Chapter 136: Chapter 128 – Poaching

(Hmm...this is probably a problem.)

As I circled around over Knossos's airspace, I was debating as to what I should do.

The sun had made its retreat quite a while ago, so while the stars and moons stood proud, most of the city was currently asleep.

No matter how much of a workaholic Peitho was, there wasn't much of a chance that she would be awake.

But in my rush to proceed with my plans, I forgot to take that into consideration as I raced through the skies.

Though thinking about it, this was inevitable. Arriving before the sun was gone wasn't really possible, not with the time I had left. I could just wait until morning, but that felt like a waste.

So instead, I glided down while concealing myself using the intrinsic property of [Spirit Form].

Despite how deep the night was, it wasn't like there weren't any people that were awake. The few lights seeping from various windows was proof of that. In addition, there were a few lights moving through the streets. Either guards on night duty or people who simply had some sort of business despite the hour.

Or maybe no business and just wanted to take a walk. That was something I could sympathize with, being that I've done it enough times in my previous life. Taking a stroll for no apparent reason in the middle of the night was quite an enjoyable thing, if you had the time to do it at least.

(Huh? Is that...?)

A particular building caught my eye. Or rather, the lights that came from its top floor. A single room's windows had light seeping out from the crack of the nearly closed shutters.

That building, was Knossos's Adventurers' Guild.

I was drawn to that light like a moth. Something about it drew me towards it.

Floating down, I grabbed hold the wall and stood on a small exposed bit of the window ledge. I engaged [Materialize] and undid my wings as I thought about what to do next.

(If someone sees me like this, they'd think I was a stalker or something.)

But fortunately, I couldn't detect anyone nearby on the streets below, so that wasn't a problem.

What was a concern, though, was that the sole occupant had moved and was now standing on the opposite side of the wooden shutters.

"...Scarlet, is that you?"

"Ah, umm. Hi. How'd you know I was here?"

"Were you actually trying to hide?"

The shutter on one side opened slowly enough to allow me to shift over and avoid falling.

"Well, most people wouldn't notice me as long as I stay out of sight."

"I'd rather you not lump me in with most people."

"Yea, sorry about that Peitho."

The woman across from me was as beautiful as ever. Her uniform hugged her curves so well that I had to exercise quite a bit of willpower to avoid staring.

Then again, once I noticed how dark the circles under her eyes were, it became quite easy to look her in the eye instead of anywhere else.

Either way, it seemed like my hunch worked out. The workaholic elf was burning the midnight oil again. And it looked like things were worse than the last time we met.

"Well, come in. It's cold out there."

"Ah, thanks."

The workaholic elf backed off to make space and I obliged. Tucking my legs in, I slipped through the open window. But as I did so, the vice guild master's eyes popped open as she stared at my lower body.

"I suppose congratulations are in order?"

"Ah yea, thank...oh geez why now?"

Just as I was closing the shutters, all sense of balance fell apart as a bought of nausea hit me like truck-san was on some vendetta.

"Are you alright?!"

I collapsed into a heap and soon my guts tried to do its best vuvuzela impression.

"Hurgh!"

Unable to use my voice, I just nodded to Peitho's worries and waved a hand before using it to cover my mouth again.

The elf administrator rubbed my back while Claret went to watch our surroundings until my body managed to calm down.

"Are you really aright Scarlet?"

"Yea. Supposedly, this is normal."

"Normal? Is this morning sickness? I don't know about your kind, but I've never heard it being this bad for us elves."

Peitho helped me back onto my feet and guided me to a chair before sitting down on the one opposing the desk I was placed in front of.

"Well, maybe. The others said I was getting it worse than most."

"Apparently."

"Don't worry. I'm getting used to it."

"Really?"

Peitho cartoonishly raised an eyebrow.

"...Not really. I'd give almost anything to make it stop."

It almost felt like my body was trying to reject the very idea of a pregnancy or something. I was only thankful that there were no signs of a miscarriage, and that everyone who had checked me up said that there didn't seem to be any major risk of that.

As long as that was the case, I could only hope that it would go away on its own. I couldn't take any of the normal remedies, so we were completely out of ideas as to what I could do to deal with the morning sickness beyond sucking it up.

"Anyways, I'm not here to complain about that."

