Ch.421Late-Arriving NPCs. (8)

Why did it turn out like this?

“Hello. I’m the top student in the third grade of the Academy’s elementary division…”

“Ah, thank you for the polite greeting. I’m…”

This is already the dozenth time a child whose head barely reaches my solar plexus has come to greet me. Every one of them knows Ira and greets me respectfully, exchanges brief pleasantries, and then leaves. After leaving me, they go on to greet Miho, Chikuyo, and Rei, having similar brief conversations.

In other words, there’s a greeting procession in front of us, and we’re standing here in formal attire and dresses, receiving their greetings one after another. Seriously, how did it come to this?

“That ‘how did it come to this?’ expression on your face is priceless.”

“If you already know, please stop reading my thoughts and explain the situation, Acting Headmaster.”

Ragni, with her hair magically dyed black instead of her usual blue, neatly braided down her back and wearing a form-fitting mermaid dress, hands me a glass of low-alcohol wine while giggling cutely.

Her already striking features and glamorous figure shine like a beautiful jewel, enhanced by light makeup and her gleaming black dress. It’s certainly a delightful sight for me, and I can confidently say she looks so charming that I want to embrace her immediately. But the current situation prevents me from giving her my full attention, which is truly problematic.

So stop laughing and explain the situation. Should I kiss you right in front of these kids?

“Oh my, I wouldn’t mind! I’m actually interested in wine kisses too. If you’re going to do it, could you hold some wine in your mouth first?”

“Tsk. Just explain, will you?”

“Hehe. It’s nothing special. You said you wanted to greet Ira’s friends, so I just spread the word and prepared accordingly. Do you have any idea how many kids want to be friends with Ira, or how many already know her? This is already a carefully curated list.”

“You ‘carefully curated’ enough people to fill the Academy’s party hall? Just to gather the friends of Ira, who’s only in first grade… I mean, elementary division?”

“That’s right~♬”

In response to my objection, Ragni happily hums, clinks my glass without permission, downs her wine in one shot, and starts looking around. I follow her gaze.

My head spins at the sight of all these children—who appear to be Ira’s age or perhaps just entering young adulthood—dressed in formal attire, enjoying luxurious meals, chatting happily among themselves, and exchanging greetings.

Ira, what kind of academy life have you been leading? It’s only been half a year?!

It’s not just Ragni who’s dressed up. Rei, Miho, and Chikuyo, who receive greetings after me, have also traded their usual armor, bikini shorts, and kimonos for colorful dresses and makeup that suit them well. They’re all playing their part as “our group,” paying attention to greeting the children. And the busiest person of all is…

“Ah, hello, senior!”

“Hehe. I’m glad to see Ira looking healthy. I heard about it. You achieved great merit in the Behemoth subjugation, right? I truly regret not being able to make you my little sister…”

About 5 meters away from me is Ira, who can’t even eat because she’s so busy receiving greetings. Including that female student, nearly thirty people have already greeted Ira, and that one is particularly talkative. A line is even starting to form behind her.

Let me briefly recall how this situation came about.

About a week ago, after contacting Brans Wigel, the captain of Aiti’s guard, I told Ragni that I wanted to take the magic engineering train to Aiti that would depart in two weeks, and that I wanted to gather Ira’s friends for a meal before leaving. I had several reasons—I wanted to prevent the connections Ira had worked hard to build from evaporating after our journey ended, and I also wanted to express my gratitude to the children who helped with the Behemoth subjugation. Ragni, who was already busy with Neiti’s reconstruction work, told me to leave everything to her after hearing my request, and prepared this situation.

But this is too many. How many people are there exactly?

[142 people. 78 from elementary division, 28 from middle division, 11 from high division, plus Siltra personnel, Adventurer’s Guild officials, Academy professors, and various others.]

I unconsciously shake my head at Gorg’s answer, which he provided in response to my muttering that was too quiet for even Ragni standing next to me to hear.

Not just Ira’s friends, but even Mr. Devil and Neiti’s vice guild master are here. Avalitia, who falls under “various others,” is arm-in-arm with Mr. Devil, greeting only the influential people—I really want to ask why she even came. Just as I was taking advantage of the brief respite Ragni provided to survey my surroundings, the next guest approached me as soon as Ragni left to help the other women.

