God’s Guide for Teasing Heroes

Kazue POV 

Inside the "Church Of Life" building, Vestir. 

  

  

  

  

  

I am looking around for some clues about the things related to Calm. 

Passing by the church where Calm Eastertale usually does her praying session up until recently. 

Acting as a common folk whose only purpose is to pray inside the building. 

I walked inside just like everybody else. 

I looked around in a way that I would not be suspicious. 

Yet, I found nothing of significance to be of help, to be blunt there's nothing suspicious at the church. 

The believers of the church were praying inside the building as always. 

No one was acting all weird. 

Nothing was out of the ordinary. 

There were adventurers 

There were Soldiers. 

There were Nobles. 

There were Commoners. 

There were Merchants. 

And all sorts of people, heck there's even demon kins praying inside. 

They are all praying silently and kneeling and praying while facing the altar. 

  

  

As I was looking around I saw a familiar face. 

It was the same guard whom I talked to when I first visited the church of Life during my first visit to look for the saint. 

I came to that familiar face and talked. 

Then I asked about the saint that same person from before. 

"Uhm... Have the saint returned?" <Kazue> 

The guard looked at my face, he certainly remembers me as well. 

"You're the girl from before. Nope, she still hasn't shown up since then." <Guard> 

"Hmnn... Aaa~ still?... is that so?" <Kazue> 

I acted as if I was disappointed and left the church. 

[Well, Sure the saint won't be there, She's with my familiars and she's outside the city right now.] 

I bowed at the guy and thank him as I left the church's building. 

I act as if I was clueless and left. 

  

  

I was a bit worried. 

I left Calm with my familiars deep inside the fields outside of the city. 

I gave her all of my remaining food in my dimensional bag together with some potions and the camping gear I possess. 

I don't think I would be returning to our camp by today. 

I feel sorry for Calm but she has to make it through the night with Isamu, Kaori, and Hayate. 

Not to boast but those kids are dependable, I know that those kids could protect Calm in my stead for a day or two. 

  

  

I went to the Scale Atelier to buy the stuff I need. 

I visited the church and found nothing. 

It was already past noon but I still have to investigate what is going on in the guild. 

I have to gather information there just in case. 

Thankfully the guild was just a few steps away from the church's building. 

  

  

I entered the guild. 

Like before, the guild felt a bit deserted compared to all the guilds I've been to before. 

The effects of rumors of the war had affected the guild. 

I've heard that most of the adventurers working in this city have left and traveled north where things are a lot quieter. 

The adventurers roaming here right now are mostly the "escorts" of the nobles coming from all around the world. 

The situation here in Riles took the liveliness of the place. 

Although Adventurers are free-spirited, they are aware of the grave situation happening around them. 

Even the escorts knew that things might get ugly once the war came to fruition. 

For now, the adventurers here are simply quietly eating or talking in low voices. 

  

  

I first came to the receptionist's table to confirm the completion of the quest I took a few days back. 

"I'm here to get my rewards." <Kazue> 

I placed the quest request form on the receptionist's table. 

I passed the parts requested together with it. 

As usual, the receptionist placed the request paper on top of a stone and vanished into thin air. 

  

  

"Oh my, you managed to complete these quests... I miss judged you, I thought you are one of those crazy adventurers who are desperate for money. I suppose you have the skill to back up your claims." <Receptionist> 

"... That's rude. -sigh- it's fine, I'm kinda used to hearing that anyway..." <Kazue> 

"Sorry... I won't doubt you next time." <Receptionist> 

The receptionist showed me an apologetic smile. 

The receptionist said to me teasingly. 

She then left to process my rewards. 

  

  

"Here's your reward." <Receptionist> 

She placed several coins over the counter. 

I took my reward and received quite an amount of money. 

Normally I would be happy with this but I have other things in mind. 

I knew that I can't directly ask the question. 

"IS THERE NEWS ABOUT THE SAINT?" out of nowhere. 

Well, the reasons are obvious. 

1, those guys targeting the saint might get the wrong idea like, "HOW DID THIS GIRL know? THIS IS A TOP-SECRET THING. SHE KNOWS SOMETHING, gets HER!" -idea. 

2, I can't just trust anyone with the information I have. 

3, This might fish some information that might help me in some way. 

4, The receptionist may not know about it. 

Anyway, what I want to say is that asking about the saint directly is a stupid idea. 

[I could probably ask something about the matter by asking about it indirectly, right?] 

So what I did was ask a general question. 