"Then can you explain why you decided to show up through my office window in the middle of the night?"

Without even bothering to look at me as she talked, Peitho went right back to one of the mountains of bark sheets held in place with a block of metal.

"Well, I came back here, and just happened to notice that there was a light on here."

"You just happened to have come to Knossos, been wandering around in the middle of the night, and just happened to be close enough to see the light from my window and decided to have a look?"

The elf gave me the moment to look at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Ummm, yea. Something like that. It's not like I would've been able to get here through the front doors at this time at night."

"No, but it didn't occur to you to just not bother?"

"I wanted to talk to you, and had nothing to do until morning anyways."

"You came here, in the middle of the night, because you were bored?!"

The older elf's face was filled with disbelief as she finally turned away from her work.

I wanted to say I was joking, or give her a better reason why I decided to check the window in the middle of the night, but in reality it was because I was bored. I just didn't want to wait until morning to see Peitho and this felt like a likely way to do it.

"Anyways, how about I make you a drink? You look like you need it."

This woman looked like she was only sitting upright due to sheer willpower. Frankly, it wasn't even remotely healthy, but it wasn't like she'd listen to me if I told her to go to sleep. Her subordinates probably already told her that, so someone who she only met a handful of times couldn't change her mind.

Even though it felt like we might have become something akin to friends.

With a wave of my hand, a heavy bowl appearing in midair and a handful of dry brown seeds filled the container.

"You, you can use [Dimensional Magic] now?"

"Huh? Oh yea. I've been working on it for a while."

Probably because of our short association, Peitho probably didn't even notice that my usual bag was left at home. Ever since I managed to gain so many ranks of [Dimensional Magic] thanks to those automaton maids on floor 99, leaning to use the skill until it became usable on a day to day level was a priority. Thankfully, it was a magic that was quite useful in everyday life, so after a few months of near constant usage, I got used to casually using it.

The fact that I had [Dimensional Magic 10] certainly helped as well.

Ignoring the wide eyed elf, I pressed my thumb into the seeds, crushing them into a rough powder. Next, with another wave of my hand, a large barrel of water appeared beside me. Some of the contents floated up as a distorted globe before the barrel disappeared. The globule was heated up with more magic until it was steaming, wherein it was gently placed into the bowl with the crushed seeds.

Putting the bowl to the side, I produced a clay cup, and over it, a fine metal mesh indented in the middle.

After letting the bowl of seeds steep for about a minute, I poured the contents into the cup, straining out all the solid fragments. The used filter and cup were put away, and in their place a pair of jars appeared. One was filled with cream and the other honey.

(I think a double double should be enough for her.)

Pouring in a rough estimate of both additives into the cup, I agitated the contents by propelling the liquid around using magic to incorporate them before placing the cup in front of Peitho.

The vice guild master looked a little unsure, but accepted the cup and brought it close.

"Ah, it smells nice."

Her usually stiff expression markedly relaxed, though that wasn't exactly the point, if the drink could help her let off a bit of stress, then all the better.

The tired looking elf took a small sip, then took a bit of time to enjoy the scent before pouring more into her mouth. Despite the leisurely pace, the drink was soon finished.

"That was nice."

"Want a refill?"

"Please."

She pushed the cup to me and I started the brewing process again.

"I've never had this before. What is it?"

As soon as it was finished, Peitho took a sip from her refilled cup. But as it was her second cup, she lowered her drink after only finishing a third of it before asking her question.

"Oh, it's coffee with cream and honey."

"Coffee is it? Hmmm...huh? Coffee?! Isn't that the expensive drink from the south?!"

"Ah? Maybe? I found a cheap supplier though, so don't worry about the cost."

In fact, I was sourcing them from the 52nd floor of Hourai's dungeon, so technically it only costed my own personal labour. Though I did have to pick them, remove the husk, dry them, clean them, and roast them myself.

At least it wasn't a difficult process, just a bit time consuming. And even then, the cherries all appeared ripe growing on the trees that made up the dungeon walls unlike in the wild making picking fast and easy. In addition, I dried them with magic, so that it took minutes rather than days to dry them. The rest of the process was simple and only need me to pay the most rudimentary level of attention while being done.

"I see."

With those soft words, Peitho closed her eyes and enjoyed another sip of her drink.

"Ah, maybe you'll like this with the coffee."

