DanMachi Vol.15

CHAPTER 4 : GUILD ALONE

A suit jacket and trousers in black. A ribbon tied in a bow at the neck.

The uniform had been made to order, and the briefest touch confirmed that the clothwas of very high quality. Her first impression upon putting it on was that it was surprisingly easy to move in. And why not? The battle gear adventurers wore was of similarly excellent construction, after all.

That said, the uniform's feel wasn't so very fine that she forgot it had been issued to her at no charge.

Eina looked at her faint reflection in the window and felt rather timid, in spite of herself.

"I'll take you to meet the rest of the staff now. As was explained yesterday, you all have been posted to the clerical office. You'll likely be handling routine work and receptionist duties, so bear that in mind...Tulle, are you listening?"

"Er...My apologies!" Eina tore her gaze away from the window when the middle-agedchienthrope leading the new recruits called her out.

In the long hall, there were several demi-humans also wearing the uniform. As they passed by Eina, each one of their expressions tightened unpleasantly. Next to Einawas Misha Frott, her friend from school, whose cherry blossom–colored hair swayed as she moved; she was even more nervous than Eina was.

Some of the bystanders smiled at them, perhaps charmed by how green they seemed. Eina felt a flush creeping up her cheeks and pointlessly adjusted her glasses, then lent her attention to the explanation coming from the person who would be serving as her boss. She followed behind him like a meek little fawn as the spring sunlight fell across her through the window.

Soon, they reached the room that was their destination.

At its end, the passage opened up into a large marble hall crowded with adventurers, whose gaze immediately fell upon the new employees.

Supporting these men and women, who ventured again and again into a den of monstersin search of fame and fortune, was now Eina's job.

Eina Tulle. Fourteen years old.

She had joined the organization responsible for managing the great labyrinth of Orario—the Guild.

The reason Eina had chosen the Guild as her workplace came down to a simple factor: money.

The Labyrinth City was often called the center of the world, and the Guild was its nerve center, so the pay was good. Depending on the circumstances, Guild employeescould make more than lower-tier adventurers, to say nothing of ordinary laborers.

But Eina didn't want money for its own sake. The reason she wanted it was so that she could send it home.

Eina was a half-elf; her mother was a high elf who had escaped her forest home alongwith a certain queen, but the outside world's air seemed not to have agreed with her, for she was frequently sick and bedridden. Eina's human father loved her mother and worked constantly to support Eina and her younger sister. She had fond, vivid memories of her mother smiling gently as she coughed in bed and of her father holding her close in a warm, kind embrace despite being exhausted from his day's work.

And even in such an environment, Eina's parents sent her to the School District, for which she was very grateful. At the same time, she made up her mind to pay them back by acquiring as much knowledge and experience as she could.

Having little martial (which was to say, athletic) aptitude, Eina chose the academic path, and—especially as someone who had never found studying particularly difficult—her apparent potential quickly opened the possibility ofjoining the Guild.

Eina's good grades won her one of the School District's limited recommendations, which led to employment at the Guild's headquarters.

In the single dormitory room provided to each of the Guild's staff, Eina wrote in Koine on a sheet of parchment: As I wrote before, I'm now formally employed as a member of the Guild...