kscans

Chapter 110 - Which Do You Prefer?

Eleanor-san was hit on by a mysterious old man, and they exchanged contact information. (This is a lie.)

"Alright, I'll contact the parents and coordinate a schedule. Are there any days that are bad for you?"

"Tomorrow is no good. Other than that, if you let me know in advance, I can work around their schedule. They have jobs, too, after all."

Adventurers are freelancers, so we don't have to go to work. It's nice. Though it's a little painful when Kaede-chan sometimes looks at me with envy.

"Got it. I'll be in touch then. Sorry for bothering you."

"Not at all. You should apologize to your companions."

I'm still waiting for Nanapon… Oh, she's here.

When I looked towards the Gate, I saw Nanapon waiting nearby.

What is she doing? Ah… is she scared of Yamabe-san…?

"Sorry to interrupt. Apologize to that mysterious girl for me, too."

Noticing Nanapon from my gaze, the man said that and returned to his companions. Then, Nanapon, who had been near the Gate, timidly approached.

"Good afternoon…"

Nanapon greeted me with an upward glance. Although, since she was wearing sunglasses, I couldn't see her eyes.

"Yes, good afternoon."

"Um, was that person an acquaintance of yours?"

"He just came up to talk to me."

"Eh? Weren't you exchanging contact information? Was he hitting on you? Is that your type, Eleanor-san?"

What is she talking about? The only contacts in Eleanor-san's phone are women.

"Stop talking nonsense and let's go. I'll explain as we walk."

"Okay."

Ignoring Yamabe-san, who had returned to his meeting, Nanapon and I started walking down the road.

As we walked along the road, Nanapon kept glancing at me.

"Is it bothering you that much?"

I asked the slightly annoying Nanapon.

"Of course it is."

"Hmm, well, it's not a big deal. The truth is, before I met you, I saved some high school students in the Kunaar Ruins."

"Ooh! As expected of you, Eleanor-san, so kind!"

Well, of course!

"It was a group of four high school students, two boys and two girls, and they were being attacked by a pretty large number of Skeletons. I jumped in and killed the Skeletons in an instant, but one of the girls had injured her leg. It looked painful, and I like kids, so I used a Healing Potion to fix her up."

"…Okita-san, you like kids?"

Why did she call me Okita-san right then?

"I do. And let me tell you, since you seem so taken aback, I don't mean it in that way. So you can relax, shorty."

You're out of the question. I won't say where, but you need to grow a little more.

"Calling me shorty is mean, but I was getting a little worried. Asakura-san is more on that side, too."

"You think so? She has a great body, you know."

Besides, Kaede-chan isn't a loli.

"I don't mean it like that, I mean her vibe."

"Well, she does have that junior kouhai-like disposition."

She actually is my kouhai, though.

"When you say you like kids, does that mean you want to have children if you get married?"

"That's right. Kaede-chan will give birth to them for me."

"I'm sorry. I'm the one who asked, but that's gross."

I figured. I thought it was gross even as I was saying it.

"I just mean I want kids. There's nothing weird about that, is there?"

"Well, I guess not. The problem is that you're a woman."

Hmm, maybe I should have spoken as Okita-kun.

"I'm talking about Okita-kun and Kaede-chan. We're both twenty-six already."

"It's an age where it wouldn't be strange to have children."

"Right? Well, I guess it'll happen eventually…"

"No, first you need to get married. Better yet, you need to confess."

Well, she's not wrong. I've actually already gone to the city office and gotten the forms. All that's left is for Kaede-chan to sign her name.

Of course, I won't tell Nanapon this. She'd probably, no, definitely, be put off by it.

"I wonder if I can do it…"

"I think you'll have no problem. Please do that instead of trying to break into her room. But enough of that silly talk, what happened after you saved the high school students?"

Calling it silly is mean, but Nanapon gets the conversation back on track.

"I saved them, but one of the male students started complaining to me. Something along the lines of 'stay out of it'."

"That's awful. I hate kids."

"Even I, a lover of children, felt a slight murderous intent."

"So it was bad enough to make you drop character…"

I really did consider giving him an iron claw, if not actually cutting him.

"Right. So I quietly left the scene, but it seems it did turn into a problem after all. That male student had his license revoked."

Serves him right!

"'Serves him right' is written all over your face, you know?"

Was I smiling too much…?

"I jump in like a hero to save them, and that's the thanks I get. Of course I'd be angry."

"I can understand how you feel. It's a shock when your goodwill is trampled on."

It seems Nanapon understands.

"Exactly. I'm not a saint. I'm not asking for money, but I would like them to say 'thank you' while looking at me with eyes full of respect."

"I respect you."

Nanapon is so cute. Such a good girl.

"I'll give you some allowance money."

"Why did that suddenly sound so shady?"

I wonder why?

"Well, joking aside, that's what happened, and now the parents of the girl I used the Healing Potion on want to apologize and thank me."

"Ah, I see. That makes sense."

Even Nanapon, a university student, seems to think so.

"That's what I was talking about with that man from before. He was their chaperone at the time."

"Eh? What was he doing?"

"He was in the bathroom. He got suspended because of it. What an unlucky guy."

"The bathroom… Well, if there were girls there, I guess it couldn't be helped."

It would be awkward if he did it in front of them. And since he's protecting them, they couldn't even complain.

"Speaking of which, what about you? You started when you were a high school student, right?"

I haven't heard Nanapon's story about that.

"I started when I was eighteen, so I didn't have a chaperone. I was born in April, you see."

Come to think of it, there was no requirement for a chaperone if you were eighteen or older.

"What made you decide to do it alone?"

"I chose the Ikebukuro Guild because there weren't many people, but thanks to that, there was no one of the same gender who could act as a chaperone. In that case, you're supposed to hire someone from elsewhere, but when I put out a request, a flood of men applied, so I gave up."

An eighteen-year-old female rookie would probably be popular. I can kind of understand their feelings.

"What about Shinjuku? Where Yoshino-san is. That man from before also said that's where the girls usually go."

"Girls have their own set of problems with other girls. Source, me, from an all-girls high school."

That sounds kind of scary… I think I'll refrain from asking.

"What a pain. I became an adventurer because I hate dealing with people, but it seems there are similar problems even among adventurers."

"Eh? Are you talking about me?"

Nanapon's face showed that she was extremely shocked.

"Not you. I'm talking about what happened just now. Why did I get yelled at after saving someone, and to top it all off, why did it have to turn into such a hassle?"

"R, right! You don't have any complaints about me, do you!"

"No, first of all, you need to stop your discrimination against Okita-kun."

I have plenty of complaints.

"But Okita-san is scary."

Nanapon is scared of Okita-kun and says Eleanor-san is good. Yoshino-san is scared of Eleanor-san and says Okita-kun is good.

What am I supposed to do?