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I produced a plate of coffee cake, a spongy cake made with thickened coffee with caramel swirled throughout.

Cutting a slice, I placed some in front of the tired looking elf together with a dessert fork and put the rest away to keep from drying it out.

Glancing at me, then back at the cake, after a few moments without me bothering to say anything, Peitho took the fork in hand and brought a piece of the dessert to her lips.

"Mmm! This is wonderful!"

Her free hand rose up to embrace her cheek as she savoured the flavour before taking a mouthful of cake to enjoy it further.

My own expression couldn't help but to soften as I enjoyed the sight of this lonely woman enjoying the cake and coffee in front of me.

It made me particularly glad that I had gotten into the habit of carrying around various desserts for the sake of the fairies. It was often the simplest and quickest way to distract them. Though sometimes it backfires and a whole swarm of them end up showing up attracted by the scent of sugar.

Sometimes I couldn't help but wonder if they should just wear yellow and black stripes or something.

It would serve as caution quite well on top of that.

(Ah, they've been demanding another feast lately too.)

The very thought of all the work those feasts involved made me want to run away. Though when they actually happened it was enjoyable, the preparations was a lot of work. Trying to do that when the Hunter's Guild was swamped with ordinary orders made the very idea of trying to organize a feast made me feel a bit light headed.

Unlike the dark side town, the fairy city was mostly set up already. They had comparatively little need for a large quantity of materials from the dungeon and many of them were satisfied with homes made of nothing but sticks and leaves.

The difference being probably that most fairies didn't spend much time in their homes nor relied indoor facilities to do their jobs. Only a few oddballs or jobs which absolutely required to be done indoors had robust homes and workplaces made.

And while quite a few fairies were helping out with the dark side people to get their homes and various facilities made up, most of those only spent enough time working to earn a decent meal or two.

The fairies were clearly were burdened with an excess of time, something which I was quite envious of, despite the fact that I didn't even need to sleep, and hence had twice as much time as anyone else to spend.

(Am I going to be stuck having to solve that problem for them?)

It wasn't a pleasant thought at all. As fun as the fairies were to be with, this disparity of free time was quite detrimental to my own longevity.

"So, are you going to keep feeding me until I'm as fat as you are, or are you going to finally tell me your business?"

Shaken out of my thoughts, I looked up. Peitho had finished both the cake and drink and was looking straight at me.

The plate and cup were curiously placed in front of me.

"Ah, can't I come to see a friend?"

"You can, but I doubt that's the reason why you came. Not after bribing me with these delicacies."

*Sigh*

It was quite a given that such a transparent lie would have no effect on the older elf.

"Lately, I've been working at a newly established settlement, and I thought you might be interested in a job over there."

"A new settlement?"

"Yes. And while there's no Adventurers' Guild there, there is something a bit similar, and we're in need of personnel."

"So it's a job offer then?"

Peitho's eyes absently wandered around her overcrowded desk for a bit before snapping back towards me.

"That's right. The job will be similar to what you're already doing. Looking over requests, managing inventory for wholesale items, and generally handling the staff so that work gets done."

"If the job's the same, then why should I bother. I've already got things established here as it is."

Peitho's question was quite on the nose, though any thought spent on it made what she actually wanted pretty clear.

"You know, all the ingredients that were used for your little midnight snack was sourced locally at our settlement?"

My words caused her eyebrow to rise conspicuously.

"Your settlement is in the south?"

"No, it's to the north."

And my words caused the other to rise along with it.

"It's a lot of work, but it's not like I've ever had to stay overnight to get my work done either. I pretty much always am able to go home before sundown, and I even have days off."

"I think that's pretty normal."

"For a normal person, sure."

My eyes narrowed as I looked Peitho square on.

We both knew that neither of us were normal, at least in our own ways.

"So, here's the deal. You get work as the second in charge of our Hunter's Guild, and I'll personally pay you better than what you are already getting."

"I'm being paid quite well here you know."

"Probably. But is it well enough to have your own house with someone to take care of it on a regular basis, and able to enjoy food like the one I served you every day?"

At my words, the eyes of the elf in front of me shot down towards the plate that was still on her desk before quickly rising up to meet my own again. It was only an instant, but it was quite long enough for me to catch it.

