Start scheming...

"Anything, huh? In that case, hand me some of that paper, and something to write with. I'll also take a copy of whatever form is needed to apply for that starter equipment requisition you mentioned. And... is it too much to hope that you have a map of the city on-hand?" Each of these items appeared on the desk by a flick of the Amellia's wrist within seconds of his asking for them.

"Very nicely done. You may return to your work, Miss La Cour. When I need more information, I'll ask for it."

Shiroe pored over the map and began to take notes. Occasionally, he would ask Amellia a question, and always within seconds, she would have the answer, or in some cases, the document. And all the while, the rhythmic tapping of her usual workflow kept the pace. He fell into her groove, timing his requests to sync perfectly with her workflow.

Occasionally, an adventurer or a townsperson would come over and ring the bell, to conduct some Guild business with Amellia. This usually involved Amellia walking to the bounty board, and either adding or removing a card. Whenever this happened, it killed the "music." So Shiroe would stop what he was working on and chat with the adventurer, while they waited for Amellia to complete her trek. It was the slowest part of her process, thanks partly due to the to the high heels that she wore, and partly due to the immense size of the hall. And was it his imagination, or did her gait sometimes slow a bit, as if to allow the adventurer time to answer? Perhaps she was simply pacing herself for the rest of her shift.

They slowly whiled away a few hours in this manner, and soon Shiroe had compiled an intimidatingly dense stack of notes about the guild's rules, services offered by other businesses in town, other nearby locations, and tips and rumors from fellow adventurers.

Then, suddenly, the "music" stopped.

"I can't believe it," she said softly. "I've finally cleared the backlog."

Shiroe stared in disbelief at the perfectly clear desk and the orderly stacks of paper. He decided this was as good a place as any to stop.

"Thank you so much for your personal assistance, Miss La Cour. Your services have been quite adequate." The compliment was so underwhelming that it would have been a mild insult coming from anybody else. But they'd just spent the last few hours humming along in a state of perfect flow, two halves of a finely-tuned machine. She knew that in this context? "Adequate" meant damned near godly.

"There is a personal question I've been meaning to ask you, Miss La Cour." She perked up at that. He let her imagine the possibilities for a moment before continuing, "Do you really think I'm some Legendary Hero?"

She pursed her lips before responding. "I think that you can keep up with me, Mister Shiroe. And that's impressive in its own right. Beyond that...?" She looked him up and down, then grinned. "I think time will tell."

"I see." Shiroe returned her grin and raised her an eyebrow. "In that case, until such time as events should happen to prove that I am not the Legendary Hero, could I ask for one small boon? Please refrain from tormenting my bodyguard. I realize that she makes herself a tempting target. I'm trying to work on that with her. But it just won't do if you provoke her into a relapse now.

"Hmm. I'll admit that I'm torn." Amellia tapped an eraser-tipped pencil against her lips. "On the one hand, my workplace is a lot more peaceful now that she's finally found a job. But on the other hand, she gets so cute when she's angry..."

"It would mean a lot to me. "

A private smile slowly spread across Amellia's lips. "Protocol dictates that I shouldn't really be discussing my personal feelings at work." Really? All the rules she'd bent today to help him out, and that was where she drew the line? "I get off work at six. Why don't you come by my flat and we'll discuss it there?" She subtly slid him a folded piece of paper, no doubt with her address written inside of it.

Shiroe placed one hand over the piece of paper, and leaned forward so he could speak quietly enough that only she could hear.

"Unfortunately, my schedule is booked solid for the next few days. But if you treat my bodyguard with the same respect you would treat me, perhaps I'll stop by some time."

He took the folded slip of paper, and immediately replaced it with a fully filled-out and signed starter gear requisition document, which she rubber-stamped without even looking at it. A tiny voice in the back of her head warned her that this was not procedure, but she ignored it in her eagerness to cement his approval.

"Your requisition is hereby approved, Mister Shiroe. Please take these vouchers to any of the local businesses listed on the back, and they will be happy to lend you first-level starting gear appropriate for any basic Class..." her voice trailed off as she realized that she had been handed two sheets of paper. The tiny voice in the back of her head rose to a scream.

"Thank you, Miss La Cour. However, it wasn't my requisition that you just approved."

No. No no no... she flipped to the second page, a perfectly filled-out Form 35-F. When had he grabbed that from behind her desk?

And sure enough, the name on both forms...

"Niki Ofthevakila!?"

Shiroe pushed his glasses up his nose, and raised his voice.

"Bodyguard, come here a moment. Oh, bodyguard..." The meek-looking magic-users Niki was chatting with had to nudge her, before she realized he was talking to her. She hurried over.

"B-but you can't! I-I can't approve this form! Ofthevakila isn't even a proper last name!"

"Certainly not. But if there's a procedure for processing adventurers from another world, then surely there's a procedure for adventurers with only one name. You've even been calling me 'Mister Shiroe' all this time. That means you deviated from protocol when Niki first told you her name."

"Hey, that's right! When I told you I couldn't read, you just asked me a bunch of questions and filled out the forms yourself! Any mistakes in the paperwork are your problem!"

"Y-you don't know what you're talking about. I-it was just a simple typo..." but Shiroe cut her off.

"Glad to see that we're in agreement. Now that you've processed Niki's form 35-F, all that's left is for you to do is to check over your work and correct any other typos."

"How dare you? My work..." but Amellia bit off her words as she remembered the minefield of errors and contradictions she'd decorated Niki's file with over the months. Every time she'd annoyed her at work by repeatedly ringing that stupid bell, she'd added another one. All technically based on Niki's spoken words, of course. But enough to cause her headaches no matter which receptionist in the Guild tried to help her.

"Yeah, Amellia! Process the typos!" The fact that Niki barely had any idea what she was talking about only made the situation worse.

"Let me... double-check a few things."

The next few minutes felt like an eternity to Amellia as she twirled, read, wrote, and filed.

"Done," she said at last, handing the vouchers to Shiroe.

"Why are you giving those to me?"

Amellia took a deep breath, steeled herself, and let it out.

"Your requisition is hereby approved, Miss Ofthe... Miss Niki. Please take these vouchers to any of the local businesses listed on the back, and they will be happy to lend you first-level starting gear appropriate for any basic Class. Thank you for visiting the Adventurer's Guild, and we look forward to working with you."

Niki's laughter rang out across the guild hall.

But, for once, it was the laughter of triumph.