Recently, Iru’s attitude has changed.
Maiya, who had been by his side for a long time, immediately noticed the change.
When asked what caused the change, she didn’t know, but it seemed like something had happened that triggered a change within Iru.
Previously, he often became irritated due to the frequent failures in his requests, but that was no longer the case, and he had regained his usual composure.
Furthermore, it seemed he was choosing requests that were one rank lower than those he had been taking recently.
Even though Maiya had repeatedly advised him, he had never listened, but this was also a change.
Maiya inwardly tilted her head, wondering what had caused him to change, as she continued her daily tasks.
Since it wasn’t a bad change, she decided it was best not to get involved.
One day, Maiya noticed something.
Iru was visiting the library more often on his own.
Before, it was as if Maiya had to force him to go, but recently, Iru had been going to the library of his own volition.
This was an unbelievable change for the Iru who used to say that an adventurer’s real strength was the most important thing.
Noticing something was up with Iru’s behavior, Maiya decided to check on him while she was on duty.
She needed to put away some work-related documents after seeing Iru enter the library.
“This is part of my job, not slacking off,” she told herself as an excuse and entered the library.
To her surprise, what Maiya saw upon entering wasn’t Iru chatting with a woman, but with a male adventurer.
Confused and unable to comprehend the situation, Maiya stopped in her tracks. Iru noticed her and looked over.
“What is it, Maiya? Slacking off here?”
“N-no, that’s not it. I just brought some documents that needed to be delivered to this room.”
She answered somewhat flustered, as she had indeed been standing there for a moment.
As a result, she replied in her usual tone despite being on duty.
Fortunately, Iru didn’t notice that.
He simply replied with a “Hmm” and resumed his conversation with the adventurer.
Although talking loudly was prohibited in the library, there was no one else there at the moment.
Maiya proceeded to her main task, heading to put the documents she brought in the appropriate place.
Of course, she was eavesdropping on their conversation.
However, she stopped listening very quickly.
The content of their conversation was about what to do when facing monsters, things necessary for an adventurer.
Although, it was more like Iru was only asking the adventurer questions.
The content was similar to what Maiya had told Iru before, but Iru seemed to be listening honestly this time.
She knew he had mostly ignored her when she spoke, so Maiya left the library without disturbing them.
Later, Iru explained that he happened to meet Dezire, the adventurer, at that time and was asking him questions.
He also mentioned that when he couldn’t meet Dezire, he was properly researching things himself.
He also said that his interactions with Dezire began after receiving advice from him in the library.
In the end, Maiya realized that Iru’s recent changes were thanks to Dezire, and she breathed a sigh of relief.
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The interactions between Iru and Dezire, or rather, Dezire’s companions, continued for some time.
During that period, rumors of the exploits of Dezire’s party,
Incidentally, Dezire’s own party was also mentioned in those rumors.
The most prominent rumor was about Corry’s success in the arena.
However, she also heard news of the exploits of Kou, an adventurer Iru had been involved with before.
Amidst this, an even more unbelievable rumor about
It was said that
Through her recent interactions with Iru, Maiya had also become good friends with Dezire’s party.
While talking in the library as usual, she casually asked about the rumor and received a straightforward answer.
It was true that
Seeing Iru’s expression when he heard this, Maiya felt a certain conviction.
And now, Maiya had arrived at the former
She wasn’t here as a mere sightseer, but because she had seen a flyer about staff recruitment.
She wasn’t applying on a whim.
While Iru had been one of the first to decide to join the Crown, Maiya was more interested in working for the Crown after talking with Dezire.
In this kind of organization, it’s difficult to join by simply showing up, except for the initial member recruitment.
This was a perfect opportunity.
As Maiya waited for her exam to begin in the room designated for the recruitment test, it happened.
“Excuse me. Are you two in charge of the examinations here!?”
Seeing two women enter with papers for the exam, one of the female applicants stood up and asked.
“Yes. Is there a problem?”
The examiners tilted their heads, surprised by the sudden outburst.
Seeing this, the woman’s expression turned displeased.
“Could you please have the examiners replaced?”
“Why is that?”
“Why?… Why do we have to take instructions from a slave like you?”
The woman said with indignation, “Are you mocking me?”
Maiya confirmed that several other applicants looked displeased upon hearing those words and inwardly sighed.
The examiners, sighing, replied to the woman who requested a replacement, “That is not a reason to replace the examiners. If you are uncomfortable, please abandon the examination and leave.”
They said, pointing towards the room’s entrance.
The woman’s expression changed drastically.
“H-He-hey, do you know who I am!?”
Given her haughty attitude, Maiya had assumed she was a woman of some standing, and it seemed her guess was correct.
Thinking that this had become a troublesome situation, Maiya watched to see how the examiners would handle it.
Looking around, she saw others with similar expressions.
Whether they were aware of the surrounding attention or not, the examiners showed no signs of wavering.
“You are an applicant who came to take the Crown staff recruitment examination. If you do not understand that, please leave.”
Still pointing to the entrance, the female examiner said firmly.
The woman who was told this sat back down in her chair with a frustrated expression.
It seemed she still intended to take the exam, at least provisionally.
In the end, Maiya successfully passed the Crown staff recruitment examination.
This time, five women were hired, and the woman who had caused trouble during the exam, as expected, failed.
Incidentally, all those who had shown a sympathetic expression at that time also failed.
It was only natural.
Among the Crown’s employment regulations handed out before the exam, there was a clear section regarding slaves.
It was impossible to pass the exam if one had committed an act that violated those regulations.
Although the number of available positions seemed like a narrow gate, Maiya felt that the actual level of difficulty wasn’t that high.
This was Maiya’s arc.
After this, Maiya will go on to be a popular receptionist at the Crown Branch.
Meanwhile, Iru will find himself being teased by adventurers belonging to the Crown. However, this was already the case for some even before he belonged to the Crown.