Hmm. One is a familiar face.

“I know you’re not exactly having a good time, but we came to say hello.”

“Hello! I’m Latina, Ira’s friend!”

“Haha. It’s not that serious. That problem is gradually being resolved anyway. More importantly, you’ve leveled up more, Grace? And Latina, I’ve heard a lot about you from Ira. Thank you for being good friends with my sister.”

Grace, my sister’s best friend whom I met in the Empire, greets me with an awkward smile as if she knows our situation, and a cute girl taller than Ira, seemingly uncomfortable moving in a dress, politely greets me as well. I return their greeting comfortably. But did they already greet Ira?

“No. We came to you first, brother.”

“Well, it would take too long to get to Ira right now. Besides, we’ve been meeting regularly since that day.”

“I see. I heard about it from Ira too. Thank you. Ira’s been quite down lately because of the Gorg incident, even though she tries to hide it. I hope you’ll continue to be there for her.”

“”……””

Huh? I asked them to remain good friends with Ira, but for some reason, both of their expressions darkened. Did I say something wrong? Or could they have had a fight with Ira? As the atmosphere grew awkward, I became anxious, my eyebrows twitching slightly. Finally, Grace managed to move her lips with difficulty.

“I’m… sorry. If we hadn’t interfered that day, Gorg wouldn’t have ended up like that.”

“Ira told us. That you’re a Golem Tamer, and Gorg belongs to you. I’m truly sorry. While protecting us…”

Ah. It seems it wasn’t just Rei or Ira who thought Gorg’s destruction was their fault. Moreover, the moment the two started apologizing to me, the small boys and girls waiting their turn to greet me while chatting nearby began glancing at me cautiously.

Seeing that they all have levels in the late 300s to 400s, they must be the future great magicians who drew aggro that day. This is really “something else.”

“Gorg?”

[It wasn’t their fault. If they hadn’t provided support attacks, even with Rei giving it her all, the beast’s neck wouldn’t have been severed so easily. Without that, there would have been mass casualties from its breath attack in the end. They made a good decision—they should be praised for it.]

When I call her through the status window, both girls tilt their heads in confusion, but having heard the answer, I can nod with a smile. That’s right, you did nothing wrong. I was the one who was careless.

I slowly reach out my hands and gently pat the tops of their heads, careful not to mess up their neatly styled hair, and speak.

“I don’t know how much Ira told you, but Gorg is still alive and well. She’s talking to me right now, and she says thanks to you, we were able to defeat the Behemoth. So please don’t feel responsible.”

“”””!!””””

As I speak a bit louder so many can hear, many children widen their eyes in surprise. Well, hearing the voice of a supposedly dead golem must sound absurd, but surprisingly, it’s the truth.

The two girls whose heads I patted blush slightly, their eyes welling up as they struggle to speak.

“Y-you really are a flirt, just like they say. You might be trying to comfort us, but patting a woman’s head isn’t appropriate!”

“C-can you really hear Gorg’s voice? Is she truly alive?!”

“Haha. Yes, she’s alive. And I’m sorry, did I make you uncomfortable?”

“Uh. I didn’t say that. Th-thank you for forgiving us.”

Both of them bowed again, expressing their thanks and gratitude, and I bowed back in response. Afterward, I asked them to continue staying by Ira’s side, and they left. After that, more of Ira’s friends came to me one after another, wishing for Gorg’s safe revival and expressing their thanks.

Haha, this is crazy. Hey, did you also attend the Academy as a student? How is it that there’s not a single kid who doesn’t know you?

[I did attend diligently in my own way. I was in the position of Ira’s guardian. Well, we did part on somewhat bad terms at the end, but I’ll tell you about that later.]

Hearing Gorg’s voice respond somewhat curtly yet embarrassedly to my question, I can’t help but give a bitter smile. And so, I continued to receive expressions of gratitude and apologies on Gorg’s behalf as I wrapped up my final schedule in Neiti.

…But wasn’t this supposed to be a party to manage Ira’s connections? Is it okay for it to end like this?