「Alright Milla, please read it.」

「I’m Milly!」

Milly received the commission letter from Yera and began reading it aloud with some difficulty.

「Erm… Currently, there is a major outbreak of monsters on Southern Island. You are to exterminate the herds of monsters swiftly. The target is the Sti Beetle. The time limit is one month, and the reward is 1.5 million Rupis.」

The Sti Beetle is a monster that looks like an enlarged black rhinoceros beetle.

It is agile and has a habit of picking up items to store on its body.

If it initiates an attack, at least it is not all that powerful. However, it has a high spawn rate, so it gets extremely annoying to gather all the drop items at once.

It was a subjugation request issued by a certain Adventurers’ Guild throughout the year.

It was a request which should not have been difficult even for a newbie, as long as they form a party, so the ease of completion was set at the D level.

If Yera were to do it, the mission would be too lenient on her.

Everyone probably thought so too, as the tension in the air eased.

「It’s an unexpectedly fun request, isn’t it? If it’s Sti Beetles, I used to defeat them as part of work for the church.」

「Carelessness is your greatest enemy, Shirushu-san. It’s a commission from one of the five Heavenly Mages, so we don’t know if there might be something extra.」

When Shirushu made a conceited remark, Claude rebuked her.

Yera might have chosen an easy commission for the sake of letting us deepen our friendship, but Claude remained suspicious and looked doubtful.

「…Hey, Se-chan, why are you heading to the back?」

「…」

When Lydia rested her arm on the sofa’s backrest and looked behind, Silverie had her back towards us and was stealthily making her escape.

「Nah, I wanted to take a breath of some fresh air…」

「You’ve been getting fresh air all day though? I won’t let you escape.」

I grabbed onto the hem of Silverie’s coat and jerked it, and she lost balance and stumbled backward.

Silverie fell on her back and onto the sofa on which we were seated.

With a loud bonk, the back of Silverie’s head bumped into Milly’s head.

「Owww~~!?」

「…Sorry.」

「If you’re going to apologize, then you shouldn’t have tried to escape in the first place… Hey, sit properly.」

When Silverie was still twisting her body in an effort to escape, I caught her, sat her on my lap, and forced her to listen.

She squirmed about restlessly… Well, it can’t be helped that she wants to escape, I guess. She’s not good at dealing with the Sti Beetle after all.

Yera seemed to have thought of the same thing, as she let out a big sigh.

「Goodness gracious… it appears that your hatred for insects is still not cured.」

「Stu… Don’t say it!」

With a red face, Silverie started to make a fuss in rage, but I used both arms to hold her down.

Geez, this person must have an absurd amount of hatred for insects.

In my past life, Silverie was also bad at dealing with insect-type monsters, and she never approached places where such monsters are known to appear.

In the event where she had no choice but to fight them, it feels like I was usually the one who defeated them.

I see, if it were any normal monster-extermination job, Silverie would be peerless, but if there were monsters that she had trouble dealing with, there would be a need to cooperate with us… I guess?

Damn it, Yera. You planned this all along, didn’t you?

「If you were to complete a job together, it would probably be easier for this girl to open up to you. Sorry for deciding on a bunch of things on my own, but would you accept it?」

Yera quickly lowered her head, while we exchanged glances.

「What should we do? Accept it?」

「Hmm. We don’t really have a reason to refuse anyway.」

At Milly’s question, Claude nodded in agreement.

「Southern Island is a famous place for vacations, right? I heard that there’s a place for swimming too~」

「I sure hope there’s good food too! So exciting!」

Lydia and Shirushu were completely in a holiday mood.

「…Tch.」

Silverie clicked her tongue in apparent reluctance, but she did not complain any further.

Everyone already seemed raring to go. Moreover, I didn’t dislike over-hunting large amounts of small fries.

Milly was eagerly awaiting my reply, so I nodded in return.

「Isn’t it fine?」

「Al~right then… we’ve decided on accepting that commission!」

After Milly effortlessly signed on the commission letter, the paper glowed and the contract was formed.

Yera nodded in satisfaction.

「Well then, I’m counting on you.」

「Yes!」

That being said, it was decided that the next stage for our adventures will be at Southern Island.

「Anyway, let’s go shopping for swimsuits tomorrow! I want to swim!」

「Ohh! Sounds good~ Milly-chan.」

At Milly’s suggestion, Lydia was extra enthusiastic.

Somehow, her eyes looked like those of a perverted old man… It was as if she was looking forward to seeing the girls in swimsuits, so much that she couldn’t contain herself.

Shirushu also appeared excited, as her tail was swooshing from side to side.

「I’m good at swimming, you know!」

Shirushu announced as she demonstrated her paddle with both arms.

A dog’s paddle… As expected, it’s because she’s a Beastfolk I suppose.

