Life in Another World as a Maid Mage
Prologue - Housekeeping Services Available During your Adventure!
01 – Encounter
Author Note: I posted a short story, "The Adventures of a Housekeeping Mage: Housekeeping services available during the adventure!" This is the serialized version of it, I hope you enjoy it.
Kingdom of Strydia, Northern Territory, Toris. A man squinted his eyes as he looked up at a signboard, which swayed by in the breeze, in a stucco walled building that stood near the downtown area. That building, which is said to have been renovated from a closed inn, the Toris branch of the Adventurer's Guild was bustling with so much noise that leaked out. He's been away for less than three years, but he terribly missed this vibrant atmosphere.
Creak When he pushed open the wooden door, which is shiny amber colored because of its age, he heard the sound of its creaking hinges. The hustle and bustle of the room stopped for a moment, and he was pierced by the curious gazes around the room. There are some familiar faces that he haven't seen in a while, and few more unfamiliar ones. Most of them quickly lost interest and went back to their chit-chat, but a few of his acquaintances came over to greet him in a friendly manner. As he walked to the counter answering with one hand, a red-haired man, sitting in the center of the room, stopped flipping through his book and looked up at the man.
"Yo! It's been a while, Alex."
The red haired man extended out his rugged hand. Alex smiled again, clenching his hand strongly.
"So the venerated S-class adventurer is finally a guild master. Should I say congratulations on your appointment?"
"The old man has retired, so the seat was empty. I though, I might as well fill it in… I was thinking it was time to settle down anyway"
"Oh. I was held up for quite some time by a rough client."
"You just came back?"
"No, a month ago. I've been resting my weary bones for a while at home"
"I see"
Zack, the guild master, grinned.
"If that's the case, why don't you do me a favor? It's an A-rank request, but I'm having trouble finding enough qualified party members to do it."
"…There is another rough client here"
Looking at the issued request that he handed to me, I couldn't help but frown.
"Take down the Manticore deep in the primeval forest of Fibria. I see, no wonder you can't find enough members. It's not only difficult but also bothersome."
It would take 10 days just to make a round trip. If you factor in dealing with the monsters that you encounter along the way, you won't be able to return for half a month. The damp, moist air of the dense forest would hardly be called comfortable, and you have to survive that half month on a hard, salty, portable diet combined with sleeping in an uncomfortable bed causing restless nights. Even with the high reward plus the added expenses of the trip, it's not a worthwhile job when you consider the length of time required, the difficulty of defeating them, and the unpleasant half-month-long journey.
Even though the Adventurer's Guild is a guild that stands for the good of the world, it is not a charity. For adventurers, it's a way of life, it's a way of earning a living. Even if the rewards are somewhat low, requests with a good balance of difficulty and achievement rate, as well as rewards, are usually the most popular.
"It's a request that's been sitting on my desk for the past two months. The tourist association is getting impatient. There are a few people who have said they'd be willing to do it, but it makes me anxious to send them off since I'm not sure if they're good enough. Worst case scenario, I was just thinking about going myself, but if a magical swordsman who's as good as an S-class can take care of it, then a few shortages won't be a problem."
"…to go back to living in the wild so soon…"
Even though I had a month's break, it is a long-term job away from home. To be honest, today I wanted to get away with just showing up my face and preparing for work. When I let out a long sigh without hiding my gloomy face, Zack gave me a meaningful smile, as if to say he had a good idea.
"If you're really up for it, I'll assign you an extra guy who's perfect for the party. I'll lend you one of the best guys. I'll even give you this money as an advance payment"
"You hired a solo type adventurer? I don't what is up with you, but it's generous. Is he strong?"
"No, she's a complete logistical mage, not at all suitable for combat; but you can increase your success rate just by taking her with you."
"…Huh? I knew it was too good to be true"
I felt like I was swindled by his sweet words, and when I gave him a scowl, he said confidently that I would understand if I took him with me.
"The reason why the Toris Branch's success and achievement rate for high-difficulty requests over the past year is significantly better than other branches is because of that guy. It's not a good idea to let her join a lower-level party because the party members won't train once they know how easy it is with this guy around, but this time the request meets the requirements. Go ahead and take her with you, it won't hurt."
It seems that he wants to take care of this neglected request so badly that he goes out of his way, hurting his own pocket, to even push that lucky mage onto me.
"…Okay, I'll take care of it. Please set up a meeting with the members."
When I gave up and accepted, Zack shook his red hair and smiled with satisfaction.
Aside from the familiar twin swordsman, the other party members were an archer and a female healer, both of whom I only knew by face and name. Although all of them are high ranking adventurers of B-class or above, they are all biased towards the rear position. I see, this group alone was certainly not a good fit to take down a Manticore.
As for the female mage in question, she is with a slime, which is a rarity for a familiar. She has cream-colored skin, which is rarely seen in the northwest part of the continent, with lustrous black hair and a flat face with dark brown eyes that were almost black. I wonder if she came from the Eastern part of the continent. She wasn't conspicuously beautiful, but she had a calm, reserved smile. From the gloss of her skin and her face, I thought she was about 20 years old, but I was surprised to hear that she was also on her mid 30's, not much older than me. Ellen, the healer, was wondering if she had some secret to her youth, but she explained it was because she was from a race that looked younger and more childish than other races.
But looks are not the issue, what is needed is ability. The woman called herself the unfamiliar title of housekeeping mage. She said that she would take care of all the cooking and other miscellaneous tasks outside of combat during the adventure. The others seemed to have heard the rumors and their eyes lit up when they heard that she would be accompanying us. Clemens, a twin swordsman who had teamed up with her several times, vouched assertively for her abilities.
In any case, let's see what you can do.
After introducing ourselves and finished the meeting, we dismissed the group and left early the next morning.
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