Chapter 93: Mikaila Sees the Number Boards

“What are they… doing over there, I wonder?”

The second day of organising the Adventurers’ Guild reference room. Mikaila came in around the time the work of classifying the material had finished.

After looking on admiringly at how smoothly the classification was coming along, she caught sight of Fred and the others gathered round a table laid out with boards, apparently enjoying themselves at something, and tilted her head, puzzled.

“…They’re number boards. There are letter boards mixed in as well.”

They seemed to have got completely hooked on the number board game; the moment the work of organising the reference room ended, they had started it up. Just now Victor was reading the boards out, while Fred, Loren and Colette snatched for the letter or number that was called.

Clack. Clack.

Mikaila approached the ones absorbed in the game at a slow pace, as though studying the state of things. A person of considerable size loomed up close, and Victor started and turned round.

“Ah…, Mikaila-san.”

“…Might I have a look?”

“Ah, yeah.”

When Victor nodded, Mikaila looked hard around the cards laid out on the table, then gazed at the cards stacked in front of Colette. She glanced at the cards in Victor’s hand, and nodded.

“Thank you. Carry on, would you?”

“…Errr…, ‘8’!”

Snatch!

“Yes! Got it!”

“Aah!”

Fred, gripping the number board, held it up in delight. Loren pulled a face of frustration. Colette’s expression was cool as anything. Victor, glancing again and again at how Mikaila was taking it, read out the next letter.

Mikaila, who had watched until every card had been taken, picked up the cards gathered into a stack. Small boards, all of exactly matching size. On the front a number or a letter, on the back either lines like a symbol, or a picture and a word. She gazed at them a while, then set them back on the table.

“Where did these cards come from?”

“Ren made them!”

“I thought as much. Ren-kun…”

Mikaila turned to look at Ren.

“Ren-kun, I hear you made these.”

“Yeah.”

“Why did you decide to make them? When did you make them? Are there others? Did you base them on anything? The boards are all the same size — how did you manage that?”

Mikaila bore in on him, firing off question after question, and Ren flinched. He edged backwards.

“Errr…”

Noticing that Ren looked daunted, Mikaila stopped dead where she stood.

“Oh dear, I’m sorry. Being asked it all at once is rather awkward, isn’t it.”

She put on a smile, but Ren still looked bewildered. Victor spoke up.

“Mikaila-san. Ren hasn’t done anything wrong. Don’t tell him off.”

“I’m not telling him off. I was curious, that’s all, so I asked him a lot of things. Isn’t that right!”

After glancing back at Victor, she gave Ren an enormous wink. The corner of Ren’s mouth gave a twitch.

Ren drew a deep breath, let it out again, and looked up at Mikaila.

“…I made them because I wanted people to learn the numbers and so on. It’s better to be able to read them for classifying the reference materials. …I thought perhaps they’d learn better while playing.”

At Ren’s words Mikaila’s eyes went wide.

“You made them so that other people could learn their letters. Why are there symbols and pictures on the back?”

“That’s for checking the answer. Even doing it on your own, you can tell whether you’re right.”

At Ren’s words something struck Mikaila, and she slowly turned round to look at Victor and the others behind her. Victor and the rest, concerned by how things were going between Ren and Mikaila, had stopped what they were doing and were watching.

Victor, with the cards to be read out in his hand. The one reading the cards out couldn’t take that role unless he could read. He could also judge whether the letter he had read out matched the letter on the card that was taken.

And the side taking the card for the letter read out wasn’t left simply at the mercy of the reader’s judgement; they could check the right answer on the back of the card. Even someone not good at reading letters could handle the cards on their own.

“…Eh? Isn’t that rather remarkable? Isn’t it just?”

Mikaila’s voice rose, sounding a little excited — and then a large hand clamped down on Ren’s shoulder. Ren gave a small squeak and went rigid.

“Ren-kun, this is remarkable! Did Ren-kun think it up and make it himself? Did you base it on something? Well? Well?”

“Ah…, um…”

“Mikaila-san! Don’t go at Ren like that!”

“Ren! Are you all right?”

“Shall I go and fetch somebody?”

“Ren!”

The Young Branch Squad, worried for Ren, came rushing to the rescue. Mikaila came to herself with a start and drew in a long breath. After closing her eyes for a rather long moment, as though to settle herself, she put on a smile.

“…I’m sorry. I got carried away…. Ren-kun. I’m not going at you. It’s that I thought this looked as though it would be useful to the other adventurers who can’t read. I thought it was a remarkable tool, and I’m afraid I got heated about it. I frightened you, didn’t I.”

“Useful to the other adventurers as well…”

Ren murmured the words Mikaila had said, quietly, as though checking them over.

Being of use to somebody — those words carried a sensation that set something stirring in his chest.