It was then that Wilfred took on a quest request that had been left unattended due to a somewhat stingy payment. He finished the job in two days and returned to the city without feeling particularly refreshed.
“Wilfred!”
“What the… Garrett!?”
Wilfred, who had come to the guild headquarters to report, was confronted near the entrance by a man who looked like a gladiator with his muscles exposed.
It was Garrett, an adventurer who had once tangled with Wilfred and ended up getting thrashed.
Since then, Garrett had been avoiding Wilfred, but today he was in a furious mood.
“What is it? Are you here for some kind of payback?”
“Huh? No, that’s not it! I don’t care about that! Is it true that Catherine is quitting!? You get along with her, don’t you? Do you know anything!?”
Though his grip on Wilfred’s collar and shouting seemed threatening, it was apparent that he was simply desperate.
Come to think of it, Wilfred had let slip during a conversation with other administrators that Catherine might be considering quitting. Maybe Catherine herself had told people while Wilfred was out of town. Either way, it seemed the rumor had reached Garrett’s ears.
“…She seems to be considering it for personal reasons. She’s gotten a serious offer from a significant place.”
“Are you serious…?”
Garrett looked cornered and his expression turned grim. His grip on Wilfred’s collar loosened, and he slumped down on the short steps in front of the guild headquarters entrance.
“Garrett, you were assigned to Catherine, right?”
“For the past six months. Since she took over, I felt like I could still make it. She knows me better than I know myself and tells me what to do. Thanks to her, I’m almost up to the sixth rank. It’s laughable, isn’t it? I was stuck at the fifth rank for ten years.”
He wore a faint smile, looking utterly exhausted.
Wilfred usually worked solo but sometimes joined other parties temporarily and drank with fellow adventurers, hearing their rumors.
According to those rumors, Garrett was considered a fallen genius. He had hit the limits of his talent and lacked the diligence to train and improve, the business acumen to add value to his work, the cooperation to aim higher as a team, and was barely scraping by with a tarnished reputation.
Recently, however, he had supposedly mellowed out a bit. Some said it was because Wilfred had embarrassed him, but it coincided with the period when Catherine became his administrator. Garrett had somehow managed to start over as a respectable adventurer.
“If she leaves, I won’t know what to do. Why… why does she have to quit…”
He slumped like a dejected large dog, curling his back.
* * *
That day, Catherine had taken a paid leave and was off duty.
Wilfred, having submitted the quest report, headed straight to a multi-tenant building in district section 3-1.
The building was on a quiet street along a steam-filled canal.
The first floor was a gun shop. The third floor housed an office for steam pipe maintenance. The second-floor window bore the words “Arkwright Law Office”.
Wilfred had inadvertently learned while searching through newspapers and magazines about Catherine that her brother worked as a lawyer there, and Catherine lived with him in their combined office and residence.
Wilfred climbed the narrow stairs next to the gun shop and stood on the landing, in front of the entrance beside the law office, unable to ring the doorbell.
He wanted to ask her not to leave.
He had no obligation to go this far for Garrett.
He simply felt compelled to do so, as if he were pushed from behind.
He wanted to ask her not to leave… whether he could actually say it was another matter.
“May I help you?”
“Ah!”
Wilfred, who hadn’t sensed anyone behind him, turned around in surprise. There stood a man with an impeccably groomed appearance.
—He looks like Catherine… Could this be her brother?
The man had tangerine-colored hair and an air of bureaucratic dignity. Though his age was hard to pinpoint, he seemed to be in his thirties. His dark gray suit gave him a solid, hardworking appearance.
Despite looking like a typical white-collar intellectual, Wilfred, who had trained as a samurai, could tell from his stance and presence that he was quite skilled.
He somewhat resembled Catherine. It was conceivable to believe he could be a youthful father, but Catherine’s father had long passed away. Therefore, he must be her brother.
“No, I mean, I…”
“Wilfred-san!?”
From behind the man, Catherine popped her head out, wearing her usual blazer uniform. It seemed they had just returned from somewhere.
“What brings you here?”
“Uh, well…”
His already vague plan of action evaporated the moment he saw Catherine’s face, leaving his mind blank.
Still stammering, Wilfred managed to speak up.
“…About the other day. Have you decided? Are you quitting as an administrator?”
“Oh… I apologize, I was going to talk to you.”
Though his question was straightforward and unadorned, Catherine answered without showing any sign of displeasure.
“I’ve made up my mind. I’m going to the Khenis Empire.”
She spoke as if deciding on the ingredients for dinner soup, lightly and casually. There was no weight to her words, suggesting she had no hesitation and had easily made this decision.
“Everyone at the Adventurers Guild has been kind to me, and the research here is appealing… but after discussing it with Dairei-sama, I decided to take their offer.”
His hands and feet felt cold.
She wouldn’t stay, Wilfred realized.
And immediately, he felt his own thoughts were arrogant and foolish.
What value did he hold in her eyes?
“Administrator, I…”
He wanted to talk about Garrett, that there was someone who needed her here.
But in a moment, it felt manipulative. Wanting Catherine to stay was his own feeling more than anything.
Using Garrett as an excuse felt deceitful.
Moreover, holding someone’s life hostage to bind another was still cunning.
“…Just, please be careful. I hear the Empire can be dangerous…”
“Yes, thank you.”
Unable to find the right words, Wilfred merely offered polite and courteous farewells.
Catherine responded with her usual professional smile.
The siblings bowed.
Catherine’s slender back.
The dirt in the corner of the ceiling.
The sound of insects crying somewhere.
Suddenly, the world felt vast, and everything around him seemed to be receding.
This might be the last time.
The last time he would see Catherine.
The last time he would hear her voice.
With that thought, Wilfred…
“…Please wait!”
He found himself shouting in a pitifully loud voice.
Catherine turned around.
