2.7
I was waiting for a minute, when a child suddenly starts crying in front of the next booth…
"Uwahhh!!!! Uwahhh!!! Where's papa!??"
By her side, a slightly taller kid is trying to console her, with no avail… They're a little girl and a boy, they look like siblings.
"Calm down Lillian! I'm sure he'll be back soon. We should go home and wait for him…"
"Why wait home if he's always at the Guild!? Why isn't he here yet!? Is he not coming back!???"
"O-Of course he is coming back! He always does now, doesn't he?"
"*Chuiff…* But… You said the same about mommy, and she never showed…"
"Ugh---!!!"
"See!!! You don't know either!!! Brother, you big liar!!! Uwahhh!!!"
I feel a familiar sensation. A cold hand that grips at my chest and pulls to my stomach…
They're two kids, the boy about 10 and the girl about 6. The situation looks… Overwhelming. Of course, that little boy doesn't know what to say in return. How could he? Even I have no idea of what could be said. Does anyone ever, truly?
One of the guild employees approaches them with a troubled face. They ask them what's wrong, tries to calm them down, take them to a resting room… But the little girl is just not taking it.
There are also a few adventurers in here, some of them take glances, and others simply keep about with grave faces. All of them end up looking down, conscious that doing something just for the sake of doing it could end up worsening the situation later on. They're all aware of the risks this job entails. But for good or worse, I'm a noob, and I don't know shit, so I can take the decision no one else is stupid enough to take.
"Uaaahhh! Uaaahhh!"
"Hey, little miss... You shouldn't give so much trouble to your brother now, I'm sure your pops will be back soon..."
She raises her teary eyes and looks at me with surprised eyes. Her brother simply watches me silently. And the troubled employee is half-relieved for the aid and half-suspicious of who I am.
"Huh…? *Chuiff* Who are you…?"
If there's something I'm good at is drawing attention. Well, not usually the good kind.
"Me? You couldn't recognize me? I'm the big and scary Demon Lord, who'll conquer this whole world one day! But, for now I'm saving some scraps to eventually build my empire." I crouch to her eye level, and strike some funnily exaggerated poses as I speak.
A half-truth, everything considered.
"*Chuiff* You liar... No way the demon lord is weak like you, and he can't enter so easy in the Capital of the Goddess..."
She managed to disbelieve the only parts that were actually true...
"Wha--?! Impossible! How did you see through me!? Are you actually a genius!? Heh, it is true that I'm not the king of demons, but that is because I'm actually the hero who will slay him!!! I'm the strongest man alive!!!" I strike new poses. By the way she has stopped crying, she seems to be hooked line and sinker.
"That's a big lie!!! My papa is way more stronger than you!!!"
"What!? Impossible! There is no way such a thing is true! I'm the strongest of all!"
"No!! Papa is enormously stronger than you!!!"
"No way!"
"Yes way!!"
"Nuh uh!"
"Uh huh!!"
I hear a few chuckles from the surroundings. Just for the record, I'm not actually trying to win an argument like this with a child. I'm just slowly building up some rapport, so the conversation will move on the direction I want it to…
"Mmm... Is he really that strong?"
"Yeah!! Papa is the strongest of all!!!"
She puffs her cheeks in an adorable manner.
How cute...
"I see… If he is that strong, then he'll be back soon, right? There's no need for you to be worried, ok? Trust him. It's what your big brother is thinking too, yeah?" I say, as I shoot a glance to her brother.
"Y-yeah, Lillian! This uncle is right!" He follows up, taking the cue.
U-uncle…!? C-Caham!
"Uh uuu..."
She seems to have calmed down, for now. Now's the time to bring up a different subject, something pleasant she can put her focus on instead.
"Ah! Actually, I just noticed I'm starving! Are you hungry too? Let's see what I have for lunch today!"
I show them the box with Tsubaki's cake. Since we can't celebrate her birthday anymore, this seems like a better way of using it. At least it could make someone else's day better…
"Huh?" "What's this?" They say at the same time.
"Inside is a special cake, typical from my hometown. It's very sweet, so maybe it won't be to your tastes?" I explain to them, feigning ignorance. A kid who doesn't like sweets… It would be very unlucky if that was the case.
I show them a gentle smile. The kind I would give to Tsubaki since we were little--- or maybe a creepy one? I'm not sure, I've never actually been on the receiving end of it...
I open the box, revealing a beautifully decorated cake. Really, the work of pros is something else.
The kids open their mouths, their eyes sparkling. Even the clerk lets out a surprised sigh. I'm even more impressed that the cake has managed to hold up together so far.
"So pretty!" "Wow!" They say together.
