[BOOK II] Chapter XXVIII: Regis (2)

Even I was surprised to see Illya completely stone-faced in front of someone sobbing in pain. A lot of pain, from the way Dhog’s mouth was frothing. But then, I wasn’t the average viewer and knew that it wasn’t really possible for Illya the Illusionist, or more specifically the receptionist and one of the guardian trio of this Adventurer Society (Branch) to actually hurt an adventurer, unless specifically given permission by the Branch Master.

I looked around the room, but it seems that only I was able to tell everything was a farce.

The little girl’s eyes shone. No, I wasn’t the only one who knew.

“This is your punishment,” Illya whispered. “You’re lucky it was on my shift that you decided to pull this shit on. If you were on one of the other three, you wouldn’t be able to get off this easily.”

Illya walked over to the moaning Dhog, and squatted before her. Then, she looked into Dhog’s eyes for an eternity before morphing back into her cute receptionist illusion.

“Don’t be naughty again, okay?” The receptionist winked cutely, before tapping Dhog on her forehead, sending her to la-la-land in an instant.

She turned to the crowd of adventurers quietly sipping their mugs, and eating their forks, doing anything to not be noticed by the scary illusionist.

“Why’s everyone so quiet?” The receptionist giggled. “Relax, everyone! If you stay as good boys and girls, the scarrrry Illya won’t come out, okay?”

A collective nod could be seen throughout the room. The receptionist then whistled, calling over two humanoid-looking things, more specifically known as Homunculus (Inferior), who brought out a stretcher and everything for the two unconscious troublemakers.

“Now then,” The receptionist turned to the bundle of lost hope behind her. “What do I do with you?”

She squatted before the little girl. “You didn’t answer any of my questions before, so there’s not much I can do with you.”

The receptionist put a finger over her chin. “Hmmm, Unless you give me consent, I won’t be able to even appeal to the Branch Master to take you in as a special subject. And, even if I want to, I can’t really take you in or that meanie will be angrrrry at me.”

“It’s a different matter if someone takes you in though,” The receptionist said. “You were able to saw through the scarryy Illya’s illusions so you should have a lot of potential. Perhaps, someone here can train you to be a Mapper, or a simple Cook could even work.”

“So?” The receptionist looked around, and everyone was suddenly interested in the beautiful floorwork beneath them.

“I thought so too,” The receptionist sighed. “So, what do I do with you?”

In the game, during this time, everyone in this room knew that it would be too much work to take care of a broken, little girl whose origins were a complete mystery. The adventurers were experienced to know that it was best to leave such mystery and risk to the gods, or it would be their fates the gods would take. Of course, since it was a risk, there was the possibility of a reward, meaning if the little girl turned out to be someone great in the future, they would be able to benefit a lot from her as her caretakers.

And yet, not a single person lifted a finger for the girl, which eventually led to Illya taking the girl in, and training her to later be the strongest swordsman in history.

The little girl was a box of treasures absolutely covered in the world’s messiest cobweb. But, it didn’t matter to me. Simple cobweb? I could clear something like that in my sleep.

In the midst of utter, awkward silence, and more despair for the little girl, despite the heavy risks, someone was stupid enough to raise a hand.

A pale, porcelain hand belonging to me, of course. I looked at Illya, and it was pretty crazy seeing Illya, the Mother Of The Greatest Swordsman In History, look me dead in the eyes. It felt like she could see through not only my hood, but my very soul.

Then, she nodded her head. “Not bad.” Her Illya voice came out, before switching back to her cutesy receptionist voice.

“Alrightie then, come over here, little fighter!”

I stood up, and felt like the most famous person in the world. Walking over to the little girl and Illya, I was met with stares from all around me, most questioning if I was sane, some pitying my stupidity, and a few questioning who I was.

But, I had no intention of showing my face to these mobs. No, I wanted my little box of treasures now.

I stood before the little girl. A change in demeanor happened, and she looked up at me, only with her eyes though.

My heart stopped.

Oh, what a poor, little girl. That was the first thing that came up in my mind when I got to see those dark, muddied eyes up close.

We must have been staring at each other’s eyes for hours, or at least that’s how it felt. I knew of her tragic past, but I felt like I was reliving them when I saw her eyes and realized I had done my bad habit again. Instead of seeing that an atrocious sin had been committed against a child, I had only seen her as a game character, an NPC I could use for my future plans.

In her eyes, I saw the pain, the fire, the scream and eventually, the acceptance she had that no one would ever save her and there was no point in doing it herself.

I actually took a step back, holding my head in pain, unprepared for the visions as the receptionist looked over worriedly at me.