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Read five chapters in advance in my p'atreon: https://bit.ly/3aSlX2b

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"Hey, Ryu! Are you okay?"

"Nngg…" My shoulders shook, and I came to my senses.

What appeared before me was a face as tough as rock.

"Whoa!" I jumped up in a panic.

It was the guildmaster looking into my face.

"What is it, the guildmaster? Don't startle me." I put my hand on chest as I heaved a sigh.

"I'm the one who should be surprised. Are you all right? You were on the floor just now."

I was one the floor?

Ah! That's right!

I was enveloped by the light of the magic circle activated by the fairy, Oriolen or whatever her name was. ... Damn, I can't remember where it went from there. Was I out cold all this time?

"That's right! Where's the vial? The fairy?" I said as I looked frantically glanced around.

"Huh?" The guildmaster looked at me with concern. "Vials? Fairy? Are you alright?"

"Today's appraisals! Oh, I'm sorry, guildmaster. I accidentally broke one of the vials in the appraisal! Then a fairy came out of the vial and—"

"Ryu, what do you mean by the appraisal items?"

"What?"

"Hey, hey, hey, are you sure you're all right?　You didn't come here today with any magic items to appraised, did you?　Are you out of your mind?"

"What...?" I looked around the room, but there was not a single broken vial nor was there a small fairy.

"Huh? That's strange. I'm pretty sure I—"

"Ryu, are you sure you're all right?　If you want to leave early, I'll allow it."

"I'm… sorry. I was probably sleepwalking. I'm fine now."

He looked at me for a few seconds before sighing. "Alright, but if you feel sick, just let me know, okay?　You can always leave early."

What a kind guildmaster.

Anyway, I got up, left the appraisal room, and returned to the quest mediation department.

I took my seat and went back to work.

"Hey, Ryu. Where are you sitting?" the guildmaster asked.

"Yes?"

I'm sitting at my desk. Why do you ask?

"You're the receptionist, remember? You're the only male staff member in the guild besides me."

"Yes?"

"..... Are you sure you're all right, buddy? Maybe you should go home after all."

No, I'm the one who should be asking if you're okay.

What the hell are you talking about, guildmaster?! I'm sure the adventurers are not happy to have an unattractive guy like me sitting in the reception area.

However, no matter how crazy the guildmaster's orders were, I, was working under him, had no choice but to obey them.

Reluctantly, I left the office desk and headed for the reception desk, and when I got there, I was immediately shocked.

Because the hall… was full of women.

Women here. Women there. Women everywhere!

The Adventurers' Guild was filled with bulky men and the stench of male sweat until a few minutes ago.

But the place was now completely overflowing with women. There was no men in sight.

What is this?

Are we going to surprise someone with a birthday party today? If so, why wasn't I informed of it?

I was so shocked that I looked around with my mouth hanging open.

Then, a group of people opened the doors to the Adventurers' Guild and entered.

It was the same S-ranked party who had visited earlier—the Rose Queens.

What is it this time?

Why did these girls come back? Didn't they just come in a little while ago?

Did they forget something?

I was completely shaken up when I heard the whispering voices of the female adventurers around me.

"Isn't that Rose Queens, the S-rank party that's active in the royal capital?" a female adventurer said.

"Ah, them, the party famous for being late for marriage despite them being S-ranks," another one continued.

Huh?

What on Earth are they talking about?

Have they gone crazy with envy?

"With her looks, I doubt she'll ever find a job other than adventurer."

"If you want to talk about the look of the fiercest of the fiercest, maybe."

The female adventurers, aside from me, who was still shocked at the sudden change, were giving the Rose Queens party insulting evaluations.

Where were the voices of praise earlier?

Now, we can hardly hear them singing their praises. No, as a matter of fact, there weren't any praises.

On the contrary, giggles and laughter filled the guild like ripples, as if to ridicule them.

What was even more surprising was the reaction of the Rose Queens party when they heard the voices of those around them.

They held their heads down as if they were embarrassed—no, ashamed of their own appearance.

I was stunned, until I came back to as the Rose Queens party strode quickly to the reception desk.

I hurriedly sat down at the reception desk and managed to say, "Hello, how may I help you?"

"Well… we are a party called the Rose Queens."

It was the same red-haired female warrior who sat down at the reception desk as the representative and began to talk.

Alright… but why introduce yourself again?

We just talked earlier, so I know exactly the name of the party is, what you're here for, and so on.

"I… I'm not sure if you know the name of our party or not, but I'm sure you do. We usually work around the royal capital. Today, we were able to escort the Melda Chamber of Commerce to this town on an escort mission for their goods. They said they didn't need an escort for the return trip, so we thought we'd take the opportunity to challenge the dungeon of the hungry wolf before returning to royal capital."

She explained the exact situation from before.

Seriously, what the hell is going on?

Did she go to the trouble of repeating the same explanation to me because I seem to have a hard time remembering things?

Sigh, it's sad that I can't rule out that possibility.

However, I am concerned of the fact that her attitude is completely different from before.

If before, she was so confident and unafraid of anything, now, she is as timid as a virgin man who just had his first conversation with a member of the opposite sex.

"I see, since there are no high-ranked parties in this town, we would be very grateful to have the renowned Rose Queens personally explore the dungeon for us."

I didn't know what to say, so I said nice things with a business-like smile.

Seeing me like this, for some reason, made the female warrior look surprised. I wonder why?

"Oh… thank you! Anyway, I came here to get a map of the dungeon."

For some reason, the female warrior asked for the map again.

It was strange, but I guess it was just a backup.

"Well, here you go." I gave her the map.

She took the map and said, "If there are any monsters or treasures that we have defeated or acquired, we will surely bring them back to you."

"I'm looking forward to it, but most of all, please be careful not to get hurt."

"—!!! O-Oh! Thanks!" She mumbled incoherent word but showed a happy smile.

Haaa, she is really beautiful when she smiles.

But she didn't even smile at me earlier, so what change did she undergo in the last ten minutes or so?

Well, I got to see a beautiful woman's smile, so I guess I shouldn't worry about the details.