Meanwhile, Gelda had become somewhat irritable.

“The newbie should explain the rest… Damn it, I told them to fill the water tank, but where did they go again?”

Gelda grumbled curses and quickly looked around.

Just then, two figures were entering through the guild entrance, bickering. It was a small girl and a tall man giving her a piggyback ride.

“Stupid mister! Stupid mister!”

“Hey now, you shouldn’t talk to adults like that!”

Their faces weren’t clearly visible in the tree shadows, but faint snippets of conversation could be heard.

“Then just don’t be stupid! Do you know how hard I worked to find you? How could you go all the way to town when the well was right in front of you?”

“I don’t know. Maybe the road moved?”

“Oh my, you don’t think I’ll believe that excuse just because I’m little, do you? I barely found you by asking people if they saw someone carrying a big bucket! Be grateful for my intelligence!”

“Of course, it’s all thanks to our clever Lily. Thank you.”

Helena felt an inexplicable sense of déjà vu as they drew closer.

‘Why… does that voice sound familiar from somewhere?’

The gradually intensifying feeling was abruptly cut off by Gelda’s deep sigh.

She took out a cigarette from a thick paper case and called out to the front.

“Hey newbie! Some new recruits have arrived, so show them around the building and explain the basic rules! And Lily, I’m leaving the rookie training to you, so it’s your responsibility if he doesn’t do it properly!”

With that, she disappeared, saying she had a lot to deal with. The responses of the man called newbie and Lily were cut off.

Helena didn’t glance at the departing woman. Her gaze was drawn to the man who had now come very close. Without realizing it, she was pointing at him.

“Are you perhaps the person who got lost and wandered in the forest…?”

The old man she’d met on the way had called him ‘some crazy guy’, but she swallowed that expression.

He soon spotted Helena too. He smiled brightly, just as he had when they first met.

“Oh? We meet again, young lady!”

His hair tied up was crooked, probably from the child on his back pulling it haphazardly, the bucket on his arm was swinging, and amidst it all, his gentle eye-smile was beaming.

It was the blue-haired man she had met in Futua.

“Uh… ah! Master, you were here too!”

“…More precisely, you were here first and I came.”

Ian and the man surprisingly seemed to already know each other.

“As I thought, my intuition was right!”

It was before Ian could ask anything. He poured out the circumstances of how he came to be here now.

“I originally set out from Futua, but instead of the sea, a forest started appearing, so I thought I was lost. On top of that, monsters were attacking from all directions so I couldn’t even turn back, when the guild master here appeared and offered, ‘I’ll show you the way if you join the guild!'”

At this moment, everyone except him had the same expression.

Ian, Lily, and Helena. They all looked at him with knowing expressions. Helena also heard Lily mutter quietly, “So it’s true the boss picked him up…”

However, he spread his arms wide, seemingly oblivious to everyone’s gazes and the swinging bucket.

“So I accepted right away and lo and behold! To finally meet you like this, Master! May I present you with a joyful embrace?”

“No.”

Ian leaned his upper body backwards.

“Alright! I understand.”

The man ended up hugging himself with the arms that were left waving in the air. Nevertheless, he seemed very pleased. He was like a large dog wagging its tail uncontrollably in front of its owner after a long time.

‘…Is it rude?’

While Helena was quietly thinking to herself, Ian stepped forward to make a formal introduction.

“Since I seem to be the common factor here, let me clarify. Helena, this is Sakin, a member of my trading company. And Sakin, this is… um, my…”

Ian’s lips quivered, unable to easily find the right words.

Then Lily, who had been staring at him intently, chimed in with a word.

“Lover?”

Lily looked proud of herself for coming up with such a difficult word.

Ian’s mouth gaped open once before he quickly continued.

“My benefactor, Helena.”

Then he naturally avoided Helena’s eyes.

Sakin turned his head towards Helena while holding onto Lily’s swinging legs.

“Miss Helena, it’s a pleasure to meet you. If only I had known you were the Master’s benefactor back then.”

“…I’m glad we got to know like this, even by chance.”

As Sakin faced Helena with his wide eye-smile, Ian cut in.

“Ahem, may I ask how the two of you have met before?”

Sakin and Helena exchanged glances briefly. Since Ian’s gaze was on Helena during this, she decided to answer.

Helena opened her mouth casually.

“Remember the lost bluebird I mentioned before? This is him.”

“This is… the bluebird?”

Despite Ian’s incredulous question, Helena nodded. Soon, a suppressed groan of displeasure flowed from between his tightly closed teeth.

Sakin, the bluebird who had now found his way, raised Lily’s arm towards the two of them. Then he shook it while imitating a thin voice.