"How're things going on in the city?" <Kazue> 

I asked the receptionist. 

I was hoping that this general question can lead to many topics and hopefully, I could fish out information about Calm's situation. 

  

  

"I see... so you ended up asking around..." <Receptionist> 

The receptionist nods weakly. 

She must have deduced that I already had a firm grasp of what was happening around the city. 

We are talking about the fact that there is some trouble happening with Riles and the Ecclesia Empire. 

"Yeah, it's still bad... as you can see. Especially now that the Noble's Summit will be held tomorrow. It's really hard to move for everyone right at the moment. Everyone is looking over each other's shoulders." <Receptionist> 

There was a pained expression painted on her face. 

  

  

[I must be careful to not bring out the matters about Calm, I might end up alarming the people who are after her. After all, I could not trust the guild as they might be involved with Calm's assailants.] 

I move on to another topic. 

"Oh... as expected... Anyway, has anything happened recently?" <Kazue> 

"Hmnn? what do you mean?" <Receptionist> 

"Nothing much... I was only wondering... Uh... You know... I want to hear some gossip... I am just wondering if something happened in the city while I was away... To be frank, it feels that a lot had changed after a few days I was away." <Kazue> 

The receptionist nods as she somehow understood what I meant. 

"Aa~ that is probably because the nobles who will be attending the "Noble's Summit" are continuously pouring into the city." <Receptionist> 

  

  

"Well, I've not heard anything special happening lately... As for the people coming into the city, they are mostly Nobles. Since things are getting bad here in Riles lately, Nobles and many important guests of honor are coming here to Vestir to fix things in Riles. So they are here to hear about the truth of the situation by attending the annual noble's summit." <Receptionist> 

Nobles Summit... 

[I think I've heard about it from miss Alicia... I might as well ask about it?] 

"Noble's summit eh... when will it happen? I heard it would be soon." <Kazue> 

The receptionist nods at me before she replied. 

"Right, the noble's summit will be held by tomorrow noon. As you can see, even at this moment nobles are still coming into the city. 

-sigh- Compared to the past summits from recent years, this year's Noble's summit has more meaning to it..." <Receptionist> 

"I wonder, where will the meeting be held?" <Kazue> 

"Ah, it will be held at the mansion of the King of Riles. It is located in Noble's housing area." <Receptionist> 

Said the receptionist while pointing in the general direction where the mansion was located. 

"Can I join the meeting?" <Kazue> 

When I asked this question the receptionist showed me a, "are you asking me that?" look. 

  

  

"huh? Why?" <Receptionist> 

"Ah, I just wanted to hear about the gossip in detail." <Kazue> 

The receptionist gave me a doubtful glare but she ended up shrugging it off. 

"Aaa~~ I know what you feel but your entry would most definitely be refused. If you were an A-rank adventurer or a guild master of some guild they might welcome you but as a D-rank adventurer ... it would be impossible." <Receptionist> 

"Oh, so A-ranks can join huh?" <Kazue> 

I was surprised by the fact that adventurers who are A-rank or higher can join the Noble's Summit. 

"Surely they can, but I doubt that an A-rank adventurer would be interested in attending those kinds of a gathering of high-ranking people. A meeting between a high-ranking adventurer and nobles often ends up in a conflict. Adventurers don't usually do those "political" stuff as they are straightforward and would rather talk with their fists. Adventurers leave this kind of stuff to the guild masters in their stead. To be honest, I don't like dealing with nobles myself." <Receptionist> 

Said the receptionist with a meaningful grin. 

[I guess, nobles can be problematic to deal with huh?] 

  

  

I tried my best to fish out every piece of information I could. 

I think I managed to carefully ask every question to sound as natural as I could. 

Judging from how the receptionist answers my questions earnestly, I am quite sure that I am doing a great job. 

Most probably she only thinks of these questions as a typical "curious" thought. 

  

  

I ride in the flow of the conversation and thought of a natural reply. 

"Hmnn? That's weird, I heard that Miss Alicia would be attending the meeting though..." <Kazue> 

All of a sudden the receptionist's eyes sparkled upon hearing me saying the name of Miss Alicia. 

  

  

"Oh! are you perhaps an acquaintance of the "Blue Rose Duchess"?" <Receptionist> 

"Blue Rose Duchess?... Ah... Do you mean miss Alicia?" <Kazue> 

The receptionist nods vigorously. 

