After Mr. Henri left, the Auction House staff began their preparations at the stage.
The three of us continued chatting about some random things until another person from a group of four people approached our table and tried to talk to Mifumi-sama.
"So you're the granddaughter of the famous BlackElf Sorceress."
...CLICK!...
...SHUTTER!...
"Mifumi-sama! It's forbidden to take photos inside the Auction House!"
"It's alright, Vier-chan. It's okay as long as we don't include the items for the auction in the photos."
"Mifumi-sama asked the staff earlier, Vier."
"When did that happen, Mifumi-sama, Felin?"
"When you went to the Bathroom earlier, Vier-chan."
"Grrrr!... Hey!"
It's not like we don't actually hear that girl who wants to talk to Mifumi-sama. Well, it's just Felin and I who actually notice that girl while Mifumi-sama is too focused on taking photos of the venue inside the Auction House.
Since Mifumi-sama didn't seem to notice that girl, both Felin and I decided to ignore her.
"Hey! Don't ignore me! You're Mifumi Greendale, right?!"
Since that girl raised her voice and shouted Mifumi-sama's complete name, she finally managed to get Mifumi-sama's attention.
But what that girl did, raising her voice against Mifumi-sama, didn't go well with Felin. I think Felin gets a little bit hostile to that girl.
"Mifumi-sama, there is a shameless brat calling your name."
"Felin-chan! Please don't imitate Charlotte-san words."
Mifumi-sama is acting like an older sister again. She probably doesn't want Felin to learn that kind of intrusive word. Well, she is right. Felin is the youngest among the three of us so she should not learn that kind word.
Whoever teaches her how to use that word is really irresponsible...
"But Vier said you're a shameless brat if you do that."
Huh?... Wait... Me?
"Do what, Felin-chan?"
"If you asked others names and didn't introduce yourself."
"Vier-chan! Why are you teaching words like that to Felin-chan?"
"Wait... Ummm... That's only an example, Mifumi-sama. It's not my fault if Felin asked what Char-senpai meant by saying shameless brat."
"Grrr!..."
That girl seems to be reaching her limits and getting angry that we still ignoring her.
"I'm not a shameless brat! I'm Nerna Isenzand of the Isenzand Viscount House from the Dweorg Kingdom!"
Sheesh!... If you're planning to introduce yourself, do it from the start Ms. Viscount. It's hard to play innocently and act like we don't hear you talking to us.
After properly introducing that she's actually a Noble, the three of us won't be able to ignore her anymore. Specially Mifumi-sama. After all, greeting another Noble properly regardless of their differences in status is the etiquette between Nobilities. Well, not that Ms. Viscount did it either from the start.
"It's nice to meet you Ms. Nerna Isenzand, I'm Mifumi Greendale of the Grenade Baron House of the Smilodon Kingdom. But please address me as Ms. Mifumi since I'm here at the Auction House today as an adventurer."
"I'm also here as an adventurer so just call me Ms. Nerna."
Hmmm... Another Noble kid adventurer like the NeoHeroes? Don't tell me that the other three people behind Ms. Viscount are also Noble children. Is being an adventurer a trend for Noble children these days?
Well, Mifumi-sama has special circumstances for being an adventurer. And I understand Ms. Karna's group wanting to become one since they're all Dream-Holders... Wait... Are they perhaps another group of Dream-Holders?... No, I don't sense any odd feelings coming from their group.
After her introduction, Mifumi-sama continued her conversation with Ms. Viscount.
"Did your group come to our town to take the Adventurers Admission Exam, Ms. Nerna?"
"Of course! The AurikalSword won't lose to the BlackOpsCo. so you better be prepared for the Exam."
Sheesh... Learn to read your surroundings, Ms. Viscount. Can't you see how hostile is Felin towards you? Can't you see how cute she is while being like a hissing cat? Now that you said something like that, of course, she would get more hostile to you.
"Do you want to fight us? You, shameless brat!"
"Felin-chan, don't say that."
While Mifumi-sama and I are trying to calm Felin, one of Ms. Viscount's friend join in our conversation.
"Nerna-sama didn't mean any hostility in what she said. She was just overjoyed that she would be able to compete with the successor of the famous BlackElf Sorceress."
"And you are?..."
"It's nice to meet you, Ms. Mifumi. I'm Acier, I'm Nerna-sama's retainer. These two boys are our friends, Kupfer and Birini. We're all members of the Copper-Rank Adventurers-Party AurikalSword. We arrived at your town yesterday."
Upon being introduced by Ms. Acier, Mr. Kupfer and Mr. Birini gave their greetings.
"Hello!"
"It's nice to meet you!"
"They always get nervous in front of other girls so please forgive their awkward greetings."
"You don't have to say that, Acier-kun."
