Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 74: The Receptionist’s Ordeal
The day after the Killer Ant extermination, the knight arranged a carriage for their return. The four reached Dansas shortly after noon.
They went straight to the guild to report.
“Oh! You’re all safe!”
Chloe looked relieved when the four entered.
“The extermination itself went smoothly,” Tauro reported for the group.
“What…? Three hundred fifty-six Killer Ants and one queen?”
Shin and Rumeya submitted antennae and magic stones from 356 ants as proof, along with the queen’s antenna and magic stone recovered by Tauro.
“That’s three times the number reported when the quest was issued… And there was a queen…”
Chloe stared, dumbfounded, at the quantity of materials piled before her.
“I’m truly glad you’re all safe. I confirm the quest is complete, and the guild will purchase all the magic stones.”
She began processing the paperwork.
“I’ll help.”
Tauro could appraise materials with [True Eye], though he kept that secret.
The branch had no employee with [Appraisal]—indeed, Chloe was its only employee—so materials were temporarily held at the counter and Chloe and Tauro evaluated them from reference documents whenever they had time.
“Thank you, Tauro. An employee with [Appraisal] and a new branch chief are due tomorrow, so thank you for all your help until now.”
“A new branch chief at last! That will lighten your workload, Chloe. I’m glad.”
Having watched Chloe run the guild alone for months, Bob was sincerely pleased for her.
“It’s been so long…”
Remembering everything, Chloe shed a torrent of tears.
She usually smiled little and behaved with calm detachment, but the pressure had clearly weighed on her.
Chloe had always been composed—perhaps even cool by nature—and the work of a receptionist demanded calm judgment.
At some point, however, she had begun treating adventurers, especially outsiders, with a harshness that even she recognized as coldhearted.
The frightening part was that, at the time, it had seemed entirely natural.
That same atmosphere had engulfed all of Dansas, driving outsiders away one after another.
Even villagers grew disgusted and began to leave.
Then a new branch chief arrived, only to quarrel with the villagers and resign almost immediately.
Several employees dispatched from the guild in town left as well.
Only Chloe and a local villager who worked solely as a medicinal-herb gathering adventurer remained.
Then Bob came.
As usual, Chloe greeted the outsider with coldness and cutting words.
But Bob refused to leave and continued completing quests every day.
One day, the child adventurer Tauro joined him.
Chloe treated him coldly too, yet he bowed politely and thanked her.
She was astonished.
It had been so long since anyone had treated her that way that she had almost forgotten the feeling.
At that moment, she felt as though she had recovered a little of her sanity.
What had she been doing?
After Tauro arrived, he and Bob defeated the rare goblins at the shrine, breaking the curse on the village. As the days passed, Chloe felt herself waking from a long nightmare.
The two worked to erase the village’s terrible reputation and taught their skills to its residents, helping Dansas regain its vitality.
The guild gradually came back to life too. Yet the busier it became, the more Chloe’s limitations showed; without Tauro’s help, the work wouldn’t have gotten done.
She had long felt powerless and near her limit, but with a branch chief and a dispatched employee arriving, the guild could finally function normally.
…Or so she had thought.
Chloe was pleased with the newly dispatched employee, who possessed [Appraisal].
The woman had short brown hair, dark eyes, an attractive figure, and a cute face. She would probably be popular with adventurers.
The other arrival, a man expected to become branch chief, introduced himself as the deputy branch chief.
He appeared to come from the surrounding region like Chloe: black hair, dark eyes, an average build, and no especially striking features. He wore glasses and emphasized his skill with paperwork.
He seems like the same type as me—wait, no! That’s not the point!
We don’t need a deputy branch chief when we don’t have a branch chief!
Then the man, Shiroi Uhutsu—Shiroi for short—handed her an official appointment notice.
“This is addressed to you, Chloe. It says: ‘Effective from the moment you read this notice, you’re appointed chief of the Dansas branch of the Adventurers’ Guild.'”
What?!
The usually composed Chloe released a silent scream inside her head.