ch81-ch100 · 083-ch83

Chapter 83: The Fate of the License

Click.

This time the opposite door opens, and Hayashi-san comes out.

She walks right past me, heading for the nap room.

Oh my? Nap time?

First, though, I'll ask her to deliver a message.

"Um, sorry to bother you. K... Watanabe-san should be in the changing room, so could you pass along a message? Tell her we're waiting in the restaurant, and to come when she's done changing."

"Of course. Leave it to me. I'll also educate our useless newbie while I'm at it, so rest assured."

"It was a misunderstanding, ssu! What happened just now was an accident, ssu!"

The newbie receptionist's voice carries through the nap room door.

So Hayashi-san wasn't planning to nap—she was going to educate the newbie receptionist...

Which means she heard everything just now...

Muttering something under her breath, Hayashi-san heads off in the direction Watanabe-san ran.

"Still, that's our Kasumi-san for you. Snagging a talented adventurer even the branch manager acknowledges. That technique just now was masterful, too. I have much to learn. 'I hate you, I hate you, mwah.' Hmm? Even I'd have reservations about the kiss, I think. Wait. Could it be that even the newbie popping out there was all part of her calculation? Kasumi... you terrifying creature..."

The moment Hayashi-san rounds the corner, the newbie receptionist pops out and zooms off in the opposite direction.

Apparently making a break for the dungeon.

Newbie receptionist, running won't spare you the scolding.

...Not that I'm any different.

"...Better head back."

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"Eh? From that famous young ladies' academy?"

"That's right. That's why Watanabe-san is so remarkably capable."

"But by that logic, so are you, Shiraishi-san, no? You can't get into the Adventurer's Association without being excellent, can you?"

"Oh, no, no. See, I was hired for my face."

"True enough. You are a stunning beauty, Shiraishi-san."

"And Harue-san is quite the beauty herself, so she could get into the Adventurer's Association just as easily."

"Oh my? Do you think so?"

"Ah-hah-hah-hah!"

Yeah, right.

My mother wouldn't even pass the paper screening.

If they hire by looks, her photo would get her rejected on the spot.

And what even is 'hiring by looks' anyway?

Shiraishi-san the 【Healer】 was obviously hired for her Job.

Right?

"Oh? The little boy is back."

"Ah, Haruki. Welcome home."

And they've gotten all chummy.

"Say, Shiraishi-san? How about my son as a match for you?"

"Sorry! Men who do the adventurer thing are a hard no from me."

Shiraishi-san crosses her fingers into an X and shoots me down instantly.

What kind of question was that even?

I'm the one who should refuse—I've got Watanabe-san, so no thanks from me either.

"Eh? He says he'll quit once he finishes university. Even so?"

"University takes years, you know. Do you think all the men around me will just leave me alone until then?"

"Fair point."

"Ah-hah-hah-hah!"

What is with these two?

This is a problem, though.

My mother seems to have taken a real liking to Shiraishi-san.

They're really hitting it off.

"So, Haruki, what about Watanabe-san?"

"She's changing. We're waiting for her to come."

"See? I told you it would be fine."

"Sigh. Everything went exactly like you said, Shiraishi-san."

"Now then, little boy, show me your license."

Hm? What's she going to do with it?

Some kind of discount, since this restaurant is an Association facility?

It's just a Single-Rank license, though.

The moment I take it out, she snatches it right out of my hand.

"I'll be holding onto this."

Now what's this?

"'Holding onto it'? Since when? What authority do you have?"

"Hmm. I don't have any authority, do I. So I'll entrust it to Harue-san. A mother has authority, surely? No dungeon until Mama says it's all right."

With that, she hands my license to my mother.

"Ooh. So this is a license? And without it you can't enter the dungeon? Haruki, you take a bad photo."

Either she doesn't really get it, or she's just fiddling—turning it over, pinching it, flipping it back and forth.

I must get my bad photo angles from her.

"Oh? No objection? And here I thought you'd put up a fight."

What's with the 'put up a fight' stuff?

I'm not a 【Berserker】, you know.

"I'll have to persuade you all eventually anyway, right? We'll continue this at the hospital."

I'm fine with that, but Kasumi-san won't accept it.

We were in the middle of that conversation just now.

It sounds like Kasumi-san has some history with her own family, so I think persuading my mother is best done in front of her.

And my mother doesn't really understand dungeons either. What to do...

"Hmm. The hospital, hm. Then let's change the subject. Say, Harue-san. Who is this Mizuki? Tell me before Watanabe-san gets back, hm?"

Huh?

"Mizuki? Ah, the daughter of the Mizuki family?"

"A daughter? So it is a girl, after all."

"Hey. Stop. How did we get onto that?"

That Thigh Swordswoman—I swear I'll get her back for this.

"What's the harm? It's not like talking costs anything. Shiraishi-san is fine, surely. I've got plenty of funny stories."

"Ooh, now I want to hear. Come on, come on."

Stooop.

"I'm very sorry. You were all waiting for me, and I'm late."

"Eek!""Eek!""Eek!"

It's Kasumi-san.

"Pya? Er—are you okay?"

Time to change the subject.

Oh. She did change.

It's short.

"Kasumi-san, those clothes look amazing on you."

"Eh? Do they? I came in such a hurry last night that I was in loungewear, but Sakura lent me these just now... Though they're a bit short."

Kasumi-san sheepishly tugs at the hem of the skirt.

Bless you, Hayashi-san.

"Yes, yes. No flirting in front of the mother. Hurry up and get to the hospital—we have the rest of your scolding to do."

Hospitals are places for resting quietly. I have my doubts about holding a scolding session in one.

"You two really made up, didn't you. In that little time? Haruki... you've grown."

My mother makes a show of wiping away tears.

What exactly is she getting emotional about?

"Watanabe-san—no, Kasumi-san. Please, take this."

"This... is?"

Ah. My license.

"It's Haruki's license. He can't be an adventurer without it, right? Then Kasumi-san, you keep it."

It's true—my mother is one thing, but nobody can exactly wrestle it away from Kasumi-san. So this is effective.

My mother keeps going.

"You know, I always thought I knew everything about my son. When he started coming home late, when he started staying out overnight—I thought he'd gotten a girlfriend. But I was wrong. He'd become an adventurer, and he even got hurt. And then he started talking nonsense about having talent and becoming the best in the world... I knew nothing at all."

"Ma'am..."

"Today, when they called me out over the phone, I was so scared. 'Your son hasn't come home.' I think it was the most frightened I've ever been in my life. But then you were beside me, holding my hand. It gave me so much strength. You looked me in the eye and said, 'Haruki-san will absolutely come home.' If I were a boy, I would have fallen for you on the spot."

She makes the gesture of wiping away tears again.

Is she actually crying?

"I heard it from Shiraishi-san. That every time Haruki tried to do something reckless, you stopped him. And that's how the two of you got close. Just now, too, the moment you realized Haruki had done something foolish, you got angry at him. Crying like that, hitting him like that."

"I-I'm so sorry. I lost my composure."

Kasumi-san apologizes over and over.

"It's all right. You'll stop him even if you have to hit him when he does something wrong. You're doing what I should have been doing all along, and that makes me happy. Someone who knows my son in ways I don't... someone who will stop him when he does something foolish without my knowing... If it's you, I can entrust him to you. Haruki, I mean. So you keep it, Kasumi-san. Please take care of Haruki."

This time, it's my mother who bows her head.

And so, my license passed into Kasumi-san's hands.