บท 37: She Re-encounters the Elf Receptionist
The receptionist read the guild card, but neglected to see the gold star in the corner.
"'Robin', is it?" She asked. "You do realize that this is the Hero's name, right?"
Robin realized that the receptionist had mistook her for someone who wasn't the Hero.
'Chance!'
She latched onto this mistake and shook her head with a morose face and sighed.
"It can't be helped. Who asked the Hero to have the same name as I do? We even seemed to register at the same time, I heard. Such a blasted coincidence...To be honest, I'm still not sure whether to laugh or cry right now."
At that point, the Adventurers in the guild that had overheard this began to chuckle. This young lad had to be one of the most unfortunate young man in the guild. It was from that day that Robin gained the nickname 'The Twin', as opposed to Robin's other title, 'The Hero'.
"Well, can't be helped...please wait here while I process this for you." The receptionist said as she took both the request and the card to a flat glass surface with an indent for the guild card.
Looking around, Robin noticed that there were a lot more adventurers in the headquarters than there were in The branch at Kinsward Town.
'Hmm?' She noticed that the elf receptionist from Kinsward Town was here, waiting in a different line.
"Hey, It's you!" Robin called out to her.
When the elf receptionist turned around, she was also surprised.
"He-" Robin quickly silenced her with a shake of her head. 'Don't say anything about me being the Hero' her eyes communicated. The elf receptionist realized her mistake and winked to show her cooperation.
"Why, Robin, I didn't expect to see you here!" She exclaimed in pleasant surprise.
"Me neither." Robin chuckled. "Weren't you at Kinsward a few days ago?"
"I was. But the new receptionist arrived yesterday." She replied. "I was doing a request to stand in as the receptionist there until they trained up a replacement."
"Really?" Robin asked. "What happened to the original receptionist?"
The elf rolled her eyes. "She eloped and got married."
"...what?" Robin asked.
"A traveling adventurer visited the town while passing through a few months ago and saved her from a wild dog on her way home from work." The elf explained.
"It was love at first sight for the both of them. But her father didn't approve, because the adventurer had no house or land. So they eloped and got married."
"I...see." Robin realized that parents played a huge role in the marriage factor in this world. It was quite the contrast to the modern freedom-loving world she came from.
"Excuse me, your card has been updated." The receptionist at the desk called over to Robin.
"Ah, thanks!" Robin received her guild card back. Then turned back to the elf.
"You said you were there due to a request? Does that mean you're not actually a receptionist?" She asked, confused.
"Huhu~Wouldn't you like to know?" The elf twirled her guild card. Robin couldn't read anything on it, but she did catch the flash of light reflecting off a gold star in one of the corners.
'Gold star...an S-rank?' She realized.
"I see. Well then, see you later, miss S-rank adventurer elf~!" Robin teased back as she laughed and jogged towards the entrance.
"Hey you-, my name isn't 'elf! It's Yvonne!" The elf exclaimed at Robin's retreating back. She would have chased after Robin, but then she'd lose her place in line.
Robin waved her hand to show she had heard Yvonne. The rest of the adventurers in the Guild felt jealous. It wasn't every day that one could get on a first name basis with Yvonne the elf.
Now that Robin was nominally finished for the day, she decided to head back to the castle.
But, what she didn't expect was the crowds of people staring at the castle gates, waiting for Robin to come out. There were even a few stalkers hiding in trees and nearby hedges. With her position being behind them all, she could easily see them. But if she had walked out the front gate, she'd have walked right into an ambush of fans.
'This...isn't going to work."
'And I don't have my mask with me!' She realized, and grabbed a piece of paper and a pen, writing a few words down. She folded the note a few times and sealed it with a dab of glue.* Then she went around to the servants entrance, which was also heavily guarded against tresspassers.
"Halt! Who goes there?" One of the guards barked, since there had been many seeking a way inside that day.
" I have a message for Retired general Keith." Robin said, taking out the pristine white paper. "I've also been tasked to wait here until I receive a reply." Robin said.
While they were skeptical, the paper Robin used to write upon was the whitest paper they'd ever seen. The whitest papers were usually used for official documents. Therefore, it seemed this message was considered somewhat important. The guards allowed her to wait outside the gate while one of the guards took the message to Keith.
He opened it and read it, then asked. "Is the messenger still waiting outside?"
"Yes, he is." The guard replied.
"Well, go ahead and let him in." Keith replied. "Also, remember his face from now on. He's one of my men, so he'll be coming and going in this castle quite often."
"Yes, sir!" The guard saluted and returned to the back gate.
"You may enter. Sir Keith will be by the Hero's quarters." The guard announced, and they allowed her in. When those who were loitering about the entrance saw that she was let inside, they swarmed about the gates, trying to see if they could also slip inside. But, sadly, they were stopped at the gates.
Robin found Keith in a parlor room near the hallway were her rooms were. He showed her the note she wrote.
'Help! I left my mask behind in my room. I am the messenger at the gates. Please instruct the guards to let me in. -Robin'
"You're lucky I decided this was you." Keith frowned. "Otherwise you'd have been in quite the pickle."
"How'd you guess?" Robin asked.
"Not many would notice, but this is the same white shade of paper that can be found on your mask, -you know, that white bit around the eyes. Official papers, although almost as white as cotton, can never get as white as snow."
"...You have a good eye." Robin nodded.
"You know, none of this would have happened if you had just decided not to wear a mask." Keith pointed out.
"And then you would have had to worry about dopplegangers." Robin pointed out, in return.
"Ah, that reminds me! Keith, do you know of a room in the castle that doesn't have any windows or hiding places for people to place magic eyes?" She then asked.
"...the ballroom?" Keith suggested, then remembered something. "Ah, but you can't use it tonight! There will be a welcoming ball for you tomorrow, organized by the queen. They're busy waxing the floors right now."
"And you were going to tell me about this, when!?" Robin asked, feeling a bit upset at being left out of the loop.
"You would have been informed tonight at dinner." Keith shrugged.
"But what about clothes!?" Robin grimaced. "I don't have anything prepared!"
"Not to worry. You'll have the appropriate dress clothes sent to your rooms tomorrow." Keith assured her.
"The Queen is not so cruel as to neglect the Hero's needs. I heard she said to consider yourself as one of the royal family during afternoon tea, too. Shall I start calling you 'Your Royal Highness'?"
"Pssh!" Robin guffawed. "Don't even think about it! I'll already be 'Hero Robin'd to death at the ball, already. Being called that will caused way too much peripheral damage."
"...Such as?"
"Smacking you backside the head in view of everyone." Robin replied seriously.
"I see...then I shall refrain from using that form of address for my own sake." He laughed.
"okay, aside from the ballroom, then, are there any other rooms?" Robin asked.
"Well, if you're not averse to being heard, there is one room…" Keith replied.
*Please note that the glue mentioned here is the water soluble glue she used for her first mask-not the waterproof glue that she made that morning.
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