Spectre of the Sinner - Zetro Translation

POV: Nia Belloli, secunda hora vesperi, Vest Schëld, Mellanphalia Kingdom

The much-rumored foreigner for much of today’s afternoon, after he courteously offered a glass of water to the younger chevalier of the prestigious [von Wagner], strolled toward me, sending me into a barely suppressed panic. Nervously wiping the beads of sweat, I hurriedly checked my uniform before straightening my back and forcing a tense smile. At this moment, I inwardly chastised myself for naively volunteering for this counter even though I wasn’t good with talking to people, much less dealing with boisterous types.

Whilst I was desperately quelling my inner turmoil, a shadow towered over me, forcing me to crane my neck upward to meet the gaze. What came to mind was the face of a weathered veteran: a relatively normal right half was juxtaposed against a hideously marred left half.

“My apologies, Miss, I’d appreciate it if you could stop staring at me like that,” clearing his throat uncomfortably, the man patiently gestured toward a pile of parchment on the table, “I’d like to register myself as an adventurer here. Is this the suitable stand or not?”

Flustered by my unnecessary thoughts, an involuntary yelp escaped from my lips, drawing unwanted pitying gazes from my coworkers and the lounging adventurers.

“Yes, Mister,” I stammered out an appropriate answer at the scary-looking foreigner, “please fill in this piece of parchment here. If you cannot read or write, I’ll help you fill in the particulars.”

“Thank you for the offer, I can do it on my own. Could I borrow this dip pen and inkwell as well?”

As the outlander received the writing tools, he seemingly fiddled with the anterior of his left wrist a bit before settling down on filling in the form, attracting a quizzical head tilt from me. As he alternated between jotting down on the parchment and glancing at his left wrist, soon most of the required fields were filled in, leaving the domain about his weapons empty. Sensing his trouble, just as I mustered up my courage to address his potential query, a soft sensation tackled me from behind, almost sending me tumbling forward.

“Look at my little [Nia], she has grown up so much,” a sultry voice breathed into my right ear, sending tickles down my spine, “what should this elder sister do now?”

“Please, I’m… Still in… The middle of work…”

As I pitifully struggled to break free from the woman’s embrace, she had already snatched the parchment from the black-haired man’s hand, thus allowing me to escape from her unexpected bear hug. When I turned around to confront the cunning vixen, a concerned purple-haired beauty was seen pondering over the contents of the form. Even when she dressed like a traveling village girl, her womanly charm still flowed through, as the flower-decorated greenish dress comfortably hugged her shapely curves, which attracted the attention of both sexes without fail.

“Huh, so this Mister [Nguyen] here has quite a wide array of skills for a soldier,” the redhead woman dropped an octave as she assessed the registration form before brazenly exclaiming, “but why this field is empty?”

Sensing that it was my opportunity, I interjected as I gazed sharply into her purple-colored eyes.

“You’re being rude here, Miss [Finnegan]. Besides, you’re the one who’s breaking the rules here…”

“Oh my, my little [Nia] has grown up splendidly in such a short time! Big sis [Rosaria] is so sad when her sister hates her,” my self-proclaimed sister pretended to cry, drawing further unwanted attention toward the booth, trapping me in a spiral of embarrassment and confusion.

“MISS [ROSARIA FINNEGAN], PLEASE BEHAVE FOR ONCE!”

An infuriated bellowing echoed from the inner office of the [Guild], startling every presence in the building except for the outlander, who only offered a tired shrug in response. Of course, being a timid person myself, I instinctively yelped and clung to the mischievous green-clad beauty, making her almost drop the registration form. As I fearfully glanced toward the source of the voice, an incensed-looking man stormed into the space, his slightly pointed ears reddened from the anger. As I sneaked a glance at the hallway behind the swung-open door, members of the all-female party [Blooming Lilium] could be seen momentarily stunned at the man’s actions before hurrying their steps. After darting his eyes at both of us, the man, whose height barely surpassed mine, beckoned at [Rosaria] after calming himself down a bit.

“Miss [Finnegan], I’m pretty sure that you’re still tired after your long journey,” the [Droich], who was this branch’s guild master, curved his lips into a terrifying smile, “so why don’t you go home and rest for today? Tomorrow we can have a nice long chat about what has just transpired today, just between you and me.”

“My, I was just expressing my camaraderie with my colleague,” the rascal woman shamelessly played the innocent card by upturning her beautiful eyes like a puppy at me, her hand cupped my cheek, “Right, dear [Nia]? Please tell that scary man of an [Droich] about my intention.”

“Excuse me,” with a throat clearing, the foreigner spoke, freeing me from this awkward air that was permeating between those two opposite personalities, “I still have some business after this, so could you guys please let me finish my paperwork?”

The three of us exchanged an uneasy glance for a moment before the guild master piped up.

“Miss [Finnegan] and Miss [Belloli], I’ll take over from here. You two are dismissed.”

As I heaved a sigh of relief while feeling weak in my knees, [Rosaria] handed the form back to the black-haired man with a light smile before she grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the booth, leaving the men behind to conclude their business. Just thinking about dealing with this noisy woman further drained my energy, forcing me to desperately yank away from her grasp the moment we walked out of the counter.