The little boy looks almost ready to jump at the cake, before snapping back to reality. He then looks at me with an apologetic face…
Hilariously, I can see the drool coming out of his mouth. A kid doesn't need to worry about these kinds of things, I simply signal for him to go on ahead and eat the cake.
The employee was very quick to bring a set of plates and tableware. Even they shot me a pleading glance, "only a piece"… I mean, yeah, sure, why not…
"What a pretty cake, right, Lillian? Let's eat it together! Just remember to properly thank the nice uncle first."
"Mmm! Mmm! Thank you, kind uncle!"
Somehow, being called uncle is giving me some serious emotional damage…
The clerk also shoots me a thankful face and proceeds to cut the cake and serve the kids. They even bring out some tea or something.
And they begin to eat it... Not that I'm in a position to say this, but kids, please don't accept candies from strangers... And you, random employee number 8, stop shamelessly trying to take another piece…
"Delishioush!" "This is the best thing I've ever had in all my life! So sweet!"
All I did was blink for a second and they ended up gobbling up all of the cake by themselves… I think I might have even seen it trying to run away. B-but it`s ok, it`s not like I a-actually wanted any of it… I bought the cake for Tsubaki after all, and it's not as if I even like sweets so much (just… a lot…)…
I drink some of the tea with lots of honey (?) to avoid starvation.
Seeing the kids contented smiles, I hope things will remain calm for a while. Now the brother and the employee should be able to handle the situation better.
Everyone in the guild seems to be expecting the worse about their father, or they might be thinking it will be cruel to give them hope now and make the impact harsher… But the way I see it, if the worse happens, it will be complete shit either way. There's no need to have them suffer already when they're still waiting for any news.
Am I being irresponsible…?
Looking at their happy faces right now, no one would even believe there was someone crying a while ago.
I wholeheartedly hope it remains this way.
Neither too much hope nor despair is ideal. But if I had to choose between one of them…
I do believe that it's these kinds of happy moments, as futile as they might seem at the time, that turn into a spark to save you at your darkest hours. The situation might still be the same, and, worse comes to pass; the bad emotions will simply repeat themselves… But I don`t think there`s anything wrong with protecting her smile for as long as possible.
Besides, her crying was from anxiety, not mourning. Instead of stressing yourself over the unknown, it's better to just wait patiently. You can't prepare yourself for these kinds of things; just let your emotions flow naturally.
Something as simple as a smile might save you at the right time… If I didn't have Tsubaki with me at that time... I…
…
The clerk proceeds to take them to a separate waiting room or something.
The kids (and the employee) thank me again for the cake. I tell them it was no problem.
Thankfully, as Tsubaki used to say, I'm great at handling kids. Though she usually complements saying it must be because we have similar mental ages…
I might be starving, but eating a whole cake would be a very unhealthy way to solve the issue, anyways.
And their regained smiles are more than enough to pay for the cake. Sincerely, I hope they can show it to their father as well.
Going back to the booth, the cute clerk who made my registration is waiting, with a smile on her face… When did she even return?
"Hehe, I knew my eyes hadn't deceived me when I saw you!"
Oh, her natural smile is way prettier than her commercial one… C-Caham!
"And, huh, did we need something else for the registration?"
"Oh, the registration procedure has already been completed. I'd just forgotten to give you this."
She hands me a fairly heavy waist pouch.
"This is a basic kit we give to starting adventurers; I hope it will serve you well!"
Nice! A freebie!
Do they just hand these freely for everyone? Wait… It is free, right; I won't have to pay for this later? I don't remember signing a contract or anything…
"Don't worry. It's a sign-in bonus, funded by the guild!"
The best clerks can even read the customers minds. This girl deserves a raise.
Though, do I look that in need…?
Whatever, I do love free stuff.
…
Before I leave, I remember to ask her where I could sell stuff and buy some adventuring equipment.
"You can find everything you need here at the central plaza."
"Thank you so much for all your help!"
"You're welcome! See you later, Mr. 'hero'! *Teehee!*" She smiles at me teasingly.
Argh! She had been listening all the way from there!? Wah, how embarrassing… Please don't call me that! I`m the Demon Lord, you hear me!? The Demon Lord!
I embarrassedly part ways with her, and rush down the stairs and out of the guild. If possible, I would like to discuss with red hair before taking a mission, otherwise I might grab something easy later just to cover for food and boarding.
…
I take a quick look at what came with the pouch I just received. Two 'small health potions', one 'small mana potion' and a 'general antidote'; as well as a dagger.
Whoa! Not bad for a freebie! They seem self-explanatory enough.
I still have some time to spend.