The Guild’s Cheat Receptionist Vol 2 Chapter 2.8

Chapter 2.8
Chapter Two Expectations (Part 8)

 

He was searching for Ilya Shultz’s motives, goals, and intentions. While on that mission, he had to avoid being found out by her at all costs, but his question that directly meant “Why did you summon the great spirit?” that he ended up asking was nothing but a mistake.

It happened during their discussion before the Snow Festival. [1]

He had been noticed. Believing that, Dennis decided to take advantage of her goodwill.

“Then why did you keep playing that hated role?”

He turned away, not denying her, and looked around at their surroundings.

After confirming that there was no one else there, he looked back towards Ilya and spoke.

“Because it is my duty. If I could have just driven you a little further into a corner, I could have moved on to the next stage… but Frank-san had already returned.”

“Has being the Branch Vice Manager become unnecessary, then?”

His answer to that question was silence.

And then, with his expression as hard as stone—

“More pressing matters have occurred… Please, be careful. The Reinhardt Empire will make its move soon.”

The Sacred Reinhardt Empire.

Promoting human supremacist ideals, it was a nation that built its society on human superiority.

“Is that related to your current mission?”

“No. I was just giving you some information.”

Wondering if Ilya was able to figure out his intention, the Branch Vice Manager smiled bitterly.

“I was acting like that due to my mission, but as an individual… I like this place. Its mood.”

She’d probably figured it out already.

Seeing that Ilya didn’t appear surprised in the least, the man’s bitterness deepened.

Things such as the warnings he’d given to Elizah at the Snow Festival’s venue and the branch were the sort of things that couldn’t be said without speaking as someone’s superior.

He himself didn’t expect Ilya to understand him so easily given his att.i.tude and speech up till now, yet although he’d done everything to rile her up from start till end, even that hadn’t produced a reaction.

He’d driven her to needing that pool made so she could relax and take a breather, but that was all.

“Be that as it may, it appears as though no matter what the human supremacists do, this place will be alright.”

“I’m glad that you say that.”

Ilya had realized that he was trying to agitate her and had some sort of goal, so she never thought that they’d get to the point they could talk with each other calmly like this.

Since he couldn’t get the information he needed, it was necessary for him to leave in as natural way as possible for any follow-up.

Given that, he’d decided to disclose everything.

“I won’t say it to anyone else… but the a.s.sociation’s actions have been unusual recently as well. You’re the only one I decided to tell. I will leave immediately.”

“Now?”

Nodding, the Branch Vice Manager smiled wryly.

“The only merit… is that I can leave without being missed.”

Ilya bowed to him as he said that and left. And so she decided to return to the branch, not seeing him off.

His apt.i.tude aside, the Branch Vice Manager was a man ill-suited for the secret information he had.

He was a person that didn’t expose his thoughts even at the en

d.

Given that Partia recommended that he change his occupation, he might have wanted to switch to another department. [2]

 

*

 

“… Are you sure about letting her go?”

The former Branch Vice Manager, Dennis Galla, was stopped by a voice in a dark back alley.

Recognizing the person who seemingly stepped out of a shadow, he waited for them to approach as he continued looking the direction he’d been walking.

“Yeah. I said what I needed to say. Anything else would have been useless to her.”

Seeing his expression, the figure approaching him blinked.

“… This is the first time I’ve seen you look like that since starting this job.”

“Hmm…?”

Bringing his hand to his face, he finally realized that he was smiling.

Then, he smiled at the figure… the woman that was approaching him.

“… I was thinking that it’s similar here. To that place, I mean.”

“… Is that so?”

Even if that place no longer existed in truth, it would forever dwell within the hearts of those two.

That orphanage that didn’t care about if people were human, beastkin, birdkin. Even if it was lacking in appearance, its atmosphere and the feeling it gave was warm—it definitely resembled here.

Due to not being in contact with the area long, the woman looked couldn’t understand him and looked over the cityscape as though in a bad mood. However, Dennis believed that if she had seen the snow sculptures that were no longer there, she would understand.

He was the one to tell Frank about the snow sculptures that were in the branch’s courtyard. He was also the one who had indirectly spread that information to the town’s citizens.

He was afraid that Frank might bring it up in the awards ceremony, but he didn’t leak his source and was just happy that more people knew about them.

“Hmm…”

Dennis, who’d sensed someone approaching with his magic-enhanced senses, ruffled his hair and went back to smiling coa.r.s.ely—how he’d been before.

“How is it going in Reinhardt?”

“… Huh?”