"Yes, Miss, Alicia Cliffe Azurearosi. Adventurers know her by the name "Blue Rose Duchess"... As the only daughter of the Arch Duke in the Artesia empire, she became an adventurer at a very young age. Despite being a noble, Adventurer looks up to her since she proved her abilities as an individual by quickly climbing to A-rank after 5 years as a solo adventurer. 

When the blue Rose Duchess was just a rookie, a lot of Adventurers looked down on her for her noble origins. Usually, adventurers don't get along with nobles and nobles don't get along with adventurers. But then, the Blue Rose Duchess worked hard, and eventually, she managed to gain the respect of the adventurers she met. -bla -bla -bla" <Receptionist> 

  

  

The receptionist went on and started a long story and continues to rumble on and on. 

I completely ignore the blabbering of the receptionist and thought about something while pretending to listen. 

[Blue Rose Duchess... what a nice-sounding title... tsk why is my title like "Wolf Mom". I want a title as nice as miss Alicia's... Wait... this is not the time for me to think about this...] 

I thought about miss Alicia. 

From the sound of it, I learned that miss Alicia is respected in the circle of adventurers and her reputation is quite impressive. 

And hearing her story, it seems that miss Alicia is a person whom I could trust. 

Hearing about her only solidifies my trust in her. 

I continued to listen to the praises of the receptionist about miss Alicia. 

. 

. 

. 

  

  

"... -And so~ the adventurers realized that the "Blue Rose Duchess" was nothing like the nobles they met before! The "Blue Rose Duchess" really was a person worthy of respect. Ughh... Sure... She might possess a very odd personality. But, with her abilities together with all of her achievements, she was able to gain the respect of the adventurer's guild. Almost everybody knows that the "Blue Rose Duchess" is one of the most powerful adventurers in the world. The Miss' reputation amongst the adventurer's circle is special. She's the only noble aside from the "EMPRESS" who was able to garner the "respect" from most of the adventurers." 

The receptionist satisfyingly ended her fawning over miss Alicia. 

In a way, she reminded me of a crazy fangirl stanning over her Idol. 

I suddenly realized that when an adventurer reaches a certain point of popularity, the guild will treat them like "idols". 

[Hmnn, I guess High Ranking adventurers are like "Super Heroes" in this world huh? Hmnn? wait did I hear that the "EMPRESS" is working as an adventurer? Or is it just another title people call a well-known adventurer? This is a "flag" right? Oh well... that's not important right now... It seems that no rumors on the disappearance of the saint are not out yet... or at the very least, it seems that this receptionist seemed to have no idea about the saint's current situation.] 

[Maybe the higher-ups are hiding the information from themselves?] 

  

  

I continued to talk with the receptionist but in the end, I was not able to know any details about the saint. 

I even asked, "I heard that the saint has not been visiting the church recently, I wanted to see her at least once before I leave the city". 

The receptionist only answered, "Apparently, due to the situation happening in Riles, the church won't allow her to pray in the Church, for safety purposes." 

It was the same words I heard from the person I talked to in church. 

This means that none of them knew that there was an assassination attempt on the saint. 

It seems that the fact that the saint is currently "Missing" is being kept as a secret. 

  

  

As expected... 

If the people find out that the saint disappeared, it will cause panic. 

Not to mention that someone is aiming to assassinate her. 

Well, at the very least, only a few people know that the saint is missing. 

I bet most of the higher-ups of the guild already know about the situation. 

They must be moving behind the shadows. 

I just hope that I can use this to my advantage... 

  

  

I bet there are guys out there who are on the saint's side. 

But not knowing who's enemy and who's an ally. 

Things are becoming very problematic. 

The sides who wanted the saint dead and those who want her alive are moving individually behind the shadows. 

Now I need to know who's "who". 

  

  

I went around the town in the hope to find more information. 

In the end, the only information I could find was about the high-ranking nobles entering the city and more rumors about the war. 

There was no information worth noticing. 

I also looked for a way to find Aaron-san but I could not even find a person to ask about how to meet him. 

Aaron-san is the only person Calm trusts and there's no doubt in mind that he's an ally. 

If Aaron was an enemy, he shouldn't have given Calm the "Angel's Wing". If not for that item, Calm would be dead by now. 

It would not make sense for him to give Calm the "Angel's Wing" and let her escape. 

[There's no chance he's one of them.] 

I thought. 

Unfortunately, I have no idea how to even make contact with him. 

  

  

At the moment I can't trust anyone. 

Unless I am sure, I have to rely on myself to keep Calm safe. 

