Short Story: Friends And More Friends

“Heh. Pretty cool, huh?”

“Tsk… No fair.”

“Wow… It is really nice, Homura-chan!”

I was in the middle of showing off to Shizuku and Nagi. More specifically, I was showing off the [Storage] enchanted rucksack that I received from the Grand Duke himself! It had special magic on it that allowed me to store all kinds of stuff in it. It was not the kind of thing you could obtain easily, no sir.

“I wanted to do that mission…”

“That is too bad, cause I got it! And I got a fancy new bag that we can all use!”

“Tsk… Ah well, whatever.”

There were various missions to take care of in the Intelligence Corps. There were infiltration missions, spying missions, stakeouts, and information gathering missions. The tools you needed for each mission differed depending on what you were actually doing. There were ways to improvise, but it was also better to carry gear with you. Shizuku, Nagi, and I often acted as a trio, so this rucksack of mine was a boon. It would carry most of our equipment, and allow us to operate barehanded. Though I could imagine some situations where it would be suspicious if we rolled up carrying nothing at all.

“Alright, Homura-chan! You can take us to Parent and treat us to some rice cakes to celebrate.”

“Yeah! That sounds good to me!”

“Huh?! Why am I paying?!”

I stopped them from rushing off and expressed my frustration.

“What is wrong? Do you not wish to share the joy?”

“You have some extra money from the mission, right?”

“Grr… Come on…”

I should never have mentioned the fact that I had some spare coins after selling off the Wyvern parts, damn it…

“It is settled, then!” Yelled the two of them.

“No, come on! I want to spend my money in my own way!”

My grumbling fell on deaf ears, and they dragged me off in a hurry. I ended up being dragged off to this pleasant little cafe named Parent. I had been wanting to go, but I had not wanted to pay for three… We walked in and it was almost packed full. Pretty much every table was taken up. I was not surprised at all, this cafe was very popular with young dessert-loving women.

“Are there any free seats?”

I walked out to the terrace and looked for an open area. As I turned, I locked eyes with an unexpected pair.

“Hm? Homura…?”

“O-Oh? Rose and Mew-san?”

Two of the guild applicants I had done the exam with were sitting at a table nearby. I liked Rose and Mew-san quite a bit.

“Fancy meeting you two here.”

“The cake here is especially delicious, so of course we’re here.”

“Mhm. We have money to burn, after all!”

The two of them grinned, they were clearly enjoying their reward money.

“Who are these people, Homura-chan?”

“Ah, this is Rose and Mew-san, they are friends that I did the guild exam with.

You two, these Shizuku and Nagi, my friends.”

I introduced the two groups together. Though Shizuki, Nagi and I were ninja, we were not in our work clothing since we were out on the town.

“We’re taking a break from adventuring today, so I invited Mew over to have some tea and cake with me. Would you girls like to sit with us?”

“Is that okay? I appreciate it.”

We sat down, flicked through the menu, and ordered our individual favorite cakes.

Everyone started talking and quickly became friends with each other. I was a little irritated, though… Since they liked sharing embarrassing stories about me between themselves. Still, I was just happy that everyone was getting along. The cake was really good, too…

Brunhild was a wonderful nation. Moving there from Eashen was the greatest decision I ever made. Training could be harsh sometimes, and my job was not exactly easy… But I had a sense of peace that I wanted to protect. As I finished up the last strawberry on my shortcake, I quietly resolved to continue working hard for the sake of my beloved country.