13 Storm 2

It was now the next day and yet the storm was still ongoing. Just how long will it take for this storm to subside? I sighed as I stood up from the chair and stretched my body. I seriously didn't sleep a bit. The first reason is that I was too into making a chained scythe. The second and last reason was because I was wary. Wary of what? Dvalin of course. This may be an attack from him after all.

"...Ngh…"

I looked where that sound came from and saw Barbara rubbing her eyes. The first three buttons on the top of her PJ's were unbuttoned so I redirected my gaze somewhere else.

"Goodmorning, Barbara."

"Mhm, Goodmorning." she said as she rubbed her eyes.

"Um, shouldn't you wash your face first?"

"Nuu…"

Why are you acting like a child? If only Mona would do this as well. Ah~ I could already imagine it.

"....Ah."

I involuntarily looked at Barbara when she started to talk like a child. All I can say is… Nice. She seemed to notice my staring and looked down. Once she noticed her PJ's was unbuttoned, her face reddened so much that I thought she was about to explode. Cute.

"I-I'm sorry for showing you something so unsightly-"

"It's fine. I like it."

"Eh?"

Shit, I let my thoughts leak out. I could feel my face burning up from embarrassment. I looked at Barbara to see her reaction. She looks like she's just about to faint. Ah, I want to disappear so badly.

"...I'm glad."

"Eh?"

"Nothing! I'll go wash my face now!"

She left me alone in the kitchen. She didn't even do what she was supposed to do here. Whatever that was. No… No way, right? Yeah, there's just no way. Even though I knew her longer than Mona, it's only still a day. However, if that is the case, she had the time to develop it. It may only be a short amount of time, but I guess that was enough?

"You finally noticed?"

I looked to where the voice came from and saw Mona standing there.

"It wasn't really obvious?"

"For you at least…"

Wah, scary. Seriously though, it wasn't in the slightest bit obvious. I was pretty sure only Mona and the others knew. Is this what they were talking about during the sleepover and all night yesterday?

I sighed and decided to just cook breakfast. I was pretty hungry myself. When I opened the bridge, I saw that my ingredients were steadily running out. I used way more than I thought I would last night. I still had a lot of Mora on me so I guess I should buy some now. It was Saturday, so we had no school, but I still had commissions. Although, I think I can't do them at this rate. Even if I can teleport to the Adventurer's Guild. Oh, I just remembered. During dinner last night, I asked Mona and Fischl why they didn't do their daily commissions and they said that when you reach their rank, you get paid even if you don't work. Of course, you still need to work, but it's okay even if it's only once a week.

After I finished cooking, I called out to the girls. We all ate together but I was scolded by all of them when they learned that I didn't even sleep a wink.

"Take care of yourself more!" Mona was angry.

"Make sure to sleep next time, okay?!" Barbara was angry.

"Don't make me worry!" Fischl was angy- I mean angry.

"Please sleep. You need to be healthy!" Noelle was angry.

"You need sleep you know!?" Amber was angry.

"...Seriously…" even Paimon was angry.

Needless to say, they were all angry at me. I apologized multiple times until they finally forgave me. Is this what Lumine feels whenever I scold her? This sucks. Like, it seriously sucks.

"You girls are scary when all of you are mad." I said in a disheartened voice. They are seriously scary. Far scarier than any monster I've faced. I was even on my knees right now…

After that, I got dressed and was supposed to go to the market, but right before that…

"Hm? Oh, okay." someone called Fischl on her phone.

After the call finished, Fischl told me to go to the Adventurer's Guild. So it was Katheryne?

"Alright, I'm off then."

"""""Be careful!"""""

---

Once I got to the Adventurer's Guild, Katheryne called out to me in a somewhat formal manner. Oh, if you're wondering if I'm soaked or not. No, I just warped here.

"There you are. Please follow me, someone is looking for you."

She then guided me to a room way back in the building. When she opened the door, I saw a woman with blonde hair tied in a ponytail. She was wearing our school uniform. When she stood up and looked to face me, I noticed something right away. She looked like Barbara, but just a bit more mature.

"I get to finally meet you, Traveler. My name is Jean Gunnhildr, Acting Grandmaster of the Knights of Favonius."

"Eh?"

I knew that the Acting Grandmaster was still learning at our school, but I thought she would be much older than this. Oh, I guess I should introduce myself. Better make it formal.

"It's an honour to meet you, Acting Grandmaster Jean. I'm Aether."

"No need to be so formal you know?"

"No…"

That wasn't the cause. I just remembered what happened this morning. And if my intuition is correct, I'm talking to Barbara's sister right now. Which just makes this even more weird. After that exchange, she asked me questions about Dvalin and a way to defeat him.

"By the way, do you know where Amber is? I messaged her, but she didn't reply." she looked worried while saying that last sentence.

"Oh, she's at my place. I think she hasn't checked her phone yet…"

"...What? At your place?"

Amber was part of the Knights of Favonious. She told me this at dinner last night. Seeing Jean worry about her like this is just normal. She is Amber's boss and perhaps even a friend. I then proceeded to explain everything that happened yesterday. When I mentioned Barbara being at my place as well, I could kinda feel cold air rising in this very room. Better let her see her sister before she thinks I did anything bad to her.

"You could check on her right now if you want to?"

"Take me there."

Geez, yet another terrifying girl. Why do I meet a lot of girls anyways? The only male friends I have right now are Venti and Albedo. I sighed as I decided that I should make a lot more male friends. The girls that I've met are borderline scary after all.

I took Jean's hand and we warped to my house. She was shocked when the scenery suddenly changed. Oops, I should have warned her huh?

"Ah, he brought someone with him." said Fischl, who was in front of me. They got used to me warping just from seeing me use it in battles?

"Who is it-" said Amber.

"J-Jean?!" said Amber in a panic. I could see that she was holding her phone and then just a few seconds later…

*Beep*

"...I just sent you a message…"

True enough, it was Jean's phone that rang. I guess she just saw her message. Just how careless can you be? Seemingly feeling my doubt in her, Amber glared at me. I-I'm sorry!

Thus, another girl came to my house. Although, she's just visiting.