Finding herself suddenly booted from the Blades, Alina went back to her usual life as a receptionist.

And by her usual life, that meant working overtime until late into the night.

‘Haa. I want to go home.’

Alina mumbled. It was the dead of night in Ifühl Counter. Usually her complaint would have echoed unheard through the empty office, but today it met a reply.

‘You’re not the only one. Why do I have to work overtime too?’

It was Alina’s junior, the rookie receptionist Laila, who uttered those words of discontent.

Her eyes, usually so adorable and feline in appearance, were half open as she grumbled, her chin resting on the desk. Alina glared at her reluctant junior and scolded:

‘It’s because of your blunder that we’re here! If you don’t stay behind, who will?!’

‘Uhh… You’re right.’

‘If we finish today, we can go home on time tomorrow. So stop yapping and get back to work already.’

Taking a sip of her usual overtime companion, a potion, Alina stared daggers at the mountain of paperwork piled atop her desk.

The discovery of the Tower of Chalk sent a shockwave through the adventuring community. After all, a hidden quest, previously nothing more than a legend, was uncovered. Naturally, adventurers were expected to flock to the opportunity, but following the defeat of Rufus’ party, quest commissions were limited to the Silver Blades.

What’s more, when they heard that a party full of strong adventurers had been destroyed, the amount of quests they took on reduced considerably, as if they had just been reminded of the perils of their profession.

By all regards there should not have been any overtime. But during Alina’s absence (though it was only a single day) Laila committed blunder upon blunder, leaving Alina to clean up after her.

‘Well, at least this time there’s an end in sight, so it could be worse.’

She muttered and went back to filling in paperwork.

This wasn’t like all those times when her overtime seemed to never end and all she could do was pray with all her heart for the adventurers to defeat the boss. However much trouble the Silver Blades had capturing the dungeon, it didn’t affect Alina’s work.

Speaking of which, they should’ve reached the fourth floor by now.

According to the gossipy Laila, the Blades had already cleared the third floor. The information came from an unknown source, so its authenticity was dubious. Still, Alina felt relieved.

Why do I feel relieved for those guys?

‘It’s a shame though, isn’t it?’

‘What is?’

‘I’m talking about the Executioner! The guild is giving up their search for the Executioner!’

Laila collapsed onto the paper-covered desk, crying her heart out.

As promised, Glenn abandoned the search for the Executioner after losing his duel to Alina. He even went so far as to make a public statement that the search should never be resumed.

In other words, her side job would never be revealed to the wider world, and the threat of her being fired from her daytime job had passed. Soon, talk of the Executioner will fade from the public consciousness. Her peace and quiet was forever guaranteed.

Now if only something could be done about the more unpredictable occurrences of overtime, she could achieve her ideal of peace and quiet in a stable job as a receptionist, where she could leave work on time every day.

The Blades managed to fill the long-vacant vanguard position with Rufus; they’ll probably make it to the fourth floor with surprisingly little trouble. The repairs to Alina’s house will be finished soon. When they are, she can finally move out of the Blade residence and return to her original receptionist lifestyle.

Everything was going as it should.

And yet, why did she fell so anxious?

‘They made Rufus their vanguard instead! I don’t like it one bit!’

‘Why?’

‘Cuz he’s ugly as a toad!!!!’

‘… I see.’

‘I was rooting for the Executioner to get the role! Why did the guild give up on—eh, Alina. What’s in your desk?’

‘Hmm? You know, all sorts of things’

‘It’s glowing though.’

‘Eh?’

Alina had no idea what Laila was on about, but when she looked at her desk she was caught by surprise. As her junior said, a light shone from the gap between the drawer and the desk, so bright it was impossible to conceal.

‘Are my eyes tired from working too long?’

‘Don’t be silly. Come on, let’s open it and have a look.’

Alina gingerly opened the drawer, with Laila peering anxiously from behind her back.

‘wow, what a pretty crystal.’

‘Crap!!!’

Alina snatched the crystal from the drawer and hid it in her hand, where it continued to glow brightly. It was the Shard of Guidance that Jade had given her on their way to the Tower of Chalk. It wasn’t the kind of item an ordinary adventurer would have in their possession, much less a receptionist. To make matters worse, the thing was inscribed with the Blades’ crest.

That was a close one! She didn’t see it, did she?!

Alina’s heart was pounding like mad.

‘Hey, Alina! Don’t hide it, show it to me!’

Laila pouted in displeasure.

‘T—there’s nothing to see here. It’s just an ordinary glowing stone.’

‘Ordinary stones don’t glow!’

After pushing Laila aside, Alina stuffed the crystal fragment into her breast pocket. Now her pocket was glowing, but she decided to ignore that fact. Having been stubbornly refused a look, Laila gave up and reluctantly returned to her desk.

That reminds me, I forgot to give it back. I’ll just toss it in his room when I get home.

Alina fired herself back up and decided to return to her paperwork. But just as she was about to take a sip from her last bottle of potion, Alina suddenly remembered.

“When the owner of a shard is on the brink of death, or when one is destroyed, the remaining shards will guide their owner towards it.”

Her mind wandered back to the explanation of the Shard of Guidance.

Alina opened her eyes wide and froze in her seat.

She caught her breath. Her heart was beating like a drum in her chest.

She touched the crystal fragment through her shirt. It was slightly warm and continued shining.

The office echoed with a loud Clang! Before she knew it, she had leapt to her feet and kicked her chair over, startling Laila, who stared at her senior with a bewildered look on her face as Alina stood frozen in place, not saying a word.

‘A—Alina? What’s the matter?’

Alina didn’t have the composure to answer Laila’s question. The sound of her beating heart echoed loudly through her head. The fact that the light of the crystal fragment is glowing brighter meant that at this very moment someone from the Blades is on the brink of death in the dungeon. Having understood that, Alina could do nothing but stare at the mountain of paperwork before her eyes.

The cold words of the adventurer who reported Shroud’s passing flashed through her mind.

“Shroud is not coming home.”

The next thing she knew, Alina was sprinting out of the office.

‘Alina?! Wait, Alina?!’

As Laila’s voice faded into the distance, Alina herself wasn’t sure why she was running.