Mabel's Curious Cuteness

The familiar clock tower that clinked and clanged with mechanical gears presented itself once again. It loomed over everyone, attached to a small cathedral that housed Outset's Guild House. The state-funded facility was vital to Adventurer's daily operations, but for NPC's, it was little more than a landmark monument that served little purpose.

Daichi adjusted his own robe as he watched Sanae poof out a smaller robe from her Inventory. She slipped it around Abby's shoulders and flipped the cute little hood down, hiding all traces of cat ears.

"It's gonna be mostly Adventurers in there, so we gotta be more careful," Sanae said. "Higher chances of traffickers being around here."

"E-Ehhh . . ." the little cat girl said. She seemed conflicted over needing to don a rickety robe. But she accepted the gesture and tucked her red tail back underneath, away from sight.

Home sweet home I guess. He went to wait by the double-doors while Sanae finished readying their adopted Felonian.

Soon, the trio was maneuvering their way through the cramped halls full of mosaic windows and strange artifacts. Daichi had already traversed their corridors several times—enough that he'd developed a small bond of familiarity with the place. He knew there would be other Houses later on in his journey, but none would be able to replicate the memories of his first day in Paradise and of meeting Sanae.

He glanced over in her direction while they all walked side by side. She was holding Abby's hand while keeping watch that the cat girl's hood didn't slip off. It was an acute sign of something like motherly love—which could take months or years to foster, but was birthed in just a day between those two.

Daichi was never one to trust something or someone he couldn't understand, but Sanae was the one shining exception. She'd saved his life on multiple occasions without asking for anything in return. And he'd be a fool to deny his heart didn't flutter at least a little at the thought of her. Perhaps his curiosity wasn't attributed to an innate, conspiratorial nature—rather—to his honest feelings towards someone he felt blessed to have by his side.

"Oh, there's a big line!" Abby pointed. "Look, look!"

Indeed, a winding formation of at least several dozen Adventurers had gathered in the Guild House's reception hall. It was more than Daichi had ever seen but not something he wasn't quite expecting.

"Come on, let's just get in before it gets longer." Sanae tugged Abby's hand and gestured for both friends to follow.

Hmmm . . . Inside his head, Daichi was hatching a scheme to help avoid their long wait time. He scanned the distant reception desks being manned by teams of young, attractive receptionists. Their outfits were similar to those of flight attendants, complete with curve-hugging, short hem skirts he'd seen before. However, there was one specific girl he was searching for, and she was the only one that displayed pink flowers in her breast pocket.

A distant Paladin being serviced at the far end of the reception counter finished his business. He zapped the bronze coins he was handed into his Menu and soon departed, revealing a familiar blonde receptionist behind the counter.

"Oh, hey! Mabel!" Daichi waved to get her attention. "I'm back!"

Even from a distance, it was obvious her turquoise eyes lit up with excitement on seeing his face. She waved back with a cute "come over" gesture, like she was inviting him to cut the huge line.

All's well that ends well? He'd at times used the regrettable tactic of utilizing his appeal to women as a shortcut to achieving certain goals. It was mostly applied to siphon intel from anyone associated with Dominion, like with the hospital receptionist back home. Though it was undeniable that there were other useful applications as well.

Sanae gave him a bit of a stink eye after noticing Mabel's reaction to seeing him. He couldn't do anything but let loose an awkward chuckle, trying hard to look modest.

"Guess we're lucky to have an inside friend, huh?" he said.

"Whatever. Let's just go." Sanae tugged Abby ahead while their conflicted friend trailed behind.

Mabel was waiting for them with the most wholesome smile possible. Her section today rested at the far end of their reception counter, which meant quite some time for peeved eyes in line to burn into the trio's backs. Daichi was too afraid to even look behind.

"Greetings!" Mabel bowed her head as they all arrived. "I'm honored to see your return, Pearl's Tears!"

"Y-Yeah. Thanks for giving us a fast pass, haha." He didn't wish to say anything too chummy for fear of giving a certain someone the wrong idea.

"Oh! And it's nice to finally meet you, Miss Sanae!" Mabel bowed again. "Congrats on the formation of your new guild!"

"Pleasure is all mine," she replied a little sternly.

Abby below was fidgeting with mild amounts of shyness. No one had considered the fact she might be nervous around strangers who didn't offer her candy.

"My!" Mabel clasped her hands together. "I'm surprised you two already conceived a child! She's precious!"

No, please! You're gonna make things more awkward than they already are! But too late. Daichi's cheeks were already flushing through embarrassed shades of pink. Sanae on his side was trying to laugh off the joke, but it was obvious she was restraining her own sheepish emotions.

"Huh? Child?" Abby said. She seemed unaware of the joke's context. "I'm a big child though! Big, like Outset's walls! Roar!"

"Right you are, sweetie!" Mabel smiled towards her. "Anyway, do excuse my humor. What can I assist you all with today?"

He didn't know where to start. Daichi's main goal was securing a quest for practice, but based on Sanae's comments earlier, the process might be complicated. He glanced down the row of Adventurers being serviced along the long reception counter, and noted how many were being turned away with disappointed faces. Our prospects aren't looking good . . .

When he didn't say anything, Sanae craned towards a large pin board behind the reception counter. It was currently almost vacant without much on it at all, except for some red papers with pronounced skulls on them.

"Erm, I don't suppose there's any quests for us?" Sanae asked. "That's what we're here for."

Mabel's demeanor shifted from cheerful to diminished. "Oh. As you can probably see, our quest board is quite lackluster at the moment."

"But there's a few up there though," Daichi pointed. "Like those red ones."

