Luckily, Nina didn’t get punished for fighting inside the guild.

It seems like the guildmaster is a nice guy.

These huge bearded men tend to be nice to kids, don’t they?

He asked her some weird question about ghosts or something, but backed off right away.

What was that about?

She reminds you of someone you knew?

Strangers remind me of people I know all the time!

But even if they do, I won’t invite them into my office and ask them whether they are vengeful spirits…

Well, whatever.

More importantly, what the hell, Nina?!

You are going to be C rank adventurer already?!

What kind of quest did you do?!

And how did you get so strong while still so young?!

Did you train under an old wise man in the mountains since you were born?!

This isn’t fair!

As I grumbled to myself, we walked back to the guild’s main hall and Nina walked over to the quest boards.

She needs to complete one C rank quest to be promoted, apparently.

The easiest one seems to be collecting some venom toad tongues.

Just buy some antidote and it should be no problem.

On the other hand, that ogre one…

Shouldn’t it be in B rank quests?

A regular ogre might be fine, but the blue variant is way more dangerous.

“Hah! What a stupid hat!”

Suddenly, I hear a very annoying-sounding voice behind us.

When Nina turns around, I see a staff pointing at me.

“Oh? It’s alive? That’s even weirder!”

Getting a better look…

This is the girl Bax warned me about!

Red hair, twintails and a terrible attitude!

Get away from us!

“… who are you? What do you want?”

It seems that Nina doesn’t want to deal with her either.

“Hmm? You don’t know me? I’m Ignis. More importantly, what’s your deal? Wearing a cat on your head and all.”

I want to jump out at her again…

But knowing what happened last time, I feel like I will end up causing more trouble for Nina.

Moreover, this girl is cursed.

And I have no idea what kind of curse it is.

I need to be careful…

“I can wear whatever I feel like wearing… So, what do you want?”

You really are too good at making people pissed, aren’t you?

“I’m wondering why there’s this animal blocking the C rank quest board from the real adventurers, that’s what!”

‘Real adventurers’, huh?

From what I gather, she’s a fire mage.

But I doubt she is skilled enough to be C rank.

Or, is she somehow making use of her curse…?

“You are a C rank adventurer…?”

“That’s right! Are you jealous, little girl?”

As if she would be jealous…

After she completes one quest, she will become C rank as well.

Suddenly, Nina turned around, jumped and tore off the ogre quest.

Completely ignoring the other girl’s shouts, she made her way to the counter.

Wait a second!

It’s good that you ended that conversation, but why did you pick the ogre one?!

That’s like the most dangerous one of the bunch!

Ugh, I hope you are strong enough for it…

Well, if push comes to a shove, I will use my body to protect you!

“Don’t ignore me, you!”

Also, I feel like we have already been through this situation…

“Ugh… I said! Don’t ignore me! Y-you…!”

The only difference…

It’s not a giant bald pedophile, but a little girl with a terrible attitude.

“Grrrh! Alright! I get it! You aren’t just a stupid-hat-wearing little girl! I have officially recognized you as my rival! Be honored!”

No, Nina.

Don’t even mind what she’s saying.

If you do, it’s your loss!

“Hello. I would like to-”

“Hello! We would like to accept this quest as a duo party!”

Argh!

What is this hijacking?!

…

It’s fine!

Just ignore her!

“… alright, give me your guild cards.”

“No, wait… I wa-”

“Here’s mine!”

Nina!

You need to speak up!

“Come on! We don’t have all day!”

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Don’t go along with her nonsense!

“Wait, don’t tell me you lost it! You are such a scatterbrain!”

“No, I didn’t! I have it right here!”

She brought our her card and the receptionist instantly took it.

…

“Alright, Ignis, rank C and Nina, provisional rank D. I’ve confirmed it. Good luck on your quest and be careful!”

Nina, are you kidding me?

If you don’t speak up now, it will be too late!

…

Ugh, there you go getting pushed around by the loud types again.

You really haven’t changed much, have you?

“Well, now that we are teammates, we should get to know each other better!”

I get why you angry, but it’s also your fault, you know?

If you simply said there’s a mistake to the receptionist…

Or just went and picked a different quest.

It would have been much simpler.

“Come on now! Don’t be so cold!”

Ignoring her now won’t do much…

You only end up looking like a sulking kid.

