abcnovels
Vol. 9 - Chapter 450 - Sierra's back!
Vol. 9 - Chapter 450 - Sierra's back!
Summer vacation had eventually barged into September, and after what should have been a few days since the start of the new month, our Sierra was back while I was handling some task in the guild room.
"I am back, everyone. How are you all? Did anything change in my absence?" (Sierra)
"Welcome back, Sierra!" (Hannah)
"Welcome back, Sierra. Well, quite a lot has changed to say the least. Shall I list everything now?" (Zephyr)
"It's a bit exhausting to do it right away but alright. However I would take a breather before proceeding I guess." (Sierra)
"I have prepared black tea for you, Sierra-sama." (Celestine)
"Thank you, Celestine. It must have been tough to handle all the work in my absence." (Sierra)
"It's alright. It was nothing more than some trifling matter. Please take a rest, everything can come later." (Celestine)
"Right, thank you." (Sierra)
Hannah gleefully welcomes the arrival of Sierra. I followed after but I guess I jumped into the work a bit too hastily. Reflect, Zephyr. Reflect.
On the other hand, Celestine brought over the tea to soothe the tiredness from travel.
"Your brewed tea is amazing as ever, Celestine. I really can't tell the difference between this and the tea served in my family."
"Your words honor me."
Hmm, seeing both of them---an elegant Sierra sipping on the tea brewed by a prim and proper butler manner Celestine---in a single frame was like I had suddenly stepped into a noble's tea party.
I feel like even I have become a regal nobleman in their company as well. (?Just passing delusion)
Sierra finished her short respite while elegantly sipping tea, aftward, I explained to her the changes that had taken place in the last two weeks.
"Oh,three ‹Helpers›? This is truly a good number given the timing."
"Well, it's all due to Hannah's recommendation (one is her believer though)."
"E-Ehehe."
"But I am glad to see everything alright. I can't say I wasn't worried about the ‹Eden› in my absence to be honest."
"Umm, Sierra? Why are you looking in my direction?"
Somehow, I didn't quite get it, but she suddenly shifted her gaze to me when she said the 'worried' part.
No, don't ask me why. I mean, I was obviously glad to see she had trust in us, but I feel like we were on different pages on the trust topic. Right? Maybe it's my imagination. Ahaha.
Our discussion shifted on further topic and lastly settled on checking on the work style of three ‹Helper›.
Well, she's the sub-guildmaster after all, so I could understand why she was curious. Also we were going to look at them in secrecy. Not to startle them, alright.
We started with Maria first. She was just counting and sorting out the items in the storage room---one of the sub-room in our guild room.
The storage room was equipped with an extra-size ‹Item Boz LV10› that we had purchased with the surplus amount of QP. This was where any and all the materials that we ‹Eden› farmed in abundance goes here after Celestine raised his hand in surrender, saying 'The amount surpasses our ability to sort them out at once.'
There should be around......wait, I think even I don't know the total amount we had.
To be honest, I was initially worried about it. Wouldn't it be, like, too much to handle? However Maria's job was ‹Merchant›, so there was no room for blunder or so she told me.
"‹Sort Article›! ‹Sort Article›! W-Woah! T-This and that too. Holy goodness! I bet even if we sell them now, it would be a jackpot---no, literally showering in riches! No, not yet. I am sure they will get an even more amazing price after some time. Then maybe Zephyr-san might praise me as well. Fufufu, don't have hard feelings, Shielder-chan!"
Contrary to what I had imagined, Maria was bouncing joyfully around with sparkly eyes while looking at the stock in ‹Item Box›---wait, she was even quickly writing down notes while performing light steps, like waltzing on a floor. Let's say it was truly a terrific sight to behold to say the least.
We entered the room a bit quietly so she had yet to notice us. And Sierra---w,woah. S-Sierra's, her eyes were narrowed down!?
"Hello. Do you mind if we check your work for a while?"
"O-Oh my!? I didn't know you were there, everyone. A-Aww gosh, I showed you my embarrassing side. Please, of course."
Sierra, seeing that that's enough waiting, raised her voice, which slightly startled Maria. Though the initial surprise didn't last for long as she smoothly glossed over it and sharply adjusted her glasses. It was like we had just seen a hallucination, the contrast between her current and earlier self was so wide.
"Nice to meet you. I am Marianne who has recently taken upon the role of Eden's ‹Helper›. You must be sub-guildmaster Sierra-sama I assume. I have heard about you, and if you don't mind, please call me Maria."
"Likewise, It's a pleasure to meet you. You already know me but I guess I should formally introduce myself. I am Sierra, ‹Eden› sub-guildmaster. We will be working together soon so let's do our best."
"Of course! It would be my pleasure!"
"Moving on to the topic, what might you be doing I wonder?"
Once they were done with self-introduction, Sierra asked while pointing at the innumerable materials or weapons rolling on the ground.
Was it me...or it felt like an interrogation of sorts? ......it must be just in my head, yeah.
On the other hand, Maria didn't seem a bit unfazed as she once again shifted up her glasses while answering.
"I was sorting out the inventory and segregating high value items! But goodness, I thought ‹Eden› is already great, but this is even over the top. I mean, if there is something like a mountain of riches, this is definitely it! Please look at this, it's selling for sky-high price in the market!"
Uh-huh, it seemed like Sierra's question had just served to fire up Maria's merchant spirit. Maria blasted off with her explanation like bullets getting fired from a machine gun, giving her no chance to interject even for a moment.
S-She's really quite passionate about her work, isn't she?
I had asked her to sort out the items with high market price or demand. Afterward, one of us---Celestine, Sierra or I---would check the list and decide if we're going to sell them or not, and it seemed like she had already started on her work.
All I could say is, holy damn. I guess we lucked out with such an excellent person!
Even Sierra, who had been skeptical in starting for reasons I don't know, seemed to have changed her perspective about her after seeing her enthusiasm and exchanged a lot of pointers.
I also joined in pointing out the times that we can sell and the one that shouldn't be.
"Are you sure you don't want to sell this? I believe we can get the best price if we sell it now."
"We will be needing it in the near future so keep it aside for now."
"Oh, then I shall do so considering it's your judgment, Zephyr-san! I will cut their names off from the list!"
Apparently, we were so engrossed in work that two hours had passed by in a blink of an eye.
Maria, still brimming with energy, returned back to her task while Sierra and I were so exhausted we returned to the guild room right after and soothed our tiredness with tea time. Honestly, Celestine's tea was the greatest elixir to sooth the fatigue.
Once rested enough, Sierra weaved her impression of Maria.
"There is a bit of a problem but I will turn a blind eye to her in favor of her motivation, stamina and potential. She will definitely be a greater asset to ‹Eden› and ‹Arc-Arcadia›."
"Yeah, she was so nonchalant even after talking rapidly for so long. She truly has a monstrous stamina. Honestly, I was just as surprised when I saw she had already finished counting the items and shifted to sort them out."
We both muttered our impressions. I feel like we also were having the same image in our mind---Maria chicly adjusting her glasses with a 'leave everything to me' aura.
Well, Sierra apparently seemed to have a bit of a misgiving about her but she recognized her value to a greater extent.
"But I am now a bit looking forward to meet the rest of the two as well."
"Ah, well I think Maria is the sole exception...... perhaps."
After a slight rest, we decided to check out Melina-senpai next.