Seeing his sudden changes, the woman figured out his intention a moment later and put up her hood.

“… The swindling is going well, but the flow of iron and steel is on the rise. But the Guild a.s.sociation’s radicals are responding to that with some suspicious movements.”

“Hah, that must be amusing. Even though I’ve been here trying to investigate some beautiful Elf-sama that’s been making quite a name for herself recently…”

“What is your report concerning her?”

“Her intentions aside, she’s of no concern. The girl does have a strangely large amount of acquaintances, but she is neither our enemy nor our ally. Even so, I can’t deny that she matches what we already know: she is protective of her friends and will not stand to see them harmed. For that reason, it would be hasty for us to use force.”

“Acknowledged.”

The woman left Dennis, disappearing back into the alley.

However, a few seconds later. When she confirmed that Dennis fixed his hairstyle and appearance, the somewhat pouting woman returned.

“… I feel like I understand the feelings of the people you’ve been a.s.sociating with a little.”

“That Fairy-chan saw through me right away though.” [3]

Sighing at Dennis who appeared to be joking, the woman corrected her posture and spoke.

“I was commanded to join you, Dennis Galla, in entering the empire.”

“… You’re going too?”

“Yes. As a married couple.”

“Got it. Let’s head there right away.”

Surprised by how fast he adapted to it, the woman was about to say something to Dennis, but stopped herself.

Noticing that, Dennis guessed what she wanted to say and smiled.

“The only good thing about this job is that we can leave without being missed.”

Like this, the man that had introduced himself as the Branch Vice Manager vanished from Luneville.

 

*

 

At around the same time.

Heading from the annex to the branch, Ilya came across Bard standing in front of the branch.

He noticed her approaching when she walked towards him, wondering what was up.

“Ilya. I just saw that Branch Vice Manager b.a.s.t.a.r.d, he was meeting someone in secret.”

“?”

“That guy said something about investigating you.”

Ilya wondered if he’d seen him talking to her earlier, but once she heard what he had to say, she realized he was talking about him meeting another person.

“… Is that so?”

This wasn’t the first time someone had investigated her. Rather, that sort of thing had become commonplace to her, so she didn’t think it was something to mind.

However, she definitely did feel like she’d put too much on the table starting with the Tyrant Spider.

Moreover, those who knew just how much of a cheat she was would keep their mouths shut on their own, so it was easy to imagine for those that didn’t know, she looked like a human with a mysterious background.

“I mean, he still didn’t seem to know anything though. Just that your a beau—… a girl with a lot of acquaintances. And that their information about you being protective of your friends and hating anything happening to them wasn’t wrong, so it was too soon to make a move…”

He continued to report that they didn’t find anything out and that someone had sent the Branch Vice Manager, suggesting that it was possible that an organization was making its move.

(He did say to be careful.)

She wouldn’t have said anything originally, so while she was thankful for the Branch Vice Manager telling Bard about that by pretending it to be an accident, she felt sorry for Bard being used as a relay station.

Was he not getting out of the house enough?

His more lively than normal expression enhanced Ilya’s pity for him all the more.

“What’ll we do? Capture him and make him spill the beans?”

“Please stop it with that extreme way of thinking. Didn’t I tell you? See it through with composure.”

“Uu…”

“If you make light of something, you will be made light of yourself.”

“… If you say so, okay.”

Bard was, surprisingly, listening to Ilya rather obediently.

Compared to how he would’ve previously acted on his own and went to catch him himself, he was growing up properly.

Looking at Bard’s back as he entered the Branch and thinking about that, Ilya sensed someone behind her.

“Ilya-sama.”

When she turned around, there was a rather attractive blue-haired woman. According to [G.o.d’s Eyes], she was a mermaid.

Seeing the slight change in Ilya, she smiled softly and bowed.

“I have a message for you from Siren-sama. I would be thankful if you accepted it.”

 

Footnotes: Alright, time for some explaining because it’s been so long since the relevant scene: Dennis (Branch Vice Manager) asked Ilya “What is the aim [of you doing this]?”. Ilya was somewhat surprised, thinking that only someone who’d known her from before her Receptionist days would think she was scheming something, but she didn’t recall meeting him before. Therefore, she realized something was up. Here is the scene in question. Return The reason it’s significant that Partia recommended it is due to her having the [Observation] and [Spirit Sight] skills, allowing her to somewhat read someone’s mind. It’s mentioned back in Chapter One (Part 5), when she asks him “If this is hurting you, why don’t you stop?”. Return This is another mention that Partia saw right through him when they barged into the private room the first scene they appeared. Return