In due time, it had become known within the castle that I was going to take the entrance exam for the academy. During a break after the morning training, Lia, who had returned from the academy, approached me.

“Lark-kun, is it true that you’ll be attending the academy?”

“Yeah, starting from the new semester. Seeing you and the others made me a little interested in the academy.”

“Really? Then we can study together at the academy starting next year.”

“If I can pass the entrance exam.”

“Lark-kun, you’ll definitely pass!” Lia said confidently.

However, I was still anxious because I didn’t know what would happen on the test. I was asked about my academy admission not only by Lia but also by Wallis.

“Lark-kun, are you coming to the academy too?”

“Yeah, I’ll be Wallis-kun’s junior at the academy, so please take care of me.”

“Oh, I’ll show you around the academy’s library. It’s not as big as the castle, but there are a lot of specialized books in the academy.”

“I’m looking forward to it.” When I answered that way, Wallis-kun smiled happily.

The next morning, when I woke up and got out of bed, I found a letter under the door. When I picked it up and checked the contents, it said “Come to the office” in Ars’s handwriting. I didn’t know what it was about, but I woke up my father and headed to the office.

When we entered, Ars and—for some reason, the guild master, Fia, were there.

“Oh! Lark-kun~~!”

As soon as she saw me, Fia ran over at full speed and jumped on me. If it were me from a year ago, I would have been hugged and almost suffocated, but I was different now. Without panicking, I activated my wind attribute magic and blew Fia to the corner of the office.[1]

While looking at her lying on the floor, I asked Ars, “Ars-san, why is Fia-san here?”

“Well, she came to ask Lark-kun to organize the guild’s warehouse.”

“Organizing the warehouse? It’s been a while since I’ve done that,” I replied a little unexpectedly.

‘Yeah, just when I started living in this castle, Fia-san told me that I didn’t have to do the warehouse organization job anymore, so I haven’t done it in a while. Apparently, the guild members started to have the idea of using the warehouse cleanly because the warehouse became gradually tidier, and they voluntarily started to organize it. Despite that, why am I being asked again?’

As I tilted my head in confusion, Ars explained the situation as if he was reading my mind, “You see, wasn’t there a case where a large number of materials were brought into the guild a year ago? It seems like it’s happening again. And this time, there are even more materials than last time.”

“I see, so it has become too much to handle. Understood, I’ll take on the task. Will father help too?”

“Ah, sure thing.”

Then, Fia-san got up energetically and jumped toward me with teary eyes. “Thank you~! …Gyaah!”

Fia was once again knocked back by my wind attribute magic.

Afterward, we used Fia’s teleportation magic to move to the guild’s basement. Checking one room at a time, it was clear that every room was overflowing with materials such as monster fur and herbs. Father and I worked together to clean up everything. After cleaning up about ten rooms, father suggested that we take a break and go to the guild’s dining hall.

‘Come to think of it, I haven’t had breakfast yet.’

I agreed and we went to the dining hall and were called out from the back of the kitchen.

“Oh, these are some rare faces.”

When I looked over, it was the head chef, Fritz. I hadn’t visited the guild much lately, so it had been a while since I last saw him.

I approached him and greeted him, “Fritz-san, good morning.”

“Oh, it’s been a while… But hey, you’ve grown quite a bit since I last saw you. When I first met you, you were quite small.”

“Hahaha, I’ve been eating nutritious foods for the past year, so I’ve grown about 10 centimeters taller.”

“Well, that’s great to hear. It’s been a while since we met, so let me treat you today.”

“Really? Thank you very much!” I thanked Fritz and sat down at a table to wait for breakfast, when I heard a voice saying, “Isn’t that Lark?” from behind. When I turned around, I saw the adventurers who had taken care of me when I stayed at the inn last year, all gathered together.

“Hello, everyone. It’s been a while,” I greeted them with a nostalgic feeling.

Doldos, the leader of the adventurers at the inn, came over and ruffled my hair. “I was worried because you didn’t contact us at all. Honestly…”

“I’m sorry…” I apologized while fixing my messy hair. ‘Wait a minute, though. Father is right next to me now, but everyone is approaching us. I heard that last year they were avoiding him out of respect, so what’s going on now?’