"Those are for only the most experienced guilds, unfortunately," Mabel started explaining. "Since this is a beginner's city, we have influxes of rookies rushing to accept any low-tier quest they can. The end result is a surplus of high-tier quests no one can accept, and a dearth of low-tier quests everyone wants to accept."

"Basically just supply and demand," Sanae chimed in. "I was hoping we'd get lucky, but this is how it usually is."

"Indeed," Mabel said. "Cities up north have the opposite problem: too many experienced players taking all the high-tier quests, which creates an abundance of low-tier quests that no one wishes to accept."

Economics was something he'd completely forgotten to consider. Too much of his focus had been on plotting out Kyouko's pursuit, and little had gone into finer details. Sanae's presence lifted much of his spirit but also a bit too much of his confidence.

"I mean, we could still maybe try one of those harder quests, no?" he replied. "Then just bail if things get bad?"

Sanae beside him breathed a defeated sigh, like a teacher disappointed her student gave an incorrect answer.

"As much as I trust your prowess, I'm afraid I can't grant that request," Mabel said. "Guild Houses keep secret guild ranks from which we dictate which quests you qualify for. Pearl's Tears being a new guild with only two members means I can only approve the lowest tiers for you."

". . . And there's probably not any of those, haha," Daichi finished for her.

But Mabel's face hinted at something else. She clasped her fingers to her chin, as if in cute, deep thought.

"Hmmm . . ." she said. "Well, there is actually one peculiar quest that's available."

"We'll take it, whatever it is!" Daichi proclaimed.

"Yes. It's just that there's a rather specific requirement attached that's made it difficult to assign to anyone."

"Specific requirement?" Sanae added. Her tone sounded suspicious.

"The quest isn't dangerous or anything," Mabel cutely giggled. "Just an escort mission of sorts—like, erm, a bodyguard! Yes!"

Why am I getting Hanako vibes right now? Daichi thought. Like when she tries tricking me into reading boys-love manga?

Mabel's finger started maneuvering in the air, interacting with an invisible Dominion Menu. Soon, an official quest paper spawned ahead of her on the counter. She readied a pencil as if to write in a hurry.

"The specific requirement—you can say—is that exactly one man and one woman are needed. It's probably just a formality so no need to be concerned!" There was a sly, playful gleam in Mabel's eyes. Her pencil remained steady over the quest paper while she waited for Pearl's verbal confirmation.

Sanae and Daichi tried reading each other's faces. Considering their lack of other options, it wouldn't make sense to turn down what was essentially a favor. Wave after wave of other Adventurers down the counter were being turned away, and asked to return early morning for fresh quests. Meanwhile, the metaphorical representation of low-hanging fruit was right in front of Pearl's Tears.

"It's basically just a bodyguard quest around town, right?" Sanae said. "Nothing else?"

"Mhmm! Mhmm!" Mabel smiled. "Low-tier quests rarely involve fights, so everything should be fine!"

Where's the harm in ignoring a red flag or two? "Alright, we'll accept then!"

"Great! I'll start the process then!" Her blue eyes began glowing green along with her golden ring. With machine-like efficiency, she sped through writing Pearl's details on the quest paper, all with a huge smile on her face. As soon as she finished, she poofed the paper away and spawned a new document in its place.

"Hmm? What's this?" Daichi asked.

"Here, look!" Mabel handed him the new paper. "It's all the information for your quest you'll need! Things like where to meet, what time, and the name of your client!"

"Thanks bunches!" He gave the paper a quick glance, confirming that everything was proper. Sanae took her own turn afterwards before he tucked the document in his robe.

"Is there anything else I can assist with?" Mabel asked. The green glow of her eyes began fading.

"That's probably it for now," Daichi said. "We're gonna be leaving town soon, so I just wanna experience at least one quest before then."

Mabel's face saddened, but she soon regained her cheer. "Right now I'm stationed here in Outset, but they rotate me around cities every few weeks, so we may meet again later on!"

"Oh? Is there like fast travel or something?"

"Not for Adventurers," she replied. "But since I'm an NPC+, there is such an option for me thanks to this ring of mine."

He glanced again towards her golden ring that'd been granted by Princess Dominion—an alter ego of Greek-goddess Dominion he'd met before. Whatever power both Dominions wielded over NPCs was still a mystery, but luckily for Daichi, an opportunity unveiled itself to learn more.

"Yeah, it'd be great if we could see each other again!" he wholesomely said. "Getting to know an NPC+ would be fun!"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk." Mabel cutely wagged her finger in disapproval. "I can see right through you, Sir goofball."

"H-Huh?"

Her eyes began glowing a light green again. "It's not exactly secret, but these eyes of mine can examine hidden areas of someone's Playercard. I can see their full names, their ages, genders, education, hobbies, dreams, aspirations—almost anything is available for me to admire."

"Woah!" Abby below said. Her mouth was ajar with amazement. "Can you like, read minds and stuff?"

"Teehee, I wish! But I don't need to read minds to know what someone might want to hear . . ."

Daichi was still busy absorbing her earlier revelation to digest the new remark. When it finally settled in, a newfound appreciation overtook him for this homely NPC that'd been helping him out since day one. But he could only voice so much of it without triggering a certain, cute Cleric.

"Yeah, we better get going though, haha," Sanae said with a polite but forced smile. "Got a long day tomorrow probably."

Mabel bowed her head one last time. "Thank you for visiting us! And please do find me again before you depart Outset so I can give a proper farewell!"

"Will do!" Daichi said. Him and his friends all waved goodbye as they left the counter and melded again with crowds in the cathedral's corridors. 

Whatever tomorrow brought, Pearl's Tears was more than prepared to face it head on.