Our First Client and Worker!

The problem was, how long did I have to wait until Sharlotte was free so I could communicate with Rin?

With no Angel proxy, I was just… Guild-temperature spring water in a stolen flask.

“All right, good work, everyone! That’s it for today! Here is today’s salary.”

“Thank you! Good job today, boss!”

“Good job!”

Rin, my future disciple, hummed to herself after announcing the end of the workday and continued overtime by lantern light as the Guild transformed into a tavern.

It was almost sundown! If they stored me in the back with the lost swords and moldy cloaks, it was game over. The Kazuki Sacred Spa, I, will rot in a dusty box for eternity! I could already see the end of the tunnel! And it was all a dead end!! “Nooo!”

Rin picked up the lost and found tray and set me in a backroom with a bed and desk that made this place look like a student dorm. With the cute stuffed demon rabbit and chic décor, this was clearly her break room.

“Won’t you come?” Rin murmured curiously, picking me up like I was some rare, delicate tea canister from a merchant caravan she’d never dare approach in daylight. “When did a hero like you even wander through this town?”

“Huh?”

She traced a slender fingertip along the satchel’s leather, then lingered over the small crest pressed into the base of my flask. “Reinhart…” she breathed in sweetness, savoring the name like it was a priceless treasure she’d just unearthed from the bottom of my bottle.

Damn it! So, she’s attracted to the adventurer and not the stupendous prospects of the Kazuki Sacred Spa?? And what’s she implying? Meaning that the adventurer leader who attacked us wasn’t necessarily from this city?! Why did Sharlotte even bring us here, that idiot?!

“A real hero…” She sighed dreamily, her cheeks warming up. “So he really did pass through here. And he drank from this…” Her eyes glazed over a second too long. She gave the flask a little squeeze.

Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no. You were supposed to be trustworthy, a counter to Sharlotte’s sloth! Let me dream a bit!

“Let me dream a bit.”

This woman is crazy.

She lifted my flask to eye level, watching me, a thin liquid inside, clear, faintly iridescent, before setting me down and pulling out tiny glasses etched with runes.

A swirl of magical script glowed around them. “I’ll see exactly what you are, mystery flask…” She pressed the neat lens to her eyes. “Appraisal!”

A cold shiver ran through my sacred water. “Hey, hey, hey! Quit peeking! Don’t peek! Ah!” Too late, the rune spun, scanning every drop of me.

“Wha–What’s this?!” She nearly fell off her high chair. “This isn’t normal… This – ‘Kazuki Sacred Spa Potion– Holy Rejuvenation Springwater–’ … and it’s self-replenishing?!” Her eyes darted left, right, like she expected him to burst through the wall, demanding it back. “A super-rare find! A legendary item, just– just left lying around?!”

She sucked in a sharp breath. She hugged my flask close like a squirrel hoarding a gold acorn. “How could the Great Hero just forget this in town? This potion must be priceless to him! If I were to return it… I wonder if he’d be happy. Maybe he’d… thank me. A reward, maybe. A personal thank you...”

Her words tangled in her mouth as she glanced down, noticing her hands had gone white around the flask’s neck.

“Wait,” she breathed. Her knees knocked together under her skirt, a clumsy thunk against the stool leg. “Reinhart must’ve drunk from this… directly…” She leaned in, so close her breath fogged the glass. “His lips… right here…”

Lady. I am right here.

She lifted my cork.

I bubbled wickedly, but she took this as fizz.

Why was the flask tilting?

“Mmm~ It smells so… fresh. Warm. Like… him–” She shuddered. “Ah… Reinhart… what a divine–”

Hey! I’m the divine one here!

She opened her eyes, her pupils glassy with overtime delirium and dangerously spicy thoughts.

“Just… one taste…”

I watched the light hit her lips– Wait, wait, wait–! “Don’t drink me. Don’t drink mee!! Show me more of your serious side, not your embarrassing sideee! Waaaah!”

“Hiiih!” She yelped.

Crash*! My flask couldn’t take any more bounces.

“Wha–Who??”

“Don’t just stand there! I’m evaporating! Your Reinhart is evaporating…”

“Oh no, let me help!”

I was back in a new bottle. That was terrifying. It appeared that smelling my spring water particles helped establish communication. This was a great find! I could talk with anyone who visited my spa!

This woman should have been a great find too! But…

She squeezed her thighs together under the desk and shifted in beet-red embarrassment.

I praised her remorse.

“On that, how are you taken in by such a weak man!!”

“It doesn’t have to be him!!”

She opened her drawer. A lot of adventurer items were there, all with different crests.

I feel like I saw something that must never be mentioned again. A very, very big secret.

Haha. Gahahaha!!

The leverage I have on her is incredible!!

If we agreed to stay quiet on this, there wasn't a more serious and respectable lady who could become my head receptionist. Rin would be my proxy for befriending all the people of this city!

I swirled, smug as hell. “So, Miss Records Keeper. Here’s how this goes. You keep your mouth busy about the wonders of my spa, and I keep mine shut about you moaning Reinhart’s name while sipping a hero’s ‘holy essence’.”

“Y-you– You’re blackmailing me–?”

“In exchange? Unlimited soaks. First customer loyalty plan. You in? You loved the smell of me, believed me to be your precious Reinhart. You can’t hide it.”

“I-I’ll have to see this place first.”

Good! The way she saves face is good!

She really does have the skills to be our best new worker!

Gahahaha! I blackmailed my first customer! And she loves it!

One desperate wage slave down. An entire Adventurer’s Guild full of filthy, stressed-out heroes to go.