I Work as a Guild Receptionist, but Because I Hate I Hate to Work Overtime I Think I'll Just Defeat the Boss Solo

Volume 1 - CH 10



At the end of a narrow flight of steps in a back alley, on a small hill overlooking the city of Ifühl, lies a small vacant plot, forgotten by the people of the city. It was there, on the single bench, that Alina regularly sits for lunch.

‘Finally, I’m free.’

The clearing looking down on the main square was always deserted. It was her favourite haunt.

‘God, I want to go home already.’

Alina mumbled listlessly as she slumped down on the bench. She was already exhausted ere afternoon, thanks to Jade’s efforts of concentrating the adventurers to her counter. She nibbled slowly at her sandwich, her head hanging down as she was overcome by fatigue.

This solitary lunch break was both her solace and the only thing she could look forward to during work hours.

‘Wow, this place is amazing.’

Yet from within her most inviolable sanctum came the voice she least wanted to hear.

‘It’s quiet here and there’s not a soul about. I had no idea there was a place like this in Ifühl,’

Jade Skleid said nonchalantly, sitting beside Alina as if it were reserved for him.

‘What a coincidence. I was also looking for a quiet, empty spot to have my lunch. Do you eat here every day? If so, allow me to—’

‘Activate skill:“Dia’s Ruin”’

Seeing the warhammer and the white skill-light appear soundlessly out of thin air, Jade jumped to his feet in panic. He must’ve remembered what had happened yesterday when Alina had swung at him mercilessly. This time he didn’t hesitate to ready the shield on his back and carefully observed Alina as he guarded his body like a small animal before a savage beast.

‘I—I—I haven’t done anything, have I?! I didn’t tell anyone about your identity!’

‘Shut up and stop slacking off in my workplace and do some work you useless silver bastard.’

‘Ah, we adventurers don’t have fixed working hours, so it’s not a problem even if I do slack off.’

‘You don’t say…’

Alina, confined to either her desk or her counter from sunrise to sunset every day, had her ire stoked at Jade’s flippant mention of the privilege of the adventurer.

‘You know, I have to check what the situation is around me when I go for my break at work, and the day I’m caught playing hooky I’m getting a storm of complaints from both my colleges and the top. How dare you so nonchalantly tell me you’re slacking off.’

‘Y—You’re wrong! I’m not slacking off! It’s necessary for the investigation into The Executioner!’

Jade swallowed his words, which sounded like an excuse, as the warhammer hit the ground at his feet with a thud.

‘I’m sorry!’

‘You’re going to work this afternoon. Understood?’

‘Understood…’

Alina made her weapon disappear, quickly packed up her lunchbox and set off with a quick gait to change her lunch spot. But when she considered that wherever she went the conspicuous Jade would follow her around, she concluded that it would be wiser to not leave this vacant clearing. After two, three steps, Alina halted.

‘Ahh, just when I thought I was going to eat alone’

With a sigh, Alina reluctantly returned to the bench and resumed her lunch.

‘Miss Alina, you’re more ferocious than a raging troll, you know?’

As he stared at the clearing that had been turned into a crater by a single hit, Jade, undiscouraged, sat next to Alina.

‘It’s because you keep pestering me.’

‘Hah. I become real stubborn when I decide to not give up. Besides, I’m the guild’s strongest tank. I’m confident in my strength, sturdiness, my vitalitOUCH! Stop pinching the back of my hand!’

Jade fled to the edge of the bench, and for a while they were silent.

‘In the first place, when did you awaken your skill?’

Jade’s question broke their silence.

‘There’s so many people suffering because they can’t awaken their skills, and yet you—’

‘I’m not telling you.’

Alina replied curtly through a mouthful of sandwich.

‘Whether or not your skill awakens is mostly a matter of luck anyway, right?’

‘Well, I suppose.’

Skills are a completely different power from magic, one that is unique to each individual and latent within every person.

Unlike magic, which can be used by anyone who has the knowledge and mana to cast a spell, you can’t use a skill that hasn’t awakened. It is generally believed that every human is born with a skill, but the conditions for awakening them remain unclear, and it is currently impossible to deliberately awaken skills.

On the contrary, there’s no clear answer to the question of what determines the nature of one’s skill, or the power with which they activate. The subject of skills remains shrouded in mystery.

‘That’s why it’s such a waste to have that power and be a receptionist. Such a waste.’

‘It’s up to me how I use my power.’

Having finished her last sandwich, Alina packed her empty lunchbox and stood up.

‘Anyway, you’re wasting your time by sitting around my workplace and harassing me.’

She said as she glanced at the clock tower. The hour-long lunch break that she had been looking forward to so much was about to end. How cruel is the flow of time. She felt as if she had only five minute’s rest.

‘Ahh, let’s work hard this afternoon too.’

Alina trudged back to work, leaving Jade behind.

Unfortunately, receptionists, who work for a salary, also have set breaks. They’re not allowed to slack off or take a break whenever they want, unlike adventurers.

Dammit Jade, just leave a poor receptionist alone.

See you next Wednesday!