Plus I'm almost positive that miss Alicia is not of the people who are aiming for Calm's life. 

First, I need to bring Calm to a more secure place. 

We can't stay in the field forever. 

There must be people looking for her in the field. 

I just hope that if we ever get found out, I hope that the ones who find us are Calm's ally. 

As expected contacting Aaron-san is impossible right now. 

Still, that is the top priority. 

But as of the moment, I have no means of contacting him. 

Right... First things first, I need to find a place to keep Calm and safe. 

To do that I needed Calm to stay in the place miss Alicia has prepared for us. 

I need to hide Calm from the eyes of those who are after her. 

  

  

I went out of the guild and found out that the sun was about to set. 

If I go back to where I left Calm now, I am not confident enough to find my way in the dark forest. 

As such, I decided to return there tomorrow morning. 

I looked for a place to stay and relaxed for the night. 

I am sure that after today I would be very busy, I must enjoy my time alone today. 

To be honest, I am not expecting to return to Calm's side by today. 

I guess I have to ease some tension in my mind and rest well for today. 

After this, I doubt I would even have time to relax. 

  

  

Unfortunately, all of the Inns in the city have been rented and I could not find a place to stay. 

[Probably this is because of the visitors who came here to Vestir to attend the "Noble's summit".] 

I ended up sleeping in the guild's library. 

I tried to sleep while sitting on one of the tables. 

I looked at the floor below and saw the sad faces of the adventurers. 

 

 

 

 

  

"Ah... I remember the last time I slept like this was during my first day in this world...." <Kazue> 

I murmured to myself reminiscing. 

This situation reminded me of the time I was gathering information about the world and ended up reading all kinds of books in the Artesia Empires Guild Library. 

At that time I remember the faces of adventurers having bright smiles on their faces while drinking and eating on the first floor of the guild. 

Their lively talks almost prevented me from sleeping. 

The silence of the adventurers in this city was so discomforting that it made it harder for me to fall asleep. 

Their tension seems to poison the air making the whole building feel heavy. 

  

  

"What a shame..." 

I said to myself as I wanted to see the carefree faces of those adventurers. 

Right... with all the stress I was feeling right now, I could use to see a person smiling with all their hearts so I could feel at ease. 

The faces of the people around me right now are gloomy, it only makes me feel worse. 

I forced myself to sleep using my arm as a pillow and covered my head with the hoodie of my coat. 

After some time I fell asleep. 

  

. 

. 

. 

  

  

Next day. 

I fell asleep but I did not feel that refreshed. 

My body is rested but my mind is not. 

The same feeling that I get on Mondays in our old world. 

That disappointed feeling of "Arhhg, Mondays... I need to go to school again." -feeling. 

I don't feel like doing what I have to do. 

From here on, I will have to dedicate myself to protect Calm. 

Since I already started protecting her, I must see it through that she's safe. 

  

  

I went toward the receptionist table once again to register for some quest posted in the guild. 

I took 2 C-ranked quests and 2 D-ranked quests. 

I will have to use this as a reason for going out of the city. 

Sorry, I lied, The pay was too good for me to pass on, so I took it. 

Using it as "camouflage" was only a farse, I just wanted the money. 

Well, this is what they call hitting two birds with one stone. 

  

  

I visited some shops and bought food supplies. 

After double-checking that I got all the things I need I departed after visiting the guild. 

I checked the church for the last time but as expected nothing changed. 

I took some quests at the guild and went out of the city and to the field. 

When I was sure that I was not being tailed and no one is around. 

I went straight back to where I left Calm. 

I was able to come back to our camp by noon. 

  

  

I reached the camp without any trouble. 

"Yahoo~" <Kazue> 

I made my presence known by speaking some random words. 

Of course, my familiars were able to notice my presence way before I made my presence known. 

"Ah, Kazue-san welcome back." <Calm> 

A melodic voice reached out to me. 

I followed where that voice came from and saw Calm. 

She was sitting quietly while petting Kaori who is lying on her lap. 

Again... maybe it was because I was not able to see her face for almost a day but I was mesmerized looking at her beautiful appearance. 

[Agrhh~ this girl's smile deals 9999 damage! Kuh!] 

I squeezed the clothes over my chest as I felt it beating. 

[This girl is awakening my "Lily" tendencies] 

I shook my head. 

  

  

"I'm back. (Tadaima)" <Kazue> 

"Welcome back (Okaeri)" <Calm>