Chapter 44: Erina and Justine

I was wandering through this little town for the first time in the morning, with my long case on my back. A tender morning wind blew, people had already woken up at this point, but the streets weren’t as organized or heated as back in the city.

Looking at the peaceful, low pace streets and the calm in people’s faces, I said, “I want to go back home~”

“Ms. Erina, please take your work more seriously,” the short-haired maiden watching me was criticizing me while adjusting her crooked glasses. “You’re an adult, so stop acting like a child.”

“But Justine, this place really sucks. There is nothing to do here.” I said, almost crying at her knees, but her cold and sharp black eyes didn’t care about my complaints.

“You aren’t here to walk around or to make friends. You’re a respectable member of the Silver Fang, so don’t walk around as if you’re crawling. You’re giving a bad example to your subordinates.”

I looked around, and following us a few meters back were two guys. I have 1.68m (5’6’’), so by our height difference I guessed they were 1.85m (6’1’’), with muscular bodies. They were wearing the white military uniform as well, but they had a breastplate, gauntlets, and greaves, matching their Knight class, differentiating them from us, both covering their bodies with shining silver armor.

“Why are they so far from us?” I found it weird that those giants that were supposed to keep us covered were trying to distance themselves from us.

“Probably they are afraid of you, Ms. Erina.”

“Eh? Why me? I’m such a nice person.”

“So you think of yourself this way, huh.” My best friend looked at me coldly. “But your fame follows you around, so obviously they are scared of you.”

“You say that, but you are way more scary than me.”

“Huh?”

“You may have the guys’ attention in the Silver Fang thanks to your big boobs, but what counts is what’s on the inside.” I said, puffing my chest.

Justine put her arms around her breasts, as she was covering them. She looked surprised at first, but more annoyed than embarrassed.

“What does my chest have to do with this?”

“Everything.” I responded automatically, but there is almost no difference between our sizes.

“You said that what counts is on the inside, so you’ll still win with this crooked personality of yours.” She replied sharply.

“What?” I said, clearly upset.

“I didn’t make myself clear?” She asked in the same grumpy voice as me.

We were almost starting to get into a physical fight, like the old days, but one of our guards intervened. A serious-looking guy called Bernardo was walking towards us.

I read his facial expression. He didn’t look like he was stopping us to avoid reporting a superior missing on a mission.

“Hey, dude. We are in the middle of a mission.” His comrade, James, tried to stop him.

“No, it’s the perfect time for that.” He said, trying not to show his nervousness. However, as far as I can remember, I am pretty good at reading people.

’Eh, I already saw that expression before.’ I thought with an annoyed face. ’Here we go again.’

I wasn’t kidding when I said that Justine caught the attention of every man in the Silver Fang. A bunch of them asked her out, however she rejected every man who asked her out.

“It’s not professional to date the man that works with me.” It’s her usual excuse to them. She isn’t interested at all in any romance.

The guy had this love-confessing face all over him, but for some reason he went towards me.

“Ms. Erina!”

“Hmm?” My brain took a bit of time to process the current event.

He profusely bowed his head towards me.

“Please, go out with—” His tone was serious about that.

“Sorry, I can’t accept your feelings.” I refused immediately in the same tone, mid-sentence.

“Eh?” He was surprised by my fast response.

“Don’t feel bad about it, but you’re not my type.”

“I told you she was into girls.” His comrade ran his mouth, forgetting that I was still there.

“You idiot!” Bernardo replied angrily at his pal, saying that in front of his superior.

“It’s that impression I gave you guys…?” I asked them, probably with a stupefied dumb face.

“W-Well, you try to grope Justine all the time.” James said in his defense.

“But what can I do if her chest is so smooth to the touch?” I said, giving a shrug. My comment made the Knight’s eyes check Justine’s upper torso, making her furious with me.

“Ms. Erina. I’ll charge you for inappropriate behavior.” Justine threatened me, trying to suppress her anger.

“All right. All right.” I said to Justine, trying not to make her more angry than she already was. “But you are wrong, I don’t swing that way. I just like to play with Justine’s breasts.”

At that moment, I felt something hitting my cheek accompanied by a snappy sound, leaving only pain on the side of my face. “You’re going to the martial court, you pervert!”

When I stopped moaning in pain on the ground, Bernardo looked at me and asked, “So what type of guy do you want?”

“My type…?”

“You said that I wasn’t, so I would like to know.”

“Hmmm,” I thought for a bit. I didn’t feel the need to lie, so I gave him an honest answer. “I want a guy close to my age, in his twenties, cyan-blue eyes and short black hair with bangs.”

“This is pretty specific.” James said in a grumpy tone, putting his hand on Bernardo’s shoulder as a way to tell him to give up and move on.

“As if I would find the love of my life in this dump.”

“Ms. Erina, please don’t talk badly about the places we visit.” Justine scolded me again. I had been hearing her complaints since we were kids, so I got accustomed to it.

“But I want to go back to the capital~” I said my feelings innocently, but this complaint was the last straw for Justine.

“If you want to return so badly,” a vein popped on her forehead, “stop goofing around already and get back to work. As soon as you finish early, we will leave here. So let’s find the—”

“But we were already there.” I calmly said to her, pointing at the establishment on her right.

She looked up to see the wooden entrance. The building had two floors. It wasn’t as luxurious as the ones in the capital, but it was really well treated.

“It seems quite nice.” James said, looking at the inn.

He was right. It really seemed like a good place to stay the night. If we didn’t ask to stay at the mayor’s residence as a perk of being members of the Silver Fang, staying there sounded like a pleasant idea. Sadly, our visit wasn’t as clients, but to investigate.

“So here is the place.” Justine said to me in a serious tone, forgetting her anger for the sake of our mission.

“Yup, the shop lady said she saw a blond girl accompanied by a red-haired woman. If I’m not wrong, her name is Sarah.” I said, remembering the details of our little trip through the town. But something was still off. “Hmm… it didn’t match with the silver-haired woman from the description. So the blondie got away from her?”

“Do you think that she got away from an Assassin?” Justine asked me.

“If I’m not wrong, this Sarah girl is an Awakened. It’s just an assumption, but maybe they fought and she rescued her.” I speculated.

“It’s a possibility. However, an Awakened Swordsman from the middle of nowhere defeats an Assassin that fought for the royalty…” She seemed dubious of my hypothesis. It was strange to think that someone with power equal to a royal guard would live deep in the countryside when she could have a better, luxurious life in a bigger city, working in a guild and receiving generous rewards.

The world is a big place, so I try to think of all possibilities at hand. That is one of my duties as a leader.

I sighed deeply. I hated giving speeches, so I created a habit of calming myself before doing that, even in front of a few people. When I finished, I turned to the rest of the group, making sure that no one would listen to us. “Remember one thing. Our mission is to recover the blond girl alive.”

Bernardo raised his hand, asking, “Who is this girl?”

“Her identity is confidential.” I replied to his question. Only me and Justine knew the true identity of the girl. Alicia Ludvila von Astrea, princess of Ashia, who was recently kidnapped by her former guard, Diane Stollen.

“But if you find the other one, the silver-haired girl, it’s another thing. She is a traitor of Ashia with a death sentence on her neck. If she tries to fight or run away, your orders are to kill her on the spot. Are we clear?”

“Yes, ma’am!” All my underlings, including Justine, said in unison.

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