Abandoned Reincarnation

Chapter 24 – Meeting up

When I woke up in the morning, I was attacked by a light headache, just like in yesterday’s morning.

Even though today is such an important day… That’s not a good start.

I shook my head to try getting rid of the headache.

Then, I ate a quick meal and headed to the commercial district.

I’m meeting up with others at the guild by noon, but I’ll first grab my clothes.

So, I followed the path that Mr. Ronil took my through the other day and arrived at the commercial district.

Once I got in front of Ms. Marie’s store, I could see that the dresses on the mannequins lined up by the window were quite beautiful. I could clearly see that this was a very high quality store.

… It’s a bit too late to be thinking that, but is it really okay for a child like me to enter a store like this one?

Well, I couldn’t do anything about it, so I timidly entered the store with small steps.

Ms. Marie immediately spotted and greeted me, “Welcome, Haku. The clothes you ordered are ready.”

Her smile was as beautiful as ever. And with this smile, she urged me to the back of the store, where she showed me the finished clothes.

They were now smaller to fit me, but they were unmistakably the same clothes that I was shown before.

The navy blue fabric was smooth and felt comfortable to the touch, as if it was something just newly made.

The black cloak that I ordered had a hood that completely covered my head.

Ease of movement was prioritized for the outfit, but ribbons were added at key points to enhance the cuteness.

“Ooh…” I muttered in amazement.

“Try it on. It should fit you just fine, but let me know if there are any issues.” Ms. Marie told me.

I put it on with her prompt, and differently from how baggy it was when she measured me, this was now fitting me perfectly.

And when Ms. Marie made me look at myself at a full-length mirror, I saw a girl with silver hair that fell over her shoulders, and that was wearing brand new clothes.

Looking at me like this, I get the feeling of a small girl who is just trying to look cute. I don’t think I give off the feeling of an adventurer just yet.

Nonetheless, I tried moving myself a bit, and the clothes weren’t hindering my movement at all, and they also looked nice.

As expected of Ms. Marie, she did a great job.

“It looks good on you.

“Also, Haku, let me give you this.” As Ms. Marie said that, she took out a pair of leather boots.

They seemed to be brand new, and I felt like they were quite sturdy.

While I dumbfoundedly stared at those boots, Ms. Marie took off my battered wooden shoes and helped me put the boots on.

Suddenly, the soles of my feet weren’t hurting anymore… It was a bit uncomfortable to suddenly not have the pain that I was used to accompany me, but that’s what makes this feeling so good.

“U-uhn… How come?” I asked her.

“It’s a gift. From me to you. I would be happy if you could make good use of it.” Ms. Marie told me.

Her sweet smile made me freeze for a second.

I had no fashion sense at first, so I didn’t care much about what I was wearing. I was happy for as long as I had clothes and shoes.

If it wasn’t for her gift, I might have kept on wearing those battered shoes for as long as they fit me.

And these boots seem to be made for travelers. They look sturdy. Not the kind of thing that would be damaged easily.

It’s also quite comfortable… Wasn’t this expensive?

“… Thank you. I will cherish this.” I told her while feeling a few tears get to my eyes.

I not only got new clothes, but was also given brand new boots.

If it’s just by appearance, I might look like a traveler now, as opposed to whatever impression I gave with my tattered clothes… This is only possible because there are people who care for me.

I couldn’t help being overwhelmed with happiness when I realized that.

Before I could process what I was doing, I had already hugged Ms. Marie tightly.

And she gently hugged me back.

… I may have been craving for this kind of warmth. For this gentle love that envelops me.

“Things may get hard in the future, but keep on doing your best, alright?” Ms. Marie told me.

“I will!” I exclaimed.

I wanted to keep on getting spoiled forever, but that was not possible. If I don’t leave soon, I may be unable to reach the guild by noon.

So, after thanking Ms. Marie again, I left the store and headed to the guild.

I arrived at the guild just in time.

When I went inside, I could see that there were quite a few adventurers waiting near the receptionist’s desk… About fourteen adventurers total?