Don’t tell me your mental age regressed after being reborn…

Well, it’s kind of adorable…

But bad for your future!

While I thought about such things, we arrived at the city gates.

Nina lifted me off of her head and put me on the ground.

Hey!

Don’t tell me you are leaving me behind!

“Don’t worry. I’ll be right back…”

Oh, hell no!

Do you know how dangerous it can get?

A regular ogre is already dangerous!

But the blue variant can take on two or three of them and still come out on top!

“No, I can’t take you with me.”

Please, Nina…

Acting as a meat shield is literally the only thing I can do for you…

If I can’t even do that, then why did I pick immortality as one of my skills?

“I promise I’ll return as soon as I can…”

This doesn’t make me any happier…

It just means you will try to rush it.

You will get careless and get hurt for sure…

Ugh…

But you won’t let me go with you no matter what, will you…?

“What a sight…”

Oh crap!

I forgot about this girl!

I bet my tail she’s going to do something to her when they are alone!

“Well, I’ll ask around whether someone is going to the Rennie village. You gather some supplies for the trip.”

She’s totally forcing herself into her party!

This is not good at all!

If I can’t follow you directly, I will do it in secret!

Nina and the cursed girl started some argument, but I ran off before hearing the end of it.

Straight down a dark alleyway and next to a pile of barrels.

I used my claws to tap on the barrel in a specific rhythmic pattern while meowing the password.

[Open sesame]

And as if by magic, the side of said barrel slid open like a door and let me in.

Inside the barrel, there was a simple tunnel leading downward, which I followed.

At the end of it, a dimly lit room spread out.

A number of cats lined up next to each other with one in front of them.

It was a small orange cat with yellow eyes.

Grato, the leader of the surveillance division and his crew.

[Boss, are you okay?! We saw you get close to the observation subject!]

[I’m fine. I don’t think her curse activated.]

[That’s a relief…]

[But I worry about Nina. She seems to have taken on a team quest along with the observation subject.]

[Wha-?! That’s not good! What if the holy maiden gets attacked by that cursed human?!]

Holy maiden…

Is that what you call her?

I feel like I should retort to that…

But there are more important matters at hand.

[That is what I fear. And that’s why I intend to discreetly follow her…]

[Don’t worry boss! Leave it to us! We-]

[No.]

[B-boss…?]

[Nina is extremely quick. If she simply runs, you won’t be able to catch up to her… You know what I mean, right?]

[… I understand. I will contact Charn and ask for her help.]

[Good. I will be waiting.]

[Yes boss!]

Grato and his goons then simultaneously meowed and dispersed through the various tunnels around the room.

Nodding to myself, I also entered one of the tunnels and made my way to the audience hall.

A big cat-like being colored brownish orange and covered with black spots.

If I didn’t know any better, I would call it a cheetah.

That is, if I didn’t see the unnaturally long tail emitting a faint smoke-like substance from its tip.

[What do you want, old man?]

Same attitude as always.

[I need you to track and keep an eye on someone.]

[Hah? Is that a joke? Don’t you have your puppets for that?]

I don’t like you calling my loyal minions puppets.

But I will let it slide for now since this is urgent.

[The target moves very quickly, even you might not be able to keep up.]

[… is that a taunt? Are you mocking me?!]

[You will see for yourself…]

An intense stare.

Of course, she would be doubtful.

She’s very proud of her speed, after all.

[Twenty day supply of sardines.]

Oh, she accepted.

[I can give you twelve day supply.]

[Eighteen.]

[Thirteen.]

[Sixteen.]

[Sixteen it is, then…]

Looks like I will need to get on ‘borrowing’ more supplies from merchants coming from Heiliya.

But that’s a small price to pay to keep Nina safe.

[So, who’s the passenger this time?]

[I am.]

[… boss himself is coming, huh? Just how important is this?]

[Very important.]

I think you can tell from my expression.

…

Or rather, I think you are regretting not wanting a bigger reward since this is so important.

Using a secret tunnel only accessible to me and my people, we exit the city.

I lay down on Charn’s back and her long tail wraps around me and her belly, securing me in place.

[So she has already gone, huh?]

[Yeah, her aim is the Rennie village. Can you make it?]

[You making fun of me, geezer?]

Her stamina should be just about enough for that.

Unless she’s been training it since last time.

[Hold on tight, we’re going.]