DAY 22: MORNING — OMUI GUILD

DAY 22

MORNING

I wanted to work at the public library, but they only care about themselves!

OMUI GUILD

 

AS USUAL, everyone avoided looking at me when I  entered the guildhall. I’d heard a pretty wild rumor that adventurers were at increased risk of spraining their necks nowadays. Is this why?

“Why haven’t the listings updated?” I asked. “I come here every day to check.”

“Why do you come every day to check?” the receptionist responded. “You’re not an adventurer.”

Her long sigh came with a free side order of glaring. She really knew how to mix things up.

I considered looking for the nerds again today, but when I thought back to yesterday and how upset the girls were, I decided against it. Their rebukes made no sense, to be honest. I was totally unharmed, while the thieves went blue in the face trying to fight me and knocked themselves out. As usual, I did nothing wrong, yet everyone still got mad at me. This world is truly inexplicable, I thought.

I wanted to make some money, but there were no good jobs. I hadn’t found one this entire time.

50,000 ele per day was just heartless and cruel. At that rate, I’d never be able to buy my sex appeal…

“You know,” I said to the receptionist, “it doesn’t need to be a job. I just want some way to make money.”

“The Adventurers’ Guild can’t help you with that. You’re not even a licensed adventurer in the first place,” she snapped. “From what I’ve heard, you’ve emptied the coffers not just from here, but at the armory and the general store, too. Where did all that money disappear to? How do you end up broke at the end of every day? Are you planning to con every business in this town out of all their savings?”

Omui apparently faced a serious cash shortage. There wasn’t enough currency in circulation; that’s why they blamed me whenever I sold them goods. Was I summoned to this world to solve the out-of-control deflation crisis? That’s not what we were told, but it’s possible, isn’t it?

There were no jobs outside the town. Staying in town cost me money I didn’t have, though. Everyone would worry if I left, but I was so broke that I couldn’t stay. I couldn’t even enjoy window shopping since I couldn’t buy anything. Goblin hunting’s the best option left.

As I tried to sneak my way out of town, the soldier from yesterday spotted me on his patrol.

“Excuse me, why are you leaving town? I told you that a messenger would be sent for you! You were nowhere to be found this morning, and now I find you creeping toward the town gate?”

I ran from him as best I could, ducking into alleyways and sneaking along rooftops, until a cute maid called out to me from the street. I stopped to chat and before I knew it, she took me to the duke’s mansion, where some noble girl rebuked me all over again.

“Wouldn’t you try to escape if some total stranger just started calling out to you?” I protested. “I didn’t know he’d be the messenger! And I didn’t know you’d send for me the next day!”

“In that case, why did you obediently follow a cute maid who you had never even seen before?” the girl chastised. “Did you forget everything? When you saw me today, you looked like you didn’t even remember who I was. Are you suffering from short-term memory loss?”

Was she mad at me or not?

“It’s been so long,” I said, chuckling. “I almost didn’t recognize you. You’ve grown so much since we last met.” I’m so smooth.

“We only just met yesterday! How could I have possibly grown? Are you telling me I look fat today? Your blank face tells me that’s not it. You were just making small talk like you would with an old acquaintance you didn’t recognize. You can’t even remember what happened yesterday, can you?! Am I that unremarkable? Do you even remember my name? Should I even ask if you remember the name of this town?”

We met yesterday, apparently. I focused on my memory as best I could, hoping the right synapses would fire in my brain. Let’s try this!

“Of course, I haven’t forgotten you,” I proclaimed. “How could I ever forget you? Seasons pass, years go by, but I would never forget anything about you…Merimeri-san?”

“You remembered the wrong name!” she shrieked. “You’re putting on airs like you know what’s going on, but you have no clue at all! Never mind years, you can’t even remember things that happened seconds ago!”

I think she’s mad at me. Interrupting her shouts, the duke’s servants brought out plates of food and set them on a table. Standard hospitality for a mansion, I guess?

“I wanted to thank you by preparing lunch for you,” she shouted. “It’s not much, but I also wanted to give you a token of my appreciation. Why am I still so irritated?!”

I shrugged. “You’re asking the wrong person, lady. Who knows what got under your skin?”

Yesterday she was dressed in simple traveler’s clothes, but today she was stamping her feet in a beautiful, bespoke dress. Is this some sort of fashionable courtly dance? “May I have this dance, milady, this stomping of the feet?” Being an aristocrat ain’t easy.

“Ugh! Pardon me. It’s the least I could do, but please accept this reward for your services. Yesterday you mentioned that you lacked identification papers, so I prepared these for your use.” A maid—the same one who lured me here—presented a tray holding a card embossed with text.

The noble girl continued, “It’s a pass that exempts you from the entry fee. The name of the town, Omui, is engraved on the card, so please remember. Omui. That is the name of the town as well as my surname. I also have a given name. My full name, Merielle Sim Omui, is also written on this card. Please erase Merimeri from your memory altogether.”

The food was so delicious that I stopped focusing on the conversation… What was she talking about? I nodded when she paused.

“My father, the duke, wanted to express his gratitude as well, but he is out on a diplomatic visit to a neighboring town with my mother. He wanted to apologize for being unable to thank you in person. After hearing of my rescue, he gave an order to increase the size of the sign in front of our town that reads ‘Omui.’ He ordered that the text be legible from leagues away. We also plan to hang banners throughout the town that say ‘Welcome to Omui.’ In addition, we are preparing one hundred road signs that point the way to Omui. The officials in the department of tourism are also discussing the possibility of commissioning an anthem for Omui to be played at a loud volume throughout the town.”

I guess government officials like to waste money in all worlds, I thought. There’s no end to the ridiculousness. Back in the real world, I wanted to work at the public library. I wanted to waste money in self-serving ways too! I just wanted to buy books I liked with public money and read them all! If these people thought that making a theme song for a town was a good idea, why couldn’t I treat a public library as a personal bookshelf? Government officials and bureaucrats never listen to reason. Huh? The noble girl was still talking.

“Hello? Why do you never listen to me when I’m speaking? Are you ignoring me on purpose? Do you have ears? Do they function? Why won’t you listen? Why won’t you remember my name?”

I couldn’t figure out what she was talking about. I was totally listening when it sounded important.

“I made sure to present myself in the best possible fashion, and you still treated me like a nobody!”

The butler gave me a dirty look. I wish the cute maid would look at me like that.