「Um, we’re there for a commission in the first place, so how about we only leave half the time for playing…」

「Well, you don’t have to be so serious, Clau-chan~」

「Geez, Lydia-san… Please say something to her, Zeph-kun.」

「…Well, isn’t it fine?」

Everyone was making merry, while Claude who saw that was gumbling discontentedly. However, it’s also important to take a breather sometimes.

I am used to training every day, but excluding me, everyone would consider our lifestyle hard.

If we didn’t take breaks occasionally, it would be difficult to get moving when it comes to the crunch.

After we’re done with our vacation, I will have to get them to accompany me for tougher hunts again.

Since we also added Silverie to our party, we should be able to go to higher-leveled hunting grounds too… I’m looking forward to it. He he.

「W-Why do you look happy, Zeph-kun…?」

Claude was looking dumbfounded, while Milly peeked over from her side.

「Hm hmmm ♪ I bet he’s looking forward to seeing how sexy we look in swimsuits. ♪」

「Who’s sexy, you flat-chested.」

「Haa!? I have them okay! I am also still in my growth period! And… when I grow old enough, I will become like Lydia!」

Milly confidently stuck out her flat chest and I compared it against Lydia’s chest but… it’s definitely impossible. I can declare that at least.

Perhaps having realized what I was thinking, Milly puffed her cheeks.

Claude sensed what was happening and quickly changed the topic.

「B-by the way, in Southern Island, it seems like there are plenty of rare fruits, you know?」

「There seem to be parfaits too~. I heard that it’s sweet and yummy~」

「Waah, sounds delicious!」

Claude and Lydia sure did well in enticing Milly.

While everyone was making merry, Silverie was watching from afar with a bored look on her face.

Hmm, even if it wasn’t possible to immediately get along with everyone, I thought she should have gotten slightly used to it. Moreover, I thought she had somewhat opened her heart to Milly already?

「Silverie, do you really hate being with everyone?」

「…It’s not like that.」

「Then, why?」

「I am… someone who is being chased by a dispatched mage. Being with Zeph and the rest will probably inconvenience you. That’s why…」

That reminds me, Silverie was being pursued by the Magicians’ Association for stealing their scroll of Growth, the magic for accelerating the growth of one’s abilities. She previously mentioned that she had intended to borrow the scroll to learn the spell, but had missed the timing to return it.

I was supposed to return the scroll in Silverie’s stead, but with Silverie being recognized as the ‘thief’, it’s not as if her crime would be erased.

Silverie averted her eyes from us and appeared slightly depressed.

「Ah, oh yeah. I forgot to mention something.」

Perhaps having realized Silverie’s emotions, Yera was reminded of something and spoke up.

「Silverie is no longer being pursued by the Association though. She has applied to be the subordinate of myself, and I am one of the five Heavenly Mages. Moreover, she is also registered as the owner of this home, so it would be even more suspicious if she ran away, wouldn’t it?」

「…That’s quite smart.」

「Ha ha ha, don’t underestimate the Sky Heavenly Mage.」

At Yera’s words, Silverie felt half relieved and half fed-up.

Yera may have done it out of consideration for Silverie, whose personality she understands well, but I don’t completely feel that she didn’t go overboard. It’s because of things like these that it’s not odd for Silverie to run away from home.

「By the way, which room is better for Se-chin?」

「…I don’t mind whichever. Even outside is fine.」

「Silverie-san, you used to stay here right? Then, maybe you have your own room?」

「I have, but…」

At Claude’s question, Silverie glanced in Milly’s direction and spoke ambiguously.

It’s probably the room on the second floor which Milly and Lydia said they would use.

Perhaps because Milly also realized it, as she was twirling her hair around her finger.

「Erm… Shall we move downstairs?」

「Don’t mind it. I’m really fine with anywhere. Besides, that was my room when I was a child, and it’s a little embarrassing to me now.」

The room she used as a child, huh?

That reminds me, that room contained many stuffed animals and toys, and there were drawings of animals and other things on the walls.

Milly seemed to like them.

「…Why are you looking at me and laughing, Zeph…」

「Ku ku, don’t mind me.」

「Then, how about the room next to ours?」

Come to think of it, there was a small room next to Shirushu’s and Claude’s room.

It was probably another storage room similar to theirs, but it should be perfectly usable once it is tidied up.

In Silverie’s case, a smaller room would likely help her to compose herself too.

「Alright, let’s do that.」

「If there’s anything, don’t hesitate to say it!」

「Ah, then I’ll take you up on that.」

At Milly’s words, Silverie’s expression loosened just slightly as she nodded.

「Then, shall we make Silverie-san’s room?」

Following Claude’s call, everyone tidied up the storage room, and somehow we managed to obtain a space sufficient for one person to live in.

With this, I suppose we’ve mostly finished what we had to do.