“Ah, looks like Haku has arrived, so we’re all set now.” Ms. Charlie commented. Seems like I was the last to arrive.

“What? This small child is participating?” A big man interrupted Ms. Charlie just as she was about to start explaining the details of the request.

He was leaning against the wall and had his hands on his pockets. A hammer was placed right next to him, which was probably his main weapon.

“We aren’t gathering here for fun. This is no place for a brat.” The man glared at me as he said that.

Well, yes, I am a kid, but Ms. Charlie kindly allowed me to accept this request, so even if I may look out of place here, I still feel a bit angry when you say this kind of thing to my face.

“Mr. Roland, Ms. Haku is a genuine E-rank adventurer, so she is allowed to participate in this request.” Ms. Charlie explained.

“But no matter how you look at her, she is nothing more than a brat. I don’t wanna be her babysitter.” Mr. Roland said.

Ms. Charlie’s reprimanding words didn’t seem to bother him in the slightest.

On the contrary, he is glaring directly at me, as if trying to scare me.

A normal child might have been scared alright, but unfortunately, I’m used to mean words and swearing.

And well, I don’t think this guy will attack me in the middle of the guild like what happened the other day, but… Even if he did try to do that, I think I would still be able to manage it.

Because this man looks like he has no brains, only muscles.

Suddenly, a woman intervened in the conversation, “I think she has killed over twice as many monsters as you did over the past few days.

“In terms of number of subjugations, she seems to be way better than you, who just drinks all day and doesn’t go out to work.”

“Hah!?” Mr. Roland exclaimed.

The woman that just spoke took a step forward and stared at Mr. Roland disdainfully.

Ah, I think I saw her somewhere before…

She’s a swordswoman who wears leather armor and has a thin sword at her waist.

For a moment, Mr. Roland seemed to be dumbfounded, but then he burst out in laugher, “That’s a funny joke. You think that brat is better than me? A C-rank? You sure know how to make me laugh.”

“I’m not joking, but I guess I couldn’t expect you to know anything about this child. There is nothing but muscle in your brain, after all.” The woman replied.

“Just who is the muscle brain? Shall I crack out your head to take your brain out?” Mr. Roland threatened.

“… Isn’t it about time?” Ms. Charlie cleared her throat.

Immediately, both people clicked their tongues and stopped arguing.

It’s quite amazing to see her silence big adventurers this easily… But well, guild employees have the right to remove someone’s guild certificate if they deem it appropriate, so I guess adventurers can’t do anything against a receptionist.

Once everyone went silent, Ms. Charlie started explaining the request.

Our job was to wipe out the countless monsters that appeared on the highway.

Over fifty monsters were sighted in total, which is enough to be referred to as a monster herd.

Since it’s too much for a single person, multiple people were requested to form a party to take care of it.

Then, prompted by Ms. Charlie, the gathered adventurers started introducing themselves.

The woman that was arguing with Mr. Roland introduced herself first, “I’m Lily, a C-rank adventurer who is on a party with Sonia.” She gestured to another woman, “Nice to meet you all.”

“I’m Sonia, nice to meet you.” Her party member said.

So her name is Lily… Ah, I remember where I saw her now. She was the only woman adventurer in the guild on the day that I registered.

Since she’s C-rank, that means she is a fully-fledged adventurer already. I still have a long way to go before I can get there.

After she finished introduced herself, she winked at me.

Sonia gave a small bow and then they both returned to where they originally were.

I guess they gave up on arguing with Mr. Roland.

“I’m Roland, a C-rank adventurer. You low-rank newbies better not get in my way.” He said.

And he was staring directly at me as he introduced himself, as if he was saying that I in particular should be mindful of his words.

Well, he doesn’t need to worry about that, because I have no intention of holding anybody back.

Ms. Lily stared at Mr. Roland with disgruntled eyes as he spoke. She seems to dislike him.

Well, she started arguing with him quite easily just a small while back, so I guess they aren’t in good terms.

In any case, after everyone introduced themselves, we finished our quick meeting and headed to the highway.