didn’t know you were a high-ranked adventurer, and I was very rude to you」

It seems that the lady at the reception desk had told her that Fran was actually a high-ranking adventurer, and so she seemed to be afraid of her now. Even though she looked like the daughter of a nobleman who seemed to have a lot of pride, she bowed deeply on the spot without hesitation.

「I’m not angry」

「Re-really?」

「Nn」

When Fran told her so, she then looked relieved.

A high-ranking adventurer was probably just like a monster for a low-level adventurer. Even if she looked young――the fact that she’d managed to become a high-ranking adventurer at such a young age made Fran a veritable monster to her.

「Guild Master praised you」

「Eh? He praised, me?」

「Nn. He said you’ve bravely stood in front of a suspicious person just to protect your junior」

「About that, Umm…」

Charon looked down with a troubled look on her face.

It seemed as if she was being ridiculed for mistakenly treating Fran as a junior student and for how she treated a suspicious person without knowing the Guild Master’s face, but she was also happy to be praised.

Either way, she was troubled on how to reply now.

『Fran, let’s change the topic for now』

「?? Did I look like a student of the academy?」

「I’m sorry. I thought you were a student of the Elementary Department who didn’t know the Academy’s rules」

「Elementary Department’s student?」

「Ye, yeah. There are many different departments at the Academy of Magic, but all students must start in the Elementary Department to learn the Magic Skills」

As expected of what was called the Academy of Magic, it seemed the students were required to learn Magic first. They would then be allowed to choose a new Department during the promotion period once every six months.

It didn’t matter what attribute they could use, if they didn’t graduate from the Elementary Course within three years, they would be expelled. Well, it was an Academy of Magic after all, so I guess it couldn’t be helped.

「You are also not allowed to register with the Adventurer’s Guild while you are enrolled in the Elementary Department」

Well, it was natural, since the children were probably all amateurs who couldn’t even use magic after all.

However, it seemed that every year there were students from the Elementary Department who heard rumors that students from the Academy of Magic were going in and out of the Adventurer’s Guild, and without even listening to the explanations of it, they immediately charged into the Adventurer’s Guild.

「Some students are selfish and even cause trouble for the guild sometimes」

If a student of the academy were to cause trouble for the Adventurer’s Guild, it could bring down the reputation of the entire academy. She was proud to be a student of the Academy of Magic, and so, that was not something she could tolerate.

I thought she was a member of the morals committee or the student council, but it seems she was just being concerned. After that, she told many stories about the failures of students who don’t follow the school rules. It was quite rare that Fran listened to someone so quietly, wasn’t it?

「Oi, It’s time for us to go」

「Yes, I’m coming. Well, I’m really sorry about today. I’ll take my leave now」

「Nn」

「I don’t know if there is anything I can do for you, but if you have any problems, please just ask for help. I will show up at the Adventurer’s Guild at least once a week」

「Okay, thanks」

「Very well then」

She was called by one of her companions, Drill-san then bowed one last time before leaving the guild.

As I saw her leaving, Fran suddenly talked to me.

(Master)

『What’s wrong?』

(Now I know what Master meant when he said it was an interesting hairstyle)

『Hmm?』

(Every time she moved; her hair would bounce)

『I thought you were listening to her quietly, but you were actually thinking about her hair, huh!?』

(Her hair was interesting)

After leaving the Adventurer’s Guild, we decided to enjoy sightseeing in Lady Blue based on the information we had gathered.

The lady at the reception desk seemed to be a local of this town and knew all the best places to go and places to visit.

We enjoyed the scenic hills and unusual buildings while visiting a few food stalls and restaurants.

As we toured the town in this way, I noticed a few things that made it different from other towns.

「It’s beautiful here too」

「Woof」

『I don’t see anyone that looks like a guard anywhere too』

No matter how narrow the backstreets or how far out of town we went, I couldn’t find the so-called slums anywhere. There may be a gap between the rich and the poor due to income and other factors, but the atmosphere here seemed to never drop below a certain level.

Of course, we didn’t run into any members of Thieves guilds or underworld organizations who wore an underworld atmosphere. We also didn’t encounter any thugs who would try to take advantage of us. Well, it also meant that we couldn’t get extra pocket money from those thugs either though.

That was unusual for a town of this size, right?

Furthermore, perhaps due to the lack of such criminal organizations, I have only seen a few guards in the town. It was not that there weren’t any, but they were probably less than half that of other towns.

『Does it mean this town was so safe?』

「Nn. There’s a lot of kids too」

『Come to think of it, maybe that was the case』

It was rare to see kids in an unsafe town. This was because parents think of the worst and don’t let their kids play outside. But in this town, there are kids everywhere we go.

I could see the kids running around and playing in the back streets by themselves. I guess it meant that they were sure that they’ll be safe.

On our way back to the inn, we went to the Adventurer’s Guild to give them some baked sweets as a thank you for introducing us to a good restaurant. They also told us why the security here was so good.

It was simply that Weena Rhyn was crushing criminal organizations and criminals from the inside out. And they were sure that someday, no organization would be able to freely lay their hands on this town.

Weena Rhyn’s methods are said to be quite extreme. For example, if there was a drug dealer, she would crush not only the dealer, but also the organization behind the dealer, the organization involved in the distribution, the organization involved in the production, and everything else.

It didn’t matter if it was a nobleman or another country behind them.

The Kingdom of Belios, which had been repeatedly troubled by diplomatic problems due to her extreme measures, decided to defend the self-governing region.

I guess they would rather spend their budget to protect the self-governing region than let Weena Rhyn run wild as she pleased. No, maybe Weena Rhyn was actually the one who arranged for that to happen, huh?

Anyway, Lady Blue was safer than any other town we’ve been to.

『She loves kids, a radical one, and an Elf…』

(Just like Amanda)

『They’re sure similar, huh?』

By the way, when Alistair mentioned the Academy of Magic, Amanda, who was standing next to her, was quiet and didn’t say anything. I don’t think it was surprising that Amanda and Weena Rhyn would be acquainted with each other… Well. If they really knew each other, she would have said something at that time.

『I wonder what kind of person she is…』