"We're not nervous okay."
"Huh?!"
""Ekkk!!""
Ms. Acier gave a serious and sharp stare in reply to the remarks that Mr. Kupfer and Mr. Birini said against her. That single response of hers made the two boys startle. I think Ms. Acier is kind of scary so we shouldn't make her mad.
Anyway, Aurikal?... Hmmm... What is that?... Aurikal... Aurikal... Aurikalkum... Ohh! It's a word play for Aurichalcum, the metal made from combining Mithril, Gold, and Silver.
I see. The word Aurikal represents their origin since they came from the Dweorg Kingdom which housed a Dwarf Ancestral Family. Combine with the word Sword... AurikalSword probably represents their goal to rise higher than a Mithril-Rank adventurer... I see... I see... Huh?... Ekkk!... I'm starting to think like Heleen-san.
Anyway, since Ms. Acier introduced their group, Mifumi-sama did the same for our group..
"We're the members of the Copper-Rank Adventurers-Party BlackOpsCo., This is Felin-chan and Vier-chan. It's nice to meet you all."
"I'm Felin!"
"I'm Vier. If your group arrived at our town yesterday, you just barely made it in time for the deadline for Exam Form submission."
What Ms. Acier said about arriving in our town yesterday caught my attention. After they almost missed their purpose of visiting our town.
"We got a letter from the Adventurers Guild of our town in case we got delayed but I'm sure we still have two days before the deadline when we arrive yesterday."
"Huh?..."
What?... Is there something wrong with the Adventurers Guild scheduling or something?
While I was pondering about the mysterious complication of the deadline for the Exam from submission, Mifumi-sama continued our discussion about Ms. Viscount.
"What do you mean about Ms. Nerna being overjoyed, Ms. Acier."
"Actually, Nerna-sama decides to become an adventurer after hearing the news that the successor of the famous BlackElf Sorceress is the same age as her and will soon begin her training as an adventurer."
What Ms. Acier said about Mifumi-sama being the successor of the BlackElf Sorceress is true.
The BlackElf Sorceress is the guardian protecting the territory of Green-Dale town from the annual Dungeon-Stamped of the Forest-Valley Dungeon and from any possible invasion coming from the Purus Empire which is in the north of our town.
And the identity of the BlackElf Sorceress is none other than Mifumi-sama's Grandma, the super scary Misaki-sensei.
The succession as the BlackElf Sorceress is actually one of Mifumi-sama's reasons for becoming an adventurer. Well, both Felin and I are aware of that so is not something to think about for now.
What matters is that Ms. Acier said something about Ms. Viscount that is quite interesting. Fufufu...
"So you're actually Mifumi-sama's fan, Ms. Vis... I mean Ms. Nerna."
I tried teasing Ms. Viscount for a bit to see what kind of reaction she would have.
"What?... I'm not her fan! I'm her rival!"
Ms. Viscount was surprised by what I said and her face started to turn red.
"Sheesh!... You don't have to be shy to Mifumi-sama, Ms. Nerna."
"Grrr!... I'm not shy!"
"Yes, you are!"
She tries to hide her shyness by acting mad but that won't work on me.
"Arghh!... I said I'm not!... And what's with your Adventurers-Party name sounding like an assassin's group or something? AurikalSword's name is much cooler."
Maybe Ms. Viscount tried to escape my teasing by changing the subject of our discussion but what she said further agitates Felin.
"You're wrong, shameless brat! BlackOpsCo. is much cooler!"
"Felin-chan, please stop calling Ms. Nerna like that."
"Grrr!..."
While Mifumi-sama and I are trying to stop Felin from doing something against Ms. Viscount, Ms. Acier interferes with our discussion again.
"But you said earlier that it's cool how it sounds like a secret underground group, Nerna-sama."
I'm not sure if Ms. Acier is trying to tease Ms. Viscount but what she said made Felin calm down for a bit. I guess she's someone really capable around others. Good work, Ms. Acier.
"Don't say unnecessary things, Acier-chan!"
"Do you want Mifumi-sama's autograph, Ms. Nerna?"
I tried to get back to teasing Ms. Viscount so that we could break the tension between Felin and her. Not because I find teasing Ms. Viscount to be fun.
"What?... I don't need that!"
"Are you sure, Nerna-sama?"
That's a good follow-up, Ms. Acier. Nice!
"Stop teasing me, Acier-chan. Let's go, I don't want to talk to them anymore."
"Runaway, shameless brat!"
"I'm not a shameless brat! So stop calling me like that!"
__________________________
***PoruShark Writer's Note***
Here are the characters' concept designs for the AurikalSword Adventurers-Party.
Look at the comments.
β’Nerna
β’Acier
β’Kupfer
β’Birini