落とし穴９８堀：永遠判子と偽物事件 (Part1)
**Dungeon Pit 98: The Eternal Stamp and the Impostor Incident**
**The Eternal Stamp and the Impostor Incident**
**Side: Milly, Weed Resident, Adventurer District Representative**
*Thump. Thump. Thump...*
The sound echoed in my office, persistent enough to make me feel like it had been going on for an eternity.
No, I was the one making the sound, yet for some reason, it felt completely surreal.
Why on earth was I stamping documents?
I had been reviewing and stamping the mountain of paperwork that had piled up during my time away for the New Continent kidnapping incident and my subsequent childbirth. Somewhere in the repetition of this endless task, I had lost track of what I was actually doing.
Was this what they called "Gestaltzerfall"?
"Hey, Milly!! Wait a second!?"
"Huh? What is it, Kina?"
I replied to Kina, who was helping me with the work, all while continuing to stamp like a machine. *Thump. Thump.*
"No, no, you aren't even looking at the documents, are you!? That’s no good!!"
"Oh, right. I suppose I have to look at them, don't I?"
"Doctor!! Someone call a doctor!! Milly’s broken down!!"
How rude. I haven't broken down.
I was just stamping without checking the contents...
Wait? Isn't that bad?
As my hazy consciousness finally returned to reality, I looked at the document in my hand...
*Adventurer Guild Monthly Balance Report, Page 2: Personnel Expenses, Miscellaneous...*
My stamp was pressed right over the bottom, completely obscuring the total.
"Wait!? How much is this!?"
"Ahhh!? Of all things, you had to crush the total on the balance report!? Oh man. Now we have to ask the accounting department to resubmit it..."
"...I messed up."
I couldn't leave the balance report, which needed to be kept for records, stained by my meaningless stamping. It had to be redone from scratch.
"Sigh. Well, it looks like a printed type, so resubmitting should be easy, but if it were a handwritten important document, it would be a real pain. I’ll go ask the accounting team, so Milly, you check the rest of the documents you’ve already stamped."
"Yeah. Sorry..."
"Well, it can't be helped. Not with this many documents. I should have told you to take a break."
"It’s not Kina’s fault..."
"Don't worry about it. I’m here to provide that kind of support, after all. Though, ah, I wonder if Rock-san will be angry?"
"I’ll go report it myself. I can't let Kina get in trouble for my mistake."
With that, we headed to the Guild Master’s office next door.
Since I outranked him in terms of work, I entered without knocking. If he wasn't there, it would be locked, and I had a master key if I ever needed to get in.
"Oh. Milly and Kina, what’s up? Did you find something concerning in the documents?"
Seeing Rock-san stamping and signing papers just like I had been, I felt a pang of guilt, but I couldn't keep it to myself. I couldn't push my own mistake onto Kina.
I steeled myself and explained that I had mindlessly stamped and ruined a report.
"Hahaha. So Milly finally did it, huh?"
"Yes?"
For some reason, Rock-san wasn't angry; he was laughing.
"No, my bad. Don't worry about it. It seems like it's your first time, but everyone makes this kind of mistake. It’s actually strange you haven't done it until now. In that sense, you’ve been a very proper receptionist."
"Huh? Um..."
"Anyway, I’ll tell them about redoing the documents. It’ll be fine."
"Yes, I’m sorry."
"Didn't I tell you not to worry? It’s a mistake anyone makes. There’s no problem since you were honest about it. Well, if you did it repeatedly, I’d have to scold you. The worst thing is hiding these kinds of mistakes. Kina here just left it alone when she did it, and when it was discovered during a check, I had to scold her quite a bit."
"Ah, Rock-san, don't bring that up!?"
"Kina. You did that?"
"No, it wasn't intentional, like Rock-san said! Ink just splattered, and the total got a bit obscured, so I thought, 'well, it's fine,' but it turned into a huge deal later."
"I imagine so..."
Important documents becoming unreadable. And judging by the context, it was related to a balance report, right? Since we were under Gartz's management back then, those documents were essential for taxes and such.
"It couldn't be helped. I was just a low-level receptionist back then. I understand now that I’m the Vice Guild Master, but I only learned what those documents were for after getting scolded."
"I see."
"Well, we don't have as thorough an education system as Weed, so the lower-level staff probably don't realize how important the paperwork is. Some unscrupulous types even falsify them to dodge taxes. But the Adventurer Guild’s reputation is on the line, so we’re strict about it."
As we were talking, the door to the Guild Master’s office was knocked.
"Who is it?"
"It's Ovik."
"Come in."
"Excuse me."
Ovik and Lari, now adventurers exclusive to Weed, entered the room.
"Oh, Milly-san."
"Yahoo, Milly. I heard the news. You gave birth, right? Congratulations."
Ignoring Ovik, who looked surprised to see me, Lari approached me familiarly.
Lari and I got along well due to our work. She was a girl who knew how to separate public and private life.
"Thank you. I heard you gave birth safely as well. I’m glad you’re both alright."
"Thanks. Well, it is Weed, after all. The care before, during, and after birth was perfect, so as you can see, I was back in action quickly."
In fact, Lari had been pregnant around the same time as me and had given birth while I was away in the New Continent. Her child was born about a month before mine. Naturally, the father was Ovik.
"So, coming to see Rock-san... is this a work report?"
"Ah, yeah. It is, but..."
For some reason, Ovik looked hesitant. I wondered if it was some strange job, but Lari answered for him.
"Listen to this, Milly. There’s an impostor of Yuki-san."
"Hey, Lari..."
"An impostor of who, did you say?"
My voice came out lower than even I expected.
"I said, an impostor of Yuki-san. Apparently, there have been victims lately. We were asked to investigate."
"Rock-san. What is the meaning of this?"
I turned to look at Rock-san, who must have issued this request.
"Hii!?"
"Calm down, Milly. Don't glare like that."
Kina, standing next to me, let out a shriek.
...Was my face really that scary?
"It’s not something to hide from you. Ever since you, or rather, Yuki and the others went to the New Continent, strange rumors have been circulating in this Adventurer District."
"Strange rumors?"
"Yeah. Well, it’s just a scam. A common one. Someone borrowed money and didn't pay it back. That kind of thing. Since it’s a private loan, it happens often, right?"
"Well, I suppose so."
In Weed, you can borrow from the bank, so we’ve issued warnings to avoid private lending as much as possible, but it still happens. We generally don't allow loan sharks in Weed because they cause trouble. Since Weed provides an environment where you can live with the bare minimum, we judged them unnecessary. But people still borrow money for "pocket change" and end up in trouble when they don't pay it back.
"But in the last two months, it’s spiked. Right here in the Adventurer District."
"In the Adventurer District?"
"Yes. Only in this district."
"Only here?"
"That’s right. I haven't heard a peep about it in the neighboring Commercial District or the Residential District. Even Poni-dono’s police force hasn't caught wind of it."
"That’s strange."
"Yeah. So, since it’s only in the Adventurer District, which is basically our own backyard, I consulted with Poni-dono, and we decided to investigate it ourselves for now."
"I see. You didn't want to make a scene by having the police intervene."
"Yeah. Poni-dono was worried about that too. He’s in charge of Weed’s security, but this district is essentially leased to the Adventurer Guild, and he said that if he barged in with too much authority, it would sour our relationship."
"So, since it’s only happening in the Adventurer District, the idea is to resolve it internally."
"I don't mind, and neither does the Grand Master, that old man."