Chapter 66
"Estelle, congratulations on successfully obtaining the 【Princess Knight】 Job."
"Thank you, Zephyrus-dono."
The day after our guild, 〈Eden〉, was formed.
All of us in 〈Eden〉 had gathered in the measurement room in the nobles' dormitory, in front of the 〈Dragon Statue〉.
Estelle was the only member of 〈Eden〉 who hadn't obtained a Job yet.
Before us, Estelle smiled brightly in her dress armor, its beautiful contrast of blue and white bringing a snowy land to mind.
Estelle had said she couldn't obtain a Job before her mistress, Princess Rana, did. So although she'd already manifested 【Royal Knight】 at the entrance ceremony, she hadn't taken the Job.
But that had worked out for the best, since she'd obtained the 【Princess Knight】 she'd admired. It seemed to have been a stroke of good fortune for Estelle.
Even now, joy practically radiated from her words and her whole body.
Seeing her this happy made all the effort worthwhile.
"Congratulations, Estelle!"
"Thank you, Rana-sama."
"Congratulations on obtaining your Job, Knight Estelle."
"Congratulations!"
"Thank you, Shiera-sama, and Hanna-san."
Each time someone congratulated her, Estelle bowed politely and returned their thanks.
Incidentally, Hanna was the only one Estelle called -san because Hanna herself had asked her to.
At first, since Hanna was a higher level, Estelle had called her Hanna-sama, leaving Hanna terribly flustered.
Hanna had resisted, half in tears, and asked Estelle to call her Hanna without an honorific, but her request was denied.
In the end, they settled on -san.
She'd been awkward at first, but after chatting a fair bit at the celebration, Hanna seemed to have become at least somewhat comfortable with the other girls.
Well, I think I helped out a decent amount. No, quite a lot (?). Though maybe I just threw her in at the deep end.
Hanna gave me a resentful look, but when I asked if she could have gotten comfortable with them on her own, she shook her head vigorously, so no problem.
"Okay, let's head back to the guild room. We'll level up with the Slime-Potion Marathon there, and once you're LV6, go to the 〈Beginner Dungeon〉 and pass the test."
"Understood."
Honestly, I was in the mood to go to a Dungeon right now, but the LV0 princess, Estelle, and Shiera weren't even allowed to enter the 〈Beginner Dungeon〉.
The requirement for challenging the Beginner Dungeon was LV5, which people normally reached gradually through combat training. But that method took at least a week.
Our guild members' enthusiasm had finally picked up. We didn't have time for combat training! We'd level up with the Slime-Potion Marathon!
So, Hanna, a Slime-Potion addict herself, happily agreed to teach the guild members, and I left her in charge of it.
While each person raised their LV with the Slime-Potion Marathon, I lectured the rest.
As we aimed to build the strongest guild, I'd teach them the strongest training theory.
"I mean, how do you know so much about the 【Saintess】, the 【Princess Knight】, and the 【Shield Princess】? What research is this based on?"
The princess waved around the memo I'd given her, which contained detailed information on each Job and my own strongest training theory, with an exasperated look.
Her eyes were narrowed with suspicion.
"Obviously, it's the result of my own independent research!"
Though in Japan.
I wasn't lying. Hahaha.
The princess stared at me skeptically, but eventually sighed and urged me to continue.
Apparently, she'd decided to listen. Her unspoken command was for me to explain.
What a selfish princess.
"First, as for the 【Saintess】 the princess obtained—"
"Hey, stop calling me 'the princess.' Why am I the only one you don't call by my name?"
Just as I was finally about to explain, she cut me off.
This girl...
"You may call me Rana-sama. Consider it an honor."
"Anyway, as for the princess's 【Saintess】, her role is—"
"Don't ignore me! I'm a princess! Don't ignore the princess!"
"Oh, for crying out loud! You're not letting me get anywhere!"
Is she really a 【Saintess】?
She didn't fit my image of a 【Saintess】 at all.
Though I'm the one who got her the Job.
As I seriously pondered that, Shiera, who was waiting her turn nearby, stepped in to smooth things over.
"Then why don't you try calling Zephyrus by his name, Princess Rana? As far as I know, you haven't called him Zephyrus either. That would make you even, wouldn't it?"
Come to think of it, I was pretty sure the princess had only ever called me "you," but was that important right now?
"Hmm. That's true. But if I call you by your name first, I don't know... it'll feel like I've lost."
Somehow, my lecture on "my own strongest training theory" had turned into a discussion about what we should call each other.
And the two of them were discussing the latter as if it were more important.
Huh? Am I the one who's weird here?
As I stood there confused, Shiera quietly came closer and whispered so the princess wouldn't hear.
"Just go along with it. Otherwise, we'll never get anywhere. Princess Rana wants you to call her by her name, believe it or not. Try to understand."
When I heard Shiera's advice and looked at the princess, she did seem to be glancing over at me every now and then.
That's right, the princess was a tsundere.
When I thought of it that way, all her behavior so far somehow seemed like it was just her way of being affectionate. What was she, an attention seeker?
Well, I agreed that we weren't getting anywhere, so I had no choice but to call her by her name.
I went over to the princess and turned to face her.
"W-what? Are you going to do it? I might lose, you know."
"I'm not going to do anything. If you want me to call you by your name that badly, I will. Listen up."
Rana had declared she would lose all on her own. Did she think I was some kind of beast?
I'm a Hero, aren't I? Fine, I'll remind her once again that I'm a Hero.
I struck a Hero-like pose with a determined expression, paused for a moment, then said it clearly so she couldn't miss it.
"Rana."
"Fwah?!"
"Wow. I don't think that was a good idea, you know."
When I called her what she'd asked, Rana turned bright red in an instant, and for some reason Shiera called me out.
Why?! That was a very Hero-like voice, wasn't it?!
"Hmph, you're pretty good... That hit harder than I expected."
Rana said, staggering as if she'd taken a vicious punch to the gut.
What part of that was capable of doing damage?
"Th-then. I'll return the favor, too."
What was she going to return? A punch?
Despite having declared defeat just a moment ago, Rana now seemed full of determination. She was trembling a little, maybe from the damage she'd just taken.
After taking a breath and pausing briefly, Rana spoke as if she'd made up her mind.
"Z-Zephi... Zephyrus!"
"Guh?!"
"Ah, I stumbled over it."
A massive blow hit me.
So that was what Rana had felt earlier?! This is bad. This is really bad.
The word "moe" exploded inside me in an instant.
Princess Rana, what a terrifying girl...
As I could only clutch my chest and tremble, I heard a carefree exchange from farther away: "I want to join them over there too." "Yes. I'm a little jealous."