“This little one is Lily. Hello~”

“I don’t want to be called little one by a stupid mister!”

Annoyed at being referred to that way, Lily swatted away Sakin’s hand. Instead, she grabbed a fistful of his bangs and messed them up, as if gripping a horse’s reins.

Rather than stopping her, Sakin smiled awkwardly with his hair sticking up like a rooster’s comb.

“As you can see, she’s a bit of a noisy little one.”

“As you can see, he’s a seriously directionally challenged mister.”

“That’s right.”

Sakin responded while rolling his eyes upward, then slowly took a step.

Ian and Helena also walked, matching his pace.

“You two get along well. Well, Lily, you must have a hard time adjusting to his level.”

“Thank you for noticing.”

When Ian smiled slightly, Lily’s cheeks flushed.

In the midst of this, although it was clearly about him, Sakin cheerfully asked without any sign of offense.

“The guild master assigned me to introduce the guild, so is it alright if I show you the dining hall first?”

“Well…”

“Great! Just follow me.”

Ian’s ‘well’ meant refusal, but Sakin, who had no way of knowing this, confidently strode forward.

At that moment, fortunately, Lily stopped Sakin. Lily was still using his hair like actual reins.

“Stop pulling, Lily.”

“Put me down.”

Sakin, now looking like a chicken with a handful of feathers plucked out, obediently crouched down.

As soon as Lily slid off his back and set foot on the ground, she took one hand each of Helena and Ian.

“The dining hall is this way. If we follow that mister, we’ll end up as midnight snacks for monsters, that’s for sure.”

As Lily led the two in the opposite direction, Sakin scratched his messy hair.

“Huh? The dining hall was that way? Didn’t we come from over there earlier?”

“Oh my. I’ll handle the guild tour, so you hurry and go fill the water tank.”

No one disagreed with Lily’s sigh.

“Your Grace!”

With a shrill voice, a woman abruptly blocked Eugene’s path. She was wearing a light blue cape with fur-trimmed edges.

It was difficult to immediately identify her as she had pulled her hood down low. Thus, Walther, who was following closely behind, reflexively drew his sword. However, Eugene’s hand was quicker in stopping him.

“That’s enough.”

“But…”

Eugene shot him a look indicating he wouldn’t say more. Walther had no choice but to resheath his half-drawn sword and step back.

Eugene grasped the shoulders of the woman who had bumped into his chest and pushed her away, with a somewhat troubled expression. The familiar build and scent were unmistakably hers.

“I told you to stay put, Natasha.”

At the heavy voice, the slender figure flinched. With that tremor, a strand of fine golden hair, like delicate silk thread, fell from the shadow of her hood.

Until then, Natasha had remained silent, keeping her head bowed. Eugene loosened his grip on her shoulders as he noticed her small fist clutching her cloak hem tremble.

“I didn’t leave the communication device for you to follow me like this. Whatever urgent matter it is, recklessly coming to find me like this…”

At that moment, Natasha slowly pulled back her hood and revealed her face.

Eugene drew in a sharp breath as soon as he saw her face. Even Walther, who had been watching Natasha’s presence with discomfort, clearly showed his surprise.

“…!”

A chin bruised dark blue, swollen eyelids, cheeks covered in scratches, and split lips. Upon closer inspection, her right hand was even wrapped in bandages.

Eugene gripped Natasha’s arm again and asked urgently.

“Natasha. Who on earth did this to you?”

“You, you won’t believe me even if I tell you.”

“I find your current appearance even harder to believe.”

“Your Grace…!”

Natasha’s eyes quickly reddened. Her bloodshot eyes filled with moisture before large teardrops began to fall.

“It, it was the butler. He said he di, didn’t like me…!”

“…Gordon?”

Eugene’s hand, which was about to comfort Natasha without thinking, stopped at the identity of the perpetrator she revealed. The Gordon that Eugene knew was someone who would never lay a hand on others, no matter what happened.

That was a fact that Walther, who had spent many years with Gordon in Evergale, could attest to like a fingerprint. Therefore, Walther raised an objection before Eugene could.

“There must be some misunderstanding, Your Excellency. You know well that he’s not that kind of person.”

At this, Natasha’s gaze, which had been busy sobbing and shedding tears, turned to Walther. She wiped the moisture on her blotchy cheeks and spoke in a trembling voice, trying hard to suppress her sobs.

“Yo, you’ve distrusted me since the day I arrived at the mansion, sir. Of course, I understand completely. It must have seemed like I stole the mistress’s place.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Then why do you say such things? I’m just doing my best in my position. Do you think I’m entirely happy about filling an empty space? No matter how hard I try, no one appreciates it.”