“Y-you’re alive.” A girl’s eyes widened as she recovered from her infection.
Not everyone fainted. There were those of a particularly strong spirit that managed to remain awake despite their soul being tinkered with. Also, after innumerable times doing this, my Mimic was leveling up, as was my ability to manipulate karma.
I was sitting on a chair at this point after healing her because after having used mana all day, I was near to the point of collapse.
“Yeah, I’m alive,” I responded.
“You… don’t remember me, do you?” She asked awkwardly.
“The guild receptionist?” I blinked after I squinted for a second.
She nodded, smiling slightly. “I was the secretary working in the Adventurer’s Guild when you first arrived in the new old Chalm.”
I had learned that was what they called Chalm’s crossing. It had been originally called Chalm, and then I reclaimed old Chalm, which became Chalm, and thus the original Chalm became new old Chalm. I had no regrets about renaming it. I had even incorporated the original name in it so that people didn’t get confused.
This kind of redundant naming convention wasn’t even unique to this locale. After all, the country of Aberis was run by the Aberis royal family in the capital city otherwise named Aberis. Also, Aberis was the name of the Demon Lord who had originally been in control of this land back when it was part of Osteria.
Don’t even get me started on the church, which could mean the Church of the Mother, the Church of the Daughter, or the Imperial Cloud Church. Well, at least I had heard the original church up north had never broken apart, so if I understood it correctly, the churches of Aberis and the Ost Republic were just the broken apart church of the offshoot of the Imperial Cloud Church that had once been in Osteria. Then there was Osteria, which was both a country and a type of people.
I was letting my mind wander because I was tired. The secretary girl was looking at me with a slightly guilty and awkward expression on her face. I had almost forgotten this girl, but she was one of the first people I had spoken to when I arrived in this world. I raised an eyebrow, realizing she was waiting on me to say something.
Her face grew flushed. “Back then, when you walked in that first time looking to be an Adventurer, I never thought you would come this far.”
I blinked and then smiled. “I never thought I’d be here either. At the time, all I was hoping for was a good meal and a house. Had I known I’d end up being the lord of a small region and have so many people depending on me… well, I don’t think I’d have changed too much.”
“I… I was pretty cold to you back then.” She bit her lip. “I was especially mean to that girl, Miki, the nine-tail fox?”
That was right. As she spoke, I was remembering that she did tend to have an attitude. She was particularly resistant toward Miki once I brought her home, and her rallying up a crowd was one of the reasons I left town. Of course, there was some reasons for that. Her family had died when the ghosts were released from the mansion, and nine-tailed foxes were a taboo existence among the animalkin.
In reality, it was Astria who was directly responsible for her family’s death. She didn’t know that, and Astria and her had never crossed paths. That was probably for the best.
“I remember,” I responded shortly, suddenly feeling awkward myself.
“I just… want to apologize.” She responded. “I’ve begun to realize that you shouldn’t judge people by appearances. First you, and then Miki.”
“R-right… accepted, miss receptionist.”
“Ah… I actually don’t work at the guild anymore. I’ve started to work at the orphanage… If you ever need to find me.”
“Then… if I ever need some children… I mean…”
My face turned red, and so did hers. I had been just giving well-wishes before I realized I was misspeaking. I needed to be more careful propositioning women regarding children! I didn’t even know where half of my baby mommas were.
“Then, please… keep working hard. For the children.” She responded, using the opportunity to bid farewell and leave.
I let out a sigh. “On to the next…”