“Is everyone okay with father now?” I asked candidly while pointing to Guldo causing Doldos to scratch his cheek.

“Well, I’ve had a chance to talk with Guldo recently. That’s what led us to be able to talk normally again.”

“Really?”

Doldos explained to me, surprised at my reaction. Apparently, when father came to the guild for something, the adventurers decided to talk to him. He revealed that he was worried about retiring as an adventurer because they were not in town. Father said he didn’t mind, and they quickly resolved their differences. I was so surprised at how easily it was resolved that I was dumbfounded, but I was happy that father was no longer avoided by everyone.

“Well, I’m glad, Father. You can go back to the reception desk without any worries now, right?”

“Yeah.”

While father and I were talking, I noticed that Doldos had his mouth open.

“What’s wrong, Doldos-san?”

“Come to think of it… you’ve been calling Guldo ‘father’ all this time, haven’t you?”

“Yes, but… didn’t you know that I became Guldo’s adopted son?”

“That’s news to me!” Doldos shouted loudly, causing a stir in the guild.

I whispered to Guldo, “Why hasn’t this been widely known even after a year now?”

“I told the nobles, but that guy Ars deliberately kept it a secret from the guild.”

“What? Why would he do that?”

“Lark, look around,” father said with a weary tone.

As I looked around as he instructed, the place was in a state of chaos. He then continued speaking with a solemn expression, “What do you think? It seems like a spectacle that Ars would find amusing, doesn’t it?”

“Ah, I see…” I immediately understood. I knew all too well about Ars’s love for excitement over the past year. Even if it would have been more interesting to not say anything and keep quiet, it wouldn’t have been surprising.

To take control of the situation, I raised my voice. “Everyone! Sorry for the delay in reporting, but Guildo-san and I have become parent and child!”

Cheers erupted from across the guild.

“However, Guldo-san and Lark becoming parent and child… They suit each other, but it’s surprising,: Doldos muttered as he left the dining hall.

As he left, Fritz appeared with breakfast. He had heard the news earlier and seemed quite surprised, but congratulated us with a smile. After finishing breakfast, we returned underground to resume our warehouse sorting. It took an entire day, but we finally finished everything.

We went to the guild master’s room to report to Fia and Lala. They were both incredibly happy. Lala, who is usually cool, was jumping up and down, which made me realize how difficult the situation must have been. If it had been that difficult, it would have been better if we had contacted them earlier.

Fia thanked me with a big smile. ‘Thank you so much, Lark-kun. The spatial magic was on the verge of exploding and causing a major accident.’

“No problem. I’m glad I could be of help. But please call me earlier next time before something serious happens.”

“I thought it would be bothering your life, Lark-kun, so I hesitated to call you, but I’ll do that from now on.”

After reporting our recent events over the past year, we were sent to the castle by Fia’s transfer magic. Since the sun had already set, we decided to skip training for the day and take a bath. We quickly undressed in the changing room and entered the bath together with my father-in-law. As we stretched, he said:

“Mmm, it was fun to go to the guild after a long time.’

“’I see. Well, I’ve been mostly at the castle lately.”

“That’s right. Next time, let’s go outside the capital…”

“—Well then, should we get out soon?”

Before I could finish speaking, father stood up and went to the dressing room ahead of me. I had been saying for a while that I wanted to go outside the capital, but it seemed that he still didn’t feel like allowing it.

“I appreciate your concern, but I wish you would recognize my abilities a little more…” I complained a little, before quickly regaining my composure and went to the dressing room as well. I wiped my body with a towel and dried my whole body completely with the warm wind created by combining wind and fire attribute magic. When I returned to my room, father was already lying down on the bed.

“Well then, I’ll say my prayers and go to bed quickly…”

Muttering to myself, I took a wooden carved talisman out of the “Useful Box”. This talisman was carved by Father about six months ago after he saw me praying every day. Praying to this talisman apparently made it easier to increase your “faith” skill level compared to regular prayer. After I finished praying, I got into bed and fell asleep.