"All the coffee and tea you want, whenever you want. As well as the money to buy cakes from the many patisseries we have. Sweets is something we have in abundance. Not to mention all the other sorts of food we've been making."

By this point, Peitho had hardly lifted her eyes from the empty, crumb free plate.

It might be time for my secret weapon.

"Oh yes, I've been working on another recipe. Could you try it out and give me your impressions?"

With a wave of my hand, a slice of pizza appeared on the recently cleared off plate. The ingredients were simple, just tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, bell peppers, onions, and slices of porcupine boar meat marinated in barbecue sauce.

I'd have put on pepperoni, but it was comparatively a lot more work to make, and wouldn't make as good of a test piece as it would make it more difficult for others to copy.

Shifting the plate towards the elf across from me, I gave her a slight nod as she looked back and forth between me and the steaming slice of overdecorated bread.

Peitho nervously lifted up the slice in both hands, careful to avoid letting the generously included toppings from spilling off.

I didn't miss the line of transparent fluid which ran down from the corner of her lips as she brought the slice to her face.

Prefaced with an audible gulp, the tired and worn elf opened her mouth and took a bite.

Then she chewed, and chewed.

Then another bite, and some more chewing.

And another bite, and even more chewing.

But as it looked like she was about to take yet another bite, the elf froze, then she started to struggle as she placed a hand over her collarbone. She gulped, opening and closing her mouth like a gold fish, yet no sounds came out.

It took me a few moments, but when the realization came over me, I quickly brought out a barrel and transferred some of the fluids from inside into her cup and placed it in front of her.

Peitho roughly took hold of the cup and downed the entire thing all at once. Without waiting for any prompts, the moment the cup touched the desk, I filled it once more, and the woman across from me practically inhaled the contents once more.

"Thanks."

After giving me that one word and a nod, Peitho went back and quickly finished up the slice of pizza before taking a sip of the bubbling drink I had given her.

"The, umm, the bread..."

"Pizza."

"Yes, the pizza, that was delicious."

"No problem."

It looked like it was a hit. Maybe it was possible to make some improvements, but overall releasing the recipe shouldn't be any real problem.

"But this drink..."

"The mead?"

"Yes, is that was it's called? It's fine, but a bit pale in comparison to the food."

"I see. Guess this one is a failure then."

I couldn't really say I was much of a fan of mead in the first place, but I had hoped that it would do alright. Maybe I should take a page from the fairies and figure out how they made their favourite drink.

It was inevitable that some of the food I make wouldn't be complete hits, though the timing of getting a miss was a bit bad, hopefully it wouldn't be bad enough to turn Peitho away from accepting my job offer.

But the fact that she continued to take sips despite no longer needing the mead to wash down her meal suggested that it wasn't being taken too badly.

Presuming she wasn't just being polite about it.

"So, what do you think of my offer? We're always introducing new recipes to reward the work that needs to be done."

Peitho's eyes moved between the mostly empty cup and the completely empty plate as she thought about what was placed in front of her.

"Well, if that's not enough to entice you, then how about consider it a personal favour? I need someone to be able to handle the duties I've been doing in the near future."

I gently stroked my belly to emphasize the point, and the elf's eyes widened slightly in understanding.

"That's..."

"After all, you owe me quite a big one for the last time we talked."

I narrowed my eyes and crossed my arms as I leaned back in my seat, not even hiding my willingness to strong arm her into agreeing.

"..."

"I mean, nobody would ever imagine that the honourable vice guild master who represents the Adventurers' Guild including all of its pride and grace would falsify information which was requested by one of its members, would she?"

While in the end everything that came out of it had been the single biggest step I needed to achieve my greatest dream I've had in this world, the fact that I was deceived so deliberately and put into serious danger because of it, intentional or not, was the unabashed truth.

It wasn't like I was unwilling to forgive her for that, but I needed something a bit more than just an apology for that. What that exactly was, would be for her to do a favour for me. That would be more than enough for me to clear out any remaining enmity, and as long as the favour wasn't something that made Peitho's life any more difficult, it shouldn't leave her with any enmity either.

"Of course not! I'll gladly accept the position immediately!"

Peitho sat up stock straight and gave me a quick and concise answer.

In fact, it was even faster and more direct then I even expected, not like it was unwanted in the slightest.

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