Published: July 31, 2025
This time, five chapters were updated simultaneously.
This is the fifth chapter.
The next day.
From morning, eight men and women were gathered in the meeting room of the Adventurers' Guild.
"Oh, Wellanna, your party has come too?"
"Jeff, you’re here as well... Any idea why we were called today?"
"Don’t know. Neither do the others. Our ranks, ages, races—there’s no common factor. We were just talking because we couldn’t figure out the criteria for being chosen. How about you? Any clue? Your party’s the only one called."
"I don't understand either. The only common trait in our party is that we're all female beastmen. But that probably doesn’t matter, right?"
"Yeah. I’m a man, a human. The others are two humans, a dwarf, and a dragonewt. So neither race nor gender seems relevant."
At that moment, another beastman woman entered the room.
"Good morning~. Meow? Wellanna, Miseria, and Syria were called too?"
"Miya, you were called too?"
"Yes, meow. When I got home from work yesterday evening, the reception told me to come here today. I never thought three of us would be here."
"Me too... Hm? Your smell has gotten a lot better, hasn’t it? Did you finally move out of that garbage house?"
"I’ve told you countless times to move out quickly, but you never listened."
"Did you finally reach your limit?"
"No, meow. I still live there. Even if it's that kind of house, I paid a good amount for it. It would be a waste not to live in it."
"Then why has the smell faded?"
"Actually, the day before yesterday, a girl accepted a cleaning request I put out through the guild, after a long time. She cleaned it thoroughly."
"You mean the endless stinking cleaning hell? How did she manage that?"
"I was surprised too. She cleaned up the basement in less than two hours and even sealed the holes in the walls. She apparently used magic to clean it, and the whole room was sparkling."
"That’s amazing. What’s she like?"
"She seemed to be a newcomer. Probably under 13 years old, carrying a large basket woven from wood and vines on her back."
The man called Jeff reacted to that description.
"Huh? Under 13 and a big basket? That must be Ryoma, right?"
"That's right, meow! That’s the name she gave."
"What? You know her?"
"The day before yesterday, I saw an old man call her out after work. She looked clueless about why she was called, so I told her it was just the old man meddling. She spoke very politely, that kid."
"Indeed, she was very courteous."
Then another person entered the room. It was Ryoma. Seeing this, Miya exclaimed.
"Excuse me. Ry... "
"Ah! That’s her!"
"Miya? Mr. Jeff, you’re here too?"
"Yeah, since the day before yesterday. You were called too? We were just talking about you."
"Me?"
At this point, the woman called Wellanna stepped forward to Ryoma.
"Nice to meet you. You’re Ryoma, right? I’m Wellanna of the Canine Tribe. I’ve known Miya for a long time and used to be in the same party. I heard you cleaned Miya’s house and was surprised. How could you manage to clean that place?"
"She bought the house, but the walls were collapsing, and as you saw, it was a mess. The smell was really tough for beastmen with keen noses like Wellanna. We tried to convince Miya to move several times, but she wouldn’t listen... Oh, I’m Miseria of the Tiger Tribe. Nice to meet you."
"I'm Syria of the Rabbitkin. Pleased to meet you."
"I'm Ryoma Takebayashi. Nice to meet you all."
"These three were members of my old party, meow. The smell of that house started to cling to us, especially tough on Wellanna of the Canine Tribe, but Miya couldn’t give up on the house and left the party. She caused a lot of trouble too."
"Miya can be stubborn sometimes..."
"No matter what anyone said, once she bought the house, she insisted on living there..."
"Really, living in such a place for five years is something else."
"Five years there? That must have been... tough."
Ryoma made a face that was hard to read. Jeff then asked Ryoma.
"By the way, that basket you’re carrying, you had it the day before yesterday too, right? What’s inside?"